The PERFECT applicant; what you should look like if you want to get in anywhere.

As most of you know, users on College Confidential often times engage in Results pages for the colleges they applied to where they post their stats and whether they were accepted, waitlisted, or rejected. Here is a sample profile of what yours should look like if you want to get into all of your dream colleges. Notice how, including the jokes, this applicant is able to spread himself wide yet be just as deep. He is a jack of all trades, master of all.

Decision: Accepted Everywhere

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 2400 (…first try of course)
• ACT: 36
• SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Biology, 800 Chemistry, 790 Physics, 800 Literature, 800 World History, 800 French w/ List, 800 Japanese w/ List.
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/666
• AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s on 12/12 tests
• IB (place score in parenthesis): NA
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Macro/Micro, 2D Art, Orchestra, Environmental Science, Intro to Biomedical Engineering (at local college), AP Computer Science, Cooking, Film Studies (had no difficult classes left by senior year…oops!)
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): USAMO finalist, Intel National First Place winner, Siemens National First Place winner, World Piano Competition Level 12 winner, National High School Cheerleading Championships winner.

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in
  parenthesis): Basketball (team captain), Golf (team MVP), Cheerleading (team captain), High School Musical / Drama Club (pretty much Troy Bolton), Dance Marathon (choreographer), HELP-Helping Elderly Learn Polish (service group leader), TEACH-Teaching Elderly And Children Hopscotch (founder and CEO), Aeolian Harp player (10 years + soloist), Organist (horror movie soundtrack recorder)
• Job/Work Experience: bookstore merchant, student journalist for Puffington Host, internship at The Onion, lifeguard, McDonald’s hashbrown fryer.
• Volunteer/Community service: teaching elderly how to do various things (as noted above), petting dogs at the pound, 400+ hours volunteering at local hospital, school service organizations, putting on musicals for homeless people.
• Summer Activities: Noodling, storm chasing, counting down to Shark Week, inventing a kitchen utensil, creating Android apps, helping the elderly play bridge at local hospital.
• Essays: About my trip to Namibia where I met an Egyptian who showed me a rare chemical derivative from the yew tree that could potentially cure cancer, which I eventually wrote a book about that became an international best-seller. And how this changed my life and way I look at the world.
• Teacher Recommendation: Absolutely astounding! Read them all.
• Counselor Rec: Talked about my charm and good looks and how it affects my extreme affability.
• Additional Rec: From Obama.
• Interview: Took her for some afternoon tea.
• Supplementary Material(if any): My published best-seller, a soundtrack of my organ playing, a video of my harp solos, my research project abstract on curing cancer with paclitaxel, another rec letter from Hilary Clinton.

Other

• State (if domestic applicant): New York
• Country (if international applicant): US
• School Type: Private
• Ethnicity: Hispanic
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: Millions +
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): see above

Reflection

• Strengths: My application.
• Weaknesses: My lack of weaknesses.
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: probably luck.
• Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: you name it.

General Comments: It’s a blessing to have been so fortunate to have been accepted by the entire Ivy League and more! Whichever college’s campus I grace in the coming year will be as lucky to have me as I it. Oh the joy!

Oh affirmative action, how I love to hate you

In the spirit of Christopher’s previous post giving advice on the infamous college essay, I thought I’d share an old scholarship essay of mine on affirmative action.

Like America as a whole, I can’t really decide how I feel about affirmative action in the college application process. On one hand, it is a necessary measure (at least right now) to have some semblance of diversity on campuses. On the other hand, it is a flawed system that doesn’t really help who it is intended to help.

Anyway, the following scholarship application essay (I got the scholarship!) argues just one side of the affirmative action debate.  This is not one of those open-ended Common App type essays. The assignment was to write a persuasive essay on any topic. I adapted this from a speech I wrote for a Congressional debate topic, which in turn was adapted from an essay for my eighth grade English class. I posted it here less as an example of a college/scholarship essay but more because I thought the topic would be of interest to the intended audience of this blog. I’d love to hear any comments/counterarguments!

(Note: This essay is MINE. Please do not plagiarize.)

