The only thing bothering me is like what if I am that one unlucky student who was just as good as the other people at the school but wasn’t accepted due to demographics ;(. Coming from a huge IMSA feeder school, it is hard for me to show that I am worth it @notarapper
@notarapper Also…
Sweet dolla tea from mcdonalds… I DRINK THAT
Supa hot fire… I SPIT THAT
2 and a half men… I WATCH THAT
In reference to your username for this site 
My phone caught on fire when I read that. Firemen are currently hosing it down. SPITTING DAT FIRE @floridagators100
I never take showers
Without a loofah
Hot Fire
Don’t forget the SUPAAA!!!
@YoloSwagMaster I lived in Bourbonnais, which is by Kankakee. And if you don’t know where that is,that’s about an hour and a half south of Aurora lol
@floridagators100 They don’t care about what school you’re from, unless it’s a school with not as good education (which doesn’t sound to be true). I have a friend here who is a senior, and he came from my old school. He applied with another current senior who still goes to my old school and he didn’t get accepted and eight people applied from East Aurora this year and five got accepted. At the same time, my friend and I from the same school both got accepted, and it’s the same case with a lot of people. You won’t be competing with the other people from your school/your area anymore than other people around Illinois. I will admit there’s more competition if you live in the Chicago area, because otherwise IMSA would be filled with Chicago kids. The competition isn’t that major though. Just finish applications and don’t think about it too much! When I applied, I was very unsure as to whether I was going to be admitted or not considering my transcript. Just do your best with the essays and everything and get it off your mind until letters are sent out. I made the mistake of getting hyped up about IMSA and hearing all the awesome things about it. The more you know, the more hard it will be if you don’t accepted. Haha. But yeah, don’t worry too much about area and don’t worry about your school at all. Just remember, they base admissions on potential. You’ll be fine!
p.s. yasssss
Hey, I’m a current IMSA Soph who used this forum a bunch last year. If you guys have questions about admissions or anything you should hmu at alisitza@ imsa.edu, I’ll be happy to help
Oh yeah @aminorspark I remember you.
How are you liking IMSA? @aminorspark
@YoloSwagMaster It’s good. Some general advice: It’s not as hard as people say to get decent grades. Do a reasonable amount of work and you can get A’s an B’s. Work hard and you’ll get straight A’s. And admissions aren’t based on how hard you worked or how smart you are. The people who get into IMSA and succeed are the ones who love what they do and can’t see themselves doing anything else. And if you get into IMSA: Don’t try to change your math placement. It never ends well.
Why, what if I don’t agree with the placement? @aminorspark. I’m currently in the wrong math class. I am in algebra 2 honors but should be in pre calc honors. I was hoping that would solve the problem. When do you take the test?
@YoloSwagMaster Every single kid in MI2:
Start of the year: But I was in Pre-Calculus last year! Maybe they can move me up??
End of the year: OhGodYouGuysMathIsHard
IMSA never puts you in a higher math class than the track you would have otherwise been on. If you’ve never taken Pre-Calc or Trig, you’ll be put in, at best, MI-3. IMSA math classes are substantially more difficult than what you are used to, and chances are the classes you’ve already taken haven’t covered a lot of the requisite material. The placement people know what they’re doing, and far more people get put in a math class that’s too hard than one that’s too easy. Placement tests are in late May, although if you take a class over the summer you can report it to them and they’ll consider it when recommending you. Don’t worry though-- since IMSA classes are also much faster, you’ll typically end up in a higher math class than you would have otherwise.
@aminorspark What are some really good ways to show IMSA that you are a person who loves what they do and can not see themselves doing something else?
I’m going to call IMSA when I get my placement results and see if I can take a class. We will see. Thanks @aminorspark
@floridagators100 Unusual extracurricular and weird essays. People who started clubs, charities, etc. at their old school tend to be admitted. People who know everything there is to know about one specific subject write their essays on that (I had one on electronics, my neighbor wrote one all about space exploration, etc). Have something specific that you do (some kids are dedicated to programming, for instance), and dedicate yourself to it. Actually, that’s pretty good advice for life in general.
@aminorspark Hm… Like, I am the typical IMSA applicant lol. I enjoy basically anything that is considered enjoyable. I do not have anything that stands out. Well, I mean I got some math awards. Also, I made state gold for IJAS science fair for my experiment on “which meat can withstand the most radiation” lol. I just like do not have something that exemplifies me 
@aminorspark Hahaha, accidental life advice. Quick question: Does the charity have to be MathSci related? I’m doing a thing through the American Cancer Society with like three other highs schools planning for 5/6 months. Also, do you know if Doc MO is still coaching the IMSA math team? I had him as an Intro to Alg II and Trig teacher at CTD last year and he said to hit him up at math team if I got in.
Applications actually aren’t even as complicated as starting charities and clubs. I only participated in one competition last year, which had no practices, and no clubs. I never did any charities or service, and I know a lot of the sophomores are the same way. I didn’t really have any way to show a passion for anything. I didn’t find an interest in any sciences yet and I didn’t really know what to do with my interest in math I had when I was applying. I feel like I wrote my essays well, but they were lowkey bs’d lol. One of the essays last year was to develop an idea or something like that, and I did something about improving communication between cars on the streets, which was just a random idea. All of that stuff helps, but it’s not necessary to get accepted.
Also, I wouldn’t say entirely go with your placement test. A lot of MI2 students do think it’s really hard even though they were in a high level class at their old school, but sometimes it isn’t the right placement. My roommate has already taken Algebra II and he got placed into MI2, and he breezes through the class. He helps people with their MI3 homework. Honestly, he should be in MI3 at least. I would say don’t be persistent about being in a certain class, but if you don’t think it’s right, at least talk to the math department about your placement if you think you aren’t placed right. Also, I’m not sure if it was answered or not, but the placement test is in May. I think it was during a school day but I may be mistaken.
Ok. I am in a lower math class than I want to be in. I honestly will probably get placed into MI1 because our math is system is very bad. I REALLY want to advance in math so I hope I can do stuff over summer. I’m willing to. The main reason I’m trying to get into this school is because my whole school focuses on sports more than academics and I want to be in a school where education is number one. Idk why I shared this to you guys. This isn’t some therapy session lol.
Haha, I think we’ll all need some therapy after app season is over so it’s okay to ramble/vent. I’m sure that you can mention that to your counselor and IMSA will probs let you take a course over the summer.
MI1/2 is difficult to place into honestly, and this is coming from someone who’s in it. If you get put into Excel, that means your old school didn’t offer good education or in rare cases, you didn’t take advantage of your opportunities as well as you could have (and some other reasons, but like 99% of the time, it’s the first reason). You’ll take two math classes and based on how well you do/your attitude towards math, you’ll be put into MI1/2, which is year long or MI2. If your education is actually that bad, if anything, I imagine you’ll be put into MI2 at least. I only think it’s worth it to try and get too far ahead in math is if you plan on doing something very heavy in math, but it’s not that important what math class you’re placed into. You’re able to double a few electives with specific MI classes, and you can double BC I and MI4, which puts you in a position to take just an elective second semester senior year. Your math placement won’t really set you back unless you really want to do something math heavy. About 80 sophomores right now are in MI2, about 20 are in geometry, and about 20 are in MI1/2.
Think about it like this: you could be taking a class over the summer and this end up in MI2. If you want to because there’s no reason not to and you want to learn, I’d say go for it. But I personally don’t encourage taking a class over the summer solely for placing higher.