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If, however, the things mentioned above are serious concerns of yours, there are ways to get the Interviewer's takes on these issues without pissing them off. Throw in some names, be positive. Also, make it a thinly veiled self-promotion attempt.
Examples:
Sketchy Yaletown: I've heard that the New Haven area has really experienced a [/b]renaissance[/b] in the past few years, and I've heard that Bruce Alexander has had a lot to do with it. Have you been their recently? What is the city like during the height of the school year? I'm really interested in city planning and worked on the Youth Commission of my City's parks and recreation department!
Harvard's Undergraduate: I've heard that Faust has really made it clear that Harvard is making a renewed commitment to the undergraduate programs. Does this mean that I'll be able to continue my passion for biochemistry and have the opportunity to do research with some of Harvard's top professors?
Princeton's Grade Deflation: Malkiel... Grades are a way to gauge progress rather than fluff on a resume. Appreciate honest assessment of my quality of work blah blah blah.
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On September 05 2010 03:33 love1another wrote:Show nested quote +On September 05 2010 03:31 Bereft wrote: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.
yeah... i have no idea whether harvard would have ED or not lol. and that's interesting that you bring that up as an issue. this was never a concern for the wanna-be ivy leaguers at my h.s., but i suppose that could be attributed to going to an international h.s. in asia, where interviews were few and done by whatever volunteer alumni-- rather than recruiters-- who were in the country.
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I don't really see any questions in there...
(I agree with you on your comments about my post about the SAT, since I can't possibly know better anyway; that definitely wasn't sarcasm, I was just repeating things I had heard  )
Anyway, I didn't have any questions because I stated that I'd come back when I had enough time to intelligently formulate some questions (i.e. I'll come back later when I come up with some questions worth asking, and after I have read through the thread).
However, I do have a quick question just for now: what should a sophomore do? I'm only a lowly little high school sophomore, and I really don't know much about anything...sure, good APs + SAT I and IIs + good GPA are good, but I truly know very little. At this point, what should I be doing to prepare for college? I do my work and I'm studying for the SAT in October, but have no idea what exactly I should be doing in preparation (I realize that this is a horribly general question, but I would greatly appreciate a few--or many hehe--guidelines about what I should be doing.
Also, not that I doubt you or anything like that, but out of my curiosity, what are your qualifications, so to speak? ^^ (you might have posted about them somewhere in the thread, but I'm short on time because I have a hefty load of work at the moment T.T)
Thanks for being so nice as to freely give out advice like this!
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Well... as I said 2 posts earlier, even in the USA, interviews are conducted almost exclusively by volunteer alumni (it gets them class reunion credit, I think), not paid recruiters.
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As a sophomore, maintain your GPA, start on your APs, get involved in clubs/volunteer activities. Maintain good relations with your teachers, my best teacher recs came from a teacher I had from my sophomore year, I was part of a club he ran so we were pretty cool with each other even two years later.
I do my work and I'm studying for the SAT in October, but have no idea what exactly I should be doing in preparation
That's a person dependent question, some people are just good at it with minimal studying, some (like me) need massive amounts of studying. Take a practice test, figure out where you are weak, then start doing practices for the sections you need help with. If you want to go hardcore about it, take a practice test per week (or whatever interval you are comfortable with) leading up to the test to gauge your progress and adjust your efforts accordingly. I personally find SAT classes to be a waste of money, but it does help for some people.
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On September 05 2010 12:16 Lurgee wrote:
I have a friend who decided to apply to MIT, as he's an aspiring engineer. He winged the sat and got around 2000 (studying for VCE, our high school cert), and was granted an interview later this year with an admissions officer. His VCE results are probably going to be ~94th percentile and he doesn't have heaps of extra curricular activity, but has what I would call a reasonable amount. So my question is this: Are academic results considered a hurdle of sorts, and will the interview probably play a larger role in selection or are they both equally important (In which case i'd imagine he's screwed lol).
Honestly, without stellar extracurriculars and/or advantageous demographics it would be a stretch to get into MIT. I don't know what his GPA is or how hard the VCE is, but as an asian or white male, a 2000 SAT and 94th percentile isn't cutting it at MIT. And as others have said, interviews probably have a pretty small impact overall. As a comparison, I had a 4.0 unweighted GPA, 2360 SAT, varsity and club swimming for 4 years (I swam on my college team as well and would have swam for MIT if I had gone there), band (including section leader for a couple of years), and a handful of honor societies with a couple positions. 9 AP tests all scoring a 5. And additional math past Calc BC, including Multivariate Calculus at the community college, and Differential Equations and Linear Algebra at the University of Virginia, all with A-/As. And I didn't get in. I am an asian male, but if you're white the odds won't be too much better.
