I think you are fake or have a lot to learn in life. You missed this which is spot on.
Or the supplemental essays - that would be a great time to talk about love of math and various math research ambitions that you would pursue at X university.
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Alright, Sorry for misinterpreting then, and I will keep in mind what you have stated for community service. Iām not entirely certain what Iām going to do for that section just yet but I got time to decide. Most likely itāll be math tutoring as that is what my application leans heavily towards but as I said I donāt know just yet.
@blossom, thank you for your advice. Iām still not entirely certain if I want to be submitting things to literary journals or getting a job once again. Plus, as Iāve never published any work before I highly doubt there will be any literary journals of note that I can post to as of right now.
Iām not uncomfortable with the idea of working in general, itās just that the sheer amount of time that Iām going to have to put into it is not exactly the greatest of things. The last time I had a job I had a mental breakdown because I had too many things on my plate and even then the only things I had were student council, model UN, drama, and my job. Granted stresses of that year and how my friends were behaving at that time definitely didnāt help it. I just do not want to go through that once again and I donāt really want to select money over my passions as a teenager lol. I feel as if I get a job Iād only be stifling my ability to pursue the things I actually want to while I still have the time to do so at an incredibly cheap price.
I however did not know about the Federal Work-Study program, Iāll keep that in mind after I start going to university.
@circutrider, While work being extremely boring is a problem, itās not by itself going to be the biggest thing that stops me. The biggest things that stop me is that I just donāt think I have the time for it. Iām already in school from 7-5 on weekdays and spending about 8 hours per weekend doing other things. Spending an additional 18 hours on the weekends is just not going to give me room to breathe you know? Like I still have parents I want to be around and parties to go to. All thisāll do is make it next to impossible for me to have any breathing room and still do other things.
@tsbna44, maybe it is from my experiences but I donāt really feel as if I developed or showed anything from my work lol. Iāve seen employees cuss out customers and use slurs against them and still not get fired so I highly doubt that me working at a place shows much of anything. Nowadays, most places that are willing to hire high school students are willing to hire high school students for a reason. That also means that theyāre extremely desperate and are willing to put up with anything as long as they retain employees. I hope you can understand why I feel super apprehensive about the application benefits of getting a job (and this was also assuming that the only reason why I do any of my ECs is because I want to get a better college app. As stated before I already spend way too much time doing basic school work and some of my ECs, I really cannot imagine spending any more time on the weekends just to make a quick buck, especially as right now I donāt even have the time to spend the money I make lol)
How do you expect to succeed in college, then? Thatās a serious question.
By the way, journals donāt have hard submission deadlines. They might for a specific issue, but unless the journal is about to fold, there will always be another issue. Journals published online sometimes have rolling deadlines. You would have to find a journal that takes work written by young writers. A published short story in such an outlet would be worlds better than having a novel in progress or gathering dust because you donāt feel like publishing it (or planed but not written, as appears to be the case).
Youāve gotten the same advice from people who know more than you do, for three long threads. I think itās time to revisit and actually take some of this advice before you start a fourth thread.
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You can get a summer job, like many many other students. You have courses listed in the summers. Why is that? Most high school students do not take courses in the summer.
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Working with hard deadlines for creative things*
Sorry I didnāt specify that. I actually prefer having hard deadlines for non-creative pursuits , but as soon as you give me something to draw or ask me to write a story youāre going to have to give me a lot of time to do so because not only do I spend an extremely large amount of time planning what Iām going to do, when I do actually do the thing itās extremely draining lol.
Iāll keep that in mind though
As for the advice. Most of the advice has usually just been āthings donāt work out the way you think they doā which is more of a statement than advice. From the first thread I donāt think I really received any advice. The 2nd thread helped me find a bunch of universities I was interested in and this thread the piece of advice Iām currently getting is ādrop something youāre very clearly interested in in exchange for a jobā which is like what??? The advice I constantly get from this website is negative which is useful a lot of the times (itās what also convinced me to drop my record label in the end) but at some point thereās only so many things you can suggest to negate and if theyāre things that Iām extremely interested in and passionate about Iām just going to be steadfast and not listen to it. Iām sorry but I am still a child at heart, I have things I want to do and I will do them, even if they are harmful because not only do they complete a better picture about me they are also things that I find to be much more valuable.
@thumper1 I forgot summer jobs existed lol. Iāll probably take a summer job although I donāt feel itās particularly worth putting a summer job on the list of ECs but having that extra money saved up for a rainy day is useful.
As for the summer classes: The DE summer classes Iām taking because theyāre free and give me college credit. I see no reason why I should spend an extra 1700 dollars for a class at some institution in the future when I could instead just spend 0$ over the summer. Plus, I think the money I save from taking summer classes is going to be more than the money Iād make from a summer job lol.
