college confidentialites: be my college counselors!

<p>Hey guys!
The college counselor at my school is really... Ugh.
Btw im class of 2010. I need some help to polish up my list. Please, dont give me advice for stuff i cant overhaul at this point.
Here's some stats and other stuff:
Sat:
first time: m710, cr 790, w 740 essay 9
Second: m710, cr 800, w: 800, essay 11.
Gpa: 3.7 or 3.8 unweighted, 4.2 weigted.
My school does not rank, but i am in nhs which signifies 10%.
Editor of features section on school paper.
Started creative writing class at school, will be a student leader of creative writing program next year.
I have always been a "humanities person" but now i'm leaning a bit more towards math and sciences. I have been reading books about that stuff. Listening to podcasts.
Took a photography class @ a prestigious art college near me. I have been loving photography, intend to make photography website.</p>

<p>My dream school is stanford, and i intend to apply there early action. My list now has a bunch of ivies (why not buy lottery tickets, right?) And a smattering of liberal artses that are easier fits to me. I want this whole ordeal to be about me, not fitting into a mold. I am someone with genuine intellectual hunger, and i feel that being at an ivy or similar would be the best fit for me. Im a CA resident so of course i will be applying to uc's but uc berkeley felt too big for me.
Ap's: chem, calc ab, lang test junior
World, macro/micro econ, stat, lit for senior.
Getting sat 2 results this thursday, took lit, math 2 and chem.
I desire that this experience will leave me with soul thouroughly intact.
:) thanks all.</p>

<p>Do you have a list or are you looking for suggestions?</p>

<p>Right now my list is:
Pretty much every ivy.
Ya, i think all (bad choice?)
Its just that i feel like OK, i am qualified for ivy, but they are such a shot in the dark, why not apply to ALL!
Also: haverford, amherst, swarthmore (second tier faves)
And northwestern, uchicago…</p>

<p>I need more safeties/fifty fifties, cuz ive seen good applicants get screwed over and then are scrambling:
Also, should i retake the sat in oct, because i have yet to even study for the math section and i know i can boost it?
I dont know… Im getting nervous and i just want some perspective and help since my college counselor sits there w a blank face like: “well, its about finding the college thats right for YOU.”
Duh!</p>

<p>While it’s great you’re thinking of applying to Ivies, you shouldn’t just apply to them because of their status. While it appears your grades and scores means you have a good chance of getting in anywhere you apply, it should make it a bit easier for you to look at schools based on other criteria.</p>

<p>If UC Berkeley felt too big, does that mean you’re looking at smaller schools? Do you want schools in a more urban or rural setting? Would you prefer not to go to a school with a lot of snow/rain etc? You should ask yourself what qualities your dream school would have, and then narrow it down from there. That way you can cross other schools off you’re list, ivies or not, if they don’t meet your expectations.</p>

<p>Also, if you have the opportunities, I try to visit as many schools as possible. Once you see what’s out there, you can start seeing what you do or do not want in a school. Some things you may not have even thought about before may become very important, and vice versa. But for now I would recommend thinking about what type of college experience you want, from very general things, like size and location, to more specific things, such as dorms and food. That way you can narrow down what you’re looking for.</p>

<p>Once you get above 2200, your SAT no longer gives you an edge in admission. Adcom is not going to go “hey, that kid got 2370 while this only got 2320, let’s get the 2370 kid!” It’s the rest of the package that matters. If you have already studied math and don’t care about the application fee, I guess you could go take it if it makes you feel better. But if you haven’t, don’t bother. Spend your time on other parts of your application.
Have you listed all your ECs and awards or did you just list your main ones? Right now, the EC part is looking a little thin. If you like writing, maybe try to send some of your pieces to newspapers/magazines and get published, or send something to a writing contest. Join a writing program in the summer. Same with photography - send it to publications/contests, maybe start a club in the school in the fall? Try out a new activity in the summer, find a part time job or internship, volunteer. It’s not the stats part of your application that you have to worry about at this point.
As to your list, yes, it is a bad idea to apply to all 8 Ivies. This gives you 13 reaches. All of which reject thousands of applicants with stats like yours every year. Therefore, you need at least 3 other matches and 1-2 safeties. That gives you 17-18 applications, minimum. Not only is it going to be over a grand in application fees, it is going to be very time consuming and energy draining. Especially if you need FA. If you want merit aid, many of them require separate applications. Keeping on top of things - tracking each college received everything that they’re suppose to receive (and things do get lost in the mail), remembering all the different deadlines etc is very draining. You will very likely be sacrificing quality for quantity.
UCD, UCI, UCSB and UCSD can all be safeties.</p>

