i would like to say you’re a pessimist and that your tips are wrong… But i cant.
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<li>you need TONS AND TONS of luck expecially if your AA (Asian american, for thsoe who dont know that) not just normal quantity of luck</li>
<li>regarding sat scores, between 1 (not important) to 10 (vital important) sat scores are around a 3-4. they get your app looked at. Nothing/little more</li>
<li>AA also sucks for scholarships, becaseu there is always a asian kid that can spend more time on college apps/scholarships than you can AND play the piano/violin perfect AND get 5.6GPA on a 4 scale</li>
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Not your sugar coated, you’ll find the place ur meant for junk (no offence, though it might be true, it doesnt take the pain out of reject letters).
But your tips also not really helpful.
Good as a reality check and to not hope for too much even if ur the smartest person within 10 miles of ur house
Planning to go to a 2 year JC because of how tough its to get in a “good” school. Costs half as much and less stress during senior year
If you think it is to your disadvantage to be considered Asian, do you have to mark the ethnicity box on the application? I’m only asking because my adopted Asian son is Asian in appearance only. His name does not indicate his ethnicity. He isn’t in high school yet but I doubt things will change.
and if college does not req pic. If req pic, ur efforts are waisted and thwy might think ur trying to decieve them.
And dont put any asian stuff like "weekend chinese classes (99 percent of those who take those are chinese) and volunteer at ____ some asian soundidng organization.
But could be risky is he scores 780+ on AP chinese. Dont want to appear trying to not mark asian just to up admit chance.
Dont know who to blame for being asian as almost a crime and hinderance. The try hard no life kids or thier iron fisted parents or lower college rates of other races lol just a thought
I wish I could have relaxed more and stop being so paranoid after turning in college apps.
I wish I didn’t spend a ridiculous amount on an SAT tutor and studied from the blue book instead.
I wished I got involved more in highschool instead of just wandering around aimlessly.
We also adopted our children from Asia and they have our anglo sounding last names. However, the Common App asks questions that indicate they were adopted – where were you born and how long did you live there.
I used to go on this website a lot. As in, I would check it every day and analyze everything I could/should do to get into a top tier school. Right now, as I’m studying for finals at my dream school (a USNews top 10 school) and as I’m realizing that it’s around this time last year that I found out my decision, I figured I’d post some advice.
Please, please, dont freak out. Trust me, I was in your situation last year and would laugh at people older than me who said it didn’t matter where you went to school. Of course it does matter, but don’t think its the only thing that matters in life. Your undergraduate experience will be impacted more by who is around you than where you are. If you find good friends where you are, it does not matter where you go (with regards to how happy you will be). I have friends who ended up at their dream schools and friends who didn’t, and we’re all having a blast. Its freakin college, it’ll be awesome. As for academics, once again, it matters but only so much. I’m actually shocked by how un-awesome some of my professors here are. There will be great professors everywhere and lame professors everywhere. As long as you utilize all your resources wherever you end up, you’ll be fine.
Admissions are such a crap shoot. Yeah, this seems like another no brainer, but a lot of people try to predict admissions in terms of race or extracurriculars. Don’t do this. I’ve been shocked by how many people I’ve met at this school who would probably be shot down on college confidential. As in, non-legacy asians with 2100s with average AP scores. As in, non-legacy african american kids with the same stats (and from the same school) as one of the 2100 asians I know who didn’t get in to my school (when they would have been told on college confidential that they would definitely get in). Yes, at times you can predict things to a certain extent (you’ll need more luck if you’re asian, less if you’re a URM). But you’d be surprised at how many times my limited college confidential/high school mindset was proved wrong here. Don’t over analyze everything and think you’ve got the process figured out. Because, lets be real, no one does.
Acquire SWAG. Haha this is somewhat of a joke, but only somewhat. Almost every single person I’ve met at my school is legitimately awesome. And I know that a lot of you on this website are as well, so don’t try to cover that up in your college apps. At my school, the distinction between the generic “nerd” and “cool” kid completely falls away. I have friends here who are not only GENIUSES, but have ambition, listen to the best kind of music, and are the best to go to parties with. A lot of people at my school got here because they were honest in their apps and didn’t disguise their awesomeness. So, please don’t disguise your awesomeness. If it means having to write about the most random things on your apps, so be it.
Write kick-ass essays. I know I don’t have the admissions process figured out at all, but if I’ve noticed anything, its the fact that essays matter SO MUCH. You could be a mediocre kid who doesnt have much going for them (CC standards), but if you write a kick ass essay and reflect who you are well, you’ll probably fair much better than the kid who has a 2400, a thousand different activities, and has had a ton of professional college admissions experts help him on his/her essay. I’ve met people here who applied on a whim and didn’t over analyze their essays and essentially ended up just sounding like themselves. Don’t try to sound overly smart. You’re clearly smart. Admissions officers probably don’t want to be slapped in the face with even more of your accomplishments in essay form. Just be yourself.
GOOD LUCK.
I’m going to go back to studying and bid you adieu. Please take everything I said with a grain of salt and stay awesome
Wish I (as a parent) had recommended that my son start working on test prep sooner; although he did pretty well, starting preparation earlier would have led to less stress and frustrartion as a junior or senior. I really can’t emphasize how important it is to familiarize yourself with either the ACT or SAT. While test scores are not only factor, having high scores certainly helps to make a student with a strong GPA and EC list look even better.
