i have a few basic questions about college admissions

Applying to College
1

basic info:
im a rising senior who wants to do a bs/md. Also i have a 2150 sat (but plan to take the Act in fall)

I just have a few questions on topics i dont understand…
What is EA/ED? i see people posting it here but I have no idea how it works.

what is the Commonapp? Is it for every college or just for UC’s?

what are sat subject tests for? i kinda took them just cuz everyone else was taking them and i got a 670 and 610. will they negatively affect me?

how did you decide what to write your essay on?

I am taking a summer calc a/b and i got a b in the first semester. will this be really bad as I already have only a 3.7 gpa?

thank you for your help…im kinda confused rn

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also what i class rank and how do i figure mine out?

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  1. Early Decision (ED) and Early Action (EA) have earlier deadlines than Regular Decision (RD). You should only apply ED if you are SURE you will go to that college if accepted, because it is binding (you have to go there if you get in). EA is not binding. You can be accepted, rejected, or deferred in the early round. Deferred means they keep your app to compare to the Regular Decision applicants. Certain colleges may have EA, ED, or neither. Check on their websites.
  2. The Common App is an app that you fill out once. It can then be sent to any college that participates in the Common App. (Google for a list? I thought UCs weren't on it, but I might be wrong.) It involves one essay to be sent to all your schools, but each school may have additional supplements.
  3. Many selective schools require subject tests for admission; for other schools, they just demonstrate mastery of the subject. Check your schools to see if they want/require subject tests. (Treat "recommended" as "required.")
  4. Have you seen any prompts? The Common App essay prompts for this year (2015-16) can be found online. Do not start filling out the Common App yet, though. All current accounts will be deleted later in July to make room for this upcoming year's applicants when the app "goes live" on August 1st.
  5. Depends on what you consider "really bad"! 3.7 is just fine for many schools. It may help if you tell us what schools you're considering.
  6. Class rank is determined by how your GPA compares to other rising seniors at your school. Ask the school.
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Just to add to the good advice @bodangles gave:

EA and ED varies depending on school. Sometimes, EA/ED may entail higher acceptance rates (depends on school). If you are really committed to a school and they have ED, that would be the best choice; usually ED has a higher acceptance rate because it is binding and shows IMO the highest amount of demonstrated interest.

When you sign up for the CommonApp, you will see what colleges take it (mostly every college out there except MIT and a few others). On there, you can submit your essay, various individual college supplements, activities, and stats for SAT, GPA, rank etc.

SAT subject tests may be mandatory depending on what school you’re applying or what part of the school you’re applying to. For example, Cornell Engineering requires an SAT II in Math and Science but some of its other colleges within the campus don’t. 670 and 610 are not terrible scores, depending on the percentile. I think, for ivies, a 700+ is the bare minimum.

I picked a topic easy to write for me (the guitar). I was going for other topics (getting rejected from my 1st choice high school, origami etc) but I couldn’t write it without it sounding too dramatic (and failed to relate it to myself and make it integral to my persona). With music I was able to talk about progression and parallel certain musical ideas to my own life.

Not really bad. Don’t sweat it. My friend failed his Calc BC midterm (got like a 40) and had 80s in the class and got into Brown soooooo… yeah lol.

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thx so much @DaedricSaiyan and @bodangles for your help!!! this whole college thing can be pretty confusing :)>-