<p>Hi, I'm currently a junior in high school. I visited Olin for the first time last September, and I've become extremely interested to the point where if I get in, that's probably where I'm going. I would love to get in, and I've looked at their website numerous times to see what they look for in an applicant and I think I have a chance, but does anyone have any general advice/comments/experience with the admissions process?</p>
<p>dbc - If you are interested in Engineering and would enjoy a tiny school, you’ve found a great school for your list. I tell my friends, “It’s the best little college you’ve never heard of” 
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<p>I’ll pass on the same advise I give to all college applicants. Try to build a balanced list of choices, including appealing safety schools (academic and financial). Since you’ve done some early research and know that you like Olin, use that knowledge to prioritize the Olin attributes that you found most interesting. </p>
<p>You often see advise for safety/match/reach, but that gets trickier for the top stats kids… the most competitive schools are a reach for all. Sometimes you’ll see the term “lottery school”. Basically you do the best you can on the variables in your control (essays, recommendations, gpa, test scores)… and hope for good luck along the way. </p>
<p>Another tip - use your summer time wisely. It’s a great time to draft a collection of college resumes, even if you don’t know exact prompts for each college. Try starting with prompts from last year’s common app.</p>
<p>Colorado_mom’s advice is excellent. As far as getting into Olin in particular, I certainly can’t profess to be an expert, but I did just watch my D go through this year’s process. Some things are apparent from listening to the staff during candidate’s weekend, looking over their application, and looking at their class statistics:</p>
<p>Grades, grades, grades. 95% of the kids at Olin finished in the top 10% of their class. Over half finished in the top 2 or 3%, I believe. This is Harvard territory, in terms of percentages.</p>
<p>You’ll need a math and a science subject test, so plan accordingly. Olin’s test ranges are very high but not completely ridiculous–I suspect they value grades more strongly. </p>
<p>Olin values applicants with “multiple intelligences”. I’m not exactly sure how they interpret that, but I suspect having something artsy or otherwise non-academic on your resume that you’re pretty good at is a big plus (there are lots of musicians, dancers, actors, etc. at Olin). One of their supplemental essays asks you to describe your ‘passion’ and show how it demonstrates your leadership qualities, ability to work with others, etc, so that might give you an idea of what they’re looking for.</p>
<p>They love the FIRST robotics program. D didn’t do this, but lots of candidates did and I know admissions really digs it.</p>
<p>Once you get to candidate’s weekend, other aspects of your personality beyond your academic prowess are what it’s all about. Poise, communication skills, ability to work well with others, general likability, a sincere desire to be at Olin, being informed enough to convey that you really ‘get’ the place–these are the qualities that carry the day, I believe. Your student interviewers will be asking themselves ‘is this someone I would be happy to have working with me on a project?’ One of the awesome things about this is that, as a result, Olin is filled with really cool kids! There’s virtually no one there who looked great on paper but turned out to be rather off-putting in person (at least as far as I’ve been able to tell).</p>
<p>One last thing I sort of hesitate to mention: I don’t know if you’re male or female, but Olin works really hard to keep its classes close to gender-balanced. Since they still get more males than females applying, it’s a bit easier to get in as a female. Just sayin’.</p>
<p>One more thing: Calc and Physics are required.</p>
<p>Finally, I’ll reiterate my caveat that I’m not an ‘insider’ and the above guidelines may be worth exactly what you paid for them :)</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m currently 4th or 5th in my class, so I’m more worried about about SAT’s and SAT subject tests. One thing I did do for next year’s schedule was decide not to take the second year of an IB foreign language and instead take AP computer science. I figured at Olin, they would much rather see a computer science class than a foreign language. And about FIRST robotics, our school/area unfortunately never had a team until this spring (we just had our first meeting last week) and it’s FTC rather than FRC, but I’m one of the first members.</p>
<p>Thank you so much!</p>
<p>The advice we heard when visiting Olin was, “Do what you love”. But I think your comp sci choice does sound wise since so many students arrive knowing some comp sci. </p>
<p>Olin’s CW (Candidate Weekend) approach does make them different. Your transcript is only important for getting to CW - after that it’s all based on CW experiences. To get to CW you will need to be getting great grades thru fall senior year, taking the hardest classes available. Good luck!</p>
<p>Also, since I already have a little electricity/mechanics/general physics knowledge from outside of school (and I’m going to read the Physics B prep book to refresh my memory), I decided to go right to AP physics C next year at the advice of most of my teachers. I feel like taking that class will be really beneficial when it comes to “rigorous classes”.</p>
<p>It sounds like your teachers think a lot of your abilities. Be thinking about which ones will be good for writing college recommendations. Many teachers like to do that over the summer.</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s probably what I’ll do. How many recommendations should I include with my application before it becomes overkill and gets to the point where they don’t remember what anyone actually said?</p>
<p>DBC - I am the parent of a Olin freshman. My son earned an IB diploma and graduated with 13 (I think) AP courses (his school folds the AP material into the IB course). The highest Physics class his school offered was IB HL which he took. They did not offer the AP Physics classes with calculus. Most Olin kids did not take those classes in HS. What Physics classes have you or are you taking? Did you take bio and chem? What level math will you take next year. I like the idea of your taking AP CS, but I thought four years of a language was required for an IB diploma. You might want to double check that. Is there some other class you can drop?</p>
