<p>“some plain upper-middle class suburban white/Asian kid just like the 80% of the other kids who apply who hasn’t really done anything unique or experienced any interesting hardships”</p>
<p>I’m lower-middle-class, white, and live in rural Appalachian Ohio. White trash version of the same thing, I guess.</p>
<p>I was originally referring to summer programs, but since we’re on the topic of college admissions, can I get some thoughts on this?
I was in foster care from when I was nine to when I was twelve. I lived there for awhile until I was adopted by my 80-year-old grandmother and I lived with her in a senior citizen apartment building for two years until she died and now I live with my biological parents.</p>
<p>Two of my potential essays mention this briefly. Neither of them explicitly say that I was there or why, but I refer to my foster family members as characters. They’re not remotely sob stories, but do you think just having experienced this will confer some slight benefit?
Basically, if I don’t mention this in my essays they’ll never know, so I’m trying to decide whether I should or not. I’m not trying for Ivies.</p>
<p>My Grades are decent (A- average, all A’s and B’s), my SAT scores should be good and my ECs are okay, but I don’t really have anything completely “out-there.” Like I write a lot (NaNoWriMo, working on a novel), I’m really into theatre (Costumes, backstage, in a few shows) and I’m very active in my Jewish Youth Group (hopefully will be on Executive Board next year, I’m on general this year). Yeah, those are good, but when I compare any of them to CC, it looks like I have nothing.</p>
<p>@halcyonheather: Don’t worry, I’m in the same boat as you. Being lower-middle class is pretty much a first world problem at its finest … just rich enough to avoid having the excuse of being “poor” but not wealthy enough to have all the luxuries that other middle class kids have, haha.</p>
<p>Well, I guess it’s also important to mention that you also need to be able to convey how your experiences shaped your character and personality today. If you learned nothing from those experiences, then those experiences aren’t worth very much at all. So if you can show how your unique circumstances made you the person you are today, then they would make a great essay! But if you just give them a passing nod without any self-reflection I don’t think they will count much. You kinda get what I’m saying?</p>
<p>@halcyonheather: That sounds hard, wow. Does your guidance counselor know about this? She/he may be able to include it in a letter of rec. Otherwise, I think that you can write it into an essay (not necessarily just about the situation, but perhaps to explain why you acted some way instead of another; i.e. character development). Just my two cents, though. </p>
<p>I feel like I’m also going to have a hard time writing my essays though (not to discount your experience, but just also asking for advice). I mean, how do I say I suffered from depression since middle school and the effects of it didn’t really catch up until this year without it sounding like a sob story? Ugh, this is so hard/scary. </p>
<p>@superstarlala: You do NaNoWriMo too? Cool! Me too. This year my story actually went somewhere. Do you think it counts as an EC? Some people think so but others disagree. </p>
<p>My only notable EC is independent science research, but only because I somehow managed to scrape Semifinalist for Siemens. Well, I guess there are some that are notable, but I won’t feel proud of them (i.e. club officers, don’t need to really do anything).</p>
<p>Every time I log on to CC, there are like 6 more pages on this thread. Seriously, how often do you guys lurk?!?!</p>
<p>And I think that whatever life experience you have gone through is a memory and a character shaper. Even if you don’t think it affected you, it did. Any EC you do, any family situation, and any adventure. I went through an extremely traumatizing event when I was 5, and I have never talked about it to anybody outside of my parents, and even then, only mention it in roundabout language. I have extreme phobias of structures breaking and of boats now and had lots of mental issues in middle school. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, kids.</p>
<p>I have nine programs on my list so far. Most of them are really selective, so I’m not expecting to get into more than one or two. I’d be absolutely ecstatic if I got into Clark, TASP, Jackson SSP (my dream), SIMR, City of Hope, or NIH. But I think I’ll most likely end up at a local research program (which still sounds awesome, so I’m not complaining).</p>
<p>On a related note, the TASP essays are killing me. So challenging! I commend anyone who’s ever finished the application.</p>
<p>@nate42: I’m not sure perfect SAT scores help much with every summer program (for example, Jackson SSP doesn’t ask for any standardized tests). They might help me with more score-heavy programs like Michigan HSHSP, though. Anyway, I believe you attended the SVSM (I think that’s the acronym) program this past summer, so you’ve got a great science experience to include in your application(s)! My science extra-curriculars are pretty weak, however, so I’m pretty pessimistic about my chances for any top-notch science-focused summer program. Best of luck to the both of us, though!</p>
<p>Is anyone else here a total non-stem person? Everywhere I look I see bio majors or math people and I am wondering if I am the only future english major here.</p>
<p>Meh. My summer is still up in the air. One second I want to do debate camp, another second I want to do BoA Student Leaders, another moment I want to take Calculus at a college, and another moment I want to get a job. Ugh…</p>
<p>@Studious: That’s true, I believe City of Hope does not require standardized test scores either, just transcripts. I’m confident that you will be accepted to at least one of the programs you stated above. Besides that, yes I attended SVSM at UNC Charlotte last summer. This program is prestigious for our state but on the national level it would not rank very high. I think the only thing I have going for me is that I completed original research at this program on heritability of certain drosophila melanogaster mutations. </p>
<p>Also, how exactly will you provide transportation if accepted to the City of Hope? It is my understanding that we are responsible for providing our own housing and way to and from the institute.</p>
<p>Doing this On my phone is not so easy. Application question for an internship opportunity as a translator/ secretary/coffee guy:
What makes you unique?
I’m thinking about calling myself a “renaissance man.” I play two instruments, play High school varsity tennis and football, have large stores of knowledge about food and culture, have a job, speak Spanish fluently(although not a native), and am well traveled. My god am I well traveled. I write this from a small coffeeshop in Vienna, Austria. I have been to Mexico, Canada, Peru, Spain, England, Morocco, France, Germany, Austria, Barbados, and all across the United States. I could tell a few stories and then list some international experiences, right?
Thoughts?</p>
Do you think it counts as an EC? Some people think so but others disagree. </p>