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On December 14 2012 19:22 ]343[ wrote:Really? Ivy League colleges are the most likely to "hold your hand" and prevent you from failing; see this article, for example. That's not to say they make sure you excel--though most who go to such places do very well--but it's basically unheard of to fail out of somewhere like Harvard.
I mean, OK, there's a .4 grade GPA average disparity between your average Harvard student and your average state school student. I imagine your average Harvard student would do a hell of a lot better than that at a state school -- I have plenty of friends who were taking classes at their local state schools in high school and acing them. People at Harvard are usually good at school, FWIW. And I'm not talking about Ivy League vs a State School anyway, more like versus a smaller liberal arts college. And I am also not talking about failing out, so much as helping you along and keeping tabs on you. You would get way more of that at a smaller LAC than a big Ivy, for sure.
Also I really wish that article was not taken so seriously. That professor seems like he has some personal problems with social interactions, and is portraying a minority of people as the majority.
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On December 15 2012 15:50 applepielon wrote:Show nested quote +On December 14 2012 19:22 ]343[ wrote:Really? Ivy League colleges are the most likely to "hold your hand" and prevent you from failing; see this article, for example. That's not to say they make sure you excel--though most who go to such places do very well--but it's basically unheard of to fail out of somewhere like Harvard. I mean, OK, there's a .4 grade GPA average disparity between your average Harvard student and your average state school student. I imagine your average Harvard student would do a hell of a lot better than that at a state school -- I have plenty of friends who were taking classes at their local state schools in high school and acing them. People at Harvard are usually good at school, FWIW. And I'm not talking about Ivy League vs a State School anyway, more like versus a smaller liberal arts college. And I am also not talking about failing out, so much as helping you along and keeping tabs on you. You would get way more of that at a smaller LAC than a big Ivy, for sure. Also I really wish that article was not taken so seriously. That professor seems like he has some personal problems with social interactions, and is portraying a minority of people as the majority.
Except Ivy's do grade inflate. It's a pretty much given fact. Then you go to University of Chicago where it's brutal and your grades get deflated.
For people who are applying... it literally doesn't matter what school you get into as long as it's half way decent because at that point, all the schools are basically the same, and it's up to what you do in college and beyond that matters.
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I think class ranking is more important than GPA. Even if you take 10+ APs but end up with a 3.8 and a 90th %ile ranking, admissions is going to think there are 10% of the people just at your HS who are better than you.
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On December 15 2012 19:44 Chaggi wrote:Show nested quote +On December 15 2012 15:50 applepielon wrote:On December 14 2012 19:22 ]343[ wrote:Really? Ivy League colleges are the most likely to "hold your hand" and prevent you from failing; see this article, for example. That's not to say they make sure you excel--though most who go to such places do very well--but it's basically unheard of to fail out of somewhere like Harvard. I mean, OK, there's a .4 grade GPA average disparity between your average Harvard student and your average state school student. I imagine your average Harvard student would do a hell of a lot better than that at a state school -- I have plenty of friends who were taking classes at their local state schools in high school and acing them. People at Harvard are usually good at school, FWIW. And I'm not talking about Ivy League vs a State School anyway, more like versus a smaller liberal arts college. And I am also not talking about failing out, so much as helping you along and keeping tabs on you. You would get way more of that at a smaller LAC than a big Ivy, for sure. Also I really wish that article was not taken so seriously. That professor seems like he has some personal problems with social interactions, and is portraying a minority of people as the majority. Except Ivy's do grade inflate. It's a pretty much given fact. Then you go to University of Chicago where it's brutal and your grades get deflated. For people who are applying... it literally doesn't matter what school you get into as long as it's half way decent because at that point, all the schools are basically the same, and it's up to what you do in college and beyond that matters.
Indeed Ivies do grade inflate. So does everyone else. In fact, colleges in the US for the past couple of decades have all been raising their average GPA levels as a method to garner more students (who wants to attend a school that everyone fails out of?). See:
http://gradeinflation.com/
However, people love to make judgments about school GPA based on perceptions of the school culture. IE, UChicago is "where fun comes to die", thus their grades are lower. This empirically hasn't been the case. If anything data has shown that UChicago is in fact just as grade inflated as most of the Ivies. Despite all of this, none of this really goes against what Applepielon was saying, which is, at schools like Harvard just because the GPA average is higher than your average state school doesn't necessarily explain all of school difficulty. Perhaps it is the students' abilities that are "inflated". After all, academic ability is a prime characteristic for admissions into top schools.
