So I just graduated high school a month ago and am attending UCLA in the fall. The college admissions process was the weirdest, most stressful, confusing time of my entire high school experience and I guess I wanna reflect on it (and try to help some upcoming seniors while I can).
This website will drive you insane. If you can, only use it to find out when decisions are coming out because I swear some of these people have some inside info. They were right about most of the dates. But the chance me crap doesn’t help anyone. Most of the responses I got just made me feel worse and were inevitably wrong. This process is a crapshoot. I’ve seen so many people with perfect everythings not get into where they want to go and people with crap scores get in everywhere and vice versa.
If it’s financially possible for you, apply somewhere out of state that can be considered a “safety school.” At least just for the option. So many of my friends ended up at a state school when that’s really not what they wanted because the out of state schools they applied to were reaches. Do your research and figure out what a safety is for you and do it. Having the option is better than not having it. Don’t limit yourself if you don’t have to. I live in Virginia and I’m moving across the country to Los Angeles, California. The opportunities out there compared to the ones here are immeasurable and I wish more people were doing it. Am I going to drown in debt? Probably. Will it be worth it? Probably. Take some risks.
Focus most, if not all, of your energy on your essays. That is what sets you apart. Decide what has happened to you in your life/insights you have that separate you from the crowd. At a certain point, everyone has the same scores, GPA, extracurriculars. What makes that admissions committee remember you is your essays, not your SAT score. Organize all the prompts you have to write into separate documents and brainstorm ideas. Reuse bits and pieces from other essays. Figure out what works and what doesn’t. Find your voice and make sure it comes through in your essays. Have someone else read it, but make sure when you read it back that it’s still you. I had to step in a few times when my parents were revising mine because I could tell it wasn’t mine anymore. The admissions counselors will know. Be yourself. If a college doesn’t want that then you don’t belong there.
Do not waste your energy trying to get a perfect score on the SAT or ACT or whatever. Do well on the parts that pertain to what major your pursuing. Once you get past a certain threshold, they could not care less. I got a 1390 on the SAT twice with a 1420 superscore. I got a 32 on the ACT. But I got into UT Austin, UCLA, and UC Berkeley plus I was waitlisted at Georgetown School of Foreign Service (didn’t get pulled off the waitlist but it’s fine I’m fine). I had demonstrated that I could take a stupid test and do pretty well. That was enough. My essays were what set me apart (in my opinion). And I am not an amazing writer. I am very average. But I found things in my life that I could tell a story about. I picked something (mathematics combined with solving social issues) that I was passionate about and carried it through all my essays. Find what sets you apart and cling to it. Make it obvious.
Apply early everywhere you can. If I didn’t get those decisions in December to hold me over, I think I would’ve gone insane. They also say it helps your chances, but I don’t know if that’s true. It just helped my peace of mind a little bit. But don’t rush it if you’re not ready to apply. Don’t rush the essays.
Apply to the schools that feel right. In my experience, I knew the schools I was applying to were good choices for me. It’s almost impossible to write a convincing essay for a school you don’t really want to go to. My first attempt was Georgia Tech and I could not write those essays to save my life. The prompts didn’t make sense, but it was because, in my heart, I knew I didn’t belong there. Don’t force it.
The rejection hurts (especially the places you thought you were perfect for and the places you thought you would never ever get into because a part of you always hopes), but the acceptances feel amazing. I cried when I got into UCLA and I don’t cry about things like that. But the relief and the feeling that they wanted me was something I had never felt before. And I’m not gonna sit here and pretend like everyone has that feeling. Sometimes you don’t end up where you need to be. But, in my opinion, if you put in the work (especially in your essays making them as honest and well-written as possible) and if you put the right thoughts into the universe, it will pay off. Stay positive. Don’t put negative vibes out into the universe. If you believe you won’t get in somewhere, why would you?
Apply to an Ivy League. Just for fun. Yeah the rejection hurts, but you’ll get over it.
