SCEA: Helping Me Decide

College Search & Selection
41

“how you did in life in general in relation to your personal contexts”
No. I said how you exceeded (not just schoolwork,) how you triumphed despite limitations. That’s not an easy bar, not just that you filled time. The surf stuff is not a tip. Adcoms aren’t looking for kids who surf, mow the lawn, walk the neighbor’s dog. 50 degree water isn’t a tip.

You aren’t the first poster who lives remote. certainly not the first international applicant. How many of those kids overcame everything, without educated parents or enough food on the table, etc, is remarkable. That’s determination and deep “leaning in.”

42

@Nocreativity1 You made an incredibly unfair character description of myself after ignoring the clarifications I’ve made to the argument. If your purpose is to destroy mine, then you’ve definitely succeeded.

@lookingforward

My issue here is that I pretty much agree with your responses… I just don’t think of myself and my situation the same way you do. I think we can chalk this one up to a bunch of tiny misunderstandings that are bound to occur during online discussions with multiple people over multiple days. I don’t really care about getting into tippy-tops, it’s just a dream that I have nothing to lose to pursuit. I don’t think I am better than a lot of applicants, it’s just reached the point where I can’t do a lot of the stuff you’re suggesting. I do want to improve my application and I am willing to do stuff that I don’t want to (summer school and volunteering today, as an example), but I don’t know what I should be doing here.

Just to clarify a few statements:

“You find sound bites, like “personal context” and seem to stop reading.”
This thread was supposed to be solely on personal context, so I wanted to have that as the primary discussion point. We’ve shared thousands of words over other topics, so I didn’t want to stray far from that.

“why I think I have what it takes.” But you aren’t focused on what that truly is.
This was a quote referring what I originally said in response to your original comment. I realized that I was in the wrong here and I agree with you now. You are correct that I am not focused on what it takes for most people to get into college. The reason for this is because I can’t become that. It’s past the point where I can take 4 FL credits, pursuit a passion for years on end or anything like that. I need something for the next few months and at the lake. I’m not really concerned with anything else because it won’t really help me.

“But you also proclaimed those kids are fake, just do things for their apps, etc.
That’s what it does take”

I do not think those people (who get in) are fake. I said some people do fake things or have a pretty fake application. I think that it’s pretty easy to see through an application that is trying to check all of the boxes. That might work for some, but I just disagree with it. If that is what it takes, then I can accept that. It just isn’t for me at that point. I am willing to do stuff I don’t like and stuff that I can put a lot of effort into, but I will remind you that I will not go to the city.

“There are kids who strive in every way, bus over an hour to school or an activity. They “lean in.” I’m not suggesting you have bus service, dont latch onto that. But they show more determination and follow through.”

Fair enough. But to put things into perspective here, I’m not looking for everything I can do to get into Stanford. If I got into a tippy top then I would be absolutely shocked and probably faint. This thread has an incredible focus on Stanford because I originally posted it in the Stanford forum with the hopes that someone could tell me about the SCEA process, then somebody moved it for some reason.

I’m looking to maybe ED and get into something like Northeastern, Vanderbilt, USC (doesn’t offer, ik), Boston College, Amherst College, or something like that.

43

MODERATOR’S NOTE:

The thread was moved because the question, as asked in the initial post, does not warrant it being in the Stanford forum. A question belonging in the Stanford forum would be along the lines of “Should I REA to Stanford?” listing pros and cons for Stanford. When you start discussing Brown, Penn, etc., then it goes into College Search & Selection.

Also, not meaning to be picky, but for any college, particularly one to which one applies early, one should understand the college and know at least some of their basic, and often unique, lingo. Harvard, Yale, and Princeton have SCEA; Stanford has REA. It’s a very subtle distinction, but one that the Stanford folks will pick up on.

44

@skieurope Fair enough. Looks like that was my fault more than yours- sorry. I had the intention of making it more Stanford focused, but it definitely didn’t come out like that.

Noted. I haven’t looked much at any of the SCEA/ED/REA options yet (waiting till I do my tours later this month). I’ll definitely get those definitions under lock.

45

“I think that it’s pretty easy to see through an application that is trying to check all of the boxes.”

Well, that’s what adcoms at top colleges do. They look for the right coverage in the various boxes. And the kids most appropriate for tippy tops have no trouble covering all the bases, no matter their starting point (incl poverty, location, first gen, etc.) Plenty with top grades, don’t have the full picture, but those kids rarely make it even to finalist or semi, much less get the nod.

Right, you’re going on visits- but including these uber reaches, right? Taking the time for, say, Amherst, but missing other fine- and exciting and feasible- colleges along the way.

The bottom line is this: I believe you did (and do) have opportunities you either missed (because you’re not aware?) or are disdaining, don’t want to make that sort of effort. You don’t want to leave the lake, you feel x or y is a hassle, you think your back story tops things like some regional program, and more.

What are your AP scores? Can you remind us of your SAT or ACT?

46

@lookingforward

Fair enough. I don’t know what kind of angle I was going with there. I’m sure I had some kind of line of thinking behind that but if I did, I forgot it.

I’m actually touring a bunch of different schools in the area. I tried to have a complete disregard for academics/prestige, but rather focus on a bunch of different schools that could show me what I like and what I don’t. I don’t want to list them all for obvious reasons, but the tour includes Amherst College, Brown, and Dartmouth, yes, but also schools like UMass Amherst and likely some like Clarkson in Vermont. (any suggestions for east coast visits? there is still time to change if there are some others that you recommend from Providence to Vermont)

“The bottom line is this: I believe you did (and do) have opportunities you either missed (because you’re not aware?) or are disdaining, don’t want to make that sort of effort. You don’t want to leave the lake, you feel x or y is a hassle, you think your back story tops things like some regional program, and more.”

Yeah, I can agree with that. I didn’t plan on applying to top schools until this year, so I missed a lot of opportunities there. If I do have opportunities right now (please exclude city-activities, I’ve explored that option and it’s just not going to happen), I would love to hear them.

I was seeking clarification on why my activities and story would top something like a regional program-- I have no clue what that is, to be honest. I think ‘hassle’ is pretty rough. I would have to force my family to move back to the city (right now, I’m still open to something in the fall, maybe) and only go up to the lake on the weekends. That is not something I am prepared to do, and the alternatives aren’t really there. I know you might suggest that I could live alone and take the bus to internships while they live at the lake, but for a reason that I can’t discuss, that isn’t possible.

I’m glad we’ve reached this point. If you are willing, I would love to hear any suggestions for me to do something in my community that could help out my application. Not necessarily get it to the HYPS level, but improve it nonetheless.

After I come back from my tour and have a decent understanding of what I like and don’t like in a school, I would really appreciate your help with making a list that has appropriate matches, safeties, reaches, and dreams.

47

Sorry, I forgot to add:

I didn’t take AP exams. I hate to give more excuses, but I specifically asked my guidance counselor multiple times if there was any reason for me to AP Exams apart from course credit, and they clearly said there wasn’t. I should have sought out some outside sources, but I obviously didn’t do that.

My ACT is 32 with writing. I said 33 in a few other threads accidentally (I thought I had a 33 for a long time and now it’s just habit). I want to take SAT Subject tests this fall. My math and science skills are nowhere near my English/Humanities, so I’m not too confident apart from my literature test. Math 2 will be rough for me, but I’ll study really hard leading up to it.