Wanna play "This or That" with my college picks?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Help me!! I have a long list of schools but can't decide which ones to cut. So I've lumped them into categories, and I'll let y'all choose which ones would be more suitable or better for my stats and major and why. Thanks!!</p>

<p>Caucasian, female senior in HS
Public School in PA</p>

<p>I'd like to major in Linguistics with minors in German, Latin, and possibly Hebrew.</p>

<p>GPA - 3.81 UW 4.31 W
Rank - 1st Decile (top 10%)
SATs - 650CR 630M 700W = 1980T Superscored...I doubt this new score even makes a difference, as I only improved the section that doesn't really matter.
SAT IIs - 570 German, plus I took three more yesterday and am hoping they went better.</p>

<p>Courses 9th-11th:
English - All Honors
History - All Honors
Math - Honors in 9th grade, then dropped to "accelerated," plus AP Stat
Science - regular level all three years
Language - German 2, 3, and 4</p>

<p>Senior Courses - AP Biology, AP Economics, APUSH, AP German, Honors Humanities, Latin I, and Latin II (note: no math class or Physics senior year. They wouldn't fit because of stupid block scheduling, and I just really liked all of my other classes too much to drop any).</p>

<p>Recs: Good
Essays: Decent, not sappy</p>

<p>EC's:</p>

<p>-National Honor Society
-won second place at the German Fallfest Competition at Millersville University
-scored in the 85 percentile on the AATG German exam
-working as a cashier at a supermarket for a year
- treasurer of Student Historians Club for two years
-worked with special needs kids and helped them do crafts/helped organize activities for them to do (during school for the past two years)
-"Walking Tour" I'm a tour guide for the elementary school kids (this year'll be my fourth). I take them to different historically significant landmarks in our town and explain why they're important.
-member of the Civil War Heritage Foundation (Civil War Reenacting organization) for five years</p>

<p>Help me decide between these schools!! Pick one from each pair. Which have the best foreign language options?</p>

<p>Boston U OR Emory
Ohio State OR U of Minnesota
UCLA OR USC (I figure that neither is going to happen)
UTexas Austin OR U Washington
Pitt OR Temple
And then should I bother UChicago?</p>

<p>And then the ones I'm definitely applying to:</p>

<p>NYU (CAS)
GWU (no Lingustics, but it was nice)
UMD
UDelaware (Honors)</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>BU
don't know.
UCLA
UWash (U Tex is almost impossible to get in for OOS)
not sure
Don't bother with U Chicago. It's a big reach and it would be just too much of a trouble going through all that essays</p>

3

<p>Thanks. Why UCLA? I was thinking that it's probably got a better program but is also a bigger reach. Yeah, I don't think I'll even do Chicago.</p>

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<p>UCLA, u Texas austin, Pitt</p>

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<p>Thankies. Do I have a chance at Pitt's Honors College, anyone?</p>

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<p>Bump10char</p>

7

<p>Emory (Boston U isn't worth the $$)
Ohio State OR U of Minnesota (no clue lol)
USC (smaller and easier to get in to)
U Washington (UT Austin is almost impossible to get into if you're OOS. Only 5% of their entering class was OOS).
Pitt (Temple has an insane amount of security. They have a police force that has like 100+ policepeople and full stadium lighting at dark)</p>

8

<p>Good point about BU. I know Emory's aid is really good, but I think that it's more of a reach than BU. </p>

<p>Temple's in a terrible part of Philly, so I guess it's reassuring that they have so much security? But yeah, I was leaning towards Pitt anyway.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

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<p>Well you would think that the security is nice, but it gets overbearing once you hear about all of it. It almost seems like a prison o.O</p>

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<p>Ah, good point. Plus Pitt seems like an all-around better school. Plus I know a lot of people from my school who go to Temple. And Philly's closer than Pittsburgh...yeah, I'll go with Pitt. </p>

<p>Woot, one decision made!</p>

11

<p>Thanks for chancing me!</p>

<p>Emory - financial aid is better
Sorry, don't know about Ohio and Minnesota
Do both UCLA and USC. might as well. I live within an hour from both and they're both great. Apply to USC by Dec 1st though so you're automatically entered for their scholarships and whatnot.
Oh. and if you're doing UCLA, check out the other UCs since it's only one application for them all.....
U Washington (hope you like colder/rainier weather :))
Pitt</p>

<p>don't bother with U Chicago unless you really want to go there.</p>

<p>good luck!</p>

12

<p>Thanks a lot! Would you say I stand a better chance at USC than at the UCs? </p>

<p>And on a side note, will good subject test scores do ANYTHING for me at any of these schools?</p>

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<p>Yes. As I said, UCs receive a gajillion applications, so no interviews, no time to completely get to know individuals. Thus, there will naturally be a tendency to rely on numbers. Honestly, for college apps, everything and anything helps (unless it gets obnoxious like 65 letters of recs), so if you can score well on SATIIs, that's great.
Also, because they don't give interviews, UCLA does put more stress on essays than people assume. Essays are their way of interviewing you. As for USC, they "strongly reccommend" subject tests. So yes, i'm assuming they will weigh them if they're good. </p>

