<p>im in red cross and csf. I ran for secretary for red cross, but somehow the leadership people were being really "strict" or they hated me, but i had more votes than the other girl but they told me that i lost because some of the people who voted for me were "illegitimate members". It was the dumbest thing ever, because they basically just defined what being a member means on the spot. I talked to the AP Gov teacher/supervisor and he basically said that he has to honor the leadership's decision. </p>
<p>So there goes my only leadership position ever. Yup, i mean one secretary in one club would not have made too much of a difference i guess.</p>
<p>i sure hope there are successful applicants like me (or us) :/</p>
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What do you do with your time? The people who are accepted to the Ivies are exceptional in one way or another. Figure out how you are exceptional and let them know about it. I think everyone who gets accepted to the ivies has something that makes them stand out among their peers besides the usual gpa/sat achievements.
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<p>People exaggerate...I know a lot of people in the Ivies and if you are smart and do well on tests your fine. Very few kids have national awards and stuff or great ECs...if your smart and motivated you will be fine. Obviously not all ivies are created equal..</p>
<p>I want to believe what you are saying, and yes, it is probably true for less prestigious ivies like Cornell, but understand that "smart and motivated" at our school gets you to UC berkeley, not much else.</p>
<p>I had a couple of awards, but nothing as prestigious as most CCers do (definitely no USABO). I think what really helped me were my essays and interview where I was really able to let my passion shine through (I know, that word is way overused in the admissions process, but you know what I mean). Like others have said, just make sure you stand out. An amazing essay is a great way to do that – show why you belong there, what makes you special. Also, don’t underestimate yourself, little things like tutoring students means a lot, so does volunteering, and that internship is probably really cool. Just look at what unique stuff you’ve done, and expand on that. Doesn’t matter if it’s an award, or leadership, or a sport, or some random activity that you became really involved in. Doesn’t have to be through your school either. On that note, most colleges will evaluate you within the context of your environment, so if you didn’t have a lot of opportunities at school, they’ll understand that. But going out and creating opportunities where they didn’t exist is even better :). Definitely apply, if you’re a smart motivated student than you have a chance, no matter what other people may say.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know a white guy like that who got into Brown. His extracurriculars included smoking more herb than God and ****ing off teachers. Smart as hell though.</p>
<p>You may be admitted to an Ivy, but if you are not it is not the end of the world. In fact, a student like yourself may be able to establish better relationships with professors at other colleges where your academic talents will stand out from the crowd. Having outstanding recommendations and perhaps research opportunities can open many doors in your future even if the college name is not as prestigious.</p>
<p>I have never heard of ANYONE getting into HYPSM without ANY awards or leadership.</p>
<p>Nat. awards and/or leadership are practically requirements. If your school did not offer many leadership opportunities, starting a club is practically necessary (I've started two. Yes, it was the end of junior year, but my particular situation could not have allowed for anything else.) Winning awards is a good way of buffing your application; of course, they have to be reputable awards, or in some way related to your interests. (Mine are almost all in the realm of writing on international affairs.)</p>
<p>Not a TON of awards/leadership are needed, necessarily. It can be balanced out by a 4.0 and super-challenging schedule. Girl at my school who is in general a slacker, but very intelligent, was co-Valedictorian, full-IB Diploma and then some, DECA National Champion, co-Pres of a club on Darfur that barely organizes any events got into Yale and Harvard. (She's going to Yale.)</p>
<p>blue -- the problem with the Ivies, especially these days, is that they get plenty of hard-working, bookish intellectual types with great grades and test scores who ALSO do some athletic/leadership activities. For Ivy league admission, they don't have to be international olympiads or state-level sports, they just look good on the application because they show that the student is capable of high academic achievement while still juggling time-consuming committments. If you're serious about those uber-reach schools, you'll need to beef up your resume to be a serious contender.</p>
<p>It's kind of late to "beef up my resume". I mean, that defeats the purpose too much doesn't it? I'll just end up looking like i'm doing things just to get into a college. </p>
<p>I have sports, just not very outstanding that's all</p>
<p>I don't think awards will look tacky... They're just awards. </p>
<p>I was just trying to give you some ideas; my brag sheet has tons of stuff that says "Grade 11, Grade 11" simply because I moved to a new school district and IB starting in Grade 11 on top of that really meant that I had no way of actually assimiliating into the real clubs until this past year.</p>
<p>From my POV, "It's kind of late to "beef up my resume". I mean, that defeats the purpose too much doesn't it? I'll just end up looking like i'm doing things just to get into a college." = "Awards are tacky at this point." So, I just said they're not tacky. </p>
<p>And what does any of this have to do with what star said, anyways??? <em>confused</em></p>
<p>lol no i'm not angry, i was just confused/frustrated '</p>
<p>getting awards at this point is not easy... i am a rising senior :(</p>
<p>it ran counter to what star said because she said that leadership/awards are not mandatory, yet you made it sound like a prerequisite or somethihg</p>
<p>Don't worry blueducky, just give it a shot, do your best, get the best recommendations you can, write the best possible essays and see what happens. Not all presidents of all clubs or national award winners are accepted to HYPSM, not everybody without major awards and leadership positions is rejected either.</p>
<p>Let's face it, your chances are a tad smaller than the chances of someone else whose academic credentials are similar to your but who also was a President or a Nominee or a Laureate. But that other person's chances are not nearly 100% and your chances are far from zero as well.</p>
<p>Give it a try, make sure you have good safeties, if you do become a NMF a lot of pretty good colleges all over the country will be happy to offer you full ride and place you in their Honors Program - that may be the next best thing to attending an Ivy League school, who knows, it may actually be better.</p>
<p>that is so vague, but yea i appreciate it. what you said is probably right. it just kind sucks to have admit that i have lower than average chances for schools that already have super-low acceptances.</p>
<p>Ack, things can get lost in translation on the web. </p>
<p>I'm a rising senior as well, and college apps is putting some stress on me, too. I guess we might be looking at the situation from different perspectives. I am totally geared towards Ivy-League/-esque schools, so for those aspirations leadership/awards are necessary. That's obviously not everyone's goals; if you want to go to a good school, just do the best you can in class (GPA, SAT always the most important) and write some good essays. My other point was that leadership/awards will help you no matter where you go.</p>
<p>My original question included "ivy-league" in it. I mean, to you, it seems like i have no business even in applying - that's the thing that frustrated me a bit.
Just because you don't know anybody like me who's gotten in, doesn't necessarily mean that I don't have a chance.</p>
<p>I am not actually sure that your chances are necessarily lower than average, your chances are somewhat lower than the chances of your hypothetical competitor who has academic grades similar to yours and who's also a President of a club or whatever. But I am sure you already knew that when you started this thread. The fact of the matter is that your essays, recommendations and passion may well offset their resume advantage but unfortunately at this stage of the game you are a bit behind and will have some catching up to do.</p>