For those whose children are already done with applications...

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I was hoping that as parents whose kids have already gone through the whole thing you could help me get a better sense of where I stand. </p>

<p>How should I edit (as in not include or emphasize) the information below on my application?
Should I rethink my list of colleges? Do you have any suggestions based on where your children applied? </p>

<p>If your kids applied to any of the colleges on my list, did they have a similar application? Why do you think they got in/didn't get in? If they had a wayyyy different application, how was it different?</p>

<p>And lastly, what do you think I should work to improve on during my last year of high school?</p>

<p>I am a middle-class, Indian-American girl from a sububan town in NJ. My school sometimes sends kids to top schools, but mostly to rutgers, drexel, usp and the like.</p>

<p>gpa - I don't know for sure - my FINAL grades for the year have been A's with 2 high B's (in language soph and freshman years)</p>

<p>rank - probably in top 20 or 30 out of 400 students, approximately top 5 - 10% My school does not declare rank until application time in order to avoid competition</p>

<p>courseload - all honors. 4 AP's junior year. 6 (planned) AP's senior year.</p>

<p>SAT - 2210 (I took this without studying, so should I retake it, or move on?)</p>

<p>SAT II - I haven't taken them, but I have taken practice tests and predict scores from 750 - 800.</p>

<p>PSAT - 225 (junior) 204 (soph)</p>

<p>In School:</p>

<ul>
<li>Class office - VP (soph) and President (junior)</li>
<li>Model UN - secretary (junior)</li>
<li>GSA - VP (junior) have already been appointed president for next year</li>
<li>Environmental Action Club - VP (junior) already decided for prez next year</li>
<li>Academic Team - will most likely be one of three captains next year</li>
<li>Mathletes - captain (junior)</li>
<li>Key Club - VP (junior) </li>
<li>Youth and Govt. - member (soph and junior)</li>
<li>Science League - member (soph and junior)</li>
<li>Student Council - member (soph and junior)</li>
<li>Literary Magazine - editor-in-cheif (junior)</li>
<li>Art Club - Secretary (junior)</li>
<li>Peer Leader - in peer leadership program (junior)</li>
<li>junior nominee and attendee to HOBY program</li>
</ul>

<p>Out of School:</p>

<ul>
<li>editor (of about 20 kids in america) for national literary magazine</li>
<li>member of temple's youth commitee</li>
<li>writer for temple's youth newspaper</li>
<li>counselor (volunteer) at temple's summer camps</li>
<li>volunteer at march of dimes offices (150-ish hours so far) </li>
<li>member of march of dimes chain reaction youth board (junior)</li>
<li>founder and director of volunteer tutoring corps in town (junior) </li>
</ul>

<p>*** this is a major thing for me, i tutor a bunch of kids, which led me to form this volunteer org and if i had to focus on one volunteering aspect of my app, this would be it. ***</p>

<ul>
<li>member of student board of indian cultural association - junior</li>
<li>dancer (classical indian, several years)</li>
<li>sole student rep to public library board - junior</li>
</ul>

<p>Likely additions in near future:
- job at ice cream place (its my dream job, maybe will get it)
- internship with state senator (will maybe get it, girl from my school last year did)
- self-study 4 more AP courses and take test (World History, Environmental Science, Human Geography, and Biology, and will take the exam with the ones I have classes for: Language and Comp, APUSH, Psychology, and Calc AB.)
- start youth coalition in town for political advocacy (lots of enthusiastic members already)
- start dance school (will be easy)</p>

<p>My (tentative) list:</p>

<ol>
<li>Georgetown</li>
<li>UC Berkeley</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Columbia </li>
<li>Tufts</li>
<li>Princeton </li>
<li>Emory</li>
<li>Brown </li>
<li>UVA </li>
<li>Rutgers</li>
</ol>

<p>I would really appreciate a more mature, experienced perspective since a lot of times the chances forum just gets comments from high schooler's who are just as inexperienced as I am. Any insight/comments/advice would be greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>Why didn’t you study for the SAT I?</p>

3

<p>I just wanted to see how I would do the first time around and work off that.</p>

4

<p>Whew! I wouldn’t want to be a kid again. This sounds exhausting. I loved your dream job!</p>

<p>If you can study for the SATs, go for it. 2210 is already very good, but look to see where you make the errors and the tricks to the test and you’ll improve.</p>

5

<p>I don’t understand why you wouldn’t study for the SAT if you could go in prepared, knock it out of the park, and be done with it.
But that is just my opinion.
One and done is optimum.</p>

6

<p>My kids never studied much for the SAT1 too. I’d get the question and answer service if available and see what sort of mistakes you made. You are probably fine with that score though, but you might well increase it with a minimal effort. If anything, I think you should be doing less not more. You have so many activities listed I wonder if you’ve really been able to do justice to all of them.</p>