Admittedly, top schools do typically have a lot easier of curves, but I feel like that's understandable.Curving a class full of high school valedictorians on a evenly distributed A to F scale is brutal, to say the least.
Also man do I hate that article.
I think class ranking is more important than GPA. Even if you take 10+ APs but end up with a 3.8 and a 90th %ile ranking, admissions is going to think there are 10% of the people just at your HS who are better than you.
This is more or less false. You cannot standardize the abilities of people across high schools. A 90%tile at Exeter versus a 90%tile in a typical public school are far and away different things, and adcoms understand this. This is why some top schools can get 30% of their kids per class into top schools every year consistently, while many schools in their history have never sent a valedictorian into the top 10. AP/IB standarized curriculum is one great way to show that you have the ability to do well on college difficulty schools regardless of the rest of your student body. This is not to say there is no comparison of rankings, but in your example, a 10+ APs in any percentile is amazing to say the least, while not all valedictorian/high %iles are as worthy.
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OP, what are your stats? I can tell you that if you want to go Ivy League as an international, you're going to have to have some real killer stats and not apply for financial aid. Post your stats.
My experience: I had lie a 3.93/4.00 GPA and I took the most rigorous courses in my high school, which is decent and regularly sends about 3-7% of its graduating seniors to Ivies.
This is what you should do.
1. Make sure you have extracurriculars that you actually care about. Don't do something because you think it'll look good on an application--adcoms can see right through that bullshit. When you list your EC's, don't make a large laundry list. Ivies want to admit a CLASS--if they wanted to admit 4.0/2400 they could, but they don't because they want diversity and the best possible class.
2. Take the hardest possible courses at your school and get A's. Your transcript matters the most in a college decision, even if it's a holistic approach. In truth, EC's only really matter when you do something AMAZING. If you have a shitty transcript, no amount of EC's are going to push you over. Unless you do something spectacular, and that's not really expected.
3. Get to know some teachers well. Don't be an asshat in class because you're going to have to get recommendations from your teachers. Choose teachers who know you well as a person, as well as a student. In addition to this, get to know your guidance counselor well, so that he/she can write you a good letter.
4. Testing matters, up to a certain point. If you get 2250+ on the SAT, or above 33 on the ACT, you should be pretty much set. Scores above 770 on the SATII's are also nice. If you can take AP's, do it, but it doesn't really matter that much. I personally would not spend that much money on test prep. Get yourself a book and study it yourself. There will be like 10 tests or so in a single book. Do all of them and you should be set. That's what I did--I raised my scores up about 110 points to a 2300. It's about practicing how to beat the test. The more practice you do, the better you'll do on the test.
5. When you write essays, write good essays. Don't write what you think the adcoms want to hear. Write about something you care about. You should let your personality shine through. Also, if you think you have an original idea, it probably isn't. Adcoms read thousands upon thousands of essays each admissions season: for example, Penn had about 30k applicants last year. Just write about something you have a passion for and write it well. That's what I did and I got into Penn ED.
I'm going to make the assumption that you're an international. If so, Penn loves international kids. If you have any questions or whatever about this process, PM me, because I know what I'm doing. More or less.
On December 14 2012 13:08 number01 wrote:Show nested quote +US colleges discriminate against certain races, IE if you're Black or Mexican you can get admitted with much lower scores/grades than if you're White/Asian. LOL you have no idea what you are talking about. Most USA colleges do not want asians because their spots fill very quickly. It is not that hard to find 1000 asians competing for a position in Hardvard, while there are probably 50 hispanics trying to get there. If you are white, you are almost guaranteed any college even if you dont get your first choice. Most asians nowadays switch their last names to sound more hispanic or white in order to fill other spots. It is the reality that they are extremely greedy and have no respect for other ethnicity. Just attend one of the upper biology classes on any university and you will see tons of people with the last name "Patel". In one of my classes there were around 15 people with that last name. cheers! User was temp banned for this post.
You are actually retarded. Please never post again, you cancerous idiot.
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EPT