There is one more course Iām taking over the summer, although this is one I can take through cyberhigh so Iām not worried about it. Itās a basic health class because my school refuses to recognize my old schoolās health class (I think itās because my old schoolās curriculum didnāt teach about sex ed and drug effects until the 2nd year). I would rather take this class through dual enrollment but my school says that there are no dual enrollment classes that count as a health credit (which is strange because apparently you can receive paramedic training and know how to resuscitate someone back to life but you still donāt get the health credit lol).
Other than that though the DE classes I mostly took because theyāre free or they met phys ed credits (old school only did 1 semester of PE per year so I was missing a semester)
Yes it is. Working is a great thing to have done.
Are you in any group sports?
Might I remind members of the forum rules: āOur forum is expected to be a friendly and welcoming place, and one in which members can post without their motives, intelligence, or other personal characteristics being questioned by others."
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/guidelines
The OP gets a slight pass since his prefrontal cortex is still developing. Some of the responding adults donāt have that excuse.
That said, the adults are generally very experienced and are trying to help, so the OP should strive to appear less dismissive of the advice.
Umm, no. Youāve gotten excellent advice for how to shape your portfolio, focus your efforts, and work toward achievable goals. Itās your choice whether or not to take it, but the advice youāve gotten on your threads has been almost universally wise and realistic, from people who have a lot more experience than you do ā in college admissions and life in general. So stay off CC for a little while while you actually take some of this advice.
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I am not and Iām not particularly interested in joining any for now. Maybe in college Iāll join intramural basketball but other than that I really donāt have any intentions of joining any sports teams at my school. Thatās way too big of a time commitment for me (even though I really do enjoy basketball!).
@Shelby_Balik, Iām not certain, maybe itās just my poor memory kicking in but I never really received much advice out of āapply to easier schoolsā and ābe comfortable with your safetiesā which is one of the biggest whoopty doos in the world. And maybe ādonāt apply ED1 to Brownā which I would accept if I actually was interested in some school more than Lehigh. Sadly though for now really the only one I am is Brown, Oxford, and the German Unis and you canāt really apply ED for Oxford or Germany now can you lol. Other than that (and the jobs) not really much advice is given besides negative advice that deals with removing things which I donāt really feel comfortable about. What I do for my hobbies and interests are what I do and I feel as if it creates a more accurate image of who I am as a person and my current limitations and allows me to show that the reason why I want to go to university in general is to improve my knowledge and finish what Iāve begun lol.
In this thread alone, there is more valuable, varied, and concrete advice than this. Please read what people have written ā theyāve taken the time to give you some really good suggestions, and neglecting to go back into this thread alone (not to mention others) to revisit that advice is kind of a slap in the face to those who took your questions seriously.
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Iāve given you advice for Brown. I interviewed for them for years, so itās the only college on your list I feel comfortable describing what a winning applicant looks like.
A coherent narrative.
Whether you are a poet, cellist, Morris dancer, Civil War Re-enactor, standup comic, passionate stamp collector, clown/unicyclist-- all of these students paint a coherent picture/narrative of who they are and what they would bring to the university.
Strong academic performance in rigorous courses (and āplain vanillaā HS classes are just fine. They donāt need to be community college or DE). Teachers who love to teach them because they are insanely curious and love to learn for the sake of learning. Evidence of mastery in one or more areas of interest (so not "Took fencing classes junior year and wished I could do more but I had too much schoolwork). So becoming an Eagle Scout (a plain vanilla HS activity if there ever was one) is much better than 10 random community service projects which racks up hours; working at the same dull, boring, minimum wage job for three summers in a row and being named āemployee of the monthā five times is better than working at a frozen yogurt store for three weeks and then quitting because the manager put you on afternoon shifts and you needed time to see your friends in the afternoons.
Etc. Youāve written books? Then writing the coherent narrative of who you are should be a snap. Itās not just the essay (thatās the cliffnotes version). Its the classes you chose, the activities youāve been in, your family commitments, the contributions you make to your community.
The hard thing is that because Brown has the āhippy/Bohoā reputation, students who lack focus, have a laundry list of āI intend to do XYZā think itās the right place for them. The Open Curriculum works best for students who are open to learning-- all kinds of learning- but are actually terrific at finishing what they start. And the Adcomās get a lot of experience sifting through huge lists of awards and activities and hobbies and leadership positions and figuring out which kids love to start stuff but hate deadlines and finishing; which kids are creative thinkers but lack the discipline to tie their creativity to something tangible; etc.
You are only a junior. You have time to focus on the things that really matter to you, where you can show a tangible resultā¦ and can drop the fancy sounding things that are just not realistic right now.
