[...] The AdmitSpit blog just received its first comment today! Embarrassingly enough, apparently I left Brown University off of the list of Ivy League schools in the post “Ivy Leagues are not created equal,” and incidentally added Duke instead. (My apologizes!) [...]
Hi, I’m a former Ivy League admissions officer who just started a blog of my own (gettingin.wordpress.com). I’m hoping to leverage my site to help seniors work on their college essays (as it’s one of the most important pieces of the application) and better understand the college admissions process. I’ll definitely be peeking at your blog from time to time to see your take on things.
Just wondering: are you going to Harvard? I was browsing through WordPress tags to see if there were others of us here. If you are at Harvard, I’m in your class and I’m already on campus.
I’m hesitant about speaking in specifics about where I go to school! But, I do have 6+ friends attending Harvard and they’re really excited! (One of them was doing that camping trip this summer too.) I hope you’re having a great time in Boston!
My son is a sophomore and is starting to look into admission criteria to various schools. Is it true that the admission “preferences” to any of the “top schools” may drastically vary from one year to another? What is the best way to find them out?
I can say quite confidently that admission criteria itself, in terms of testing and grades, does not vary drastically from year to year; the expectation from colleges is that scores and academic record will be high.
That said, in terms of admission “preferences,” I think it’s fair to say that all Admission Committees are aiming for balance. Their challenge each year is to select students who will contribute to a diverse, well-rounded class.
My advice to your son is, of course, to maintain high grades and testing scores as well as to focus on hobbies and extracurriculars that will allow him to stand out from other applicants. I’d recommend taking a look at the AdmitSpit post on this subject, “Well-rounded is out” at http://admitspit.wordpress.com/2006/07/31/well-rounded-is-out/ from July 31, 2006.
My son was one of those lucky few who is going to UCLA. I had the opportunity to eat lunch with an admissions volunteer after his acceptance. Leadership, passion, consistency in interests (ECs), an essay that lets the readers know what makes the applicant tick, and a devotion to learning is what she is trained to look for. Oh yeah, and living in California is a huge plus.
These questions are really fun, and I can only hope I get some half as cool as they. Creativity is, I like to imagine, a strong suit of mine. More importantly, #1 would be my real chance to shine. It’s hard to recall just how often I ask myself what kind of fruit I would most like to be, so often do I consider hypothetical human-produce transformation.
Hi, I’m a junior planning on going to Georgia Tech. I read your article and it seemed really helpful. I really like the idea about how you group similar words into categories instead of just definitions. I have a PSAT test coming up soon and I was hoping you could send me a copy of your list.
Or if it is already posted, if you would direct me in the right direction to find it…
Hope you get this before my test!
I’d love to send you a copy of my vocab lists. I think you’ll find them really useful.
As I’m off at college right now myself, I don’t have immediate access to the lists. I think it’ll take me another week or so to send them out (several other students have requested them as well).
I know the PSAT testing is usually around mid-October, so I’ll do my best to figure out the who’s, what’s, when’s, where’s, and how’s of shipping them out as soon as possible!
(You may be wondering why I can’t just post the vocab lists electronically — apparently there are some legal and copyright issues involved that I need to figure out.)
Definitely check back by September 25th for more comprehensive info regarding the new vocab lists though. I didn’t realize there’d be as much interest in them, so hopefully I’ll sort everything out soon.
I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for the comment, Amin!
I looked into the admissions rates a little closer, and, honestly and unfortunately, I couldn’t actually find any statistics that showed that acceptance rates were lower for out-of-staters at private schools.
However, what I could find for private schools is the percentage of their incoming class from various geographic regions. For Duke’s Class of 2010 for example, 14% of students are from North Carolina, most amount from any one state.
BUT, don’t take this at face value — just because at private schools there may be a trend that a high percentage of students from in-state attend, there are many lurking variables (like maybe plenty of non-North Carolinians were accepted to Duke, but they decided to go elsewhere, or maybe more in-state students applied in the first place so they constitute a larger portion of the class), and one cannot assume that this means they actually accept more in-state students!
In general, I think a lot of private schools actually try to up the number of out-of-state students. (Stanford for example was committed to increased geo-diversity last year.) And even if private schools are accepting more in-state students, which, again, I’m not sure is completely accurate, the difference is nowhere near that of public institutions.
Your articles are really detailed and helfpul. I would really appreciate if you could send me a list as well. I’m going to take the PSAT on Oct.18th, so if it’s possible, please send me the lists before then.