<p>USC gives lots of money...like I said, apply dec 1 deadline, but if you apply later and need tons of aid....good luck haha. my mom actually owns a restaurant at USC and the mix of students is divided between super smart indians/asians and frat kids with affluent parents. it's a great school, and i am overgeneralizing but it's pretty true haha. the area isn't necessarily beautiful but you are in LA which is sweeet. </p>

<p>UCLA is in westwood, which is a pretty hip college town. pretty nice campus too.</p>

<p>sorry i got off topic....haha</p>

<p>anyway, your SAT score is on the lower end for both schools averages, but I'd say it's about equal chance for both. Is there a particular reason for choosing USC and UCLA? thinking of West Coast? or just for kicks and giggles? </p>

<p>oh FYI, USC loves community service. love ittt. so if you have it, flaunt it.</p>

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<p>Ah, so if I get a bit...quirky on the application for UCLA, do you think it would be one of those situations where it'll either give me the edge that I need or completely kill my application? I could live with that, especially if a "normal" essay won't suffice. I'm talking about writing an interesting essay that lets them know me and what I want to do. USC gives interviews, I think. Do you recommend I try to get one, although I'm in PA? </p>

<p>Even though my SAT score is a bit low, it's not in the "doomed to rejection" range for these schools, is it? Would you recommend I retake in December, if not for USC, then at least for UCLA? I'm so close to a 2000! </p>

<p>I've always liked Los Angeles and just haven't ever been out there. It'd be an adventure (as corny as that sounds) and a great city to explore, since I'm from rural suburbia. Also, coming from an average high school in PA, I'd know virtually no one out there in CA. Everyone from my school goes to Penn State or Temple. Oh, and they both seem like awesome schools, too. The only down side would be not so much diversity as far as where people come from. But I've been living around people who are all from PA my whole life, so it'd be interesting to be around people who are all from a state on the other side of the country. </p>

<p>Bah, what counts as community service? I know that I don't have very many outstanding EC's, but the things that I did, I really loved and committed my time to. For example, a few other members and I fought the crap out of our school's administration when it tried to get rid of our club. Will sincerity count for anything when it comes to EC's? </p>

<p>Thanks for the info! Sorry for the tangents.</p>

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<p>Bump10char :D</p>

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<p>bump10char</p>

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<p>unless you're in love with USC...don't fly out haha. unless they offer one there.</p>

<p>as for UCs....they are less "creative" than privates. don't write about playing tennis in the point of view of the ball or something crazy like that. As i said, it's their "interview." would you tell your interviewer something that creative or crazy? no, you would want to talk about yourself and an accomplishment or transformation or something. you know?
PM me if you need help. Actually, I have the email address of and admissions oficer for UCLA who said she would read people's UC essay and reply if it's good or not via email (SOOO NICE OF HER!) and i was trying to find it for you, but i couldn't find it. :( I'll let you know if i do! Essay should say alot about you, not necessarily something super interesting or creative. Pick a unique situation to write about, but don't be abstract or too flowery. They don't take letters of recs at all, so this is your one chance to show you are more than numbers. Don't take this opportunity to sound like you're on drugs by being too creative. haha</p>

<p>no, i wouldn't say you are "doomed" retake if it's not your 4th+ time. UCs dont superscore FYI. It would be great if you pulled at least 2000+. it would look better. the 2 in front instead of a 1 helps alot naturally. psychologically looks better. </p>

<p>Well, LA is urban, but it's not urban like NYC. it's totally different. you can't get everywhere by walking haha. we don't walk, we drive. seriously. you won't be able to go around LA without mechanical transportation. FYI, our public transportation sucks. half the time, i forgot we have it. the beautiful side of LA is better manifest better at UCLA than USC haha. USC campus is great but surrounding area isn't. luckily it's very easy to get to other LA hotspots. There are TONS of suburbs around it. I've lived in the suburbs of LA all my life, like 20-40 minutes from downtown.</p>

<p>Do what you're comfortable with. i mean, for me, college is the time for me to get out since ill probbaly want to move back to CA later. You could always just apply and if you get in, consider it. Plus it'll be great to escape high school haha in my opinion.</p>

<p>yeah i'd say that for UCs, an essay that shows real, genuine passion in an extracurric is good, whereas that seems to be too standard for many private schools. Talk about something you know nobody else can talk about, or if its common, make sure that YOUR personal experiences and sentiments on it are expressed. </p>

<p>UCLA lady specifically told me she looks for passion, commitment, and leadership in extracurrics. she doesn't want a resume only. She also said that your UC personal statement should be a better version of your diary. (direct quote. i took notes.) not in the sense that you list what you did that day, but your true reflection, learning experience, and feelings about a particular event. She specifically told us don't write a whole lot about others, (apparently that's the biggest mistake she reads), write about yourself. for example, people will talk about how their mother inspired them for the whole essay and by the end, the reader wants to accept the mother instead of the student. haha. </p>

<p>BTW everything i said in the last paragraph is what she said. almost direct quotes. I took notes haha.</p>

<p>Id be happy to help with anything else. about the area or whatever else :)</p>

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<p>AWESOME!! Thanks so much for the advice.</p>

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<p>bump who knows about ohio state and umn?</p>