Am I Ready?

Applying to College
1

<p>I couldn't have been any more fortunate during this year's application season. After reading these forums, I thought I had no chance whatsoever anywhere. But lo and behold I was accepted to my dream school (Middlebury) as well as The University of Chicago. I couldn't be more grateful to the admissions commitees at both of these schools for admitting me. I'm really looking forward to attending one of these schools in the fall, and I'm in the process of making my final decision.</p>

<p>Thing is, I don't know if I'm ready.</p>

<p>I've had a pretty crappy formal education. No denying it. I've been "educated" in an urban public school system where discipline problems, social advancement, and low expectations make learning a near impossibility. I've tried to "plug the holes" by reading extensively on my own, but such predominantly verbal activity can only take me so far. Although I was able to score 800 CR and 730 W because of extensive self-study, my school's "integrated math" program (read: fuzzy math) never provided me with any of the math I needed to get a decent score on the math SAT (mine was 590). If you asked me to construct a geometric 'proof', I would have no idea where to start.</p>

<p>I've made the best possible use of all resources available to me, and I've done pretty well considering my circumstances, something I'm sure the admissions committees appreciated. Now that I've seen how ridiculously well qualified everyone else is, though, I'm starting to feel as though these schools admitted me simply because they felt sorry for me or something (BTW, I'm a white male; so it's not the whole URM thing). Even though I'm bright (I guess) and love a challenge, I don't want to drown in an academic environment that I'm not prepared for.</p>

<p>I guess what I really want to ask is: are the members of this forum representative of the 'average' student of the schools I'm considering? How well prepared does everyone else feel? I'm considering doing some intensive self-study this summer to catch up on some of the math I never learned (ironic that I'll probably get a 5 on the AP Calc AB exam and don't even know what the binomial theorem is), and I'd like to know if I'd just be wasting my time.</p>

2

<p>I think you will be fine.. Some helpful hints:</p>

<p>Don't be afraid to ask questions
Don't get behind
Find study partners right away
If you need help, get it
Don't procrasstinate
Use the resources available at your school- tutors, meet with professors
Take it slow, you don't have to party every weekend, or go out all the time
Try different things, but don't overwhelm yourself- you have four or more wonderful years
Be careful of who you hang out with- they "fun" people that don't take college as seriouslly as you seem to want to will just distract
Be able to say NO
and
Have fun, remember a C isn't going to mean anything really, especially in the beginning, this is but a path, a great path, and if you mistep a couple of times, not a big deal, so long as you learn, and take this opportunity and take advantage if it</p>

3

<p>and people in CC arent Average. They represent like the 98 + percentile...
If you were totally underqualiied, many wouldnt post here, being surroinded by better scored people....</p>

<p>Not racking up to sumone on CC isnt a mark of anything...</p>

4

<p>trondb-</p>

<p>I am kind of in the same boat as you. My high school is horrible, and worst of all my parents pay tuition (private school). i ask my parents countless times to send me to public school, but they refuse. However, math at my school is exellent and i am doing well in it. But,English(grammer&reading) is below average. So i was wondering what you did to teach yourself grammer and reading comprehension?
my PSAT was MAth 80 Crit. reading 50 and writing 48</p>

<p>So you see i really need to improve...</p>

5

<p>I totally agree with citygirlsmom. Every single piece of advice.</p>

6

<p>You should definitely talk to the schools about college-readiness. Look for the school that will give you a helping hand by way of preparatory classes or tutoring. Consider carefully whether you will use your AP credits - if they are in math, where you feel unprepared, retake the Calculus sequence at a deliberate pace, not the fast track. Are you thinking of majoring in a technical or scientific field?</p>

7

<p>There's a book every college student should read about studying. It's called What Smart Students Know by Adam Robinson, written by one of the founders of the test prep service Princeton Review. I have never seen a better explanation of the steps you need to follow to really <em>learn</em> the material, and if you've learned it well you will have no trouble with grades.</p>

