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On September 05 2010 03:18 Bereft wrote:Show nested quote +On September 05 2010 02:04 love1another wrote:And yes, how many schools should I apply to? When I was applying, the general rule of thumb was 10. I know your circumstances are different, but even in my own circumstances, this was not a hard-and-fast rule. For example applications to the University of California college system were all on the same application so there was no reason not to submit the same application to 3 colleges instead of just one. (except like an extra $30 per college blehh...) Meanwhile, almost all the private schools I applied to, with the exception of MIT and Stanford(?), were on the Common App. I just submitted that (along with a 1-page supplement unique to each college), to 6 or so top-tier colleges (again paying an addition ~$100 fee for each one). The idea is really just one of insurance. At the end of the day there is a stochastic element from your perspective as to whether or not you get in, and thus the more places you apply to, the better off you are. This is completely different from, say, the Asian system where your test score determines 95% of whether you get into a college, and what college you put as your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice actually matters. also... something that could make life easier is applying to a uni that you're keen on going to that has early action- then come regular application time, if you've been accepted to an EA school, you don't have to worry about applying to safety schools.
While this is true, a lot of colleges start reading apps as soon as they start coming in. So especially if you're an under-represented minority, my gut-instinct says that you're better off submitting your application early (for regular decision) than waiting until you've heard back from your early decision.
Realistically this only makes a difference at the most competitive schools. The following example is purely theorycraft of what could go wrong:
If, say, your goal school is Harvard, but you already got into Yale early action, simply because Harvard doesn't have an early action option:
It sucks to end up in a situation where the Harvard interviewer asks "so I assume you applied to Yale early action, did you get in?" At which point you have to either lie or say "yes."
It's basically a lose-lose situation, if you're deadset on Harvard, since if you say "no..." the Harvard admissions officers might think "there must be some reason that Yale said no..." If you say yes, however, they'll think "ehh.... Yale early action has like a 90% matriculation rate... he's probably not gonna choose us anyway if we accept him... And we're not screwing him over anyway. Why bother to purposely degrade our admission stats?"
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On September 05 2010 01:53 love1another wrote:
Then again, if you feel I'm unqualified to offer some helpful tips, nobody's forcing you to listen :D
gotcha. didnt mean my question as an undermining one; it's just that often times aspects of college applications and the decision making process are quite arbitrary and subjective, i wasn't sure what would qualify one to answer something like "can i get into X university an SAT score of Y?" or "what should i write my essay about?"- just wondered if you were a college admissions recruiter, or just a student who'd been through the process, etc etc.
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On September 05 2010 03:19 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On September 05 2010 03:15 love1another wrote:On September 05 2010 03:11 micronesia wrote:
What do you guys think about class rank? How important is it? How often is it used? My high school didn't calculate a class rank intentionally. The particular number is rarely important, but you often are forced by the college application to give some estimate. So long as you have some sense as to whether you're in the top 1%/top 5% you should be okay. It is used almost exclusively as the metric in the admissions offices, since it is completely ridiculous to compare the GPA of one school (which is out of 100) to the GPA of another school (which is out of 4.0 unscaled) to the GPA of yet another school (which gives you bonus points for AP/Honors classes). Thus, the only real way admissions officers can compare you to a student from another school (this is actually rarely ever done in the sense of putting two apps next to each other, but in a broad sense... in order to establish thresholds at each stage) these officers must use a more "fair" ranking system, and that is class rank. See my previous posts for a bit more detail, or just download the application for the colleges you're interested in to see precisely what they ask for. Actually my guidance department had a stamp they used wherever an application said "class rank" or "approximate class rank" which said "class rank precluded by board of education" or something like that :p But I'm guessing in special case high schools the admission officers are already familiar with them and can get the same basic info from the gpa etc
In many cases, you are the one who has to fill out that information, whether it be through the online Common Application or otherwise... You can't really send it to your school for them to stamp it (and even if you could it would look strange), so you're best off just giving a reasonable estimate.
