question #2: what to do the summer before senior year?

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I know colleges really care about what you did SPECIFICALLY in the summer before senior year. I'm a bit lacking in the volunteer section yet I dont want to just randomly choose a place and do it for 2 months.  Do you have any suggestions? 


RESPONSE


If you want the summer before your senior year to look important, you might want to consider some activities that you are already doing. Are you on math team? Do you love piano? Dancing? Science? You can pick an interest that you've already developed through extracurricular activities and then choose a volunteer activity accordingly. For example, if you're on math team or if you're really passionate about math, you could volunteer at math camps for kids! If you love science, you could volunteer at a hospital. Search around your area for camps already set up for kids - these places usually are more than welcome to receive help from motivated high school students! You could even write about this experience in your common application essay, extracurricular short essay, or any relevant supplements.

question #1: what are colleges looking for in their essays?

Hi! I've been receiving some questions about the college process, which I will be posting up (completely anonymously). I bolded the questions so you can clearly see what I'm going to be answering.

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What is the kind of person that an Ivy League school wants to read about, and how do you get that impression across?

For example, if you're writing about mathematics, would it be terrible to include a significant amount of mathematical details in your essay? I guess the question is, is esoteric knowledge good in an essay? While I don't want to look like a kid who is just throwing in factoids from Wikipedia to seem smart, it's my opinion that in order to build yourself up as the kind of person they want to see, you have to show them that you can make connections and use critical thinking.

Going back to the mathematics example: that doesn't mean that the focus of my essay would be my love of mathematics -  that's a little boring and cliché. It means that I would include occasional details that would be way over the average reader's head. Is that bad?

RESPONSE

For the CommonApp - I think you should remember that the readers of your essay may not be experts in the mathematical field. Therefore, esoteric terms and concepts may confuse them unless the definition or reasoning is implicit within the essay. You should also keep in mind that even if it is an expert who is reading your essay, what you may think is conceptually challenging as a high school student may still seem very elementary to the expert. I'm not saying don't include these ideas because you should if you know it or if it actually influences the way you act and think - but balance it carefully throughout your essay. Remember that the reader wants to understand you and your personality; they don't need a lesson in mathematical concepts. The most important thing, I believe, is to explain the why in your love for math. What gets you excited about math? Why can you talk about it for hours? How does it influence your life or change the way that you think about things?

Now, I'd like to go back to your original question of what Ivy Leagues want to see in students' essays. I'm not sure there's a simple answer for that. Most of all, like you already said ("I know that they want to read about people who are legitimately interested in the subjects that they pursue, and who distinguish themselves in those areas."), they want to see a passion in something. I don't think it necessarily has to be for a single field, because they know college is a time for students to branch out, grow, and change their minds about their passions. They want to see good writing as well, of course. And they want to visualize that the student will fit in well at their campus - which makes college admissions very, very random sometimes.

early...what? types of admission submissions for college

Early Decision - Early Decision means that if you are accepted to this school, you must go unless you cannot pay for it financially. DO realize that if you apply early decision, you ARE still allowed to apply to other schools with Early Action, but NOT Single Choice Early Action. (This is not suggested, but it is allowable.) ALSO realize that if you are a financial aid candidate, you are allowed to apply to other schools regular decision because of financial concerns. Make sure if you apply early decision, you really, truly want to go to that school. It might seem like a good idea to "play the college admissions game" and be admitted to a top-tier school/ivy simply because the early decision rates are higher than the regular acceptance rates, but you are bound to go there and there are no "take-backs". Schools with Early Decision include Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, Amherst, Swarthmore, and Washington University in St. Louis.

Early Action - Early Action means that you are simply submitting your application early (sometime around November 1st), and that you will receive your decision earlier as well (sometime in mid-December). I'd say this is the one that I see absolutely no harm in doing unless you'd like to significantly boost your application through new SAT scores, etc. Some schools that offer this include University of Chicago, University of Michigan, MIT, and Harvard (which has JUST reinstated it for Class of 2012 high school seniors!).

