<p>I'm currently a sophmore in high school, and I'm curious about how exactly the admissions process works, specifically:</p>
<p>1) How do recommendations work? Does the person writing the recommendation write one for all of the colleges you apply to?</p>
<p>2) Do most colleges(on the upper end of the scale) have multiple early-action, or do they restrict you to applying to just 1 college for early action?</p>
<p>3) How many colleges do most people apply to? Generally speaking, would it be unusal to apply to 10 different colleges?</p>
<p>4) What would you guys consider the cutoff GPA before it became pointless to apply to any ivies?</p>
<p>5) Do you write one essay and send it out to all of the colleges you apply to, or does each college have its own prompt?</p>
<p>6) Do most colleges require the ACT, or can the SAT substitute for it? Also, how many SAT II's does the average student take?</p>
<p>7) If my GPA is sort of low as a frosh/soph(right now it's hovering around a 3.7 weighted), will it help to show progression? Will ivies consider me if they see me moving from B-'s to streight A's?</p>
<p>8) Will going to Cornell's summer college program help me assuming that I excel in the program?</p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to respond,
Mike</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Exact procedures will vary by high school. Generally, you ask a teacher to write your recommendation for x, y, and z universities. They will generally write a "generic" recommendation that can be sent to each.</p></li>
<li><p>This is tricky. If you apply early decision, you cannot apply anywhere else early decision and acceptances are binding. If you apply early action, you can apply to other colleges early action and acceptances are non-binding. To make things strange, some colleges (Yale) are Single Choice Early Action, which means you cannot apply elsewhere early action, but acceptances are non-binding.</p></li>
<li><p>This is variable. Some will apply to only one, and I've seen one or two here apply to 40 (but they were internationals looking for full-rides). My daughter applied to 9 (2 safety, 4 match, 3 reach).</p></li>
<li><p>I have no idea, but if you are not in the top 5% of your class, you will have to have an amazing "hook" to catch their attention.</p></li>
<li><p>If you use the Common Application, you can just use the same essay. However, many colleges that use the Common App also have supplements which could require additional essays. </p></li>
<li><p>Be sure to check the SPECIFIC requirements of each college in which you are interested as this can vary quite a bit. Some college require no SAT2s, some require 3 and are particular about which ones to take.</p></li>
<li><p>It is always better to show an improving trend in grades than the other way. </p></li>
<li><p>Generally, attending a college's summer program gives you no advantage in the admissions process for that college.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Be sure to look beyond the Ivies for college choices - there are many excellent educational opportunities available. While my daughter had the stats to be considered by Ivies, she was not interested in them at all because she preferred liberal arts colleges.</p>
<p>Wow! What a lot of questions! I will do my best to respond.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>One person (usually 2 actually, because most top colleges require 2 recs) typically writes all your recommendations. Usually this just means sending copies of the same letter to multiple schools.</p></li>
<li><p>Only a very few colleges restrict EA. I think only ivies do this, although I am not positive.</p></li>
<li><p>The AVERAGE American high-school student applies to only 1 or 2 colleges. However, at the upper end of the spectrum where I suspect you are looking, it is not a bit uncommon to apply to many more schools. Personally, I applied to 17 colleges and I found this number to be very manageable due to the ease of the common application. Also, many colleges waive application fees for apps submitted online.</p></li>
<li><p>There is no GPA cutoff for Ivy League schools. Many things besides GPA (like ECs, test scores, URM status, geographic diversity, etc.) go into admissions decisions. If you want to go Ivy, you might as well try. Never count on anything at this level, but you just might find yourself pleasantly surprised. </p></li>
<li><p>This depends on the college. However, the main essay is usually adaptable to fit the requirements of most colleges.</p></li>
<li><p>The SAT and ACT are completely interchangeable tests. You will probably want to take 2 or 3 SAT IIs to be eligible for admission to the most elite colleges.</p></li>
<li><p>An upward trend is a good sign.</p></li>
<li><p>I dont have a very definitive answer for this one. It might, but I wouldnt count on it.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Sorry for the cross post.</p>