<p>hope and try for the best! :)</p>
<p>I agree on the point about SAT. Its not exactly the best method for evaluating your potential for success. Which is why colleges don’t give weight to it much. Your high school record matters more than anything in the college admissions. Period.</p>
<p>Also everyone here needs to stop giving weight to all these so called great school. Schools become great because of their students and the general public who are so enamored by them. </p>
<p>If you love something and will go at any lengths to achieve what you want, you don’t need Ivy League. You have already won. </p>
<p>Best of luck everybody :)</p>
<p>Liberty and justice for all</p>
<p>Sent from my Desire HD using CC</p>
<p>@Dartspawnus:</p>
<p>that’s a ‘like’ from me man!!</p>
<p>@Decibel: I am not referring to the SAT as the ultimate test. I am simply saying that tests are less likely to represent dishonest facts when compared to essays and LORs assuming that it is impossible to cheat on a given test.</p>
<p>The SAT is indeed quite flawed mainly because the questions on the passages can always be made to seem like they support a certain type of race. In the 1970s the SAT used to test you only on American and British literature. Recently things have improved. We now have scientific literature, envinromentalist literature, literature from Native Americans, Afro-Americans and also Asian-Americans. We still do not see much translated literature however. I have yet to see an SAT passage taken from Tagore’s work (Bengali poet) or from the Tale of Genji (ancient Japanese epic poem). Then again I haven’t taken many tests so I may not know for sure.</p>
<p>The main reason for this is likely that the SAT is geared with the mind that a majority of takers will be Americans (which is the case but still quite unfair).</p>
<p>The SAT subject tests I like much better, they really do test your knowledge. Collegeboard should release subject test scores from now on so that colleges get into the habit of taking them into more consideration. Same for AP/IP/A-levels. SAT is becoming seriously outdated. Half the applicants to MIT have 800 on the math section yet they are not making the SAT any harder than it was decades ago.</p>
<p>The IITJEE still stands as one of the strongest widespread exams in math/science. It is not as difficult as olympiads, but at least is designed so that not everyone gets perfect scores (as is the case on the SAT math section). The Chinese and Japanese College Entrance Exams are in a similar league. The SAT doesn’t compare to them, why do you think so many kids from Asia are acing the SAT without even trying specifically for it?</p>
<p>High school record at least measures more than a single test in terms of accuracy, but the problem with that is every high school is different. That itself is a major flaw. The students from weaker schools will have higher GPA… the students from hard schools will have less… there is no general formula that balances all these factors. Tests, especially those in the sciences, do not have that problem.</p>
<p>Agree with Darth about schools being determined by the students and not vice versa. But employers aren’t always that smart.</p>
<p>NP</p>
<p>NP colleges do look at the schools strength when they are evaluating the transcripts. Which is why feeder schools exists. (That is another problem) </p>
<p>And I partially agree with you about the employer part. But I think name recognition of your alma mater is not more important than your college gpa, your personal qualities and skills. But of course coming from Harvard helps. </p>
<p>And Asian college entrance exams are best in the world. No question there.</p>
<p>@Darth: What’s a feeder school?</p>
<p>NP</p>
<p>Schools which sends disproportionately high number of students to the top colleges. For instance from a class of 80 students, around 10-12 got into say Princeton. Now that school is a feeder school to Princeton because it “feeds” Princeton with successful high school applicants.</p>
<p>@NPcomplete ‘perfect score’ in IITJEE? you’re kidding, right?
you will most certainly get within the top 500 if you get 320-330 out of 480, which, believe me, is no mean feat either. and within top 500 means i’ll surely be accepted by the physics department of IIT-Kanpur, which has arguably the best physics faculty in india. yay!
afaik even the topper manages a 90% score. agreed IITJEE is not as tough as the international olympiads, but that doesnt mean its any easy for the simpletons…</p>
<p>@akash: Yes what I meant to say was that the IITJEE is designed so that people don’t get perfect scores on them. Please read that post again.</p>
<p>NP</p>
<p>hey guys umm having a tough time trying to decide between attending UCLA and Wake Forest.So its like a big public college vs a small university with a liberal arts ciricullum…What do u guys think would be the better option?</p>
<p>to all the 16-ers, what do you guys plan to major and minor in? NP? Darth? others?
and congrats @rex205 for your acceptances in ucla & wake forest. cool.</p>
<p>Depends on your major…though I would prefer UCLA</p>
<p>Congrats btw!</p>
<p>thanx a lot guys…not so sure about my major.Probably something in the biological sciences or in the social sciences.I am actually more concerned about the environment.But anyways UCLA seems like a well rounded skul with a lot of diversity which Wake Forest unfortunately lacks and so I guess i will probably attend UCLA.</p>
<p>UCLA is great for life sciences and social sciences and especially so if you are interested in pre-med track. Plus its in LA and the climate is superb.</p>
<p>All the best!</p>
<p>@akash: I will either major in EE or in computer science. </p>
<p>NP</p>
<p>yeah ucla has a lot more diversity(lots of asians & stuff) & has a lot more subjects to offer compared to wake.
bit more on the personal note, i wouldnt choose la as my college city. its just too full of energy. i prefer a small homely college town with friendly locals, like the one wake perhaps is in(small town? check. friendly locals? not sure). but, thats my preference. a lot of people actually love to do their college in big cities.
and afaik ucla is best for the artsy types, you know, drama, music & stuff.</p>
<p>I personally too would also prefer a small university in a small town and that is why I was considering wake for a while…But then again UCLA has a lot more programs and oppurtunitites that Wake doesnt have.But anyways the most important fact for me is that Wake is really less diverse and i dont think I feel so comfy in a place like that.BTW guys anyone here got into any IVIES?</p>
<p>^yeah exactly. if i were in your shoes, i’d have a really very hard time choosing between the large diversity of ucla and the close-knitted college atmosphere of wake. and the latter is more tempting to me… but ucla is better in academics too i guess. so it doesnt get any easier…</p>