_____________

The Racism of Affirmative Action

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “A person should not be judged by the color of their skin, but on the content of their character”.  He was referring to segregation in the American south during the 1960s.  In the years since, great strides have been made to combat racism against African Americans in the United States. Today, however, a different kind of racism exists in the form of affirmative action in the college application process.  In the past, affirmative action served to balance the playing field for those with backgrounds traditionally discriminated against.  Now, affirmative action justifies the acceptance of less qualified applicants into college in lieu of more qualified applicants simply because of differences in race.  Racial factors should not be taken into consideration in the college application process.

A Princeton Review article regarding college admissions suggests to applicants of African, Native American or Hispanic descent to attach a photo of themselves along with their application.  Below that, it states, “The above does not apply to Asians.”  A person’s racial background can play a significant part in their acceptance to a college.  In 2005, Princeton sociologists Thomas J. Espanshade and Chang Y. Chung conducted a study to see the affect race had on the admissions at Harvard, MIT, Brown, Penn, and Georgetown.  According to their research, which was done based on the old SAT scale of 1600 points, African Americans had a 230 point advantage compared to Caucasians, and Hispanics had a 185 point advantage compared to Caucasians.  Asian Americans, on the other hand, had a 50 point disadvantage compared to Caucasians.  So, a Caucasian candidate with a score of 1600 would be considered equal to an African American candidate with a score of only 1370.  In an effort to fill up quotas for minorities, less qualified applicants are let in, leading to a less qualified student body.  This then brings down the merit of the institution as a whole.  In addition, the achievements of minority students who are let in based on their own merit are undermined as people assume they were accepted largely due to their race.

Supporters of including racial factors in the college application process argue that it is necessary to make up for past discrimination against those races.  However, the great grandchildren of slave owners should not be denied the spot in a college given instead to a less qualified great grandchild of a slave.  As an article in the American Thinker stated, it is reverse racism.   It is important to note that many Asian groups, such as Japanese Americans during World War II, were also greatly persecuted.  Yet, they do not receive any compensation for that past discrimination.

There is though, as Stephan Terstorm, a Harvard University historian, states, an undeniable racial gap in academic achievements.  The root of this problem is not race though.  It is financial class.  A possible solution to close the racial and economic gap would be to create more pre-college opportunities and programs for lower income children.  This way, even lower income non-minorities will benefit.  Then, when students apply to college, lower income students, a majority of which are minorities, will be just as qualified as their non-minority counterparts.  Thus, including racial factors in the college admission process will not be necessary to create a diverse college campus.

Students applying to college have worked hard for several years to ensure success for their future.  It is disheartening and unfair to all students involved to know that one’s racial background, a factor that cannot be controlled, can play a significant part in the college application process. College is first and foremost an academic institution, and therefore an applicant should not be judged by their race, but by their overall merit.

Writing not what matters most to you, but to the admissions officers.

Eyes locked on the computer monitor with its white light illuminating my face, I typed. It only seems like yesterday I struggled thus, pushing myself to write something of substance deeper than a kiddie pool. As always, after going through the process, I can now impart advice — advice, which upon hearing back then, I would not have heeded due to my own immature and proud stubbornness. But I urge you to at least consider what a one-year veteran has to say about the essay, one of the most important faces of your application. I’m conflicted about whether I should write this in list or essay form but given the subject matter I’ll proceed appropriately with essay form.

I’ll start by stressing the importance of writing a stellar essay by attempting to scare you. These people (the admissions officers) don’t know a thing about you. However, they do care about you — if you’re good enough. Let me ask, when you meet people, how do you get to know them? Through their voice and what they say, for the most part, right? Your essay (I’ll be referring to your Common App essay from here on out, but supplements apply as well) is the one vehicle through which you can actively communicate with the people that hold the keys to your future. If you write a subpar or even barely average essay, I guarantee you that perfect scores will not suffice. With  commendable achievements and great extracurriculars you might have a better chance to salvage a weak essay. But why not work hard on it now and not have to worry like I did whether everything else will make up for your essay? It makes you feel like you’re trying to justify your lack of effort in writing with your resume. Don’t be that person.

