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If there is something I will not procrastinate on, it has to be this. I'll let you know how this goes come November...
I was looking in this thread here as well as this one hereand I shat bricks at some of these ppl's background. In particular...
On March 17 2010 20:01 Chen wrote:ugh, most decisions are out april 1st, day of dread >< Berkeley: early acceptance with Regents' and Chancellor's Scholarship UCLA: accepted UCI and UC davis: auto-accepted with ELC Stanford:Reject waiting on the ivies 4.37 weighted GPA 2310 SAT 800 math II 800 Physics 790 Chemistry 760 US history 3 clubs with leadership positions, 2 jobs, 3 community service activities 3 internships no sports, but 3 non-athletic varsity positions AP's: Chemistry-->4  European History-->5 Calculus AB-->5 Physics C E&M-->5 Physics C M-->5 Environmental Science-->5 Calculus BC-->5 Statistics-->5 US History-->5 Art History, World History, Biology, Government in progress
I'd kill for a background half as good as his is. 10+ AP's with 5's, near perfect SAT and SATII scores...
My SAT is a full 400 points lower than his. His lowest SATII score is still higher than my highest SATII score, and he took twice as many AP's as I have taken/will take. His community service and extracurricular activities make mine look like shit. The scary part about this is that there are at least 100 other asian kids with this exact same score. There's at least 1000 with a little bit under that. Another 10000 at another echelon. Where am I? Somewhere in the 50th percentile.
I am by no means a dumb kid. I'm top 10% in my class. But Im going up against an entire population of fucking asian people with scores like those (yes I am asian too). Affirmative action can go to hell.
I just started applying for USC and I'm about to go start my application for other UC's in the area. Most likely, I'll join my accursed brethren at UCIrvine, that is, if I don't get in anywhere else.
Going to be a senior this coming Fall, but honestly, there's not much more I can do...I don't even think a really good interview will bring me back up. Hopefully, the application ppl won't put that much weight towards the SAT scores..
End rant.
  
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it's cause he didn't do any sports
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1019 Posts
Ha..overachievers. You can't blame them for wanting to be better though. The only thing I don't like about them is when they come up to my face after a test and cry how badly they did. And then they get over a 90% on it. Just shut the fuck up.
Don't feel pressured to do so well, everyone has different strengths and different weaknesses. And if you want to get a jump on college apps, do your essays or at least drafts of them during the summer. Doing that makes your senior fall semester so much easier, because the essays take up 90% of time spent on an app.
I finished most of my essays in the summer and was able to send my apps in around october, and then got into the college of my choice in november. I was literally doing nothing while a lot of my friends got stressed out over school, college apps, and running around trying to get rec letters. Just do it all early, you can't emphasize that enough.
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well that makes my info sound like dog shit
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Well you can take the SAT's again this winter and you have plenty of time to write some awesome shit. If you haven't taken a course for the SAT's you could sign up for one now and, if the average boosts I've seen are accurate I don't see any reason why you can't break 2000 (and even if you did take a class, some obsessive panic studying can go a long way). Also, MATH 1 and 2, as long as you take a lot of practice tests, are relatively easy to score around where Chen scored. Also, if you bought a book now for physics SAT II and studied till Decemeber you could put up an 750-800. That test is a mile wide and an inch thick, people go into and are overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of not so hard material.
OR, you could stop comparing yourself with others and me happy with your achievements. Accept the student that you were and, if your so inclined, be an even better student at whatever college you attend.
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1910 is a perfectly good SAT I score. If your GPA is at or above 4.0, you're in a sport, regardless of how well you do, and you have at least 3 years in one community service/club, you should be able to get into all the UCs bar UCLA/Berkeley, with Davis/SD being a slight reach.
High School class of 2010 had the hardest application period ever, and will probably be the same if not easier next year.
You'll be fine. What major/field do you want to pursue?
I was stupid because I didn't know anything about college application and didn't apply to (good) privates. Find some that fit with you well, you're bound to get in one of them.
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I'm a poor little soon-to-be sophomore (but fear not, I'm a self-proclaimed 90th percentile in maturity and coherency here on TL), and I'm just stressing my ass off already about college and what I'll have to do to get in...
