<p>Hey all, I have 4 important questions to ask,</p>
<p>First, Do colleges see what other colleges you applied to? If so, would that effect your chances of getting in because they'll think "oh, he don't have to accept him, he'll get into that school"??</p>
<p>Second, Would it be a good idea to put pictures of my family, ec's, etc on a cd like a slide show with music and hand it in with my application? Because I'm wondering if it shows my creative side and gets to see more of who I am, OR sees that I'm trying too hard and end up backfiring?</p>
<p>Third, I am not a citizen but I'm not an immigrant because I lived in US for 17 years, and have a green card and am a permanent residence.</p>
<p>Fourth, Other then good gpa, sat/act, ec, and essay, what else can I possibly do to increase my chances and to show that I'm truly dedicated to that university and college without looking like I'm trying too hard?</p>
<p>Thank you all, and if you could answer these with honest opinions, it would be greatly appreciated. Once again, thank you for your time.</p>
<p>2) it'll end up backfiring because admissions officers hate those corny little things people try to add on and always end up throwing them away or skipping over them.</p>
<p>3) what is the question here? state yourself as a permanent resident.</p>
<p>4) You could apply Early Decision because that sends a strong message to the school that you want to go there. Do well in school (senior grades count), and treat your teachers nicely (the ones writing your recs).</p>
<p>but re 2) this is not an appropriate thing to send. You should only send in what is asked for. Rare exception is a portfolio if you are an arts major, or a demo if you are a music major. Or perhaps an article you published if it has academic relevance. See, only send in things that relate to academics and fields of study.</p>
<p>Sorry bout that, but for question 3 I meant, would I have a better chance because I am a permanent residence? </p>
<p>And also, do colleges look at our senior thesis?</p>
<p>Lastly, ed is too late for me I believe, they wanted applications on November 1. So what else could I do? Would trying to donate look like I'm trying too hard and seem suspicious?</p>
<p>Thank you for the help guys, seriously thank you, very appreciated.</p>
<p>oh and also, for rolling admission such as penn state and umich, how does it exactly work? I understand if you hand it in sooner you get a better chance of getting accepted, but how and when do they accept you? do they decide on the spot? if so, what happens if you didn't send in your sat or act scores in? Does that mean they'll postpone and wait till you hand in the sat/act? If so does that mean if I hand it in on January, it would be the same as if someone handed in their applications on January with their sat score? So basically if I don't hand in my sat, its useless? </p>
<p>or is it the opposite where, even if you don't hand in your sat/act, you still have a higher chance of getting in because you handed in your application sooner?
Thus umich/pennstate accepting everyone on the same time?</p>
<p>I have to disagree with nooob and Brown Parent on one thing--colleges can see what other schools you have applied to simply by seeing where else your transcripts were sent.</p>
<p>This is a trick that all colleges use--and some do use it to decide whether to offer admission. If they expect you to get accepted to some "better" schools, they quite often will deny you admission if they expect that you are using their college as the "safety".</p>
<p>If you go back a few years, you'll see that the University of Rochester was denying quite a few people who were applying to all the Ivies. This was a major discussion topic here on CC among those who felt that it was being done because they didn't like being the "safety" for those who were undoubtedly going to be accepted to one of the Ivies. </p>
<p>Denying these students helped the Univ of Rochester since it kept their "yield" high and made the school look much more attractive to those who were actually accepted.</p>
<p>Washington Univ uses their "waitlist" in the same way. By only offering some positions to those who have already been rejected at other schools, the yield is kept high. This was discussed in many, many posts last year on here. WUSL had the ability to figure out who they should waitlist by using the same method of determining where else people were applying. </p>
<p>P.S. Yield was (and I believe still is) used in the ratings system of USNWR--so there was a very "real" reason for these rejections and waitlisting at the two schools mentioned.</p>
<p>Yeah how do colleges see them? and what about the opposite? say, the higher colleges will think I will get into my safety even if they don't accept me, thus not accepting me?</p>
<p>What If I'm applying to 20 schools? if they see that won't it look bad? or would it actually help my chances of getting into one of my top schools?</p>
<p>I don't think they see it. Schools often know if you consider them a safety by looking at your stats, but I don't see how they could see your list...</p>
<p>It takes about 4 - 8 weeks to hear back from most rolling schools (some schools take less though, like 3 or so weeks) and the sooner you hand in ALL application materials, they sooner they take a look at your application, and the likelier you are to receive an acceptance. </p>
<p>If you submitted everything now and waiting until January to submit your scores, you probably wouldn't get a decision until February or March. They don't review your application until they have every piece. You can submit everything but SAT scores and they'll just wait until they get your scores to review your application - as long as you send everything in within their deadlines.</p>
<p>An applicant's chances are better when the WHOLE application is submitted early, not just their application minus the test scores.</p>
<p>
[quote]
colleges can see what other schools you have applied to simply by seeing where else your transcripts were sent.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think this is mistaken. That's definitely NOT true of the Common Application nor of College Board score reports. Where is the proof? </p>
<p>
[quote]
Yield was (and I believe still is) used in the ratings system of USNWR
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is definitely incorrect, and is easily proved wrong by looking at a current explanation of the U.S. News ranking methodology. This has been incorrect for years, because there was much criticism that considering yield might lead to perverse incentives on colleges.</p>
<p>Hey bestwhit I understand that if i don't send in everything it wont be finalized, however if I send in it now, wouldn't they file me saying I handed it early, and just wait for my scores? So technically not considering it the same as if everyone handed in their stuff later?</p>
<p>Also, would I have a better chance because I am a permanent residence?</p>
<p>And also, do colleges look at our senior thesis?</p>
<p>Lastly, ed is too late for me I believe, they wanted applications on November 1. So what else could I do? Would trying to donate look like I'm trying too hard and seem suspicious?</p>
<p>The correct spelling is "resident" in that sentence. I point it out because you have repeated the mistake (after another reply above showed you the correct spelling). My friendly advice is to prepare for college by doing a lot of reading in English so that you become familiar with distinctions like that--you'll have to notice more subtle distinctions in college reading. </p>
<p>I don't think there's any advantage to handing your application minus scores early, because it's not the fact that you applied early that's advantageous, it's that the schools haven't reviewed many applications so they haven't accepted/rejected nearly as many as they would have if it was later in the year.
So you probably won't get the "early" advantage if you hand in your scores later - they'll just think of it as your application being finished at that time.</p>
<p>Versus an international student, one who's not a resident of the U.S.? Probably. Against the huge numbers of U.S. citizens? Not particularly.</p>
<p>Assuming by senior thesis you mean some project or paper your high school requires, probably not. I actually don't know any high schools personally that require that, so obviously colleges wouldn't be able to see any senior these from these students, so I doubt they'd see yours - unless it somehow is finished already and is part of your transcript - but it's very, very unlikely.</p>
<p>Yeah, donating at this point is kind of silly. All you can do is refine and revise your essays, finish your applications as soon as you can for those schools with rolling admissions, and make sure all applications are in by their deadlines, pretty much.</p>