@catlip4 Thanks for your question catlip, I don’t plan on accepting my waitlist offers and don’t know much about the waitlist process in general. But with that said, it’s super exciting that you applied with an interest in business and engineering. What I might recommend is to continue fleshing out how the impact of tech is important to you on a personal level. In scholarship and college interviews, that was something I was told admissions committees enjoy hearing about. Good luck and please let me know if you have other questions.
@tsbasmo1 This is something I really struggled to figure out how to do in my application, so thanks for your question tsbasmol! I found it challenging to weave these two interests together in my supplemental essays, but definitely used the extracurricular section of the Common Application to communicate it. There were occasionally some prompts that asked for an explanation of the applicant’s intended major, and those are also great chances to provide a reason for why you’re interested in both.
@sptut3 Thanks for your kind words sptut3! Even though I didn’t pursue athletics in high school myself, I definitely wouldn’t underestimate the value they add to your application. As far as how to improve the CS aspect, I’m a big advocate of personal projects. The way I was able to translate some of what I learned from coding classes in high school to real world experience was by entering competitions through TSA and FBLA. With that said though, I’m sorry to hear your internship was canceled. Maybe one goal could be to connect with other high school coders and work on freelance websites or apps over the summer. For me, that offered a great way to learn how to work collaboratively with other people on technical projects and to gain a better grasp on version control techniques. Please feel free to keep me in the loop with this aspect of your application though, I’m really excited for you.
@skurtup Thanks for your comment skurtup, it’s great that you are involved with so much volunteering. At first with my application, I was also unsure how to connect the volunteer work to my academic interests. But I think a good way to tie everything together is to use your essays as a platform to explain how your volunteering motivated you to discover what you’re interested in academically, or how your academic interests led you to volunteer. Making sure that they are linked together somehow is a solid way to build out the theme of your application. Good luck and please let me know if you think of other questions.
@“ic.ho21” Thanks for your comment ic.ho21! My class size is about 450, but I can’t imagine how it feels to have a thousand classmates.
What I would encourage as far as college preparation goes is to dip your toes in volunteering or internships. That tends to be a great way to get an idea of what life might be like after high school, while at the same time, giving you experiences to talk about in your essays.
But to answer your question more directly, I brainstormed essay topics and filled out application forms the summer before senior year. When it comes to internships, I began applying during my sophomore year with the guidance of my counselor and teachers. Although this timeline worked well for me, I would get a head-start on it as early as you feel comfortable.
@slin02 Thanks for your question slin02 and congratulations on your son’s acceptances! Those are some really great colleges. To be honest, I’m not very well-informed about the waitlist process. Sorry I can’t offer much feedback, but I wish you and your son the best of luck!
@stephanie101 Hi Stephanie, thanks for your question. I do not think the B’s will set you back, especially since they are in those weighted classes you mentioned.
Thanks for the response. I decided to give you a follow on Github. A lot of your work seems fascinating and it will be interesting to follow up on what you decide to make in the future.
Hi! Congrats on all of your accomplishments and I wish you the best next year.
As a high school sophomore, I was wondering when/how you started to discover your interest in computer science and public policy? Were you focused on college and your possible careers even before high school?
I’m have two questions. Which is your favorite. Being one of the oldest families in Princeton. I am of course biased. I haven’t kept up with the university like I used to.
Also. We are using Princeton Review for SAT. Do you have a system you like better?
Congrats and good luck !
Hi Ethan! Congrats on a great application season! I too was fortunate with many acceptances and have narrowed my choice to Duke and USC. I too indicated financial need and our expected family contribution varies dramatically from school to school - some expecting me to pay $0, some $34K. Can you tell us which of your acceptances offered better finaid for you? And are you weighing the decision of paying more for a certain school as a very real possibility?
Do you think i ll get admission in harvard or mit or stanford or some other ivy league schools with following progress?
Sat scores 1550+
2 books published
One fictional novel and one non fictional
2 harvard online courses
Volunteered in organising blood donation camp in school
Subject scores 790+ in physics and biology
3 recommendation letter from teachers
@sptut3 You’re welcome, I’m happy to help in any way I can. And please feel free to reach out to me over GitHub if there’s any projects you’d like to collaborate on or advice I can provide.
@vanillaeclaer Thanks for your question vanillaeclaer, it was definitely a struggle for me to figure out what I was interested in. I think it’s always a good idea to keep yourself open to new interests so that you don’t close yourself off from potential opportunities. Looking back in hindsight, I wish I would’ve gotten involved with more political science and athletic opportunities as an underclassman. As far as computer science and public policy goes, during my sophomore year, I joined a county volunteer board whose goal is to come up with ideas for new innovations in technology. Even though I was really (and still am) very inexperienced, I was humbled that the county gave me a chance to learn from the other members of the board. That is what solidified my interest in these two areas personally. Good luck with the rest of high school, I’m super excited for you.
@TMImomof2 Congratulations on your family’s accomplishments, that is super impressive! I am still torn between Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, but am also strongly considering going to CU Boulder for financial reasons. I think the decision will most likely come down to whichever school offers the most financial aid.
I personally bought the official prep-book and took a handful of practice tests to get ready for the ACT. That system worked well for me, but I did not end up submitting SAT scores so I don’t know very much about that test.
@calif2020 Congratulations calif2020, Duke and USC are some really fantastic choices. At the moment, Princeton and Harvard are offering the most in financial aid out of these colleges, with the exception of my in-state schools. My top choices were the ones that offered the most aid, so I probably will end up going to whichever one is cheapest. Good luck with narrowing down your college search and have a nice day!
@ArmaanAru This is a really impressive profile, nice job ArmaanAru! I have no idea how applications are evaluated, but everything so far looks great, and I’d just make sure to be authentically yourself in your essays. Good luck!