<p>I'm officially a rising senior (my last day of school was today :D). I finally had that meeting with my parents and guidance counselor that was supposed to happen 3 months ago. Just as a note, this guidance counselor said my friend with an SAT score below mine and a GPA/rank about the same as mine would get into Yale SCEA. She did. She was the ONLY one who got in, including applicants like the valedictorian and a very intelligent girl who is similar to the applicant who got in academic and EC wise, but is part native american and part black. My friend has the right PERSONALITY for Yale.</p>
<p>I'm going to start off with a bit about myself...
*I have a VERY high GPA (top 2-3% ish in a very good school district, silver USNWR if that means anything and it probably sends 20-30 kids to Ivies per year)
* I will have 10 AP classes before I graduate, the average "most rigorous" box is 8, so higher but it's not like I've taken 20 or anything even close to get Siemens AP scholar or anything like that
* I have a "low" SAT score (not low as in super low, but between 2000 and 2100 so low for the Ivies)
* I did research in a lab last summer and plan to do it again this summer
* I participate in Columbia SHP on Saturdays, along with a plethora of other science-related EC's through school
* I have been through some very tragic events throughout my years, but you wouldn't know it unless I told you. I have never seen a psychologist (except my dad :P but not as a patient... says something about my outlook on life I guess... my GC knows about all of this stuff in detail).</p>
<p>Now for what my guidance counselor told me...
* My guidance counselor said I will get into 95% of the schools I apply to (assuming I do everything he told me to do based on how I am as a person)
* I shouldn't leave ANY schools off of my list and should aim for the Ivies (not that they are the end all and be all)
* He says if I get into Harvard, I would be prepared to do well there even though I am by no means close to a USAMO finalist or anything like that.</p>
<p>His reasoning as to why I should do so well in admissions and what outlook I should have while writing these applications
* Write your essays and go through your interview not thinking "please accept me," but thinking "you HAVE to accept me. I will be a great asset to the school because this is what I have to offer..." (this is probably one of the most important things to convey in your application)
* I take all opportunities that are handed to me/ I am able to get (I know many of you CC'ers do this too). However, the important thing is that you do this BECAUSE YOU WANT TO, not to build your resume. My school is notorious for having students who do things like "research one summer and building houses in Uganda the next."
- My guidance counselor said I'm different from others because he knows I do things because I want to and love to get involved. I will NOT become another one of those students who "goes to classes then drinks the night away."
- Remember the school wants YOU to make THEM look better. It's not ALL about your education (although I know we'd like to think it is... and I'm sure it's still a large portion of things but it's not EVERYTHING at these types of universities). It's about how you will take advantage of the university's resources. It's sort of like "mutualism" in biology. You need them for an education, and they need you to help them look good.
* I do the work that is handed to me and don't complain.
- I got a detention for a somewhat silly reason in school. My guidance counselor offered to override it. I said no. (Also, in this case I DEFINITELY believe in karma because the detention office still hasn't returned that detention slip... and school ended today).
- I don't complain about teachers, but I DO vent to him sometimes. Being able to talk to your GC is SOOO important (I cannot stress the importance enough). As he says it, I "whine" to him :P</p>
<p>Some other things I have gathered through the years and through this site...
* Do things because you LOVE them. While most people don't want to believe this, colleges CAN see through BS.
* Have a relationship with your GC. This is SO SO SO SO important. CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!! My guidance counselor says he only checks off "one of the best I have ever encountered" boxes for 1-2 students every year. He says I will most likely get half of the categories in this box and the other half in the top 5%. My GC knows me very well since I talked to him a lot (like 1-2 times a week) when deciding how to work out my junior year schedule from around January to April of sophomore year. My friend that I mentioned in the beginning probably has an even closer relationship with my/her GC (we have the same one) as I do.