When choosing a subject matter you should be cautious but only within contentious topics. Don’t write about how your suspicious Egyptian neighbors turned out to be your best friends or how your addiction to heroine allowed you to start a life long journey of climbing out of a hole. No matter the gain, the initial loss will set you below every other applicant that never had that problem to begin with. Don’t try to make the readers feel sorry for you. Don’t try to make the readers feel like you’re sorry for them. Instead, write about something that you think might be too unique, but has an important impact on you. Taking intelligent risks have low chances of backfire, despite the definition of risk.

So what exactly do you write about? Think. If I, given an infinite amount of time, could eventually tell you the answer to that question, then you shouldn’t write about it. This is your chance to write about something no one has written before. Thinking up something like this takes time. So THINK. Write multiple drafts, ask successful upperclassmen, read your journals you thought you would never read, I don’t know but find something that somehow changed the way you think or how you see the world. There is no stronger theme to have permeating your narrative and analysis than this. Evolution of mind within even the most banal topics is and always will be more appealing than static cognition within the greatest of feats. So, show who what when where why how you learned something regarding the way you perceive things. You’ll show maturity, critical thinking skills, and brain plasticity, which, is really more an involuntary thing, but whatever it matters.

Once you’ve thought about the context within which you are going to realize your overall message, start writing. Write, rewrite, and rewrite again. Once you’ve done that, rewrite it. Eventually, you’ll want to show it to other people and get feedback. I’ll stop here with the writing advice since any college prep book will cover that in greater detail. One book I found immensely helpful for writing, in general, was The Elements of Style (click title for Wiki page). It’s only ~100 pages and is so incredibly great for improving your writing.

My last piece of advice is timing. Do everything I said a couple months ahead of the application due date. Which, for Class of 2014, is now.  Once you think you’re satisfied with it, put it down and forget about it for a couple weeks. Pick it up again and I guarantee you it will suck. But it’s okay. Hundreds of the kids you’re competing against will have this feeling in January, which if you think about, is kind of too late. Revise it or start over with a new story. Keep doing this until you are 100% proud of your essay and you think that it is original, representative of you, and better than everyone else’s that would ever apply. This is what I want to stress the most. Spend as much time as you think you would need to write an outstanding essay, then do it again. After writing consistently for a while now, I know that revising is a time-consuming process, but proportionally rewarding. I know for a fact that essays are what tip certain students in to the college and other students, unfortunately, out, even if, technically they are the better peer. Remember, everyone is on level ground in the essay. It’s the Essay Hunger Games and you want every last cornucopia item imaginable, because you’re dealing with thousands of other applicants. Only a certain percentage come out. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Here is a list of other random pieces of advice I either just thought of or couldn’t fit into the above.

1. Inject humor only when absolutely necessary; your joke about push pins won’t do anything about your enlightenment. Puns, in moderation (<1), are acceptable (I think).
2. Don’t come off as a jerk.
3. Don’t go over the word limit (I mean, why would you even test this, I don’t get it).
4. Don’t talk about Amanda Bynes.
5. Don’t talk about Drake Bell.
6. Don’t quote High School Musical song lyrics.
7. Don’t acknowledge Nickelback’s existence in any way.
8. Don’t start with a quote unless it’s your own, which is stupid.
9. Don’t write secret messages in invisible ink because they scan everything with UV lights and Voldemort will come after you.
10. Don’t mention your love for Emma Watson. …Okay, maybe.
11. DO read and revise till you can’t no more.
12. Don’t use double negatives.

Thanks everyone for reading and I hope some of my advice helps as I know they would have helped me had I known them a year ago. Remember, write, revise, write, revise, and spend some good quality time with your essay. It will pay off.

Good luck and feel free to comment your own suggestions or questions!

Why I took so many AP tests

I took over ten AP tests in high school, many in subjects for which I hadn’t even taken the class. Here’s why:

Like you mentioned in your last post, AP tests are a way to get a head start in college academics. I knew that AP courses and tests would not only prepare me for the rigor of college academics, but also grant me credits or help me test out of introductory classes.

