Does having no EC's ruin my chances?

Applying to College
101

<p>iin77: I have to give you credit for returning to this thread and responding civilly to others' points. I was afraid this would degenerate into vitriolic name-calling; I admit to contributing to that with the narcissistic comment. I liked what you said about your desire to help people in post #84, though.

I don't agree with everything you've said in this thread, but I'm impressed by how well you're handling this. :)</p>

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<p>Lol, thanks. Though I admittedly have included one or two insidious statements, lol.</p>

103

<p>The OP's a normal HS kid. What's wrong with that?</p>

104

<p>Are you really a citygirlsMOM? If it weren't for your screenname, I wouldn't be able to tell.</p>

<p>My teacher encourages us to read Sparknotes and Pinkmonkey.</p>

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<p>^^ Absolutely nothing - the thing is, there are a lot of *** normal *** high school kids that apply to college... do all the *** normal *** high school kids get into highly selective colleges? No. If you want to get into a highly selective college, it's hard to do well in the admisisons game if you're just, well, normal. </p>

<p>^ Yes, teachers should understand that resources like sparknotes and pinkmonkey are there, and that students will likely use them.</p>

106

<p>but does your teacher encourage you to read sparknotes WITHOUT EVER READING THE BOOK>>></p>

<p>I kind of doubt that</p>

<p>the OP hasnt' read a book in two years and relies on sparknotes instead of actually look at the text</p>

<p>yeah, teachers LOVE that</p>

107

<p>It'd be good to join an orginization, even if you aren't really involved at all. I mean, all you have to do to be an Amnesty International Member is pay ten bucks. That enough at least makes you seem like you do things out of school</p>

<p>citygirlsmom is kinda getting burned. you are only ridiculing him because you think he doesn't deserve an excellent education because he doesnt do community service, but that's not your place</p>

108

<p>You essentially ignored everything I said in the OP by saying that, MattEisn.</p>

<p>citygirlsmom, it doesn't matter what my teachers encourage me to do... I know what's best for me, not some teacher who barely knows my name. Also, I don't care what my teachers love, I care what I love, and that's not reading semi-useless literature.</p>

109

<p>I know you don't care what others think..and you think you know best</p>

<p>try that attitude in college...and reading, gee, is a bit of a big deal in college</p>

<p>but its okay...don't read the books...just cheat...its your game and it will come back to you when you see that you have some problems in college</p>

<p>you claim this love of learning, but there is very little to support that claim from your posts</p>

110

<p>he asked about MIT and Caltech...he has missed weeks and weeks of school and wants to get into some competitive colleges</p>

<p>some ECs might help</p>

<p>he asked the question, I gave him an answer he doesn't want to hear</p>

<p>does that make me wrong</p>

<p>nope</p>

<p>If he didn't present his case here and asked for advice...he was at the time failiing most of his classes</p>

<p>He shows up takes a test here and there...and everyone deserves a good education, but to not bother reading a book...well, gee, call me silly, but anyone who claims a love of learning but doesnt read any books,not even those not assigned....</p>

<p>and remember HE ASKED....and chooses to ignore everything that doesn't suit him</p>

<p>fine, see where being arogrant, a know it all, not having his teachers even know who he is....and then expect to get into MIT</p>

<p>sorry but that is the real world and if you want the best you have to work at it</p>

111

<p>and he is an admitted cheater, quite a lot actually</p>

<p>Posted by him:</p>

<p>I cheat quite a lot... but it's stuff I know how to do anyway. But really, I don't see a problem with it. I think school should measure your cunning as well as your intelligence. I consider cheating (when "artfully" done) a measure of your ability. For example:</p>

<p>Today, I cheated on a certain test, because the teacher let us do the test over two days. We had to turn our test in, so I just took two blank tests at the beginning and memorized all the answers at home.</p>

<p>Yesterday, I had to do a critique on a play I hadn't gone to. I just sped-read 5 or 6 webpages giving reviews and made something up.</p>

<p>Awhile ago, I took a biology test answer sheet out of the trash can, memorized all the answers (50 or so) using a mnemonic device, then took the test.</p>

<p>I copy stuff regularly.</p>

<p>In middle school, someone paid me 5 dollars or so per history test to copy off of me. (he's a stoner now, lol)</p>

<p>I've done other people's homework (in their handwriting) for money.</p>

<p>Everyone copies from me, too, though, and I don't care, as long as they know what they're doing. I'm doing this for the benefit of the school as a whole. =-)</p>

<p>One thing I WILL NOT DO is to use a "cheat sheet." That takes no skill, it's easily noticeable/catchable, and it's just an insult to the teacher's intelligence. Also, I don't condone flat plagiarism.</p>

<p>Yeah, I cheat much more in classes where the teacher is a douchebag, though.</p>

<p>In biology, the teacher lets us take partner tests and use notes on tests, etc. And this is AP Bio, btw. So I might as well cheat, it's practically cheating already.</p>

<p>In German, my teacher essentially teaches us nothing (or more correctly put, she teaches everyone else nothing... I learn in magical ways), so I cheat randomly if I don't feel like studying for a vocab quiz.</p>