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On September 05 2010 03:25 love1another wrote:Show nested quote +On September 05 2010 03:18 Bereft wrote:On September 05 2010 02:04 love1another wrote:And yes, how many schools should I apply to? When I was applying, the general rule of thumb was 10. I know your circumstances are different, but even in my own circumstances, this was not a hard-and-fast rule. For example applications to the University of California college system were all on the same application so there was no reason not to submit the same application to 3 colleges instead of just one. (except like an extra $30 per college blehh...) Meanwhile, almost all the private schools I applied to, with the exception of MIT and Stanford(?), were on the Common App. I just submitted that (along with a 1-page supplement unique to each college), to 6 or so top-tier colleges (again paying an addition ~$100 fee for each one). The idea is really just one of insurance. At the end of the day there is a stochastic element from your perspective as to whether or not you get in, and thus the more places you apply to, the better off you are. This is completely different from, say, the Asian system where your test score determines 95% of whether you get into a college, and what college you put as your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice actually matters. also... something that could make life easier is applying to a uni that you're keen on going to that has early action- then come regular application time, if you've been accepted to an EA school, you don't have to worry about applying to safety schools. While this is true, a lot of colleges start reading apps as soon as they start coming in. So especially if you're an under-represented minority, my gut-instinct says that you're better off submitting your application early (for regular decision) than waiting until you've heard back from your early decision. Realistically this only makes a difference at the most competitive schools. The following example is purely theorycraft of what could go wrong: If, say, your goal school is Harvard, but you already got into Yale early action, simply because Harvard doesn't have an early action option:It sucks to end up in a situation where the Harvard interviewer asks "so I assume you applied to Yale early action, did you get in?" At which point you have to either lie or say "yes." It's basically a lose-lose situation, if you're deadset on Harvard, since if you say "no..." the Harvard admissions officers might think "there must be some reason that Yale said no..." If you say yes, however, they'll think "ehh.... Yale early action has like a 90% matriculation rate... he's probably not gonna choose us anyway if we accept him... And we're not screwing him over anyway. Why bother to purposely degrade our admission stats?"
if you were in that situation, couldn't you apply to yale EA and harvard ED? and in your experience, how often do you encounter in interviews that an interviewer asks you about whether you've been accepted to other schools?
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On September 05 2010 03:23 supernovamaniac wrote:Show nested quote +On September 05 2010 03:22 MidasMulligan wrote:On September 05 2010 03:11 love1another wrote:On September 05 2010 03:06 MidasMulligan wrote:
I was a pretty horrid student my freshman and sophomore year (like 3.23 gpa), and didn't take many challenging classes; however, my junior year I took a few AP classes and got all A's and my gpa is rising. My senior year, I'm taking even more AP classes, and hopefully my gpa will rise to at least a 3.9+ (if that's possible).
My question is, am I unable to go to a top school like MIT because of those two horrible, horrible years? What can I do to improve my chances? That being said, if you are a female and you can pull off a 2250+ SAT score and can talk confidently about some extracurriculars, you can probably get in. This is kind of a weird question, but what exactly IS an extracurricular? What kind of extracurricular are out there? Are there specific ones that MIT might be more interested in? How do I go about finding them? Something that MIT is interested in: AMC/AIME scores (I FUCKED UP AIME T.T). It's a math competition held in USA every year during Feb.~Mar.
There are a lot of other interesting math science competitions, like Siemens/Intel/USAMOUSAMO(related to AIME). Also there are a lot of nationwide organizations and honor societies that are sort of in the "we know it's bullshit but it couldn't hurt" category. Varsity sports are also awesome. Volunteering/job experience also lend your application a bit of real-world credibility.