<p>Each college web site tells you what they require for admissions - which tests, # of recs, common app supplement, cost of app, timing, ED EA RD options. Make a spreadsheet listing all the schools you are applying to and the required info for each. Get organized. It will really help. You can’t miss deadlines. Try to apply to at least one or two schools that you have a good chance of getting into and that will tell you early if you got in. It is a huge relief to know you have a great school to attend by Thanksgiving. My son applied EA to GA Tech and WPI so by Dec 15 he knew he had two great options. Try not to fall in love with a lottery school (school with low admit rates). It is hard but keep your options open.</p>
<p>You said you are concerned about your test scores. Why? I assume you have already taken the PSAT, SAT, ACT. Do your scores fit in the top, middle or bottom of the range of the school profile at the schools you are applying to?</p>
<p>Virtually all schools require two teacher recs in addition to the guidance counselor rec, and virtually none of them want more than that.</p>
<p>My daughter is in Physics C this year, and, while she had had some prior physics, it was a very basic course in 9th grade, so it was pretty much like starting from scratch. She’s doing well, but it’s definitely been handy having a dad with a PhD in physics around, since it’s pretty much office hours whenever she needs them. Presuming you have no such in-house resource, I’d encourage you to avail yourself of however much help outside of class that you need–it is a challenging course.</p>
<p>FlMathMom… I don’t have any physics experience from school, but I know a little about electricity/mechanics just from my various hobbies. IB French was the only IB class I was taking, so I never planned to go for a diploma, just the certificate. After being in an IB class, I’ve discovered how much more I like AP than IB. I was one of about 10 people in my grade to take bio (honors level) as a freshman, and I took chem sophomore year, and I’m taking AP chem this year. With the SAT’s, I’m not as much concerned as just wanting to improve, especially on reading, since despite being an engineering school Olin’s SAT reading scores are quite high. I got 77 in math, 64 in reading, 71 in writing on the PSAT’s- 212 total… 2nd in my grade. Right on the threshold between commended scholar and semifinalist.</p>
<p>“I’ve discovered how much more I like AP than IB” - AP/IB characteristics vary a great deal from subject to subject…so it’s possible you would have liked IB in another subject. My son like many Oliners did the full IB diploma, and it was A LOT of work (some of it admittedly with unreasonable rigorous requirements). But I think it was good prep for the project-oriented approach. </p>
<p>You have good PSAT scores, but like you say… Olin sets the bar high, and it can’t hurt to have even higher SAT scores. I thought the SAT question of the day was a helpful study tool, but I can’t remember if it includes Reading review. There are lots of books and online study aids too. </p>
<p>From - <a href=“http://www.olin.edu/admission/faq.aspx:[/url]”>http://www.olin.edu/admission/faq.aspx:</a> “All applicants, both native and non-native English speakers, are required to submit the SAT Reasoning Test or ACT with Writing as well as SAT Subject Test score, one in Math (Level 1 or 2) and one in a science subject of your choice.” - Since you are taking AP chem now, June may be a a good time for your Subject tests.</p>
<p>My son just got in to Olin. He attended candidates weekend and walked away very taken by the place. The faculty is devoted to teaching with research being secondary. In addition, Olin doesn’t have the graduate programs that bleed money away from the undergraduate programs. The tuition is only $20k so it is still highly subsidized. Olin gives you a fantastic experience for your money. </p>
<p>The drawback is that Olin has very few major programs to choose from. My son was originally leaning toward Chem Eng until he visited Olin. He is now talking about being undecided and I think it is because he wants to go to Olin and Olin does not offer Chem Eng.</p>
<p>“He attended candidates weekend and walked away very taken by the place.” - The same was true for my Olin DS. And DH who attended CW with him.</p>
<p>Yes, limited majors is a concern. (That’s especially difficult when a student is not 100% set on Engineering). I can certainly understand lynch_son considering a swap of ChemE idea for Olin. It’s a special place. There is a lot to consider - good luck whichever path is chosen!</p>
<p>I’m 100% set on engineering, either mechanical or electrical, both of which Olin has. And I’m taking the SAT subject tests this June in Chem and Math II.</p>
<p>DBC - you might want to look at Olin’s admissions requirements posted on their web site. Re: Physics - I suggest you take a regular physics class before jumping into physics with calculus. Maybe you can take one this summer or take it instead of Physics C.</p>
<p>4 years of English
4 years of Math
(including calculus)
3 years of lab Science
(including physics)
2 years of History/Social Sciences
Foreign Language
Electives!</p>
<p>Re: SAT - you should try to improve your Reading score to be more in line with other applicants. Have you tried the ACT? Some students do better on that. There are practice tests online.</p>
<p>I’m currently taking AP Calc AB and I’m getting 100 in the class right now. And I’m not formally taking a physics class over the summer, but I am planning to get all the necessary materials (borrowing textbooks/ prep books etc) to teach myself the topics of Physics B. That way I can jump into Physics C next year already knowing how to solve a lot of the problems without calculus.</p>
<p>lynch112 - Make sure DS talks to someone at Olin about ChemE. I think there may have been a few Olin students with did a “make your own major” of E with Chem. Olin offers some basic chem and then Wellesley and Brandies offer more. So there may be a way for him to get more chem than he thinks. Also, he can always get his next degree in ChemE since I imagine lots of research jobs exist where a PhD in ChemE would be desired anyway.</p>