7 Tips: Elite College Admissions

Applying to College
1

<pre><code>I am sure this has all been said before and I am sure I am not an expert. But somebody messaged me asking for my essays/advice because I got into MIT EA (yay!!!) and here are my two cents (note this is all my opinion- it is ok if you don't agree):
1) If you are doing something because "it looks good on a college application" you are wasting your time.
</code></pre>

<p>High school should be one of the greatest times of your life. Use it to discover your interests and pursue them. If you like community service, great. If you don't, that is fine.Do what you like and do it in a productive manner. For anything you do there is always a bad, good, better, and best.
For example: What if you like video games?
Bad: spend all your free time playing video games at home
Good: Start a club at school that talks about video games
Better: Start a club at school (or do it on your own) and volunteer at local schools playing games with younger kids. Start a video game service club that hosts videogame tournaments for charity.
Best: Start a club (or on your own) and learn how to program. Make your own games and share them with others. Maybe start an app development team or club.
The benefit of this is that 1) you get to spend more time doing what you like and 2) you meet other people that also enjoy what you like.
2) Quality matters more than quantity when it comes to extracurriculars.
At a max you can only do three things (besides school) at a decent to high level. For me this was wrestling, church and band. This year I quit NHS so I could focus on these things and it turned out well. If you love math, figure out how to compete in the Olympiads or find a way to develop your passion. Try to be the best at something instead of a mix of mediocre things. MIT only gives you five slots to describe your extra-curricular activities- that should give you a hint that they want you to do more with less. Colleges like leadership but if that isn't you, don't force it. Your activities should genuinely represent your interests and passions. </p>

<p>What if you don't know what your "passion" is? It is ok not to know what your true passion is at 14 or 15 or even by the time you graduate. Try different things to get a feel for what you at least like to do.
3) Think about why you are applying to a college.
If you apply to all the Ivy league schools and think you will be equally happy at any Ivy you are doing something wrong. The name/brand is not everything. Ask yourself "Will I be happy in that college's community for 4 year?". Be honest. Do some serious research (and visit!!!) and think carefully over which colleges you will apply to. Do some serious reflection and ask WHY you are applying. Is it mainly because you want to be the kid who got into MIT? Because if so, you need to take a step back. College admissions is not some type of game you win or lose. It is not a lottery. It is not an intense strategy game that one must obsess over starting freshmen year (or before). It does not define your life. Trust me: you will be much happier in high school if you do not obsess over college 24/7.
Also: Think about what you can afford.
If you are rich, can your parents afford full tuition? If you are interested in a college you should look at whether you can afford it first before you fall in love with it. Use the net price calculators on their website to get a rough estimate and use the fafsa4caster to get an idea of what the federal government thinks your family can pay. You shouldn't go into more than $32,000 (or $8,000 / year) of debt for college. Look at payscale and see if your college degree is worth the price.
**Also: Limit how many colleges you apply to. **You cannot tell me that 20 different applications will equal the quality of 5 applications that you spent more time on. Limit yourself to 10 (MAX). Realize that applications cost you or your parents money.</p>

<pre><code>4) Correlation does not imply causation when looking at admittance rates.
</code></pre>

