@sewin2music @cliffnotes thanks for your help! I probably won’t retake just for the essay then. I’m taking the February act and then subject tests in June. And then I guess I won’t be taking the SAT I again.
Now that everyone seems to be posting their match/reach/safety lists. Out of curiosity what are everyone’s dream schools/why do you like it?
Here is my college list:
Reach: WUSTL, Cornell, Duke, Tufts, Georgetown
Match (hopefully, if I’m able to raise my SAT score): UVA (instate), UCLA, USC, UNC Chapel Hill, Tulane, UC Berkley
Safety: VCU, Drexel
I know there are a lot, but I’m having a hard time narrowing down my list and I really like the programs these schools have to offer.
@mirandaf WUSTL is my #1 because they have a really cool major called Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology that combines the three disciplines into one. I wanna go pre-med, so it’s a really unique major for med school applications and I enjoy all three subjects.
Also, they’re one of the only top schools that offer ballet as a minor, and I’ve been dancing my whole life.
In general, I think that WUSTL has majors/minors unique from other schools that are geared towards my interests, which is why I’m so hopeful to attend.
@sewin2music @cliffnotes Its so important to find a safety that you would look forward going to!! It seems that both of you are using state schools as safeties. There are private colleges with lower standards, maybe you will find one that you like.
@KG5APR ¿Por que no los dos? Though I imagine the Class of 2017 would be able to relate to you more when it comes to admissions angst 
@mirandaf I don’t really have a dream school. I like the writing programs that Purdue and Miami offer in particular, but they are fairly far away from where I live, so I don’t know if I could feasibly go to those schools…
My college list is a genuine mess:
Reaches: Smith, Mount Holyoke, Emory
Matches: UConn, Purdue, Miami University
Safeties: ECSU, Roger Williams
What’s funny about Mount Holyoke is that my GPA is actually a bit higher than average, but the average SAT score is a 1400, which is higher than I probably will ever achieve.
anyone know how long it takes for act writing scores to come out/what (if any) weight colleges place on them?
I guess my list is something like this:
Reaches: Stanford (lol) U Chicago (also kinda lol) and Vanderbilt
Matches: Ohio State
Safeties: Wright State, Miami University
My list is kinda odd because I need to get either financial aid or merit aid, and my reaches all have nice financial aid and my matches and safeties will likely give me merit (except OSU, that one is a “maybe” for merit aid and U Kentucky will only be there if I end up with National Merit cause of Patterson Scholarship). The whole idea of small v big or different kinds of classes don’t really matter to me cause it is just an undergraduate program, and pre-med is basically the same anywhere, so might as well do it as cheap as possible in a place that you like.
Now that I improved my ACT from a 31 to a 35, I need to revamp my entire list. LOL
Reaches- Cornell, UMich, Boston College (maybe a high match?)
Matches- UConn, Villanova, Providence
Safeties- Ithaca, Temple
My list:
Reaches: HYPS, all other ivies, Stanford, Duke, MIT
Matches: Maybe Emory (more like a high match), Northwestern (high match), UNC Chapel Hill, NYU, University of Florida
Safeties: USC (south carolina), Clemson, Alabama University, University of Georgia, Rutgers
I’ll probably add a lot more safeties to my list. I feel like I have decent chance to get accepted to most of the matches, and I may be lucky to accepted by one of my reaches. I just need to get my SAT score up, i took it without prep this November and got a 1380 :-q So if i can get it up like 150 points before college apps, that would be nice. [-O<
@Tobster18 Have you done research on the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, and Duke and want to apply because each specific school would be a good match for you, or are you just applying because of prestigie? Its not a good idea and a huge waste of money to do the latter. Also, you’ll be spreading yourself too thin and the colleges will be able to tell you didn’t spend as much time on their essays.
Has anyone taken an AP class through JHU CTY? If so how generous was the financial aid? I cant see myself paying 2k to take AP Stats.
Edit: has anyone else taken AP classes through a different website that is approved by collegeboard that is cheaper?
@kassh4 I took one through CTD that was $1100. Still expensive but half the price of CTY. You can possibly take an online community college class on stats. These classes are normally free for high school students, but you have to pay the enrollment/registration fee (normally less than $50). Some states like FL have online schools that offer accredited online classes for its residents for free. FLVS is one of the more popular state online providers. Check if your state has one of these providers. If not, FLVS is $800 total for two semesters of an AP I think. Also ask your GC if your school has a partnership with an online provider to offer online courses that are paid for by the school.
