This too but the good posters are very helpful haha
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Applying to college
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This too but the good posters are very helpful haha
Everywhere except the "chances" threads. Pulled up mine from a few years ago and lol can't believe some of the info I shared. A few weeks after posting that I got into my first choice school (Wisconsin) and spent the rest of my senior year waiting for other schools to reject me just so I could send in my security deposit faster.
Just sort of reposting this since its probably the most important post here. Just wanna say that no matter where you end up, you'll be happy for sure. College is truly an experience guys
Hjwang said:
Yes, particularly with your grades. Tennis teams need to be larger than 8 kids, and you dont need to be "forced" in w/ subpar grades - but you need to know the coach to get him to put in a word for you at admissions, even if it isnt a formal letter. Which you might even get tbh, idk how good at tennis the Ivys are and top 75 sounds impressive
toshimelonhead said:
what's the M in HPYSM?
prolly mit
"morehouse college"
Anyway, on a serious note, I am currently applying for transfers to MIT and Cornell for Engineering. However, I have the time but not the funds to go visit the MIT campus or talk to MIT students/reps. Its prestige is already a well-known fact, but I want to learn more about the school in terms of life, engineering curriculum, and a plethora of other information that are not usually disclosed on a website page. I've looked into some of the research MIT's Aerospace department is into (as well as Lincoln Lab). Is there any way to procure more specific information about a school you're interested in without visiting or talking to representatives? If so, please lmk.
And I've made phone calls to the respective departments before, and the information they provided me wasn't so helpful.
Wow it's hella late but I guess I'll still throw in some of my progress and a few questions in here too. Yay for 13 days left.
So I've already been talking with Bughouse a lot recently because I used to really want to go to UPenn, but then I realized that they don't actually offer a major that I really really like, and tbh I wouldn't be going to Wharton either so I didn't think it would be worth it. Instead right now I'm Early Decisioning to Johns Hopkins. I've basically completed my application at this point, Common App Essay / Supplement / Recommendations / Resume and all, but I guess there's still time to make changes if I need to.
The funny thing is that this "step down" from UPenn to Johns Hopkins has really confused my family and a lot of my friends; they think I can do better. It's fun being asian
But actually not really because I think my chances are definitely hampered since I'm 1. not a girl 2. chinese. My grades are pretty good (Im sorry I cant give numbers because I dont know how the fuck my school's GPA works but it's somewhere around straight A level in all Honors / AP courses. If that means anything) and I got a 2350 on the SAT on my first try, but those are all pretty average numbers among the people I compete with at the school I go to. My extracurriculars are largely centered around volunteer work, and Im a captain of like 1 club in school (debate) and that's as far as they reach, unfortunately.
Generally nowadays I'm pretty stressed out and my confidence has taken a huge blow because of it. I dont know. As I've said my support system thinks I can do better, all the while I'm really nervous and unsure of whether I can even get into Johns Hopkins in the first place. And then comes the question do I really want to go to Johns Hopkins? The main reason why I've made this decision is because it's one of the best schools for my intended major (Public Health) but is that really a good enough reason? And my mom says that if I want to study graduate level in the future (as I'd have to with this major) then it'd be better for me to go somewhere cheap, easy, and local like Rutgers. Or shoot for a scholarship in one of the middle level schools. It's hella expensive too, I mean it's been tough for me to really hold that fact with much weight but it does exist. Especially when some odd Ohio University offers me like 124k$ just for being a national merit semifinalist / finalist.
So besides that uncertainty I'm also really not confident in my essays. For my Common App I wrote a story about my first time volunteering and how that changed my outlook on the practicability of certain skills (violin) and for my supplement I wrote about my passion for health related issues and service, and how that ties into the many research / internship / volunteer opportunities at JHU. I feel like the subjects are too simple though, and there are also a lot more meaningful things that I do in my free time that I didn't write about, like literally last night I saved a man's life on a rescue squad by doing CPR for 40 minutes. College counselors and friends have told me that they're great essays but I feel like they're not particularly deep or insightful, which could hurt since I've met the admissions counselor for my region and he's legit boring af. Maybe that's why not many people get into JHU from my school (even though we send like ~20 kids to ivies every year)
And if I dont get into my ED Im pretty screwed too because my Senior year grades are drastically shittier. I've been a straight A student for the past three years of high school but Im definitely not getting an A in AP Lit (I have an EIGHTY right now) and Im struggling to get an A in AP Physics C. I guess partially it's because I'm definitely not trying as hard as I used to but hrrrrng dont make me think about that I dont want to deal with it
SO I guess in short after this long ass rant my questions are:
1. Is it worth going for prestigious but expensive colleges if you're pretty sure you're just gonna go graduate later?
2. Are my nerves acting up and my essay topics are fine or should I stop convincing myself that they're ok and rewrite them
3. HOW do I regain confidence in my abilities and my decisions
4. FOr real though, how Im like 2 inches away from giving up and just going to Rutgers
Thankss
EDIT:
Oh and one last thing. It might seem trashy that I'm fluctuating so much on my decision for first choice and at this point still am not even sure, but that reflects more upon my personality and the fact that I don't care too much about WHICH college I get into since on the one hand while I certainly dont want to face failure I also dont see a major difference between level and prestige in the top schools that Im considering. So "dream school" level for me is like a handful of maybe 5 reasons why I'd want to go here instead of anywhere else and that's already a pretty significant amount of caring. Maybe it's horrible I think this way but honestly will I prosper that much more if I go to like Columbia instead of Johns Hopkins??? I dont think so
So I've already been talking with Bughouse a lot recently because I used to really want to go to UPenn, but then I realized that they don't actually offer a major that I really really like, and tbh I wouldn't be going to Wharton either so I didn't think it would be worth it. Instead right now I'm Early Decisioning to Johns Hopkins. I've basically completed my application at this point, Common App Essay / Supplement / Recommendations / Resume and all, but I guess there's still time to make changes if I need to.
The funny thing is that this "step down" from UPenn to Johns Hopkins has really confused my family and a lot of my friends; they think I can do better. It's fun being asian
But actually not really because I think my chances are definitely hampered since I'm 1. not a girl 2. chinese. My grades are pretty good (Im sorry I cant give numbers because I dont know how the fuck my school's GPA works but it's somewhere around straight A level in all Honors / AP courses. If that means anything) and I got a 2350 on the SAT on my first try, but those are all pretty average numbers among the people I compete with at the school I go to. My extracurriculars are largely centered around volunteer work, and Im a captain of like 1 club in school (debate) and that's as far as they reach, unfortunately.
Generally nowadays I'm pretty stressed out and my confidence has taken a huge blow because of it. I dont know. As I've said my support system thinks I can do better, all the while I'm really nervous and unsure of whether I can even get into Johns Hopkins in the first place. And then comes the question do I really want to go to Johns Hopkins? The main reason why I've made this decision is because it's one of the best schools for my intended major (Public Health) but is that really a good enough reason? And my mom says that if I want to study graduate level in the future (as I'd have to with this major) then it'd be better for me to go somewhere cheap, easy, and local like Rutgers. Or shoot for a scholarship in one of the middle level schools. It's hella expensive too, I mean it's been tough for me to really hold that fact with much weight but it does exist. Especially when some odd Ohio University offers me like 124k$ just for being a national merit semifinalist / finalist.
So besides that uncertainty I'm also really not confident in my essays. For my Common App I wrote a story about my first time volunteering and how that changed my outlook on the practicability of certain skills (violin) and for my supplement I wrote about my passion for health related issues and service, and how that ties into the many research / internship / volunteer opportunities at JHU. I feel like the subjects are too simple though, and there are also a lot more meaningful things that I do in my free time that I didn't write about, like literally last night I saved a man's life on a rescue squad by doing CPR for 40 minutes. College counselors and friends have told me that they're great essays but I feel like they're not particularly deep or insightful, which could hurt since I've met the admissions counselor for my region and he's legit boring af. Maybe that's why not many people get into JHU from my school (even though we send like ~20 kids to ivies every year)
And if I dont get into my ED Im pretty screwed too because my Senior year grades are drastically shittier. I've been a straight A student for the past three years of high school but Im definitely not getting an A in AP Lit (I have an EIGHTY right now) and Im struggling to get an A in AP Physics C. I guess partially it's because I'm definitely not trying as hard as I used to but hrrrrng dont make me think about that I dont want to deal with it
SO I guess in short after this long ass rant my questions are:
1. Is it worth going for prestigious but expensive colleges if you're pretty sure you're just gonna go graduate later?
2. Are my nerves acting up and my essay topics are fine or should I stop convincing myself that they're ok and rewrite them
3. HOW do I regain confidence in my abilities and my decisions
4. FOr real though, how Im like 2 inches away from giving up and just going to Rutgers
Thankss
EDIT:
Oh and one last thing. It might seem trashy that I'm fluctuating so much on my decision for first choice and at this point still am not even sure, but that reflects more upon my personality and the fact that I don't care too much about WHICH college I get into since on the one hand while I certainly dont want to face failure I also dont see a major difference between level and prestige in the top schools that Im considering. So "dream school" level for me is like a handful of maybe 5 reasons why I'd want to go here instead of anywhere else and that's already a pretty significant amount of caring. Maybe it's horrible I think this way but honestly will I prosper that much more if I go to like Columbia instead of Johns Hopkins??? I dont think so
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this may sound harsh, but mindsets like this are as dumb as it gets. there isn't a single human being smart/dumb enough to succeed at JHU but not at Penn, and visa versa. you can pretty much insert any two colleges and get to a similar conclusion. the only reason someone would be more successful going to one school over the other is personal preference.
go to the school where you think you'll be the happiest. prestige debates are idiotic. i went to rutgers solely because of price and made a huge mistake.
WHAT? AN EIGHTY? NO A IN PHYSICS C? SEE YOU AT COMMUNITY COLLEGE BRO.
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No, I totally agree, and that's what I try to tell them! JHU is probably one of the top 10 schools in the entire nation. It's definitely prestigious enough, if that even matters. It's not like UPenn or even Harvard is gonna be significantly better (but they are going to be significantly more stressful for sure!)
But I feel like at least in my parents' point of view they think I would be "wasting my talent" if I didnt go to an Ivy League. I dont buy into that though, technically I consider Hopkins to better than a lot of the Ivy Leagues, especially in med fields.
Lol I remember the first time ever I got a B+ in a marking period was in eighth grade and I cried, and now I get B+s in marking periods all the time and dont care and looking back I feel like an idiot. Still though, an 80 is definitely low for my standards. Though, it's not so bad because it's senior year and Im not gonna use AP Lit irl either
Im not the kind of person that works particularly hard at anything, I usually just ride on talent / luck / minimum necessary. Shitty that I realize this right before college apps... at least it doesnt show in my performance... yet
Fun story: the sole reason why Im not applying to Georgetown is because they rewuire three SAT IIs and I only took 2. Not about to do that again
Electrolyte, just wanted to mention I'm a JHU alum (recent too) so if you have questions, go for it.
Regarding the question "is it worth it to go to prestigious/expensive colleges if you're just going to graduate later". First, if you're worried about money, I'd advise against something like a binding early decision. I applied to a lot of schools for undergrad and I was essentially left with two money tiers: local state schools that basically gave me a full ride, and better schools that gave me a schoarship or good financial aid, but not both. JHU gave me no scholarships but the financial aid I was offered essentially let it match the price of the other schools anyway.
For graduate school the application process is hard, the acceptance turnout is way worse than undergrad, and you have to give yourself the best odds. Going to a better school for the education is a good idea, but if you're proactive anywhere it goes a long way. As for money, you really need to be aiming to be funded going into your graduate program. I'm currently in my second year of grad school: in my first, I was supported by a grant, and for a while, I'll be on a teaching assistantship, where I teach a course for the university for my funding. So if all you're worried about it having to spend later, you shouldn't expect to do that if you apply to the right places.
Also you're absolutely right that when you get to a certain level of prestige your choice after that doesn't make much of a difference. What affects you most is how you interact with your college experience. For me, I did research while I was in physics, and took Grad classes/read advanced texts with professors when I settled on math.
Regarding the question "is it worth it to go to prestigious/expensive colleges if you're just going to graduate later". First, if you're worried about money, I'd advise against something like a binding early decision. I applied to a lot of schools for undergrad and I was essentially left with two money tiers: local state schools that basically gave me a full ride, and better schools that gave me a schoarship or good financial aid, but not both. JHU gave me no scholarships but the financial aid I was offered essentially let it match the price of the other schools anyway.
For graduate school the application process is hard, the acceptance turnout is way worse than undergrad, and you have to give yourself the best odds. Going to a better school for the education is a good idea, but if you're proactive anywhere it goes a long way. As for money, you really need to be aiming to be funded going into your graduate program. I'm currently in my second year of grad school: in my first, I was supported by a grant, and for a while, I'll be on a teaching assistantship, where I teach a course for the university for my funding. So if all you're worried about it having to spend later, you shouldn't expect to do that if you apply to the right places.
