Getting stressed about the college process

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Well, this is crunch time. I am very far behind in getting my college thing going. I have NO extracurriculars, a terrible average, a 0 on the SAT, and I just have no self confidence. With a record low of 6.4% of people accepted at Columbia, I'm not sure how things will fair for me. I think it is too late to do anything about it. My SAT is in two weeks, and I am fastidiously practicing the reading section, which is dragging my score down to the 2020-2030 range. </p>

<p>Here is my course selection for next year: (which is clearly inadequate)
AP LITERATURE<br>
AP MATHEMATICS - CALCULUS AB (I should have taken BC)
AP MICRO/MACROECONOMICS H7X9<br>
AP PHYSICS WITH CALCULUS C SPX3
SENIOR PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
SPANISH NARRATIVE & FILM FSN1 </p>

<p>Colleges I'm looking at: (but maybe I shouldn't do this because of my superstitions) </p>

<p>University of Chicago
Columbia University
Cooper Union
Carnegie Mellon
Harvey Mudd
Caltech
MIT
Cornell
Duke
JHU
Northwestern
UPenn
Princeton
Tufts
NYU</p>

<p>I probably want to major in either physics or engineering. </p>

<p>I already messed up on the SAT Chem test by getting a 650, so I need to blow out SAT Physics with an 800. </p>

<p>Does anybody think i'm overacting, or am I right to worry?</p>

2

<p>If you don’t develop a more balanced college list than that, then no, you’re not overreacting. Get to work on finding matches and safeties.</p>

3

<p>Don’t know what you mean by a “0” on the SAT, but if you end up with 2000, yes most of those schools are going to be tough. However you can take it again in the fall and it’s too soon to get so discouraged. Look into which schools care about demonstrated interest----I think Carnegie Mellon does—and try to boost your chances at a few of those places with visits/interviews. Maybe Harvey Mudd cares about demonstrated interest because it’s small?? Ivies won’t even care if you visit, so it’s hardly worth the time. Try to get interested in a few safer schools-- University of Rochester maybe? Or visit U. Pitt while you are there to see Carnegie Mellon…</p>

4

<p>You definitely need to add some safety schools to your list. </p>

<p>What state do you live in?</p>

<p>The only thing that is similar between the schools on your list is that they are difficult to get in to. What are you looking for in a school, besides being prestigious or well known?</p>

5

<p>Hi guys. Thanks for responding. Well, what I meant by a 0 SAT score, is that its currently in the 2020-2030 range, mostly because of a 600 in reading. If I bump that reading score to a 700, then I will have a 2100+, which is required for these schools.</p>

<p>As mentioned, I tend to have very low self-confidence, and I have superstitions (which I agree I must change). For example, if someone says that I should go to Columbia, and I do like to, I tell them not to talk about it too much because I feel that only decreases my chances. Weird superstition, I know. </p>

<p>I think my average is on the low side for these schools, as I have a 95 right now, but I have 2 months left in the term, so if everything goes well, I can boost my average by another decimal point. I really need to blow out a 800 on both Math (should I take I or II) and Physics. </p>

<p>What I’m really worried about is extracurriculars. I did become a club president last month, and I am doing one of those intel projects, but other than that, I really have nothing. </p>

<p>I live in NYC, and thus I luckily got myself into one of those “specialized high schools.” After the Cooper Union tour on Tuesday, I think what I really value in a school is small class sizes and a good relationship with professors/faculty. My school has 3000 people, and I think its too much because I rarely have the opportunity to conjure up deep friendships with people. Hopefully, this will be better in college. </p>

<p>I probably don’t need to worry about cost, because my parents don’t make so much money, so the schools will probably cover everything (please correct me if I’m wrong). </p>

<p>Also, I probably won’t be able to visit some schools, like Harvey Mudd or Caltech, for obvious reasons.</p>

<p>I forgot to mention that I plan to get a PhD, if that changes anything.</p>

6

<p>You have listed all reach schools for your stats. Get realistic and find some match and fall back schools. No EC’s? You better get busy with lion heart or something or your match schools will become reach schools. Frankly, your wasting money applying to any of the schools you listed.</p>

7

<p>You do need to worry about costs because your stats will not bring a lot of merit based aid. Reality check, You may get merit aid at say Alabama, ect. Your school list is way over your real stats. Sounds like you have a lot of potential but schools look at results. The black ink on white paper results.</p>

8

<p>Hi. I’d like to know which of my stats I am lacking in. Perhaps I could do something about it now. </p>

