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College Acceptances / Discussion Thread
- Thread starter comatthew6
- Start date
my personal experience is very unique i think, unless you want to go to art school.
hm, not sure about canadian universities giving kids an easier time but it sort of feels like that when i look at how many of my friends got into UBC. i had a few that applied to SFU but none were accepted and anyone who didn't get in anywhere went in for 2 year programs to improve grades/portfolios.
it probably isn't best to do what i did unless you work in a very specialized area. i had no idea where i wanted to go and decided that i would take a year off, but on a whim i went to national portfolio day, a gathering of most popular art schools, to see what Emily Carr thought of my current portfolio which was entirely illustration at the time (and that was something my high school art prof hated). by what i like to call fluke i was accepted on the spot, and who was i to say no honestly. after that i basically gave up on grades (in my situation they didn't matter as much, portfolio is 80% of acceptance rate) and just applied for every art scholarship i could and went from there.
outside of the art world i couldn't tell you what to do, honestly. i never had to write an application/essay and i did not have to wait for my acceptance letter like everyone else did. i was accepted in november so i was home free for the rest of the year which was nice.
honestly just be good at what you want to do and prove to them that you are good at it and that you deserve to learn wherever you're applying for.
i am also lucky to have low tuition but believe me, my supplies can add up to twice the cost of everyone's text books plus my own textbooks that live under my bed.
if by chance anyone does have questions about low-acceptance rate art schools (or any acceptance rate i guess) then i can try and help out. a few of my profs grade portfolios and they are very particular about what they want. where i am, portfolios are re-graded to be accepted into certain courses which is balls because it could mean losing your major.
in conclusion, don't go to art school because you won't have any money until after you're dead.
edit: eraddd y u so smrt
edit edit: http://www.studentawards.com/
apply for all scholarships you can. a friend of mine has won a couple random scholarships from studentawards. only a few hundred bucks, but hey, a few hundred bucks
Yeah, that's pretty questionable when you're applying for jobs and the like. As long as you are responsible and smart with your money, you should be able to use a credit card with no problems. The only people with bad credit scores are those who ended up for whatever reason spending more money than they were ready to pay.
You know, another interesting thing to note is that some not-as-high-tier schools tend to give out slightly more money as an incentive to attend, well at least in my case. When I was accepted to Oregon State, I found out I only had to pay >$3K a year for tuition because of the scholarships they offered me. I turned them down to attend the University of Washington, which is a great school, but I literally got nothing from them. I still chose to go to UW because it is a much better school, and I felt I would fit in much better there.
College apps are generally a very pain in the ass thing to go through, but the most important thing is to not fret, and just work your way through them. Honestly, not getting into Stanford or Harvard or wherever you dream to be is not the end of the world. To be completely honest, attending a top-tier school for your undergrad isn't nearly as important as you might think. Sure, it might help with finding better internships or w/e, but employers would much rather have a 4.0 graduate from a state school than a 3.0 student from Stanford, or something along those lines.
College apps are generally a very pain in the ass thing to go through, but the most important thing is to not fret, and just work your way through them. Honestly, not getting into Stanford or Harvard or wherever you dream to be is not the end of the world. To be completely honest, attending a top-tier school for your undergrad isn't nearly as important as you might think. Sure, it might help with finding better internships or w/e, but employers would much rather have a 4.0 graduate from a state school than a 3.0 student from Stanford, or something along those lines.
Well I guess you could say there's a disparity between what the college admissions officers believe are rigorous courses to what really are rigorous courses. French 4 was by far one of the easiest classes I've ever had, but I suppose in most other schools it's seen as a harder course. So, depending on the school you come from.
Maybe! I'm going to be living in an apartment next year. Any idea what dorm you'll be staying in?
HS Junior. 2240 SATs. 6 year violinist. 3 year (or at least, next year will be my 3rd) Starter on Varsity basketball team. 2009 U1200 Iowa state chess champion (along with other chess related accomplishments). Co-founded the robotics club at my school. My 9th grade grades sucked, but I think skipping a grade and moving half way around the world is a reasonable excuse for that. 10th grade I got straight A's including two 100%. All I need is community service and I'm set, right? I already know where I'm going for community service, since there's a place about a two minute walk from my house. Not to mention there is some mandatory CS from my school. That should get me into places like MIT and Stanford, right? I still need to take my SAT II's (Math 2 and Physics) and get good grades, but...
Also, i am a year younger than most people in my grade, so I could take a gap year and not be a year down. One of our close family friends is the professor of behavioral economics at Stanford, and he visited us in India and suggest I take a gap year. He even said I could intern under him if I did. I figure I'll apply to the top colleges this year without a safety school, and if I don't get in, then I'm free to take up his offer, get a nice recco letter and try again, but with a safety school.
Also, i am a year younger than most people in my grade, so I could take a gap year and not be a year down. One of our close family friends is the professor of behavioral economics at Stanford, and he visited us in India and suggest I take a gap year. He even said I could intern under him if I did. I figure I'll apply to the top colleges this year without a safety school, and if I don't get in, then I'm free to take up his offer, get a nice recco letter and try again, but with a safety school.
