Well, here I am. It’s done, I finally know where I am going to be attending school next year: The College of Wooster. I couldn’t be happier. If you would have asked me a year, even six months ago, I probably wouldn’t have said the same. Growing up, I always thought that I would be going to Penn State. My mom’s job would allow me a significant tuition discount, and I would graduate with no debt. Instead, I am going to Wooster, where I will likely graduate with 20-30k of debt. Crazy? Maybe, but it’s what I really want. After going through the college admissions process, here are my tips:
<ol>
<li>Fit matters! Some people should go to the Ivies, and some simply shouldn’t. I am not going to Penn State because I don’t want the “large university” experience. Do not let prestige guide your choices.</li>
<li>Be passionate in high school. I have seen what passion creates in terms of admissions results. In my high school, there are about 15 people, including myself, who are in our gifted program. In general, these are the people who are the most qualified for the competitive colleges. We all have a 3.8 and 2000 or better. But what separates some of them from others is their passion. The three that, in my opinion, are the most passionate in school and in ECs, are going to top schools: two to UChicago and one to Columbia. Others with the same stats but no passion, direction, or anything that makes them special are getting waitlisted by schools like Lafayette. Colleges do not want robots. They want people who will change the campus. To be really competitive for top schools, don’t a cookie-cutter applicant. Be unique.</li>
<li>Focus on your essays. Once you get to your senior year, the essays are really the only thing that you can control. Pour your heart, work your butt off. But again, as with the above, be unique. Have a passion, follow it through, do great things, and the results will come.</li>
<li>Don’t think of high school as an audition for college, but don’t ignore college prospects while in high school. This is rather paradoxical. If you spend 4 years do everything to build your resume to get into Harvard, you won’t get in. The best applicants do what they do because they want to do it, not because they are trying to get into an Ivy. Do not let your actions in high school be dictated by college admissions. On the other hand, don’t completely forget about college admissions while in high school. 'Tis a difficult balance. </li>
<li>Keep it all in perspective. It’s high school. Getting one B is not the end of the world. Work hard, but have some fun. What you do in college is so much more important than where you go. Take a deep breath; everything will work out.</li>
<li>Apply to plenty of schools. Especially if you are a competitive applicant, this is basically a necessity. With that being said, don’t apply to schools that you can’t see yourself going to. I did this, and all it did was waste my and the school’s time.</li>
<li>Keep off CC. I truly believe that the best resources on this forum are the AP and SAT prep forums. There is some really valuable information there. Learn the basics of college admissions, and then get off. It will do you no good obsessing about your chances.</li>
<li>Within reason, don’t let money guide your school choice. Let me be clear: I am NOT suggesting that you should take out 150k in loans to go to NYU. But if your dream school is doable with fairly minimal debt, just go. Words cannot describe how happy I am that I don’t have to go to Penn State next year.</li>
<li>Read number 2 again.</li>
</ol>
Now, I suppose I should share with you my results. Here is a brief summary, see my other posts for more details.
Accepted: Penn State, Kenyon, American (merit), W&J (merit), Marietta (merit), Westminster (merit), Wooster (merit)
Waitlisted: Lehigh
Denied: Wesleyan
Objective:
SAT I: 2130 superscored (670CR 700M 760W)
SAT II: 690 Math I, 650 Math II, 720 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.94
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 25/251
AP- US History, Calc AB, Microecon, Macroecon, Biology
Decent ECs, many only for 2 years.
Essay- good, not great. Very unique
Recs- very good
Major- Economics
Good luck to all! I hope this post has been helpful!