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<p>Wrong: [Princeton</a> University | Admission Statistics](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/)</p>

<p>thanks, moosey, for the help. this summer i am going to a journalism program at northwestern. i would be very interested in some accessible ideas for EC boosting. if there are ways to make that area a bit more plump, that would be great.
also: what are your ideas for more safeties/fifty-fifties to look into. i feel like i’ve flipped through that book forever and i still dont have many that make me excited. i want a school that is intellectually vibrant, FA is not an issue, definetely not bigger than like 6 thousand ish, not in a city, but close…
but mainly need some EC advice!!!</p>

<p>moosey, do you know of any specific programs/contests/publications to get involved with?
i would really appreciate your help!</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>These schools are not ‘second tier’ by any long shot.</p>

<p>by second tier, i meant second tier in my desire to go there.</p>

<p>trust me… i LOVE those schools, or what i know about them…
obviously they are ridiculously dificult to get into.</p>

<p>UT-Austin may be a good match for you. It’s hard to get into OOS, but with a 2300+, you should be fine, and their school of journalism/communications (which you seem to enjoy) is really highly regarded around here.</p>

<p>If it’s genuine intellectual hunger that’s motivating you, not prestige, check out Reed College (“the most intellectual college in the country” - Loren Pope). It’s less selective than the Ivies or Amherst/Williams/Swarthmore, so it might suit you as a high match (though it’s becoming more selective lately.) Macalester College is in a similar (or slightly less selective) range. </p>

<p>Among universities, good matches (just in terms of selectivity) would include Brandeis or NYU (though of course NYU is very much in a city). It’s hard to talk about “fit” though, because the schools you’ve listed are all over the map in that respect. For example, Chicago and Northwestern are stand-outs in their region, similar in selectivity but very different in style. Northwestern has a certain pre-professional orientation, Chicago is strictly liberal arts. Many people would tend to prefer one strongly over the other (unless you are looking for a top school specifically in the Chicago area.) </p>

<p>In size and atmosphere, Haverford (“Haverbubble”) is very different from Harvard (“center of the universe”.) Brown has an “open curriculum”, Chicago and Columbia have strong “core” models. And so forth. It does sound like you’ve ruled out rural liberal arts colleges, though.</p>

<p>There is no possible way that you have researched every college on your list already intently and still like them all equally. Either you love the idea of a core curriculum or you love the idea of an open one. Either you really want a prestigious name on your degree or you want to get an equally good, if not better, education at a smaller, less generally well-known school. Either you really want to be right in the middle of a city or you’re fine with being the suburbs.</p>

<p>There is absolutely no logical reason for anyone to have all 8 Ivies on one’s list. Aside from all providing good educations and being on the East Coast they really have very little in common with one another. I cannot believe that you have researched, say, Dartmouth and Columbia and love them equally when they are almost completely different.</p>

<p>Sorry, I don’t know any specific program/publication etc that you could get involved in, as a lot of them are local. Many local newspapers (usually the free ones) have few position openings for student writers. There are some youth magazine/newspaper run entirely by youth. Where I live, there’s a centre for volunteer/community service, and every service opportunity can be found there. It also has a website, where you can narrow down the opportunities with your search criteria. Your city probably has something like it too. Community centres also have brochures and books of community events, volunteer opportunities and local contests. If you flip through the newspaper regularly (even just the free ones), you will find small writing/photography contests, or contests for publication on their newspaper. Talk to your counselor when school reopens. Counselors often receive information for local contests and events that students can participate in. Ask him/her to be on the lookout for you.
Community centres are usually always open for help. Many community centres have art galleries. You can volunteer to work there.<br>
You don’t need a myriad of ECs just for the sake of ECs. Being in 10 different clubs, with little accomplishment to show for it, doesn’t mean a lot. Concentrate on what you’re already doing, and maybe add a few new ones. Places like the hospital, senior home, food bank or library often have openings for volunteers. Also look for volunteer fairs. You can walk around the fair, gather information from the causes that you’re interested in, and leave them your contact information. Volunteer opportunities will come pouring in.</p>

