WHat to do..what to do.. give me your 2 cents!

Applying to College
1

K, finally the whole getting accepted/rejected business is over for me. But now the hardest part comes-choosing where to go. It’s bit complicated for me, and to my parents as well. So I thought, “why not ask CCers who seem to know the answer to every problem?”. (I’m not being sarcastic lol) And here I am

I got into George Mason U, Mary Washington U, James Madison U, GWU, BU, and Cornell with guaranteed transfer. I also got waitlisted at JHU and College of william and mary. Here comes the hardest part.

I will be joining Cornell class of 09’ (ILR) in my sophomore yr. There’s no doubt. So now I have to decide where to spend my first yr at, and for now I literally have no idea where I should go. (I need to keep gpa of 3.3)

I’m pushing for my spot @ JHU, which used to be my dream school. I have alums/counselor calling JHU, and actually i’m going there next wk to give them my suppliments in person. But I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get the spot.

JMU… I’m getting a full ride from there

BU… I am their university scholar, and got 36000 in grant/scholarship. It’s basically free for me. But I live in VA so it’s far

GWU… I got into their women’s leadership program. Got 25000 in grant, rest in loans. I live 20 min away from GWU so I can commute.

GMU/MWU… no scholarship, bit of grant. live 20 min/1hr from schools.

My dad wants me to go to JMU cuz I’ll be saving money and get all the intro course credits to fulfill cornell requirements easily.

My mom wants me to go to BU cuz she wants me to have city life at least for a yr before I go to Cornell

I don’t know where I should go. I personally hope I could get a spot from JHU so that just in case I change my mind and don’t want to go to cornell after my freshman yr or something happens, I’d still be happy @ where I am. BU seems awesome with the city life/great academics, GWU’s location and my affinity for politics makes GWU so darn attractive, and JMU is a great school that everyone seems to be so freaking happy, plus I don’t have to pay a dime. But in my mind, I’m still hoping for Hopkins spot. AHHHHH this is killing me!!!

WHat would you guys do? I’m afraid that I’ll make decision that’ll ruin the 4 yrs of my life. I’d greatly appreciate it if you guys can give me your 2 cents

Thank you so much for your time

Jay

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<p>bumpity bump</p>

<p>anyone?</p>

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<p>My advice is to go to the cheapest and easiest school possible. If you need a 3.3, then don't go to GW or BU. BU is notorious for grade inflation and GW isn't exactly easy either. I would save your dad some money and just commute to George Mason University or have a college experience at JMU. If you know that you will be leaving, why invest in an expensive private education? That's just dumb. </p>

<p>By the way, you can't commute to GW. It's a requirement that first-year students live in a freshman residence hall.</p>

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<p>I'd say, JMU looks like a really nice (and free) way to spend your first year, and get tht 3.3. Why not plan to go there, but then meanwhile stay on the JHU WL if you think you'd stay there if you went there.</p>

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<p>When I said "grade inflation," I meant deflation.</p>

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<p>I agree with garland.</p>

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<p>go to a community college and relax. That way you will be refreshed for your Gosh dang highly coveted IVy!!!</p>

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<p>Most students end up loving the school they go to and don't want to transfer. It seems smart to pick your next best under the assumption that you may ultimately choose to stay. If you shoot low, knowing that you aren't staying, what kind of a year are you going to have? If you are confident that the transfer will happen, choose a school with the best freshman program, one that has special seminars, experiencial learning ops and such. That way you will not feel that you are standing still for a whole year.</p>

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<p>What DVMMOM says makes a lot of sense. It's enough of a transition moving on from HS to college, let alone having to move on again once you've made friends and learned the ropes. What if you decide you like it where you are? Also, in terms of picking an "easy" school in order to maintain the required GPA for Cornell: Cornell is perhaps the most notorious of all for "grade deflation," and if you show up there after coasting through your freshman year, you may be in for one heck of a sophomore slump.</p>

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<p>Her dream is to obviously transfer to Cornell, so she should focus on keeping that 3.3 as her #1 priority. What if she goes to GWU for a "college experience" and can't cut a 3.3 to transfer? She will be sick about her choice. I think that you should go to a CC or cheap college to secure your GPA. </p>

<p>Driver, if she goes to an easier school and gets a high GPA, then that would be nice to counteract her lower Cornell GPA.</p>

<p>Does George Mason have dorms? I think I'd go there or JMU if I were you. </p>

<p>Good Luck! I'm not discouraging you from going to GW, but I just think it would be a waste of time and money if you will just transfer anyways.</p>

11

<p>Wow thank you all for your opinions. I'm still thinking about it.. it'll be one of the biggest/hardest decision I'll have to make.</p>