Take the SAT and ACT. If you are not a science person, take the ACT. On the SAT, the science passages are included in the reading section so you could be great at reading fiction and get every question right, but get the science ones wrong and drag down your entire score. But on the ACT, there’s a whole separate science section and the reading section has no science. I got a 660 and then a 690 on the reading section for the SAT. I got a 35 on the reading section of the ACT and a 29 on the science. At least with the ACT, the schools knew I was good at reading most passages and just sucked at science.
Stop comparing yourself to other applicants. Just because someone else got in doesn’t mean you will and just because someone didn’t get in doesn’t mean you won’t. Also pro tip, try not to apply to all the same schools your friends apply to unless it’s really where you wanna go. It just gets awkward.
Well, here ya go. If you have any questions you can message me I might be able to help who knows.
Note: drowning in debt is never worth it -especialky since parents have to be approved every year… And often aren’t, hence leading to debt and either no degree or a degree from a lesser/less desirable school, which is worse than dzbt and a degree.
As an example, the amount a college graduate can reasonably expect to be able to at back over 10 years is 27k (with interest, 31k), so that one should not borrow more than that for 4 years - that’s the federal limit (5.5k+6.5k+7.5k+7.5k) for a reason.
Not everybody cares about whether or not they could get into an Ivy. No point in wasting money and time, especially if you’re highly unlikely to get in or highly unlikely to be able to afford it. Rejection hurts, having to turn down an acceptance because it’s not affordable can be even worse.
Totally agree that chancing is pointless. High school kids who’ve never been through the process guessing as to whether you’ll get in or not. If anyone could chance reasonably well they’d make a fortune off it. It can help to understand prior admissions experience but every year the applicant pool is different, so prior experience even isnt’ always relevant.
A safety shouldn’t necessarily be an in-state school, but it should be somewhere you wouldn’t hate as well as somewhere you can afford. I’m also of the camp that drowning in debt is no way to start life. Take the time to find schools that would be affordable. They may not be schools that are ever mentioned on CC - there are so many more schools than the usual suspects here. It is great to go to a different part of the country if you can afford it, study abroad is also a great experience.
Research scholarships and requirements. Many schools require applications be in by the EA deadline to be accepted for scholarships. Some schools automatically consider students for scholarships or honors programs - other schools require separate applications.
Most important - talk to your parents about finances! Get them to sit down with you and run some net price calculators. Many parents are shocked to find out what schools cost these days. You don’t want to wait until acceptances come in to find out what a school costs.
ivy leagues/private schools in general are able to give a lot more aid in grants due to their large endowments so applying to an ivy if ur in serious financial need could be affordable for you it’s always worth a shot if u can afford to pay the application fee/get it waived due to financial need the more options u have the better in my opinion my brother goes to dartmouth and my parents are teachers so we assumed we couldn’t afford it but he was offered almost half the tuition in grants and the rest will be in loans but the opportunities he’ll receive from that education and the job he can get w that education will help him in a better position to pay that debt (this is just my experience pls take it with a grain of salt)
Let’s hope your parents can afford the tuition. Otherwise, this is REALLY bad advice. Going out of state for school doesn’t create opportunities, it actually limits them, because OOS tuition is triple the cost of in-state. High amounts of student debt can (and will) cripple or even sink career opportunities. The opportunities come after graduation. After that, you can explore opportunities until your heart’s content.
NEVER choose a school simply because it feels good or gives a “warm fuzzy.” That’s a decision based on emotion. College is a major purchase and cost is the most tangible fact in this decision. Your major, grades, and accomplishments will open opportunities, not school brand name.
Rankings are NOT facts. They’re opinions, and they’re notoriously skewed and unreliable. Ranking schools is like comparing apples and Snickers bars and calling one “better.” Every school has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. Finding the right one requires research based on interests, dreams, and aspirations, with affordability as a foundation.
I agree that debt over and above federal subsidized student loans is usually unwise. However, it is very important to be careful about making blanket statements about out-of-state opportunities.
First, for private colleges, it doesn’t matter whether the school is in-state or OOS; what matters is the net price to the individual student per the Net Price Calculator and what, exactly, comprises the financial aid package. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the Net Price - it is different for everyone. Top privates tend to offer the best available financial aid.