<p>thanks moosey!
about the schools, the truth is, im not entirely sure what i want. I have a general idea, but<br>
a lot of times its not like, well i like this location, this size, this curriculum.
i could find a college that fits my hypothetical desire and hate it, but love one that doesn’t fit my specifications.
i guess the ivy thing (which is merely an idea) is based on my observations. I go to a small school that sends kids to decent colleges but not crazy prep-school numbers.
this past year, I saw a kid who decided to apply to princeton as sort of a “why not”. he didnt get into stanford EA, and he didnt get into any other ivies, but he got into princeton. maybe he wouldnt have chosen princeton out of all the schools in the country, but now that he has visited, etc… it is clear that it really is a good match for him. I cant visit all of these schools, so in this way, i am letting one of the schools pick me. maybe im a prestige grubber, but from my perception, i feel that i will be happiest at one of those schools. (this is just a feeling, please dont nit-pick this hunch of mine to death, its based on my personal knowledge of myself) I feel that i am a “qualified applicant” which means very little, except that if i apply to all 8, there is a fair enough chance that one will bite. I have done a fair amount of research on them, and sure, i could definetely rank them as far as which i feel best fit me. if i did some editing (which i will probably do once i realize how expensive and time consuming it will be) i would get rid of harvard and cornell, maybe columbia. the other thing i wanted to know from you guys is how to approach the whole “safeties” side of this.
i am a CA resident, so my instinct is to use UC’s as safeties (why spend a fortune on a school that is… not on the top of my list and maybe not the best match for me), but i feel that i would be so run down by the huge campus of a UC.
should i go the less hard to get into LAC route with something like sarah lawrence… or maybe kenyon? what about tufts? i sort of, in my mind, group tufts and northwestern together as far as schools that are more “mainstreamy”, not bad in anyway, but not what i am looking for.
ideas?</p>

<p>if its true that y’all are my virtual college counselors, then here’s my SAT II scores:
just got em in, they’re ripe!
Math 2- 800, i am a white female with 2 710’s on sat 1… WHAT HAPPENED ???
chem- 770
lit- 730 (didnt study for it)</p>

<p>Your scores are very solid, and your Math II score definitely helps your SAT Math score, so congrats.</p>

<p>In your second to last post you mentioned “what I really want”. Please elaborate on this. You don’t want something more mainstream and pre-professional? What would you prefer?</p>

<p>Also, while I understand that you can’t visit most or all schools you’re considering, you could visit schools nearby to help you narrow down your list. For example, if you can’t decide large versus small, rural versus urban, visit a large school nearby, a small school nearby, a rural school nearby, and an urban school nearby. See how you feel about them. Maybe that can help you figure out what physical qualifications you want.</p>

<p>loopy - Good name … I like it!</p>

<p>A standard CC recommendation is to build your list from the bottom up, rather than top down. An excellent reason for this is to develop a good idea of what you want in your college/university. Find a safety you love, and that type of school will likely be the reach you love. As T_C pointed out in post #13, Ivy League universities are very different. It’s hard to see how Cornell and Columbia could appeal equally. Regardless, good luck with the search!</p>

<p>You want CC college counseling? Well, here’s my advice.</p>

<p>If you think you would be equally happy at all of the Ivies, you haven’t done enough research. Period. Go do more research until you have preferences and can honestly eliminate a few of the Ivies because they don’t fit you. Then come back and tell us what you DO want in a school.</p>

<p>thanks for all your advice, everyone.
Here’s the list of places I know i will apply to:
stanford
yale
swarthmore
brown
haverford
amherst
Uchicago
UC’s</p>

<p>and the maybe list:
other ivies
northwestern
WashU
bowdoin
williams
reed
middlebury</p>

<p>as far as what I am looking for in a school:
Balance, my own personal sort of balance. I need a place that is intellectual, but i am afraid of it being cold or back breaking, (but then again, i may be happy in a uchicago type of place) i needa place that is not so big that i am a no-body, and not so small that i outgrow it and get stagnant. i do not want to be in southern california, and am wary about the south, because i need a decent jewish population. i want a place that is not pre-professional and wealth oriented, but also not hippy pot-smoking central, cuz thats not me. i want a place with a lot going on, with a balance of humanities and sciences so my options are open (i will probably either go to law school or med school, but i want a liberal arts type education before that). i do not want to be in a city, but i do not want to be in the middle of no-where. financially, i am fine, but i am wary to spend 60 thou a year on a school that was on the bottom of my list, which is why the UC’s, as of now, are my “back ups”, but lately i have been thinking that i really need a private, smaller institution, so i better gather back ups that i love. tahts my biggest problem. cant find ones that get my heart thumping the way a tour on the stanford website does!</p>