<p>I just talked to my mom.. and she wants me to go to BU. She hates state schools, and believes that I'll get better education and more opporunities at private schools (ppl's opinion differ on this, I know). She said I should see more and experience more in a big city with diverse student population from all over the world. Great academics and the money I have to pay is less than what I would have to pay for GMU or mary washington. She's like just in case you don't make the grade and get to stay in your first yr school, BU will be a fine place to stay. Well.. that's what my mom thinks. </p>

<p>I'm personally leaning towards BU as well. I'm concerned about grade deflation issue, but if I can't make 3.3 in BU, I won't be able to suceed in Cornell ILR either. I'm going to have maintain 3.3 if I want to keep my university scholar scholarship (half tuition) anyways.</p>

<p>But JMU is a fine school to stay, and kids there look so darn happy!! No money to pay.. no debt.. hard to resist lol</p>

<p>GWU.. too expensive :P I'm not willing to take out 30k loan just for one yr.</p>

<p>So many things to consider. DAmn.. this is hard</p>

<p>Thank you all :) I truly appreciate it</p>

<p>anyone else?</p>

12

<p>Well, BU is practically free for you, so why not just give it a try? You won't be investing too much. I wouldn't make the decision you're making because BU is really rigorous academically, but it's your choice. If you understand the full consequences of your decision and are fine with them, then go to Boston. You might get stuck there for 4 years, but that's your choice to be made.</p>

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<p>THank you GWColonial for all your inputs :) I really appreciate it.</p>

<p>I'll give it more thought.. and just like you said, I should try to understand the full consequences of any decision I might make. Never thought i'll be this hard.. darn..</p>

<p>Thanks a lot :D</p>

<p>Jay</p>

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<p>I'm thinking BU is a great choice for you, also. It will give you what Cornell won't - Boston - plus 1) it's free 2) it's a great school and 3) it's such a good school that if you end up loving it and decide not to transfer, it's a great diploma. Good luck.</p>

15

<p>
[quote]
but if I can't make 3.3 in BU, I won't be able to suceed in Cornell ILR either. I'm going to have maintain 3.3 if I want to keep my university scholar scholarship (half tuition) anyways.

[/quote]
That was exactly my point. It seems like a really good choice for you. If you decide to go to Cornell, you'll be well prepared and will have had a chance to sample life in the city...if you decide to stay, well, BU is still a pretty darn good school and Boston is a great place to be a student (I'm a BU grad from the early Silber era).</p>

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<p>If he got into cornell im thinking he will be able to handle the work at these other schools and get a 3.3 pretty easily.</p>

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<p>What are your stats, hhboy?</p>

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<p>how do u get a guaranteed transfer?</p>

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<p>btw, it's SHE, not he. I'm a 100% female :D</p>

<p>To answer your questions, my stats are not superb, rather low for CC standard lol I'm afraid I might p*ss some of you off for getting GT from Cornell with such stat. As matter of fact, some ppl from CC saw my stat, got mad, and sent me couple of nasty emails and AIMs.. oh well but here it goes</p>

<p>SAT: 1200 (500v 700m)
ACT: 28 (I only took SAT/ACT once. No prep class or anything)
SATIIs: 790/710/690/550/540
GPA: 3.8
RANK: 23/350
Race: Asian (Korean)
School: IB public school in Alexandria, VA
-Took 4 IB courses in jr yr/6 this yr (total of 10)
[*I had to work mad hard since I missed almost a yr of freshman year.. I even took pre-calc in community college during summer after sophomore yr so that I could take AP cal in junior year. I took Pre-IB ENg. 10 with IB ENg. 1 last yr at the same time cuz I wanted to take IB Eng.. and doubled up in almost every subject.]
EC: Fantastic. I really mean fastastic. I was featured in local newspaper couple of times.. was on TV..I only did what I liked to do.. and have pretty good award list (semi-finalist in national essay content.. 1st,3rd place in state science competition... ton of leadership-related awards..social activism stuff..blah)
REcs: AWesome
Essay: Very well written (about the things I was truly passionate about)
*Oh, I have been working average of 30hrs per week since sophomore yr. </p>

<p>Schools:
Rejected:
Northwestern U
NYU
University of Virginia
Wellesley College</p>

<p>Wait-listed:
College of William and Mary
Johns Hopkins University</p>

<p>Accepted:
George Mason U
Mary Washington U
James Madison U
George Washington U
Boston U
Cornell U (w/GT)</p>

<p>It's obviously lower than many ppl who got waitlisted/rejected from cornell ILR.. but I moved to States 3 years ago, not knowing how to speak English.. not to mention write lol I was in ESOL (English as a second language) for a year. But I speak perfect English, and my accent is really REALLY hard to notice. :P I think my ECs (it literally kicks butt), essays, and me being in US for 3 years got me GTfrom Cornell and great offers/acceptances from fantastic schools xD Otherwise, a pile of rejections for SURE.</p>

<p>Hehe</p>

<p>Jay (female)</p>