<p>hey guys; I'm writing a piece for our school paper with tips about the whole "college process"...i'm a senior now, so i have some advice of my own, but i was hoping to get some additional material here, as CCers always seem to have a wealth of info...(incidentally, one of them is going to be--"join CC!"...wish i had sooner!)</p>
<p>here's what i have--
--SATs--ALL scores will be seen...and for SAT IIs, it's all or nothing--you can't cancel just one test score...so think before you send.
--great advice that i heard, but didn't heed: "applying to college is like taking another class...you can 'take it in summer school,' and get started early, or deal with it on top of all your classes in the fall."
--GPAs for rank get tallied at end of junior year, so don't save all your APs until senior year! (this might be unique at my school...but anyway, it hurt my chances at it)
--leadership and commitment are the greatest things you can show...not #s of activities, but depth!
(--join CC...very useful info about scholarship history, typical acceptance profiles, etc)</p>
<p>anything else would be greatly appreciated! thanks!</p>
<p>i wish i had believed in myself more...i always told myself that i was bad at math and science, as a result i limited myself way too much...now i realize that i'm smarter than a lot of the math/science nerds at my school...if i had had a good attitude and ethic toward math/science i could have opened up a lot of doors for myself...instead i told myself i wasn't good enough and as a result i never applied to things like RSI, WTP, olympiads, science research, etc. this coming from someone with a perfect SAT...never undercut yourself...really stupid of me</p>
<p>That it's getting harder to get into top colleges every year for several more years, so don't base your list on who got in where two years ago. Pay close attention to your school's scattergrams or info on collge admits--it's the most telling info, more impt. than overall stats.</p>
<ol>
<li>study SATS a lot sooner</li>
<li>READ READ READ more more more</li>
<li>I'm from an ACT dominant school, so none of my teacher knew anything about SAT IIs. So when i finally found out about them, I only had one chance to take them.<br></li>
<li>Finish my essay during the summer</li>
<li>Start volunteering a lot sooner</li>
<li>Scholarship opportunities for each school. Only like 3% of our calss applied to OOS schools, so my counselors knew very little about scholarship deadlines and opportunities. For example, Emory scholars program requred counselors to nominate students. Well....she never knew anything about Emory in the first place....so yea, I was kinda screwed.</li>
<li>It would've been better if i'd not touched the book "the hidden ivies." That book opened up a lot of LACs that i'd not heard of before, therefore i wasn't focused, i wasted precious time looking at way way too many schools.</li>
</ol>
<p>But whatev, i was accepted to my top choice, and i am soo excited for college!!!. So i guess it all works out in the end.</p>
<p>Here is what I learned, and made use of. I applied 2 years in a row: first year I got rejected from about everywhere, and second year I got into my dream school. So I think I got to know what really counts and what made the difference for me (at least)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>(yes, number 0, it's that big...even if the OP stated it, I think he should really emphasize it) Join CC. Read everything. It's full of VERY useful tips. Tips that got me in. All the following things came from CC:</p></li>
<li><p>I wish I studied more for the SATs - this is a LOT bigger than your everyday exams at school. Like it or not, it will affect your life BIG time. Just study hard from the start, or you'll end up like me, taking the SAT 1 three times....even though I never really studied hard, it was still 3xthe stress, and 3xtime lost due to stress. When people started telling me to take it a 4th time, I was like the hell with this, I'm not taking this crap again even it takes me to Harvard from janitor school. I couldn't sleep for nights thinking whether to take again or not...you don't want this, believe me.</p></li>
<li><p>I wish I knew how to present my ECs better. There is a GREAT thread here "how to impress adcoms with ECs". Read it. It will change your life:P really
Leave out meaningless ECs. Yes, even if they're big (such as Oracle official training classes that only 50 students in the country get to take part in)
Put an emphasis on the ones you care about, even they're stupid/small (although I had multi-national/international awards or research exp, my main EC was an independent group promoting music)</p></li>
<li><p>If teachers don't know how to write recs( mind you, intl students) tell them to provide real examples from classes. That's what makes a good rec, which will help you A LOT. </p></li>
<li><p>Write an interesting essay. Find out what everyone else wrote about, and scratch that topic off your list. You want your essay to make you stand out, not just answer 12 application questions at once. Sure, you want to give as much info, but do it in an original way. And no, it doesn't have to be big. I think I read hundreds of topics/essays in these 2-3 years...the killer one was about a girl who sat in a coffee shop and watched people passing by, analyzing them. If I can still remember it after all this time, it means it was absolutely perfect. That's what you want.