On September 05 2010 13:24 Z3kk wrote:However, I do have a quick question just for now: what should a sophomore do? I'm only a lowly little high school sophomore, and I really don't know much about anything...sure, good APs + SAT I and IIs + good GPA are good, but I truly know very little. At this point, what should I be doing to prepare for college? I do my work and I'm studying for the SAT in October, but have no idea what exactly I should be doing in preparation (I realize that this is a horribly general question, but I would greatly appreciate a few--or many hehe--guidelines about what I should be doing.
You're doing pretty much all you can. Don't stress out about it too much. Just good grades, get ready for the SAT, take the hardest classes you can, etc. I'd say the most out-of-school things to do are to try to find things that you love. If you love a particular subject, try to take additional classes in it or study on your own. If you love a sport or music or art, try to get as serious as you can in it. If you love any particular competition or activity, join a team or club. Also, aim for "leadership" positions in anything you do. And by that, I mean any title that sounds good and official. Most opportunities to start getting them will be at the end of soph/beginning of junior year, so get involved in any elections or anything in groups you're a part of.
On September 05 2010 13:25 love1another wrote:
Well... as I said 2 posts earlier, even in the USA, interviews are conducted almost exclusively by volunteer alumni (it gets them class reunion credit, I think), not paid recruiters.
While this is true, I do think that if you actually go to the school you can get interviews with people who work in the office. I have recently discovered, however, that most of these people are pretty low down on the ladder. As in their simply 3rd/4th years who happen to work in admissions doing tours or other gruntwork.
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so uh, as a canadian, if i scored above the SAT score that you stated and i am involved in volunteering and such, would it be especially difficult to get into a top notch american university?
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On September 05 2010 13:24 Z3kk wrote:(I agree with you on your comments about my post about the SAT, since I can't possibly know better anyway; that definitely wasn't sarcasm, I was just repeating things I had heard ) Anyway, I didn't have any questions because I stated that I'd come back when I had enough time to intelligently formulate some questions (i.e. I'll come back later when I come up with some questions worth asking, and after I have read through the thread). However, I do have a quick question just for now: what should a sophomore do? I'm only a lowly little high school sophomore, and I really don't know much about anything...sure, good APs + SAT I and IIs + good GPA are good, but I truly know very little. At this point, what should I be doing to prepare for college? I do my work and I'm studying for the SAT in October, but have no idea what exactly I should be doing in preparation (I realize that this is a horribly general question, but I would greatly appreciate a few--or many hehe--guidelines about what I should be doing. Also, not that I doubt you or anything like that, but out of my curiosity, what are your qualifications, so to speak? ^^ (you might have posted about them somewhere in the thread, but I'm short on time because I have a hefty load of work at the moment T.T) Thanks for being so nice as to freely give out advice like this!
Regarding your SAT in October, I wrote a guide just for you... http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=150377
<3 ~ Enjoii ~ <3
On September 05 2010 15:20 erektion wrote:
so uh, as a canadian, if i scored above the SAT score that you stated and i am involved in volunteering and such, would it be especially difficult to get into a top notch american university?
If you want an answer to that, just check the corresponding collegeconfidential.com forum for the school you are interested in applying to. Check their decision threads and people post their detailed stats and their status (accepted/ rejected/waitlisted). Then see how you compare.
To answer your question indirectly as such is the easiest way without asking for the hundred other potentially private pieces of information that might be necessary to answering your question directly.
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Lets say my GPA isn't the greatest in the world because im a slacking idiot. Roughly 3.0-3.1 but I still have 2 years to pull that up what would it take on the SAT to at least give me a change at an okay college / university. Do I even still have a chance at a University of California or did I slack to much?
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This really cute girl I used to hang with totally screwed up her freshman year. She did a decent job her sophomore year, but totally screwed up her junior year again. That being said she aced the SAT and got a bunch of APs and extracurricular activities. And she was a phenomenal writer.
She's now starting her freshman year at UC Berkeley. So keep your chin up and keeping spending time on things you're passionate about. And try not to give up good grades if you can get them.
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On September 05 2010 15:20 erektion wrote:
so uh, as a canadian, if i scored above the SAT score that you stated and i am involved in volunteering and such, would it be especially difficult to get into a top notch american university?
I'd say that as a general rule, you need a >2200/2250 SAT, >~3.8 GPA (some considerations for bad freshman years, they like improvement), and one of the harder schedules that your school offers, including at least a handful of 4-5 (or equivalent) scores on AP/IB tests to have a shot at a top (~top 20) school. Basically, that'll give you the academic requirements, beyond that you'll generally have to differentiate yourself further in some way, be that extracurriculars, competitions, essays, etc. You can get away with less than that academically, but you need something special, either a really phenomenal extracurricular or sometimes a really good life story.
