<p>Well if you own a house at age 18, that can work as a hook. :)</p>
<p>Great, that’s going under “Leadership” :p</p>
<p>For the majority of the country–summer school at Columbia or Promys IS taking your education beyond the walls of your high school. </p>
<p>Derrick–I’ll bet you have all the right ingredients–including an indication that you have a life outside of high school–all the ingredients except that +1450 SAT I score. Maybe your amazing list will overcome the slightly lower score–but why take the chance. Give it a go.</p>
<p>Your job for the next six months is to focus on the packaging of your listed ingredients in order to make them materialize in front of the adcom as a vibrant, high-flying guy they can’t bear to pass on.</p>
<p>marite’s suggestion that you visit Harvard and other schools is also very important. Schools like ot hear what you are going to do when you get there. Consider it a form of well-researched flattery.</p>
<p>Regarding packaging, your two messages to adcom read like dry institutional mission statements. To me, your posts indicate a much funnier guy. I’d rather read funny and interesting–wouldn’t you?</p>
<p>Write the essays and post a query on this same board asking for input. Both mathmom and marite would be excellent editors.</p>
<p>I agree with JHS. You’re going to have a number of great choices next year. </p>
<p>Do you need fin aid? If so, you might also consdier tossing in applicaitons at schools known for huge merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Derrick - I think ellemenope covered it pretty well. The key is to use your ECs to clearly define who you are, or at the very least to make sure the ECs clearly reinforce the personage portrayed in your application. (Obviously you want your teacher recommendations to do the same.)</p>
<p>In response to your most recent post, I like the item concerning communication. But IMHO the second item concerning critical thought needs some work. Critical thought is only effective within the context of perspective. [Example: “Student’s learn best when they are left free to explore” versus “Learning is best done in a controlled environment.”] I believe the popular reference is “He who stands for everything stands for nothing.”</p>
<p>I suppose it should go without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) – you have a wonderful story to tell, and it would be a shame if your presentation muddles that story. Again, best of luck with this.</p>
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<p>Actually, I was thinking more in terms of “I am” rather than “I believe” statements. Your statements may be true, but they don’t really tell me about the person you are now.</p>
<p>“I am an effective communicator and have used my communication skills in this way to bring about this particular change…” </p>
<p>Newhope is right about having a wonderful story to tell. It’s one thing to say that you are an effective communicator; it’s another thing to tell a story from your life that shows that. You want to illustrate your point with stories that only you can tell.</p>
<p>How do colleges know about your socioeconomic status?</p>
<p>Zip code; single parent or two parent family; educational background of your parents; the kinds of activities you do during the summer; some will come right out and ask you to fill in an income box. </p>
<p>Also, many kids who come from lower socioeconomic circumstances will spotlight it in an essay–</p>
<p>We’re not college counselors here on CC, but many of us have given some serious thought and have done some research on the whole application process. And many of us have gone through at least one application season with a kid of our own. If we can help you, we’re happy to do so.</p>
<p>One book you may want to read is “The Gatekeepers” by Jacques Steinberg. It gives an inside view of the admissions process at Wesleyan–a must read for anyone who wants to shoot for a super-selective school.</p>
<p>Hi Derrick,</p>
<p>You should not just limit your self to Harvard as JHS said no one is a shoo-in there so don’t place all of your eggs in the Harvard basket. </p>
<p>I would also recommend applying to Questbridge as Princeton and Stanford are part of questbrindge along with some other wonderful schools. I am confident that you will end up as a finalist.</p>
<p>This is where it pays to open the junk mail as some schools will send offers because of your SAT scores for visits, fly-ins etc. This can be a way for you to visit a number of schools with little or no cost involved. I know my D got quite a bit of mail from Harvard about different visits, open houses etc.</p>
<p>Do a little legwork on some of the websites of the schools that you are interested in. Fill out the request more info as they also prompt information on visits, fly-ins etc.</p>
<p>Sign up to be a Ventures Scholar as they net work with a lot of schools that are looking to attract low income students.</p>
<p>all the best</p>
<p>Derrick:</p>
<p>Actually, Harvard won’t care whether you visited or not. But there are many wonderful schools besides Harvard that you should visit to give yourself a sense of what they’re like. Some of these schools, especially the LACs, do care that you visited and expressed an interest in them.
