<p>Hello everybody, I am international (Canadian) and I have just finnished the app process this year. Hope this thread helps! By the way this is from the condensed arch thread.</p>
<p>Itll be a good idea to keep deadlines and addresses/email whenever you see them on school websites. Make sure that it is not last years info though~</p>
<p>Some schools offer timelines; itll also be a good idea to combine these timelines preferably in the summer when you have the time for this kind of stuff. There will be quite a few documents that you will need someone else to complete for you and therefore it is always good to get organized asap (you might have to allow quite a lot of time for teachers to complete recs; they might even forget); same goes for registration for tests like the SAT, TOEFL, APs etc.</p>
<p>Also, do take a look around on CC to check on what other have accomplished. Dont be overwhelmed though; its just good for you to know in advance. Keep in mind that location/prestige of high school is a rather huge factor in student accomplishment, so dont feel too bad. Anyway, you are likely to revisit whatever feelings you may have when seeing the stats of other students, so its just good to be prepared.</p>
<p>TOEFL:</p>
<p>If you are international and you did horrible on SAT CR/WR, take the TOEFL, which is easier. It gives you a second chance.</p>
<p>Most schools require the TOEFL anyway for students whose first language is not English.</p>
<p>If you did well on CR/WR, these schools will waive/not require the TOEFL:
Cornell, U Cincinnati, UT Austin, Kansas State
maybe more</p>
<p>I think TOEFL is only used to see if you meet a minimum standard, so a stellar score wont really help your application.</p>
<p>APs</p>
<p>Plan real early.</p>
<p>It was sossosososo confusing had to think about credits given (for an elective or a requirement? If only for elective credit, how much is enough for a certain type of electives? Will it even save you time if money is no concern (Expected Family Contribution stays the same?), about placement out of courses (the two above are actually not the same), and which one to take: physics B or C? Calc AB or BC? And of course, different schools have different rules.</p>
<p>This will be a REAL pain to decide if you are applying to different programs, say an engineering program and a architecture program. The usefulness of an exam is almost opposite for two programs.</p>
<p>For architecture, I think Calc is more important than physics. Physics B will be enough, but then again, if you already have a science elective like chem, I dont think phys will do any good (even though phys is supposed to a lot more related to arch!). Most arch programs wont require calc BC, but you get that extra credit and you get a subscore for AB, so even if you dont know the C, your subscore might be considered (again, varies by college/program) as if it were the AB exam. Two in one is not bad, but can certainly freak you out as qs are more complex and there are no easy qs (A questions) on the BC.</p>
<p>Also, the Lit course offered by high school might be surprisingly irrelevant to the AP Lit exam. And studio art APs are generally useless.</p>
<p>AND REMEMBER TO CONTACT THE AP PEOPLE BEFORE MARCH FIRST IF YOUR SCHOOL DOES NOT DO THESE THINGS FOR STUDENTS.</p>
<p>For essays, always do the ones for the school you like most LAST. It is amazing how the essay changes as we leave the over-excited newbie stage.</p>
<p>For both essays and interviews, I think the most important thing you can do is to imagine that YOU ARE ALREADY ACCEPTED. Note: not you will be, but you are. This way, you dont sound naïve, over-excited, nor arrogant, but appreciative and natural.
For interview, prepare these toughies in advance: what are your strengths and what will you qualities will you bring to the school? What are your weaknesses? List three of each (just in case~!)</p>
<p>I am a newbie, but I think you should ask your interviewer what to bring. I think they usually want a resume, which is basically your application in resume form with updated stuff .they will tell you what they want to see. Itll be nice to be allowed to take a portfolio or something like that which can be easily reviewed anywhere to an interview youll have more to talk about. I had a seven minute one.</p>
<ol>
<li>Ask them if they will reimburse your flight/room, and find ways to secure that. Even if they tell you they will, they can be very good at denying everything so kindly with a frustrated and concerned face when you get there.</li>
<li>If you are out of state or international, full-rides may not be full rides. Determine whether or not it is worth attending. Ask them how much you will really have to pay before hand. Ask how to apply for state-resident status.</li>
<li>When booking tickets online, remember to take the seats in the front if you need to catch anther plane at the airport!! Also, online prices can vary drastically from day to day. Also, you might be sitting at an exit seat and will be REQUIRED to perform some life-saving duties.</li>
<li>Ask hotels if they have free shuttles to the school/other places you intend to visit.</li>
<li>Pack really really light because you might have to run in the airports!! After the event I felt that I didnt need to bring clothes, since no ones is going to sniff you. (Unless, simply breathing can detect your presence)</li>
<li>Bring a book you didnt get a chance to read; there is a lot of time for doing things like that.</li>
<li>Some of the jets are surprisingly small/squishy, and the toilets look like theyre not suitable for pooing. So do before you have to!!</li>
<li>Just in case that there is a radio thing and a movie during the flight (rather slim chance to get on a big plane that has these things), you might want to bring your own headsets, so you dont have to pay for a headset.</li>
<li>Ask for an extra bottle of water when they come serving drinks or when youre about to descend. They cost so much in the airports. Also, ask for those unpopular drinks so you can get a can instead of a little cup of it. You can share your parents drinks and save the can for later. Hide it though! They might want it back. Ours apple juice got taken back
