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On September 18 2008 05:56 Ideas wrote:I currently go to Georgia Tech. It's a pretty badass school. I'm not in an engineering degree so I'm not exactly sure how great that is, but like 80% of the students are engineering degrees and apparently the engineering programs here are awesome. Also we have a StarCraft club starting up soon 
OMG Starcraft club at Gatech? I'm at Emory, I wish we had one haha.
And Emory is not an all girls college (to whoever said it earlier, I forgot =x), I guess the name sorta sounds like it haha.
It's currently ranked 18th in the US. And as Roffles said, one of the better privates down south.
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I didn't choose my college
it chose me
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:p i applied last minute to conestoga, sheridan and mohawk college in ontario
Conestoga for culinary skills, and police and justice foundations
sheridan - some law program
mohawk - business admin
Mohawk has a bad rap, sheridan was retardedly expensive and a long ass trip for my lazy ass, so conestoga was what i opted for, and basically coin flipped on which program lame i know. Never looked back though, loving the skill i picked up.
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I got rejected from MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, and Berkeley, so I'm at Carnegie Mellon for computer science now. I chose it over UCLA and UIUC because of reputation/rankings/smaller size basically. The average starting salary for CS here is $75k. The only downside is the $50k/year, because I could have gone to state school (Purdue/IU) for free. However, after being here for a month and comparing with my friends' experiences, I think I got the best end of the deal. The academics are great here, not too hard so far, but very interesting. The social scene is surprisingly awesome (I joined a frat), and I'm having an awesome time at college. Being in a smaller university really is much better than a 50-60k student state school.
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On September 11 2008 13:35 Titusmaster6 wrote:
UC Davis was the only school that accepted me so in a way, it chose me. But I love it.
I go to Davis too, I was in the same boat. I don't know if I love it or not but it's a nice school.
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United States10774 Posts
On September 18 2008 07:06 SiegeTanksandBlueGoo wrote:
College essays blow. :D
We should start a thread on tl.net after college decisions are out so we can find other people at the schools we got into with the same interests!
ya!
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Would someone mind explaining the concept of these "extracurriculars" that american unis seem to find so important? Why would a university care at all for anything that isn't acedemic potential? :S
I am probably beeing very European but I just can't comprehend this.
Sorry for beeing of topic.
On topic I would say that your pick should depend on what you want your college experience to be focused on.
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Cayman Islands24199 Posts
i had a math leaning profile out of high school, and uchicago is like the only nonengineering place that i could go without disturbing my parents. could have gone to columbia engineering or cornell, but i didn't want to do that stuff in particular. math requires actual work!
wait wtf caller goes to uchicago. what the fuck mate. do you seriously think mccain will war russia?
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Snet
United States3573 Posts
I decided what major I wanted, and found the most affordable school with a good reputation for what I'm studying.
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Meh. Applying early decision to Yale, although I'm prolly not gonna get in.
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I just decided I wanted to study psychology and applied to Leiden which seemed fun, didn't really care where it was. Now Im travelling 5 hours a day because finding a room is a fucking bitch.
Still Im so motivated I feel like nothing can stop me, really... as long as you choose something you REALLY love you don't have to worry about the rest at all.
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Twas simple...
GPA: 3.0, EC: nonexistent
So that was it. I was fucked. No ivies for me with that GPA even if I had gotten 1600 on the SAT (which I didn't). No scholarships either. So I just went to my state school and then left because they wouldn't give me shit in grants with 3.0 GPA. See if you fuck yourself over choosing becomes really easy, even if unpalatable.
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I'm glad there was such a topic in TL... I really need to start researching this now (I'm a junior now).
I have some major questions about colleges.
First, how do grading scales work? Do colleges have a universal system? California had 10 point grading scale whereas Virginia Beach has 6-8-8 grading scale (so 94 is the lowest A). Does it mean I am fucked because I had two 92 and a 84 in Freshman year which makes my GPA for that year at 3.5.
Also, how do you find out which schools are strong in what departments? Is there a site that covers all or most of it or do I have to research it myself?