Don't write stuff that doesn't fit with the school philosophy. My first idea for an essay was about why I don't think free will actually exists (from a strictly rational-scientific point of view). But writing that for Brown, a school which is all about choosing and freedom, would've been a MAJOR bad idea.</p></li>
<li><p>Do research on the schools you'll be applying to, read everything there is to know, even if it's not on the official site. Find out what makes them special, but don't just repeat that in your essay (the adcoms probably already know it- thus it's useless), instead prove why you would be a fit. Prove it, don't just say it.
I studied Brown so much, I even know that it's grad school's website was on the "Crappiest websites" list a few years ago.
Which brings us to 6:</p></li>
<li><p>Write a great "why here" essay. Make it original, so you stand out from everybody else, yet write what everybody else who is interested is writing about - uniqueness, being a fit, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Read the MIT adcoms' blogs. They provide a whole different view on the admission process - namely the humane side of it. </p></li>
<li><p>Admission to top schools is random...or adcoms have some other value system than most of us.. . Deal with it.</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>Start studying for SAT IIs in Freshman year. Many of the tests are just wrote memorization, so it's not a problem to take them early. Tests like US or World history are all memorization, so with a little studying a 700+ is easy. </p></li>
<li><p>Check out the requirements for a college you have in mind. You don't have to KNOW, but just choose one that you could see yourself at. For example, if you're interested in chemistry, you may find out that the schools you apply to will need certain SAT IIs, or would like AMC scores.</p></li>
<li><p>Find activities that you enjoy doing and can visibly reward you for your hard work. These activities can range from the sciences (where Intel and Siemens can reward you) to sports (winning state, etc) to the arts (speech, debate, all state). In such activities you can have a good time and make yourself really competitive for college.</p></li>
<li><p>Understand that your time is a limited resource - so stay busy. Remember that college admissions competition is stiff, so make sure you can account for all your time doing something that was fun/productive (as outlined in 3). </p></li>
<li><p>This is kind of harsh, but drop the activities that you're not good at or are not giving back to you. Remember, time is limited, and when you're doing something that doesn't reward you, then you're likely wasting your time. I'll rely on the old adage for this one - "everyone is good at something." Find out what your good at, and find ways to do them. Admission at highly competitive schools is not, unfortunately, for late bloomers, so figure out what you like and work at that.</p></li>
<li><p>Challenge yourself. Sign up to take AP classes and honor classes, and if a class isn't available, buy a text book and try to enroll in an independent study course. </p></li>
<li><p>Sleep is important, but not * that * important. Remember there is a happy world of energy drinks and aromatic coffees and teas, so a lack of sleep can be remedied easily.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>((no 7 is kinda my motto too, like---work ur best, then take '**some'<a href="that%20never%20happens,%20it's%20always%20'more'%20:D">/B</a> rest))
I'd say that NEVER EVER take SATI lightly, like don't think that one CAN NOT study for the test :( Go ahead and do so no matter how smart ur peers think u as! Play smartly w/ the SAT.</p>
<p>1) GPA, oh man, important stuff
2) ACT/SAT - should've studied for it. Even if you were supposed to get like a 31+ on the ACT because of pretest results, doesn't mean you will
3) EC's, I wish I did more volunteer work
4) Start researching about college earlier like... sophomore year of high school
5) Register for CC A LOT earlier...</p>
<p>1.VISIT the colleges you like, actually being there can be completely diferent than a brochure
