My list has changed so much in the past couple of months, but it feels more…right?
Reaches: Brown, Pomona, Northwestern, Wesleyan, UMich (Telluride Scholarship and LSA Honors), Amherst College, Vanderbilt
Matches: Reed College, Oberlin College of Arts/Sciences
Safety: University of Texas (Dean’s Scholars and Plan II [-O< )
If I get Questbridge, this list is going to look very different!
Even though my parents are Asian immigrants, they’re not tiger parents. I mean, they ask if I have straight-As but they’re fine with some of the A-s I have. But I sometimes wish they were tiger parents because I’m not working as well as I should be and I need someone to restrict me to do what will pay off in the future. For potential colleges, I plan on applying to Columbia, USC, UCLA, my state school, and some not yet determined school in the Boston area.
@neonerudite I’m a twin too! The whole college process is rougher on us, especially her because she’s a good student, but doesn’t score as high as I do.
@reidd799 exactly!! I’m really high achieving but while my sister is a good student, it’s not like she competing me for valedictorian or anything. It gets really hard when my mom is constantly trying to force me to force her to join clubs and tutor her, when she could just tell my sister herself to do these things (and it never works anyways), and my mom constantly comparing us and making me and her feel bad for being on different levels academic wise.
Even with all that, I wouldn’t consider my mom a tiger parent. Like any immigrant parent (she’s from Jamaica), she wants us to achieve highly in school and gets mad if we get Bs, but mainly my grades are due to my own self discipline. She never stressed the ivies or anything, and even once suggested I go to the local college that accepts 97% of applicants LOL. So pretty ambivalent.
@Hamlon I’m trying for QB too!! Honestly idk if I will even get it bc our income hovers just above the recommended cutoff line… I’m hoping the fact that I’m a twin will help a little with that.
@neonerudite It will because they take into account siblings (twins/older/younger) attending college at the same time as you. Having to support any number of kids through college will affect financial aid (in a good way).
@reidd799 My sister and I have an implied agreement to not apply to the other’s top school. Already trying to avoid drama! I wish college admissions was less competitive because it’s a weird thought to be ‘competing against’ someone in your own home.
@ak2018 I’m sorry about all the stress you’re facing. Maybe you should take a day or two to relax, and then review Pre-Calc and AP Chem throughout for around an hour each day for the remainder break? If you feel like you’re slipping, now is the perfect opportunity to regain your footing, as long as you don’t overwork yourself.
@reid799 @neonerudite @Hamlon Jumping on the twin train here! I can’t believe so many people on here are twins. I’m glad that I’m a fraternal twin, since its a bit easier to establish our own identities.
I can relate to being compared. I’m ahead academically, which causes some tension. I’m worried for college admissions season next year, since there are some colleges that look like a match to me that would lean towards being a reach to her. If I get in and she gets rejected to some colleges, its going to be so awkward…
On the other hand, she has her life put together in ways that I don’t. I have terrible social anxiety and while she isn’t an extrovert, she has a lot more friends than I. She leads a club; I barely participate in EC’s. She also is prettier RIP
What really stinks is all the extra costs. The SAT, AP exams, application fees, and all that lovely stuff are double the cost for my family. It also makes getting financial/merit aid all the more important. Not to mention that I have a brother in community college, who may transfer to a 4-year school in a year or so! I envy Europe’s free colleges so much!
Thankfully my parents are rather laid back, but I know that my mom has higher expectations for me academically than either of my siblings. I think this annoys them a little, but it isn’t really something I can address without making things weird. :\
@ak2018 funny enough my dad is from Africa but he really doesn’t care where I go to college as long as he doesn’t have to pay very much. When I was younger he was a lot more strict over homework and time management, but now that I have gotten the hang of working hard, he is a lot more relaxed.
Dude, I am actually surprised how many African immigrants there are on this forum. It would be insanely cool if we all got accepted into all 8 ivy league schools and like met each other on the Today show or something.
@neonerudite That’s how my parents are with my brother. They literally compare him to me constantly and I don’t really think it’s good for him.
@Hamlon I can understand having an agreement about top schools. If my brother and I were twins and he got into a more elite school, I would be so petty. :))
@LeopardFire That’s what I’m planning to do starting on Monday.
@Soccer1235 Pretty much my parents. It’s why they want me to get a lot of scholarships. If you’re probably able to find a lot of scholarships, you could lower the cost.
@Tobster18 It’s actually really weird have we are either URM or we have a have a twin, or both.
Also, thank you to everyone who helped me get through my latest mental breakdown. After watching some videos about the summer academy from the online course I’m participating in, I’ve been given a lot of motivation. Here’s what I plan to do:
@ak2018 except me. I’m white af and don’t have a twin. I guess that makes me the minority on this thread lol
If any of you are feeling bad about how you’re performing in school just know that I’m a month behind in AP Bio because I didn’t want to take a quiz that literally just took me 10 minutes. Just online school things.
@neptuna I can relate. Also taking an online course and put it off for 2 months (I mean, I do have good excuses, but excuses are still excuses). I’m getting back to it know and am like, “Gosh, I could have probably put this into my schedule earlier.”
I’m super late to this but here I go
Reaches: Northwestern, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Michigan, Georgia Tech, UCLA
Matches: Virginia Tech, Maryland, Purdue, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Carolina Chapel Hill,
Safeties: University of Illinois Chicago, Maryland Baltimore County, West Virginia
So for all of you who are kind of excited to get into the college admissions process, looking at the previous essays prompts of the schools you plan to apply to, as well as supplemental essays, is a great way to start to dip your toes in. Since most schools don’t change essay prompts that often, you could actually write your essays NOW! Just make sure to pick a more general prompt (like explaining why you want to go to school X or explaining something to admissions officers that you feel would make your application complete or that they might misunderstand.)! I looked over the essays for Virginia Tech (we can pick 3 out of 9 essay prompts and the essays can be no more than 250 words) and they’re pretty generic. I might even start writing them close to the end of junior year. I decided, at this point, to use the essays to discuss my low GPA, my experience with the online class and in the summer program?, and my volunteering experience at my local library and in VEX Robotics.
I’d recommend looking over the essay prompts for the schools you’re going to apply to, to better understand what they’re looking for.
What would you write about?
@snowfairy137 I guess so. :))
I’m an only child 
@ak2018 I want to start my common app essay now, because those prompts barely even change and not even a lot.
Stanford supplements are pretty much the same year to year.
The only college that drastically changes yearly is UChicago.
I’ve been studying with the College Panda Math guide since Monday and my score already improved 20 points. I ran out of time on No Calculator and had to guess on like six questions, so a 730 was a nice surprise. My goal is to get to a 750 in math for the January SAT. Just need to work on timing and I’ll be there!