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On September 05 2010 03:31 Bereft wrote:Show nested quote +On September 05 2010 03:25 love1another wrote:On September 05 2010 03:18 Bereft wrote:On September 05 2010 02:04 love1another wrote:And yes, how many schools should I apply to? When I was applying, the general rule of thumb was 10. I know your circumstances are different, but even in my own circumstances, this was not a hard-and-fast rule. For example applications to the University of California college system were all on the same application so there was no reason not to submit the same application to 3 colleges instead of just one. (except like an extra $30 per college blehh...) Meanwhile, almost all the private schools I applied to, with the exception of MIT and Stanford(?), were on the Common App. I just submitted that (along with a 1-page supplement unique to each college), to 6 or so top-tier colleges (again paying an addition ~$100 fee for each one). The idea is really just one of insurance. At the end of the day there is a stochastic element from your perspective as to whether or not you get in, and thus the more places you apply to, the better off you are. This is completely different from, say, the Asian system where your test score determines 95% of whether you get into a college, and what college you put as your 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice actually matters. also... something that could make life easier is applying to a uni that you're keen on going to that has early action- then come regular application time, if you've been accepted to an EA school, you don't have to worry about applying to safety schools. While this is true, a lot of colleges start reading apps as soon as they start coming in. So especially if you're an under-represented minority, my gut-instinct says that you're better off submitting your application early (for regular decision) than waiting until you've heard back from your early decision. Realistically this only makes a difference at the most competitive schools. The following example is purely theorycraft of what could go wrong: If, say, your goal school is Harvard, but you already got into Yale early action, simply because Harvard doesn't have an early action option:It sucks to end up in a situation where the Harvard interviewer asks "so I assume you applied to Yale early action, did you get in?" At which point you have to either lie or say "yes." It's basically a lose-lose situation, if you're deadset on Harvard, since if you say "no..." the Harvard admissions officers might think "there must be some reason that Yale said no..." If you say yes, however, they'll think "ehh.... Yale early action has like a 90% matriculation rate... he's probably not gonna choose us anyway if we accept him... And we're not screwing him over anyway. Why bother to purposely degrade our admission stats?" if you were in that situation, couldn't you apply to yale EA and harvard ED? and in your experience, how often do you encounter in interviews that an interviewer asks you about whether you've been accepted to other schools?
As of 2006, Harvard eliminated it's ED, so it only has a regular decision. (They say somewhere on their website though that they start reading apps in November? it's been a while... so correct me if I'm wrong.)
When you're being interviewed by those top schools, it is almost going to come up 100%. That's not to say you won't get accepted anyway because you're just that amazing, but if your heart is really set on one school, and you'll live the rest of your life in regret if you don't get in, you might want to think a bit more carefully about applying early to another school.
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On September 05 2010 03:32 love1another wrote:Show nested quote +On September 05 2010 03:23 supernovamaniac wrote:On September 05 2010 03:22 MidasMulligan wrote:On September 05 2010 03:11 love1another wrote:On September 05 2010 03:06 MidasMulligan wrote:
I was a pretty horrid student my freshman and sophomore year (like 3.23 gpa), and didn't take many challenging classes; however, my junior year I took a few AP classes and got all A's and my gpa is rising. My senior year, I'm taking even more AP classes, and hopefully my gpa will rise to at least a 3.9+ (if that's possible).
My question is, am I unable to go to a top school like MIT because of those two horrible, horrible years? What can I do to improve my chances? That being said, if you are a female and you can pull off a 2250+ SAT score and can talk confidently about some extracurriculars, you can probably get in. This is kind of a weird question, but what exactly IS an extracurricular? What kind of extracurricular are out there? Are there specific ones that MIT might be more interested in? How do I go about finding them? Something that MIT is interested in: AMC/AIME scores (I FUCKED UP AIME T.T). It's a math competition held in USA every year during Feb.~Mar. There are a lot of other interesting math science competitions, like Siemens/Intel/USAMO(related to AIME). Also there are a lot of nationwide organizations and honor societies that are sort of in the "we know it's bullshit but it couldn't hurt" category. Varsity sports are also awesome. Volunteering/job experience also lend your application a bit of real-world credibility.
I didn't put down USAMO/IMO for few reasons (AJFWEAIOFJAWEF). =(
Although being an organizer for one of the best high school math team across the country rocks XD
With that being said, does it matter on what you volunteered for? For example, I have one with PGA Tour Barclays where I volunteered and helped out the PGA Playoffs tournament, The Barclays. In contrast to that, I had an internship at KAVC (Korean American Voter's Council) where we helped Koreans get naturalized, voter's registration, and help pass a HR Resolution.
(I know I'm putting down everything; I just want to know the importance so that everyone can understand that aspect a little better.)
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On September 05 2010 01:18 Catch]22 wrote:
How much does college cost in the US?
really really depends. some private schools can be as much as $50-60k a year but there are other schools that are just as good that can be $8-10k a year depending on if you live in the state or not.