Also you're absolutely right that when you get to a certain level of prestige your choice after that doesn't make much of a difference. What affects you most is how you interact with your college experience. For me, I did research while I was in physics, and took Grad classes/read advanced texts with professors when I settled on math.
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this process fucking sucks. to avoid being a snob or looked down upon, i won't disclose the school but I was on their website which explicitly said you can apply to >1 college in the school. talk to the admissions office, and that page was outdated. talked to a local representative at a night time presentation or whatever, and they said the same as the website did. like, honestly...
I'm so lost on how to write for my essay prompt. I've gone through at least three drafts, and all of them have turned out terrible. Any writing tips would be greatly appreciated. The prompt is: "Please tell us about the particular life experiences, talents, commitments and/or interests you will bring specifically to our campus that will enrich our community".
just talk about what you can do? The prompt seems pretty clear to me...what exactly are you having trouble with?
Hey for people thinking about Hopkins, it's a very hard school to do well at compared to its peers, so if you think your GPA will actually matter (like if you want to apply to med or law school), then you might be better off going to a school of similar caliber that grades a bit easier (think Brown). Just food for thought.
As for public health, a bachelors in public health won't really let you do anything. Hopkins has the best public health school in the country and one of the best med schools too, but you can get into their MPH program from any top school as long as your GPA is okay (3.6+ is nearly a lock, but that's hard to hit at Hopkins undergrad) and your GRE is above average (which isn't hard). Hopkins med is a crapshoot even if you're coming from Harvard, so don't go to Hopkins undergrad just to try to get into Hopkins med. Hopkins also has a reputation for being cutthroat (though I'm sure it's at least slightly exaggerated and probably depends on what you're doing ie premed vs like history or something).
If anyone is considering going into a healthcare field and wants advice, feel free to PM me. I'm pretty knowledgeable about the field, particularly from an admissions standpoint, and I can help you target specific undergrads that will align well with your goals.
As for public health, a bachelors in public health won't really let you do anything. Hopkins has the best public health school in the country and one of the best med schools too, but you can get into their MPH program from any top school as long as your GPA is okay (3.6+ is nearly a lock, but that's hard to hit at Hopkins undergrad) and your GRE is above average (which isn't hard). Hopkins med is a crapshoot even if you're coming from Harvard, so don't go to Hopkins undergrad just to try to get into Hopkins med. Hopkins also has a reputation for being cutthroat (though I'm sure it's at least slightly exaggerated and probably depends on what you're doing ie premed vs like history or something).
If anyone is considering going into a healthcare field and wants advice, feel free to PM me. I'm pretty knowledgeable about the field, particularly from an admissions standpoint, and I can help you target specific undergrads that will align well with your goals.
Just sent in my Early Decision application. Feeling quite accomplished.
Good luck to everyone else!
Good luck to everyone else!
Same! Good luck to you and everyone else applying :)
May the odds ever be in your favor.
If it's any consolation to you Harvard applicants, I'm predicting a 0.44% increase in admission percentages.
If it's any consolation to you Harvard applicants, I'm predicting a 0.44% increase in admission percentages.
Harvard is for straight boys. They're a proverbially dying proverbial breed, but I'd still bang them.
This contradict a lot of what professors and panel people said about graduate school admissions at my uni. If your school has notorious grade inflation and a less-than-stellar student body—Brown and Columbia are the obvious two—then the standard 3.6 cut-off is thrown out with the expectation being closer to 3.8-3.9 with A+ beyond refactored as counted as a 4.0 rather than 4.33. Graduate schools know that it is much harder to keep a decent GPA at Caltech, UChicago, JHU and Princeton than to do so at some peer schools. Med schools may have hard cut-offs, but graduate schools in most other disciplines don't. Further, grades are a tiny part of what matters. Recommendation letters and journal / conferences publications are far more important for PhD programs.
It is never going to get easier to write it, so there is no point in putting it off. Get something down (loooks like you have been good with this), and if you arent feeling it, scrap it! Once you found a good idea, revise it until you are proud of it.
For this essay in particular, don't write about your desires or passions. Write about things that you have DONE! Your actions should tell the story of what you are "passionate" (what an awful word) about, while simultaneously offering proof of that. If you don't have anything noteworthy, start SOMETHING (really can be any kind of project related to what you want to major in or something you enjoy doing hobby-wise). It can be shitty as long as you fabricate it well enough in your essay (ie. Lots of specifics and very obvious implications of how that defines you as a person).
