<p>i don't think you are..it's not length, it's quality.</p>
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why am i under the impression that TA wants you to write about a conflict that relates to ... other people?
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<p>Mine was pretty self-centered. I wrote about overcoming my fear of public speaking. Just make sure it's significant to you, and speak genuinely about your experiences. =)</p>
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<li>06 tasper</li>
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<p>I'm learning like papercrane, but i wish we would have learned at least some of it in germany ( Where the clock is going to strike 4 am in 5 minutes :-) )
But i'm really having fun with the future plans and education essay as it leaves you much more freedom than the crit analysis.
My internal conflict is how i was a shoplifter once to impress myself and friends and later felt ashamed and tried to make it up, therefore an internal conflict
devil (right shoulder): HAHA it was just a small item, they take shoplifting into account in their profit calculations so you did damage to nobody...
angel ( left shoulder ): I never thought you would become criminal, the items prize does not matter, be ashamed......
a bit freaky i know</p>
<p>I really wonder who's applying to tasp for the programme and not because it looks nice on college apps. At least this thread is not as neurotic as the RSI 2008
Im not american so i probably do not understand the whole issue but on this side you'r a nobody without 2400 sat, 4.0 GPA, awards.....
And all your ECs did you do them for the same cause? Is your whole life spining around school as it relates to college admission?
The complete " leadership " thing is so obscure, leadership clubs, conventions, awards. While i realize that it's fair to honour academic or community achievements, that does not make you a leader, did Bonhoeffer, Walesa or Brandt were members of some sort of leadership club in highschool?
I'm for example the youngest recipient of huge research funding scholarship from europes largest research foundation and working as an employed materials science researcher, I'm number 1 in class getting quiet solid grades, my teachers think I'm a genius, but I still can't stick with the same girlfriend for more than 2 month,I write research articles with my prof or postdocs that might get published while being unable to express my love to my girlfriend in adequate words, procrastinate, daydream, nearly run over cats and traffic signs at driving lessons, can't do sports and my music talent reduces down to blowing a whistle.... suck at life..
So now you can judge what's most important</p>
<p>Just my 5 cents
good mooooorning^^</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>well i think the first thing you have to realize is that you are on a forum... and this forum is NO WHERE NEAR reality. most of these kids are REALLY, really intense, academically and socially. so... unfortunately, you're not getting a good sampling of the american student population :/ </p>
<p>i'm not sure how the majority of the student population appears to others, but most of our lives don't revolve around college admissions. most people seem to realize that there is a lot more to your high school experience.</p>
<p>on the contrary though, college admissions is .. a major root of stress and anxiety (i'm assuming it is there too though, so..). and yeah, there are probably people who "play up" their lives and try to mold themselves into the whatever they have preconcieved as the "ideal college candidate." but like i said, a lot of what you see here is from intensely passionate people - all those awards and stuff are due to their honest work. they are just receiving the recognition they deserve.</p>
<p>oh and lastly, not everyone is a 2400/36 scoring 4.0 GPA student. in actuality, there are very few. but not having those stats doesn't make you a nobody.. what you do with your life is what makes you what you are. and from reading what you've wrote, you are definitely not a nobody. i see an intelligent guy who has a very strong interest in research.. and is good at it too. oh and it's okay, unfortunately i have major problems with the girls here too loool.</p>
<p>it's not primarily about grades for tasp..... just work on your essays.</p>
<p>I probably sounded as if i was freaking out but this site really makes you... , i catch myself reading chances and final result threads and thinking " HA ! I'm better than him/her " or " Wow he/she is so much better than me, i have to work harder...."
My post was ment more sarcasticlly. I just hope we ( germany and us ) don't get the same problems like china and korea where students jump of buildings because of not getting into certain universities
I'm just happy to apply to TASP and to hopefully end up with a dozen of amazing people this summer. That's the good thing about TASP, no college credit, no grades. But anyways lets get back to our tasp essays and apps
Finishing my app will be a challenge, my teachers are not used to writing recommendations of any kind and i somwhow have to get my transcript before the official date because we only get semester transcripts</p>
<p>Henn G., isn't there somewhat less academic pressure in Germany? I thought that Germans are very disciplined in schoolwork, but it seems that they don't place as much emphasis on extracurricular activities/leadership-- that is, you can get into a very good college on grades. I have a friend who lives in Germany, and he wants to go to Humboldt (something like that) ... and he doesn't have any extracurriculars at all. It's a different system... right? Do you want to go to a US university? US colleges like leadership because ... dunno, it's just an american value... individualism, creativity, educated questioning of authority... all that...for many colleges, a 2400 isnt everything.</p>
<p>Yes papercrane there is less pressure i think. First of all, only 25-30% of your entire grade earn the degree it takes to attend an university in gerneral, so simply having the Abitur ( after 13 years, now 12, good luck to those 2 grades that do the abitur at the same time for getting into college ._. ) sets you apart from the majority
Furthermore your right that german universities don't care about your ec's, only your abitur transcript matters to them. In addition there is really no elite german university ( maybe except the WHU Valendar for business ) or an university that has similar entrance requirements to the Ivies or Oxbridge. Most of the time, applying means sending in your transcript and if your gpa is not completely messed up ( >2.0 ! or even less ) you'r in EXCEPT for medicine for which one needs 4.0-3.7. Having these final grades is amazing in germany, our grades are normally harder, not to put down the US system I experienced during my exchange student year and which has some major advantages, but having a 3.0 average on the 4.0 scale ( having a good or grade 2 in every class in germany) already is a good result and often places you in the top decile or at least 20% of cour class and gets you into all university courses ( but again not medicine) Therefore competetion is not that fierce, but its slowly changing a bit. Our university system has a good broad standart where you don't have the huge gap Community C.or local university - Ivy league, MIT, Caltech....
