I just had an interview in front of the GS council. I was really nervous and stumbled quite a bit... But I was able to answer all of their questions, so I really hope I passed!
@Hamlon I had my MIT interview last night. Pointers:
1) It will be very relaxed, because all they can do is help you get into MIT.
2) be ready to talk about yourself!!!!
3) think about strengths
4) be you.
@arinuma My interview was not what I expected. When I arrived, there was a dude ahead of me so I thought I would be waiting a while. 10 minutes later he's out the door and it's my turn to go. My interview was only 10 minutes too. I'm a little worried now because I thought it was common to have interviews that were at least 30-45 minutes. I talked about myself, but I think he's basing most of his interview letter off my resume.
Guess who's back from a hecking long hiatus??? Me!!!
Quick updates from when I was last here (who knows when that was. it's been too long):
- I got a 1370 on the SAT first try (670 M, 700 R). I'm retaking it in November to try to get a 1500.
- I kinda bombed my SAT subject tests in June (620 Math II, 650 Biology E, 660 USH). I'm retaking Math II and will be taking Biology E and/or Physics as well.
- SSP was amazing! It was by far the hardest thing I've ever done, but it was such a great experience that will literally change my life. Because of that program I think I might have a chance at some top schools (mainly Caltech and MIT). Someone from MIT admissions came and spoke to us on open house day which was very nice.
- My classes this year: AP French, AP Literature, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics C (both mech and e&m), Honors Band.
My college list at the moment:
Safeties:
UMaine
University of Colorado - Boulder
Matches:
McGill
BU
CWRU or Reed (trying to decide between the two)
Reaches:
MIT
Caltech
Harvard
Princeton
Dartmouth (mom wants me to apply there)
I'm only applying to UMaine, Colorado - Boulder, and CWRU or Reed EA. The rest I'm applying to RD.
I'm applying to mainly reach schools because I don't want to go to my state school. I'm already guaranteed $11k/year merit scholarships and I am doing work at the school already, but the school isn't a good fit for me (my mom thinks that too but wants me to highly consider it because it's a financial safety).
I'm also trying to get fee waivers for my apps, so if any of you have advice on that it'd be great. I'm really confused.
@Hamlon@arinuma I might do my MIT interview already even though the deadline for me isn't until December 10. My interviewer is a state legislator, so I think it would be good to do my interview before legislature is in full swing.
My classes are kicking my butt so far (I've gotten 60% on 3 quizzes this week), but it was only the first week. I'm going to work harder since I want to get all As in my classes this semester.
@Hamlon mine was two hours long, I've got both a good feeling and a funky one if I think too long. Half of the stuff that I mentioned- Questbridge, MOSTEC, Girl Up- he didn't know them. Wrote them down and asked questions about it. I was a bit reserved and quiet. Downplayed my achievements which is a bit of a head banger. But he offered to let me work in his lab next semester! So he must have liked me some.
@frazzledazzle that is very overwhelming. State legislator?
They put class rankings up and somehow I'm first...! Wow. I don't know if I can keep it but I'll try... My class all thought the previous #1 was a whole point ahead since she transfered from a different school, so it was a little shocking today.
Tbh class ranking isn't too important to me, and I know it won't really help with college admissions... But I'm trying to keep it a secret until graduation, so my parents will either not notice if I drop down or be surprised when they see it ^^;
Now it will be a battle against this bout of senioritis I caught recently...
I am happy to say my Doge 4 Family House fundraiser raised its goal of approx. $3,000! Could not have done this without the help of volunteers and the generosity of donators :) It is great supporting an amazing cause by the Family House organization: provide temporary housing to families of seriously ill children receiving treatment at UCSF Benioff's Children Hospital in San Francisco, California.
If anyone wants to see the website, it's the first link when searching "doge4familyhouse" on Google.
I took the ACT at the same testing location where I had an inappropriate proctor in June. I think my report kinda helped out in a way? Every room had THREE clocks instead of the usual broken one or none at all. My proctor was really nice too. And the test was free so that's a plus.
My predictions are pretty optimistic which is rare for me. I normally expect the worst so I'm not disappointed.
33-34 English: thank you magoosh, and the 2-3 freebie questions testing "it's vs. its"
31-32 Math: The first half was very similar to past June tests from 2017 and 2016! The second half was rough.
