Urgent Help for Starting College Applications

Applying to College
181

Thanks @sybbie719, 100% agree with you on the access to staff during the holidays. Sorry for not being clear enough.

I work at a school - we are all exhausted. That is why I was checking on the status of the application components and meeting the school’s expectations. There is no point in focusing on schools with deadlines that happen before the OP’s high school gets back in session if the OP did not follow the required steps to get transcripts, profiles, and LORs sent. The OP openly admits they procrastinated up to this point. I would rather see the OP find a few schools with later due dates if needed or identify the ones with a grace period for the school to send their components. Some have a hard Jan 1 deadline for everything while others may have a Jan 1 deadline for the application and Jan 15 for all transcripts and financial aid.

My comment about “they still have to help”was meant during normal work hours. Many kids are afraid to ask for help and dig into a deeper hole. While an adult can seem annoyed that a teenager did not follow their exact steps that does not mean they will not help them. Teenagers have a hard time navigating that and I sensed that OP had still not had much contact this month with a guidance counselor based on the revised list of high high reaches.

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182

I too work at a school (NYC DOE).

When there is an application deadline, this deadline is for the student. OP will have to make sure his part of the application (and all application supplements) are submitted by the deadline.

It is not the deadline for LOR/Transcripts. I have not met an A/O who will not extend a professional courtesy to a GC or teacher. I know at the DOE, term one is not over until January 28. Mid-year transcripts will not even be sent out until February (IME, mid year reports are due~Feb 15- right before winter break).

CUNY (which is test blind this yesr) automatically pulls transcripts from the NYC DOE. Students self report grades to SUNY. Grades are confirmed when final transcripts are sent.

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183

@Stressed_out_high : how is it going? What applications have you completed?

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184

Hey, thanks for asking! Against my better judgement, I was crazy enough to do too many colleges.

I have completed my essays for Princeton, NYU, Cornell, Columbia, CalTech, and Amherest. Though I still have more revisions to do, I am very satisfied with the qualify of my essays so far.

I still need to complete apps for Rice, Georgia Tech, and Vanderbilt but they have the same essays prompts that I can reuse. I know many of the kind-hearted users here worry about the financial aspect, but I ran the NPC on all these colleges and it came down to an affordable amount. Also finished the FAFSA and CSS profile btw (#flex).

The biggest challenge now is completing my essay for UPenn, Brown, and UChicago but I really like UChicago essay. Super quirky. Anyway, I am saving SUNY and CCNY school last because they have January 15th deadline and I can finish my essays for the other schools first before writing them.

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185

I forgot I finished my Cornell apps too.

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186

Great job! And awesome news. Thanks for letting us know :+1::+1::+1: Don’t forget SUNYs and CcNY.
FINGERS CROSSED

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187

I believe Vanderbilt’s EDII deadline is Jan 1 if it otherwise fits your needs.

188

I am planning to EDII to UChicago, but thanks for the suggestion!

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189

Congrats on finishing up your applications. I believe that your list is still extremely top heavy. I wished that you would have balanced out your list with some matches outside of SUNY

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190

I understand that sentiment, but I think I have a really good shot at getting into NYU. In no world is NYU a safety school (I must have said that when I was high on coffee), but I really like my chances. You know that gut feeling when you know something is true even if it hasn’t happened yet? That’s my intuition right now with NYU and I trust it fully.

I do have an EDII question though. I know Vanderbilt is also EDII, but should I go EDII to UChicago or Johns Hopkins? My current plan is UChicago because I think I have a better chance @EDII (especially as Stuy kid), and I don’t want to waste my EDII chance if Johns Hopkins is too unrealistic.

191

Since NYU now pledges to meet full need for all accepted students, I don’t think you can put it into the “sure thing” category.

You need ONE absolute sure thing for cost and admissions that you like. Right now…you don’t have that.

192

I thought the SUNY/CUNY met that need for the OP?

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193

@Stressed_out_high

Did you apply to SUNY and CUNY schools as well. Your thread is a bit unclear about that.