Single Choice Early Action or Restricted Early Action - SCEA means you can only apply to one school early, although you can still apply using priority applications (especially for state schools.). On the bright side, if you are accepted, you are not binded to go and and take it easy, apply for more reaches if you wish.  In my opinion, SCEA is unhelpful unless there is no other school you see yourself in (and this choice is the only thing offered by the college) or if you are legacy. The restriction of applying to one school early action means that you miss the early application of lots of other schools including those listed above. Furthermore, especially with the top-tiered schools, you'll see the admission rate staying pretty constant with the regular decision acceptance rate. From my experience, legacies have had an advantage in this process. Some schools that offer SCEA include Stanford, Yale, and Princeton (just reinstated for Class of 2012 seniors).
*Suggestion: If you take the SCEA route, I recommend writing your other supplemental essays for reach schools you may apply for if you are accepted during the wait time. Many students, after being accepted into a top-tier college, lose the motivation to write more essays and then just don't end up submitting an application. I personally think having a choice is better than having no choice at all.

Priority Application - I have found no disadvantage in applying priority. Usually, you reap benefits such as scholarship consideration, obtaining an earlier admission decision, etc. Do be careful and make sure the priority application is non-binding though! Also, you are allowed to apply priority even if you have applied Early Decision OR Single-Choice Early Action! Schools include St. John's, Tulane, University of Florida, University of Maryland, etc.

Rolling Admissions - Admissions come out in waves, usually with a deadline given as the last day. This is nice because you receive a decision earlier than you anticipate and being accepted into a college is always a huge relief because at least you'll know "Alright. I can relax. I'm going to college."

who am i to give college advice?

This is an explanation of who I am, so you guys know where your source is coming from.

I'm going to be a freshman at an ivy league university (One of HYP, I don't wish to specify which one in order to keep my identity concealed). I attended a competitive public high school (and actually have never gone to private school.)

I was accepted into 8 of the Top 25 schools (as ranked on US News), of which I applied to 13. This number includes 3 of the Top 10 schools, and 2 of the Top 5 schools.

I'm fairly knowledgeable about most of the Top 25 schools though, mainly because my major is undecided and I spent a lot of time researching where it was I wanted to go/what specific majors/programs that each college excelled in.

If you wish to know details about which schools I was accepted into/applied to, or if you have any specific questions, I will answer in any emails directed to goingivyleague@gmail.com.

what to do over the summer as a rising senior

I revisited a site that I had spent hours and hours pouring over: http://www.collegeconfidential.com/

The site truly did help me in some ways - answering random questions about the CommonApp, scholarships, college mailings, and differences between "EA" or "ED". However, it often gave me much more anxiety than I needed to have, especially during the "pre-college year", as I like to fondly refer to June 2010 to April 2011.

Now, I'd like to give some advice for rising seniors who are about to start the college application process.

Pick your schools wisely, but promptly.
This is for the rest of your life. You don't get any re-dos (let's be honest, not too many people want to go through transfer applications all over again.). If you know what you want, go look for it! For example, if you want to be a business major in college, high prestige doesn't always mean they offer what you're searching for. Out of all the ivies, University of Pennsylvania is the only undergrad business school. Cornell has their Hotel school, but make sure that's something you want to do if you apply! Sometimes, schools that aren't as widely recognized - like Emory, Washington University in St. Louis, or UVA - also have highly ranked business schools. Look for your specific major or interest and see the undergraduate rankings for that, not just the general rankings from US News.


Find your disadvantages, and minimize them as much as possible.
If you aren't a stellar student, then make sure you have other activities/highlights to balance that out! If you don't have a 4.0, try to at least have high SAT or SAT II scores. If you don't have a plethora of activities that you've been heavily involved in, choose one and expand on it! Show colleges what you're passionate about and what you will add to their school. Convey what makes you different from the thousands and thousands of other applicants applying to their school! 

Find your advantages, and use them.
Are you a brilliant writer? Maybe you love science - and can prove it. Perhaps you have over a thousand community service hours because volunteering is a passion. Or have you had years and years of experience babysitting? Literally anything can be an advantage. The fact is, you don't know what that college is looking for. The best thing you can do is present yourself as brilliantly as possible on paper. You might ask: How can I show colleges what I'm made of? ESSAYS!!

