<p>Oh, well:-<, we'll move on then...and it sounded so promising. i read several months ago about the mental issues that kept rising up from her application: there was this very promising and overachieving graduate girl who wanted to apply for med school, earned a top score at the exam, but was deffered from it due to an old depression treatment.
About the Fulbright Commission: I went there for the first time in the vacation between semesters. I know about their projects, but as I studied in the afternoon this year (daily, 1-8 pm), their program always fell too short (1-5-7.30), so I'll have to wait for the summer vacation to go/make appointments.
About Genetics, if I were to write an essay upon it, I would take the research approach (like in AIDS/cancer research); I'm still wondering if we should clone pigs for their stem cells :-?.
I also have a soft spot from early childhood for Astronomy, so who knows maybe I'll minor in it, if i ever get into college:D - and also for literature(American/English/French/Scandinavian - will take SATII in Lit), but I really don't think i would take any courses in that b/c i don't know how good I'll do in essays and creative writing;) ).</p>
<p>Hi Guys,</p>
<p>I just saw this thread and I tought I should give a post ! I been on this forum a lot before ! I couldn't make my way to the USA schools when I tryed couple of years back but I just want to let know everybody that even if you didnt get accepted in USA, if you have some money you could try to apply in Canada. I been in Canada for 2 yrs already and I attended a pretty affordable school on the coast and now I got accepted into the Honors program at U of Toronto which is a top school even when compared with USA school. So keep your options open and continue with your dreams.
Congrats to everyone who made it ! :)</p>
<p>Hi everyone!</p>
<p>pisconet - here's my opinion:</p>
<p>GPA - I think GPA is very important; actualy it's not the absolute GPA, but the relative GPA that matters. that is, your GPA is fine if you rank among first in class</p>
<p>essay - I wouldn't reject the idea right away. If you're applying to many universities ( and you should), you could use that essay for a couple of them. Anyway, you'll have plenty of time to write several great essays, as you're a 10th grader</p>
<p>good luck</p>
<p>Thanks:D. Are you Romanian too? Where form?
P.S.danapetrini: could you pls list your EC's? for now, they really seem to bugger me, as i don't seem to have too many. Anybody who got in a US college may list their ec's so i could have a general opinion over how fluffed is my list or not. tnks once again:D</p>
<p>Hey pisconet! Sorry for not answering for a while. been a little busy :D.
EC's...well... I didn't have too many. Think of every little thing you once did and mention it in your application. Doesn't matter if you said " I used to bicycle when I was 5". I wrote that in my app:D:D.</p>
<p>I was a Red Cross volunteer for one year, got a certificate in granting First Aid to injured people-but forgot almost everything already- a volunteer for some local foundation. That's with regards to community service. 3 years of taekwondo at professional level during secondary school, school choir, some interviews for the local television. A little prose and poetry writing in the school magazine, the design of a site on the net. Let me see if that's all. Ooh, and a true blog addict. That's about all. They're not really "real" EC's but I come from a small town, and apart from academic achievements and SAT scores, I didn't have too much to brag about so I had to find a way to put some EC's in there:).</p>
<p>On another note, I saw you posted a question about the genetics in Pomona. Don't know about their genetics/biology program, but Pomona is a great school indeed. and it's warm around there. I got accepted there and they were by far the best and nicest admission people I had ever talked to. Really really gave me a nice impression of them. Too bad it's in California, and for me that was more than too far away:(. </p>
<p>Anyway, if you have any more questions, let me know. I'm available now. I see people around are reviving the Romanian thread. yey!!! :))</p>
<p>Hey! I just earned last Friday with my team 2nd place in the regional heat of the first-aid competition organized by the RED Cross:D! i think we deserved 1st place, but it was Babes, who has a sanitarian profile, who won the war:P - so they don't quite count:D. And I'm gonna be a volunteer as of June. I loved the first-aid course and I hope to learn new things once a registered volunteer. I also plan to volunteer for ARAS (Asociatia Romana Anti-SIDA), as I'm really into all the AIDS research/preventing thing. I've got a summer job at quite a famous market researching group, and even if it's part-time (that means I'll have to work every working day for 5 hours :( ), it's still rewarding cause I'll earn some money with which I'll buy my SAT/ TOEFL prep books etc. Aside my biology olympiad prizes (for regional phases anyway) and several school Chem&Bio competitions prizes and the fact that I spend almost an hour a day to study chess - which i adore, I have barely nothing to fill my EC Comm App section with, I'm pretty afraid and most of the times discouraged. If you look at all those int'l and US applicants posting on CC, you'll see that so many of them have huge and impressive EC lists. I remain amazed every time I read them. As one of the members said once (a Yale soon-to-be-student), " If i read all of your postings on CC, I would have never applied to Yale" :)).<br>
P.S.: I went several days ago at the Fulbright commission and I was lucky enough to list for a 2 months counseling with their college advisors. Have you ever been at one of those meetings (which I think are one-to-one meetings)?