* Show your teachers and admissions officers that you have a passion. Potential means NOTHING if they don't think you will use it in their school.</p>
<p>Theres probably more that I wanted to add but forgot about since my parents took me out for ice cream after the conference :) since they were so happy. I must get on to studying for my finals. Feel free to add/criticize. This is only one junior's opinion at 10:00 the night before a final so there is obviously much to be added/improved on. Props to you if you actually read all of this.</p>
<p>I guess no one cares about my GC’s advice. That’s okay I’ll just keep it all to myself :-P. I’m really not even sure if it will help you but my GC seems to think this will help a lot/is what I’m doing right and he’s had some great results in the past.</p>
<p>60 views and not a single post (other than mine)! Idk if that’s good or bad.</p>
<p>I thought your GC’s advice was interesting! It could be very helpful advice for someone in a large school who doesn’t have a good GC.</p>
<p>You are fortunate; not every GC is available to get to know. My children’s GC in a small private school is great and makes herself available–but a friend whose son is in a well-regarded public school asked for an appointment for her and her son to discuss his schedule, and was turned down because “he is doing fine.” Their GC has hundreds of students.</p>
<p>Thank you for sharing, and congratulations on being a rising senior!</p>
<p>Thank you :). My school is around 1500 kids I’d say, so approx 350 per GC. Not a HUGE number but not tiny. I will say that there are many kids my GC does NOT know if that makes a difference. Even in many large schools, if you make the effort I don’t think your GC will say no.</p>
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nevermind I reread your post… I think that’s absolutely horrible considering ALL teenagers need guidance, even the Intel finalists.</p>
<p>Your GC rec is probably the least important one. It’s nice that you have that kind of relationship though.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting, as I think many readers will pull info from your post without responding – as is the case when posters aren’t asking a question, but just relaying information. Much appreciated and best of luck with your apps! You’ll end up in the perfect school for you!!</p>
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<p>This is probably what makes your advice somewhat irrelevant for most CCers. If you go to a school like Bronxville or Scarsdale, you’re already have a huge leg up in the admissions process. Your GC has relationships with schools and an intimate, insiders knowledge of how admissions works for kids from your school. For others from less privledged schools, we need to be very, very highly ranked (most likely val/sal) as well as extradinarily accomplished EC-wise (not just passionate) and with tippy-top SATs to get into these schools. We have to prove the quality of our education, because colleges have no idea the quality of education we’re getting at our schools (unlike at schools with established connections with elite colleges). And, often, it is only the hooked applicants (minorities, athletes, kids with obscure interests) who get spots at top schools.</p>
<p>Well I feel like the thing about GC recs is that they’re the easiest opportunity to stand out. Because SOO many guidance counselors don’t really know their kids, when that guidance counselor who rarely checks off anything other than “good” and “top 5%” checks off “one of the top few I’ve ever encountered,” it definitely turns some heads. I guess my sample pool is really small since there is only one girl in the pool who I know a lot about XD.</p>
<p>Congrats on Yale TheAscendancy, maybe you’ll see my friend :)</p>
<p>glassesarechic, I think you mean more like least relevant for the “average person.” If you look at the number of “Chance me” threads that say “competitive top public school” or “top private school,” it does make the advice more relevant. No, it doesn’t apply to a lot of CC’ers, but I think it does apply to a very sizable portion of them.</p>
<p>keep the advice/criticism going! It helps both me and my fellow CC’ers applying to colleges soon.</p>
<p>" friend whose son is in a well-regarded public school asked for an appointment for her and her son to discuss his schedule, and was turned down because “he is doing fine.” Their GC has hundreds of students."</p>
<p>It’s true that all students – including high achievers – need GCs. But if GCs have hundreds of students, the GCs have to help the ones who most need help, and those are ones who are in danger of flunking out of high school or are homeless or have other serious problems.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, I know. I wasn’t saying that they didn’t do it because they didn’t want to. I just think it’s a shame that in some schools they lack the resources to have GCs who can help everyone. I guess I never realized how lucky I am. This site has always made me feel so… not-confident but I’m starting to realize I’m in a MUCH better position than so many other applicants, even on this site. A lot of my advantages are not even a result of what I have done. It’s what’s been offered to me/ I’ve been helped with as well.</p>
<p>Rainbowrose, I hear where you’re coming from.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize how hard some kids have it – and the kind of work some GCs have to do – until I was asking why my sons’ magnet high school didn’t provide any real PSAT prep info for students even though in our state all students have to take the PSAT while in high school. The principal told me that the main problem at the school was not low scores on the PSAT or SAT but the fact that many students wouldn’t be able to graduate high school due to not being able to pass the state-mandated diploma qualification exams – exams that my sons thought were so easy that sons’ were disappointed if any of their scores were below the 95th percentile.</p>
<p>The principal also told me that the GCs were having to deal with students who missed school due to being homeless or being in jail.</p>
<p>Virtually all of the students in my sons’ magnet program went to college. The same was true of the public high school that I had gone to. I had never imagined that GCs would have had to deal with the kind of problems that the principal told me about.</p>