But I'm I'm under the impression that top schools turn away a lot of 2250 SAT 3.8 GPA students, you need SOMETHING more than just meeting the minimum academic requirements.
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On September 05 2010 16:36 theonemephisto wrote:Show nested quote +On September 05 2010 15:20 erektion wrote:
so uh, as a canadian, if i scored above the SAT score that you stated and i am involved in volunteering and such, would it be especially difficult to get into a top notch american university? I'd say that as a general rule, you need a >2200/2250 SAT, >~3.8 GPA (some considerations for bad freshman years, they like improvement), and one of the harder schedules that your school offers, including at least a handful of 4-5 (or equivalent) scores on AP/IB tests to have a shot at a top (~top 20) school. Basically, that'll give you the academic requirements, beyond that you'll generally have to differentiate yourself further in some way, be that extracurriculars, competitions, essays, etc. You can get away with less than that academically, but you need something special, either a really phenomenal extracurricular or sometimes a really good life story. But I'm I'm under the impression that top schools turn away a lot of 2250 SAT 3.8 GPA students, you need SOMETHING more than just meeting the minimum academic requirements.
This is absolutely correct. Again, if you want a more detailed picture, check college confidential. 
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You have a very particular situation that I have no experience with. I also don't really know how admissions officers will treat your situation, so thus I do not feel comfortable giving you any concrete advice. Sorry, and I hope things turn out okay!
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So i grew up in korea and several other countries(usa,dubai,singapore and yemen) but the constant moving and my lack of interest in education left my highschool education in shambles(skipped freshman year,did sophmore year twice,dropped out of several schools,very little attendance records) and i dropped out of my final highschool this march and got a GED,I tried applying to korean colleges but they didn't like my transcript so I want to prepare myself for college for next year,I'd like to study art(fashion to be more precise) but most of all I would like to get out of korea and go to an american or canadian college. The thing is my parents are fed up with spending money on my education(can't blame them). What's the best move for me if i want to go to an american or canadian college with a full scholarship?
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On September 05 2010 17:25 krndandaman wrote:
im a korean-american senior (not fob)
freshman and soph year was pretty good.
freshman year being near perfect for me
3 clubs, around 95-96 overall average in all honors, 100 on all regents, did 2 seasons of track&field. (yes i know track is pretty useless but w.e). also did science research but didnt win competition
soph year it was pretty good as well, 92 overall average about.
same 3 clubs. same 2seasons of track. barely missed being semi-finalist of psat, science research once again. only bad part was i did bad on chem regents (82). was horrified at that score... all honors, no AP
started to volunteer at a program for kids with disability (did this for a year about) also received an award from there for longetivity and work
now this is when it starts to go down hill
junior year-
added 4 ap's, dropped physics. blah blah doesnt count anyway
some personal shit happens with family and all and i missed alot of school. teacher recommended that i either erase this year from the records with medical reason saying im depressed (yea kind of fucked up, i just had to visit a counselor just 4 times or so even tho i wasn't really depressed) or get all flunking grades starting from quarter 2 for the year. i decided on the former.
so basically, this year i pretty much got nothing done. this is when i gave up my dreams for nyu stern, berkeley, etc.
randomly took SAT because i needed to have a backup just incase i do badly senior year.. got 1960
720 math
580 reading (i know.. shitty reading score. did worse than my reading score when I took SATs in 8th grade for CTY camp ROFL)
660 writing
senior year now...
taking AP psych again because it didnt count on record. and everything else is easy classes because im definitely not ready for AP's after not studying/doing schoolwork for the past year.
so im kinda fucked for college.
1 AP
at the moment no SAT2s
limited community service... though I could get a shitload of hours because i went on 2 mission trips with church and did the disability camp thing (few days/night camp) as well as the 1year for the program itself. not like those are really impressive though.
1960 sat
does NOT look good. im also in arguably the 3rd best public school in new york state, top 50 in nation.
i really dont think i can cram this senior year, i just feel burned out. im looking to hopefully to take 2 sat2's this year and 1 retake of SAT although I doubt i'll do well since im so unconditioned in study/work.
what kind of college do you think i can make it to?
i just dont want to go to a CUNY or anything...