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On September 05 2010 03:38 SilentCrono wrote:Show nested quote +On September 05 2010 01:18 Catch]22 wrote:
How much does college cost in the US? really really depends. some private schools can be as much as $50-60k a year but there are other schools that are just as good that can be $8-10k a year depending on if you live in the state or not.
50-60k is a bit high if you're talking just tuition. The most expensive schools are more like 45-50k just tuition. Though if you include room and board (and most schools require living in housing your first year), then 50-60k is just about right.
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My unweighted gpa is about a 3.8-3.9 right now, but my SAT is only a 1960. Do colleges overlook inconsistencies like these or do I have to work more to get a 2250+?
Also, if I plan on majoring in some form of engineering, chemical/nano specifically, would extracurriculars in music help me at all?
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On September 05 2010 03:42 imBLIND wrote:
My unweighted gpa is about a 3.8-3.9 right now, but my SAT is only a 1960. Do colleges overlook inconsistencies like these or do I have to work more to get a 2250+?
Also, if I plan on majoring in some form of engineering, chemical/nano specifically, would extracurriculars in music help me at all?
1.) Your SAT could use some work. Unless you're black or hispanic. No racist implications here, just calls 'em as I sees 'em: People get into harvard yale standford princeton with 1700s if they're latino/black so long as they have some angle. If you're asian, retake it without a moment's hesitation.
2.) Extracurriculars that don't imply unethical/illegal activity can almost never hurt. They say to the college "I'm not a weirdo/robot."
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On September 05 2010 03:41 theonemephisto wrote:Show nested quote +On September 05 2010 03:38 SilentCrono wrote:On September 05 2010 01:18 Catch]22 wrote:
How much does college cost in the US? really really depends. some private schools can be as much as $50-60k a year but there are other schools that are just as good that can be $8-10k a year depending on if you live in the state or not. 50-60k is a bit high if you're talking just tuition. The most expensive schools are more like 45-50k just tuition. Though if you include room and board (and most schools require living in housing your first year), then 50-60k is just about right.
See my more detailed explanation at the beginning of this thread. The cost of attendance usually caps off >= $50k for top schools. Maybe a few thousand extra for incidentals/transportation, but this sum almost always ALREADY includes room+board.
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On September 05 2010 03:49 love1another wrote:Show nested quote +On September 05 2010 03:41 theonemephisto wrote:On September 05 2010 03:38 SilentCrono wrote:On September 05 2010 01:18 Catch]22 wrote:
How much does college cost in the US? really really depends. some private schools can be as much as $50-60k a year but there are other schools that are just as good that can be $8-10k a year depending on if you live in the state or not. 50-60k is a bit high if you're talking just tuition. The most expensive schools are more like 45-50k just tuition. Though if you include room and board (and most schools require living in housing your first year), then 50-60k is just about right. See my more detailed explanation at the beginning of this thread. The cost of attendance usually caps off >= $50k for top schools. Maybe a few thousand extra for incidentals/transportation, but this sum almost always ALREADY includes room+board.
I'm paying >40k tuition and ~13k room and board. And that doesn't include flying, textbooks, or supplies (another ~2k). I believe last quarter's bill was around 18k (3 quarters = 1 year), so it's around 54k per year + ~2k for flying/books. I don't think my family is particularly wealthy, I'd self-characterize us as upper-middle class (~150k household income), but we're getting essentially zero financial aid, in large part because I'm an only child. But that still adds up to about 56k a year, even if a lot of my situation makes me near the top end of expenditures. But that's just an anecdotal example, but it certainly isn't impossible to pay a 55k tuition even if you aren't particularly rich.
For reference, I go to the University of Chicago.
