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<p>Yeah, I compose classical music (most similar to romantic era) but rarely notate it.</p>
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<p>Ah… the prestige factor comes into play once again. 
I’m sure it’s influenced everyone’s decisions to apply, only to differing extents depending on the individual. </p>
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<p>Also very cool. Being a fellow piano player, I’ve always been under the impression that Romantic-era music is the most difficult and technically challenging, so props to you for being able to compose in that style!</p>
<p>silverturtle, I’m jealous! :)</p>
<p>Oh My GOD. Silverturtle is a junior and has 5x the number of posts that I do. Wow. I don’t deserve me acceptances. Take them! I bow to you!</p>
<p>^ You certainly deserve your acceptances. You have been highly dedicated and, in turn, successful.</p>
<p>Hahaha, thank you. I know I deserve them. Though as the limit of time spent on CC reaches infinity, the function of college acceptances also reaches infinity.</p>
<p>If you’re not a math person, that means that I’m sure you will be just as successful, if not more successful next year!</p>
<p>Where are you applying? Obviously Harvard.</p>
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<p>I haven’t solidifed my list yet, but as of now: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, UChicago, University of Illinois, and maybe Columbia and Brown. However, I need to find some more moderate choices with respect to selectivity.</p>
<p>And, if I may ask, what is driving your decision to prefer Princeton over its peer schools?</p>
<p>I’m applying, but I have doubts if I’ll get in anywhere decent no matter what I do. I have competition from people who have many more resources. I’ll try anyway. I’m also planning on applying to Columbia, Yale, UPenn, University of MD, UVA, and Johns Hopkins. I might apply to some more, but I’m not sure. All I can do is write an awesome essay and raise my SAT score past 2300…</p>
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<p>Oh very nice. Stanford rejected me, so I won’t be able to give you advice, but if you want advice for any other school, PM me! Not that you need it. :)</p>
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<p>Get ready for a long-winded explanation. Let me preface this by saying that the college you choose to matriculate at is a very personal decision, and I am by no means accusing any college of not being “good enough.” I have very specific things that I look for in a college. So all these schools are great, even though I will say some negative things. So I’ll just go through your list. </p>
<p>Harvard - I don’t really know how I got in. And this is not something I say out of humility. I literally told my interviewer that I would not matriculate at Harvard if given the opportunity, unless I had no other options or I changed my mind between the time of the interview and April/May. Anyway, I feel like too many people at Harvard go to Harvard just because it’s “Harvard” and I didn’t want to surround myself with those people. As in the people who define themselves by which college they go to. I mean, they all deserve their acceptances, but it’s kind of annoying to be reminding of it everyday. In addition, Harvard’s math program isn’t as good as Cal Tech, and it’s medical program is in all honesty very weak in comparison to Johns Hopkins’. The dorms are pretty unattractive because the college is trying to preserve the image of a rustic, aged Harvard. I feel like it relies a lot on its prestige to draw in students and doesn’t focus enough on the teaching aspect.</p>
<p>Yale - I actually love Yale, so I can’t really find a fault in it or a specific reason other than it didn’t FEEL right. I could easily be happy there, but out of my choices, it just didn’t fit me the best. A lot of the people there are very artistic, and I can’t tell the difference between modern art and older art (exaggeration, but you get the point). So, yeah, it just didn’t FEEL right.</p>
<p>Princeton - Hahaha, I love it. Best undergraduate experience and education, most money spent per capita on the students, the “orange bubble,” the students, the Quidditch club, the proximity to everything that’s important. The research opportunities there, and the lack of the “It’s Harvard” feel.</p>
<p>Stanford - Rejected me. So yeah.</p>
<p>MIT - Way way way too focused on math/science/engineering. I mean, I know it has other majors, but it’s definitely not a liberal arts college and it’s for people who are definite about their future careers. I don’t really know what I want to do, and I need a liberal arts college. I just couldn’t imagine 4 years of just math/science with very little humanities. I know that MIT has humanities programs, but they are nowhere near as strong as the ones at Princeton.</p>
<p>UChicago - The location turned me off. I know it’s a really good school, but I don’t like Chicago that much, and I don’t like the location of the college specifically. I wouldn’t feel safe there, even though I know it’s just a perception. And I didn’t really feel like the school had school spirit. </p>
<p>UIllinois - I’m from Missouri. Missouri > Illinois. :)</p>
<p>Sorry about that. It was pretty long. I’d be surprised if you read it all. Anyway, you have amazing stats - but having high stats myself, I realize that it really means nothing. So many students have similar scores and accomplishments. If anything, your personality will be what gets you in. You are quite interesting/humble.</p>
<p>Will Harvard be a good fit for students interested in philosophy and humanities subjects? Mm…for the languages I have studied so far:
Indonesian, English, Chinese, and Javanese. Planning to learn French in summer.</p>
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<p>Of course! Harvard (as well as many of the other Ivies) has excellent programs in the humanities; in fact, I’d argue that its humanities programs in general are stronger than, say, its programs in engineering (neighboring MIT would be a great school for that). That’s one of the main reasons why I’m choosing to send in an app, even though I know I have little to no chance at an acceptance :P</p>
<p>I’m definitely gonna apply. I feel like coming home on a day in early April (or checking your email) and realizing that there is a packet, not a painfully thin letter there is the vindication of all of the work I have done in high school. Te only problem is, there are thousands of qualified applicants and only 2000 admits. I have yet to visit, but from what I’ve heard it’s awesome (I’m pretty sure I want a city school). Anyway, I’ll probably also be applying to YPSM, I just have yet to visit all of them and decide which one is #1 for me. Good luck to all!</p>
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<p>I just noticed this post. ForHarvard, I’d recommend that you throw at least a match school or two up there, since Ivy admissions can be so unpredictable despite your academic and extracurricular qualifications. I remember reading a thread posted by a senior after the 2009 admissions season; he was distraught after applying to all 8 Ivies and getting flat-out rejected by all. I cannot possibly imagine how depressed he must have been, and I’m sure he certainly wouldn’t want to have you suffer through the same thing.</p>
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<p>Visiting college campuses is always a wise choice. Then again, if you’re one of those people who knows exactly what they want to do, what they want to major in, and what they want from their lives (such as myself), narrowing down the list gets a lot easier. :)</p>
<p>@ForHarvard - I agree with fledgling. The application process will become only more competitive next year. My saludatorian who has a 4.7W/4.0UW, 2300, 34, research, track state, state youth orchestra, and tons of other awards got rejected by HYPS. All of them. You should have a safety. :)</p>
<p>@silverturtle</p>
<p>URM and 2400 SAT and Rank 1</p>
<p>omg lol</p>
<p>You are going to get in.</p>
<p>meh I’ll probably apply, but I’m definitely not going to be accepted 
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<p>ah well - it’s all good :]</p>
<p>Sorry to interrupt the “flow of the conversation,” but I just found out that NO ONE from my school got accepted to HYPSM this year… Our valedictorian with GREAT stats got waitlisted at most of the HYPSM schools and most likely attend UCB or UCLA… Yeah, way to crush the dreams and fantasies of a Harvard 2015 Hopeful :'[</p>
<p>Awww…come on guys, we haven’t even applied yet, and we already lost hope??</p>
<p>^ The acceptance rates leave very little to be desired in the first place… :P</p>