<p>Also, I agree that my school list needs to be altered. I should put some additional safety schools like SUNY Stonybrook. But in reality, I probably won’t apply to half of these schools listed, because I didn’t want to go to schools like Duke or JHU anyway, I was just considering it.</p>

9

<p>“I have NO extracurriculars, a terrible average, a 0 on the SAT, and I just have no self confidence.”</p>

<p>Sounds like someone who is Ivy bound, amirite?</p>

10

<p>I agree with everyone, you are too top-heavy. In addition to adding some match/safety schools, I would eliminate some of your reach schools such as MIT, Princeton, Cal Tech, and Columbia. These are realistically out of reach and you basically already have other reach schools on your list in the way of Northwestern, Duke, Mudd, Penn, Tufts, etc., etc. Applying to this many schools will be very time consuming and if you think it’s stressful now, wait until you start completing all these applications. Don’t set yourself up for this many rejections because you aren’t being realistic in your choices.</p>

11

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<p>Actually you need to worry more. Most schools do not cover “everything.” Most schools don’t give a lot of aid, for that matter… especially someone with a large amount of need.</p>

<p>I suggest you add Macaulay Honors to your list. Specifically City College for engineering/physics:
[Macaulay</a> Honors College - Campuses](<a href=“http://macaulay.cuny.edu/about/campuses.php?city]Macaulay”>http://macaulay.cuny.edu/about/campuses.php?city)</p>

<p>THAT would be a full ride. Full tuition, free laptop, assistance with an internship/semester abroad.</p>

<p>University of Buffalo might give you quite a bit of merit aid.
[UB</a> Engineering](<a href=“http://www.eng.buffalo.edu/]UB”>http://www.eng.buffalo.edu/)</p>

<p>Neither of those are academic safeties, but they are financial safeties. (Stony Brook is not an academic safety either, BTW).</p>

<p>The deadline for both of the above is December 1, not January 1, so keep that in mind.</p>

<p>One more school you should consider is Alfred:
[Alfred</a> University - Inamori School of Engineering](<a href=“http://engineering.alfred.edu/]Alfred”>http://engineering.alfred.edu/)</p>

<p>The tuition starts at half of what most privates charge. And with your stats, you would probably be eligible for some merit aid.</p>

<p>Good luck <em>hugs</em></p>

12

<p>"Sounds like someone who is Ivy bound, amirite? "</p>

<p>Well, if you actually read my second post, you would know that I don’t actually have that bad of an average, at a 95, but it could be better. </p>

<p>Finally, I was slightly joking with the phrase, and it was made out of frustration. Combined with my lack of self confidence, it probably can’t be taken seriously. I haven’t even taken my SAT yet, and if I am able to get the 700 on the reading as I am planing to do, I am actually poised to get a 2100+. </p>

<p>SAT II are 1.5 months away. </p>

<p>Though I agree that I need to refine this list. I will be meeting with my couselor this Thursday, but I don’t know how honest he will be with me.</p>

13

<p>I have 3.7UW(90%ish), 2190 SAT, 760 on two SATII. And moderate/average EC’s. And high course rigor(11 APs including a language). I was REJECTED by Upenn,Cornell, Chicago (My first choice). Just some numbers to aim for, jk. </p>

<p>We all have low self-esteem; If we were confident we would not need CC. Also, Most of your schools seem rather large, since you mentioned that you like 'um small. I really want you to look at William and Mary(Virginia). It is closer to a match for your stats, and it is pretty small(6,000ish undergrads). Does that school seem to fit you alright?</p>

14

<p>Thanks. I added William and Mary to my list.
I also removed some (e.g. NYU) because they are way too big. (40,000 students!) Can’t remove it from the original post for some odd reason. </p>

<p>I don’t know about Stonybrook. 3 cousins and my brother all got in with an ~80 avg and 1800-1900 SAT.</p>

<p>Of course, I want to do better than them, and I already did with the GPA.</p>

<p>I was also thinking about Macaulay, since that would be a nice choice. Supposedly, CUNY isn’t so bad. I did like Cooper Union though.</p>

15

<p>ahhhh I’m so stressed about it all. My friend goes to Harvard and told me not to stress out about it. It all turns out ok in the end :)</p>

16

<p>Stony Brook engineering is harder to get into than arts and sciences. Same with U Buffalo - I know more than one kid who applied to engineering, was denied engineering but offered arts and sciences. I was particularly surprised about one kid who had stats to get into RPI, but was denied completely at Stony Brook and denied at U Buffalo engineering but offered arts and sciences. Her stats were better than yours (she is planning on studying Chem. Eng.).</p>

