High School Seniors, where are you applying?

[dag12]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

USAMO, National Physics, Nat/Int Karate, 4.0 UW, 2400

^ that's what set you apart from all the other generic candidates

none of us here have USAMO/USABO/Intel Siemens ISEF under our belts let alone national/int karate

I suppose, but 2400, USAMO, Physics, that stuff, not so much when applying to top schools.

I really wish that there were more spots at the Ivies. Not that you can't get a good education elsewhere, but I feel like a lot of qualified people get rejected, especially when you've having admission rates of <10%. The whole process is really arbitrary, especially when you're applying to these schools. Since they have a very large pool of well-qualified applicants, they only admit students whose profiles 'click' with their respective admission officers - not exactly the best system, in my opinion.

PS. you're going to get into the UCs no problem.

[OneHandNow]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

Maaaaaaaan. A Yalie. One person got in (out of 4 EA) this year from my school.


Ah well I applied already so.. gotta enjoy these 3 months! I'll get back to you guys when I start getting those acceptance/rejection letters. Good luck everyone ;_;

[kmay]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

unless you get a full-ride i see no real reason to go to a huge expensive university/college. take the gen level classes and the english/maths you need at a community college for ~8k(over 2 years). I know people want to go dorm and everything, but college is expensive and student loans during your first year or 2 is not such a good idea.

[dag12]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

Maaaaaaaan. A Yalie. One person got in (out of 4 EA) this year from my school.


Ah well I applied already so.. gotta enjoy these 3 months! I'll get back to you guys when I start getting those acceptance/rejection letters. Good luck everyone ;_;

YES AN EA ADMIT.
You should totally hook me up with him/her (I work for the admissions office / host for bulldog days...)
I'll be calling a lot of the California EA admits when winter break ends, so we'll see
As for those who haven't finished their applications - GET ON IT, you don't want to wait until Common App / UC site crashes.

GL, haha. You should make a new thread / bump this one 4/1 :P

[OneHandNow]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

unless you get a full-ride i see no real reason to go to a huge expensive university/college. take the gen level classes and the english/maths you need at a community college for ~8k(over 2 years). I know people want to go dorm and everything, but college is expensive and student loans during your first year or 2 is not such a good idea.

Well, I always thought this saying to be true: you earn what you pay for.

It really depends on your major & career choice.. but going to top universities will *probably* provide you with better education compared to their state univ. / community college counterparts.

Of course you can be successful with state/community colleges and save a ton of money at that too.

But I always enjoyed that feeling of others looking up to me for my academic achievements, and I guess that's how I want to be like for the rest of my life. The feeling of people praising you and looking up to you for your academic achievements is one of the best feelings in the world. Now imagine if you were at a high school reunion. Your friends are working hard labor jobs for meager pay, while you work the same amount but earn top wage and have freedom & control over your life. It's a world of difference!

Sure, happiness =/= money, but in a world dictated by money, the gap will continue to widen between those who go to prestigious (and expensive as hell) universities and community colleges.

You earn what you paid for.

[dag12]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

Also, I want to note that some of the good colleges (like the really top-tier universities) will give substantial financial aid.
These universities are need-blind, and many of them will meet full demonstrated need.
In my case, going to Yale is far cheaper than going to a state university (UC), mainly because of Yale's fantastic financial aid, which provided for the large majority of my education.

[Arch0wl]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

Not only is it pretty useless for job prospects, but it isn't all that intellectually enriching (which is ultimately why we go to college in the first place). You'll find that plenty of non-English majors are not only better at writing, but are also just as good as contextual analysis/critical thinking.

I don't know what English majors you are using for your sample but this could not be more counter to what I've experienced. Science majors, and CS majors in particular tend to take the 4-year route and get a job immediately after college but often cannot articulate their ideas well to people who are not experienced with what they know.

I could write a lot about this, and I have, but I do not want to derail the thread. The problems you cite with English majors are true for Bachelor degrees in general. Most degrees that are not heavily specialized (such as those from trade schools) will not guarantee you a great job in four years and should be supplemented with a degree from either graduate school or professional school. Even Econ, which you would expect to be the moneymaking degree, is not so lucrative with just a 4-year degree. An Econ Ph.D, though, is very lucrative.