@kassh4 I haven’t had a personal experience, but I would advise against taking classes from high-ranked schools because they’re using their logo to charge more money than the class is actually worth.
I mean, it might be a great experience, but if money is a problem, I’d say no.
Hey Guys. So this month hasn’t exactly been the best month for me. I’m starting to fail Pre-Calc and AP Chem, so there’s that. I’m slowly losing motivation and sleep at the same time. The final straw was when I got a D on my AP Chemistry quiz yesterday and then I spent the rest of class in shock. It’s a good thing break started today. One more day of school, and my life would’ve just crumbled apart. My stress and anxiety has gotten so bad this year, it’s starting to affect my blood pressure. I now have to see a cardiologist in January. I just want to spend my Winter Break working to make sure my life doesn’t fall apart. I’ve spent the whole day getting some sleep, organizing my room and my binders, and now I’m doing research for my online class. I honestly don’t know how I’m going to get through this year, I’m literally just crawling to the end here.
@ak2018 Can your parents afford to get you a therapist? They can give you skills to help manage stress/anxiety. If these classes are affecting your physical health, maybe drop down a level in Pre-Calc or drop AP Chem? Study groups are really useful for any class if you don’t want to drop. If you need to catch up in AP Chemistry, Thinkwell has a reasonably priced course that could fill in any gaps.
@ak2018 Like @Hamlon said, you should consider a therapist, and join a study group. I struggled with Chem too, but I found CrashCourse videos super helpful.
One thing you should try and do is to never go into a test unprepared. Don’t overstudy to the point where you lose sleep, but basically whenever you study, you need to try to get to the point where after the test, you feel like you’ve overstudied.
@cliffnotes @Hamlon I was able to briefly speak with the school physcgolgist/therapist yesterday about it and it did help a bit. One of the things we discussed, and that I think might be the cause of my stress and anxiety, is that I try to do as much as I can, which leads to me putting a lot of pressure on myself. I admit that I’m doing too much and that it causing me to have a problem with time management. She told me it might be best to take the break as a way to get some rest and to also invest in getting a planner in order to better help with managing my time. She also said to keep in-touch throughout Winter Break and the rest of the year if anything changes occur.
At this point, dropping any class would result in a lot of paperwork and several parent-teacher conferences, so I’m using that as a last resort. When it comes to those classes, it’s really just a matter of getting help and studying, something I haven’t had time to do in a while. I always usually become stressed out this time of year, but I end up making a comeback right at the beginning of second semester.
Thanks for caring about my emotional health. I’ve taken a break from researching and decided to watch some YouTube videos to make myself feel better. It’s really helping!
@mirandaf I considered taking a local community college class online but im scared they wont cover all the material AP tests over.
My college list is not very definite at this stage, save for a few schools.
Reaches: UChicago (ED), Columbia, MIT, Tufts
Matches: Wesleyan, Vassar, NYU, GWU, Northeastern
Safeties: Skidmore, UMass Amherst
I would argue NYU could be a safety for me purely because I have legacy there.
Wesleyan (and maybe Tufts) are either low reach or high match for me.
The only reach I am certain about is UChicago. I’m actually visiting this break to get a sense for what the place is like (as well as to see my favorite painting: Seurat’s “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”).
@snowfairy137 I see your point. Honestly, I’ve only done research on Harvard. I have fallen asbsolutely in love with Harvard, its campus, its programs, everything about it. I went as far as to subscribe to this Yotube channel called TheDanLife ( a harvard student vlogger) and I knew that this was the school for me.
The reason I listed the other ivies is because my parents put so much expectation on me its crazy. They are immigrants, and they worked their butts off to get us here, and they keep telling me if I’m not pushing myself to the very limit, then I’m not working hard enough. They want me to go the best of best, and if I don’t get into at least one ivy-like school then they would be super disappointed, and I don’t want to let them down. Like I could care less about the other schools, its just that my parents, teachers, guidance counselors, keep telling me “Your like that kid, who got into every ivy league school” (because I am a black African immigrant), and i feel like if i don’t get into at least one, then I would’ve failed every person who believed in me.