I want to see what you guys think about two factors that could potentially affect my personal college choice. I'll use Virginia as an example, as it's a school I'm considering for undergrad and/or grad school, and the only school where both factors apply to me. The first one, which is more of a problem for me, is admission percentages. Virginia's current student population is about 70% Virginian, which is a lot higher than most state schools with their respective states, and I want to know what that says about my chances of getting accepted as a non-Virginian. However, one of the main reasons I'm even considering UVA is the fact that both my parents went to Law school there, and one of my counselors said that legacy status (or double legacy in my case) can be a application tie breaker that might put me ahead of someone with similar credentials. So, how much do those two things really affect the admission process (also are there any UVA smogonites, although they'd probably graduate by the time I would be there)?
I'm not a senior in high school(graduated in 07), but I did get accepted to Devry! :D Though that's nothing really to write home about since the only thing you need to do to get into Devry is breathe.
I recommend taking a few politics classes, the politics department at UCSC was purged after 9/11 and some of the cool anarchist professors ended up at Merced.
I think I may have been unclear, when I say a no-loans policy I mean the university subsidizes your education so that no student has to tkae out loans. So it is very desirable to be accepted at one of these schools. I was under the impression that Harvard was had some sort of system that was very desirable in terms of affordability. User Alex said something to the affect that Harvard figured out a way to make it's education free to most students..
@Pocket- I my post should be applied mainly to the California system (CSU and UC), which is regarded as the flagship of tiered public education. I understand how difficult it is for most students to find the conditions that I describe in my post, but I think that it *shouldn't* be difficult and that the fact that it is now, (when it wasn't even 15 years ago) is a symptom of the privatization of public education. Also need based aide is very imperfect as it is now, or at least it is sometimes difficult to demonstrate need and this has been a plague to me personally.
The good news is that graduate school in Sweden and Germany is very cheap, which makes it even more desirable for me to emigrate!!!!
heh, interesting thread, definitely hit a chord with me as i basically worry about college 17/7 (because i have to sleep sometimes)
it's odd to read many of the posts in this thread and see everyone sounding so relaxed and reasonable about their college acceptance process and how they weren't totally bummed out when they didn't get in. this is more of a social issue, but where i live (in a 5 mile radius of columbia) the college competition is insanely fierce, and whether you were accepted/waitlisted/denied is everything. by that logic, everything leading up to that moment we send our applications in is similarly pressure-inducing and important -- the word college is a fixture in my school and you can walk around it in the classrooms like furniture. competition for extracurriculars is also incredibly fierce and that's especially frustrating when you feel like you care about a field that other people who are better at networking are attaining leadership status in just for their transcripts! and it's hard to say something like "i can't compromise my childhood!" because i don't want to compromise my young-adulthood either! (sophomore here).
anyway, yeah, as omicron said, colleges are getting incredibly difficult to get into, many kids at my school who were SGs of model UN teams / took college level math courses / literally parted the red sea + led all the jews out of egypt for some reason did not get into their top tier schools. since i'm trying to get into the little ivies or something (wesleyan+amherst+williams or other L-A colleges) i'm trying for a "depth of field" in terms of literature -- showing that i regularly work on my writing skills and frequently enter competitions + submit to journals and the like. i definitely agree with what's been said about not trying to have a finger in every pie but in focusing on depth in one particular field -- so many kids at the school where i go (which has a very high college acceptance rate, at least compared to most private nyc schools) try to do everything and it seems untenable. at the very least i cannot imagine them totally engaging themselves in all of their endeavors.
in conclusion, schools like harvard or yale want community involvement. if you're determined to lock yourself up in the library and get a perfect GPA and yet you don't extend feelers of friendship to the community around you, it will show and hurt you in your applications. heck, snubbing one person halfway through the year has already killed several of my opportunities (though that may just be because my high school is so political). definitely being hypocritical here but to anyone still trucking along i'd advise to try to "take part" and really push yourself in community programs. even in the most political atmospheres, true effort will not go unnoticed, and from there follows meaningless titles, and they look impressive on your transcript
it's odd to read many of the posts in this thread and see everyone sounding so relaxed and reasonable about their college acceptance process and how they weren't totally bummed out when they didn't get in. this is more of a social issue, but where i live (in a 5 mile radius of columbia) the college competition is insanely fierce, and whether you were accepted/waitlisted/denied is everything. by that logic, everything leading up to that moment we send our applications in is similarly pressure-inducing and important -- the word college is a fixture in my school and you can walk around it in the classrooms like furniture. competition for extracurriculars is also incredibly fierce and that's especially frustrating when you feel like you care about a field that other people who are better at networking are attaining leadership status in just for their transcripts! and it's hard to say something like "i can't compromise my childhood!" because i don't want to compromise my young-adulthood either! (sophomore here).
anyway, yeah, as omicron said, colleges are getting incredibly difficult to get into, many kids at my school who were SGs of model UN teams / took college level math courses / literally parted the red sea + led all the jews out of egypt for some reason did not get into their top tier schools. since i'm trying to get into the little ivies or something (wesleyan+amherst+williams or other L-A colleges) i'm trying for a "depth of field" in terms of literature -- showing that i regularly work on my writing skills and frequently enter competitions + submit to journals and the like. i definitely agree with what's been said about not trying to have a finger in every pie but in focusing on depth in one particular field -- so many kids at the school where i go (which has a very high college acceptance rate, at least compared to most private nyc schools) try to do everything and it seems untenable. at the very least i cannot imagine them totally engaging themselves in all of their endeavors.
