How do I handle this?

Applying to College
21

I appreciate your comments.

In response to Millie, I appreciate the constructive criticism but I must respectfully retort.

Just because some words I use may be anomalous doesn’t mean I’m attempting to impress people with flowery language, per se. I am a fast typer, I type that which is on my mind. I’m not going to narrow my vocabulary because some people may perceive it as an attempt to sound intelligent. I like to speak with coherence, I use words I am sure the common person can understand.

If you want someone who superfluously extended his vocabulary, look no further than the great William F Buckley Jr (whom I consider an inspiration in some senses)

As far as Mercer goes, as long as my GPA exceeds a 3.25 I have a chance of gaining admission. Should I not get admitted, I have a few other colleges in mind that Il try. But at the moment I am being cautiously optimistic about my prospects.

22

It is what it is. If people can’t follow or find the logic, the message is lost.

And a clear, concise message is what tippy tops want. Clear thinking, not speed or a desire to say everything that crosses their mind. Give a hoot about your readers. Be wise enough to pare down the stream of thought.

One value in admissions is a kid’s ability to self-edit.

23

Goodness.

You’re now assuming that a majority of people aren’t able to comprehend slightly uncommonly used words? I don’t necessarily think low of my reader at all. The key to writing is indeed communication, clear communication at that. I believe my message, when conveyed with my typical style of writing (that you’ve beared witness to on this thread) is clear enough. If you think not, then I’d appreciate your thoughts on what I could do to improve it.

24

Self-edit. There’s a thing called "pride of authorship " in which some refuse to edit, thinking every word or thought is important because they want to say it. That’s not clarity. It’s indulgence.

Do you know what Mercer looks for? It’s not about a minimum gpa and some career aspirations.

Do you know if you can afford it? Have you run the NPC?

25

Affording Mercer is going to be the biggest hurdle for me, moreso than getting in.

Which may be a decisive factor in my going or not.

26

And yes, I know what they expect of their students and that is absolutely why I want to study there.

27

OP: I want to begin by saying I am not attacking you. I genuinely want to help.

You need to understand that when somebody says If you want someone who superfluously extended his vocabulary, look no further than the great William F Buckley Jr, it is an instant turn off. I’m saying this only because it is absolutely critical that you do not write like this in college essays. Yes, you should be mature and fluent in your essays but the way you write right now leaves a mental image of a kid wearing his father’s suit with the sleeves 4 inches too long. Until you become KingJohnRocks Attorney at Law, very very few people speak or write this way.

I respect your vast vocabulary very much but oftentimes, you need to meet your audience more than half-way. This has nothing whatsoever to do with thinking lowly of readers. The very last thing you want, especially when applying to a college that you are only cautiously optimistic about, is for any small thing to rub adcoms the wrong way because they can’t figure out what you’re trying to say or why you would say it the way you did.

And please understand that just because 8.9% of students at Mercer have a GPA around a 3.25 doesn’t mean you are a part of that. Those students are athletes, extraordinary leaders, or otherwise have strong hooks. I am positive even Harvard has students with a 3.25 high school GPA. Technically you have a chance there with a 3.25 too. Realistically, you don’t.

28

I understand completely.
But just one note, 27%+ of those admitted, as was pointed out earlier, are within my range. Are they also athletes, people with strong connections and so on?

29

Actually, practicing law will require one to write precisely.

Mercer: “We are looking for students who have a proven record of academic accomplishment…” That’s just the first part.

No, we aren’t trying to discourage. We’re encouraging a realistic evaluation and a willingness to become what they (whatever college) wants and needs to see, in order to admit. This is more than what an individual applicant “wants” or dreams of. We’d like to see you be flexible in your thinking/learn from input. That’s an important attribute to most colleges.

30

OP=KingJohnRocks (for those who are new to the thread)

There are three aspected to a giving someone a constructive criticism.

  1. Being honest with what problems need to be addressed…that’s something this audience is very good at, perhaps even too good at, if you understand what I am saying
  2. You have to offer a solution to the problem. A constructive solution that isn’t a “Don’t”, but rather a “Do” (Don’t apply there vs do study for the ACT so you can apply there)
  3. You have to bring a positive element to it. You want to leave your reader feeling motivated to do better rather than completely demoralized.