Second, there are OOS publics that offer excellent merit packages to high-stats students. Merit is the go-to recommendation for high-stats students who cannot afford the NPCs of the privates they are considering and the OOS publics with automatic merit can be critical additions to such a student’s college list as they may be financial safeties. In addition to automatic merit at OOS publics, lower-ranked privates often offer a “merit” discount to many of their students. (In some cases, the discount might even be reflected in the NPC result, though not always.)
This was very smart and brave for you to write, @emmajac. For what it’s worth, based on our experience, the advice to apply early as much as possible is the BEST ADVICE. My S got a bunch of acceptances in December, and it made waiting for the rest in March/April totally not a big deal.
Definitely have some EA schools alongside your ED just in case the ED doesn’t come through.
Apply to OOS private schools – to receive merit packages and decent FA. I’ll add, check out ballpark cost to you on College Navigator for each school. Once you’ve narrowed that down, then do NPCs.
Do not worry about rankings because one school is perfect for one person and anathema to the next. MIT is high ranking but it’s pretty crazy for someone interested in marine biology to go there rather than, say, UCSB.
Debt is tolerable up to about $30K and then it’s silly to take on more debt for undergrad. Even low-stats kids should be able to find college with debt lower than $30K total. It’s not the school that makes or breaks the person. It’s the person who makes or breaks the person.
Your essay can be a golden ticket because it can endear you to the adcoms, make you stand out, make them fight for you in the committee for acceptance.
For high stats Asian American students, apply to OOS Honors College where merits money will allow you to get a good education for almost free. Then, even if you don’t get into other schools, the worst that will happen to you is you will get a free or nearly free education and save money for grad school. That is not a bad option. Just remember your high stats will be sought after these schools.
as a high school senior i love this! also i dont know why people cant take things w a grain of salt, obviously if a school is too expensive parents will intervene! congrats on UCLA!
All this shows is watch out for the advice you take, especially when it comes from other kids. Not everyone can afford full costs st a UC. And to think UCLA tops UVA is just limited “grass is greener” thinking.
No, the essay is not all that matters. C’mon. Holistic 101. We have zero idea what OP offered in total. This is anecdote. Not fact.
And best is to be as wisely and fully informed as possible. Not take others’ venting as your guideline. Not go off crspshooting cuz someone else did. Think.
Just finished helping my daughter apply to 10 schools and I have to say, every word you said is true. Thanks for putting it out there in black & white! It’s basically life in a microcosm. Good luck to you!
This is terrible advice. Any debt over the ~$5500/year federal student loan has to be co-signed by parents, so your parents will be drowning right along with you. Students should think really carefully before taking financial advice from a high school senior.
If your state has in state tuition and decent schools start with some of those. University of California, (CA residents) University of North Carolina (NC residents). I would have thought UVA and VaTech would have been wise for OP? Many experts say for majors without high earning potential even going to an Ivy may not be worth the debt. (If you want to be an K-12 teacher no need to pile on 250K to get an “elite” education, Public U. is fine) Don’t apply to any elite school (<15% acceptance) without making the 75% tile test score range (if you are not URM, legacy or recruited athlete) nces.ed.gov college navigator better than common data set. For athletes Ivy league only needs 30ACT they are looking for top in state athletes not top in state students.
Congrats @emmajac - nice insights especially on “chance” comment. You write well.
On the debt: I don’t quite agree. Cost is my #1 criteria along with accreditation.
Son is applying for engineering major. So ABET accreditation is critical but also cost. Similar to other majors.
After you graduate, whether the degree is from Rutgers, Penn State, Iowa, Arizona, UC-Davis (all being in state) or any private school or OOS, to the employers there is not much difference including salary. The difference is in what you owe, and thus, forcing you to take the first job not the first best job.
Reputable college is critical. Cost is critical. I would also recommend as a path: 2-year JC and complete at a reputable State University. Cost is critical.
Sorry but it’s you SAT scores and grades that get your essays read to begin with at elite schools. There’s simply not enough time to read them all.
Stats don’t replace a great essay and a great esssy doesn’t replace them. It’s both.
Look at numbers of applications and staff at these schools. Even in the maybe pile your essay’s first look might get 3 minutes. The closer you get the more it’s read and highlighted. So important for sure.