Because of all the AP tests I took in high school, I enter IU with around 42 credits. Students at IU are required to have a minumum of 120 credits to graduate. Depending on how my AP credits apply to my various requirements, it is very feasible for me to graduate in two, or maybe even three, semesters early.

Although I don’t plan on graduating early at the moment, the extra semesters of flexibility give me a whole slew of options.  I can double or even triple major. I can study abroad without having to worry about taking classes for credit. I can take a semester off to pursue travel or an internship while still graduating on time. I can take fun electives or classes outside my major while still satisfying my requirements. I am very excitedly considering all these options.

AP credits were one of the tipping factors that made me decide to attend a state school over a private school. Most highly selective private schools grant little to no credit for AP exams. If they give anything at all, it’s only if the score received was a 5 (or in rare cases, a 4). In contrast, most state schools are required to give credit for AP exams. Indiana law, for example, dictates that all scores of a 3 or above must be given some kind of credit. At IU, a score of a 3 usually gets one unit of general undistributed credit, while a 4 or 5 gets up to 6 units of credit that can actually be applied towards a major.

Here’s IU’s breakdown of how AP scores are applied towards credit:

http://admit.indiana.edu/apply/freshmen/standards/ap-exams.shtml

In my next post, I will discuss how exactly to go about taking a double digit number of AP tests while still having a life.

 

Good thing we were allowed a head start in high school…

With move-in day fast approaching, though not as quickly as yours, I’m finding myself swamped with information to read, forms to fill out, and classes to research. This would all be fine if it weren’t for one small detail: the online system’s interface, or should I say, interfaces. As of today, I already have three different online accounts, one for standard information, one for academic info, and another for payment. I have no doubt in my mind that Dartmouth will be kind enough to aument this list for me. Complaints aside, I’m sure having separate systems will make it easier for me once I get the hang of it.

My tangential intro leads into what is causing the most confusion of all: placement tests. Most of this panic is being caused by the science courses. Luckily (ironically), students in the years to come will not face this problem nearly as much since Dartmouth will stop accepting AP credit starting next year (bummer...).

First and foremost, havoc is being wreaked by biology. Do we take Bio 11, the normal intro course or skip right to Bio 12, which consists of specialized, Foundation courses? Usually confusion ensues when there is too little information, but not at Dartmouth. There’s a good list of suggested prerequisites to help you decide your bio placement: 5 on bio AP test, 5 on chem AP test, an optional placement test, and about four other benchmarks. I think our indecision boils down to whether we want to be safe and relearn a lot of material, or push ourselves, possibly beyond our bounds. Chemistry and math classes are posing similar problems. We can use our AP credit to test out of them, but do we want to?Here’s a list of what we get for which scores.

Luckily, with the quarter system moving so rapidly, great classes, easy classes, and awful classes alike will all be over within 10 weeks, gone as quickly as they came. Furthermore, we have an add/drop period of a week right after orientation where we can do just that–add and drop classes with wild abandon. Several schools that implement this system call this a shopping period. At Dartmouth, I think only first years are allowed to do this their first term so it’s really a one time deal. Some of us will inevitably have to rely heavily on our advisers suggestions, which in some cases should be taken with a grain of salt (I hear).

Nevertheless, I am excited and enthusiastic about getting to choose my first few college courses in a few weeks. And now I realize I’m on a pre-med track… this should be fun!

Orientation seals the deal

Christopher,

IU also had a program for prospective students in the spring called Red Carpet Days, but I don’t think it was nearly as fun as what Dimensions sounds like. First of all, Red Carpet Days is really only one day.  We arrived in the morning with our parents for a presentation at IU’s main auditorium followed by a tour of campus.  After lunch, we had tours of our prospective departments followed by tours of residence halls.

It makes sense that IU doesn’t have too elaborate of an admit weekend/day due to the fact it admits tens of thousands of students. (I must add that IU has separate admit events for students receiving named scholarships. For example, as an Ernie Pyle Scholar, I was invited to an awards ceremony and reception in April.)

Judging from social media and my own experience, what really gets IU students excited (the same kind of excitement that Dimensions evoked in you) is orientation. IU and many other state schools have a two-day summer orientation program for students who have already committed. The orientation program is in addition to Welcome Week, which is similar to your orientation in that it occurs the week before classes start.