<p>As for the list. Well it seems to me it’s just the list of the likely suspects with the state university added as a safety. It looks like you like well-known mid-size universities in cities that have a campus so I’m not sure Princeton or UVA belong on your list. I think you might think about U of Chicago instead of those two. I think you need better thought out and more safeties - as nearly all the schools on your list are in the “reaches for everyone” category. I’d suggest you look at Brandeis, Syracuse, GW, and American. Maybe U. of Pittsburgh - I hear good things about their honors college. Maybe Carnegie Mellon (though I think it’s better for those who are either definitely techie or definitely arty.)</p>

7

<p>Definitely take the SAT again, as you scores will most probably go up the more math and reading you do .
Can you afford to pay 30,000+ for an UG education at Berkeley, cause that is what it will cost, when you add OOS tuition to the high cost of R&B- [there is no FA for OOS students.]. If not, strike them from you list. [ there are going to be many more cuts at the UC’s because of the on going and continuing budget crisis in Calif. and given the choice between UCB and most of the other colleges on you list, you would be better off going elsewhere]
And as you will most probably be a NMF [ based on your PSAT, SAT and GPA], you may want to look into U’s that offer 1/2 to full tuition scholarships for NMF’s.
You do need some more safeties, just in case, as Indian-Americans are well represented in the application pools at the most selective colleges on your list. I suggest USC for one[ University of Southern Calif] which offers NMF 1/2 tuition scholarships for all 4 years. They matriculate more NMF’s than any U’s except Harvard, and are fast becoming a magnet for smart students who are leaders on their communities, especially those interested in saving $$ for grad school.</p>

8

<p>Got to agree with mathmom. My S had similar PSAT and SAT scores with little prep. Go ahead and look at what you missed on the first SAT and decide if you want to take it again. Do a little studying where you had trouble or just do another run through. You have a good score, don’t sweat it. Generally scores go up just by taking it twice so what the heck…</p>

<p>SAT IIs really are hard to predict from practices since it depends so much on the curve. My S walked in on MAth II completely cold and didn’t do as well as he wanted and retook with a little prep and did just fine…he says he left the same number blank so it had to be, at least in part, the curve. Take them pretty seriously, prepare and only take one or two tests each session.</p>

<p>Your choices look very reasonable … perhaps look at some good OOS schools that may offer merit aid and do some research on smaller/out of area LACs that may be a good fit. You should talk to your parents about what they can afford or want for you also. Ask your counselor for advice on admissions since they know what the acceptance rates are from your school. Do you have Naviance at your school? …very helpful for seeing how you stack up, at least in numbers, with recent graduates and admissions to schools. </p>

<p>Good luck. Enjoy your senior year. As one very wise counselor told our seniors…make sure you go to a basketball game, a dance, write a letter to the school paper, go to the corny pep rallies, and take lots of photos because you don’t want your memories of HS to be only about preparing for college…it is an experience to be savored and remembered. </p>

<p>I would add spend time with your siblings and close friends because when you are in college those relationships change in ways that you can’t fathom…no one tells you this…not necessarily a bad change but definitely different. My S just woke up to the fact that he won’t be seeing his little sister every day when he goes away in September and she will be changing and growing up so fast over the next years…these last months are the last chance to have a bond to carry them through the next decade and the impression he leaves her with shouldn’t be of a distant big brother too obsessed with college admissions to give her some time.</p>

9

<p>Retaking the SAT is really your decision. There is always the risk your score will decrease or be lateral… with some study,could go up 50-100 points or so. Do not focus on tricks… if you can answer the questions and solve the problems, do so. That was the advise my d’s SAT tutor gave her and it was good advice. He said she knows how to solve the problems and it is time-waster to figure out the “tricks”. Your list is all reach schools, with the exception of Rutgers. While you have a good shot at many, you need to select schools that would be more matches or safeties. Brandeis, Pitt Honors are good suggestions. You might want to look at Case Western and Delaware Honors and if interested in looking at smaller schools, Skidmore as another option.</p>

10

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</p>

<p>You should strongly emphasize this particular EC, perhaps in an essay or maybe with a letter of recommendation from an adult who is familiar with your work in this organization. My S did something very similar in his junior and senior years of HS (he organized a mentoring/tutoring partnership between his HS and a neighboring elementary school). While the tutoring aspect is obviously important, what you learned by getting this club started, recruiting and training the members, dealing with parents and school administrators, etc. will add a whole other level of interest to your application. It demonstrates maturity and initiative. I believe this is what set my S’s applications apart from others and it led to a couple of scholarships, as well.</p>

<p>Good luck to you!</p>

11

<p>I agree with menloparkmom, add USC to your list. Your success in getting into some of your choices may depend on how you pull all of your ec’s and classes together on your essay. Showing a focus and a sense of purpose can be done with just one or two ec’s let alone as many as you have. Have you decided on your area of study?</p>

12

<p>Thank you all for your suggestions! I realize I have too many reaches and basically no matches and reaches except Rutgers so your suggestions are really helpful. I really had no idea where to apply as a ‘safety’ since my familiarity with colleges is basically 0. </p>

<p>I didn’t know that UCBerk didn’t offer aid to OOS students - if that is so I will not apply. I have discussed the financial aspect of college with my parents and basically, I do expect aid and not having to take out loans is optimal, but if a college is AMAZING and is really worth the investment and a little debt, than my parents and I can deal. </p>