in conclusion, schools like harvard or yale want community involvement. if you're determined to lock yourself up in the library and get a perfect GPA and yet you don't extend feelers of friendship to the community around you, it will show and hurt you in your applications. heck, snubbing one person halfway through the year has already killed several of my opportunities (though that may just be because my high school is so political). definitely being hypocritical here but to anyone still trucking along i'd advise to try to "take part" and really push yourself in community programs. even in the most political atmospheres, true effort will not go unnoticed, and from there follows meaningless titles, and they look impressive on your transcript
I guess I'll talk about my experiences with the college admissions process. I go to a magnet program for high school, so it's really hard getting into a good ivy or top college. We get a lot going into the ivies, and had a bunch of Yale, Cornell, Stanford, MIT, etc. I'll be posting this response as someone who did not get into ivies like that.
Just for the sake of context, my main "selling points" / stats would be: 2370 SAT, Debate Captain, Mock Trial Captain, 300 something? hours of community service, national merit finalist, 3.53/4.31 GPA (out of 4 and 5 respectively...D=), and attending this magnet program and the classes I've had the opportunity to take. This is pretty barebones, as every single high school senior has brainstormed lists of obscure shit to add to their apps--it's not wrong, everyone does it.
I got accepted to University of Maryland, Honors College (state school, with a 32,000 scholarship), Pennsylvania State Schreyer's Honors College, and Carnegie Mellon University. I got rejected from University of Pennsylvania (my ED school), Chicago University (I got deferred EA), and Johns Hopkins University. I'm waiting to see Columbia, but it's fucking stupid how unnecessarily complicated the procedure to see your scores is--and it's broken for fuck's sake. I'll let you know bojangles.
From my experiences, my own acceptances and rejections, my faults, and from watching my peers get into so many of these universities, here's my take on the "Dos and Don'ts" and my opinions or thoughts on some of the most important things.
1) It's a crapshoot. It sucks saying this, but going for a top college is honestly luck of the draw sometimes. Assuming you're another good student with good extracurriculars and scores etc....there are thousands of you. Even if you had the ability to get in to a school, and were "better" than someone else who got accepted, you might not necessarily get in. Keep in mind there are thousands of people fighting for every spot. Some may be better than you, and some might be worse. But the worse ones might get in, while you don't. It happens--it's unfortunate, but due to all of the factors that come together to make a single application, it's understandable. Don't beat yourself up or feel bad about yourself if you don't make a school. It's not necessarily your fault.
2) Race matters. This is the thing that I've come to realize the most through all of this, and it's really bugging me. One of my teachers, albeit in a joking way, pointed to one of the asian magnets and said "you're not getting in anywhere" and pointed to the black guy and said "you're getting in everywhere." We laughed--but he wasn't wrong. He proceeded to get into two top universities, even though all he had was a good GPA and nothing else. A lot of people who did so much more and were much more qualified did not. I'm not trying to say "he got into UPenn and I didn't because I'm Indian." I'm saying a black guy with a 3.9 GPA is more impressive than an asian guy with the same. This is unfortunately true.
3) Do not BS your SAT II's. It sucks but these matter too, more than you would think. You don't need to take like four or anything; the required two is fine. Just make sure you do well in them. I thought I was pretty set after I got my 800 in Math II. I didn't take another SAT II until my senior year of high school (I suck dick at science so I steered away from those) and I took the the Literature SAT II in my senior year. I thought I did really well but I got a 660 on it. Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to retake it and had to use that as the SAT II I sent in with my colleges. Yeah so that didn't work out too well for me, and I think it's a major reason I didn't get the acceptances I wanted. Leave yourself time to retake the SAT IIs (and the SAT I / ACT) if necessary. These are stupid, but important tests, and you don't want to leave yourself like me, crunched for time and having to accept a bad test score.
4) Teacher reqs don't matter too much. You can get the most beaming recommendation by your teachers, but unless they are to the point where your teacher is like "I would adopt this nigga if I could" they probably don't mean too much. Think about it. The only reason you go to a specific teacher for a recommendation is because you did well in that class, they like you, or they are a coach of a club you're in, or you have a specific relationship with them, right? How many thousands of letters do you think colleges get saying "He's a good kid. He does the work, he's trustworthy, he's nice, he's smart, I coach his baseball team so I know he's hardworking, etc" ? Pretty much they only matter if they don't suck. Colleges are mainly making sure they aren't bad; so they still matter, they just don't really help you. Unless you're like...god, and your teacher says something similar.
5) Senior year matters. Just because you're a senior doesn't mean you can take loaf classes and fail them all. Most universities ask for a midyear report, so they can see the classes you are taking and how you are doing in them. I have seen some of my last year's seniors get their acceptances into MIT or Yale or whatever revoked because they completely disregarded senior year. Don't fuck up.