[Reincarnate]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

I don't know what English majors you are using for your sample but this could not be more counter to what I've experienced. Science majors, and CS majors in particular tend to take the 4-year route and get a job immediately after college but often cannot articulate their ideas well to people who are not experienced with what they know.

I could write a lot about this, and I have, but I do not want to derail the thread. The problems you cite with English majors are true for Bachelor degrees in general. Most degrees that are not heavily specialized (such as those from trade schools) will not guarantee you a great job in four years and should be supplemented with a degree from either graduate school or professional school. Even Econ, which you would expect to be the moneymaking degree, is not so lucrative with just a 4-year degree. An Econ Ph.D, though, is very lucrative.

This is really only true for ****ty firms. Many good engineers from my school are very good at articulating themselves. It's only the foreigners that have had issue, I've found.

The problems I cited for English majors were local to those with only Bachelors though, yes.

[Reincarnate]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

PS accepted Harvard/Yale/Penn/Brown/Columbia/MIT/Stanford/UCBerk/UCLA/Georgetown/UVA/Tufts/Lehigh (deferred then rejected at Princeton)


Didn't have any of the cool **** like USAMO or Intel though

[Reincarnate]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

Maaaaaaaan. A Yalie. One person got in (out of 4 EA) this year from my school.


Ah well I applied already so.. gotta enjoy these 3 months! I'll get back to you guys when I start getting those acceptance/rejection letters. Good luck everyone ;_;

I predict at least one or two Ivies for you... I'd be really surprised if you got universally canned. Out of everyone I know with similar profiles to yours, I only know of one that got universally canned and they STILL got into Cornell. So, don't fret too much! "Too big to fail" is probably applicable here (don't get me started on firms though...)

[NocturneAunamic]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

This thread makes me feel dumb.

My highschool GPA was like 3.0, if that. I slacked off too much..

Same

my gpa is 3.0 weighted is 3.4 with 1850 SAT im not getting into my choice schools oh well...

[infinity.]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

I was talking with a stanford admissions officer a while back, and asked a question about 'brute strength' applicants, ones who simply have near perfect quantitative stats, and she told me that as long as you're within range, it doesn't matter what your numbers are, because essentially every applicant within range is of the same academic caliber. It was more holistic than anything. Don't think you can really predict if its truly holistic.

[Arch0wl]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

The Admissions system for undergraduate education has become a serious cluster****. Right now it encourages hoarding extracurricular "softs". Dylan Matthews of the Harvard Crimson wrote a great article about this.

[infinity.]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

The Admissions system for undergraduate education has become a serious cluster****. Right now it encourages hoarding extracurricular "softs". Dylan Matthews of the Harvard Crimson wrote a great article about this.

I've read this before. And I guess I have to agree, but I feel like making it randomized would just be a leeway for more corrupt admissions policies. They would randomly select maybe half of the students, and then admit all of the people to fit racial quotas, legacies, and other ridiculous hooks.

To ensure fair admissions, I feel like essays and interviews should be the most critically considered aspects of applications..

[iironiic]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

Well, I always thought this saying to be true: you earn what you pay for.

It really depends on your major & career choice.. but going to top universities will *probably* provide you with better education compared to their state univ. / community college counterparts.

Of course you can be successful with state/community colleges and save a ton of money at that too.

But I always enjoyed that feeling of others looking up to me for my academic achievements, and I guess that's how I want to be like for the rest of my life. The feeling of people praising you and looking up to you for your academic achievements is one of the best feelings in the world. Now imagine if you were at a high school reunion. Your friends are working hard labor jobs for meager pay, while you work the same amount but earn top wage and have freedom & control over your life. It's a world of difference!

Sure, happiness =/= money, but in a world dictated by money, the gap will continue to widen between those who go to prestigious (and expensive as hell) universities and community colleges.

You earn what you paid for.

It's unfortunate how I don't have the money to pay what I deserve. I would've gone to a school that is more expensive than the one I currently attend.

Also, I want to note that some of the good colleges (like the really top-tier universities) will give substantial financial aid.
These universities are need-blind, and many of them will meet full demonstrated need.
In my case, going to Yale is far cheaper than going to a state university (UC), mainly because of Yale's fantastic financial aid, which provided for the large majority of my education.

Had I known this, I would've applied to upper-tier schools