but they were nice to give us two cans of it in the first place since apple j is popular.</li>
<li>Houstons Bush airport has some really inconsiderate and unhelpful staff.</li>
</ol>
<p>Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, aren’t best for everything. However, their international reputation might help anyway if you are going to be returning to your home country to work. </p>
<p>SATs are not as indicative as CB says. Dont be jealous of anyone who gets a real high mark: this person who got 800 on SAT I math AND Math IIC got a 690 on SAT I math the third time (thats a 110 point difference); after self-studying for grade 12 physics, he then beat his computer-scientist classmate who writes programs with physics equations by 30 points on SAT II Physics. They can also screw up grading your test because of OH, NO, NOT MOISTURE, giving you a score a few HUNDRED points below your actual score.</p>
<p>Written stuff (like essays): submit as late as you can; when youre finished with them, leave them. It takes time to perfect them: time not working and not time working!!</p>
<p>When filling out fin aid forms, use online EFC estimators to fill out the difficult blank of how much are you paying next year. (Isnt that for them to decide? Anyway, you can avoid being too generous or outrageous) Princeton has one.</p>
<p>Fax everything first, and save yourself money because some schools do accept faxed reports, even though CB tells you not to (they just want the money).</p>
<p>Always hate College Board. Never trust anything they say: ASK THE SCHOOLS THEMSELVES. Dont bother calling CB, youre not studying there. They charge your calls and theyre not nice. Always email the schools and ask if the schools have received your score report.</p>
<p>If your SAT account name is not your passport name, just tell the schools and ask them what to do: CB gives you wrong instructions.</p>
<p>You can change SAT II subjects, and you can always take more than youve registered for. You can take less, but THERE WILL BE NO REFUNDS. HOWEVER, THEYLL HUNT YOU DOWN IF YOU TAKE MORE, so no worries.</p>
<p>Rolling admissions in public schools is PROBABLY mostly for applicants from that state. If you are not from that state, or even that country, expect a non-rolling, just-before-deadline reply, and EXPECT QUITE A FEW LESS-QUALIFIED APPLICANTS TO BE ACCEPTED BEFORE YOU.</p>
<p>Again, use common sense. Money and prestige is involved, so dont expect all schools to be honest and complete with the information they give you.</p>
<p>Remember to submit financial aid applications, which include CSS and FAFSA! They take time, but upon delay theyre easy to forget!</p>
<p>You need to pay for CSS.</p>
<p>MCGILL HAS A DEADLINE FOR THEIR ENTRANCE SCHOLARSHIP STATEMENT THAT THEY REQUIRE.</p>
<p>mcgill doesnt look at SATs whatsoever if you are a Canadian citizen, so dont bother sending them reports.</p>
<p>mcgill requires the portfolio to be labled: architecture portfolio, and also no commercial value if sent from overseas.</p>
<p>I got two merit schols totalling 93000, but I got rejected by the only one I could afford (ie, with fin aid). I will not be attending school in the states. To make the entire process something more than a complete waste of time, I hope this thread will help those with more difficult backgrounds.</p>
<p>To rejected applicants:</p>
<p>I know how it feels, as if your whole life plan has been altered, and that there was no point in working so hard for the last few years, and that you really dont know what to do next. For me, this process has been unexpectedly miraculous~ I know that with God, miracles will never cease to be whether or not things have gone the way youve expected them to be. I only pray that I will remember everything God has done for me; God bless, and I hope you decide to let God be your personal God as well!</p>
<p>Agree on the last paragraph.</p>
<p>acceptance and scholarship money is determined by a lot of what you simply CANNOT change. If you’re asian, you have to compete with fellow asians; if you are a girl in engineering you have a lot less competition; if you’re rich you don’t have to compete for their limited funding in financial aid (let’s face it, no funding is unlimited), and if you are poor you are missing out on a lot of what the rich kids get, like: tutoring, admission counseling, sports teams, and interesting extra-curricular activities, legacy status, blah blah blah. </p>
<p>although some kids from average families DO get accepted at wonderful colleges (good colleges MUST select a few: this way these kids go on the newspaper so people think that the colleges are actually 100% need-blind), there’s no need to feel bad about yourself! If you are well-informed, you are as good as you think you are. </p>
<p>finally, i think i have found one thing that top colleges want in their students: benefits. They want to be the school with the most valedictorians, competition finalists, so statistically they look awesome. They also want sports stars, singers, acters, etc. so they could get a chance at a good contribution. likewise they want children of rich people and the socially influential.</p>
<p>Schools even hire firms that do statistics for them so they end up with maximum diversity, greatest “media-statistics” (those that the media like, which are usually limited to SAT I’s and class rank), and of course, maximum profit. I’m beginning to think that once they read your app to make sure you’re no idiot, then they start assigning you points in various categories to feed into calculations. Once the results come out, voila! they’ve taken your app fee for just that. The resulting class may seem bizarre, but if you look at some decisions threads for top schools on CC they are nothing short of bizarre. </p>
<p>So please don’t feel too bad if you get rejected!! And if you come from a good background, please don’t feel too good with your acceptances either. Everything must be kept in a real-world, not an academic-field perspective.</p>