<p>Read this: <a href="http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/diversity-or-merit"&gt;http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/diversity-or-merit&lt;/a>
And this: <a href="http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/the-difficulty-with-data"&gt;http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/the-difficulty-with-data&lt;/a>
And take a deep breath. There is no acceptance formula yet it is not just "luck" If it is meant to happen, it will happen. And if it doesn't- take time to accept that. It does not mean you aren't good enough. It does not lessen your value as a person or ruin all the work you have done. You should leave high school with no regrets because all you can do is your best. I know that may not help you. But for the love of all things do not stalk a college online and criticize them. The only way to get over the pain of rejection is to actually move on and focus on other things.
5) Being a good person actually matters.
Your teacher recommendations actually say a lot about what you are like as a student and how you interact with your peers. If you are a freaky genius but you never come to class prepared or you don't take notes or you have to be constantly reminded to stop talking, you may have some work to do. Take an interest in your teachers and be nice to other people. You can find recommendation advice elsewhere but just know that it is in your best interest overall (not just for the sake of getting into college) to try to get along with other people. Dale Carnegie's "How to Make Friends and Influence People" is dated, but it contains good advice and is worth a read.
6) Reading other people's essays can do more harm than good.
Read this: <a href="http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/how-to-write-a-college-essay"&gt;http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/how-to-write-a-college-essay&lt;/a>
Read this: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Writing-College-Application-Essay-Anniversary/dp/0062123998/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419962035&sr=8-1&keywords=on+writing+the+college+application+essay"&gt;http://www.amazon.com/Writing-College-Application-Essay-Anniversary/dp/0062123998/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419962035&sr=8-1&keywords=on+writing+the+college+application+essay&lt;/a> or a similar book
** But don't buy a book of other people's essays or ask people for their essays.** You may not even realize it later, but you will tend to copy other people's ideas or try to be somebody you are not. And plagiarism, even if it is unintentional, is bad. Be you. A random stranger should be able to read those essays and find what makes you "tick." Take time to write your essays.** Avoid clichés <a href="mission%20trip,%20community%20service,%20foreign%20country,%20etc.">/b</a>. Go through at least 5 drafts of each essay. I have word documents where I wrote my first draft then copied it and edited it, then copied it and edited and so forth. Ask your English teacher or another adult or a peer (generally avoid parents) and ask if it sounds like you. Take their suggestions with a grain of salt unless they are working on improving the quality (ie: grammar, word choice).
7) Standardized test scores aren't the most important thing in the world.
If you are solidly in or above the middle 50% for SAT scores and grades and whatever else: stop. People with 2400s get rejected at top colleges all the time. Studying for standardized tests is not a viable extracurricular that will be useful anywhere outside of taking that test. If you are a "bad" test taker- be realistic in your goals and realize that scores are only a part of the equation. The only way to have a 0% chance of admission is not to apply.
Also: (In my opinion) Chance threads are next to worthless for elite college admissions.
Read: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/939227-reminder-no-one-not-even-me-can-give-you-an-accurate-chance-at-mit-p1.html"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/939227-reminder-no-one-not-even-me-can-give-you-an-accurate-chance-at-mit-p1.html&lt;/a> (I know this is a bit MIT-centric, but it may ring true for many other colleges)
<a href="8-%20too%20much%20CC%20may%20be%20harmful%20in%20some%20cases.%20It%20can%20warp%20your%20mind%20(especially%20about%20gender/race%20stuff).%20CC%20is%20great,%20but%20with%20anything%20moderation%20is%20key">b</a>**</p>

<p>Also: For any given rule there are going to be exceptions. Keep that in mind.</p>

2

<p>Is community service really bad thing to write about?
Throughout the whole entire common app, I am portraying myself as someone who is selfless and giving pretty much, with most of my EC’s reflecting on that.
What’s your opinion on that?</p>

3

<p>I agree with most of what you said except number 3. For me, I knew I would be happy at almost any elite institution because elite schools all have the same basic components (good students, good professors, and resources to help you succeed). Therefore, applying to as many schools as humanly possible is in my opinion the best strategy. Applying to mostly reach schools with 2 matches and 2 safeties is the way to go. After all, you are likely to get in to at least one of those 4 or 5. Obviously applying takes a great amount of time and for that reason people should start early with essays. I will write a thread where I discuss much of this in a bit</p>

4

<p>@spuding102 true for many schools but not all. Harvard and Yale are practically the same school, as much as they don’t want to admit it. Harvard and MIT are completely different. </p>

5

<p>@jkl0619 It’s not the topic itself, but rather the fact that it is so overused and well known to underperform. If you can play it right, then by all means go forward with your community service essay—execution is key. If it abides by the classics (i.e. it’s painfully generic), experiment with different approaches. Google “worst community service essays.” It’s likely you’ll find something to guide you.</p>

6

<p>@Fri612 thanks for the reply.
Well, I don’t think I am being too generic.
I am not trying to give away my common app essay, but would you say with what I’m about to tell you, this isnt generic?
I was volunteering at a place where we basically look over kids from the ghetto over the summer as they can’t be home alone and their parents are busy working. I recounted an event where a kid basically did something and it broke my heart as it wasn’t something an ordinary kid would do, and used this to mark my transition from childhood to adulthood. What’s your opinion on this?</p>

7

<p>@deferredchicago Out of the top 20 or so schools most of them are remarkably similar. The “odd balls” are probably just MIT Caltech and Chicago since those are really different in atmosphere then the rest of them. For most people however, there is a sufficient amount people at any top school to find ones crowd</p>

8

<p>@jkl0619 The way you described the topic sounds a bit cliché, but like I said, it all depends on how you execute it. Have your counselor (or perhaps someone else familiar with this whole college essay extravaganza) read it and provide their honest feedback. </p>

<p>With the holistic admissions process, it really depends on that warm, fuzzy feeling the AOs get after skimming your essays in conjunction with the rest of your application. Apologies, but I really can’t give you a definitive answer. Just do your best and hope for the rest. I wish you the best of luck!</p>

