hey all,
as the admissions process begins to creep up, i had a few questions that i wanted to ask !
when is a good time to ask teachers to write recs?
are there any general tips on interviews, for i have some coming up soon and i’m pretty nervous
does anyone have any tips on managing schoolwork and time spent on the application process ? i attend an ib school, where the eighth grade teachers pretty much bombard us like crazy with homework, and i’m having trouble even hollowing out 20 minutes in my day, and i’m really trying to maintain a good sleep schedule and i’m also rlly trying to avoid stressing, as i am still partially recovering from last year’s horrendous experience with really bad anxiety
the schools i’m applying to accept ssat // isee exam scores for ninth graders, but i have just received my results from my sat, and am quite content with my score (i’ve just qualified for john hopkins set (study of exceptional talent) with the score) and was wondering if i could somehow use my sat score to my advantage ?
thanks for your time , have a good day !
The schools my son applied to did not accept the SAT or ACT. Like you, he did well on them, but none of the schools were particularly interested in those results (however, they said he could send them as supplementary info). They only accepted the SSAT and/or ISEE. All of them accepted the SSAT (and NE schools seem to prefer it), and most accepted the ISEE. He took both and submitted both scores.
I searched the CC threads for interview tips and found tons of great advice.
As for stress…it will be stressful…no way around that. But starting early as you are will be helpful, particularly if you start your essays early. Don’t wait until the winter holiday break to do your essays…the whole family suffers (speaking from experience).
Ask for recommendations as soon as possible. Give your teachers plenty of time to think about what they want to write, and actually execute. They have a hard time carving 20 minutes out of their day, too.
I think almost all applicants will have taken the SAt/PSAT or be involved in the Duke TIP program or Johns Hopkins CTY. So, while you can include that information as supplemental data, it won’t be an exception to the SSAT/ISEE rule.
Budget your time for completing applications…figuring how much daily time you can put into them, and stick to it. Starting earlier is better, especially if you are applying to several schools.
As for stress, BS is stressful…the application process is just a preview. Definitely consider that and your anxiety levels when choosing schools. Choose a school that is best for your situation and don’t set yourself up for failure.
Good luck!
@muchanxieotea, You may not have time at the moment to start writing essays but what you should do is take 20 minutes this weekend to make a list of all the essay questions and make some very preliminary notes. That way the topics will be percolating in your mind over the next few weeks. That will lessen the stress when it comes time to do the actual writing.
I would definitely start to talk to teachers about recs early on, so they know about it in advance. I’ve read a while back that some people send the recs to teachers during Thanksgiving break, and I would probably do that too. Basically anytime before winter break, as it can be extremely hard to reach them during that time away from school.
Also, it is definitely good to try to get to know the teachers better, as well as letting them get to know you too. (Don’t forget about the counselor rec too though!! Where I’m from, close to no one really went and spoke to the counselor, so it can work to your advantage to try and let them see who you are).
During interviews, definitely stay calm and be true to yourself. That’s basically the whole point of the interview, so that the AO can get a feel for your personality, and whether you would fit in well at the school. Towards the end of interviews, the AO will typically ask if you have any questions. A tip that I used was to look up something about the school beforehand, and ask, “could you tell me more about _____”.
For time management, I would say to just try and sneak in time whenever you can. It might work to think about the questions during school, doing the bulk of the writing over the weekend. Definitely, DO NOT put it off until the last week or so, as this can make everything rushed, stressful, and overall not productive.
@willmo i do currently have a neutral impression on my teachers, it being the beginning of the year, so i’ll definitely take advantage of that before i get myself into any chaos i think i may begin mentioning it to them around early oct. and for now, just get to know them better ! however, i don’t have a counselor ? which is strange, but i suppose i should straighten that out before it’s too late, thank you so much for all the other tips ! i think i’ll be doing what @Sue22 mentioned, taking small notes.
On Gateway, it was a Principal/Counselor rec. Our principal was on the way out (thankfully) and my son did not have a counselor, so we used his homeroom teacher (who served in that capacity) for that rec. Just be sure any substitutions are acceptable to the schools. English and Math teachers for your current year are specifically required and some schools will accept additional personal recommendations or special interest recs (sports, music, etc)…but not all will accept those through the Gateway site (and they don’t generally seem to like additional stuff being sent outside of Gateway).
@Altras my homeroom teacher really doesn’t have a good idea of who i am, for i don’t have any actual classes with him as my teacher…? homeroom is only 10 minutes long at my school, so many teachers don’t know the kids well. i suppose i’ll look for other options ? i think i’ll be limiting my recs to my math, english, and history teachers, i don’t want to overwhelm the admissions officers with a fat stack of papers
@muchanxieotea this is why I suggest notifying the teachers you’ll need recommendations from asap. They’ll know you’ll need a letter, so they’ll start paying more attention to your contributions in class. The more experience they can build on, the more personal that letter will be.
@buuzn03 ahh yes, today in fact i talked to my english and history teachers during lunch, as they’re my favorite teachers, and they were really supportive, which i think i needed as motivation
To the OP: Ask your teachers for recommendations before Thanksgiving break! Start formulating your essays ASAP/ Also, if you have videos of a sports event, musical performance, theatre, photography - art portfolio - start putting those together NOW…some schools want to see a portfolio for the arts and/or a highlight video. Years ago this did not matter - now kids put sports highlight videos together, or performing arts videos together. Best wishes to you and good luck!!!
It used to be that schools requested a Math and English teacher specifically, so check ahead of time the required recs from each school, and plan accordingly. I agree the recs are the part of the application you have the least control over. You need to identify the teachers required to write the recs and approach them early. If you can, meet with them and talk to them about your interest in their classes. The more personalized they can make their rec, the better. If you want to submit a video of your playing an instrument, again talk to your Music instructor and pick out a piece that you can use to show off our strengths and practice, practice, practice. Extra skills or artistic talent can be almost as important as athletic talent.
i think i may begin mentioning it to them around early oct. and for now, just get to know them better ! however, i don’t have a counselor ? which is strange, but i suppose i should straighten that out before it’s too late, thank you so much for all the other tips ! i think i’ll be doing what 
