what you wish you had known...

Applying to College
61

<ol>
<li>Check financial aid deadlines early!!! I missed a few deadlines for certain schools, which is kind of a bummer.</li>
<li>Get a recommendation from a teacher who both knows you well and has a good command of the English language (I had a teacher who loves me describe me as 'unusually competant' - he thought that was a great compliment). Give them plenty of time, too.</li>
<li>Don't count on your counselor to do anything - double-check and make sure they send the school report and all that on time. Mine didn't.</li>
<li>Know where you stand in your class rankings so you can maintain your GPA or rise to the occasion.</li>
</ol>

<p>I'm so glad this is over!!!!!!!!!!</p>

62

<p>


</p>

<p>This is great advice.</p>

<p>If you haven't seen it, there is another thread worth reading here:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=56545&pp=20%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=56545&pp=20&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

63

<p>this thread hasn't been 'stickified' yet?!</p>

64

<p>One of the best threads ever...wish I would of known of this site and and of this thread before I started applying to schools. Hopefully my brother will kick ass in his application process by reading this thread and posting on this site.</p>

65

<p>One really important thing to consider:</p>

<p>As I am winding this process down, trying to figure out where I will go to college, I have really come to the realization that location isn't as important as a rising senior may think... kinda. For example, I really wanted to be in a city, so I made 'in a city' or 'easy access to a city' part of my criteria in searching for colleges. However, as I've found, ultimately I am not going to be very busy during college and if I really want my city fix, I'll have friends with cars to get me there. So if 'city' is part of the criteria, add 'access to a city' to your criteria, as top schools understand the unparalleled offerings of cities, and many times will have their own programs to help get you there. Though I'll probably end up going to a school in the city (and my top choice remains a school in probably one of the greatest cities in the world), I foreclosed some other good opportunities because of what I had originally perceived as their somewhat crappy location.</p>

66

<p>How can you start your essays the end of Junior year. I thought applications for 2008 don't come out till July? Are the essay questions the same every year?</p>

67

<p>Yes, commonapp essay prompts remain the same untill otherwise mentioned on the site.</p>

68

<p>
[quote]
Originally Posted by bad1017

[quote]
6. Become good friends with your teachers. ... asking for help shows your teachers that you care about learning and they, in turn, might be able to be one of your teacher recommenders come college application time.

[/quote]

This is great advice.</p>

<p>If you haven't seen it, there is another thread worth reading here:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...?t=56545&pp=20%5B/url%5D%5B/quote%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...?t=56545&pp=20

[/quote]
</a>
If you haven't seen it, there is another thread worth reading here:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=316671%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=316671&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

69

<p>i wish i had known about CC when i was like, 12. :(</p>

70

<p>That Yale, Princeton and MIT were going to reject my application. Ha ha!</p>

<p>Seriously ... I wish that -</p>

<p>(1) I'd had more time / made more time to find out about other very good colleges / programs that I didn't apply to because - being an international student from Mauritius - I didn't know about them.</p>

<p>(2) I'd listened more carefully to those people who warned me that even excellent candidates are rejected from the most prestigious schools.</p>

<p>(3) I'd mentioned and discussed the practical projects that I'd worked on (and received a Distinction for) in Computing in my application.</p>

<p>(4) I'd studied some 'A' level courses independently and taken my 'O' level exams more seriously.</p>

<p>(5) I'd made more use of the opportunities I did have instead of moaning about all that I didn't.</p>

<p>(6) I'd started my college search a few years before it was time to apply so that I'd have been able to schedule everything better. As it was, I crammed everything into my last year at school (college search, applications, SAT I and SAT II, TOEFL, 'A' levels, computing project, music, cross-country) and I didn't manage to devote as much time and care to each field as I would have liked.</p>

<p>(7) I'd had more initiative and acted upon some of those crazy ideas that I had (Ex: Giving tuition to younger students. This is basically unheard of where I live - I'm not a grown-up or qualified - but I would have liked to, especially in subjects that I'm good at. I'm doing it now) instead of worrying about failing.</p>

<p>(8) I'd been serious about school and my grades throughout my 7 years there. I was always a good student, but the motivation, focus and determination were apparent only in the last 2 years when I really began thinking about the future.</p>

<p>(9) That I'd participated more in class, asked my teachers more questions and for their help, really shown an interest in their topic and gone beyond the syllabus in more subjects.</p>