As for some information I collected, remember that grades and standardized testing isn't all. EC activities and essays (especially essys. I knew a person who used to be in an admission comittee, and from all the applicants that are similar in other respects, it determines admission by the essay.)
For those of you who are still junior or below, remember many colleges requre SAT Subject tests. These include your core sciences and math 1/2, foreign language etc. DO NOT expect to get a perfect because you got an A in bio or chem. The SAT subject tests are much harder than the basic science courses, and I recomment you get the prep books and start solving.
SAT I, to improve in the writing section, learn some simple grammar. The essay accounts for roughly 200 points or so while the other 600 comes from 45 questions on grammar. You can easily improve this score by mass practice and KNOWING why you missed.
Oh yeah I forgot that letters of recommendations help a lot, especially if you have ones from appropriate people (i.e. a MD/PhD researcher for going into bio).
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eh jono your lucky your at such an easy school :/ wish mine was like that. Going to be tough for be to get anywhere good since my school is hard as shit. To give you a scale, i got a 2280 on the SAT but have a 3.0 GPA, yes its pretty gay.
With those grades you can pretty much go anywhere although the SAT is a little low. just pick the college based on a couple things:
Location, Money, Specialty fields, Overall atmosphere, and of course the scholarships you receive will play a big role.
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United States10774 Posts
On September 20 2008 09:13 inertinept wrote:
eh jono your lucky your at such an easy school :/ wish mine was like that. Going to be tough for be to get anywhere good since my school is hard as shit. To give you a scale, i got a 2280 on the SAT but have a 3.0 GPA, yes its pretty gay.
With those grades you can pretty much go anywhere although the SAT is a little low. just pick the college based on a couple things:
Location, Money, Specialty fields, Overall atmosphere, and of course the scholarships you receive will play a big role.
what school do you go to?
good SAT =/= good GPA
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United States10774 Posts
On September 19 2008 23:07 KlaCkoN wrote:
Would someone mind explaining the concept of these "extracurriculars" that american unis seem to find so important? Why would a university care at all for anything that isn't acedemic potential? :S
I am probably beeing very European but I just can't comprehend this.
Sorry for beeing of topic.
On topic I would say that your pick should depend on what you want your college experience to be focused on.
Think of it this way. Stanford has 10 applicants with 4.0GPA/2350+SAT. You have room for two. Who do you choose? You choose a student who shows passion and ability in things other than academics. ECs/essays/recs are what set you apart from thousands of other students with similar academic stats.
To give you an idea,
Applicant A:
4.0 GPA, 2400 SAT
no significant ECs
Applicant B:
3.8 GPA, 2250 SAT
student government
varsity sports
they would rather pick person B.
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On September 20 2008 15:17 OneOther wrote:Show nested quote +On September 19 2008 23:07 KlaCkoN wrote:
Would someone mind explaining the concept of these "extracurriculars" that american unis seem to find so important? Why would a university care at all for anything that isn't acedemic potential? :S
I am probably beeing very European but I just can't comprehend this.
Sorry for beeing of topic.
On topic I would say that your pick should depend on what you want your college experience to be focused on. Think of it this way. Stanford has 10 applicants with 4.0GPA/2350+SAT. You have room for two. Who do you choose? You choose a student who shows passion and ability in things other than academics. ECs/essays/recs are what set you apart from thousands of other students with similar academic stats. To give you an idea, Applicant A: 4.0 GPA, 2400 SAT no significant ECs Applicant B: 3.8 GPA, 2250 SAT student government varsity sports they would rather pick person B.
Yeah but why?
As a university why should they be interessted in anything but the quality of the work the student is expected to produce? Maybe they need selection methods of their own. (The skills required to score perfect grades are not exactly the same as those needed to produce good research)
But to resort to their ... sport skills? What has _that_ got to do with anything?