My orientation was in June, and it was a lot like Dimensions sounds. There were separate programs for parents, so we pre-frosh were forced to get out of our comfort zones and actually talk to one another. We were split into groups of fifteen, which was conducive to making friends. I lucked out in that my orientation leader was in my prospective major and lived in my residence hall. Orientation made college seems real. I got my ID card, and met with an advisor to choose my classes.  The best part was a musical put on by older students about touchy subjects (sex, drugs, rape, sexual orientation, peeing in bed) that one doesn’t normally associate with musicals. The actors made the issues less taboo and I think made everyone more comfortable with coming to school in a few months.

In a previous post, I wrote about the differences between making friends at a state school close to home vs. a school far away.  I must note that during my Red Carpet Days event, one of my high school friends was in the group. I ended up hanging out with her for nearly the whole day and didn’t really talk to anyone new.  In contrast, I didn’t have anyone I knew in my orientation group, and ended up making a really good friend with whom I am still in touch with.

I can’t believe I have less than a week until move-in day!

Neha

More about Dimensions.

Neha,

So here’s the run down of my Dimensions weekend experience. My parents and I got to Hanover, NH about 24 hours before Dimensions was scheduled to start, which gave us time to explore the area, the campus, and the local eateries. On Thursday, the day Dimensions started, we had breakfast and looked around some more until the afternoon when we had to go sign in for the start of Dimensions.

The upperclassmen greeted us prospies with a huge packet of information, which for some reason included a sparse list of 7 very specific places we could fill up our water bottles (strange but funny), and other freebies. It took a little time getting into the swing of things but soon I found myself conversing with a group of strangers while my parents were off to go itinerize their weekend (all or most of the programs for the weekend were open to students and parents). I eventually met up with my host, whose room I was going to be sleeping in for the next two nights, and we made our way to his dorm so I could unload my baggage. I ended up staying in East Wheelock, which is a little bit farther from the Big Green than the other dorm clusters, which is the courtyard with the X roads that you see basically on every photo of Dartmouth.

The rest of the day proceeded with welcome shows, performances by the many a Capella, dance, and instrumental groups, and speeches from staff and upperclassmen. Every nook and cranny of our remaining time was filled with programs, symposiums, and activities, all anchored with the aim of getting us enamored with the college. During Friday and Saturday I found myself going to a pre-med symposium, sitting in on a class about music addiction, and enjoying barbeque on the Green. Other notable events included an Engineering exhibit (where you got a TON of free stuff, including a top that looks like Dom’s totem in Inception), Real Talk (an uncensored Q&A with upperclassmen; you should have heard some of the questions [the upperclassmens’ reaction]), and Creativity in Motion (a show). At nights, we were led on tours into the forests nearby and into frat dance parties, all of which were dry, of course. Saturday night was the big show (which I talked about in my last post), which really sealed the deal for many of us.

Friday and Saturday nights I probably got fewer than 6 hours of sleep; I found myself wandering back from a really late group tour and staying up talking with my newly-befriended in the commons area until 4 in the morning. Needless to say, it was an amazing time and the two missed weeks of school and subsequent C on the Monday bio test was made up for. It’s been almost four months since I was last on campus and I’m itching to go back and see everyone I met the first time again.

Christopher

Summer Reading: Getting back in shape, kinda

IU doesn’t have nearly as intense summer work as many other schools.  Our only summer reading per se was a two page pamphlet about Herman B. Wells, a former president of IU who is credited by Wikipedia with the “development of Indiana University into a world class institution of higher learning.”  We were told the reading would be discussed during our summer orientation program. It turned out that more than half of the kids in my group hadn’t done the reading, so the ensuing discussion was hardly thought provoking.

I actually think required readings such as yours, although tedious, are a good idea.  Students going to places like Dartmouth are coming from all corners of the globe and have varying academic backgrounds.  The summer reading gives everyone something in common to complain talk about.

