xenu
Banned deucer.
nah i actually 100% recommend putting competitive pokemon in your application/essays, it'll help tick off the "quirky"/"unique" requirement most colleges have tacked on these days
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Applying to college
- Thread starter xenu
- Start date
A few schools give four free years for a 32 ACT, university of Alabama being the best one that comes to mind
I'm not going to tell you to not apply for the Jefferson, but don't make the mistake I made by putting it on the top of the priority list. I'd say that no matter who you are, you have a better chance of getting into 4 Ivies than getting the Jefferson. Personally, I was so burned out after the applications for Jeff and the Robertson (Duke/UNC's equivalent) that I skipped over other opportunities, notably the Vanderbilt scholarship, which two of my classmates (whose stats were basically identical to mine) were offered.
Edit: I just moved into UVA and will answer any questions to the best of my limited experience
Edit: I just moved into UVA and will answer any questions to the best of my limited experience
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh that's like $1000 you're planning on spending applying at a minimum, probably way more than that if they're mostly private schools.
Please narrow your field because a) that is a ton of money to essentially "waste" and b) you really do not want to fill out that many applications, you're gonna be doing that enough in your life
Also I don't know a lot about scholarships, but the scholarships I've seen that are worth anything only go those that actually need them, apart from like the free-ride ones that you get for like playing on the college's sports team or something like ROTC. I never saw any that were more than $300 that I had a decent chance of getting and they all want essays or recommendation letters or for you to be going into a specific major or studying something specifically.
I see three really good routes here: either a Big 10 state school, a southern school with an honors program that will throw a lot of money your way, or the best UC available. Agreed with oglemi on both the scholarship point and the list size. Oglemi and I went to the same school and that school just gives money up front instead of handing it out as scholarships, and a lot of state schools are like that. The best schollies come from the school itself in the form of merit aid. As a Cali kid, you can probably go out of state cheaper than in state.
12-15 is on the high side but it's not an abnormal number of schools to apply to these days, especially if you have the grades/test scores to shoot for highly selective schools.
when you consider that your choice of college has a pretty profound effect on your life I think it's pretty easy to justify forking over the application money for 12-15 schools. $1000 extra now could be worth a difference of millions of dollars in the future if you get into one of those reach schools.
I only applied to 7 and I don't really have regrets but looking back if I could do it over with my current knowledge I'd have applied to more.
I only applied to 7 and I don't really have regrets but looking back if I could do it over with my current knowledge I'd have applied to more.
while I would love for that to be 100% true, unless you are the literal best at what you do or have a novel or revolutionary idea, who you know makes just as much of a difference as what you know. I guarantee kids at top 10 schools have easier times making connections than kids at other schools. we don't live in a meritocratic world. you don't have to like the game, but you should still be good at playing it.
anecdotal evidence: some of my friends from college (top 10) get internships and jobs on wall street from firms that simply recruit from my school. they aren't that special but go to a school from which those firms recruit. I have some much smarter and more accomplished friends back home who go to state school and will not get the same opportunities despite doing more in their undergraduate years. this same thing happens even with tech companies recruiting CS kids. I think unless you are absurdly good or absurdly bad, the name of your school can make a big difference. but that's just an observation I've made and may not be the rule.
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Ya that's more what I meant by what you do ie. getting to know certain people, or going to a school that gets recruiters for a particular job, or offers certain internships, etc.. What I'm saying is spending a ton of money on scholarships doesn't help in this; you should have some idea of where you want to go and what you want to do and the kinds of things those schools offer and focus on those rather than blow over $1000 on schools you'll probably not get into/have no real interest in. You only end up going to one school in the end, usually.
also, please use the financial aid calculator and talk to the people who are going to be paying for your college education (or check your own wallet) before applying to a bunch of schools. Unless the school gives out a lot of merit aid (which very few do), the amount of tuition you see on the calculator (which is now required for all colleges to have) will be pretty close to the amount you're going to end up paying.
