I can’t believe the admissions process is finally over (for those of you still waiting on waitlists, sorry!). Anyway, I had a few thoughts (mostly just goofy observations) I’d like to share, feel free to contribute your own.
WashU’s admissions office is shady.
M.I.T.'s admissions officers are awesome (read their blogs!).
ALL admissions officers become incredibly nice if they accept you
Try your hardest to avoid commitments the month of April, and save up for plane tickets. Admitted student weekends are an absolute blast and they can completely change your mind about a school! (Oh, and Duke, Williams + Dartmouth fly at least some of their admitted students out for free!). On the other hand, don’t rely on them too much as evaluation tools, since they are something of an act.
When prioritizing your time, doing your apps above browsing CC (it’ll be hard).
<p>don't freak out at 11 pm PST on the last night when you send in your stanford app and the official time says 2 am EST on Dec. 16</p>
<p>don't ask for your chances on getting into HYPS, etc.; 2,348,923,572,892,375 people have asked that question. accept that no one knows, not even some of the admissions people, and apply where you want to but have solid backups, safeties.</p>
<p>don't go on cc until senior year or summer between j and s years. if you are a frosh/sophmore, leave and focus on high school! actually, leave cc forever or else, like justforgetme, you end up procrastinating insanely on your apps</p>
<p>if you really want a prediction of your chances, find out the admit rate and randomly generate numbers on your calculator to perform a test ---i swear i did this! (hehe, yeah for AP Stat)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>ivies all sound AWESOME in the beginning, but after visiting there are always disappointments</p></li>
<li><p>after getting the name of your interviewers, try to do a thorough research on their backgrounds: most of the time it doesnt help, but it is fun to see them telling you sth you already know anyway</p></li>
<li><p>you might think your resume is the best already and cant imagine anyone doing as much as you have, but then try to remember unimaginable things exist in reality</p></li>
<li><p>asking for your chances is the closest thing to asking a fortune teller when you'd win a lottery. no offense but dont trust the whats my chances board, it is only a ground that'd drag you down</p></li>
<li><p>apply for many schools. i know this sounds silly cuz college app takes up a lota time, but i myself end up goin to a college i never thought of going, and i only spent like an hour on its application and sent it in the last minute. you never know how your preference might change. so apply for many schools if time and money aint big issues.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I also reccomend applying to alot of schools and to try schools you might feel are out of your league. It never hurts to try and you never want to be left asking yourself, what if?. I am attending one of my reach schools next year and i was admitted to alot of my other reach schools. My advice is to take chances, do your research, and dont look for cc for all your answers.</p>
<p>Don't apply to more than 12 unless at least a bunch take the Common App. Think about which schools you really would attend. You don't need more than two safeties.</p>
<p>DONT BELIEVE THIS!! i mean unless your safeties are REALLY REALLY REALLY safe safeties. i got waitlisted by 2 of my safeties (before i got my acceptances) and frankly that freaked the hell outa me</p>
<p>When it comes to how important displaying interest is, it's UNDERESTIMATED at some LACs + WashU, but it's OVERESTIMATED at all Ivies and public schools.</p>
<p>Don't go through this alone-make e-friends with some of your fellow CC dorks who are in the same boat as you. Don't let admissions become a competitive thing, either online or at your school.</p>
