Hi guys! New member here.
Damn, this thread is killing last year.
Don’t sell yourself short Bradley. Strong commitment to one area is highly valued. It also makes you stand out. A perfect GPA, good scores and recs are pretty common. You need something to stand out. Kickboxing might be your ticket. Good luck!
On word limit, one of my essays was probably around 100 words over and they didn’t disqualify me.
Also remember that admission members can sense if someone is just padding resumes so a shorter resume but more focused is probably better.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/online-informational-meeting-what-happens-next-tickets-14417293513
Everyone make sure to order your tickets for the informational meeting. :-*
@yeldarb1 You’re fine. Like nickster said, you need something to help you stand out and kickboxing with awards is great. My sat reading isn’t too great but I have unique stuff like a few years of basketball, student council president, and graduation speech giving, etc. to help me stand out.
Just curious guys - why do you want to go to imsa? What do you want to accomplish?
@nickster12 It is an easy answer for me. I want to be surrounded by people who are smarter than me and the amazing resources and opportunities it provides. A good example of this is the new innovation hub IN2. It seems like a community teeming with amazing people with great ideas. One thing I am fearful of is the humility. For some reason I feel like when you go to such a privileged place, you have a feeling of superiority which is really bad. I am not saying IMSA kids are snobbish or mean, I am just saying I would not be surprised if that is the case. However, I could be totally wrong and you definitely have the expertise to tell me so.
I want to go to IMSA to take advantage of the opportunity to explore what I can do as an individual. I feel like at my school, I am surrounded by one main goal, getting into college. My goal in terms of further education is to get into a better college, so I could learn from the people around me. I believe that the environment that I am in will help me focus, learn, and possibly change how I perceive the world around me. Their mission statement says "to advance the human condition"and that has been my goal for a long time now. Now that I have found an environment that promotes this, I couldn’t think of anything better.
@theeedog I completely agree with everything you are saying. I think IN2 isn’t really a community as you say I think it is a much more of a structured location where people who want to work together can work, and possible talk to other people who are there to bounce ideas off each other. I could be wrong, although.
Thanks @theeedog and @kidfood. Great reasons! Hope you guys make it. Just like any other school some IMSA kids are snobbish but not a lot. There’s a great deal of collaboration.
@kidfood Whoops, I structured that wrong. You are right about IN2, I was saying that IMSA is a place that is teeming with amazing people.
@yeldarb1 hey! I was looking at the info u said u had in ur apps. How did u do on the SAT?
@priyaluvsbooks in the past i’ve done alright (680+) but i’m still waiting on the official scores i am sending in, since i i decided to send the january test
@nickster12 I think that IMSA offers much more career-intensive (better preparation for a future job) courses than the school I currently attend, and I personally find the array of courses available at the academy are much more specialized and applicable than more general courses like AP World. Also, as @theeedog said, it does help that you’re in an environment surrounded by kids who share the same interests and intellect as you. The atmosphere at IMSA seems much more conducive for learning, and the competition, as well, pushes students to exceed their standards.
@nickster12 for me, IMSA offers an encouragement in my favorite fields (computer science and genetics) that i don’t get at my school. just the idea of being in an environment like IMSA, where you go in depth with what you learn and the learning matters more than the grade, that makes me happy. the opportunities like SIR and more specialized classes look so interesting and seeing what they did for siblings/friends makes me want to go there so much more.
i’m having a hard time putting my thoughts into words, but being surrounded by people who want to be the best pushes me harder, and when it will be in subjects that i’m passionate about, the possibilities are endless for where it could take me.
@dimsumnoodles and @yeldarb1 great answers too. Hope you two make it and experience Imsa.
I wish all of us could go… That would be amazing, but wishful thinking as we know, leads us nowhere.
For everyone here, how much homework do you typically have in one night? This includes the amount of time it takes you to study. If you are in a sport or heavily time consuming activity, how do you cope with all the things you may have to do?
@kidfood I get about two to three hours of homework per night. I spend seven hours per week at robotics, not counting extra time or tournaments. I’m also on mathletes, tutor pre-algebra and am in a play. On days I have robotics, I set aside specific time limits for how long I have to work on each assignment. If I run out of time or if I’m too tired to do homework, I go to bed early and get up at 6 to finish it. I also work through lunch and try to get work done ahead of time whenever I can.