if you're not comfortable or able to fork out 200k+ for a college education, don't apply to those schools. after a long decision process deciding whether I even wanted to bother applying to yale / stanford / upenn / columbia i decided to just screw them and apply only to public schools in my state - if I even got in to the selective private universities, I realized that i'd be putting an unfair burden on my parents or myself financially if I chose to go there
then again, i'm extremely fortunate to live in a state where the public universities are among the top universities in the world. it's not really even a step down for me, but the general idea still stands. don't apply to schools that you won't realistically be able to attend, it's not worth it just to say "i got into stanford21!~".
if you're not comfortable or able to fork out 200k+ for a college education, don't apply to those schools. after a long decision process deciding whether I even wanted to bother applying to yale / stanford / upenn / columbia i decided to just screw them and apply only to public schools in my state - if I even got in to the selective private universities, I realized that i'd be putting an unfair burden on my parents or myself financially if I chose to go there
then again, i'm extremely fortunate to live in a state where the public universities are among the top universities in the world. it's not really even a step down for me, but the general idea still stands. don't apply to schools that you won't realistically be able to attend, it's not worth it just to say "i got into stanford21!~".
Thanks for all the advice guys, for the record I told my parents beforehand that applying to this many schools would cost about $1000 and they were fine with it. I've already started applying to the common app schools (which is 6 out of 12-15) so I don't think I'll have any problems finishing all the apps in time. I know it's a lot of work but I'm willing to put in the time. I'm only applying to one private school and that's Santa Clara. I'm also starting applications this early because I'm trying to meet as many Early Action deadlines as I can.
migzoo
new money
I did this too. Listed pokemonshowdown.com while I was at it lol. I also wrote about Pokémon in essays for Cornell and Harvey Mudd.
let's go, common app.
I was in a similar place last year. Great stats, decent extracurriculars, but feeling very disillusioned when it came to the essay process. It didn't help that my parents basically forced me to go to a college essay writing class, which I fucking hated. What they teach you to do, and what most students actually do, is write very concrete, cookie-cutter essays that basically serve as an addendum to your list of extracurriculars. It's fake, it's stupid, it's dishonest, to deceive yourself into thinking an experience was more important than it actually was. So many people have written about how their one-week community service trip to (insert 3rd world country here) has changed them as a person, making them appreciate what they have. While this may be true to some extent, this tells the admission officer little to nothing about YOU. If a different person went through the exact same experience as you did, they'd be slightly changed in the same exact way, and produce the same exact essay. So either write about a truly unique experience, or do what I did. Well, after dropping out from the essay class, that is. Like you, I haven't had any of those kinds of "truly unique" life-changing experiences, so instead I took mildly-interesting experiences, and wrote them in a way that showed my character. In other words, it's not the experience that teaches the reader who you are, it's your personal interpretation and self-reflection of that experience. I think I did that particularly well in my Common App essay, and my Stanford "What matters to you and why?" essay. In the former I talked about zip-lining through thick fog, and drew a metaphor basically relating it to coming-of-age. In the latter I wrote about the merits of daydreaming, in a stream-of-consciousness style that parallels day-dreaming (one of my "five words" was "daydreamer").
As cliche as it may sound, be yourself. Don't be a fake bitch, don't delude yourself; write with a clear mind. And if the result isn't interesting, you're not being yourself hard enough. Because most reasonably intelligent people are genuinely interesting, especially in the way they think. So all you have to do is make sure your thinking guides your writing, not some misguided preconception of what an admission officer wants to read. For the prompts that allow for more creative license, you can almost write stream-of-consciousness once you have the initial idea secured. And although writing isn't always fun, the finished product should be something gratifying, that you're proud of, that you want people to read.
I took longer than I should have to follow my own advice, but once I did it served me well. Although I was waitlisted/rejected to all the East Coast schools I applied to, I got into all of my West Coast schools, which included my top two (Stanford and Mudd) and UCs. To all who will be/are applying to colleges: please take my advice. Hopefully it will serve you as well as it served me. Bad Ass or anyone else, feel free to PM me with other questions or advice, I'd be happy to help whenever I have free time :]
On a related note, any Stanford people? I'm an incoming freshman myself, but would love to talk to some current students or alumni as well. So hmu!