Other than the reading, IU has had me take a few online courses and tests. About three hours of time went into each a financial literacy course and a drugs/alcohol/sexual health course.  I actually found the financial literacy modules really interesting and informative.  In contrast, the wellness course was quite boring in that it was just a slightly more provocative version of high school health class. I also had to take both a math and a world language placement test (I took Spanish) online before Orientation.  I found the math test quite challenging but persevered through.  I was disappointed that the score I received actually counted for nothing as we took our real (much, much easier) placement test during Orientation.  It makes sense that the real test was in-person as it eliminates the chance of cheating and equalizes conditions for everyone.  I don’t understand why we took the online version, though. I guess it helped me get back in shape mentally.

Questionably sized fish in a little pond full of big ones: Dartmouth College

As you stated, going to IU will allow you to stay close with old friends while having an unending pool of fish from which to choose your new victi–I mean, friends. I have to say that I envy you in that respect. (Have I ever said that before?) Meeting with a West Side alum will be just a matter of walking to another dorm building for you.

I, on the other hand, will have virtually no one from West Side attending with me at Dartmouth, with the exception of one senior who will be graduating soon anyway. The closest West Siders will be at least a two hour bus ride away for me, though I’m not sure whether Harvardists and Princetonians will have time for a Dartmouth student (jk).

Thankfully, I was able to make a couple close friends during Dimensions, Dartmouth’s program in April for prospective students. The weekend featured nonstop activities, food, and presentations that were. (SPOILER! SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED AT DIMENSIONS) A real surprise came when the upperclassmen gave a final show/musical for us ‘prospies’, or prospective freshman. In the middle of the rewritten “Hit Me Baby One More Time,” a bunch of prospies stood up from the audience and started singing along. Turns out that these thirty or so people that we befriended during the weekend were actually sophomores pretending to be upcoming freshman. MIND = BLOWN. So I think the point of the story is that I have to make friends but luckily I have some made? I don’t have a 40,000 people pond to choose from like you, though; Dartmouth has about 4500 total undergraduates.

On another note, I’ve been lazily getting back into reading grind, which, thanks to AP English, is all too familiar. This year, Dartmouth has given us a summer reading list of one book, which consists of The River Why by David James Duncan. I’m only a third of the way into the novel, but so far it’s rubbing off as a slightly more introspective yet crude version Moby Dick, missing in cast only the lunatic that’s chasing after a demon whale, though the search for knowledge and meaning of life is still ever present and just as elusive. Sadly, after AP English, I can’t just read a book for the sake of reading it and I either find myself not reading it at all or trying to extract the true meaning out of every page. It’s very daunting to say the least.

See you during Thanksgiving…or next week

While Christopher was in Chicago, I was with our group of friends at Ellie’s – one last night of games and snacks before we all go our separate ways in the next weeks. The thing is, though, most of us aren’t really separating. The majority of our friends are either staying right here in West Lafayette to attend Purdue University or are coming with me to IU.  In fact, there are five girls from our high school class on my dormitory floor. In addition to old classmates, several debate friends from throughout the state will be at IU.

I’m not sure how I feel yet about attending college with so many people I already know. (I should mention for our readers that our graduating class had less than 200 kids, and that most of us have been attending school together since Kindergarten.)

On one hand, I feel like I’m missing out on part of the college experience.  There will be people at IU who remember my middle school science fair projects or that I dressed like Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl every day of the eighth grade. I certainly don’t plan on reinventing myself in college or anything, but I have obviously changed over the years, so it would be nice for people to not have preconceived notions about me.  Also, I hope the fact that I already have some friends at IU won’t make me lazy and less motivated to take the effort to make new friends.

On the other hand, college seems far less daunting. I have already spoken to several older friends from high school who now attend IU to pick their brains for advice, and I know many of them will look out for me this year.  I also feel like I have some semblance of a network already in place.  For example, there is a Facebook page for our high school’s alum who are at IU to coordinate rides between home and school.  I know I will have the opportunity to make new friends due to IU’s enormous population, but I can also rest assured that I will have several familiar faces to turn to if the need arises. I am also genuinely looking forward to developing deeper bonds with high school friends who will be with me in college. After all, nothing beats old friends.