Some Meandering Admissions Hindsight and Lessons Learned From a Reflecting HS Senior

Applying to College Admission Stories
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Hi all! I’ve wanted to do a post like this for a long time. But I didn’t, since I didn’t feel like I had any credibility as some random high schooler on the internet. Am I completely qualified now? No. But I hope prior experience at least helps my case. This past December, I was accepted ED to a T11 LAC (thanks for all the ties, US News…), so I hope that will provide some credibility as it’s now my turn to give back to the wise folks of CC. While I still have no clue into the inner workings of admissions (no big hooks so I’m not really a catch and I have kind of borderline everything lol and basically everyone hated my essays, maybe they hit the accept button on accident), I hope that some of my advice might help you all have a marginally less stressful experience. Organization of this post will be random, and I might tack on random things as comments if I think of anything else. Of course, this post is my opinion, feel free to follow or not follow as you so choose; figure out what works for you. My post really has to do with “top” schools, whatever that means. “Why is this needed?” you ask, when it’s a repeat of so much other advice? Who knows, I felt particularly reflective today and wanted to. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

  1. Basics. A good GPA is absolutely essential. We're talking 3.7+ UW on a 4.0 scale. If you're not at that, don't despair! I've seen people get accepted with lower, but you better have some darn good explanation for why. Or not. The latter really only seems to work if bad GPA happened early on in HS. But trust me, life will be easier for you with higher stats. And yes, this process is a crapshoot, so don't respond with "but my non-hooked friend of a friend got into [insert top school] with straight C's and 2 A's!!" Good scores are great, but if your GPA isn't up to snuff, it's probably not good. Anecdotally, I've definitely seen more people get in with bad scores/good GPA combo vs. bad GPA/great scores combo. Also, pay attention to class rank if your school calculates it; most schools take it pretty seriously. If you have a 3.9 UW, but you're 200/300, that's not fantastic. You still need tough classes to show you're challenging yourself though. A 4.0 UW with all easy courses ain't it.
  2. ECs. My ECs weren't really on the level of most of the people on the accepted threads I read for my school. I still wonder why they took me in. I guess still shoot your shot! I'm unqualified to give any advice on starting your own national organization or anything, so I'll skip it. Basically, my only advice is to find some things you like, and stick to it. Ideally, ECs will also be something you enjoy doing and aligns with your major/concentration interests. Commitment is good, whether it be for a relationship, or ECs. Definitely don't get too hooked on video games. I've seen more than a few top students ruin their prospects due to gaming too much and losing track of grades and things like that. Self-control, folks.
  3. Breaks. Don't waste your breaks. Go do something, anything. Within reason, that is. Read some books, hang out with friends, search for opportunities that interest you, study something fun (hello EdX and coursera!), volunteer, etc. Yes, not everything is about filling the stupid activities section of the Common App and do relax and take the time to enjoy what you have, but you'll want to have something to show for your breaks to show that you didn't just Netflix and eat BBQ all summer long.
  4. Appreciate the adults and friends in your life, and drop the toxic relationships. I thought I was sooooo smart and didn't take enough time to appreciate the adults advice gave. Yes, some of it can be stupid, but some people will nag you in your best interests (cough parents and teachers cough). My sophomore English teacher told me late junior year when I asked for a rec that an LAC would be the best fit; I argued and made my list all universities somewhat to annoy her. A month later, after some serious soul-searching and reading of Unigo and other such sites, I switched it over to all LACs. If I'd listened to her reasoning in the first place, I'd have wasted far less time compiling universities that I liked. My parents always tell me that I'm too "type B" to succeed lol but I appreciate them anyway. This won't apply to everyone, as not everyone is so fortunate, but from my limited sample size of CC's audience, I'm going to guess it will apply to the majority. Please please please appreciate your parents for what they do to support you, even if they can be annoying about it. Toxic friendships can take up a lot of time/toll and create negative emotions in your life. I have a couple ex-friends who literally don't talk about anything other than weight-loss, and it created a really toxic environment in my group of friends. It sounds like exaggeration, but I'm really not joking. The only way the loss affected me is that I no longer know the newest diet fads.
  5. Perspective. Appreciate the things you have. Take time to tell others you appreciate them. Take time to help a friend with their homework or something. Go out to lunch, brunch, or coffee with a friend once in a while. Take a break and do something fun. I've been a news junkie from a young age, but trust me when I say that reading the news constantly will probably make you more stressed and depressed. I limit myself to headline exposure now, and my happiness increased so much when I deleted my Twitter account because I was less aware of the latest headlines. Subscribe to theSkimm!! It'll keep you on top of most headlines, both critical and useless, and it's more than just for liberal 20-something women. The news makes everything seem like we're on the brink of an apocalypse when it's not always the case. Is it good to remain aware? Yes. But there's a limit. (P.S. this probably doesn't apply to PoliSci people.) I got into reading more and collecting antiques. I'm not the most exciting person though tbh. Do your own thing. :) Indulge in chocolate. Whatever. The college app process is hard, and it can create enmity between friends if you're not careful, because it really does/can bring out the worst in some people. Remember, the college you end up at is not the end-all, be-all for your life. If things don't work out the first time around, transfers and grad school are always there.
  6. Opportunities. No, just because you got rejected from the most competitive internship/summer program/position ever does not mean that life is over for you. Some opportunities aren't broadcasted. Talk to people in your areas of interest, and you never know what opportunities could arise or what things you could learn. I've never had a good experience personally with cold-calling or anything, as far as actually nabbing a position goes, but I've learned a lot about the fields I'm interested in from very qualified people in those fields.
  7. Testing. If I could re-do this process, I would definitely finish all misc. tests (SAT/ACT/Subject tests) BEFORE the start of senior year. Trust me, you do not want to be the senior who has testing AND a crap ton of homework AND essays to do. Don't be me. Aim for 700+ on subject tests, but know that if you don't hit that, it's not a dealbreaker necessarily. Just don't submit it. Although I did get in with a relatively sad Chem subject test score, %-ile wise. I submitted one 3 on an AP test and opted to not include a different 3 for a self-studied test (no, self-studying for micro right after stats during an all-nighter does not work, from my limited experience), but my scores were mostly 4s. So know it's fine to not have entirely 5s.

