I saw that article earlier today and I found it interesting the marks the application people made on his application. And I’m also glad I’m probably not applying to Harvard because I have nowhere near the qualifications that Allen Cheng had.
I saw that and died.
happy new year everyone!
Happy New Year! Can’t wait to procrastinate and accomplish nothing in the upcoming year 
Reading that article was a great way to start the new year; I don’t even know if I’m being sarcastic.
I guess we have to put it into perspective that we’re not all Allen Cheng. Many of us aren’t applying to Harvard and many of the people accepted to Harvard and the like don’t have the list of awards and achievements he did. He’s pretty much the ideal case.
We all have our own strengths to our applications, which we tend to underestimate, and which can’t reliably be compared between individuals.
Good luck to everyone with applying to college and everything this year (I know I’ll need it)!
Happy New Year! May all your wishes come true, especially us juniors 
2016 is a bit terrifying for me because this is the year where I have to pull through second semester and maintain my 4.0, take the SAT, SAT subject tests, and the ACT, as well as apply and hopefully get accepted to college.
This is the year where all of our hard work finally accumulates in our applications!
This year is so important for all of us.
We have to take all these standardized tests, maintain our grades, apply for college. I think my main goal for this year is too try not to stress. I am really excited and terrified at the same time for the months to come!
guys omg this is the year we find out if we got into our dream colleges or not… only 12 months left let’s start a thread!!!
(satire obv)
for real thooo its this year?? scary thought??
The thought of college is exciting, though, isn’t it? I’m psyched to meet new people, to be more independent, to find more challenge. I’m not particularly anxious about where I’ll end up; I know that I could thrive at the state flagship because there are so many people and opportunities to learn from. I just want to keep from spiraling into a concentration on the minutia in the meantime.
I’m lucky, though. I’m finished with all my standardized testing (except AP tests, idk if that counts), so I’m able to just concentrate on school and ECs and friends and books. Which reminds me of a resolution: read more! I used to be one of those kids who was /always/ reading, but I’ve fallen out of that habit – time to get back in it! I have so many books on my list.
@pseudoprimal that’s exactly how I feel about college! Earlier this year I stressed sooooososo much about getting into Harvard or Princeton but then I researched my state flagship and then I started looking at LAC’s and I realized I’d be basically just as happy and successful at any of them. I’m still applying to HYPM but if I don’t get in I won’t be devastated.
I’m wondering whether I should apply to as many elite colleges as possible to maximize my chances of getting into one, or to just pick 2 or 3 and really put a lot of effort into those essays.
@Studious99 I’d avoid the shotgun approach – it’s an energy drain, doesn’t up your chances that much, and in March could lead to a /lot/ of disappointment (or, if you’re accepted to a lot of places, a lot of stress on which place to choose!). It’s pretty wearing to open up rejection after rejection, and it’s likely that you wouldn’t actually want to go to all of the school’s you’d be applying to. Rule of thumb: even if the school doesn’t have a “Why Us?” essay, you should be able to articulate several distinctive reasons as to why any school you’re applying to is a good fit for you and why you are a good fit for it.
It’s okay to apply to more reach schools than are advised if you have the time, money, ability to cope with disappointment, and actually want to attend them for reasons other than prestige, so long as you’re able to make your essays beautiful.
I think that there are some applicants (see Allen Cheng lol) who can get in on the strength of academic or extracurricular achievement alone, but the rest of us have to stand out in the way we present ourselves and the way we look at the world, and essays are one place to do that. If you’re applying to so many schools that you can’t add in a concentrated dose of /you/ to every essay, you probably aren’t increasing your chances very much.
I’m excited to leave the many bad memories of high school and most other students, but there are some teachers I will definitely miss. They have taught me so much and helped me immensely these few years.
i am so ready to get outta here … and yeah i realized too getting into an ivy? not the biggest deal. no matter where i go, i’m still going to be successful and have experineces
and lucky duck @pseudoprimal gah got all my standardized testing left!
@photogeek8 good point about the teachers. I’m going to miss them.
I just want to go on as many campus visits as possible in 2016. That is all. I literally have no idea where I want to go lol…
I also hope that every single one of us is successful in his or her endeavors…no matter what college any of us go to! What if some of us end up attending the same college???
It’s been a while since I posted anything, but I was curious if anybody is applying to the Bank of America Student Leaders summer internship program?