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1. Yes, your GPA is somewhat undergrad dependent and will be contextualized, but it will not excuse poor performance, and the extent to which school name makes up for a slightly lower GPA does not have a consensus and has been discussed ad nauseam on other areas of the internet (PM me if you are really interested in these discussions and I'll find some for you).
2. Yes, A+ counts as 4.0, not 4.33. I have not heard of rampant grade inflation at Columbia (Brown and Yale, yes, Columbia I've always thought was in the middle), but you're a student there, so you probably know better than me.
3. Med schools don't have hard cutoffs actually, but they are by far the most stats driven graduate school (except for top-tier law). For masters programs, it's generally do you have decent stats? Do you have a decent essay and decent recs? Then you're good. For PhD, if you want to go to a good lab at a solid institution, yes, recs, publications, connections mean a lot more, absolutely. I am a medical student, so the bulk of my expertise will be with medical school admissions, but I'm somewhat familiar with admissions for other health-related fields as well.
4. In general, med school admissions are an entirely different beast than MS/PhD/MPH programs, but there are some similarities, so it's important to specify which you're talking about (not directed at you - just this conversation in general).
Sorry, I think I'm lacking in reading comprehension here, but can you tell me what's contradictory about what your advisors have said vs. what I've said? I mean this 100% non-sarcastically (if there was any confusion).
What about MD/PhD combined degrees?
The issue is that going to a school with easier grading to improve chances of getting into graduate schools is a terrible idea because grades are viewed relatively so long as you go to a well-known school. My other point was that the magic 3.6+ number that many people throw around is rubbish.
I had this in mind when writing that post. I really don't know how admissions works for MD/PhD, but I know research experience is important.
They're somewhat viewed relatively, but how that relativity works is not always clear, and no one can say whether a 3.5 from Hopkins or a 3.9 from Brown is stronger. When in doubt, if you know you want to do something (say, medical school), go to the school that has the best track record for that particular thing (assuming you have a choice). 3.6+ was for MPH only and was an arbitrary ballpark number. For medical school, it's a whole host of other factors, and GPA is a "necessary but not anywhere near sufficient" component. Also no one is going to look at a 4.0 from Brown and be like "he went to an easy school so that 4.0 doesn't matter". If they only have a 30 (yes I know its scored out of 528 now - this is around a 509 on the new test) MCAT and got a 4.0 at Brown, then yeah, maybe someone's going to be like "wtf is going on here", but if that 4.0 is backed up by a monster 38 (521 new) or something, no one is going to care that the 4.0 is from an easy school. That's the main reason the MCAT exists - to provide something that is standardized to give context to something that is inherently unstandardized. If you go to Hopkins and do BME and get like a 3.3 or something, but you then get a 40 (522ish) MCAT, they're probably gonna be like "damn okay this kid is pro and his GPA doesn't tell the whole story". However, if you do the same thing and get a 31 they're gonna be like "uhhhh there isn't really anything here that's saying this kid is strong academically, let's come back later maybe". So there's a whole mess of things to worry about and yes GPA doesn't exist in a vacuum, so you can't just say school A 3.3 = school B 3.8 and have them be the same all else being equal because all else will never ever ever be equal.
My general advice for people that need a high GPA for something is as follows:
1) go to a well-regarded school that you like and think you will be happy at
2) go to a school that isn't going to kick your ass (so unless you're literally one of the smartest kids ever, generally avoid WashU, UChicago, Hopkins if you have a choice between them and other comparable schools with good track records of getting people where you wanna go)
3) go to a cheaper school if money is an issue or if you're going to be in debt forever because med school loans suck (this can either mean your state school or a scholarship to a strong private school)
4) Don't get too hung up on which school is easier, but understand that some schools are harder to get a higher GPA at than others and you don't want to make things harder for yourself than they have to be unless you have a very good reason to
MD/PhD is even harder than MD alone. Median stats for MD alone is 3.7/31 while for MD/PhD they're closer to 3.8/34 - an enormous jump. The most competitive applicants for top MD or MD/PhD programs will generally have 3.8+/37+. Research experience is also important, but you just have to show familiarity and understanding - productivity, while valued, is not an absolute necessity.
These are good things to talk about and consider if you want to go into medicine, but they are not the end-all-be-all. Just things you need to keep in mind.