Things I Wish I Knew

Applying to College Admission Stories
1

As college decisions are slowly churning out college-by-college, dreams are being crushed and life goals are being achieved. I, in addition to the droves of other students waiting patiently for decisions, am anxiously waiting for acceptance letters-- finding the need to let go of the “what-if’s,” but I have decided to share my mistakes and tips for the benefit of future college applicants.

Coming from a large public school in the Southwest, I was just a number in the student body of over 4,000. It was hard to stand out. It was hard to find a niche. It was to not just be an Average Joe. I was always geared toward the honors and AP track coming into high school, however, I learned within the first semester of school that there would always be students who got better grades, who were more athletic, and who “did-it-all.” I realized that I didn’t need to work towards the “ideal” student; I just needed to excel in the things I loved.

  1. Never become involved in anything you truly do not like.

It speaks wonders about an applicant who writes about his/her passion and it truly shows when the Adcom is reading it. Extracurriculars play an ENORMOUS role in admission decisions, they are often underestimated so if possible, get involved, start a club, find things you love from day 1. (If you cant, it is never too late to get involved)

  1. SAT and ACT are not a test of intelligence. They are tests of how well you can study material.

A sleep-deprived freshman Azxcstudent woke up on a random Saturday to take the ACT- I got a 22. If you are trying to get into top colleges, it is a general rule of thumb that a 31+ is needed to be competitive, the higher the better. I didn’t realize as a freshman that this score would mean so much but come junior year, I sat down and cranked out over 400+ hours of studying for the ACT- I got a 33. Drastic score improvements are always a possibility with enough practice tests. (I took about 20 and I made sure to take them proactively aka learning with each question and how it is worded)

  1. SAT and ACT are meant for different students, don't be afraid to try both.

I have friends who scored in the 1900 range for the SAT but got a 35 on ACT with no additional studying. Try both and see which one you like better.

  1. Take the most difficult courses possible.

Graduating with 14 AP Tests taken, I always took the most challenging courses, even if I needed to get a B. B’s in AP Classes are more impressive than an A in on-level or even honors classes.

  1. Essays. Essays. Essays.

I cannot stress how important these are. College admissions values very high writing ability so spend the time writing each essay with a clear message, clear voice and clear “take-away” that will make the essay memorable I spent over 100+ hours tuning my essays with purposeful humor and wit that I hope (fingers-crossed) will put me into the “YES” pile. Make sure to have a trusted, advanced writer read your essays. I had a former teammate who is a PolySci major at Yale edit my main common app essay and his editing helped immensely.

  1. Upward Trend in GPA.

Unfortunately,I was didn’t have the foresight freshman year to realize that getting a 3.0 GPA all of freshman year isn’t going to help me with college admissions, but it most certainly matters. The quicker that a student realizes that GPA is very important, the better. I realized this sophomore year and ending up improving my GPA drastically to a 3.72 UW and 4.5 W by senior year, which will allow me to not become an “auto-reject.”

  1. Never sell yourself short.

Too often a new CC user becomes intimidated by the students with 2500 SAT and 4.4 UW GPA robots that dissuade individuals from applying to top schools. Never let these stats intimidate you. If your scores are within an acceptable range for a college, don’t be afraid to apply. IT IS BETTER TO APPLY AND GET REJECTED THAN TO NOT APPLY AT ALL. For example, if you have a 31+ ACT and 3.7+ GPA, no school to too selective for you-- many students get accepted to top schools with these stats.

  1. As the decisions date approaches, expect the worst.

Expect the worst. Colleges admissions can sometimes be unpredictable and it is better to be expecting a rejection and be surprised by an acceptance than vice versa. Half of an admissions decision is asking: is this applicant qualified to go to our school? The other half is: is he/she a match? The latter half often gets overlooked, if I college doesn’t believe a student will fit in, it is better to accept this fact that to get stuck in the minutia of an application; it is better to get a rejection from a school where a student wouldn’t fit in than to get accepted and need to transfer after a year.

I hope that other CC users will add to this list so that a helpful resource can be compiled for future applicants. Best of luck with your college search and may the odds be ever in your favor.

2

Thank you.
Can you state where you applied, if you needed financial aid, etc?

*This should be placed in “Hindsights and Lessons Learned”.

3

I applied to ASU Barrett (accepted, full ride merit), WashU (accepted), UChicago (waitlisted), Rice(waiting), Princeton(waiting), Yale (waiting), Stanford (waiting), MIT (rejected).
I have no demonstrated need-based financial aid.

4

Did your parents say they were willing to pay full freight at WashU? (just check because some parents have been posting how they’re “reconsidering” paying full costs when there’s a nice merit scholarship, and at least one student was told that and posted here to figure out what to do.)

5

At the beginning of the college admissions process, my parents urged me to apply where ever I wanted and they would worry/have the discussion about paying later. Although WashU isnt at the top of my list right now, if I end up falling in love w the school my parents will most liksly allow me to go there, however, they would want me to pay part of the cost back after I graduate and get a stable job. They and I agree that this would be beneficial for both parties as I get to go to a choice school and they wont have to pay 200,000+ dollars for my education.

6

Great write-up! I really like your writing.

7

This is really good - thank you so much for writing this. My daughter attends a large public high school in AZ too (junior) and I’ll be very interested in seeing how things shake out for you. Many many similarities. Her application list has some of the same schools too - WashU, Rice. We toured ASU Barrett last week and were very impressed, heading to UofA in a few weeks to look at UofA Honors as well. She has been very involved with extracurriculars at school that she absolutely loves and I’m glad that she’ll most likely be able to share her passion for them in her essays, even though they will have absolutely nothing to do with her intended major (engineering). I hope that works out ok for her. Please come back and update this thread with your final updates, thoughts, etc. Best wishes!

8

@azmomof3 that is great to hear that you guys are excited about the college admissions process- it is a very exciting time in a students life. Just my two cents on the UofA vs. ASU fued: UofA’s honors college isnt like a traditional honors college, other that the name on a resume, it doesnt have the perks that you saw at Barrett. Be aware of this before visiting because I was EXTREMELY underwhelmed when I looked at it. However, I would strongly suggest if you are interested in Barrett to apply to the more highly selective programs in order to futhur distinguish yourself from the student body. Some programs include: Flinn, Leadership Scholars Program, T.W. Lewis Scholars, Leadership Academy. These are excellent programs that will enrich an undergrad experience and will help graduate school/job seach later on. Good luck with the college search!