SUNY would be cool, what would be my reach? my backup?
im pretty sure i could get into most SUNY's or perhaps a school like stonybrook or st. johns.
my SAT is good enough for those and my first 2 years of highschool were decent.
sorry for the long post, just really anxious about this year. im in utter confusion
If you have a legit reason for getting bad grades during a certain period in your high school, and can back it up with your counselor's and/or doctor's writing, you should be fine. just finish up your senior year with a good gpa and you should be fine. you really don't have to take sat2's or the sat again if you feel like you won't do well... there isn't really a point unless you're going for some harder-to-get-into schools, or maybe geneseo. right now, your current grades and scores can get you into some sunys, so you'll be fine. just apply to a whole bunch of them. go for binghamton, geneseo, buffalo, fredonia, stoneybrook and whatever other suny has the program you want to study.
i feel like the main reason why you posted this was because of nervousness. you just arent sure whether your scores and other stuff are good enough, and everyone goes through this. well, i can tell you now - you'll be fine. you're not 'kinda fucked for college.' my situation was so much worse than yours, and i got into American University's SIS for international relations with their highest merit scholarship. aka you can do same if you put good effort into your essays and gpa. also, work with your counselor to figure out how to best communicate your junior year situation to the colleges you're applying to.
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I graduated high school last May as my class valedictorian with the highest available GPA of a 4.2, for some reason only the advanced science courses were weighted (extremely small school, my graduating class had ~100 students). I also scored a 31 on my ACT which isn't necessarily astounding but because of that I never attempted the SAT. I was accepted into multiple colleges for academics, including the University of Oklahoma which I decided was a good place to begin my college shenanigans. My question is concerning a major, and whether or not I should stay at OU for my remaining 7 semesters.
For this fall semester my schedule is entirely freshman basics that will transfer anywhere, with maybe the exception of an extremely difficult gym class that requires us to jog 15 WHOLE minutes a day with a final exam of completing a mile in ~10. We're only 3 weeks into class but so far everything is a joke, I'd like to think I'm succeeding fairly well at both the academic and social aspects of college thus far.. except maybe that I'm not having rampant sex with every girl in my residential hall because of this awful crutch of a girlfriend.
I've always been fascinated by the human body and it's related functions, so naturally I've only seriously considered medical careers. Anything from physical therapy, occupational, sports medicine, nursing, even massage therapy, but recently I've grown really attached to the idea of radiology. I've had multiple MRIs and other fun tests done on me for anything from sporting injuries to a collapsed lung, so I have a vague understanding of what it's like to do their job and the associated hospital-esque environment.
I was wondering what would be my best course of action to pursue this type of career. Should I continue attending this standard 4-year until I'm absolutely certain I want to commit to a specific field or immediately transfer to a more established specialized institute to begin working towards it?
Obviously anything relating to medicine will have a healthy outlook and job opportunities, is there a more stable industry though? My father has been trying to convince me to focus more on civil engineering using the argument that medicine isn't as reliable since bridges and other related structures are going to begin decaying once I've finished school, so there would be an immediate opening (he's been in construction since high school). My mother on the other hand has been trying to support me in whatever I choose (my parents haven't ever been very good at parenting or anything involving responsibility, unfortunately) although lately she's been giving me subtle hints to take up accounting after her. Would that necessarily be a bad decision considering the other two options of medicine and engineering? Which would be the best?
Also, could anybody working in the health industry give me any insight? Do you still support your decision to focus on medicine? Would you have done anything different if you could go back? Would you encourage more teenagers like myself to work towards related careers?
Writing obviously isn't my forte, I've always excelled at anything requiring intense logic, so science and mathematics. What other fields should I be considering? Pharmaceuticals is a pretty big one I've looked into, what're the major benefits of that compared to any of the others mentioned?
Thank you for reading and any additional input.
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Is there any strategy for keeping a clear mind when writing the essays? I have something like 10-15 essays to write total. Once I get writer's block on one, then I simply despise everything that I type thereafter. As a result, my progress on my essays has been severely stunted, with only a few months to go (To juggle along with regular schoolwork).
Is there some way of getting over that and writing clearly without losing your focus?
EDIT: Would anyone mind rating my chances based on my academics (Not enough time for all the extracurriculars)?
My middleschool/highschool GPA was pretty bad. Lots of Bs, a few Cs, and the rest As. I had a GPA of something like 3.2/3.3. I "bucked down" in junior year, giving me a 3.86 or a 3.92 (I never actually got my final report card. Either 4.0 or 3.86). Every class was an honors/advanced, and I took 3 APs that year, and got 5s on all of them (previous AP scores were a 4 and a 5), so weighted would be 4.86 or 4.92.
My simple question is, would I be considered in a same way as a 3.8 student, or would I be down to ~3.5 because of my history?
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EPT