6) Colleges like to be surprised. They're happier hearing about the Asian kid who's a nationally ranked athlete as opposed to the Asian kid who's been doing math competitions since he was three (obvious exception is if you're like winning competitions and are incredibly top class of course). If you surprise them--if you do something really cool, something people like you normally don't do, etc--they're more likely to remember your application and to bring it up when discussing. Hooks matter so much. Cool I'm an Indian who's a debate captain. HEY DID YOU SEE THAT BROWN GUY WHO IS THE CAPTAIN OF HIS SCHOOL'S VARSITY BASKETBALL TEAM???? That sort of thing matters a lot.
7) Resume pushing can help you. If you aren't one of those national ranked athletes or regional debate champion or something, you might want to start building yourself a good resume. Most people say it's best to develop a specific thing you're good at, or focus your interests and activities. That's what I do. My interests lie in law and psychology, my activities focus on those, etc. I didn't do so to develop a hook for college; I did so because that's where my interests naturally veered to. But I didn't have any debate achievements (my only achievements coming from my season this year, so it was too late for colleges to hear about them) nor was our mock trial team particularly good, so it didn't even mean all that much. One of my friends was in the same way. She's smart and hardworking, but didn't really have anything she was too good at. So she resume pushed the fuck out of everything. National Honor's societies, clubs, everything she could get a position of authority in. Bitch is going to MIT.
8) Take the most vigorous courses you can. This might seem obvious, but if you have the opportunity to take classes like I might have, or have a great AP program at your school--you just seem lazy if you don't take them. Colleges want to make sure you're doing the most work you can and that you're taking all of the opportunities you can. However, make sure you know your own strengths. I know I'm absolute ass at science, so I'm not taking them. Instead, I'm bulking up on Math, Computer Science, and Social Studies courses (Magnet / AP classes). If you know you can get an A or a B, you're just hurting yourself by not taking the harder courses. Plus the more difficult ones are just more interesting than shit like Photography 3.
9) Nobody else is going to root for you. You need to be the person who talks about his own strengths. You're the one that needs to show colleges how you're a candidate that they want. If you started a club at your school, really explain how you started it, where the idea came from, how you got members, how you advertised--the whole sch-bang. There's no one who's going to be making these connections for you, or who knows you enough to figure out what you've done. Keep a resume, and make a list of things you've done. Try and make connections that might not even be that strong. Paint a picture of yourself that's like a Greek God. Nobody in that admissions board knows you--nor will they verify that instead of "starting a club" you "created a club at school that focused on generating revenues to provide donations to various charities in a completely unique way." If you did cool shit, MAKE IT CLEAR.
10) Take the fucking money. Having high standards when it comes to college admissions is the worst. I would be lying if I didn't say earlier my senior year that "I don't want to go to the University of Maryland. It would be like I wasted my high school life going to that school." I had conversations like that a lot with friends who felt the same way. We worked hard, right? We deserve to go to an ivy league school, and are willing to pay through the nose to go there! That's not the best idea. Now I'm looking at my main decision and that's University of Maryland or Carnegie Mellon. On one side, I'm paying in state tuition and have a scholarship that basically pays my entire tuition for four years, along with enough AP credits to get out of an entire year. I don't have any of that at Carnegie Mellon. Instead of paying through the nose (66k a year about), I'm probably going to go to Maryland, as it's significantly cheaper. I've seen people turn down a full ride to CalTech just so they can go to MIT--and pay 100%. Think about your financial future.
11) Undergrad doesn't really matter that much. What gets you jobs and what means the most is grad school. It might be cool that you went to Harvard for four years, but if you suck at Harvard, or have thousands of dollars of debt...you're in for a tough time for grad school, which is what actually gets you your jobs. Don't fret that you're not getting an ivy league education. Do your best where you go and snag that 4.0, and then you might very well get an ivy league education in the future.
12) Lower your standards. There's nothing worse than that guy who says "I'M GOING TO PRINCETON STANFORD HARVARD OR YALE, AND I'M NOT APPLYING ANYWHERE ELSE." This is probably the most important thing I can recommend. Pick your safetys. Fuck, pick a safety safety. And pick schools that are good and you think you can get into. Then the tier higher than that. Then your dream schools. You might get ooohs and aaahs that your applications are going to the top universities, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't get in anywhere. Take this into account when you apply. Take into account price, location, and how likely you are to get in. Then apply to schools that you'll get money from and are sure you'll get into. You want to guarantee those four years--they get you into grad school. You don't want to come out with debt, or not get accepted anywhere. As I mentioned, I had those conversations like "I don't want to go to University of Maryland!" But I still applied, of course. In state tuition, and it's a pretty decent school. Would you look at that...I got in and am most likely going there. I could have made a list of "UPenn Brown Cornell Harvard Stanford Yale Princeton" but 0/7 doesn't guarantee a future for me.
These are many of the things I feel like I've learned about the admissions process. It might be unique due to the amazing people I'm surrounded by, and how inadequate I am compared to them. But these are the most important things in my opinion.
But seriously. Take the fucking money. That's what'll keep you secure for further education.