<p>Much of what you're feeling is just early onset of the angst almost every college student goes thru. They look around and they see all these happy smiling people who look like they didn't skip a beat going from HS to college and they worry that they're not up to par, that somehow a mistake was made and they don't belong. The funny thing is that behind those smiles (the "game face" if you play sports competitively) is that they're feeling the same thing!</p>

<p>I remember a chem class my very first quarter in which a few people who knew each other and were sitting near me were looking over the syllabus and loudly talking to each other about how their chem class in HS had covered all the material, how this class was one for sure they'd ace, and so on. My HS was not that strong academically (a lower-working class area where people going to a CC were proudly counted as college students) and I just knew I was screwed. Although discouraged I tried my best and got an A on the first midterm and in the class. The guys sitting near me? Most of them dropped, and the rest got B's and C's. </p>

<p>Lastly, I want to add that you might want to consider whether your are at heart an optimist or pessimist. Studies have shown that the best predictor of success in so many fields is attitude. This is based on the work by Seligman and others, names you will learn in Psych classes. Want to predict which new salespeople will do best? Which 1st-year students at the US Army Military Academy will survive plebe year? An optimistic attitude is the key, and the good news is you can change yours if it isn't one of optimism. See, for example, <a href="http://www.ihhp.com/positive_think.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ihhp.com/positive_think.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

8

<p>
[quote]
I am kind of in the same boat as you. My high school is horrible, and worst of all my parents pay tuition (private school). i ask my parents countless times to send me to public school, but they refuse. However, math at my school is exellent and i am doing well in it. But,English(grammer&reading) is below average. So i was wondering what you did to teach yourself grammer and reading comprehension?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Simple answer: I read. Lots.</p>

<p>Just read and read and read and read. Didn't stop consuming books, ideas, scholarship, rational discourse, whole constellations of new ideas. Still haven't, actually.</p>

<p>
[quote]
You should definitely talk to the schools about college-readiness. Look for the school that will give you a helping hand by way of preparatory classes or tutoring. Consider carefully whether youhank you for will use your AP credits - if they are in math, where you feel unprepared, retake the Calculus sequence at a deliberate pace, not the fast track. Are you thinking of majoring in a technical or scientific field?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Thankfully I'm not planning on majoring in a mathy field, but I'd just feel cheated if I graduated high school without having learned all of the math that more affluent students are given the opportunity to learn. As might be evident from my posts, I enjoy learning for its own sake. In my situation, very few people would be able to learn as much as I have, and I'm starting to think this may be why I was admitted. I have potential; ability even without the benefit of a decent formal education.</p>

<p>I'm hesitant to talk to the colleges for fear that they'll rescind my offer if they think that I've somehow 'gamed' the admissions process. The ironic thing is that I've never 'gamed' anything. I take all of my exams 'cold', with no prior preparation save my own mastery of the material, and have never had the benefit of 'coaching'. I only sat the SAT once.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I remember a chem class my very first quarter in which a few people who knew each other and were sitting near me were looking over the syllabus and loudly talking to each other about how their chem class in HS had covered all the material, how this class was one for sure they'd ace, and so on. My HS was not that strong academically (a lower-working class area where people going to a CC were proudly counted as college students) and I just knew I was screwed. Although discouraged I tried my best and got an A on the first midterm and in the class. The guys sitting near me? Most of them dropped, and the rest got B's and C's.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's very reassuring. Thank you all very much for your advice. :)</p>

<p>BTW, mikemac, where did you go to college?</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
I am kind of in the same boat as you. My high school is horrible, and worst of all my parents pay tuition (private school). i ask my parents countless times to send me to public school, but they refuse.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I know exactly how you feel. You want to learn but no-one will let you. You want a challenge where none exists (and no-one else wants it either). All I can tell you is that I sympathize (really I do) and to try to make the best possible use of what's available to you. Colleges will recognize that you've had to make exceptional effort to learn, that no-one's been pushing or even encouraging you to excel. You've made the decision that you want learn. Nothing could be more mature than that.</p>