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United States10774 Posts
On September 20 2008 19:57 KlaCkoN wrote:Show nested quote +On September 20 2008 15:17 OneOther wrote:On September 19 2008 23:07 KlaCkoN wrote:
Would someone mind explaining the concept of these "extracurriculars" that american unis seem to find so important? Why would a university care at all for anything that isn't acedemic potential? :S
I am probably beeing very European but I just can't comprehend this.
Sorry for beeing of topic.
On topic I would say that your pick should depend on what you want your college experience to be focused on. Think of it this way. Stanford has 10 applicants with 4.0GPA/2350+SAT. You have room for two. Who do you choose? You choose a student who shows passion and ability in things other than academics. ECs/essays/recs are what set you apart from thousands of other students with similar academic stats. To give you an idea, Applicant A: 4.0 GPA, 2400 SAT no significant ECs Applicant B: 3.8 GPA, 2250 SAT student government varsity sports they would rather pick person B. Yeah but why? As a university why should they be interessted in anything but the quality of the work the student is expected to produce? Maybe they need selection methods of their own. (The skills required to score perfect grades are not exactly the same as those needed to produce good research) But to resort to their ... sport skills? What has _that_ got to do with anything?
What do you mean why? Do you think colleges want kids who don't know anything but studying? Plus, what are you gonna do if students' scores are basically the same?
like I said, universities want students who do more than just studying. They want athlete scholars, musicians, artists, and the variety on their campus, not a big nerd fest. They look for more than just grades and scores in students.
t's also a selection method since EVERYONE who apply to elite colleges have excellent academic stats. Sport was one example of countless extracurricular activities the applicants may be dedicated to.
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On September 18 2008 10:51 MYM.Testie wrote:
I didn't choose my college
it chose me
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On September 21 2008 04:53 OneOther wrote:Show nested quote +On September 20 2008 19:57 KlaCkoN wrote:On September 20 2008 15:17 OneOther wrote:On September 19 2008 23:07 KlaCkoN wrote:
Would someone mind explaining the concept of these "extracurriculars" that american unis seem to find so important? Why would a university care at all for anything that isn't acedemic potential? :S
I am probably beeing very European but I just can't comprehend this.
Sorry for beeing of topic.
On topic I would say that your pick should depend on what you want your college experience to be focused on. Think of it this way. Stanford has 10 applicants with 4.0GPA/2350+SAT. You have room for two. Who do you choose? You choose a student who shows passion and ability in things other than academics. ECs/essays/recs are what set you apart from thousands of other students with similar academic stats. To give you an idea, Applicant A: 4.0 GPA, 2400 SAT no significant ECs Applicant B: 3.8 GPA, 2250 SAT student government varsity sports they would rather pick person B. Yeah but why? As a university why should they be interessted in anything but the quality of the work the student is expected to produce? Maybe they need selection methods of their own. (The skills required to score perfect grades are not exactly the same as those needed to produce good research) But to resort to their ... sport skills? What has _that_ got to do with anything? What do you mean why? Do you think colleges want kids who don't know anything but studying? Plus, what are you gonna do if students' scores are basically the same? like I said, universities want students who do more than just studying. They want athlete scholars, musicians, artists, and the variety on their campus, not a big nerd fest. They look for more than just grades and scores in students. t's also a selection method since EVERYONE who apply to elite colleges have excellent academic stats. Sport was one example of countless extracurricular activities the applicants may be dedicated to.
I will probably never understand this *sighs*
If the most intelligent students are "nerds" then why don't the colleges want a "nerd fest"?
Shouldn't the goal of the university be to produce as many nobel prices as possible, period?
When I applied to oxford (A fairly prestigious uni in Europe) they didn't seem to care at all for what I did in my spare time (Not that I did anything noteworthy =P) They did however lock me in a room for an hour where they bombarded me with questions regarding the subject I was applying for, expecting me to reason my way out of them. I was accepted.
To me that seems like a more relevant way to go about it, but as said I am probably just beeing very european.
Is it perhaps because the overall status of the school is increased if the students going there are beautiful and active as well as smart? Or is it because they believe that an active student is likely to produce better results in the long run?
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EPT