<p>to patsmom: did your son describe his tutoring organization in an essay, or did he get a recommendation from the main adult advisor he worked with? I was thinking that I could request a recommendation from the counselor at the middleschool that I initiated the prorgam, and she could descrive all the things that went into creating this program. I think if an adult described it, it would have a lot more weight as opposed to me just talking about myself (which I am really uncomfortable with and will probably not do well).</p>

<p>and I realize that I seem really spread thin over all the activities that I do, but most of them I really put my heart and soul into and I think each showcase a different strenght/aspect of my interests. Should I really just not mention some of them in my app? Many of these groups, like Mathletes, Lit Mag, GSA, and Enviro are all clubs that were basically defunct: apathetic members, not doing anything basically, threatened to be cut by the school board… but I put in a lot of effort to turn them around and now most are flourishing with members and thriving activity. Again, considering that, am I better of just neglecting some that seem kind of unrelated to everything else I do, like mathletes? Or should I include all and emphasize how much change I initiated?</p>

<p>lilmom: unfortunately no, i really don’t know what I want to do. I was pretty set on political science about a year ago but now that seems… shallow and kind of unattractice to me. I don’t know anymore… I’m considering a lot of different areas of study, from bio to history to philosophy to intl relations. so I’m probably going to go into school as an undecided, which is why brown is on my list.</p>

13

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<p>I don’t think that’s totally true. Of course knowing the answers is your best bet, but the tricks can earn you a lot of points - 170 to be exact (in my case).</p>

14

<p>Your results in turning around clubs is outstanding, and definitely something to highlight. That is exactly the kind of go-getter that colleges are looking for, a student who makes a difference on campus. Keep the focus on a few high quality ECs. and think about letters of recommendation from teachers who will play up those strengths.</p>

<p>A list is so skewed to colleges with super-competitive admissions is painful to read. One of my sons considered five of your possiblities, applied to two and was denied - his only rejections. His stats are quite similar to yours, so do take this as a warning. A year from now, do you want to find yourself deciding between Rutgers and maybe Tufts with insufficient aid? That is a possible outcome of having a top-heavy list. (If you are looking at Georgetown’s SFS, you should know that its acceptance rate is similar to Harvard’s; other schools in the college are easier admits.) Look at colleges beyond the top 10 or 20 and find at least ten more to investigate; as a goal, add two to four more to your list that you could be happy attending.</p>

<p>You don’t need to drop schools at this point; it’s better to create a long list with pluses and minuses, and then move to the editing stage this summer. Keep in mind that merit aid is very difficult, and loans over $10,000 a year should be avoided like the plague. You sound like you need to get a better grasp on your parents’ contribution. Have them fill out an FA calculator and, by summer, give you a fixed idea of what they are willing to commit. You may well find that this is the number one obstacle in the process. Good luck!</p>

15

<p>nritya, I sent you a PM.</p>

16

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</p>

<p>Imho, this is a problem. </p>

<p>My suggestion is that you go beyond the usual suspects, go beyond asking parents who do not know you, and take the time to discover colleges for yourself.</p>

17

<p>I really have tried - I’ve read about colleges online but whatever I read just makes them sound ALL the same and I really can’t get a good idea of schools from what I see on a computer. I’ve asked people, but most people I talk to go to rutgers/tcnj and can’t really tell me much outside of those two schools. Visiting is out of the question - for now. Maybe over summer break, but even still, I have no idea where I would actually visit. [altough several suggestions made on this thread are major contenders]</p>

18

<p>“I have discussed the financial aspect of college with my parents and basically, I do expect aid and not having to take out loans is optimal”
OK, so your plan of action should be to find colleges that offer merit aid, or do not include loans as part of a FA package, and those offering 1/2 - full tuition for NMF’s. I suggest you start here
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation-17.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation-17.html&lt;/a&gt;
go to the last page as it has the most current information.</p>

19

<p>How about a few day trips when colleges are in session? e.g. Princeton, Columbia, Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Bucknell–in part just to see first-hand, to get a better sense of what you might like? </p>

<p>If only summer can work, could you start to plan now for a summer college trip?</p>

20

<p>You don’t seem automatically averse to southern schools, you are interested in merit aid and you don’t want any loans, so…Why isn’t Vanderbilt University on your list? </p>

<p>There are three different classes of full-tuition merit scholarships. You might be eligible for any of them, given your profile of service. Look at this web site. They require separate applications from the app for admission. They are still a no-loan school for those who qualify for financial aid.</p>

<p>[Merit</a> Scholarship Programs](<a href=“http://www.vanderbilt.edu/scholarships/]Merit”>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/scholarships/)</p>

<p>Their Asian student population is relatively low for high-ranking schools (about 7 percent, but rising). I think it is fair to say the university welcomes applications from students who will add to the cultural diversity of the campus. </p>

<p>I think it is reasonable to retake the SAT I. If you are looking for merit scholarships, it is worth it. You didn’t give the breakdown, but Vanderbilt likes to see a minimum of 1500 on the M + V (at least the last time I saw it specified).</p>