Couple points here:
1. I disagree that school name doesn't matter as long as it's "good to okay". Some school names will carry you farther than others. It's true. Some schools are "good" and then you've got Ivy Leagues/Duke/Stanford/MIT/whatever that are in their own league (and if you want to look even further, you can subcategorize those schools, but the differences become far less pronounced). This is for almost every aspect of life during and after college. Going to a "good to okay" school isn't going to hurt you, but going to an extremely well known and prestigious school will do nothing but help, and help a lot. You can say this is anecdotal evidence, but when anecdotal evidence is literally everyone I've met, it starts to mean some thing. You want Goldmann Sachs? Harvard Med? Bain? Yale Law? Rhodes Scholarship? Wall Street? Congressman? Go to a top school. It's not the faculty, it's the students. Students will be a major part of your learning environment and make an enormous difference. Both of my roommates were valedictorians and it shows and their intelligence, passion, guidance, and friendship has definitely transformed my college experience. If I had had apathetic roommates who just wanted to waste their lives doing nothing, I probably would not be where I am now. This is what I'm truly grateful for about my school. The people make the school what it is.
2. These top schools aren't that expensive. Nearly everyone gets some sort of financial aid, and most schools have followed Princeton's example and done away with loans, giving only scholarships and grants to students that need them. That 250k sticker price gets cut down a lot. I'm very solidly upper middle class and I received financial aid from no fewer than 3 elite schools while my state school gave me nothing but a loan for a couple thousand dollars (I graduated top of my class + 2400 + two 800 subject tests and none of the aid I received was merit aid). The school I attend now is cheaper than the state school I got into. And I went to the elite school that gave me the least financial aid.
3. 12-15 schools isn't that bad, but don't apply to a school you wouldn't attend (as has been stated here). Chances still are you might (probably not, but might) only get into 1 school. Make it be one you're willing to go to. People can tell you to "know what you want" in a school all they like, but you're not really going to know what you like until you visit during admitted students weekend (the first time I came to the school I now attend was after I was accepted). Each school has its own culture that you won't ever figure out until you visit and spend a day or two with students there, so if you're not sure what you want, apply broadly, and go visit wherever you're accepted. For reference, I applied to 12 and got into 6 (3 waitlists, 3 rejects).
Edit: I'm not watching this thread, so if anyone would like to reply directly to me, I'd appreciate it if you would tag me. Thanks!
1. I disagree that school name doesn't matter as long as it's "good to okay". Some school names will carry you farther than others. It's true. Some schools are "good" and then you've got Ivy Leagues/Duke/Stanford/MIT/whatever that are in their own league (and if you want to look even further, you can subcategorize those schools, but the differences become far less pronounced). This is for almost every aspect of life during and after college. Going to a "good to okay" school isn't going to hurt you, but going to an extremely well known and prestigious school will do nothing but help, and help a lot. You can say this is anecdotal evidence, but when anecdotal evidence is literally everyone I've met, it starts to mean some thing. You want Goldmann Sachs? Harvard Med? Bain? Yale Law? Rhodes Scholarship? Wall Street? Congressman? Go to a top school. It's not the faculty, it's the students. Students will be a major part of your learning environment and make an enormous difference. Both of my roommates were valedictorians and it shows and their intelligence, passion, guidance, and friendship has definitely transformed my college experience. If I had had apathetic roommates who just wanted to waste their lives doing nothing, I probably would not be where I am now. This is what I'm truly grateful for about my school. The people make the school what it is.
2. These top schools aren't that expensive. Nearly everyone gets some sort of financial aid, and most schools have followed Princeton's example and done away with loans, giving only scholarships and grants to students that need them. That 250k sticker price gets cut down a lot. I'm very solidly upper middle class and I received financial aid from no fewer than 3 elite schools while my state school gave me nothing but a loan for a couple thousand dollars (I graduated top of my class + 2400 + two 800 subject tests and none of the aid I received was merit aid). The school I attend now is cheaper than the state school I got into. And I went to the elite school that gave me the least financial aid.
3. 12-15 schools isn't that bad, but don't apply to a school you wouldn't attend (as has been stated here). Chances still are you might (probably not, but might) only get into 1 school. Make it be one you're willing to go to. People can tell you to "know what you want" in a school all they like, but you're not really going to know what you like until you visit during admitted students weekend (the first time I came to the school I now attend was after I was accepted). Each school has its own culture that you won't ever figure out until you visit and spend a day or two with students there, so if you're not sure what you want, apply broadly, and go visit wherever you're accepted. For reference, I applied to 12 and got into 6 (3 waitlists, 3 rejects).