33-35 Reading
28-29 Science: I messed up on my timing and had to guess on a few :/ I got too wrapped up in solving a set of problems for a passage when I should've skipped to the next one.
Hoping I finally get 32+. At least that was my last ACT ever!
@snowfairy137 I'm the opposite. I am --dreading-- these standardized tests, but I love doing my college essays; it's great talking about what I've done :)
It's also one part of admissions in the US that I really like that admissions here in Canada don't. US admissions look at who you are as a person, while Canadian (and probably the rest of the world) admissions only look at your grades. Even scholarships here are almost only given out for sports or volunteer work, and not anything else.
AP Comp Sci A is going really well. I though the work would be hard, but I guess my prior coding knowledge is really coming in handy. I'm currently at a 99% in the class. Also, I just applied to the CMU Fly-in the only one I'll probably get into.
I was going to sign up for the SAT for October, but I'm going to visit colleges out of state and out of country that weekend. Now I'm retaking it in November. Good because I have more time to study, not-so-good because I won't be able to take it another time before RD deadlines (I'm retaking subject tests in December).
Replies to: High School Class of 2018
1) It will be very relaxed, because all they can do is help you get into MIT.
2) be ready to talk about yourself!!!!
3) think about strengths
4) be you.
Quick updates from when I was last here (who knows when that was. it's been too long):
- I got a 1370 on the SAT first try (670 M, 700 R). I'm retaking it in November to try to get a 1500.
- I kinda bombed my SAT subject tests in June (620 Math II, 650 Biology E, 660 USH). I'm retaking Math II and will be taking Biology E and/or Physics as well.
- SSP was amazing! It was by far the hardest thing I've ever done, but it was such a great experience that will literally change my life. Because of that program I think I might have a chance at some top schools (mainly Caltech and MIT). Someone from MIT admissions came and spoke to us on open house day which was very nice.
- My classes this year: AP French, AP Literature, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics C (both mech and e&m), Honors Band.
My college list at the moment:
Safeties:
UMaine
University of Colorado - Boulder
Matches:
McGill
BU
CWRU or Reed (trying to decide between the two)
Reaches:
MIT
Caltech
Harvard
Princeton
Dartmouth (mom wants me to apply there)
I'm only applying to UMaine, Colorado - Boulder, and CWRU or Reed EA. The rest I'm applying to RD.
I'm applying to mainly reach schools because I don't want to go to my state school. I'm already guaranteed $11k/year merit scholarships and I am doing work at the school already, but the school isn't a good fit for me (my mom thinks that too but wants me to highly consider it because it's a financial safety).
I'm also trying to get fee waivers for my apps, so if any of you have advice on that it'd be great. I'm really confused.
@Hamlon @arinuma I might do my MIT interview already even though the deadline for me isn't until December 10. My interviewer is a state legislator, so I think it would be good to do my interview before legislature is in full swing.
My classes are kicking my butt so far (I've gotten 60% on 3 quizzes this week), but it was only the first week. I'm going to work harder since I want to get all As in my classes this semester.
@frazzledazzle that is very overwhelming. State legislator?
How overwhelming?
Tbh class ranking isn't too important to me, and I know it won't really help with college admissions... But I'm trying to keep it a secret until graduation, so my parents will either not notice if I drop down or be surprised when they see it ^^;
Now it will be a battle against this bout of senioritis I caught recently...
If anyone wants to see the website, it's the first link when searching "doge4familyhouse" on Google.
My predictions are pretty optimistic which is rare for me. I normally expect the worst so I'm not disappointed.
33-34 English: thank you magoosh, and the 2-3 freebie questions testing "it's vs. its"
31-32 Math: The first half was very similar to past June tests from 2017 and 2016! The second half was rough.
33-35 Reading
28-29 Science: I messed up on my timing and had to guess on a few :/ I got too wrapped up in solving a set of problems for a passage when I should've skipped to the next one.
Hoping I finally get 32+. At least that was my last ACT ever!
It's also one part of admissions in the US that I really like that admissions here in Canada don't. US admissions look at who you are as a person, while Canadian (and probably the rest of the world) admissions only look at your grades. Even scholarships here are almost only given out for sports or volunteer work, and not anything else.