We do have money saved up. Ill be working in the summer(5 hours per day) and when school starts ill work in the weekends.
Cybersecurity is, unfortunately, a very stable profession and I donāt see it being less important in the future 
. Thereās no shortage of tasks for people with technology skills, especially of the cybersecurity kind, especially in NoVaā¦ probably more than developers.
Check whether your school is a Precalc-> AB-> BC school, or whether itās a Precalc-> AB OR BC.
What math class will you take after BC?
Youād be taking too many science classes junior year.
Youāre supposed to have one each of English, History/Social Science, Science, Foreign Language, and Math, then 1-2 classes of your choice.
Can you list what classes youāre taking now, and what you plan on taking for the next two years, using a progression per subject:
English:
History/Social Science:
Science:
Math:
Foreign Language:
Personal Choices:
However, good preparation for work in the field would include a strong computer science background, plus math through abstract algebra and number theory if one wants to go into cryptography.
This year
English: English Honors
History/Social Science: US History
Science: Physics
Math: Precalc
Foreign Language: n/a
Personal Choices: AP stats, ap econ, pltw intro to engineering
Next year:
English: DE English
History/Social Science: Just the basic one
Science: ap environmental
Math: ap calc bc
Foreign Language: n/a
Personal Choices: ap comp sci, app development, cybersecurity.
Ah, I had one too many.
Also, my school is a precalc to ab OR bc.
Also, no foreign language because Iāve done 3 years already.
Sadly both my mom and dad think that cybersecurity is off less importance even though I have an extreme interest in that field, more than being a developer. Iāve tried convincing them but they didnāt listen so I just agreed with them.
Your schedule makes sense for someone interested in CS and Cybersecurity.
Obviously keep AP Comp Sci then,
The issue is that CS is much harder to get into than Cybersecurity, in part because that field is newer and is not as āobviousā thus not as āobviously pickedā by applicants, so thereās less competition.
You donāt have to convince your parents, since you wonāt declare your major till junior year.
You can just explain that you must be pragmatic:
Apply for Cybersecurity, explaining itāll get your foot in the door and the 1st year is similar, then youāll see. This strategy doesnāt work everywhere, but it works at UMW, CNU, etc. which allow switching majors.
(You can apply for CS at Longwood, Radford, etc, no problem, but most colleges thatād be matches for another major become reaches due to CS).
I may have an extreme interest in cyber but Iāve already decided that I want to do cs. Iāll be doing certifications in both fields and also management. Iām going to do some during this summer. Honestly, I really want to go to George Mason because itās a 30-minute drive from home and Iām its already decided that Iām going to be living with my parents.
But at this point, I donāt know if ill get accepted there. Do you think that itāll be easier to be selected if I make an app that benefits the community? Also, Iām thinking of publishing a book, would that help?
Last question, when I write my essays should I talk about what I went through? (depression and suicidalness)
Note: Iām not doing these things to be selected, just wanted to know if itāll make a difference.
The issue is that Iām not sure you can be admitted for CS. Probably 50-50. Commuting to Mason is fine but try to live your first year on campus to acquire skills such as autonomy, self reliance, and independence, to get involved more easily, and to use the collegeās resources.
Coding an app will help, writing a book likely wonāt.
Speaking about suicide is a red flag that would likely make a reach due to CS become even reachier. You can mention experiencing depression as long as the focus is on overcoming it and what it taught you, if anything. If you cannot write about overcoming it then donāt speak about it in the essay and just mention briefly in āadditional conmentsā, that you were diagnosed with an illness in the 9th but have now successfullyrecovered, one line. Your essay is supposed to make the reader want you on campus.
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Thank you so much.
Also should I talk aboutā¦
- Do you think I can talk about how I was used by my classmates and severely abused by them?
- Made fun of by others for my weight that I stopped eating completely and developed a blood disorder?
- Being backstabbed by others countless times?
- Self-harm and depression?
- Then the things I learned from those incidents?
None of those are good essay topics. If you have had an illness or other issues that may have affected your grades in the past, your GC might mention that in the GC recommendation. For your essay, you should focus on conveying what sort of person you are and what you would bring to the school. It strikes me, for example, that there might be an essay topic underlying your interest in cybersecurity. What prompted that, what is it about cybersecurity that captures your interest and curiousity, etc. Youād have to think how to frame it since youāll be applying CS rather than cybersecurity unless you can change your parentsā mind about that, but maybe there is something there. Regarding the rest, I think you should focus on your grades and your test scores rather than worrying about ECs. Your existing ECs seem fine, and schools will generally focus first on the numbers and then on the rest, so trying to get the numbers up and show a rising curve will be the most helpful thing you can do.
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Check the foreign language requirements at the schools you are applying to. Did you take your third year freshman year? I know my daughterās university requires 2 years and they donāt count middle school language.
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So sorry to hear about how you have been treated. Kudos to you for overcoming. I think you will have a reasonably good chance at George Mason though it wont be a safety or completely assured.
You can mention being severely bullied, which led to an eating disorder and depression, but the level of details in 1-4 is WAY over the top. Your essay is not a confessional nor a place for you to discuss everything horrible that was done to you (if it deeply affected you, as it likely did, you can include it with some detail in the ābrag sheetā for your GC, who will decide to share some of it if they think itās relevant and itāll matter more if it comes from the GC.)
Your essay has to be about who you are and why theyād want you.
So, 1 paragraph about the bullying, Iād totally skip backstabbling and self harm, then the rest about how you got out from the monster within (depression, eating disorder), how it made you fragile but more understanding of z, w, x, and what you learned from this period from your past. Then move on to who you are now, what you do, what you plan to do with your skills and strengths while in college.
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I believe it was a high school language that I did in middle school. It shows on my transcript.
So it should be about how I was bullied(1 paragraph), how that led to depression and the disorder, how that affected how I think and perceive the world, what I learned from these incidents, how I overcame it, and how this affects me now and what I do now?
Thank you.
I donāt think you should talk about depression and probably not too much about the bullying either. I suggest reading Write Your Way In by Rachel Toor. It was suggested to me on another thread and even though I couldnāt get my daughter to read it I thought it was a great resource. It is an easy read so wouldnāt take you very long.
I think it is great you are thinking about this early, you will have lots of time to research schools and work on your essays!
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Thank you so much.
- what level have you reached (foreign language)? Have you taken any foreign language in high school (ESL or world language)?
- how you were bullied, how that led to depresson and disorder should be one paragraph max. You have precious few words available, most of them should be about everything else I listed.
- I took 3 years of Spanish
- At the moment Iām the Student Equity Ambassador for my school(2 people of all the student have that position), can I tie that in with what how I want to help others.
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Hi,
Iām sorry you went through all of this, and I hope youāre doing better. For your essay, one thing that helped me was thinking about what trait I wanted to convey to colleges. Then see what experience(s) you want to share to convey that trait. I agree with everyone else that you donāt want to devote too much of the essay to describing your circumstances- it should really focus on you and your traits.
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