Edit: I'm not watching this thread, so if anyone would like to reply directly to me, I'd appreciate it if you would tag me. Thanks!
Also, just a tip for applying freshmen, when colleges ask you to add a list of books you've read (e.g. Columbia, CMU), throw in a random children's book such as "The Cat in the Hat" or "Good Night Moon". I also recommend throwing in some very classic books, such as the original Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milnes. From my experience, these kinds of books show that even in the midst of reading adult books e.g. "East of Eden", "A Farewell to Arms", "Fifty Shades of Gray", you still have a compassionate side (basically to balance out expected maturity, you have sophomoric qualities to balance them out). I did this on my CMU application and went even further to explain the meaningfulness that Dr. Seuss' "Hop on Pop" was to me. The Admissions department called me and said that they really loved my application, especially the book part.
Also for your Common App essay, don't be afraid to sound like yourself. It may be hard to write something that will make an impact on the Admissions staff, but try to find something unique and quirky in your life and exploit it to your advantage. I wrote my essay on how I threw half-assed Lego airplanes out of the window of the 25th story of a building when I was around 4 years old. Although I'm applying for transfers right now (basically more or less on the same page with all of the incoming high school seniors), it doesn't hurt to find something to make you stand out from the millions of other high school students applying to college.
Also for your Common App essay, don't be afraid to sound like yourself. It may be hard to write something that will make an impact on the Admissions staff, but try to find something unique and quirky in your life and exploit it to your advantage. I wrote my essay on how I threw half-assed Lego airplanes out of the window of the 25th story of a building when I was around 4 years old. Although I'm applying for transfers right now (basically more or less on the same page with all of the incoming high school seniors), it doesn't hurt to find something to make you stand out from the millions of other high school students applying to college.
usually you can be fairly lenient on the prompts in terms of interpretation
for example, on the uc personal statement essay, they actually encourage you to take the concept "the world you come from" and expand it to a number of vague topics like "the world of fishing", or "the world i go to in my head that makes me creative" or "the entire world from a global perspective" rather than the banal description of your culture or family. if there's any objections to writing about competitive Pokemon for that app, it would stem from the topic itself, not the interpretation of the prompt
for example, on the uc personal statement essay, they actually encourage you to take the concept "the world you come from" and expand it to a number of vague topics like "the world of fishing", or "the world i go to in my head that makes me creative" or "the entire world from a global perspective" rather than the banal description of your culture or family. if there's any objections to writing about competitive Pokemon for that app, it would stem from the topic itself, not the interpretation of the prompt
I did the ACT once got 34(will retake it though), expect 2250+ in my SAT,but here in India we don't have have GPA's we straight up get percentages,er..so 82% in my 12th Grade passing out exam,and er..ranked in the top 150,000(#55,433) out of 1.75 million competitors in the JEE Mains(Engineering Entrance Examination basically),for those of you who don't know what that is...google it,lol. So I'm kind of worried :(. My ACT is fine ,will be giving the SAT,and er...also have prizes from a bunch of Olympiads I used to give when I was younger. We also have to submit essays and stuff to the colleges where we wish to apply right? But I'm worried..kind of. Because my school passing out %age is not that much. But on the brighter side when I was in Grade 10 I had a 92% so maybe it balances out? Some advice guys?
Somewhere reasonably good I guess...I have my subject tests next month,and my Sat in dec...I'll prolly get 800 in my subjet tests and ~2250/2300 in my reasoning paper...I'd like Renaisaler Polytechinic...um...CalTech(doubt I'd get in), ny college with a competitve engineering course basically...Georgia Tech and a few others are on my shortlist :P weird place to ask for college help :x
Message xenu. I reckon he was in a very similar situation to you and I'm sure he'd be willing to give you some advice.
It's hard to generalize since I'm sure there are places that care about it, but in general I wouldn't say it makes much of a difference for private schools. If you come from a state that would likely not be very well represented they might take you a little more willingly for diversity reasons, but I think that would be very far down the line in terms of relevant factors. I very, very highly doubt it would be exclusionary.