I hope to be able to amass a transcript/application with something around the stats (so to speak) of chen... I don't want to clutter up TL with shit so here and now, could some of you smarter and more successful guys give me some guidance and help? Much appreciated!
It's about two in the morning and I'm typing this in bed w/ and iPod touch due to insomnia, so I have to go... ;____; Best of luck with your college apps and make sure you plan out your essays well!!
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Man if you plan to go to a US university, you guys got it tough. Canadian universities seem like cakewalk to get into (even the top schools in Canada ie. UToronto and Mcgill, and UBC and Queens).
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On July 09 2010 17:54 Entropic wrote:
Man if you plan to go to a US university, you guys got it tough. Canadian universities seem like cakewalk to get into (even the top schools in Canada ie. UToronto and Mcgill, and UBC and Queens).
But it's too expensive to do that. Why spend almost 15k (?) per year on tuition alone for a university that's not even good?
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Man it seems like such a waste of a childhood to study like six hours a day and take ten AP classes. While anecdotal evidence proof does not make, i got into a pretty good school - Sveuciliste u Zadru (or university of Zadar) with a measly (US) 3.2gpa (edit: 3.45 weighted... i think that was it) two AP classes with scores of 4, and a smattering of extracurricular activities that weren't really very impressive. I just don't understand why people can possibly motivate themselves to such ridiculous levels of over achievement when anything past a 4.0 is the equivalent of academic e-peen... you're already going to get into most schools and the ones that will reject would reject you with a 4.2 as well.
Can anyone here explain the mindset behind this? It just seems like such a waste to me to spend the only completely free years of your life trying to emulate the system that's going to chew you up and spit you out in 18 years anyway.
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On July 09 2010 17:46 Z3kk wrote:
I'm a poor little soon-to-be sophomore (but fear not, I'm a self-proclaimed 90th percentile in maturity and coherency here on TL), and I'm just stressing my ass off already about college and what I'll have to do to get in...
I hope to be able to amass a transcript/application with something around the stats (so to speak) of chen... I don't want to clutter up TL with shit so here and now, could some of you smarter and more successful guys give me some guidance and help? Much appreciated!
It's about two in the morning and I'm typing this in bed w/ and iPod touch due to insomnia, so I have to go... ;____; Best of luck with your college apps and make sure you plan out your essays well!!
To be like Chen? Take the following courses over the summer at your local university/community college:
Chem Honors
Bio Honors
Pre-calc
Physics Honors
Then go directly into the AP of those courses in addition to taking as many non-pre req. AP courses (Stat, AP US--> Euro, Enviro, Psy, Micro/Macro if your school offers it and ect.) while still completing the absolute minimum number of extra-curriculars needed to graduate.
Immediately join the Asian club, red cross clubs, chess team, debate, science team, math team and brainstorm ideas for possible clubs that you can start. You must be at least active in all of them so you can run for officer postions your junior and senior year
To score a 2300 my advice would be to take it at the end of your sophmore year/beginning of junior year just to see how your doing. Then take a prep course unless you score 2200+, then just skip to step three. Step three, buy two very large books, read through the material in the subjects you don't think you're realistically able to perfect on your own. Take the practice tests until your scores reach your target area (this is not as bad as it sounds)
For the SAT II's:
Math II is pretty easy if you're already in calc (which you should be by junior year) it just takes a little repetition and review to make sure you don't make too many stupid mistakes. Same goes for Math I but your margin for error is significantly smaller
Physics just requires study, if you can finish AP physics in your junior year you're gonna rape that test. As I said earlier, its a lot of easy stuff but its completely overwhelming if you've only had a physics honors course.
Chem is hard, but again is you can finish Chem your junior year your going to rape that test.
Take your US SAT II right after your ap tests in the subject and you'll kill it
My several cents
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Look at it like this. He technically didn't get into a lot of schools. Mind you, it's cause he didn't apply. Anywho, don't feel intimidated by overachievers. They're just willing to put that much effort to ensure the results. I have 5 Valedictorians in my graduating class which are going to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. And the guy who got into Harvard got a perfect score for the SATs. That didn't get to me. You know what did get to me? The fact I personally couldn't break 1800 on the SATs (1760, 1780, 1780) The disturbing thing: I got into UCSD on Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Oo?? Yea, I bet you have that look on your face.
