<p>@RLlover16: Never had one. It would be nice, but I don’t have space in my house and I live in one of the worst parts of my state. I don’t think an international/foreign exchange student would want to learn about the glorious life of living in ghetto rural poverty. (Don’t worry, I live in the good part of my county.)</p>
<p>@rILover that’s awesome 
enjoy! I don’t get to go back until junior year most likely): I’m sure you’ll love Paris!!</p>
<p>@evanb that is beyond amazing! Have fun!</p>
<p>I really don’t have a list of schools yet… But I’ve been “thinking” about William and Mary, UVA, Tufts, Cornell, King’s College London, and St.Andrews(in Scotland) as of now. (maybe some more in London/the UK) I’ll most likely apply to a dozen schools though.</p>
<p>@Evan: I totally understand. From how it sounds, you are doing really well and exceeding in your situation, and I beyond respect you for that. I KNOW you will get far :)</p>
<p>@jereve: thanks! I’m so excited it’s through school (sort of), so it’ll be one week in Paris with our friends, and then a weeks home stay with a family in the south!</p>
<p>@anaychi: Nice, your clubs seem very organized and put together. It goes to show how much a person can do if you’re persistent enough. Congrats on your successful clubs. :] And lol, we do have a lot of things in common.</p>
<p>I haven’t gathered a complete list yet, but:
Most desired- Harvard (med school)
Columbia
U Penn
Duke
Johns hopkins
Dartmouth
Uni of Cali- San Fran
And my safety would be uni of Maryland; it’s not a bad school either, and most people from my school get partial or full rides there. Still, although I really enjoy my family/home, I want to experience college in another state.</p>
<p>@Evan: Again, that sucks. I have a friend who’s very poor and also lives in a ghetto neighborhood, but luckily she didn’t have to go to the poor quality local highschool; she’s been attending magnet schools with me since middle school. It’s a little more comforting to know you’ll be compensated a little for the poor quality with your opportunities at duke and nc school of math and sciences. :)</p>
<p>^as @rllover said, we can be sure you’ll accomplish a lot.</p>
<p>@itraininghere- LOL, I was the same way when I first got the hang of it. Twix bars were so hard for me to stay away from in the old days. 
But I got used to it. The thing is, I just needed to find replacements… I go to vegan restaurants (which are kinda hard to find in beef-loving Texas, but I found my select few :)), shop at Whole Foods, and when I do go to regular stores, I just do a quick scan of the ingredient list. After a while, you know the lingo of dairy/animal products (whey=milk, casien=milk, ect…). I suggest trying to go vegan for one day a week. But don’t veg out on potato chips, eat some carrots every once in awhile :)</p>
<p>Man, that was alot.</p>
<p>Haha, @tofugirl: you seem to love posting about food. Well, since we’re on that topic, what type of food or which restaurants do you all enjoy? </p>
<p>I’d say chinese food and Japanese food are great (sushi…). Whenever we go out to eat, it’s usually some obscure Chinese restaurant. The Cheesecake factory is pretty good too… But if you’ve been there, you have to agree that the amount of food and calories for a plate for dinner is insane. (2200 and the plates are enormous)</p>
<p>lol, no-just giving advice :D</p>
<p>I like Spiral Diner, Cheescake Factory, P.F. Changs…
^ IKR, about Cheescake. When I go there, I usually get a salad and a side of fries :P</p>
<p>When it comes to going to restaurants, I like contemporary food, no matter the specific “ethnicity” of the food. Things like food engineerings, gastronomy, etc, really fascinate me. Food science is a new, emerging art that really puts food into a new perspective, and is partly a reason why I delve into food a lot. I’m lucky to live in the metropolitan area of Chicago (Not exactly Chicago, but I’m considered a Chicagoan geographically), because Chicago is a bustling place for contemporary outlets. I’m surprised and at the amount of world-renown chefs and restaurants we have here.</p>
<p>When it comes to just what I like to put in my mouth (that’s what she said), I’m with tofugirl. I tend to pay more attention to ingredients in a dish, the origin of the food in question, and I tend to shop at places like Whole Foods for a lot of my food. </p>
<p>On the note of Whole Foods, I don’t know where you specifically live tofugirl, but you should try to find if there are any nearby Trader Joe’s locations (it’s a nationwide chain). I visited it for the first time yesterday, and a majority of the store’s inventory is almost the exact same as Whole Foods (surprisingly large vegan assortment) while being a lot less demanding in cost. You might not find the same upscale design in a Trader Joe’s, or the same “boutique” brands found @ Whole Foods, you’ll probably be satisfied with what you’ll find over there.</p>
<p>Thanks everybody for your compliments! I know that everyone up here looking at Ivies and other top schools will do great things over the next three years and later on in life! :D</p>