71

<p>Sorry if I'm being repetitive; didn't read all of the previous posts.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Don't underestimate yourself because of CC. After reading old chances and results threads, I freaked out, and legit thought I was going to be rejected everywhere. CC is pretty warped, so know how to maximize CC's resources (scholarship info, camp info, etc.) while not getting sucked into procrastinating and wasting time on What are my chances threads. :) Also, once you've made a decision about something, like applying to a school, put out your best effort. Don't be like "Oh I'll never get in." </p></li>
<li><p>If something doesn't work out for you (ex. not getting a position in a club that you really wanted, getting into a camp), don't mope; make your own opportunities. Start a club, branch out, enter contests, think of other activities you're interested in.</p></li>
<li><p>This sounds horribly cliche, but for essays, let your personality shine through! Don't worry about what you think colleges want to see, because your essay is probably going to come out bland and dull. Also, recycle your essays. With slight tweaking, a lot of essays can be reused for different prompts.</p></li>
<li><p>This sounds like common sense, but participate in activities that you ENJOY doing and be willing to try out new things. I know too many people who feel obligated (or are encouraged by their parents) to do Math Club and Science Olympiad, not because they love it, and that's...silly. Chronic club-joining to pad your resume will not work. On a similar note, there are a lot of spammy awards out there, like Who's Who, National Honor Roll, National Society of High School Scholars, etc. </p></li>
<li><p>Don't overstress over trivial stuff. (OMG I got a B+?!@$!) Relax. "Schedule" in some free time for yourself, and go hang out with friends. :)</p></li>
</ol>

72

<p>-Do not start applying to lots of schools in Boston just because you heard the song "Boston" by Augustana. I loved the song so much, it basically influenced me to apply to BC and Tufts. I got into them and by April I wasn't feeling Boston anymore.</p>

<p>-Apply to a range of schools. I applied to 2 top 8 schools (and <10% admin rate schools) and the rest top 30+ schools. I should have looked in the MIDDLE. </p>

<p>-Don't waste money applying to UC schools OOS because California sounds cool. Its not worth it in many regards, unless you have some undying love for UCLA or CAL. </p>

<p>-</p>

73

<p>^ I don't understand your point about the UCs... please elaborate. What's not worth it? Why isn't it worth it? What's lost in applying? What about the experience makes it not worth it? Basically, please explain.</p>

74

<p>UC's out of state. What I found out after I applied. I never considered the high-out of state tuition that was only a little less than private Universities. Did not realize I would be paying 4x the amount of instate students. Did not understand that higher tier UC's would be extremely competitive in many fields, why pay that much money to get an opportunity to sit in large lecture classes and fight for grades? I'm sure its a tremendous deal in-state, I most surely would have attended a UC campus had I been in California, but for out-of-staters, give the UC's some thought before applying. I applied kind of aimlessly and regretted it since it was just a waste of money since I would probably never attend. A lot of kids from my school also applied to UC's and got in from UCSC-UCB , but none of them are going. </p>

<p>-if your state has a pretty decent state University, check it out before you look at other state universitys.<br>
-if not, then i guess the UC system might sound like a good opportunity, but for the reasons I mentioned above, i'm not too sold on the idea.</p>

75

<p>Yes, indeed. The UCs are ridiculously expense... around $42K. Yikes! Though, fighting for grades isn't so bad, because if you do well, then grad schools will know you really are a great student. Graduating with just good grades from a place known for grade inflation isn't going to do you any favors. But good points runpunk. As an out of stater, I may end up going because of its competitive programs and outstanding resources.</p>

76

<p>I wish I had found CC sooner! This site is an unparalleled resource, and I'll be recommending it to all my junior friends that will be starting their college search soon.</p>

77

<p>something i wish i knew?</p>

<p>the world is not a meritocracy. even if you believe you should get in somewhere, it doesnt mean you will. make sure you apply to a school that you love and you can actually get in to.</p>

78

<p>I wish I had known that the best school for you is not necessarily the highest-ranked school on the list.</p>

79

<p>I'm still a junior, but I wish I had started taking SAT IIs freshman year, as I complete courses. I will only have 1-2 SAT IIs when I graudate, as opposed to six or so I might have had.</p>

80

<p>less safeties, more reaches</p>