Well AP classes kinda are for the schools that I applied to. And I literally have taken none. And GPA is not the most important thing, there are many other factors that go into someone getting admitted - at least for the schools I applied to
We’re not done yet - S still finishing essays - but to the parents out there I would encourage you to wade into the process with conviction. The process is hard but it’s a good thing and if you’re a true teammate with your child you will maximize their options, help them settle on a more optimal array of schools, and come out the other side better than you were going in. I have no feel for what percentage of kids go through the identification/application process with missile lock on their study choice but ours did not, and that turned out to be a good thing. In the end the journey and the spirit with which it was approached mattered.
I can definitely say that our S will be heading to whatever school he/we ultimately decide upon with far greater confidence and self-awareness than if he’d not gone through the process with both determination and reflection.
The key is - START EARLY. He did…sort of. He took all available honors classes from the start, did well but not perfectly, but the light bulb really went off when he got his PSAT results back. It confirmed what I think he suspected, that he could really aim much higher than he had been. He became really focused, worked diligently to maximize his chances with the system. We just wish that his HS had made it clear that the very first day of (HS) freshman year really is “Welcome to the NFL.” I don’t want to say that your child should be making their freshman lunch selections with college applications in mind, but to get the most juice from the orange you have to start squeezing it early, at least at our school.
Also, I would agree with posters who say that GPA trumps most everything (although yes at least one test prep class is a good idea). Clearly because of who got in where (as posted here on CC), if your child is uncertain that they could - not would, but could - get an A in a particular HS class, unless it’s a requirement they should consider either an easier subject in the same area or an easier version of the class. Because our HS wouldn’t let you take the AP classes without honor prerequisites, usually more than one, if he didn’t start the sequence early he wouldn’t have made it; in some cases if he’d started the sequence earlier (esp math) he’d have had more AP scores junior year for applications instead of just for graduation.
Unless you have a 4.0 machine on your hands, I would say balance and focus - if you have a humanities kid, or a math/science kid, encourage them to push for the top classes (and put in the work to make sure they get A’s) in those subjects, but maybe let them take an easier track for the other areas they’re less passionate about. Having 14 AP classes is great - unless your kid gets B’s in several of them when, if they’d been more selective, they’d be up in the 3.9-4.0 range.
Again, it’s about balance. Selective excellence demonstrates passion.
As for EC’s - again, start early. At that freshman activities fair, really sit down with them afterwards and say well, tell me three of the opportunities that you find may be something worth spending your time with. What’s something you want to do for you and what’s something you’d want to do for others? Then pick two or three and make sure that your child really engages the activity, pushes it as far as they can, becomes a legit leader not just at the school but with people outside the school who are involved with the same area of interest. Leadership really does matter.
Start early, explore options, ask for help (but limit CC time just as you would video game time), start visits early, monitor grades so they’re not overloaded (you can’t lead a good EC if you have to study too much).
Oh - and the same goes for you, parents. The more homework you can do (on financial aid, academics and schools), the better prepared you will be to advise your child through the process. Another real joy for us with our S is that just as we saw him learn more about himself, clarify who he is and what he wants, in his own mind, we grew to understand and appreciate him more through the process. He’s already 2-for-2 in admits, including one financial safety (because of NMS) which is a reach for some kids - even if he gets in nowhere else he’s goin’ to college, and a good one - and we don’t know where this will lead, but diligence and preparation have definitely improved the range of his options. April is going to be fun.
We visited 20+ schools on our search and should have made more notes, done more research before visits and narrowed the field more before applying, but it is what it is. We were more limited in our college search due to the major of study and the fierce competition within that major. You do not know, what you do not know. We are still learning and hoping for a good outcome, but it is impossible to forsee everything.
We have many acceptances and choices now, lots of merit aid/scholarships, but we are still estimating fit and overall cost. Somehow, we thought scholarships would help narrow our field, but it has not made it easier. Having a favorite would be helpful.
Start early. I am really glad we started in the spring of sophomore year of HS because it was overwhelming and HS goes by quickly.
SAT2s: Our #1 rated suburban school district does NOT tell anyone about taking SAT2 subject tests immediately after finishing the subject area, even though they allow certain students to accelerate to HS in 8th grade and be tracked for all honors classes. My D started HS when she was actually 12 years old. You would think our school district would educate students on SAT2s when they recommend you start high school in
8th grade and send many graduates to top universities.
MEMO FOR ANYONE:
DO NOT DEPEND ON YOUR GUIDANCE COUNSELOR FOR ANYTHING BUT PAPERWORK, WHICH THE CLERICAL STAFF ACTUALLY COMPILES AND SENDS IN FOR THEM. I HONESTLY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE PAID FOR AS THEY OFFER NO GUIDANCE FOR COLLEGE, CAREERS OR EVEN MUCH ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL, FOR THAT MATTER.
The top 15 schools are all basically the same academically (unless you have your eye on a specific program that is unique to one school). Make your choice based on where you would fit in socially rather than just pick the top ranked school you get into. Yale, Dartmouth, Princeton, Duke, etc… all have the same academic opportunities and academic reputations, so pick the school with a student body that fits your personality.