Write a brilliant essay. And more brilliant essays for your supplements.
You want to have at least 20 drafts of your CommonApp essay. That means...START NOW. Yes, I know the CommonApp isn't even available yet, but you already know the topics (ie. anything!), they stay the same yearly. You want to know that you put your best effort in. I would highly suggest you have parents, teachers, coworkers, friends, your parent's coworkers, anyone you can find edit this. People can really contribute a new perspective that is sometimes hard to see yourself. I know I had some of my parent's coworkers edit my paper and it was really helpful because they didn't know me at all. They were able to say, "This doesn't make sense. Who is this person? Why is this even important?" while people who I already knew couldn't point those things out because they knew what I was talking about in my essays. Furthermore, you don't want to be bogged down by 14 more supplemental essays come the last week before applications are due. Seriously. Been there, done that....wasn't a good idea. 

Be organized.
While this might seem like a given, a lot of people mess this step up. Make a calendar, show all the due dates and deadlines. Start a task list. Put dates that you want to finish your essays by or dates you want to complete the extracurricular section by. College applications IS a step-by-step process! Don't try to do everything at once or else you won't even want to start at all.

Choose your teacher recommendations wisely.
You don't have to choose the teacher who was "really cool" or "really funny". Choose a teacher/class that you really think your character (positive ones, please) was revealed through. Choose a teacher who knows you; those who are sponsors of extracurricular activities are always a great choice (given that you've done a good job!). Once you've chosen, talk to them now rather than later. When they agree, compile a resume for them, maybe even discuss with them a few things you'd really like for them to highlight on. Put everything in a folder or a binder with a list of the colleges you wish for them to write to and due dates for those colleges as well. They're doing you a favor, you could at least make it easier for them.

There's definitely a lot more that I could talk about...so I'll update soon again. I just went through this. I'm here to help. So, if you have any questions at all, feel free to email me at goingivyleague@gmail.com. I'd be happy to answer anything!

If you want to learn more about the college process, the following links may help answer questions!
Types of "Early" Admission
Question 1: What colleges look for in essays
Question 2: What to do the summer before

the cost of caring

So basically, the supposedly "best week" of my life has just ended. Senior week at the beach with people I've loved for years and years.

And it's true, the week was amazing. It wasn't without drama. It wasn't without tears. It wasn't without feelings of depression, shit, and etc. But it was still the best week of my life. But I'm sitting back at home now. And I'm incredibly depressed.

Things learned:

1. Things don't go your way when drunk. Really.
2. If you want to do something right, do it sober.
3. Showing you care first means you lose all control. And it goes downhill from there.
4. Give up your money, give up your body, just as long as you don't give out your heart.
5. Physical attachment causes emotional attachment.
6. No matter how long you've prepared for another all-consuming love to come about, you're never really prepared.
7. It gets better with time. Hopefully.
8. Graduating means you don't have any more time or opportunity to fix your mistakes.
9. Having only memories left hurts.
10. High school is over for good.
11. You never notice how little time you have until it's almost gone.
12. Get wasted during beach week if you want to during high school at all - it's the best time because you don't have to face everyone again if you don't want to.
13. Saying too much is better than regretting not saying anything at all...at least you won't be plagued by the "what ifs".
14. Real friends get you out (or will at least try really hard) of anything: emotionally, legally, always.
15. People are nicer drunk. And high.
16. Don't get sloppy, it's not attractive.
17. Be safe, if anything. Your life isn't worth 20 minutes of fun or a few seconds of complete irresponsibility.
18. Your childhood is over.

attached before college

One thing my friends now expect is that I'm going to meet some gorgeous, wealthy, ambitious, multi-talented Mr. Perfect in college because "all ivy guys should be that amazing".

But, that's not what I'm looking for. In fact, I'm afraid I've gotten attached to someone who's slightly selfish (read: a guy), highly intelligent, eloquent, not that motivated, still gorgeous, caring individual who is flawed in so many ways (like...everyone else in the world)...but I love his flaws. Even when it ends up hurting me.