Nevertheless, don't measure yourself to those you know can hand their academic achievements over you like the sky over the earth. It'll just drive you mad. Know where your limits are and only be disappointed if you couldn't do what you should be able to do.
P.S. I didn't even want to go to UCSD. I wanted UC Davis or Berkeley. Davis made me wait 21 days into May before they rejected me. -.- Okay just had to vent about that. lol
Oh one more thing: keep me updated about how things go. I'd like to see if I get a new alumni at UCSD. lol
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the Dagon Knight4009 Posts
On July 09 2010 16:48 imBLIND wrote:
Most likely, I'll join my accursed brethren at UCIrvine, that is, if I don't get in anywhere else.
Not sure why, but I couldn't stop laughing at this.
Don't worry yourself so much about it man, you sound like you've got a good head on your shoulders; you'll be fine 
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Once you're in college, you'll realize that all that most of the worrying you did about your qualifications in HS was worthless. You should definitely still shoot for as many top tier schools, figure out which ones you want to get in the most and spend more time on those applications. Keep like 4 UC's as a backup and you should be fine. After you get in, what you did in HS becomes meaningless and you need to focus on becoming extremely active in college in preparation for whatever you plan on doing after getting your degree whether it's starting your career or going to grad school
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Just do your best. There'll always be overachievers, and yeah they're more obnoxious when you're trying to get in somewhere competitive - but it doesn't stop there.
In my senior year or college I was in an English class, and was walking back to the dorms after a mid-term with a couple of friends - one of them starts worrying about how, "I'm almost sure this will end my 4.0." The rest of us just sort of looked at each other (and yes, at my college it was really hard to keep a 4.0 - most of the professors seemed to believe a B+ was good).
So yeah. But good luck - honestly if you don't have absolutely stunning grades, as long as you have clubs or sports or job experience or something to "explain the lower grades" (because you weren't concentrating as much on academics) you should be fine anywhere as long as you're not looking at MIT or something.
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Why do people post weighted GPA, all the colleges I applied to (basically shotgunned top 15 schools) only looked at unweighted GPA. Weighted is deceiving and doesn't really tell you anything. Some schools it's hella easy to get 4.8+ other schools it's nearly impossible to get 3.5 (I think one of the private schools in my area had 90-93% = 3.5, 93-97% = 3.7 weighted or something completely depressing like that)
Oh, yeah, spend a lot of time on your application + essays (like months) if you really want in. Make sure it really stands out and don't be worried about completely scraping it and rewriting if you think up a new idea that's better. That is, if you're not lazy. (I sent the same letter to every university and just changed the university's name when I mentioned I've been thinking about "X" and decided I would fit in best there)
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Write a really strong essay if your scores aren't as good. Essays are really important  and they are also my bane lol
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Now that I have my bachelor's degree, I look back on all the academically overachieving high school students and just feel pity for them. Great, you're book smart. No one in college really cares.
Here were my high school stats:
Weighted GPA = 3.867
SAT = 1150/1600
ACT = 26/36 (took both SAT and ACT before they had writing sections)
AP: Chemistry - 4, U.S. History - 4, English lit/comp - 3, English lang/comp - 3
Extracurricular - band; auditioned into a national honor band my senior year, but sat low
Admittedly, I went to a great Catholic prep school in the south Chicago suburbs and I considered myself an overachiever, even if my academic accomplishments don't look AS good as the competition.
I applied to 4 Universities and got into all of them. None of them are paricularly high ranked: University of Iowa, Western Michigan University, and Illinois Institute of Technology in the list. Most notably, I got into Purdue engineering with what is most certainly a lower GPA and standardized test scores than most the competition. I guess that's why I felt like such a baller turning them down!
