Questions Questions Questions

Applying to College
1

<p>ok i have ALOT of questions that are not related to one another, if you guys could help me out that would be amazing!</p>

<ol>
<li>Do you have to report class rank or can you just ask your school not to put that on your transcript?</li>
</ol>

<p>2.If a college asks the questions " what other schools are you applying to?" and the questions is technically optional would i be better served to answer it or not (im applying to 12 schools)</p>

<p>3.Would I be better served to waive my right to look at my teacher/councilor recommendations or not?</p>

<p>4.If a school doesn't have a area to tell your alumni relations but they say they consider it on the common data set would it be preferable to mention it somewhere?</p>

<p>5.If a school has an additional supplement for fine arts and im heavily involved in choir should i send it in also even though I wouldn't major in music?</p>

<ol>
<li>Can my personal statement focus on 2 somewhat related activities I do or should it strictly be limited to one?</li>
</ol>

<p>7.Can you put down an honor that you haven't received yet (but are close to fulfilling all the requirements) but you know you will receive about a month after you apply?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance if anyone can answer any of these!</p>

2

<p>Sean:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I’m sure your HS has a policy of what it includes in a transcript. Even if you could request it not to be included, it would look strange if someone saw several transcripts from your HS and yours is the only one without a class rank.</p></li>
<li><p>I would probably list several schools that are in the same peer group (or slightly lower) than the school you’re applying to. But that’s just me (that is, if it’s a target, list your other target schools, and a safety).</p></li>
<li><p>You would be better served to waive it. Some schools won’t look at a recommendation if you haven’t.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes. Even if they say the don’t consider it on the common data set, I’d tell them.</p></li>
<li><p>You have to read the application. If they’re only looking for this supplement for applicants to the program, you probably shouldn’t send it. However, it makes a great topic for a supplemental “Why xxxxxx” Essay.</p></li>
<li><p>What is the precise wording of the question? If you can tie them together somehow, it might be better.</p></li>
<li><p>You could always list the honor and say ‘anticipated’. Otherwise, I’m not sure you can say you’ve received something that you haven’t earned. I don’t know whether it is advantageous for you to do so in any case – depends on the honor, I suppose.</p></li>
</ol>

3

<p>thank you so much just one thing to clearify, on my second question…so i should not include schools that are more of a reach on my list?</p>

4

<p>“3. You would be better served to waive it. Some schools won’t look at a recommendation if you haven’t.”</p>

<p>No college admissions officer has ever gone on record to attest to this. Until one of them does, you do not have to believe this urban myth.</p>

<p>There are as many different reasons for waiving your rights, as there are for retaining them. There even are a few high schools that have a formal policy of insisting that their students retain their rights! Discuss your concerns about this issue with your referees and your guidance counselor, and then decide what YOU want to do.</p>

5

<p>sean:</p>

<p>Your #2 is a hard question. To a degree, it comes down to why the school is asking the question, and what they do with the answer. Unfortunately, they don’t provide this information.</p>

<p>Certainly, if the school in question is a safety school, let’s call it “Podunk U”, and you list Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Duke and Rice as the other schools you’re applying to, this screams of “Safety School”, which is probably a bad thing. However, if you have competitive scores for Harvard, Yale, et c. and Podunk is the best school on your list, they’re going to wonder about that too. You don’t want to come off as being dishonist</p>

<p>If you’re applying to Duke, I’m not sure that listing Harvard or Yale would much of a negative (if a negative at all), because they understand that the people who apply to their schools are likewise applying other top schools. </p>

<p>So, IMO, it’s kind of an ‘art’ here, you want to come up with a list that makes sense, given your academic resume, but that doesn’t make it look like the school you’re applying to is a safety.</p>

<p>It’s kind of a stinker question, and I have no real knowledge what a college will do with any answer. When my D was applying, this question only came up in interviews. She made sure to have a list of “peer” schools to mention, and then added one or two of her ‘high matches’. It seemed to work for her.</p>

<p>As to question 3 The thought is that ‘waiver’ makes it more likely that you will get an ‘honest’ recommendation, because the teacher doesn’t have to worry that you will confront her or him if the recommendation is less than glowing. happymomof1 is, however 100% correct that if you have any concerns, discuss this with your GC.</p>