We had a good thing going on. Sort of. But I managed to mess everything up by admitting that he means a lot more to me than I should've. Basically, I screwed myself over for the rest of my summer. Summer, not my life, because that's all I'll ever have with him.

It's pathetic. It's sad. I'm  going to a fucking ivy league college and I'm  pining over some guy when I know I can do better. At least, that's what I'm  telling myself. I'm  not the prettiest girl and certainly not the most intelligent, but I care about him. I'm  pretty enough. I'm  smart enough. I have a sense of humor. We have chemistry. And I hate that he's the only one who really makes me feel comfortable with myself and not self-conscious when we're together. But once he leaves,  I'm  left a quivering 13-year-old girl who finds it hard to admire herself in the mirror.

This isn't the first time that things have gone down the drain; it's only the second. And as much as I hate being on this side of the weeping river, maybe I'm addicted because I sure as hell pull away all the time when a guy ever starts liking me. What do I do now? Hope that time heals everything? Be thankful that I'm getting a fresh start in college?

hovering right above me

Graduation is tomorrow.

It's the light at the end of the tunnel, but it's also the beginning of an empty road. This is the moment that I've wished for for a long time. It's the moment that I spent my childhood hearing about, sometimes seeing, but never being in. It's the "real thing", since elementary school graduation was a run-through. And we didn't even bother having a middle school graduation ceremony.

Graduation is in a grand hall that seats over 5,000 people. It allows me the chance to walk across a stage, potentially trip and embarrass myself in front of thousands of people, but receive a sheet of paper that supposedly indicates my success at growing up.

I feel anxious, nervous, happy, and mostly a little scared. A fear for the end of my childhood, of mistakes to start that will actually matter, of friendships that may come to an end, of life coming at us so speedily.

Good luck, Class of 2011.

you see what you want to see

Sorry guys, this post isn't on graduation, but rather another topic: preconceived illusions.

I'm usually a pretty modest girl who is occasionally shy as well. All my teachers, classmates, and employers have always said I was a respectful, unpretentious, and unpresuming person. However, now whenever someone asks me where I'm going to school - or will be heading off to school, I'm met with biased judgments.

I awkwardly respond with a "Um..." followed by the name of my Ivy League institution and I receive one of the two responses:

1. Amazement - general belief that I am highly intelligent and ambitious, which isn't so bad until the following occurs...

2. A "joke" about the pretentious way which I said the name of my college, which, I assure you, I did not. Or a "Ooh you're one of those kids."

There is a preconceived notion that I am some pretentious, all-knowing, patronizing person, when in fact, I AM NOT. I have a lot of faults, but being rude through pretentiousness is not one of them.

So yes, people often see what they only want to see. Maybe that's why I was told that students in my school started just responding with the state of their college rather than the name.

I do miss the days when I could say the name of my public school and people would instead respond, well, normally rather than feign interest because of my future elite education. 

the hook up vs. relationship question

I always thought of myself as a relationship kind of girl. But then, starting from 2 years ago, I became the hook-up kind of girl. The anti-relationship girl who still loved it when others got into a relationship.

Ivies are known for having either an intense hook-up scene, VERY intense long-term relationship group, and those singles who can't seem to find a relationship.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but I am curious: do hook-ups in college always entail sex? For those of you who don't believe this to be a problem, good for you. You're fortunate.

But, as for a girl who's already struggling between the boundaries of what can be considered sex (actually, no I'm pretty set on oral sex not counting), I don't think I can go through with hook-up sex in college. Is this going to be a huge problem?

As for getting into a relationship in college, I'm not quite sure I'm ready for that either. My mom, though from an entirely different generation, met my dad when she was a freshman in college. So to me, the prospect of meeting a guy and dating him and the possibility of that being forever...scares the hell out of me.

Up next: Speaking of scares the hell out of me...Graduation.

reflections of the next four years as a public school girl

Having interacted with quite a few people from small private schools during admit days has left me with a mix of positive and negative reactions to having been from a large, public school.

