bartleby

"There is no such thing as an "automatic in" for a school. There's always a bit of a crapshoot."

False. Completely and utterly false. There are plenty of schools that admit based solely on numbers and publicly available formulas, including UC campuses.

tastyb33f

So you're suggesting that even if an applicant has surpassed the "benchmark number" for entry based on the formulae and numbers but writes absolutely TERRIBLE essays - essays so poor that suggest that the student may not be be fit to study at that particular school - the student would still be admitted?

I was trying to dissuade this student from getting more opinions just because it sounds like he's one of those applicants who shops for schools based on name and prestige rather than a good fit. You and I both know that "college is not a prize to be won; it is a match to be made." The Harvards and Princetons and Berkeleys and UPenns and whatnot, despite their international prestige, are not a good match for everybody. That's something that this guy needs to know and figure out before he just goes around accepting the best-sounding offer just because it's a top brand-name school rather than an actual good fit.

Beatchick

are u taking a gap year? Cuz I'm not getting this -- you've already finished as a senior in hs and haven't taken a second SAT II and didn't apply last year for this coming Fall?

bartleby

Yes, that is correct. See UF's and UT's 10% rules. See the automatic admission to UCR and UCM for those with the 3.0+minimum SAT score. See the automatic admission to UCD and a few other mid-tier UCs for ELC kids. You could write 'Santa Claus' in your essays and you'd still get in.

I don't claim to be knowledgeable enough to judge whether people have the correct reasons for applying to a certain college. I'll defer to UPenn's admissions committee in determining whether he is a good fit or not. I'll just answer his question to the best of my ability.

Viromonkey

No you’re not getting in. Sorry!!!

tastyb33f

I'm sorry, bartleby, but I'm trying to help this guy out beyond the standard "CHANCE ME PLEASE OMG I'M NOT GETTING IN ANYWHERE" question because, honestly, he has more than enough confirmation from other people suggesting that he's an excellent applicant. How much more help can we be by just repeating what other people have already said?

The sheep are slaughtered and sold so that the shepherd can make the money.
Think about whether or not simply answering his inane question to the best of your ability is actually helping him or if you're just feeding his ego.

This is precisely why I hate - HATE - applicants who ask people to "chance" them and you read down the page and it turns out their stats are so stellar that they already know they'll get into an excellent school. At that point it's just pointless and, in my opinion, actually hurtful to the forum community because it's a waste of time, time that could be spent answering other more meaningful questions. (Well, on the flip side of the coin, ANY "chance" question is kinda iffy, especially the students who are actually borderline and worried about getting into a school, because we're not on the adcomms and our opinion may or may not be the same as that of the adcomms).

So despite your poorly veiled dig at me, I really do think that I'm perhaps the more helpful one in my effort to perhaps help him open his eyes a bit and to really consider these decisions. I spent HOURS poring over college viewbooks and websites trying to decide if these schools were all schools that, if I were to be accepted, I would have no problem attending. And I feel like my list was a very good list - I didn't apply to all the Ivies just because they were Ivies; I didn't just look at the "top 15" schools in the "rankings" and apply just because of numbers. So sure, he may have his own reasons for applying to certain schools, but I hope those reasons don't eventually lead down a path to where he'll be unhappy for the next four years of his life because he made a mistake or something.

This forum is about helping each other. And we need to think about how to BEST help each other.

aztennisplaya1

tastyb33f there are many reasons why i asked for peoples opinions on these forums, and one of them is not to gain attention. Applying to college is a very nervous process that makes a person very anxious. Even the best of the best still worry over if they are accepted into the school of their dreams. This is because they see people with perfect SAT's, perfect gpa, and perfect EC that still get denied. And considering how I am not one of these people that is perfect in all of the criteria that colleges look at, i have a reason to be nervous and anxious.

tastyb33f

Do you realize how few applicants there are that have perfect GPAs and perfect SAT scores? (By the way, no such thing as "perfect extracurriculars" in my mind - extracurricular activities done for the sake of padding a resume is absolutely disgusting; applying a formulaic paradigm to extracurriculars just worsens that notion). Three years ago, I went through this exact process of freaking out and being a nervous wreck over every little number. The vast majority of us who have gone through the application process completely understand how you feel.

But also know that you don't NEED perfect scores and perfect grades and a whopping list of extracurriculars to get into a school. That's how it works in lots of other countries (east Asian schools come to mind, minus the ECs), but the reason why tertiary education in the US is among the absolute best in the world is because we value the students more as individuals rather than a simple set of numbers (one reason why I don't really like the way large public schools admit students, mostly by looking at numbers). For example, in Taiwan, they don't consider special circumstances like your socioeconomic background or that you're the captain of whatever team. As far as they're concerned, you are an entrance exam score and a GPA. In the US, however, It's all about FIT - whether or not you can convince the adcomm that you'd be a good fit to 1) be educated by that particular school, 2) that you can contribute to that particular school in a positive manner, and 3) not bring shame to the name of the school (that third one should be pretty easy for most people). So it's not about having a perfect GPA/SAT/whatever. It's about shining as an individual. Sounds really cheesy, I know, but that's what it's all about. So you're allowed to freak out about your numbers - everybody is. But it's better if you realize sooner rather than later what they're looking for.

America's an awesome mothereffin country, isn't it?

aztennisplaya1

Yes i agree with everything that you said. However, saying that i posted this thread to gain attention because of my ego is very unreasonable. It does not hurt to ask for people's opinions and see where improvement is needed to increase the chances of getting into the college of your choice. This method is far more effective then basing your decisions off your own thoughts.

tastyb33f

I did not suggest that you STARTED this thread with that in mind. It's good to ask for opinions. But continually asking for more and more opinions when you already have plenty that say the exact same thing is just excessive and unnecessary.

bartleby

He got 5 opinions, all of them somewhat different. Lay off him.

KevinSF90

you would be a competitive candidate if you were in-state.

uc berkeley: reach

everything seems fine, try to boost SAT

edit:
@Bartleby: if you wrote "anything" like, "i dont want to go here!" you most certainly will not get into uc berkeley (UCLA does the same). their admissions are not formula based. they have a committee that review your application and essay as a whole and then score it holistically.

aztennisplaya1

bump 10 char

aztennisplaya1

bump 10 char