9

<p>@jkl0619‌- As I said at the bottom, for every rule their is an exception. Generally unless it is really well written the cliche topic essays may hurt you because admissions officers see so many of them. If you feel like it truly reflects who you are I think it is worth a shot- I agree with Fri612 that you probably want to get another person’s opinion on your essays.</p>

<p>@DeferredChicago‌ and @spuding102‌ - I disagree a bit. I visited UPenn, Yale, Brown, Harvard, MIT and Princeton this summer and they are definitely not the same school. I would say that Yale’s engineering department in particular is a bit odd with a 1:1 student/faculty ratio and the fact that they teach computer science in a special language that only one other college uses. I would say that Yale and Harvard have similar social scenes/dorm situations but Princeton’s eating clubs are unique. And Brown is completely different- they focus heavily on freedom of choic and creating your own concentration (something like 10% of students do this if I remember correctly) and they don’t have any general course requirements. Also each school’s location is another consideration- Boston(Cambridge) and Princeton are completely different places. I think they share similar characteristics, but really I can’t imagine myself equally satisfied at Brown, Princeton or Yale because they are so different.</p>

<p>Also- I think the whole mentality of apply to all the ivies so you have better chance of getting into one of them is a little misguided. I think if you really sat down and researched each one that you could at * least * eliminate 2-3 of them just based on your personality and location preferences. But that is just my opinion.</p>

10

<p>OP, excellent advice! What it really boils down to is “be yourself,” but many people don’t want to hear that because they fear that their true self is not Ivy League material – so they strive to be someone they’re not in order to increase their chances. </p>

11

<p>Bravo on a thoughtful, detailed and helpful post! An excellent road map to …well…excellence! And ^^^^ I believe you have it 100% right in a nutshell. Be yourself and the right school will find its way to you. </p>

12

<p>@outlander545 There are many fine distinctions one can make from school to school but at least for me, I would have been happy at almost all of them. Just because Brown has a “free spirited atmosphere” does not mean you can’t find friends and circles who are more reminiscent of Princeton or Yale; after all there are thousands of students at each school and not all conform to the stereotype. I might be different in this regard than most people but I think a person should make those fine distinctions once they have been accepted to multiple schools.</p>

13

<p>@spuding102
“after all there are thousands of students at each school and not all conform to the stereotype.”
This is true but then it comes down to how difficult is it to find people you like. I’m an international student and I know people who are currently studying in the US and aren’t happy with their schools because they just haven’t met people they can really connect with. Of course, there will ALWAYS be people like you at every school but it comes down to the general atmosphere. You won’t go around meeting every single one of the 1000s of undergrads. The more people there are like you, the easier it is to find and make friends and consider yourself a part of that community.</p>

14

<p>I was accepted to my ED school, and I clicked on this thread expecting to debate/argue with the poster (I am usually not a fan of these types of “X ways to guarantee admission to an elite school/a great essay/etc. etc.” posts, as everything is so subjective, but I actually agreed with everything you said, especially numbers 1, 3a, and 6. Great post.</p>

15

<p>You made me actually log in (darn it!) to say how great this is. </p>

16

@CurlSnout‌ and @LAMuniv‌ thank you for taking time to post feedback! Happy New Year!

17

I disagree with the notion of applying to as many reach schools as possible. It just diversifies your effort on your essays. Generally, if you’re not qualified, you’re not qualified. For example, if you can’t get into Rice, then Yale and Harvard are probably not going to accept you either.

18

Great advice! My own DD wrote her CA essay about being a literacy volunteer. It was a great essay. Brought many to tears(which embarassed her terribly). It was incredibly inspiring.

She too was against reading those popular essay books. I bought 4 or 5 and read them all. She refused to touch them. I wasn’t sure if her method was going to work, but it did.

I think being unique is of paramount importance. There was no one doing what she did. Her ECs, summer programs, volunteer experiences were unique to someone who looked like her.

She began to build her brand very early. Inside and outside of school. That helped with her LORs. Being kind and generous go very far and people notice. People also notice arrogance & those with a superiority complex.

19

@drcharisma: College admissions are actually pretty idiosyncratic. So yes, those who had no hope of getting in to Rice (or colleges at that tier) are wasting their time applying to H and Y, but there’s a not insignificant number of applicants who get rejected by colleges in Rice’s tier who get in to HYPSM.

20

@PurpleTitan Of course, I don’t mean that there is no possibility of that occurring. I just feel that it would be better for a person to divert their efforts in a more efficient manner. I just don’t agree that a person should apply to 15-20 reach schools (like some are doing in my class). All it does is diversify a person’s efforts in the essay process. It would be much better to focus on five reach schools, and write great essays for those five, instead of applying to 15, and write average essays for each.