Just for the sake of context, my main "selling points" / stats would be: 2370 SAT, Debate Captain, Mock Trial Captain, 300 something? hours of community service, national merit finalist, 3.53/4.31 GPA (out of 4 and 5 respectively...D=), and attending this magnet program and the classes I've had the opportunity to take. This is pretty barebones, as every single high school senior has brainstormed lists of obscure shit to add to their apps--it's not wrong, everyone does it.
I got accepted to University of Maryland, Honors College (state school, with a 32,000 scholarship), Pennsylvania State Schreyer's Honors College, and Carnegie Mellon University. I got rejected from University of Pennsylvania (my ED school), Chicago University (I got deferred EA), and Johns Hopkins University. I'm waiting to see Columbia, but it's fucking stupid how unnecessarily complicated the procedure to see your scores is--and it's broken for fuck's sake. I'll let you know bojangles.
From my experiences, my own acceptances and rejections, my faults, and from watching my peers get into so many of these universities, here's my take on the "Dos and Don'ts" and my opinions or thoughts on some of the most important things.
1) It's a crapshoot. It sucks saying this, but going for a top college is honestly luck of the draw sometimes. Assuming you're another good student with good extracurriculars and scores etc....there are thousands of you. Even if you had the ability to get in to a school, and were "better" than someone else who got accepted, you might not necessarily get in. Keep in mind there are thousands of people fighting for every spot. Some may be better than you, and some might be worse. But the worse ones might get in, while you don't. It happens--it's unfortunate, but due to all of the factors that come together to make a single application, it's understandable. Don't beat yourself up or feel bad about yourself if you don't make a school. It's not necessarily your fault.
2) Race matters. This is the thing that I've come to realize the most through all of this, and it's really bugging me. One of my teachers, albeit in a joking way, pointed to one of the asian magnets and said "you're not getting in anywhere" and pointed to the black guy and said "you're getting in everywhere." We laughed--but he wasn't wrong. He proceeded to get into two top universities, even though all he had was a good GPA and nothing else. A lot of people who did so much more and were much more qualified did not. I'm not trying to say "he got into UPenn and I didn't because I'm Indian." I'm saying a black guy with a 3.9 GPA is more impressive than an asian guy with the same. This is unfortunately true.
3) Do not BS your SAT II's. It sucks but these matter too, more than you would think. You don't need to take like four or anything; the required two is fine. Just make sure you do well in them. I thought I was pretty set after I got my 800 in Math II. I didn't take another SAT II until my senior year of high school (I suck dick at science so I steered away from those) and I took the the Literature SAT II in my senior year. I thought I did really well but I got a 660 on it. Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to retake it and had to use that as the SAT II I sent in with my colleges. Yeah so that didn't work out too well for me, and I think it's a major reason I didn't get the acceptances I wanted. Leave yourself time to retake the SAT IIs (and the SAT I / ACT) if necessary. These are stupid, but important tests, and you don't want to leave yourself like me, crunched for time and having to accept a bad test score.
4) Teacher reqs don't matter too much. You can get the most beaming recommendation by your teachers, but unless they are to the point where your teacher is like "I would adopt this nigga if I could" they probably don't mean too much. Think about it. The only reason you go to a specific teacher for a recommendation is because you did well in that class, they like you, or they are a coach of a club you're in, or you have a specific relationship with them, right? How many thousands of letters do you think colleges get saying "He's a good kid. He does the work, he's trustworthy, he's nice, he's smart, I coach his baseball team so I know he's hardworking, etc" ? Pretty much they only matter if they don't suck. Colleges are mainly making sure they aren't bad; so they still matter, they just don't really help you. Unless you're like...god, and your teacher says something similar.
5) Senior year matters. Just because you're a senior doesn't mean you can take loaf classes and fail them all. Most universities ask for a midyear report, so they can see the classes you are taking and how you are doing in them. I have seen some of my last year's seniors get their acceptances into MIT or Yale or whatever revoked because they completely disregarded senior year. Don't fuck up.
6) Colleges like to be surprised. They're happier hearing about the Asian kid who's a nationally ranked athlete as opposed to the Asian kid who's been doing math competitions since he was three (obvious exception is if you're like winning competitions and are incredibly top class of course). If you surprise them--if you do something really cool, something people like you normally don't do, etc--they're more likely to remember your application and to bring it up when discussing. Hooks matter so much. Cool I'm an Indian who's a debate captain. HEY DID YOU SEE THAT BROWN GUY WHO IS THE CAPTAIN OF HIS SCHOOL'S VARSITY BASKETBALL TEAM???? That sort of thing matters a lot.
7) Resume pushing can help you. If you aren't one of those national ranked athletes or regional debate champion or something, you might want to start building yourself a good resume. Most people say it's best to develop a specific thing you're good at, or focus your interests and activities. That's what I do. My interests lie in law and psychology, my activities focus on those, etc. I didn't do so to develop a hook for college; I did so because that's where my interests naturally veered to. But I didn't have any debate achievements (my only achievements coming from my season this year, so it was too late for colleges to hear about them) nor was our mock trial team particularly good, so it didn't even mean all that much. One of my friends was in the same way. She's smart and hardworking, but didn't really have anything she was too good at. So she resume pushed the fuck out of everything. National Honor's societies, clubs, everything she could get a position of authority in. Bitch is going to MIT.