194

The application deadline is March 15 for Hunter College.
SUNY Binghamton is January 15.

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195

Real talk

Keep in mind your wonderful SAT score is a 3-hour snapshot in time which speaks to what you are capable of doing.

Your transcript speaks to what you did when you walked into your building (in person or virtual). You are not only going to be evaluated on your overall GPA, but rigor.

You stated in one of your previous posts, that you had unresolved NX grades. Have you resolved those grades? January waivers are due on 1/18/22. Do you have any outstanding regents that you need to take care of?

Ranking

Where do you rank in your class?

What is your overall unweighted GPA?

Your school offers a full complement of AP courses (I think over 20 classes); how many have you taken. To be a viable candidate coming out of Stuy, I would be looking for you to have minimally taken the following(Courses not exams).

English
AP Language (EES85/86)
AP Lit (EES87/88)

Social Studies
APUSH
AP Global
Ap Govt

Math
AP Calc (BC)
AP Stat

Foreign Language
AP Language Spanish & Culture
AP Literature & Culture

Science
APES (? perhaps sophomore year as an intro to AP)
AP Chem
AP Physics

Trust & believe that your competition coming out of Stuy will have these courses and maybe even more.

Just looking at your last public quality snapshot, this is what your peers are doing:
From 2019-2020
College or Career Preparatory Courses and Exams

(Number of students successfully completing out of 839 seniors) this is the class of 2020:

  • A.P. Calculus (562)
  • A.P. US History (357)
  • A.P. English Language (225)
  • A.P. Government (172)
  • A.P. Statistics (152)
  • A.P. Economics (118)
  • A.P. Physics (95)
  • A.P. English Literature (73)
  • College Credit Course (35)
  • Technical Assessment (22)
    New York City Department of Education

If you are right there in the thick of it, it’s all good. If you are not bringing what your peers are bringing to the table, you may want to add some match /safeties to that list.

No hate from my end because I graduated from one of the specialized HS more than 40 years ago and my kid turned down Stuy to stay at her 6-12 school with her friends.

In the case of Stuy, remember the pool is not only wide, but the talent is deep. All the best

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196

I cannot imagine a single college in the US that would expect a non-heritage student to take AP Literature & Culture if they have completed AP Languages & Culture. Additionally, it’s only offered by the CB in Spanish and, more to the point, it’s not offered at Stuy.

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197

I’ll give you that, as OP cannot be held accountable for what Stuy does not offer. I do know a number of “lesser schools” that offer both FL Ap courses (that is open to both heritage and non-heritage speakers).

198

I am aware that it is open to non-heritage students. But unless one is a heritage speaker and/or has a burning desire for Spanish Peninsular and Latin American Lit in the original, AP Spanish Lit (from experience and to mix metaphors) firmly rests in the 9th circle of hell. :rofl:

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199

I would have thought that more than 12% of Stuy’s graduating class would have taken AP Physics. Nice showing with AP Calculus.

A nephew of mine is passing up AP Calc for AP Stats next year because nearly everyone gets a 100 in Stats. Not a recipe for success, unlike the OP.

200

When my D was in HS a lot of students took AP Stats instead of AP Calc BC (you are right it was not a recipe for success-especially when A/Os read the school profile of course offerings).

At Stuy it could be a higher bar to get into AP Physics (maybe they don’t have many physics teachers to accommodate everyone who wants to take AP physics). Perhaps the math department has more teaching power for Calc because so many students could be coming to Stuy with math credit from MS.

In larger schools, you may have to be recommended by the teacher and be approved by the department chair. Many times there may be a GPA requirement in addition to looking at the science trajectory.

At some schools, they may give an assessment to make sure that students are able to do the work. There may also be a summer project that is due before programming is finalized in the fall.

A Stuy diploma is an advanced regents diploma, which also calls for an 8 credit minimum (4 units/4 years) in both Math and science. It also depends on whether or not students come into high school with accelerated coursework.