I was more concerned that you draw up a list of the criteria which schools should meet in order to achieve “fit” between you and the school. Location, size, social atmosphere, ECs, ease of travel to and from home, strength of prospective major (s), and so on. </p>
<p>I also agree that, besides the SATs, what is important is how you present yourself, your achievements and your interests.
Look up advice on how to structure a resume and think about the 2-3 things you would like a college to know about yourself. This will be the theme of your essay(s).</p>
<p>Upon rereading those statements, I’ve realized they sound more like my school’s mission statement than something I would say. Don’t worry, I can definitely come up with something better than that, but for now, I’ll just use that as some kind of flimsy base for hitherto unnoticed creativity :-P. Can anyone direct me to a site that they personally think is excellent for resume crafting, or has good examples of well formatted applications? Many Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Sorry , I didn’t mean to say that you should visit Harvard simply to flatter them. Impossible! There are too many tourists crawling the campus as it is. I suggested you visit with research in mind–so that your applicaiton reflects an in depth knowledge of their academic offerings. </p>
<p>Don’t doubt yourself, kid. Your writing is great. Don’t read too many 'How to" books. Open up the essay prompts and write a couple of essays from your heart. Then PM a few of the posters above and ask them to review the essay, JHS, marite, mathmom, sybbie, northstarmom. I’d volunteer if I had the skills! ;)</p>
<p>There is a thread about college app essays. Anyone have the link?</p>
<p>Hey, and thanks for sharing your story with us. We will have a great time cheering you through the process.</p>
<p>derrick:</p>
<p>even before reading marite’s post, I also immediately thought of Math 2 (as it is now called), if you are completing precalc this year. Math 1 has a brutal curve - miss three and you earn a ~710, but you can miss 7-8 and still earn an 800 on math 2. If you are comfortable with a calculator, Math 2 is the way to go. Plus, Math 2 has less focus on basic algebra and early geom rules which many kids forget when they get to upper level HS math.</p>
<p>Relax. It isn’t a crapshoot at all. You are already one of the top 100 African-American male college candidates in the country, and Harvard (like everywhere else) is going to drool all over you.</p>
<p>If you could figure out how to do it, and still get your applications done, I’d suggest a year of “seasoning” in Aruba. (and raising your SAT score even higher won’t make one iota of difference; in fact, I doubt they’ll even notice.)</p>
<p>I swear when I responded there was only the first paragraph and no stats. I feel so foolish. But I was right about the house–keep it!</p>
<p>Haha sorry for the embarassment bethievt, I accidently forgot to post the stats and edited the post, I’m the one who should feel foolish :)</p>
<p>That Math 2c curve is beautiful, I’d heard the Ic curve was notorious, but I didn’t know it was that bad. I’ll definitely take the 2c come October. </p>
<p>mini, what do you mean about seasoning in aruba? you mean just relaxing? Or this some sort of esoteric saying endemic to the parents forum?</p>
<p>Derrick:</p>
<p>Why don’t you take Math2C in June instead of Math 1c? It’s best to take SATIIs when the materials are still fresh in your mind. Most likely, there will be Math2c booklets available on the day, even if you signed up for Math 1c.</p>
<p>“Most likely, there will be Math2c booklets available on the day…”</p>
<p>Actually, with the exception of the language oral test offered in the fall, every Subject test is in the booklet when you arrive, so you can take any test you like, in any order you like. You do not have to take the tests you signed up for, nor do you have to take all the tests you pay for. If you pay for three, you can leave after two, or one Conversly, if you pay for only one test, you can take 2 or 3, in which case, CB sends a balance bill for the additional tests.</p>
<p>Very interesting, so I can just decide to switch exams right there? I don’t have to notify anyone?</p>
<p>That’s right.</p>
<p>Thanks, now ANOTHER question 
sorry for the assault.</p>
<p>If I don’t really express interest in a major with heavy mathematics, is it worth taking and submitting the 2c? Are they generally given equal weight for non-mathematics majors?</p>
<p>If you are taking pre-calc Math2c will probably be easier and you will probably score better, though your percentile may surprise you. While many schools say they weight Math 1 and Math 2 equally (even MIT!), I can’t believe you don’t get some brownie points for taking the more advanced test.</p>