8) Take the most vigorous courses you can. This might seem obvious, but if you have the opportunity to take classes like I might have, or have a great AP program at your school--you just seem lazy if you don't take them. Colleges want to make sure you're doing the most work you can and that you're taking all of the opportunities you can. However, make sure you know your own strengths. I know I'm absolute ass at science, so I'm not taking them. Instead, I'm bulking up on Math, Computer Science, and Social Studies courses (Magnet / AP classes). If you know you can get an A or a B, you're just hurting yourself by not taking the harder courses. Plus the more difficult ones are just more interesting than shit like Photography 3.
9) Nobody else is going to root for you. You need to be the person who talks about his own strengths. You're the one that needs to show colleges how you're a candidate that they want. If you started a club at your school, really explain how you started it, where the idea came from, how you got members, how you advertised--the whole sch-bang. There's no one who's going to be making these connections for you, or who knows you enough to figure out what you've done. Keep a resume, and make a list of things you've done. Try and make connections that might not even be that strong. Paint a picture of yourself that's like a Greek God. Nobody in that admissions board knows you--nor will they verify that instead of "starting a club" you "created a club at school that focused on generating revenues to provide donations to various charities in a completely unique way." If you did cool shit, MAKE IT CLEAR.
10) Take the fucking money. Having high standards when it comes to college admissions is the worst. I would be lying if I didn't say earlier my senior year that "I don't want to go to the University of Maryland. It would be like I wasted my high school life going to that school." I had conversations like that a lot with friends who felt the same way. We worked hard, right? We deserve to go to an ivy league school, and are willing to pay through the nose to go there! That's not the best idea. Now I'm looking at my main decision and that's University of Maryland or Carnegie Mellon. On one side, I'm paying in state tuition and have a scholarship that basically pays my entire tuition for four years, along with enough AP credits to get out of an entire year. I don't have any of that at Carnegie Mellon. Instead of paying through the nose (66k a year about), I'm probably going to go to Maryland, as it's significantly cheaper. I've seen people turn down a full ride to CalTech just so they can go to MIT--and pay 100%. Think about your financial future.
11) Undergrad doesn't really matter that much. What gets you jobs and what means the most is grad school. It might be cool that you went to Harvard for four years, but if you suck at Harvard, or have thousands of dollars of debt...you're in for a tough time for grad school, which is what actually gets you your jobs. Don't fret that you're not getting an ivy league education. Do your best where you go and snag that 4.0, and then you might very well get an ivy league education in the future.
12) Lower your standards. There's nothing worse than that guy who says "I'M GOING TO PRINCETON STANFORD HARVARD OR YALE, AND I'M NOT APPLYING ANYWHERE ELSE." This is probably the most important thing I can recommend. Pick your safetys. Fuck, pick a safety safety. And pick schools that are good and you think you can get into. Then the tier higher than that. Then your dream schools. You might get ooohs and aaahs that your applications are going to the top universities, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't get in anywhere. Take this into account when you apply. Take into account price, location, and how likely you are to get in. Then apply to schools that you'll get money from and are sure you'll get into. You want to guarantee those four years--they get you into grad school. You don't want to come out with debt, or not get accepted anywhere. As I mentioned, I had those conversations like "I don't want to go to University of Maryland!" But I still applied, of course. In state tuition, and it's a pretty decent school. Would you look at that...I got in and am most likely going there. I could have made a list of "UPenn Brown Cornell Harvard Stanford Yale Princeton" but 0/7 doesn't guarantee a future for me.
These are many of the things I feel like I've learned about the admissions process. It might be unique due to the amazing people I'm surrounded by, and how inadequate I am compared to them. But these are the most important things in my opinion.
But seriously. Take the fucking money. That's what'll keep you secure for further education.
This.
I actually know of my step brothers good friend who is currently 32 and took student loans in his first year at university. The interest rate just proceeded to pile which made it fairly difficult for him to pay off in his time at school. He's been in debt to OSAP (student loans) for nearly 12 years now because of the brutal interest rate.
Moral of the story: invest time for a part time job or apply for scholarships online (Canadian university). There is a ton of free money online by doing simple essays and questionnaires. I mean unless you are absolutely sure you can pay off the debt for your student loan, I'd probably advise you not to take it.
Jesus shit what is wrong with the American University system?
New Zealand universities are ridiculously easy to get into. If you graduate high school you're pretty much in. Bar the more competitive premed/prelaw/pre-eng courses. No interview, no essay, almost automatic.
I feel as though NZ medical school system is similar to general applications in the US. They only accept 200 people a year to each of the two medical schools across the country and they require essays, interviews and sometimes references. So I can definitely understand your pain.
This:
New Zealand universities are ridiculously easy to get into. If you graduate high school you're pretty much in. Bar the more competitive premed/prelaw/pre-eng courses. No interview, no essay, almost automatic.
I feel as though NZ medical school system is similar to general applications in the US. They only accept 200 people a year to each of the two medical schools across the country and they require essays, interviews and sometimes references. So I can definitely understand your pain.
