<p>Hey guys, so it's been nearly a year or two since I've posted on CC. I look back now and a wave of nostalgia hits me as I look back at all the high schoolers going through the same process I did. I'm a rising sophomore at Northwestern University so I have about a month left until school starts so I thought I should post something.</p>
<p>These are several truths and insights I would like to share with you about the college admissions process. (NOTE TO ADMINS: please do not move this to another subsection, I want everyone to be able to see this, and I think it has some broad applications to college admissions)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You're not as good as you think. (or as bad).
If you look at the class of 2010 (my year), 1.59 million seniors took the SAT. If you scored a "meager" 700 on each section, that leaves you around the 95th percentile for each. Which leaves around 80,000 kids who have better scores than you. Now I know that stats are not everything but this gives you an idea of how competitive it has become and why the admissions rates are getting lower every year. We are the baby-boomer's kids. Combined with the prevalence of online applications, we have flooded the system with talented applicants and competitiveness has consequently gone up. Often many of our egos are boosted by stupid people around us in high school or in our area but trust me, many people are out there and are just like you. College Confidential gives you just a fraction/sampling of the talented kids out there. </p></li>
<li><p>Standardized scores matter.
For some reason, maybe to make ourselves feel better, CC has developed a "scores are not everything" culture. While this maybe true and an applicant definitely should be well rounded, standardized scores are VERY important. Think of it: if each person has different opportunities presented to him/her at a school, what is one way colleges can compare students across the US? Standardized tests. It will NOT separate you from others but will put in the conversation for colleges. The worst part is when colleges release stats on the percentiles of students admitted and their scores; these statistics do not separate URMs, athletes, 1st-gens, legacies, etc. so therefore most of the time, they are fairly skewed. </p></li>
<li><p>Affirmative Action exists. But it isn't bad.
Let me start off by saying this: race does matter. It will affect your admission's chances. We all know what "URM" and "ORM" represent, and in high school (especially after decisions), I had developed quite a disdain for the affirmative action policies practiced by the top schools. After a year of college, I realize the good that it does. My freshman year, living across from me was an african american from the south side of chicago. He didn't have any of the test prep I had or college advice so therefore his scores and overall app were worse than mine. Yet, he is an engineer and far smarter than I am. I know this is extremely anecdotal but the purpose of affirmative action is noble. It's unfortunate that asians like me seemed to get jobbed by it while URM's with good resources can take advantage of it (as did happen in my high school), but that's just part of the system. </p></li>
<li><p>Essays don't matter
Okay, yes they do. But in regards to the specific content? no. All of us can write magnificently witty and insightful essays as we have all done AP english and AP lit scoring 4s and 5s. It won't differentiate you from anyone. It will only corroborate an already strong app. So don't fret too much about the content of your essays. Just make sure you get your point across in a concise and clear way. This is obviously common sense. </p></li>
<li><p>"Jack of all trades, master of none" is really a curse.
Unless you are super star and have national/state recognition in multiple competitions (I know some people who are like this but they are few and far between), being pretty good at everything really does damage your chances. First of all, refer to no. 1 advice I gave. Second, top colleges build classes of people. In other words, they want the best in various fields. You really need to present yourself like in a job application, think of "what can you bring to the table" and emphasize that in your application. Do not flood your presentation with extra information thinking it's going to help you get in. The extracurricular activity section is probably one of the most important sections in the Common App. LEAVING THINGS OUT IS OKAY. This was probably my biggest downfall and my best piece of advice. I showed myself as a master of none and just sort of good at everything and most colleges saw no value in it. Be careful of this. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>If any of you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I'll post anything I may have forgotten to include in this post.</p>