<p>Hypothetically, let's say my GPA and SAT I scores were high enough for a particular school that requires SAT II scores. Would my Chem SAT of 710 and Math SAT II of 740 be hurtful? </p>
<p>Personally, since I've been berated for not getting 800s and since I'm Asian, I think I'll be rejected. Be sure to tell me that if you think it's true. Don't worry, you can be as mean as you want, it's the Internet. </p>
<p>Well, I'll probably be rejected from all my schools anyways, even my safeties because I've been told my essays "are crap. Why would you show anyone this crap?" </p>
<p>... And well, my SAT I score (2280 SS, 2220 1S) is not high enough for an Asian, and neither is my GPA (3.48). </p>
<p>I know I'm not going to an Ivy. Of course, I have one school in the top 10 from US News, but I don't know why I'm wasting my time with it. The highest I'm aiming for is around 32 in US News, but even that's a dream.</p>
<p>First, relax!
Stop comparing yourself to everyone else and feeling like you’re a disappointment with those scores because you are Asian. You seem to only be able to see everything as negative, and I think you need to change your perspective a little bit and stop being so down on yourself.</p>
<p>Second, stop looking at the rankings!
In my opinion these should be, at the highest, a secondary factor. You need to find universities that are a good fit for you, academically and socially; this is not something you can tell from a ranking. You also have to consider whether the university is strong in what you particularly want to study, and whether it would be affordable.</p>
<p>Scores >700 are still very good scores. Stop beating yourself up for it. It is not going to do you any good. The same with your SATI score; 2220 or 2280 is a great score. A GPA of 3.48 is not necessarily Ivy League range, but if you’ve taken a rigorous courseload, this can still get you into a lot of great universities.
For your essays, is that a quote from someone, or is that just how you personally feel about them? (To some extent, everyone’s college essays boil down to crappy BS, in retrospect.) If you don’t feel good about your essays, take them to an English teacher. I’m sure they’d be more than willing to help you refine them, or come up with ideas for new ones if you really do hate what you have now.</p>
<p>Look at the colleges you’re considering and figure out WHY you are looking at them. You seem to be very rankings-focused. Try to take away the rankings and look at the schools again. Which ones really appeal to YOU the most, vs. the ones that you feel like you “should” go to because of their ranking and/or your ethnicity?</p>
<p>If your self-pity and negative attitude come across in your essays or interviews that will be far more hurtful to your applications than your SAT II scores.</p>
<p>to be frank, if you graduated from the mere 32nd school, I’ll bet you a million dollars that your experience would be indistinguishable from a graduate from a top 10 school. Those rankings plus a dollar will get you a sweet tea at McDonalds.</p>
<p>I know you’ve drunk the USNWR report Kool-Aid. Your parents haven’t helped. Let me tell you as a fellow Asian and as a HYP graduate that it’s all worthless nonsense. I hope you realize it soon as well – otherwise, it’ll lock you into be a terribly stressed and boring person. You deserve better than that.</p>
<p>It may have seemed like it from what I posted, but to clarify, my top choices aren’t Ivies and such. They were when I didn’t know anything about those schools, but after seeing blog posts for support systems such as “OMG-I’m-a-pre-med-student-got-my-first-B-ever-help-me-now” at those schools, I really don’t want to go. I threw around some rankings just to give some idea of what schools I’m looking at (so around 30-50 are some of my targets/not as big reaches based on data from my school)</p>
<p>My parents, my mom especially, tell me that unless I get significant money from schools they don’t know about (basically outside top 20) I should go to community college. At one point, the price ceiling was 30k, which I would be able to have anywhere that meets full financial aid. And it is my mom who said that about my essays, but I got help from teachers and stuff. She just calls those people stupid. </p>
<p>Yes, I realize I was wallowing. Usually I try to write my essays away from home so that I’m more efficient as well as less pessimistic sounding.</p>
<p>I’m just super stressed out right now, because I’m expected to rewrite college essays at the expense of two tests, which I’m expected to ace but I’m not because essays take a much longer time than 5 minutes per essay (what’s expected of me). I can’t really up and say that I have two tests, because I’ll be hounded and probably insulted and yelled at for my scores later on. Besides, the counterargument would be that I have two free periods, and am not doing any of my extracurriculars as intensely so I should have plenty of time to do both. But since I’m not allowed to stay after school very long, I have to go home. When I get home, i get lectured/yelled at for these things, and then I have to calm myself down, so everything takes much more time than perhaps other people. Ugh, I’ve realized I’ve done it again, sigh. </p>
<p>Is it bad that I don’t even have a dream school anymore?</p>
<p>“Is it bad that I don’t even have a dream school anymore?”</p>
<p>Actually, it is. </p>
<p>It sounds like your dreams need some inspiration. You’ve been worn down by everyone’s expectations so much you’re not even listening to your own inner compass to tell you where to go.</p>
<p>I’d recommend reading a few of the more focused college guides to get a feel for what’s out there. Namely: Colleges That Change Lives, Hidden Ivies, and Cool Colleges. I’ll be surprised if you can finish all three of those without having a few new dream schools.</p>
<p>Some of them might even impress Mom & Dad enough for them to pay for it. For example, did you know that New College of Florida produces more Fulbright Scholars per capita than Harvard or Yale?</p>
<p>Okay. None of the local libraries carry the book - any suggestions? </p>
<p>At this point, I have some schools I’d like to go to: University of Rochester, WPI, Case Western, Georgia Tech, Smith, and UPitt. I met with my GC, and she said those schools are matches, except UPitt is a safety for students from my school.</p>
<p>You can get that book on iBooks or Kindle. Both have desktop apps if you don’t have a tablet to read on.</p>
<p>I saw from one of your other threads you are interested in Neuroscience/Cognitive Science. Have you looked at Macalester or Scripps? Those seem like potential good fits for you.</p>
<p>Okay, I’ll look into that if I get the chance. </p>
<p>I’ve looked at Macalester and Scripps, to a lesser extent. </p>
<p>I had the chance to go visit Macalester while I was at a summer program nearby, but wasn’t interested by it. However, the brochure they sent me about their neuroscience program was interesting. May look into it again. </p>
<p>I don’t know much about Scripps, except that it is in the Claremont Consortium, it’s a women’s college, and that the architecture is nice.</p>