This:
Rhode Island senior here. 3.8 GPA with a pretty good SAT (2050, which I thought was great until I read this thread), mediocre sophomore year but all A's since, from an inner-city school that frankly is hilariously easy. I'm also Hispanic and have Asperger's, and although I hate that these things should play factors, they certainly don't hurt anybody. Involved in a Science club as well as Upward Bound, but not much else. Got accepted into University of Rhode Island, UMass Amherst, Providence College, Northeastern and Boston University. Got rejected by Brown.
I don't know if I'm the most qualified to give any advice, but one thing that I would suggest is DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! I have a tendency to procrastinate, but thanks to some great counselors I was able to get in my apps before the new year. Even with that, I'm sure that I missed some scholarship opportunities. A few weeks ago, I saw a few students working on their Common App, and I think that I cringed a little bit.
Another thing that I would advise is to take the most rigorous classes possible. My guidance counselor was incredibly useless in this regard, placing me in mainstream classes (when I asked for advanced ones) despite me being one of the school's top students. Every day I regret not fighting this more, but it's a bit late for that now. Plus, the only AP classes that my school offers are AP Calculus (which I haven't reached yet) and the foreign languages (which I was only able to take 2 of thanks to shitty scheduling courtesy of my guidance department)
I don't know if I'm the most qualified to give any advice, but one thing that I would suggest is DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! I have a tendency to procrastinate, but thanks to some great counselors I was able to get in my apps before the new year. Even with that, I'm sure that I missed some scholarship opportunities. A few weeks ago, I saw a few students working on their Common App, and I think that I cringed a little bit.
Another thing that I would advise is to take the most rigorous classes possible. My guidance counselor was incredibly useless in this regard, placing me in mainstream classes (when I asked for advanced ones) despite me being one of the school's top students. Every day I regret not fighting this more, but it's a bit late for that now. Plus, the only AP classes that my school offers are AP Calculus (which I haven't reached yet) and the foreign languages (which I was only able to take 2 of thanks to shitty scheduling courtesy of my guidance department)
I can't really comment on the funding aspect of things, since Australia gives extremely cheap tax-linked loans for university at very generous limits.
However, from what I understand of the American system, based off a number of friends and teachers who have come from there, is that for the most part your undergraduate school doesn't matter that much.
The vocational or research-sector degrees are the ones that care about where you went, and if they're vocational you typically have to go to grad school to get into those sectors, so your undergrad is irrelevant, you just need to get a good grad school.
Nonvocational degrees aren't as choosy about where you went, because they're not directly critical to getting yourself a job.
However, from what I understand of the American system, based off a number of friends and teachers who have come from there, is that for the most part your undergraduate school doesn't matter that much.
The vocational or research-sector degrees are the ones that care about where you went, and if they're vocational you typically have to go to grad school to get into those sectors, so your undergrad is irrelevant, you just need to get a good grad school.
Nonvocational degrees aren't as choosy about where you went, because they're not directly critical to getting yourself a job.
I want to give a different perspective on AP classes - as a junior trying to make sure I can get my degree next year (va tech if you wanna know), I'm glad I took two of them and dual enrolled at my community college for another course, because regardless of how it made me look in admission, now those are classes that I don't have to take in college. I don't want to hang around in college for more than four years, so there's not a whole lot of room in my schedule for classes that look cool but won't help me graduate - actually, there isn't any room! If I hadn't graduated high school with those nine credits, I would probably have to go to summer school, which I don't want to do because I need to get a job.
So yeah, if you think the college you want to attend will accept your credit, I would absolutely do it. From what I remember, most schools only accept 4s or 5s on AP, and pretty much only state schools (sometimes) accept DEs.
Bah, I think all of these people are trying to apply to the "elite" colleges that half of America wants to attend. Since everyone and their mother applies, they can boast about their 5% acceptance rate because there just isn't enough room. Frankly, I think it's a load of BS. There are lots of schools around that are not hard to get into, and you can still get a fine education.
So yeah, if you think the college you want to attend will accept your credit, I would absolutely do it. From what I remember, most schools only accept 4s or 5s on AP, and pretty much only state schools (sometimes) accept DEs.
Mountain Dewgong said:
Bah, I think all of these people are trying to apply to the "elite" colleges that half of America wants to attend. Since everyone and their mother applies, they can boast about their 5% acceptance rate because there just isn't enough room. Frankly, I think it's a load of BS. There are lots of schools around that are not hard to get into, and you can still get a fine education.
Anyone applying to Bard College? It's where I went to school as an undergrad, and it's awesome.
My advice on the application process in general: revise revise revise those essays! Holy shit, I didn't do this and it cost me (though in retrospect that was hardly a bad thing, as it meant I got to go to Bard!).
APs are awesome because it means you don't have to take shit like Calculus 1 with 90 other people. Also, if you go to a small college (like Bard) you can usually just skip classes you already know, even if you haven't taken an equivalent AP. I skipped the first year of the computer science program because everyone realized that it would be pointless and the department was three professors large so we could just do that sort of thing.
My advice on the application process in general: revise revise revise those essays! Holy shit, I didn't do this and it cost me (though in retrospect that was hardly a bad thing, as it meant I got to go to Bard!).