'Night!</p>
<p>hey, pisconet_server. I see you have many more ECs than I did, for example. In my opinion, they are plenty and you just need to focus a little more on them spend more time and try to earn some leadership positions. Were you the leader of the team who won 2nd place? </p>
<p>You emphasize a lot your 'passion' for AIDS and you do it without even caring about colleges. This is exactly what will bring you extra points.</p>
<p>Well, CC is one hell of an addiction but as you said, don't take for granted every thing people post on this site. Most of them are really nice (especially the Nepalese applicants :D), but some like to show off and make other people miserable.</p>
<p>With regards to your EC's.. I think they look great so far:), especially the ARAS thing which sounds nice. I practically did my EC's through the 11th grade and in the summer following, so you still have one year to do some more things. I know there are a lot of volunteering projects around, at least in Bucharest, something with "Salvati copii" and the "Mai Mult Verde" Campaign. I think you could try those especially if you're from Bucharest. I, unfortunately, am not:D. And participating in some school project in the 11th grade wouldn't hurt either. Ohh, by the way, were you ever "sefa clasei" or "casiera clasei" or smth like that? I know admission people love these kind of applicants.
You must have participated in some final school year festivity or smth, right? Like with your class or anything? Write in these school celebrations as well. See how that EC list is growing:D?</p>
<p>And don't fret too much on other US / intl applicants' stats or EC's. Just do your own thing:D. You might think X is better qualified than me in gettting into Y college, but the admission board might see it the other way round. So just stick to your application, and let others brag about whatever they like in the world:D. I hate this "comparing" thing... because most of the time things turn out to be the other way round.</p>
<p>Bye now!</p>
<p>Oh no, I never was class representative, maybe a cashier in 9th grade, but who remembers?, as I never did receive any money :D...that's partly b/c I'm not very well seen in my class, so no one would've voted for me (even if there were many who came from other schools, they were heavily influenced by their new friends, who studied with me through grades 5-8). Even now, almost 12 months after we've started 10th grade, we don't have a class rep, b/c no one bothered to elect one this year - in the same time, no one would've elected me, would they? And no, angelutza, i was neither the team rep :D b/c our "diriga", who is also our biology teacher, picked out of the five of us the boy...she said it was better so the other four of us - girls - wouldn't fight or be envious - our class is almost like a big bee hive :P.
Oh and yes, at every final school year festivity i took 1st prize (hope to take it this year too) + my merit scholarship eligibility (didn't get it though b/c the Government doesn't offer 2 - I have another one - or more scholarships at the same time 8-|(yawn)...like I'm about to miss them of their more precious possessions (true though:P)).
Thanks a lot for your encouragements, I feel a lot better now - like taking a hot bath after a friezing day :X. 'Night!</p>
<p>anytime, pisconet;)!</p>
<p>Could you tell me which SAT study guides did you use? School will be over soon, and i want to start buying some books and studying. I'm really into the barrons book, b/c of what i heard it overpreper you; i also heard that PR is shallow and that the kaplan information isn't very well organized throughout the book. Thanks:D</p>
<p>Don't know if you're talking about the SAT I or SAT II books but anyway.