Zero adcomās at Brown expect a HS kid to have done āpublished researchā. And itās fine to noodle on problems even if you donāt have enough formal education to be able to start to solve those problems. But the answer is-- just finish strong in HS. Ace calculus and statistics if you are interested in math. Make sure that each and every lab report you submit for bio or physics is your best possible work. This is how actual researchers work- step by step, inch by inch, mastering the skills they will need down the road.
My helpful advice. Take it or leave it.
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I interviewed for Brown, too, on and off for about twenty years (theyāve stopped doing interviews and now just offer applicants the chance to do an optional video). During that time, I talked to many thoughtful and accomplished students with stellar GPAs, who were involved in demanding activities that took years of dedication, and they could tell their stories in coherent, engaging, and personal ways ā and almost none of them got in. And during much of that time, Brown had at least double the acceptance rate that it has today.
Everything @blossom advised about getting into Brown was spot-on. They are looking for records of accomplishment (extraordinary accomplishments, perhaps, but records that are achievable for a seventeen-year-old), not unfinished plans.
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McDonalds or other āregularā jobs show that a teen can follow directions, work as a team, budget their time (balance studying around work), and be a part of serving the community. It is a great EC, and frankly is much better than starting a research project on your own that you admit is scientifically beyond your background. The research that is helpful on an application is one that involves working with a mentor in the field of study, such as a phD &/or graduate students in the area they want to learn more about. Sometimes these research positions involve cleaning lab supplies and other āgrunt workā, same as the more boring parts of undergrad research opportunities. Being able to be at the ābottomā of a research group, show humility, and learn from others above you overlaps a lot with what one can learn in the food industry. DH and I both worked in the food industry in HS and college and we both did research as undergraduates which involved the grunt work. The research was more intellectually stimulating but what we learned as food servers gave us very important interpersonal skills and respect for other humans. I interview for a school similar in selectivity to Brown. So do many colleagues of mine. Trust me when I say that a job in food service is an excellent thing to have to talk about, and says far more about your ability to handle college than your specific plan for exploring research ideas but not actually being involved in a mentored, group, or lab research project.
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In other words, youāll āpublishā itā¦ never, at least based on your current track record.
Iām just seeing a litany of excuses for why you canāt do things that could actually help your EC list.
Youāre young enough to āknow everything,ā as the saying goes, and you disagree with the advice you get, so itās really unclear why you are here.
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You want to get into Brown and youāre arguing with someone who has actual experience interviewing for Brown.
Youāve somehow locked yourself into this mythology that Brown is populated by underappreciated unicorns who are on the cusp of uncharted scientific breakthroughs, who just squeaked by with grades at the median level, had less than spectacular SATs and generally lacked any kind of group activity on their resumes.
Look. Contrary to what you may have heard about Brown, they are not looking for lazy people; they are not looking for people who constantly need to prove they are the smartest people in the room. And, Brown people definitely know how to meet hard deadlines. For you, those are just the inconvenient facts.
Everything about you raises red flags and you have to be extra careful how you address them. Getting an ordinary summer job would be the quickest way to dispel the impression that you are a dilletante with possible emotional problems; and youāre going to have to be as discriminate and careful as possible in writing your essay.
Right now, youāre an easy reject (which FWIW, is down from my previous decision of ādeferralā.)
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If you were to consider refining your list, this site, which offers suggestions related to your potential ED choice, may be of interest:
The University of Rochester, for example, might suit you.
Iāll take this advice as best as possible, but I really would rather not drop anything until I at least try it. Either way, I am going to have to get some first hand experience with research, the first book EC I have is related to what different branches of mathematics looks like at the higher level and as a result I need to spend a bunch of time getting exposure to those higher level branches and knowing what people do at those higher levels. In fact, one of the major factors that pushed me to decide to start researching ways to decrease the size of big datas through modern algebra was the fact that I already needed to start reading some amount of modern algebra textbooks to begin with.
I donāt paint any pictures right now mostly because I havenāt tried to for this post, but pretty much every EC I do is like that. EC 1 is the biggest one that ābirthsā most of my other ECs, 2 was created because I needed to learn various proofs for me to explain in 1 and when I realized that if I was going to explain proofs why not make videos about it is when I started that channel, 8 will most likely relate back to 1 once I decide what Iām going to do for my project (probably tutoring so I can get more experience teaching people maths for the book), 9 relates to 1 as Iāve stated, and 10 relates to 1 as the experience I learned from making and developing 10 goes towards me explaining possible uses for things in EC 1. All of this just paints the narrative of a person who really likes math and wants to show people what he sees in math.
In reality, I actually only have 3 ECs if we were to remove all ābranchā ECs that come as a result of ECs. The book, the streaming, and MUN (even then this technically feeds into the streaming and the book for the teaching reason and because I need to be an entertainer while being a chair).