<p>When it comes to food, I love Chinese and Caribbean. I’ve never been to PF Changs because there isn’t one that close to me (but there are 2 little Chinese restaurants in the ghetto! :D) When I go for Caribbean, I usually go to Golden Krust (which is the largest Caribbean food chain even though it operates in only 10 states I think). If any of you know about Golden Krust, what’s your fave thing on the menu? Mine is the Curried Goat and Spicy Beef Patties. I also like Outback Steakhouse, Applebee’s, and Chili’s. Red Lobster used to be real good when I was younger, then I have started to become more neutral about it. I’ve never been to the Cheesecake Factory, but I’ve heard about the portions and calories there are through the roof! For a good burger (sorry tofugirl), I always go to Five Guys. But, I love tofu. (I got hooked on it from my vegetarian cousins) Also, I love fried chicken (well, I’m black and you can’t take that out of me) from Bojangle’s and the spicy kind from Popeye’s.</p>
<p>anaychi- Trader Joe’s? I’ll check it out. I know, Whole Foods is great, except for their expensive prices. I found one place that has alot of Whole Foods stuff (Natural Grocer’s), and is reasonably cheaper. </p>
<p>@evanb- haha, no it’s fine. How do you eat yours?</p>
<p>Food? I’m just going to barge in on the conversation here I’m Chinese-American so I get authentic Chinese food every day. I have no complaints. When we go out to eat, we usually go to this really nice Sushi place in our town or to nice Chinese restaurants. Unfortunately, the town we live in isn’t really populated with many Asian familiies, so it’s difficult to find good, authentic Asian cuisine in our area. As for going out with friends, I went to Olive Garden once, and it was the most amazing experience ever. I also enjoy Five Guys for burgers. Panera Bread isn’t bad either.</p>
<p>@tofugirl: I like it anyway except bland (white). It disgusts me seeing that white blob. Whichever way my cousins do theirs, I will eat it.</p>
<p>@sardony: I like Panera also. Which do you guys think is the best sandwich shop? Subway, Quizno’s, or Panera?</p>
<p>I would say Panera because everything is fresh and delicious everytime I go there. Plus, it gives me a break of seeing any old riff-raff where I live.</p>
<p>@evanb: I’ve never been to Quizno’s. I love Panera Bread’s specials though; they’re all quite delicious. I’ve only ever had one kind of sub at Subway because when I go there I just order provolone cheese, lettuce, and pepperoni on a roll. I haven’t tried anything else.</p>
<p>@sardony: Quizno’s is okay. It all depends on whether the management keeps the restaurant in excellent condition. I went to one a few years ago that was purely disgusting, but I went to another one a few months ago and it was pretty good. But, you have that with any fast food chain.</p>
<p>@upinflight nice what are your credentials so far? I’m looking at similar schools as well, except for physics/astrophysics. </p>
<p>Thinking about starting a humane society club or a physics club, any suggestions? </p>
<p>My schedule for next year-
Calculus honors
Ap calculus ab
World history (pre-ap)
Ap world history
Chemistry gifted/honors
Spanish 4 honors
Intro to information technology (for DECA)
English 2 gifted
I’m on block scheduling at a pretty competitive public school.</p>
<p>@Evanb1996 what’s university of Illinois like? I’m seriously considering it for their physics program, is it a pretty nice school?</p>
<p>Does anyone live near Northwestern University? It’s my ultimate dream school, but I’ve heard that its campus is really unappealing.</p>
<p>^ Really? I was looking at it for it’s musical theater program. I’ll research it.</p>
<p>Everyone says the area outside of Yale is horrible.</p>
<p>@grav123 how is 15 possible? I maxed out my number of ap’s I can possibly take and still end up with 13 
unless you’re counting dual enrollment classes? I’m taking 2 this summer, possibly 2 more before senior year. What are your school choices?
Mine are MIT, cornell, university of illionis urbana-champaign, Georgia tech, Harvard, duke, caltech, and uc-berkeley.</p>
<p>Yeah, from some posts on the Northwestern U forum, I gathered that it’s ‘grey’, ‘bleak’, and apparently doesn’t have a social center for activity. I suppose it may seem that way to people living in warmer areas like California or Florida, but to me (a New Englander), I would probably be used to it. I’m not sure. I love the school but if the campus doesn’t click with me, I have no idea how I would be able to deal with it.</p>
<p>And off of that note, when all of you talk about your dream schools, do you think that the campus “feel” plays a big role in how much you like them? How far are you willing to go to find out if the “feel” is right? For instance, I’m pretty sure I won’t ever get a chance to visit Northwestern because I live pretty far away from it, but I’m afraid of what would happen if I did go there and end up not liking the campus.</p>