<p>so i had a meeting with my school's college counselor today...he told me that i had to be realistic about college admissions. he said places like UPenn, Cornell, and Georgetown were matches for me and that Harvard was a reach. it doesn't help that next year will be the largest applicant pool ever. it kind of depressed me, but my mom told me not to let it stop me from applying. so i was just wondering, what did your college counselors tell you when you were applying to college?</p>
<p>Living in California, my son's counselor has always pushed for UC ... It didn't matter which one, only that it was a UC. </p>
<p>My son was accepted to Harvard RD and was accepted to 15 or the 16 in which he applied. my suggestion is to apply and see what happens. Don't get too hung up on a particular school. </p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Nothing, im in canada, my guidance counsellor could care less.... she does not know what these schools are about besides the prestige factor of the name... she made me do all the research and thinks i am a genius/determined ambitious kid... she says i will definitely be a neurosurgeon... heck i could care less where i get into, as long as im a neurosurgeon... she told me apply to wherever i want, since im going to states... im automatically accepted to any school in canada with full rides cuz of my GPA and ECs... its pretty much a little luck and lots of passion when trying to get into the top schools.... I think what your counsellor was trying to say lookin at it realistically, everyone is a reach at harvard, unless u know the dean of a certain faculty/ have a parent whos donating huge amounts of money to harvard... stuff like that...</p>
<p>UPenn is not a match for anyone, although applying RD certainly helps. I know at least three people who were accepted to Harvard but not UPenn.</p>
<p>oh wow thats interesting. i guess no one can really predict. and yeah i have no intention of applying ED or EA anywhere, so maybe that'll help me.</p>
<p>My school was over 600 ppl large. My counselor didn't even know my name. Basically he looked at my transcript, and told me to apply to wherever I wanted.</p>
<p>People with even 3.0's have gotten into Harvard. Don't let your GC stop you from doing your best and applying!</p>
<p>My counselor was pretty supportive. I felt bad asking him to write so many recs for colleges and scholarships</p>
<p>My son's counselor kept referring to MIT as an Ivy. She listed all of my son's choices as Reach/Match. I believe that's a better way of thinking of it. Harvard is a reach for nearly everyone, because there are just too many qualified applicant.</p>
<p>I agree with the poster who said that UPenn (and I'd add Cornell) are not reliable matches for anyone, unless you keep in mind that a match is not a guarantee.</p>
<p>My D, who was accepted this year to H, was told by her counselor last spring that her two matches were Swarthmore and UVA. She did not apply to either. Her counselor was not at all encouraging about her applying to Ivy League schools. I think she has just gotten weary of disappointed kids every spring.</p>
<p>My counselor wouldnt let me apply to only four schools (H, P, MIT, JHU) and suggested I apply to Rutgers. Despite me talking about applying early to MIT for 3 months beforehand, she didn't "realize" I was applying EA to MIT until october 20th, and her excuse was completely irrelevant and along the lines of: "I can't keep track of every school's early admission policy" (makes you wonder how some people have jobs).</p>
<p>my counselor told me that i shouldn't get my hopes up for harvard, and i should look at some less selective school because my gpa wasn't high enough.
poo on you, if you ever read this!</p>
<p>mammall, wonderful about your daughter! But the counselor needs a heads up, maybe. Swarthmore's admit rate is lower than Cornell's or Penn's. Like so very many schools now (and in line with what mathmom said), it's nobody's match, in the can-I-get-in sense, and I don't think UVa is either. I like the Reach/Match designation too - if it means the applicant fits the profile, but it's a reach for everybody.</p>
<p>I get the feeling that GCs everywhere are taking even more conservative positions for the class of 09.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>So hum.....McGill or Concordia? (The two english universities here in Montreal)</p></li>
<li><p>Well...err, actually sir, I've been looking online and I think I'd like to go to a US university, maybe.</p></li>
<li><p>No, I don't see it. McGill or Concordia?</p></li>
<li><p>B-But sir, I've already signed up to take the SATs and I think I could get a few good recommendations. I was thinking of Columbia or maybe even Stanford which has a great communications prog-</p></li>
<li><p>(interrupting) Are you going to McGill or Concordia?</p></li>
<li><p>Hum, yeah....I think I'm gonna go.</p></li>
<li><p>To McGill or Concordia.</p></li>
<li><p>....Goodbye sir.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>My GC was supportive but emphasized that HYP was a reach. Also he thought that Williams/Amherst for me was more of a "closer reach" than those 3. He also thought that my list was too heavy on the reaches side but didn't discourage me from applying anywhere I wanted (I did have a safety and ~2-3 matches)</p>
<p>Your GC told you UPenn, Cornell, and Georgetown were matches? Lucky you. It took a lot to convince my GC that my safety was a safety and not a reach. <em>roll eyes</em></p>
<p>Your GC underestimated the epicness of being a USABO national finalist....lmao</p>
<p>"So, when you go to Harvard in 2011." </p>
<p>My counselor has no idea, all of the staff promote a local college that's good, but has an acceptance rate of 87%... seeing as 2/3 of all the employees went there. I'm worried that if I did go to such a place, it would be exactly like High School. Let me put it this way: 3/12,000 students in my county went to a private out-of-state college. Most of the vals went to the state university. 1 of the people to go out of state was a URM (non-val) to Princeton, and I think the other 2 were simply moving to a different state.</p>
<p>i'd hardly call myself lucky because my counselor also named a few CUNYs and SUNYs as "matches" for me as well. finally i realized that this guy is like, insane because he recommended all the same colleges to just about every other junior i've talked to, even though our majors have like, nothing to do with each other. he just sort of grabbed a book of colleges, asked me what my major would be, and then started scribbling stuff down on a sheet of paper. im not going to pay too much attention to what he says. i'll be practical on the whole thing but i'm not going to be ridiculous either. i don't think people should apply places just to be applying, but rather to apply to places that they realistically see themselves attending, even for the safety schools.
oh and i have another question, does turning in materials early to colleges help at all with admissions? like if i'm applying regular decision to a school and i turn in my materials by november, will that help, hurt, or not make a difference?</p>
<p>No difference, unless you're a strong applicant who applies REALLY early (september).</p>
<p>my GC told me (after being accepted to McGill, UVa, Wash-U, URoch, UToronto and Connecticut College) to go to Connecticut College. Enough said.</p>
<p>ps. I'll be going to McGill =)</p>