APs are awesome because it means you don't have to take shit like Calculus 1 with 90 other people. Also, if you go to a small college (like Bard) you can usually just skip classes you already know, even if you haven't taken an equivalent AP. I skipped the first year of the computer science program because everyone realized that it would be pointless and the department was three professors large so we could just do that sort of thing.
Yes this could actually help. If you put the right spin on it-aka getting to improve your writing skills, develop teambuilding activities, being part of an online group bigger than you, [potentially learning HTML language ~ a real plus to any techy schools], and most importantly, having works PUBLISHED. But you have to make sure that you put it in a way that will allow colleges to see that you tried something new, are good at it, and have improved your person in a way that others might not have (uniqueness). THAT'S how you include smogon into a college app. That being said, I decided to keep my 40+ analyses at home and not include them.
ALSO IMPORTANT TO HS JUNIORS/BELOW:
While colleges love seeing 4.6+ weighted GPAs, 2300+ SAT scores, and leadership positions in 7+ clubs and community service, so many other people will have the same thing as you do. So, in order for your decision to not be an absolute crapshoot, find something (ANYTHING) that would separate you from the crowd. Do you have a unique skill that others don't? Are you some kind of uber-good musician or athlete? Colleges LOVE individuals that stand out from the crowd, so be sure to express this in your essays.
As a fellow member of the High School Class 2012, I've been accepted to attend Xavier University but I've decided that in order to save money, I will be attending The University of Akron for my freshman year and transfering my sophomore year to XU. The move saves me about $13,000 for only one year and since I'm only going to take general classes for my first year anyways, I went with this option. May kick myself for doing it this way later in life, but then again I'll have less student loans, so I might be happy after all.
I'm looking to obtain a major in education with a minor in economics. It's not as lofty as being a Aerospace Engineer, or anything else that you guys are doing, but I've always had a strong passion for teaching and history and I want to be able to do things for my future family that going into business or becoming a lawyer would not allow me to do.
Last thing I want to say is that I hope to play chess in college after a pretty well decorated High School career. With an estimated rating of around 1450, I don't know if I'll be able to actually make the cut, but I'm going to try none the less. :D
I'm looking to obtain a major in education with a minor in economics. It's not as lofty as being a Aerospace Engineer, or anything else that you guys are doing, but I've always had a strong passion for teaching and history and I want to be able to do things for my future family that going into business or becoming a lawyer would not allow me to do.
Last thing I want to say is that I hope to play chess in college after a pretty well decorated High School career. With an estimated rating of around 1450, I don't know if I'll be able to actually make the cut, but I'm going to try none the less. :D
I am truly glad for everyone who got accepted into college :) Make sure you do good and loving things for the benefit of others with your higher education :)
This thread has actually been pretty helpful, especially since despite being a sophomore I'm pretty stressed out about the whole college process that's coming up for me. Next year I'll be taking AP US History, AP Composition, AP Biology, and AP Psychology, which is a pretty good load for a junior at my school. I'm currently in AP European History now and earning an A-, so I figure that it's not too bad especially for going into something that's incredibly boring that I had no prior knowledge of.
I'm mostly worried about a lot of the SAT prep stuff, so I'm just wondering - did you guys take SAT prep classes or did you hire a tutor? I've been kind of on the fence about it, since a lot of my friends seem to be getting tutors but I don't know if a class is worth more for your money than a tutor.
Also I don't know how entirely true this is, or if it's all just bs, but my guidance counselor had said that another way to include Pokemon on your app would be if you wanted to go to like a club for underprivileged kids or kids in hospitals and volunteer your time and play Pokemon with them or something like that?? I'm not entirely sure, but something about "linking it all together" seemed to be her general idea of how to make your extracurriculars look better and make you look like a solid, set person. Just wanna here what some people who have been through the applications process think of that.
Thanks in advance for answering questions and things!
I'm mostly worried about a lot of the SAT prep stuff, so I'm just wondering - did you guys take SAT prep classes or did you hire a tutor? I've been kind of on the fence about it, since a lot of my friends seem to be getting tutors but I don't know if a class is worth more for your money than a tutor.
Also I don't know how entirely true this is, or if it's all just bs, but my guidance counselor had said that another way to include Pokemon on your app would be if you wanted to go to like a club for underprivileged kids or kids in hospitals and volunteer your time and play Pokemon with them or something like that?? I'm not entirely sure, but something about "linking it all together" seemed to be her general idea of how to make your extracurriculars look better and make you look like a solid, set person. Just wanna here what some people who have been through the applications process think of that.
Thanks in advance for answering questions and things!
I'm not going to graduate high school until next year, but I've already got my eye on a couple colleges. I'm trying to stay relatively local, so the University of Tennessee at Martin is my top choice, followed by the U of Memphis. Memphis accepts International Baccalaureate credit, which Martin doesn't at the moment (side note: any other IB scholars here?); however, according to talks with the chairman of the biology department at Martin, he's pushing to have the department accept IB credit. He's actually the one who set up the IB credit program at Memphis, so signs are good so far.
I do have a friend who got accepted to USC, though.
I do have a friend who got accepted to USC, though.