<p>Admissions this year have been so much more difficult than in years past.</p>

<p>You don’t need to be too stressed. Your stats are pretty good and I am sure you will have a lot of choices this time next year. Just make sure, like you are, to cast your net wide :)</p>

17

<p>two questions I"d like to ask: where does your GPA put you in class rank (even approximate if your school doesn’t rank – your Guidance department should have a school profile that shows the distribution of GPAs). That’s important to know for seeing how selective a school you can shoot for.</p>

<p>Secondly, even though you say your ECs are light, do you have a passion that you’ve explored in any way? Think about that, and showcase it on your application. It might be something you’ve studied on your own, or involvement in a religious group, for example. If you’ve worked instead of ECs, that’s fine, too! </p>

<p>It seems like you’re only putting down schools that people “know of” off the top of their heads. You need to look at universities that are a bit lower on the rung of selectivity in addition to what you’ve listed. You say you like small classes. Have you considered Liberal Arts colleges? (do you know what these are, btw?). </p>

<p>If your family is low-income, and / or you are first-generation in your family to go to college, these are demographics that actually will be helpful to you, as schools seek out socio-economic diversity. </p>

<p>I don’t know if you qualify for Questbridge or Posse, but you should look into those (I really am not familiar with details, but I think CC has a forum for that).</p>

<p>At this point, I would not start running around trying to add more ECs to your resume (I’m assuming you’re a junior), but would really focus on how to best package what you’ve already done: you really want to show that you have some passion or interest in something; schools look not just for EC accomplishment, but students who will bring interests to a campus.</p>

18

<p>you may enjoy adding in a few ‘matches’ & safeties to your list…so when you hear an "acceptance’ from them…you’ll be really happy when decision days come in next March/April.</p>

<p>trust me, hearing one rejection from any school is NOT a good feeling & w/ that list you’ve have…boy, you wanted to go in with the right expectation!</p>

<p>GaTech is a goo one to add ( ranked #7 public school)- medium school w/ aprx 13,000-15,000 students.
UVA may be a ‘reach’ or it may be a ‘target’ but take a look.
W&M is wonderful too…it all depends on how much higher your SAT & 12th grade will be & how you write your essays…all matter.</p>

19

<p>“I probably don’t need to worry about cost, because my parents don’t make so much money, so the schools will probably cover everything (please correct me if I’m wrong).”</p>

<p>You need to spend some time reading through the information at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and through some of the threads in the Financial Aid Forum. Start with this one: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Sit your parents down, and have them run the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) calculators at the FinAid website, and at [College</a> Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.org%5DCollege”>http://www.collegeboard.org) You absolutely need to know what your EFC is likely to be. That way you will know the minimum amount that the colleges and universities will expect your family to be able to pay. Most will expect more than that. If your family cannot afford your EFC, then you need to find financial safety schools that you can afford with no more than the federally determined (FAFSA) aid, any guaranteed NY state aid (such as TAP) if you will study in NY, and any guaranteed merit aid.</p>

<p>Build your list from the bottom up. Find an academic safety that is also a financial safety, that offers your major(s), and that you are happy to attend if everything else goes wrong in the admissions process. For a NYC resident, this “lovable” safety is probably a CUNY or SUNY.</p>

20

<p>Hmm. This college thing is just getting more confusing. Obviously, I will begin to shorten that list in the OP with various factors, like location, vibe, affordability, etc. For example, after looking at Uchicago, I don’t think I’d really like the vibe there. I wouldn’t like somewhere like Harvard, Yale, UPenn, Stanford, or Brown either. But I feel comfortable with a school like Northwestern, MIT, Caltech, Cooper Union, and the like. </p>

<p>All my cousins turned decently well, all with a low 90 avg or a high 80. My brother was the exception, and he got into NYU-Poly (but it sure is expensive). Two of my cousins got the full ride at Macaulay, one just got into Stonybrook, and the other two got into SUNY Buffalo/RIT. I hope I can at least reach the same caliber of schools, or even better.</p>

<p>But what I keep seeing is that once people meet a certain range, like a 90+GPA and a 2100+ SAT, the make-break factors are really the EC/Recs. One teacher, who happened to graduate from Northwestern and Columbia, said that the SAT “doesn’t matter so much, and it won’t help so much once you are in the range.” Choosing who to write the recs is also a difficult decision. This particular teacher can’t write it, since although he is a great friend, he taught me close to a year ago, so I can’t ask him to remember my classroom ethics. </p>

<p>At the end of the day, for undergrad, should I worry so much about the prestige or more about whether or not I will enjoy it. I mean, does it really affect post-graduation wages that much?</p>