Up until junior year, I had different ambitions and career plans. I was really devout about something since I was a kid, but it took a while for my parents to make it clear to me that they weren’t really on board with whatever I had in mind.
It was sort of serendipitous, I must say, that that’s when I was introduced to the real sciences at school. Before that, we were learning about series and parallel circuits, refractive index, all that boring elementary stuff. But when they started teaching us stellar evolution, quantum mechanics, doppler’s shift, that’s when I got really invested. I was genuinely intrigued by all the new things: I got on the nerd side of YouTube and found a load of inspiration in Richard Feynman’s work.
Anyways, I just wanted to say that even though I wasn’t born with the dreams and aspirations that I currently harbour, so as to speak, they are very much real nevertheless. I take genuine interest in physics, and I think I would like to major in that subject.
However, everyone who gets into the more prestigious universities seems to have known what they want to do since probably the beginning of time, and most of them have even accomplished a lot in their respective fields before applying. In contrast, I feel like I have nothing much to show for. Should I just be honest in my essays and explain that although I have nothing in my bag, yet, I am shooting for big things? Would admissions officers take my word for it? (also I’d appreciate any sort of advice on how I should go about convincing the AOs in my essays)
I’m an international student, my school doesn’t do GPA, my A Level grades are A*AA, I have a 1550 SAT score, and my major ECAs are graphics design related (which I LOVE but I don’t want to major in), I’ve been an EC member of my school’s newsletter club (I also love literature), and I have some volunteer hours.
Generally, the essays aren’t where you explain major and career interests and your limitations. They’re for a different sort of selling yourself. No idea how SUNY evaluates them.
The more competitive holistic colleges can look to see how your academic prep and ECs show readiness to take on your major field and something of the mindset required. This is part of “Show, not just tell.”
Read some sample essays for the common ap. As the poster above mentioned, I don’t think you quite understand the purpose of the essay and what a good one is like. It isn’t a narrative where you explain your career and academic interest. It is an essay where you can show yourself which often is to show a part of yourself that isn’t obvious in the rest of your application. This is where you want to show AO what about you would be a great addition to their campus.
As far as having limited experience and changing your mind as to what you truly want to study, please realize that you are still very young. You are expected to change your mind and haven’t had much time to accomplish much yet other than growing up and finishing high school.
That comes from who you are talking to / reading online. Take it as about an accurate reflection of reality as Instagram.
The great thing for you in applying to US colleges for a course like physics is that physics is typically in the “Arts & Sciences” school of the university and almost never admits by major. Students rarely have to declare their major before the end of first year, middle of second year is most common, and plenty allow for that up to the end of second year. This is specifically because most students don’t know enough about the subject coming in to know for certain that is what they want to specialize in (Cornell has a specific option for ‘undecided’ students who want help in figuring out a major).
Most colleges won’t look particularly hard at your intended major, as they know how often students discover something new at university and change their mind. Selective colleges read your application as a whole narrative: how do the all the pieces come together. They will see your A level predictions, and know that you are able for high level work. They will read your LoRs and get a sense of what your teachers see as your strengths. They will look at your ECs and see what you will be like as a member of the community, And they will read your essays and get a sense of you. They know that all the 17ish year olds who are applying are works in progress
In your other thread you mention applying to SUNYs and other state schools, and you said you’re looking for merit aid. What’s your budget? There aren’t many spots for international students. If you need a lot of aid I don’t think the SUNY universities will be affordable. Where else are you applying?
@austinmshauri (hello, sorry for the late reply) i was also thinking of applying to some of the higher-ranked colleges that are a little more generous with aid, such as carleton or colgate?
@collegemom3717 that’s so nice to hear!! my a level subjects were physics chemistry and math i’ll try applying to a couple higher ranked colleges that give out a bit more aid then. would you like to recommend any ? just off the top of your head
IMO, you can include some truly serious reaches- just keeping in mind that odds will be small for everybody, and doubly so for international.
Of the big names, consider Cornell, Princeton, UPenn, Brown and Rice - all totally different environments, all physics departments that my physics kid liked, all wildly competitive, all generous with need-based aid (no merit though).
Of LACs, you might like places such as Wesleyan, Williams, Vassar, Swarthmore, Smith- again wildly different environments, still very competitive, all generous with need-based aid (again, no merit except Smith).
Carleton and Colgate are fine, and you could think about Grinnell and Kenyon as well. Dickinson is a good all rounder and can be generous with merit. Lawrence and Ursinus are good for merit, both good for STEM (Lawrence comes up a lot for physics). Of the SUNY’s, Stony Brook stands out for physics.
It’s unusual for me to be advocating adding super selective schools to a student’s list- but that’s b/c usually the students are blinded by the big names and are not realistic about having a balanced list.
@collegemom3717 ahhh i’ve been so scared to apply to any of the big name colleges, i wasn’t even thinking of getting in, let alone get any aid. but seeing someone recommend such good schools to me after considering my stats just boosted my confidence!!! thank you for this display of faith, i’ll look into all of the colleges you’ve listed
Remember that there are 2 kinds of financial aid: “need-based” and “merit”
The more selective the school the less likely they are to offer merit, and more likely to give good financial aid (often ‘meet full need’)
Bear in mind that “need” is based on their assessment of your family’s finances- they will say 'our cost X, we reckon you can afford Y% of X, and we will cover the difference (whether your family agrees with their math is another thing!). The down side is that all but a tiny number are ‘need aware’- ie, they will consider your financial need when considering whether to make you an offer. A good reason to not pin hopes on any one place!
Merit is basically an incentive to a student who likely has multiple offers to encourage them to come.
@collegemom3717 Hi College Mom! Your comments have been so helpful. I just wanted to ask you something else; do you mind DMing me? I can’t seem to be able to initiate the conversation, probably because I’m a new member here. Thanks!