UChicago is widely regarded as handling admissions a little differently than most other schools. For them essays do matter quite a bit, possibly more than any other similarly selective school. Sometimes that helps, sometimes that hurts. Either way, make sure to apply for the first phase. It's more or less the only way to have a chance of getting in anymore.
Also, I got into Chicago from Indiana, which presumably is more represented than Connecticut due to proximity. My credentials weren't great but I like to think I did really well on the essays. I didn't end up going there because 70k a year is far more than I was willing to pay, but I can still probably answer some questions on admissions since I spent so much time worrying about that app a year ago.
Also, I got into Chicago from Indiana, which presumably is more represented than Connecticut due to proximity. My credentials weren't great but I like to think I did really well on the essays. I didn't end up going there because 70k a year is far more than I was willing to pay, but I can still probably answer some questions on admissions since I spent so much time worrying about that app a year ago.
Early Action, yes. I forgot if they called it Early Action or Early Decision and didn't feel like looking it up. And, yes, they ask really odd questions. They're designed to get a view of your thought process in novel situations or something. I'm sure they get more interesting answers to read if nothing else. I ended up doing:
GPA and test score-wise you're about where I was. Your GPA is a little higher, test scores a little lower, but it all balances and we're only talking a couple of points either way (4.1, 35 ACT). However... you're never really "ok" on that stuff. One of my friends had a 4.4+ and a 36 ACT and got rejected from Northwestern, which is much less selective. The fact of the matter is that beneath 30% acceptance a school will be rejecting qualified people, putting "safe" applicants at risk. Beneath 10% there is no safety. 70% of the people applying to those schools will have their friends and family incredibly confident that they can get in anywhere they want and in their generation it might have been true. Now that is no longer the case. I repeat: you are never at a "safe" level for application if a school has less than a ten percent acceptance rate. Be aware of that going in.
On the brighter side, anecdotal and statistical evidence supports the idea that most people get into their #1 choice. Maybe it's because they put more effort into that school than anywhere else but the trend still holds. Also, you will probably be happy wherever you end up if you have scores that high. Sure, USC (the Carolina one) doesn't have a Nobel-stacked Econ department. But by getting involved with the right clubs and people I'm fitting in well enough so far. There are still going to be lots of people smarter than they have any right to be at any high ranked private school or large public school's honors college. What I'm trying to say is that while I can't guarantee that any score is high enough to get into any given school, sufficiently high credentials are more or less a guarantee you get into somewhere that you'll probably enjoy.
The Where's Waldo one was from two years ago. If you haven't looked at those yet, do it immediately. You should probably spend a while on those essays. I more or less did all of my other ones in a day or two, but I started on that essay in July and worked on it on and off until the end of September.UChicago Essay Prompt said:
GPA and test score-wise you're about where I was. Your GPA is a little higher, test scores a little lower, but it all balances and we're only talking a couple of points either way (4.1, 35 ACT). However... you're never really "ok" on that stuff. One of my friends had a 4.4+ and a 36 ACT and got rejected from Northwestern, which is much less selective. The fact of the matter is that beneath 30% acceptance a school will be rejecting qualified people, putting "safe" applicants at risk. Beneath 10% there is no safety. 70% of the people applying to those schools will have their friends and family incredibly confident that they can get in anywhere they want and in their generation it might have been true. Now that is no longer the case. I repeat: you are never at a "safe" level for application if a school has less than a ten percent acceptance rate. Be aware of that going in.
On the brighter side, anecdotal and statistical evidence supports the idea that most people get into their #1 choice. Maybe it's because they put more effort into that school than anywhere else but the trend still holds. Also, you will probably be happy wherever you end up if you have scores that high. Sure, USC (the Carolina one) doesn't have a Nobel-stacked Econ department. But by getting involved with the right clubs and people I'm fitting in well enough so far. There are still going to be lots of people smarter than they have any right to be at any high ranked private school or large public school's honors college. What I'm trying to say is that while I can't guarantee that any score is high enough to get into any given school, sufficiently high credentials are more or less a guarantee you get into somewhere that you'll probably enjoy.