2. Start your essays early, like now. I didn't and I wished I had.
3. BE NICE to your teachers
4. Apply Early action at a few places, including a safety school, having an acceptance will take a lot of pressure off</p>
<p>NotTheStereotype---I live in bLaCkHoLe (lol!)---just as I've said not at all in Fl. (well, to another state closer to FL though :D)
Actually, it's kinda common name, so I'm not ur middle school friend, I'm an ALIEN! (ha ha! literary true, did u get the DOUBLE irony--alien--living in bLackHole AND it's civics term!?)</p>
<p>Don't STUDY for the SAT it's a waste of time; if you want to improve your score PRACTICE the SAT instead. Taking practice tests and looking up what you got wrong is lot more helpful then memorizing crazy vocab lists or wasting your money on study guides or prep classes.</p>
<p>Find one safety school that you would be really happy to go to. This takes alot stress out of the whole thing. If you say there's none you would want to go to, then your not looking hard enough.</p>
<p>Do ec's that'll get you something besides another line on your resume. (Ex: something that'll give you experience in a field you might go into, or something that'll get you paid.) It'll look better to colleges if you had a purpose for all the time you spent.</p>
<p>If your taking an AP test for class you're reasonably good at, take the SAT II for that class in the same month as the test...saves you extra studying.</p>
<p>A lot of people will disagree with this one but, don't put too much value into a visit to a college. You might be in a bad mood or just have a bad day on the day you visit a college or you just happen to meet grumpy people, and if you put too much stock into that one day, you might decide not to apply to a college that could be a good fit for you.</p>
<p>Plan who you're gonna get a rec from well in advance and don't do anything stupid in their class.</p>
<ol>
<li>Start your college application essays early. End of junior year is nice.</li>
<li>Live life in spite of senior year stress--do random things, do normal things--you may find a good last-minute topic.</li>
<li>AP tests--pay attention in class. Buy AP books early--not the day before the test--for every class you have. At the last week, you may feel the urge to review frantically, and having the AP book is soothing.</li>
<li>Don't waste your time on SAT classes unless you're really lazy. Study from a book.</li>
<li>Study (from a book) at least one month ahead for SAT IIs unless you're taking the AP test for it, in which case, you don't really need to study except take a few practice tests.</li>
<li>Don't be shy! Get out there and "be a leader" even if it hurts. Being introverted and self-conscious (not that those are always bad things) won't get you into HYP (actually, it might, but if you want to "increase your chances," it's probably not a good idea).</li>
<li>Don't have a mid-high school crisis unless you can turn it into a great essay topic. Whatever activity/cause/passion you believe in as a freshman, stick with it.<br></li>
<li>If you are shooting for HYP, senior year is HARD.</li>
<li>Research internship/research opportunities.</li>
<li>Do community service activities even if they don't seem meaningful to you. As you search for that activity that actually will mean something to you, accumulate those hours.</li>
<li>You can send different versions of the Common App to different schools. (I can't believe I didn't know that!)</li>
<li>If you have perfect grades, decent extracurriculars, and decent (not great) essays, you can get to all the UCs easily (but not necessarily their scholarship money). So don't worry too much.</li>
<li>Apply to at least one National Merit school if you get it--otherwise it's almost a waste.</li>
<li>Don't let your parents dictate more than 10 percent of your college list.</li>
<li>Don't stress about interviews. The majority of alumni interviewers want to be nice to you.</li>
<li>Decide early if it (HYP etc.) is all worth it and it is really what you want. Don't suddenly realize that it's not worth it late in the game--you probably will feel like you wasted a lot of time and you are not likely to be successful.</li>
<li>Pray/believe in fate.</li>
<li>You will be all right, no matter what happens. It's perfectly okay to have your emotional breakdowns. But remember, someone will still love you and the world will go on. =)</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>Screw college applications: HYPONOSIS is not worth living for...nor dying for nor having to kill your last years of your childhood :)</li>
</ol>