You may have an idea of where you want to go, but when it comes down to it, the University name is just a logo on your diploma. Where you went doesn't matter nearly as much as who you are, the quality of work you provide, and how well-rounded you are. If an employer still insists on hiring based on schoo lname then you don't want to work for them anyway. If you don't want to go to UC Irvine then make it your safety school, do your best on the applications, and for the love of God, visit other campuses to find ones you really enjoy.
To further emphasize my point, I offer another example. I'll put it under spoiler:
+ Show Spoiler + In November I decided I wanted to attend graduate school. I went to Western Michigan Unviersity, which is not ranked anywhere in my field of study, chemical engineering. When I thought of grad school and talked with Unviersity representatives at grad school fairs, they only seemed interested in the academic best of the best. That means I was in direct competition with all those people I harshly criticize - the ones who stay in their rooms, study day and night, and are the top of their class. Since the US has a high population of Asian and European graduate students, I was competing with the best in the world.
I did the best I could with my academics in college.
Cummulative GPA - 3.15
Department GPA - 3.00
GRE Results - Math (750/800), Verbal (490/800), Writing (4.5/6) (GRE is basically the SAT/ACT for general graduate school)
1 Summer Internship
Additionally, two of my letters of recommendation came from engineering professors and one from a political science professor who specialized in forestry and environmental law (I want to be an environmental researcher, so I went with her). Compared to others, especially those who already go to top Universities with famous faculty, I'm left in the dust. In almost every way I'm academically average for my field.
I applied to University of Virginia (a top school in the field), Univeristy of Houston (ranked really well), Louisiana State University (good, but below Houston), South Dakato School of Mines and Tech (pretty bad, only applied since they said I could get funding), and Illinois Inst. of Tech as a second safety.
I thought it was awesome at the graduate school fair telling people about myself. I remember talking to the University of Michigan representative. He said that most of the students had over a 3.5 GPA (crazy hard to do in chem eng.) and very high GRE scores (I got a 750 math, but that's still only 84 percentile!). My speech went something like "Well, I only have a 3.15 right now, but offer something different. I've been a member of 7 student organizations, e-board of 4, and helped found 1 that has over 200 members. I've been an RA for three years, won awards for residence hall leadership, and do all this while maintaining a respectable department GPA."
I intended this statement to be a slam to all students who did nothing but study. I did what I enjoyed in college. I joined a club devoted to little kid games, I was heavily involved in the residence hall association two years and then an RA for three (and I LOVED that job), and I helped start up a club that runs an weeklong game of nerf tag that caught on feverishly at my University. I did what I enjoyed, had fun, and related the experience in the most impressive way possible.
I didn't get into Virginia or Houston. South Dakota offered admissions, but not funding. I never heard back from IIT. LSU, on the other hand, offered the quickest acceptance, flew me down for a recruitment weekend, and offered a generous funding package for 5 years of PhD study. All this to a student with a "lackluster" GPA, average test scores, and a strong record of involvement.
The point of all this is that there's always options open to you. So what if your "dream school" seems impossible to get into. I thought I really wanted to go to Virginia since they were the best, but I got along so well with faculty and students at the LSU recruitment weekend that it no longer mattered. Don't give admissions staff what they want to see. Give them yourself. It may be hard to get into the best schools, or your dream school, bu tyou're only studying part of the time. Acceptance to an average school may seem lame, but when it lets you be yourself while pursuing an equivalent degree offered elsewhere...well, it seem like it's a deal that can't be beat.
Good luck
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the Dagon Knight4009 Posts
On topic, just got accepted for a masters in Anthropology and just had to share it with someone
More excited than I have any right to be :D
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imBLIND, UC's aren't exactly that hard to get into bar UCLA/Berkeley. Applied to Berkeley/SD/SB/Irvine/Davis/SC/Riverside
I just applied to the UCs last year and got into all of the bar LA/Berkeley/SD with a 2110 SAT and some absurdly low unweighted GPA like 3.4 maybe weighted 3.8 or 3.9?, 2 AP tests (+3 in Senior year). My SAT II was 750 US History, 730 Math IIC and I had no extracurriculars to speak of.
If you aren't aiming for the sky you should be ok.
Spend more time on essays imho. I didn't really spend any time on my essays and didn't really get them checked or anything.
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EPT