Random bit: James Clear’s article (https://jamesclear.com /luck-vs-hard-work) on luck vs. hard work is really helpful for a bit of perspective/guidance as well. I’d certainly never really thought about the term “Ovarian lottery” prior. Among other things.

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  1. Contrarian/somewhat unpopular advice. Don't visit every school on your list. I visited so many schools, too many, and with every visit, I felt somewhat less certain of what I wanted and my ideals slipping away. Not only was it a big waste of my time, but also my parents' time and money. I felt like I fit in at all of them, but that could just be due to the fact that I'd done my research beforehand. I would suggest only visiting a handful of schools that you hold closest to your heart/highest priority. I would also suggest taking notes on visits, because the schools will start to blend together, no matter their differences on paper. And try to talk to people outside of the tour guide. You know yourself best, and while it's good to give yourself lots of options, schools are very good at marketing themselves to conceal negative aspects. Unigo, Niche, and current students can help combat an overly rosy picture, as will CC. If it's possible to arrange, I also suggest visiting when a class visit can be arranged. When I was able to do class visits, I found them helpful for more than lecture information. I looked for student attentiveness, preparedness, and participation, professor enthusiasm, quality of teaching, etc. Professors are also generally very open to speaking with prospies, but if they aren't, that's something of a possible warning sign. If a professor literally invites you to stay to speak with them and asks if you have any questions, it's a really good sign. Ofc, this will sometimes just be luck of the draw.
  2. Essays. Life will be 100x (not mathematically proven) easier if you make a plan for the essays and do them ahead of time. My first early deadline was 11/1. Guess who did all their essays the day of, while sobbing about how it would've been better to plan ahead, wracking their brain for memories to string together to write about while eating too much chocolate and probably causing some brain crash. Yep, this girl. I did every single essay the day of, and I got lucky that everything worked out. Obviously with the limited spots, not everyone gets lucky. So don't procrastinate. Easier said than done, but you all got this!! Have some people review it, or if you're too self-conscious or too close to the deadline (lol), give 'er a wring through Grammarly or Crio (I prefer the latter).
  3. Finances, and not setting your heart on one school. AKA, slow your roll, kid. If your parents are going to be contributing to your college education, it's best to have that talk early on about what they can afford, and what they are willing to shell out. I had my heart set on several different schools before talking to my parents and they didn't agree. I've come to love my current school, but I could've avoided heartbreak by not getting too invested in my other options. I've also seen examples of people who've been accepted to their dream schools, and then unable to attend due to parents not willing to pay. So have that talk ahead of time, and don't get ahead of yourself. Also, if finances are a priority for you, make CERTAIN that you do well on the PSAT. Many great schools offer a lot of money for getting NMF, and even if the school you end up at doesn't give any money, National Merit Foundation still provides a $2.5k annual one, I think. That's probably my biggest regret: missing qualifying for NMF by like 2 questions. I wouldn't have had to burden my family and could've made money attending UCF and graduated earlier with my AP and dual enrollment credits.
  4. Early decision and early action. If you have the financial stability to ED somewhere you love, I highly recommend that you go for it, if you can perfect your application in time. It's so much better to know ahead of time. EA I definitely recommend if you finish your application on time because you find out earlier as well and it's not binding.
  5. Look beyond the rankings. For great safety/match/reach (depending on who you are, I expect that for most readers of this post, the schools will be safeties) options at small LACs, look into Lauren Pope's book, "Colleges That Change Lives". Some of the pictures Pope paints are too rosy, imo, but if you look hard enough, I can all but guarantee that there's a school that you'd at least somewhat like in there. Outside of Pope's book, some schools aren't ranked high nationally, but are very well known in their respective fields. Or they have special things about them. For example, Reed chooses to not play the "US News game", and has thus been penalized with garbage ranks. But they have a nuclear reactor on campus that undergraduates can work at. Ofc, keep in mind that the atmosphere at Reed is for a certain person, and it never vibed with me or a lot of other people. Just do your research, I suppose.
  6. C'est la vie, or AKA sometimes it do be like that. Again, college admissions is a crapshoot and not a completely fair process. As some CC user commented in the past, we all love Cinderella stories precisely because they're miraculous and rare. Your admissions story may not turn out the way you want. You might've done everything in your power right, and get rejected regardless. But you know what? Go make the best of it anyway. "But mic347, that's easy to say when you know you're going to one of the finest institutions in the world!" Yes, yes, hindsight 20/20 and bias and whatnot. But I do mean it. You're going to be fine, because if you're reading this, you're probably amazing in your own right anyway/ahead of the game.

