<p>Hmmm … OK. And did u get a FULL aid at Colgate or not?? And did u get any other FULL aid offers??</p>
<p>A rule of thumb : No one will talk about their financial aid offers in public. </p>
<p>I said significant aid. Period. Colgate meets your need and it will give you all the money you need if they decide to admit you.</p>
<p>I didn’t know that rule. Sorry for any offense committed.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>I was just being realistic. You can never know for sure whether you are gonna get in or not. The word “fit” is highly subjective, and frankly it never made sense to me. You may feel MIT is a fit for you, but do you actually know what MIT is? Have you been there? Have you studied there? IMHO the only way you can know for sure if a college is a fit or not is by actually enrolling and actually being there.</p>
<p>There are always a number of people out there who are gonna be, for lack of a better term, “better” than you (no pun intended), and that is one thing I know for sure and looking around will make you realize it too. You just have to decide whether it’s worth it to work harder and reduce that number.</p>
<p>You have great stats, so keep it up, try and make them even better if you can and pray for some luck. Make sure you apply wherever you feel you will be happy. You never know. Don’t end up not applying to places just because the outlook looks bleak to you. That’s what I did :</p>
<p>Oh btw, I’m guessing you’re on a gap year, since you’ve given your 12th boards, yet you haven’t applied for Fall 2008.. Use it wisely.</p>
<p>Thanks so much!!! No hard feelings then, eh? I am trying to use it as fruitfully as possible. I get ur point about the fit agenda!!</p>
<p>What are you doing in your gap year? That could make a huge difference</p>
<p>Well, I am continuing my fuzzy logic and game theory research, I am working for an NGO. I am trying to learn French and German. I am doing music. I am giving math tuitions and trying to solve paradoxes. I am doing everything I love doing. Good enough??</p>
<p>Are you conducting research alone? Then it won’t really matter unless you really find something extraordinary, because if that doesn’t happen there won’t be anyone to vouch for your research.</p>
<p>Well you can’t really say Colleges expect us to find a cure for cancer even before we reach there, do you? I can’t join all those big research-camps that happen. I don’t have the money. What I am doing isn’t something earth-shattering. I am just trying to simulate the workings of the human brain with respect to functions of the eye. Why? Because I love doing it. And I hope to express that factor in my essay and I pray that they will understand.</p>
<p>Dude! Seriously. </p>
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<p>First you say you are doing things you love and then you validating them with us. Just read your posts before you actually post them. From what I can infer you are doing it just to get into college.</p>
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<p>Which one?</p>
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<p>Sweet! What is it about?</p>
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<p>FTW is solving paradoxes easy?</p>
<p>No I ain’t doing anything just to get into college. I wouldn’t take a gap-year otherwise would I? And I am not validating anything. tetrisfan said that what I do in my gap year is critical so I listed my activities and wanted to cross-check if any of those would be seen with a black eye. Even if they would I wouldn’t join any research camps or go for the “rich kid enrichment” program just to make app shine. </p>
<p>I have already stated what my fuzzy research is about. My game theory research is mainly based on social interactions and other simple stuff. Again just for fun. I do it for fun. If good things spin-off well enough. But if all goes up in smoke, I don’t give a damn either. </p>
<p>And I am not working on any multi-million dollar math problem. Just normal stuff ok? And solving paradoxes isn’t easy. But it doesn’t change the world either. Its just a pastime activity, nothing huge. It doesn’t count as an recorded EC or something.</p>
<p>As long as you’re doing something productive and enjoy what you’re doing, it’s good. Colleges just don’t like bums who take a year off to laze around :D.</p>
<p>adrivit, you have what it takes. How you present things and how your essays spin off…those are the key factors IMO.</p>
<p>OK, I’m gonna be a bit more detailed here. I still haven’t found out why you really need a gap year (unless it’s to improve your grades). </p>
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<p>I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. If you’re trying to do sth that advanced, you won’t get anywhere without professors helping you, seriously. And the thing about essays is that you seem to want to force your accomplishments in. You want to convey that you’re doing it for fun, but colleges will see through that by attitude. If I were you, I would do sth less complicated like hydroponics and try to build it. </p>
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Err, that seems to be contradicting.</p>
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Then what’s your main activity for your gap year?</p>
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<p>Are you planning on writing a research paper or getting a letter of recommendation from a professor you have worked with? Can you somehow prove that you learned French and German? (Hint: Maybe it would be a good idea to focus on just one language, especially since these two have nothing in common.) </p>
<p>What I’m trying to say is that “doing everything you love doing” for an entire year isn’t as impressive as you think it is. How do you want to set yourself apart with “doing music” when so many people have been “doing music” for their entire lives? Many applicants can present remarkable awards for their music. And guess what, most of them have loved doing it as well!</p>
<p>I suggest studying 1 language well and taking the AP exam for it if you can. Take AP exams for your other subjects as well</p>
<p>I don’t know why nobody has mentioned the fact that you actually have Cs on your high school record. That is really bad for some of these colleges you want to go, like MIT and Dartmouth. I think the colleges you have a decent chance of getting into are LACs like Colgate, where your diversity will help you. </p>
<p>Do you really use the word ain’t in India? I thought its use was confined to the American South.</p>
<p>Indians like to copy whatever Americans say.</p>
<p>Even copy slang that is looked down upon here..</p>
<p>We wouldn’t know that, would we? Why is it looked down upon? I have heard people from all over use that word.</p>