Features of private schools included, generally, were small class sizes (no more than 16!), closer relationships with teachers (they even had advisers who checked up with them quite more often than...well, twice in four years), and a highly close-knit group of people who didn't necessarily like each other but knew everything about everyone.

While I was envious of the fact that the class sizes were so small because of the amount of time they could dedicate to sharing their thoughts, have actual seminars when each person speaks more than twice, and truly be engaged in conversation, I realized there were some slacker-tendency downfalls in this. For one, in my 35-person classes, I could easily not speak for an entire period (especially if I were tired that day) and the teacher would never notice. If I hated the book we were required to read - I could SparkNote it and get away with it.

The closer relationships with teachers and counselors though, of course, was a serious advantage for college applications. I don't know how serious college admissions officers weigh teacher recommendation letters, but having a teacher who truly knows you and could speak a lot about your passion and personality sure can help (given that you are a wonderful, caring, passionate individual, that is).

As for the small group of kids graduating - I've heard from 16 to 95! - I suppose I'm thankful for the number of people I don't know and could potentially meet. Any number under 100 seems to be too tedious and repetitive. I'm so thankful for the amount of diversity that my public school provides me. I've seen kids from all walks of life - kids who can't afford their own meals, drug dealers, overachievers, snobby trust-fund kids (Disclaimer: not to say all kids with trust funds are snobby!), etc. I love the interracial friendships, relationships, partnerships, everything.  I'm not saying it's perfect or that there's no racial bullying, but for the most part, everyone is incredibly mixed with each other.

For the most part, although this may be biased because I'm going to be attending an elite institution, I"m thankful for all my high school has provided me.

Coming up: the hook up vs. relationship question

the sister that i do have

My best friend and I will be heading off to different Ivies in the fall. We had planned to go to the same college - caliber and academic interests all taken in mind...it was not for each other, but that part was supposed to be an added bonus - but, life of course, does not work out how we first plan it to.

I haven' t been good at keeping in touch with old friends. I speak to them every month, but we never hang out any more than twice or three times a year even though we live so close. Being at a fast-paced college environment, I know, will probably not help the situation. Am I going to get too busy? Is she going to get too busy? She feels like a sister though, there's just no way I can lose her. She's my go-to girl, first priority, all that jazz.

Yes, I've heard that "real best friends" wouldn't worry about this kind of stuff. But that simply cannot be true. Everyone worries about big changes coming up and how these changes are going to affect relationships.  Whether you do it in a calm way, external psychotic way, or internal freakout way, it happens.

We'll see.

The last two words reflect pretty much the next three months until I actually get to college.

Goodbye, public school. My parents' decision to send me to a competitive public high school instead of a strict private high school was probably the best and worst decision ever.

Next: reflections of the last four years as a public school girl

the good, the bad, the ugly, & the apathetic result

The good: acceptance into three ivies ranked top 10 of the four I applied to (let's count stanford as an ivy for right now). 75% success rate. No complaints there. 


Even better: getting over the fear, embarrassment, and fright I felt when I was rejected from my number one choice early. That would be the 25% fail rate, as I was speaking of in the last paragraph. 


The bad: having to choose between amazing, amazing institutions. Not knowing what factors I should value over others. Not knowing how I should even judge a school. Not knowing what "comfortable" meant. Not knowing how to fall in love with a school again. Not knowing if my decision will be the one I regret the most in my coming years.Well, honestly, this isn't even bad. I acknowledge that I'm incredibly blessed to even have a choice.


The ugly: hearing people say that me getting in was "all luck". I am not a minority. I am not legacy. I am not uber-wealthy. Leave me alone. I worked hard. I wrote a kick-ass essay with 23 drafts and edits from 11 different people of different ages, jobs, and sexes. Most importantly, I did things that I was passionate about. I joined and created clubs that were important to me. I've logged over a thousand volunteer hours doing activities that I enjoy. I've won national awards. Who are you to say I didn't deserve to get in? 