While sometime a harsher tone could be useful if the intended audience is completely out of touch with reality, OP has repeatedly stated that is aware of his chances for Ivy’s, and he is only using them as a basis for what he wants out of a college, such as Mercer.

Regarding the word choice that many of you pointed out, I honestly believe that this is simply just how OP talks and communicates. I grew up with a boy who also spoke in a similar pattern as OP, and as such, I am aware that there are people who simply tend to speak like this. My guess is that OP simply read a lot of books rather than watch television, and that is the reason why he tends to lean toward less standard words, such as those that one find in books written before 1950ish. (I would really like if OP would let me know if I’m right or not, this really is just a guess)

While this quickly comes off as a weakness to many here, I do think that, if done skillfully enough, it can be turned into a strength. Quite frankly, there simply are not many students in high school who speak like this. In a way, it is unique and different, and it is common knowledge that schools want to fill their classrooms with a diverse crowd. While I do worry that it may come off as unnatural in a college essay, I believe that if OP were to schedule a campus interview, then they would become more aware of likelihood that this is simply his pattern of speech.

@KingJohnRocks By the way, you mentioned me earlier and referred to me as a he. I’m a she. :slight_smile:

31

Rabbit, many of us value individualism. But there is a large measure of conformity required to be admitted. It’s simply not enough to “want” something. That’s not an equation.

Any college that wants and expects thinking skills, mature self-perspective, the ability to take input, etc, (and we started with H and P,) will want to see that evidenced. Not protests that, “This us how I am, love it.” Not excuses.

32

If it’s a physician certified l/d supported by your GC, adcoms will certainly take into consideration when evaluating your application (otherwise they’d be violating the ADA). They could consider you in a pool with other LD applicants as well.

It can also extend into college in terms of untimed tests, tutoring, extra support in class. Professors would also have to engage but I think most would.

Given that, you may still want to expand your search beyond the ivies, there are other schools that are also very intellectual and and can give you a foundation in activism, public/social policy etc. UChicago, Georgetown, Tufts, LACs - of course those are not easy to get but research some that could be matches.

33

Make no mistake, this is not a “chance me” thread. I don’t think those kind of threads are conducive to a healthy mindset. As someone else noted, I’m aware that my chances of gaining admission into an Ivy are virtually non existent.

Again, I appreciate the responses I’ve garnered from this thread.

In response to the TV thing, i do tend to read more (whether it be research-style articles online or hardcover books) than I watch TV, but I do still watch television (news, occasional sitcom, I mean who doesn’t like Seinfeld? Heh) on occasion. I push myself to read something everyday, whether it be the paper, an article or what have you.

34

95% of their applicants won’t get into Harvard either. Somehow they still manage to survive and excel.

High achievers will achieve wherever they are. If you go to a state university, you can join the honors college, take advanced classes, do research with a professor, and/or just plain do the best out of your peers. If everywhere but Harvard is so ~unintellectual~, it should be easy to get a 4.0. Strive to do that and take advantage of the many opportunities that will be offered to you.

I wanted to get into Penn. Got waitlisted. Crushing at the time but completely irrelevant almost four years later. I’ve got a great GPA, scholarships from my honors college, research, ECs I like, and an internship. I’m not worse off because I didn’t get into an Ivy League.

35

Listen, the best advice I can give you about planning to be a public interest lawyer is this - don’t go into debt for undergrad or law school. Go to the cheapest undergrad you can go to, study hard for the LSAT, go to the best law school you can go to with scholarships. BELIEVE me the reason most lawyers who wanted to go into public interest law don’t do it is because of the six-figure debt they have to pay off!

36

@KingJohnRocks

In a word, yes, you are way over-reacting. The “Ivies” are a sports league. That’s it. Unless something about D1 athletics without scholarships is important to you, put the “Ivies” out of your head.