Best of luck future classes!

If you read all the way through, I hope this was helpful! And if not, go figure. It’s what I would’ve done, after all :’)

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Whew, that was a mouthful! I didn’t even realize CC had a character limit before.

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  1. Stay calm after submission of applications. There is really no reason to be neurotic after you've submitted everything. It's out of your control and all you can do then is pray and cross your fingers and hope. I helped some friends with keeping on top of things/confidence/editing/what-have-you throughout the process and some of them are getting really anxious and antsy after they submitted. The only things you should be worried about after submission that's college related is your grades and your behavior tbh. Wouldn't want to get rescinded now, would we? ;)
  2. Social media smarts. Social media is always a mixed bag, isn't it? Anyway, keep yourself private. Be smart about what you do and don't post photos of yourself or others doing something stupid. Ever. At a Hamilton College information session, there was somewhat of an awkward silence when someone asked if they ever looked at applicant's social media profiles. The admissions rep replied with some variation of "No, we generally don't have time to. BUT. If someone tells us it's a cause for concern [as in admissions is notified], we will check it out sometimes." Let's take the lesson from the small group rescinded from Harvard. It pays to be smart about what you say. And no, don't give me some BS free speech argument. I don't care. Just be wise, m'kay?
  3. Know what's out there. For people with professional interests right off the get-go, there's some really cool options out there that not that many people (speaking relatively) know about. Right off the top of my head, I can think of mainly BS/MDs and special undergraduate programs for people interested in finance, among other things. BA/BS/MDs, if you're interested, are a whole 'nother field basically, and that's out of my pay grade, so to speak. I looked into them, but my ECs weren't focused enough and I'm still very open to exploring other interests atm. In the same vein as BS/MDs are BS/DOs, which I've heard are much less recommended since if you can get into a BS/DO now, you could probably do better later. There's also BS/DDS programs, and maybe also BS/PharmDs I think. For finance and maybe PoliSci people, Penn has the Huntsman program, NYU has the BSP program and the BPE program, and USC has the WBB program. For people who are interested in both finance and engineering, Penn also has the Jerome Fisher M&T Program (dual degree, I believe). Not finance, but Penn also has the Vagelos Program which is very cool. That's just all off the top of my head. I didn't even apply to (nor did I plan to ever) Penn, but they have a ton of cool programs lol. There's undoubtedly many more at many schools that I'm not recalling atm. For people interested in engineering but didn't get into your top choice engineering school the first time around: 3/2 programs are a thing at some great schools. 3 years are usually first spent getting a BA/BS at a smaller college before transferring to a different school for 2 years to get a Bachelor's in Engineering. Pros and cons are involved, as in anything else, but just know your options.
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Thanks for all your advice and information! And congrats on getting in ED. Enjoy the rest of your senior year.

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I agree mostly with all that said, but I would say prospective freshman/soph-juniors, pay ATTENTION to your transcript. Make sure it demonstrates your commitment and tenacity. Chooss interesting and and rigorous classes that you will enjoy, and do well on.

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I can’t stress that enough

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Never lose sight of going to a great school for you. Hold yourself to a high standard and set goals. I highly recommend finding ECs that you like and can get a leadership opportunity in. Don’t procrastinate in your standardized testing. Always try your best and look for ways to improve. Trust me, the feeling of getting into your top school makes all your work feel worth it. And above all else, taking everything you hear and read with a grain of salt. You’ll need it.