but its lacking real elite universities and i know a few friends of mine who desperately try to get into Imperial college or oxbridge because they worked so hard during highschool, but if one wants to do engineering in Germany your stuck in the same overcrowded rooms as those who hardly passed the Abitur.
Next your right on the leadership, it only matters for scholarships awarded by the different parties ( social democrat, socialist, con., greens,liberals ), unions or even churches. The most prestigious ( and the only foundation that pays for foreign undergrad courses) is the foundation of the german people, but its only academic merrit, you have to be nominated by your principal, or be the winner of a big competition ( IMO, IPhO...)
Ironically they started grading your social behaviour on your official transcripts, how you interact in a group, whether you beat up others ^^
In general school is much more boring and focused on learning while sports and everything else is done in local clubs. Sadly we lag the american pragmatism concerning community service. We on average pay 51% of our income to the state (taxes, social security, older peoples rents, health care for everybody, tons of subsidies....) and as a result or motto is " I payed, I'm done". A few peers and I started a free tutoring programm for those students that need but can't afford private tutoring, you can't imagine how much stones are thrown in your way...</p>
<p>Hehe, just to be defiant, people jump off buildings in England, America, Canada, etc. because they didn't get into certain universities. It's a problem the world over, although admittedly concentrated in certain areas where education is emphasized much more. </p>
<p>My future plans essay is my shortest one. It's so vague...and full of fluff, even if it is philosophical fluff. :( And how much in depth do we need to discuss each of the seminars?</p>
<p>henn G., have you ever visited the states (and if so, where)?</p>
<p>Is it important to have some sort of philisophical issue or discurse in your essay?
I do not have any Philosphy in school, only protestant religion and I'm not into it that much. My future plan essay is 1 1/4 single spaced. If anybody wants to exchange essays for a short comment go ahead and pm me. Being a non native, I probably need more feedback than you do ;-)</p>
<p>Yes i've been an exchange student for a year and a senior at an american highschool in north central Pennsylvania</p>
<p>my future plans one is sort of corny and disjoined because i have many reasons for why i want to do what i want to do. ....
and yeah, i've heard that the grades are much harder to get in Germany than here.... and also that they grade you on class participation now. My friend is very quiet, so although his exam grades are really high, his participation grade brings it down to just about an average grade or something like that.
oh, and I'm under the impression that germans are much, much better at English than Americans are at German (or any other foreign language)... it feels like practically everybody in Germany knows at least some English.</p>
<p>^ Haha so true. In Nordic countries, for example, they at least try to learn English...but the hordes of American tourists, on the most part, can only say "hi" and "bye" (though there are always exceptions)</p>
<p>*Edit: Exceptions exist to any rule</p>
<p>Hm learning english is a requirement in school, but the way they teach might enable you to answer certain grammar or text related questions while most students are still unable to make a real conversation. Nevertheless i wonder why you learn german instead of french or spanish, it's probably not easy to learn and the countries where german is an official language reduce down to germany, austria and parts of switzerland, although both don't like us that much ;-)
In junior and senior year class participation makes up 50% of your overall grade, so especially ( often female ) quiet but very able students end up getting standart grades. There can not be a perfect grading system anyways.
Does anybody of you watch simpsons and know the eposiode where bart becomes fat and has to attend a weight loss drill camp over the summer and in order to pay for it homer opens a youth hostel crowded with german backpackers for whom he has to sing 99 redballons, serve beer, sausages and pretzels? Stereotypes are funny as long as you don't take them seriously and can laugh about you own culture :-)</p>
<p>I hope my future plans essay is not focused to much on what influenced my plan ,my introduction is a bit weird too. Its mainly how i inherited some of the ultra conversative attitudes of my parents ( get save, respectable well paying job, house in suburbia, wife, raise 2 children, done with life) while being influenced by my experiences of liberal university life (political activism, traveling, parties, music, alcohol...)</p>
<p>good night</p>
<p>Are any of you eager applicants from the BC/Washington region?</p>
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In junior and senior year class participation makes up 50% of your overall grade, so especially ( often female ) quiet but very able students end up getting standart grades.
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<p>Soooo true :D</p>
<p>how did you guys format essay #5 (seminar preferences)? just a list and brief explanation on which you liked more?</p>
<p>Gah, who else is not making headway on their essays?</p>