Please, please, please do this. Do intelligent, thoughtful research and reflection on what kind of college experience you want (“Ivies” range from “nearly-a-rural-LAC Dartmouth” to “to nearly a top-tier mid-state State U Cornell” to "another very good, competitive urban U Penn, Columbia or Harvard.)

1st thing to do is spend some time thinking about what KIND of educational experience you want:
What part of the US, what kind of environment, size, “vibe?” Religious? Are research opportunities important? Study abroad? Social life?
Big, bustling U with tons of opportunities at the school and in the community for culturual activies? (So maybe a big, big city research U like NYU, Columbia, Penn, Drexel, GW, Harvard, Northeastern, USC, Emory, UChicago)
or maybe a Smaller big-city school where you get the urban environment but a bit more intimate feel? (USF, LMU, USD, Occidental, etc. etc. etc.)
or maybe a bigger rural/small town school - (Cornell, GSU, Elon, James Madison, etc. etc. etc.)
or one of the many excellent small rural/small town/suburban LACs or small research (from Bates to Pomona, Reed to Berea etc.)

Once you narrow to some schools speak with whoever will be helping you pay for college. Run some net price calculators with them. Add in a few thousand in “extras” you don’t even know you need. Then talk about a) Can you afford some of the schools you looked at. b) Are they worth it?

If you are planning/hoping to go to law school or other post-grad you may need a lot more money for education down the line as well. In most cases a reasonably prices state school will be your best undergraduate option, unless you get a lot of merit aid, have a lot of resources, or get a lot of fin aid.

Once you have a list of what kind of school you want and what you can afford, make your list to apply to. Sure, include an Ivy if it fits your criteria, but if not going to an Ivy were some sort of hinderance to success, all but about 1% of the students graduating any give year would be SOL.

I’ll end with a stock story about a friend’s kid. They were a very good student, ambitious, hardworking, good grades, 80+ standardized test. They applied a few years ago, when the application environment was as hard as it had been, and did not get into the “elite” schools they had hoped to be able to say they got into (because, honestly, for a 17 year old who has never even been to college, you are really applying to a sweat shirt.) The ended up attending GWU with really good merit aid. Their first day at GW I wrote to see how it had been going (since I had encouraged them to take the $$ as the student wanted to be a lawyer with interest in politics it was a great fit.) The email I got back described their first day on campus, where the guest speaker in the intro Pol Sci course was SOTUS Justice O’Connor and their art history course took a tour of the national mall… They have since graduated happily and relatively debt free and are off to law school.

Good luck. You’ll find a great school if you do the search for YOU not for the sweat shirt.

37

Unfortunately we’re forgetting the fact that the OP has an ACT score of 23 and a decent but not stellar GPA. Unless he is able to improve his ACT or SAT scores by the time he submits his college application, all this talk of top tier colleges is moot. The focus should be on improving the grades and ACT or SAT, then choosing the school that he will have a decent chance getting in. The OP knows as well as everyone else that with his current academic stats, he will not get into the top tier school, let alone any Ivy’s.

38

Posts #34 and #35 are on target, OP. It’s great that you have aspirations! You are motivated and ambitious. Some good feedback has already been given about not coming off as superior to adults in school, etc…and setting realistic expectations. Still, I always love to hear of an idealistic 17 year old (and I enjoy an entertaining writer, as well :slight_smile: ) I hope you will hang in there and keepc oming back to let us know how it’s going.

Law school may or may not be your way to make a contribution in the world of non-profits – there may be other ways to do that (accounting, grant writing, human resources, direct service, research, etc) that you realize later on are better suited. But for now, if that is the game plan, by all means keep debt low. Go to the school that gives you the best financial aid option, and once there, make the most of all the opportunities available.

Best wishes for you search and your college years.

39

I would stay as far away from CC as possible. People on here will rip anyone to shreds. Just try your hardest in school and hope for the best come march. Best of luck, and remember that the “ivy league” title is pointless. Stanford/MIT (not ivies) are better than Cornell/Brown (ivies) by any reasonable metric. Don’t focus on titles - focus on quality instead.

40

^…and the right fit. My daughter was accepted into three Ivies and decided to go to UChicago. She LOVES it!