For the Math I and IIC I used Barron's because I couldn't find any other alternative here in Slatina. Can't say the books helped me much, but they provided a picture about how the exam would look like. For the French SAT - I didn't chose Physics:D- I bought a book from Amazon, from REA - an obscure, at least for me, name for a publishing house - but the preparation book was outstanding in quality, and practically was worth all the money:D . If you're testing French, see if u can find that one.</p>
<p>Also, SparkNotes:</a> Today's Most Popular Study Guides could be an alternative. It has some practice question there;). ANd the Fullbright of course, where I know they only lend their books on the stop, but anyway they have loads of books:D.</p>
<p>For the SAT I, I read the Kaplan 2008 guide, the Princeton Review and the Official CollegeBoard book- found the latter also on Amazon. The Official Guide from College Board, was by far the best -12 practice tests even though they didn't have detailed answers- it was enough:D - and that's about all. Also for SAT I practice try
Hundreds</a> of free practice questions for standardized tests at majortests.com<br>
Test</a> Prep Review | Exam Practice for GMAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, SAT, ACT, NCLEX, Praxis, Accuplacer, GED, and other Test Preparation
They have accurate questions, and some online preparation for the exams would also mean practice for the Toefl iBT, but i guess you're not worrying too much over the Toefl ;)</p>
<p>Oh yes, I also saw the French prep book several weeks ago...it has an enthusiastic review by a Romanian buyer, if I'm right. I was reluctant at first to even consider buying it, but if you also say it's terrific, then I'll certainly order it :D. I'm considering to take Biology M, French and Lit (or Math 1, if Lit's not working). Math 2 seems a bit complicated, maybe b/c it has "matrice" and a bit of calculus, which I don't think I ever studied in my math class.</p>
<p>Prep books: We can only give you our (limited) experience with prep books; it's up to you to research ( e.g. - see amazon reviews) and decide which are best. For SAT Reasoning I used Barron's New SAT, Barron's SAT 2400, and Official SAT Study Guide. I also bought Kaplan , but I didn't use it...</p>
<p>I think it's most convenient and cheap to order the books either from amazon.com or from betterworld.com...</p>
<p>Oh, and it's much easier to get a high score on Math II than on Math I...</p>
<p>@ pisconet
That review was mine actually =)).
About Math II, you'll learn those things at Maths in the 11th grade, but don't worry... on the SAT they test only basic things about the "matrice" and limits;). And as ph1.89 said, it's far easier to get a 800 on the Math II than it is on the Math I.</p>
<p>=))=)) How cool is that?
And besides the SAT FRENCH score, what were your other scores?
ph1.89, what were yours? :D</p>
<p>SAT I (first sitting / second sitting) : CR - 710/730; W - 670/770; M - 770/790
SAT II : Math II - 800, Physics - 800, Biology M - 800</p>
<p>I also took the ACT - an alternative to SAT I - and scored 33/36. This test is not very well known in Romania, though (there were about 7 other kids) but that shouldn't be a problem...</p>
<p>Wow, those are some very high SAT scores. Congrats! What was your key in succeeding so well the second time round in the writing section? I myself am very afraid about the essay - college/SAT/TOEFL essays, b/c I never practiced them (never took an English class, etc) and I'm pretty insecure about my writing abilities, although i can write pretty good book analysis.</p>
<p>I got 800 on the Math II, 790 Math I, 800 French, and 2300 (750 CR 750 W 800 M) on the SAT I and 114 on the Toefl ibt.
Pisconet, you know what they say "practice makes perfect". they have some SAT writing assignments on majortests.com, you should try those and see how you fare. And more thing... it matters pretty much What you write in that essay when you're taking the actual SAT exam, but remember that it's probably the amount of time -25 minutes- which will prove a real problem:D. I suggest you write practice essays for the SAT under timed conditions. that way, you won't start to panic when you realize you have just 5 more minutes to write another argument+ the conclusion ;).</p>
<p>As in Dana's case, practice. It really pays to take lots of practice tests - preferably under timed conditions - because the SAT is a predictable test. The m-choice questions of the Writing section only test a handful of common errors, which you'll learn to identify quicker and quicker as you practice. Why I scored 100 points higher my second time, I don't know; I guess it's a combination of statistical deviations and of a relative lack of pressure ( I took the test in January, and was unsure whether X university will accept the scores )...</p>
<p>As for the essay, it's also a matter of practice; the SAT essay is not as much a creative essay as it is an argumentative one. It's pretty standard to write it in the introduction+argument 1 + argument 2 + (argument 3) + conclusion form. The essay tests your usage of language and your ability to come up w compelling arguments, so it shouldn't be a problem (but it's best to have your arguments - examples from literature, history, personal experience, etc - prepared beforehand). Even I, a pretty lousy writer, got an 8/12.</p>