<p>hello spitfire20!
yes, I know pomona is a great school and that it's california we're talking about but that doesn't change the fact they have few intl students among other things or that it's closer to Japan than it is to Europe...
i also got in at mount holyoke ( massachussetts, lovely!) but the fam contribution was a little high, so I'm waiting for the re-evaluation of my fin aid file... really hope it will turn out well; between the two, aside money matters, i would choose mt holyoke...</p>
<p>Hey pals. I've been reading this forum for a while, though never wrote anything. Congrats to you all for your great acceptances.</p>
<p>I'm also Romanian and I got into Vassar, Reed and Skidmore with almost full fin aid and now have to decide between them. I also got waitlisted at 5 colleges: Brown, Princeton, Middlebury, Northwestern and Wash and Lee...unlucky I guess.
Anyway, where do you think I should go: Vassar or Reed?</p>
<p>BTW lolapurple: Where are you from? If I choose Vassar we could meet there :)</p>
<p>Crysthy_p : reed! :)</p>
<p>Do you know what Romanians got into Yale this year?</p>
<p>hey crysthy_p. my name is alex and i am from bacau. i'm already in contact with the other romanians at vassar on facebook.i think it would really help talking to them. good luck deciding :)</p>
<p>hello everybody.i'm kinda new on this site, so excuse me if i'll repeat a questions or smth like that.i wanna study in the us too, but i'm afraid that i won't make it.i have good grades, my annual gpa(media anuala) being around 9,6-9,7,i have participated in international programmes in france and italy and also, am an editor at my high-school newspaper and got some awards at the regional phase of the olympics.
i know that there is no clear way to succes, but i just want to know your opinion(because you seem smarter than me); if i am just hopping, or if i have an actual chance.
P.s:i forgot to say that I am in the 11th grade, and i haven't taken my sat.I want to take them in october, november and again december.
sorry for the long post</p>
<p>hey malina! How nice to visit this forum after like 2 months and find a new Romanian around. </p>
<p>Remember that you don't have to follow a certain stereotype to be accepted and there is no such thing as 'just hoping'. What I learned from this process is that it is extremely unpredictable and even if you did your best, admission is not guaranteed. What you should do right now is start studying hard for SAT and Toefl. Also, try to get involved in some community service programs over the summer, like volunteering in a hospital, a church or something. I have the bac exam until the end of May, but later I will try to help you understand a little better this process. In the meanwhile, read this forum. It has very valuable information.</p>
<p>thanks angelutza.i've volunteered in the past, and i'll look into doing it again.good luck with your exams</p>
<p>hello again:d.i wanted to ask you if anyone took the Us history or World history sat II.and if so, what books did they use to study?a coursebook, something, or just by doing tests?</p>
<p>I took World History back in December. I used both Kaplan and Princeton Review. You should check with the Fulbright Comission (if you're from Bucharest) because they have the Kaplan book, which is, to my mind, way better than PR, in that it prepares you for the worst. Good luck! :)</p>
<p>Hi! I've reading all of your posts in a swooping 30 minutes span :D I' m from Romania too and I'm planning to take my SATs 2 in the fall:D. Nice to hear from you all! Good luck with all your exams and with your studying...and congratulations to all of you who have tried to apply to US colleges (and who got in or not)!
P.S.: I'm from Bucharest.</p>
<p>Thanks pisconet! Good luck to you too.
Random question : Are you in the eleventh grade now?</p>
<p>No, I'm in the tenth grade.</p>
<p>Oh, seems you have enough time to make decisions and sit for the SATs ;). It's good to start early, you know. if you have any questions regarding your application or anything else, let me know :).
Good luck with studying!</p>
<p>Yes, I have one: in the college application, they request the opinions of the school counselor...but I don't think my school has such a person. Who should that be? The school shrink? We know each other pretty well, but I don't think she knows how well my academic achievements stack up, or how creative/motivated etc I am. So what did you write in that section? Oh, and what was your GPA?:D Just out of curiosity:D. Tnx.</p>
<p>The school counselor is the "diriginte" we all have, or have had till now.. or it could also be the principal of the school, if he knows you well enough and would be willing to sign your recommendation. I wrote my recommendations and had them verified and checked by my English teacher, who also happened to be my "diriginte". So she basically signed the recommendations I made and told the other professors to do so because she had previously checked them. So if you're in a good relationship with your English Teacher or your "diriginte", talk them through and get them to sign the recs you made;). I don't think it should be any problem, because our teachers never "do recommendations".</p>
<p>My GPA was 9.95/10, because some Chemistry teacher thought I wasn't good enough and gave me a 9 every year :)). But I don't think my GPA was very important to them. I know people who have 9.50 and still got into a US college.