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United States24771 Posts
On September 05 2010 03:27 love1another wrote:Show nested quote +On September 05 2010 03:19 micronesia wrote:On September 05 2010 03:15 love1another wrote:On September 05 2010 03:11 micronesia wrote:
What do you guys think about class rank? How important is it? How often is it used? My high school didn't calculate a class rank intentionally. The particular number is rarely important, but you often are forced by the college application to give some estimate. So long as you have some sense as to whether you're in the top 1%/top 5% you should be okay. It is used almost exclusively as the metric in the admissions offices, since it is completely ridiculous to compare the GPA of one school (which is out of 100) to the GPA of another school (which is out of 4.0 unscaled) to the GPA of yet another school (which gives you bonus points for AP/Honors classes). Thus, the only real way admissions officers can compare you to a student from another school (this is actually rarely ever done in the sense of putting two apps next to each other, but in a broad sense... in order to establish thresholds at each stage) these officers must use a more "fair" ranking system, and that is class rank. See my previous posts for a bit more detail, or just download the application for the colleges you're interested in to see precisely what they ask for. Actually my guidance department had a stamp they used wherever an application said "class rank" or "approximate class rank" which said "class rank precluded by board of education" or something like that :p But I'm guessing in special case high schools the admission officers are already familiar with them and can get the same basic info from the gpa etc In many cases, you are the one who has to fill out that information, whether it be through the online Common Application or otherwise... You can't really send it to your school for them to stamp it (and even if you could it would look strange), so you're best off just giving a reasonable estimate.
Good thing I didn't apply to one of those schools then LOL I have no idea what my class rank was at that overly competitive school.
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Where are you now Mr. Micronesia?!?!?!
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Is there a big disadvantage applying to good unis with ACT scores instead of SAT scores?
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On September 05 2010 05:02 commiboi wrote:
Is there a big disadvantage applying to good unis with ACT scores instead of SAT scores?
I don't really know. Sorry :/ I'm sure you can find discussions on this via google (ACT vs. SAT).
AFAIK, a lot of my friends took both and just used whichever one had the higher relative score.
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United States24771 Posts
On September 05 2010 04:43 love1another wrote:
Where are you now Mr. Micronesia?!?!?!
I graduated from college in 2007. I'm about to graduate from grad school at Hofstra lol
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On September 05 2010 03:48 love1another wrote:
2.) Extracurriculars that don't imply unethical/illegal activity can almost never hurt. They say to the college "I'm not a weirdo/robot."
This is definitely true, but I think it's kind of an understatement.
Especially when you're talking about Ivy League schools, where pretty much everyone who gets accepted is going to have near-perfect grades and SAT scores (unless they're a minority), what you did outside of school is going to be what makes your application.
Some extracurriculars may help demonstrate certain qualities you have (like leadership) or give you some sort of experience in your intended field (academic clubs, etc.), but that's not the most important part. Extracurriculars not only prove that you're capable of multitasking many responsibilities outside of one area, but they also provide evidence for the college that you are a well-adjusted individual by showing that you have hobbies and interests. These qualities all point to you being a more successful person down the line. (Also, you will be hard pressed to find anything to write an essay about in your application if you haven't done anything outside of schoolwork.)
I don't have any real credentials so if I'm horribly wrong let me know, but this is based off my perceptions of who I see getting into top schools.
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I'm going to say something that I notice a lot of high school students don't ask but should know and consider. It may be slightly off topic, but too many seniors don't think about this. I highly discourage applying/attending a college that you barely managed to get into. I'll explain.
It's very common for people to apply to top colleges with no real expectations because they understand their grades/scores/etc are not too great, but by some miracle they get in, all happy that they got into such a great school. In 2 or 3 years, they drop out, sometimes even in 1 year. Although it's great that you got accepted, it's really not a good decision to go to a school that you didn't think you had a decent chance for (unless you're just being paranoid). This is because, to be blunt, you probably can't actually handle it. Despite what parents may say (maybe this is just an Asian parent thing; being an Asian, I wouldn't know) going to the best college you can get into is not always the wisest choice.
Now, this is not always the case. Sometimes students slacked off in high school, get into a good college and then take school seriously and succeed. Good for them! But, please think carefully when it comes to the top schools, or at least the best schools that you apply for. Underestimating the rigor of college (particularly the "upper tier" ones) is not something to be taken lightly. If after contemplation, you think you can succeed in such a place, by all means go for it. I'm not here to prevent it; I just want to make people aware of it. Choosing your college is a huge decision; don't make a bad decision because of a college's prestige. I'm sorry to say I probably can't help with any specific questions regarding this, and I feel awkward leaving such questions to OP, but whenever I encounter "applying to college" topics, I almost always see this issue neglected, despite being a serious consideration in my opinion.
That's the end of my little rant. Good luck to all applicants and good job helping others, OP.
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EPT