<p>In LA, the teacher is terrible, so I just cheat on writing assignments (using ones from previous years, making stuff up, etc.)... it's not like I'd learn anything if I did them.</p>

<p>But in Calculus, Chem, and Physics, I would never cheat. The teachers are very good and very nice. My physics teacher let me take two tests home to take on my own, and I didn't cheat. My calculus teacher left the room for thirty minutes, and I didn't cheat. So... I still have some scruples (however that's spelled).</p>

<p>Oh, so you think I'm cheating because classes are tough? No. I had to make up a trimester (12 weeks) of work in 5 classes (Humanities, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics, and AP Calc) in 1 week... I didn't cheat (except on that biology test... and critique... lol). I'm actually more inclined to cheat in easy classes, as I've stated before.</p>

<p>By the way, sorry for being candid, everyone. =-)"</p>

112

<p>You can't get into MIT with no extracurricular activities. It's actually probably somewhat more important to have great ECs in an MIT application than great grades and scores -- after all, almost everybody in the applicant pool has great grades and scores. You need to have some way to stand out. </p>

<p>It doesn't have to be something socially conscious, but it's a little absurd to do nothing but school in high school and expect to have a shot at MIT. What reason would they have to admit you over someone with equally good grades and scores who did something that got them psyched during high school?</p>

<p>I might also add that students are required to take 25% of their classes in the humanities, arts, and social sciences at MIT. So it probably wouldn't be good to go to MIT in the first place if you refused to read books.</p>

113

<p>When I capitilized, I was making the point that the OP wasn't just using sparknotes along with reading the book, but that he proudly stated he had not read a book in two years...and that while some teachers are okay with reading sparknotes, I am pretty sure they don't encourange it instead of actually reading the books</p>

<p>and it turns out the OP is lazy, is a cheater, and knows better than most</p>

<p>the lack of ECs are the least of his problems</p>

<p>he has little respect for his teachers, the educational process, and what it takes to succeed</p>

<p>after reading about his cheating, I can't be bothered anymore</p>

<p>He deserves what he gets</p>

114

<p>I don't ignore everything. Disagreeing is not equivalent to ignoring.</p>

<p>I don't know that you ever actually did answer my question until now, citygirlsmom. I think I remember your first post saying something like "you don't care about anyone else" and "you need to change your attitude," nothing about ECs.</p>

<p>Also, I don't know what cheating has to do with any of this.</p>

<p>I don't understand why you are just randomly throwing every single negative comment you can think of at me. I don't know what point you're trying to prove, you just seem to be attempting to show everyone that I'm the worst person ever. I don't know if it's because you think attempting to tear down my reputation will help me or if you just want someone to hate.</p>

<p>I'm sorry if you can't see the love of learning in what I've said, but it's there. That's why I want to take 10 courses next year (five courses is about the average for students at my school).</p>

<p>Thanks, kitty, I'm actually leaning more towards caltech now anyway, for some unknown reason.</p>

115

<p>Actually, I am intending to self study for the calculus BC and environmental science AP exams (implicitly on my own time). Also, I'm going to learn about architecture and art and read an art history textbook during the rest of the schoolyear and the summer. No one wants to hear that though, right?</p>

<p>It's not as though I'm illiterate, molliebatmit. I hope you can tell that I'm a fluent writer who uses correct grammar, and whose ideas are pretty cohesive (for being on the internet).</p>

<p>I may be a little lazy, but I just have to say it's hard not to be when my parents' day consists of watching TV, sleeping, and fighting. It's no excuse... I do hate being lazy.</p>

<p>I respect my teachers... the ones who make an effort to teach, anyway. I listen to their opinions, but I don't agree with them. I'm sorry if I can think for myself... but it is something I take pride in.</p>

<p>I think I can demonstrate the love of learning, rather than the love of prestige, molliebatmit, that's why I think I have a shot. Maybe I should work really, really hard to write an extremely eloquent essay...</p>

116

<p>People that love learning don't cheat</p>

<p>i surrender, you are smarter than your teachers, you can learn through just sparknotes, you cheat to get those As....</p>

<p>And you don't feel like doing ECs cause you are "real" okay dokey</p>

117

<p>Ay carumba, I am so completely baffled that people are so quick to attack citygirlsmom. This is an utterly ridiculous argument.</p>

118

<p>I was just making the point that at MIT you have to be able to put up with 25% of your classes being in the humanities -- it's not that you don't have the capability to succeed in those classes at a college level, but I don't see that you'd be willing to put in the effort for something you didn't like to do.</p>

<p>At a school like MIT or Caltech, there will be a lot of academic things put on your plate that you won't want to do. Unfortunately, you can't just not do them (at least not if you hope to graduate).</p>

119

<p>well in response to the original post, i would say it might hurt you chances. As long as MIT and CalTech look at Weighted GPAs, you should be fine. If they look at UW, i'd say you have little to no chance.</p>

120

<p>Well, CalTech says it bases its admissions mostly on the difficulty of the classes you've taken.</p>