That last question got me. No one has the right to judge me for my application, which he or she did not even see. No one knows exactly what I've done or how I look on paper. BUT, the same goes for me. I've, thus, tried to be enthusiastic and genuine about every acceptance I've heard about. Besides more likely than not, the kid deserves it. They deserve the happiness of seeing the "Congratulations!" or the "Welcome to the Class of 2015!". Of the thousands and thousands of kids who applied to college, those accepted are the crème of the crop, especially when we are talking about Ivy League schools/Top 20/etc.; admission officers cannot possibly be accepting the wrong kids when they have such a large group to choose from. Agreed, they can be making an error in their rejections - simply because so many kids deserve to get in but cannot because of size limitations. But, the acceptances can't be just luck. 


This entire train of thought led me to be quite apathetic towards the people who scorned me behind my back. I felt pity for them. Pity that they were not satisfied enough with their lives that they had to invectify mine. I refuse to be diffident; I choose to be apathetic towards their trite abuses.


While I've been lately priding myself on being apathetic, I think it has spread to too many areas of my life. I have no care for my end-of-the-year AP/IB exams, but it's been instilled in me to care. Thus, there is an internal struggle: to study or not to study. I am barely talking to people, I simply haven't found interest in it...I want to go to college. I'm spiraling downhill with my best friend, which is causing me the most amount of anxiety. Who will I turn to if she leaves too? 


Next post: the best friend issue. the separation issue. my background. 

dreams, crushed. and then reborn.

On February 27th, 2011, my spirit had broken down. And this was about, of course, the seemingly unceasing topic of college admissions. Earlier in the school year, I had gotten rejected from what I believed to be the college of my dreams. A top-tiered ivy with all the right buildings, classes, enthusiasm, traditions, and people. With its high Early Decision acceptance rate, I had lost all hopes of attending an institution other than my state college. (Not that there's anything wrong with my state school itself; I'd just rather be given the chance to start over.) At that point, I had written about my bleak outlook on college admissions in general, the regrets I had, and my ultimate fear of simply "settling." I'm sure that this is a fear that many students in high school will go through - and even seniors in college who are applying to graduate schools. However, reflecting upon it is so different from the reality of it.

First of all, I look back at my anxiety in late Winter and I feel bad for myself. But, I feel worse for the thousands and millions of kids who will have to go through this process. I feel even more terrible for all the people whose anxiety is perpetuated and intensified by sites like CollegeConfidential. I admit, I had been an addict. However, reflecting on the pros and cons of the site has made me realize that it helped much more when I was choosing a school to attend rather than when I was anxiously putting together my applications and waiting for results. So, to all the kids who are posting their personal information and asking for "Chances" - I did not do so, but did read numerous threads - I suggest you take a step back and just believe in yourself. Strangers' comments won't help the result of your admission decision or relieve your nerves. In fact, sometimes what people say may be completely off base because the truth is, they don't know you. They don't know how well your essays were written or how nicely your application as a whole will resound with the admission officer reading it, and they certainly don't know what your future will look like. The only thing they see is numbers. And you yourself can judge your own GPA, SATs, SAT IIs, Class rank, etc. 

I have to offer a disclaimer though, because I am a little biased. I ended up being accepted to numerous elite colleges, including two of the four top 5 colleges in the nation that I applied to and a various number of other schools. I am, undoubtedly, incredibly blessed. So to me, things worked out. I will be attending an institution in the fall that I have never even dared dreamed about attending - and only applied to because my father suggested it. However, when I do look back on my achievements, my passions, and my personality, I have no doubt that I deserve to go there. I also believe, though, that thousands of kids who were waitlisted or rejected deserve to go as well. Life is about chance though. When you've put in enough work, in the end, it's about luck. I am a very lucky girl who hasn't been so happy in quite a while.

Even if you aren't accepted, at the end, to a school that you particularly want to go to, I don't think anyone should despair. Although I believe that much learning occurs with social interactions with peers, so much also depends on yourself. I have a friend at a state school who isn't elated that she's there - but she said that it helped her to get her work ethic together and exceed even her own expectations on how well she could have done in college. Her change in character has contributed to her life in an important way, a way that may not have occurred should she have gone to another school. There's a road for everyone; as long as you work for it, you'll deserve it.

So one last message: never feel like you don't deserve something, when you know you do.

Coming up: classmate responses and my reaction