I really am thankful for your advice and you did make me realize that I perhaps didnāt draw the connections between my ECs enough which I think I will start to do so in my applications. This has sort of always been how I work, I just sort of take opportunities whenever I can get them even if they might be a bit harmful for me since if they are I can always drop it and salvage whatever wasnāt harmful (example: the record label I had to shed but I managed to salvage me going back to rap and me making clothes).
And if youāre curious, this is probably one of the biggest reasons why I refuse to drop my research just yet. If itās going to fail I want it to crash and burn so I can salvage whatever comes out of it, but I really cannot salvage nothing.
And I am taking like steps and stuff. I believe Iāve mentioned but Iām not really ārushingā into anything, Iām actually going at a pretty normal pace. Iām starting off with reading textbooks on what I want and then I plan on further defining my problem and topic of research so that it makes sense for most people. Then from there Iāll see where Iāll go. I think one of the biggest problems thatās not being communicated is one of my assumptions: I assumed that people thought I would be trying to get people to help me with my research. Iām guessing this assumption was not translated because that is what I am planning on doing. Once I have the very basics of the paper down and I have a conjecture I plan on contacting as many people as possible to help me with it.
So as youāve given me this advice before and many people have: I am taking my time. I am running, but the thing Iām not running for a spring Iām running for a marathon. All of my ECs are like this, the book Iāve spent a large portion of my time world building for and actually Iām soon going to start outlining the plot in greater detail which means by December I can probably start writing my first manuscript. But this book has had work being done on it since January. The same goes for pretty much everything else Iām doing, besides the app, fashion, and research, everything Iāve been doing on the lowkey building up and realizing for over time.
@2Devils, I guess? But isnāt this what high school is for? Like if an AO were to value a job I donāt think thisād be the reason why as this is what high school primarily does. I donāt know Iām very skeptical that putting down a job Iām doing. Plus, I think my regular high school schedule shows that, Iām taking a āclassā called āoffice practiceā which is me working in my school as an attendance clerk. I didnāt bring this up mostly because this āworkā is pretty slow and for the past few days has effectively just been a study hall with a grade at the end of the week. I will keep in mind the research thing and Iām applying for various programs that allow for mentors to help (although Iām fairly confident I wonāt get in as all the free ones are suuuuper competitive and the non-free ones are too expensive).
@merc81 Iāve looked at lists similar to this and Iāve also said so in this thread: I have no idea what actually is attractive about Brown. Thereās a quality there that makes me think if I donāt apply Iāll regret it. I have no idea what that quality is though. I can definitely say itās not the culture, nor is it the prestige, nor is it the open classes or anything else that I can list off the top of my mind. Just something there was attractive.
My closest guess is maybe College Hill? That was the part of Brown I was most exposed to growing up so Iām guessing thatās the reason. What about College Hill is special I donāt know.
Iām really thankful for all these lists but until I can actually give a reason why I like Brown so much I would rather you guys spend your time elsewhere because itās just going to be frustrating for all of us. If youāre curious, Lehigh has the feeling about it as well but there are actually a lot more logical reasons behind it (Lehigh teaches Arabic in the dialect that my family speaks, they have really math classes, their campus is beautiful, although other than that I donāt really know much about the culture but Iāve yet to see anyone complain about that).
So I think whatever university I find that has the quality I donāt know about will probably end up replacing my ED1 if I think Iād prefer it over Brown. But until I figure out that quality Iām not really willing to replace Brown. Sorry.
Oh yeah I also forgot so hereās a quick edit: High Point for whatever reason has this quality. So I guess find the intersection between High Point, Lehigh, and Brown and I guess thatād be the quality I find attractive. I donāt know about you, I canāt really figure out whatās similar about these 3 schools lol
Here are my concrete suggestions. Make sure you get the best possible grades this year ā if at all possible, donāt get any Bs. Work very hard in all classes - even the ones you donāt enjoy. Your gpa isnāt competitive so you need to show a strong upward trajectory. This is especially true for the UCs since they only look at grades 10/11. Have some concrete accomplishments to put down for your ECs. A list of ideas & hobbies wonāt cut it. Some of your interests could, however, make for really interesting college essays. Prepare well for the SAT or ACT aiming to get a very high score. If necessary take it again. In the meantime, try and identify what attracts you to Brown, High Point and Lehigh so you can research other schools with those characteristics. I suggest you investigate High Pointās math curriculum to make sure there is sufficient advanced coursework available to keep you interested and challenged. Finally, get some kind of paid work and start saving. Your college budget is modest and many schools donāt meet full need so you will probably have to contribute.
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This is unclear. Youāve already written the book? Or you still need to do more research so you know what else you are putting in the book?
What type of book is this anyway? instructional? You described it as an āencyclopediaā. What does that mean exactly? Have you just taken material from other sources or have you done your own synthesis and writing?
Who is the target audience? Have you tested it with that audience? Has anybody else read it or provided editing advice? What is the feedback?
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