If you have any other questions, I'll be happy to help.</p>
<p>Your 9 wasn't a problem anyway:)); I believe that in the American gradin system a 9/10 equals a A- (90-92%) right? is this how you calculate your GPA? In the 9th grade I was an lamost straight-A student except for the fact that I had a dumb-a** at Logic who gave me a C(70%) on the first semester then a B(80%) on the second...so I had a 9.66/10...I feel so shameful now thinking about this GPA, seeing that so many other good students who applied had a far higher one, even if I was then the first in my class. This semester I had a high one: 9.84/10. Was your curriculum a very demanding one (one of the questions they ask of you to answer in the application)?Tnx.
ps: what was your application essay about? i have a pretty good idea about mine but i'm still thinking about it:D</p>
<p>I think your GPA is good enough. As I said, it's not the only factor when deciding whether a student qualifies for a particular college or not. So don't fret about your GPA too much. </p>
<p>I answered that my curriculum was the most demanding in my high school, as I am in the "mate-info" section so for us Romanians, it's considered the toughest of them all. This would be a plus ;)</p>
<p>My essay was about the death of ancient languages in the favor of more circulated ones. I chose a very general topic, because I didn't just want to speak about myself. I think the topic I chose from the Common App was no 2, if I remember well. What are u thinking of writing in your essay?</p>
<p>You're pretty set on it as I can see. You're just stepping in the 11th grade, but you're asking pretty specific questions. It's great to want to find out more the earliest possible;). Keep up the good work and I hope my answers are good enough for your case;).
Bye!</p>
<p>I wanted my personal essay to be about a mental illness I suffered from and still do...but I just read today an article in the Education section from US</a> News & World Report - Breaking News, World News, Business News, and America's Best Colleges - USNews.com that wonders if applicants should mention these kind of problems in their essays...you know, since Virginia tech, admission officers don't want "to admit the next Jack the Ripper"...too bad, this topic really would've given me the opportunity to tell them about myself and about the profound changes that came to me; these illness really changed my life and the way I think about those around me - besides, I could show them how this didn't affect in the slightest my academic achievements or my extracurriculars (biology olympic, first in my class, etc); on the contrary, my GPA earned a pretty big boost compared to my freshman year, as i previously told you . Yet again, I'm a bit fearful that they' d see in me who knows what. Another topic might be my great love for Genetics (in which I want to major in), but that would be a bit more complicated. What do you want to Major in?:D
I'm in the mate-info bilingv franceza section at my school:D. That would mean that I'd have to give a bac subject in french and have several projects and classes taken in the junior and senior year in French...so you can't have a more demanding curriculum than that:D
Your advices really helped thnx!</p>
<p>Under no circumstances should you write about your problem in your essay. I think it would be an interesting approach to the essay, but bear in mind that at some point in your application, you will be asked to enlarge on this topic by one college in particular. Especially if you get admitted to one college, you will receive smth called medical history, a very detailed piece of paper where you are asked about any medical problem you experience. There is a separate headline for "mental problems" ( I know it sounds like you must be crazy or smth), and any medication or medical condition must be properly documented and proved. Therefore, I think it would be too much of a hassle for you to mention it in your essay because if you do, you will have to go to great lengths to prove you are not the future Jack the Ripper. I know it sounds crazy, but as they say prevention is better than "cure"...
So you should better keep this for yourself, because it can have a nasty turn on your app, and that would be a real shame.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Genetics sounds great as a topic for your essay, especially if you've already gone to the Biology Olympiad and know the basic "ropes". But this topic can also be a bit tacky... Eugenics, cloning and genetic modification are sensible topics to tackle so you shouldn't delve into strong personal opinions too much. OR simply say that these practices are totally wrong and leave it that way...</p>
<p>I want to major in Maths, and minor in French. I'm attracted a lot to both subjects, generally to Maths combined with Languages-literature, cultural aspects and stuff, even though it seems like an odd combination.</p>
<p>Mate-info franceza looks great! We have mate-info engleza around in Slatina, but oddly enough, I didn't go there because of the Maths teacher:D.</p>
<p>Random question: I know the Fullbright Commission hosts some sessions to prepare prospective applicants to apply for US colleges. I myself didn't have this opportunity,as I don't live in Bucharest, but have you gone there so far? I know their pieces of advice are very helpful too ;).</p>