A great way to add to the importance of being involved is by supporting team spirit. Having a fundraiser with custom T-shirts, flags, and hoodies, have always been a great way to raise money and raise school spirit!
I did the Biology E because we were studying Ecology at the time, whereas we hadn’t touched most Molecular stuff since the fall. This made it a pretty easy choice for me.
Awesome Awesome POST!! WOW I may need to interview you for my radio show at http://www.parentingmyteen.com My Oldest Daughter is in her 2nd year of college and and getting her through her Sr. year of HS was so stressfull with the college applications, SAT’s, keeping her grades up and of course we can’t forget the social life!
If you’re talking about the current frosh group at UCLA – I believe only 4800 (approx) were accepted this year. It was by far the toughest year for admission applicants.
The statistics from the UCs were taken directly from the University of California website. I’m pretty certain there’s no way only 4,800 students were accepted to UCLA… about 4,800 is the SIZE of the freshman class at UCLA, not the number of students accepted.
Yes, you are right though that this was by far the most difficult year.
Amusingly, most Exonians do much better on the M2C than the math 1–not because the testing group is self-selecting but simply because we’ve done the m2c stuff more recently (6th grade, as opposed to 1st… right?).
Fun fun fun. I’m done with my College Board poison forever, I think.
Equally important is for when you are pacing your patience for the test. Sadly, so much of it is your endurance, as far as attention is concerned. And if you are only expecting the 3 45, you’re going to be in for a nasty surprise after 3 hours and 45 minutes have gone by and you have god knows how many sections left over, sprawled out seemingly endlessly before you.
Let’s get real. A 2.0 from Harvard is pretty shitty. No way the barely-passing Harvard grad gets a job over a straight A’s Big Red grad. Most people would realize the dumb ass Harvard grad was probably a legacy admit, AA admit, jock, or a lucky bastard, and didn’t really belong at Harvard.
All very good tips, and I would put special emphasis on the eavesdropping (!) because even if you push yourself to think up lots and lots of questions beforehand, your peers are always going to have some more you never imagined. Plus, if there’s a big group of people, you can use someone else’s question as a lead-in to your own in order to cut the queue.
Please don’t be so naive, Ezra. First of all, if the student got into Harvard, they most likely have connections in the first place, but that’s besides the point. The fact is that most high school students and people in general know only that Princeton, Harvard, and Yale are the best and don’t even realize that Dartmouth and Cornell are even in the Ivy League. By the way, just because Cornell and Dartmouth play football against the Crimson does not put them on the same caliber. That’s not to say that they aren’t fine institutions; in fact, their undergraduate programs are arguably much stronger than Harvard’s since Harvard is more designed as a research institution with most of its time and energy spent on, well… research. Even though they may have somewhat comparable programs, Harvard is on a totally different level of academia. Go up to a person and tell them you’re going to Cornell and then go tell someone else you are a student at Harvard. Their reactions will prove my point more effectively than this post ever could.
At what stage in high school (junior spring?) and with whom should one set up interviews? Is it enough to call the undergrad admissions office? Is it possible to request an interview with a specific faculty member or a specific department?
By the way, this website is a fantastic resource for the college application process!
Wow! What a great idea for posts! This is incredibly useful in learning what distinguishes schools from one another and the “feel” of each school. That’s something you really can’t find in viewbooks or on tours. Very unique and excellently executed.
“most high school students and people in general” only know 3/8th of the Ivy League is in the Ivy League. Hmm. Hmmmmm. I know HYP have the most name-brand prestige recognition, but I don’t think it’s really fair to say that. That has never been my experience out in the world (before I came to Exeter or after).
But worst, by far– “If the student got into Harvard, they most likely have connections in the first place.”
…What? What the hell?
Sure, some. But not “most.” You want to back that up with anything? Something from the last 50 years, please.
I know you’re insulated in Exeter with your other preppy friends, but by “high school students and people in general” I don’t mean the ones that have the socio-economic clout to send their children to ivy-clad, New England prep schools where they can act like they’re Ivy Leaguers while still in high school, but actual people below the 99th percentile in social-economic status. Let’s face it, of course you have heard of the other Ivies because you live in a social bubble where a majority of the students strive to get into the Ivy League no matter which school it is. Most Americans know of “HYP” only because of their prestige recognition and plead ignorance to the other five because they don’t actively search for the associations that these other Ivies make with the Big Three.
You are making a logical fallacy through your erroneous “generalization” of the entire American population to your single, prep-school existence. I am trying to describe the knowledge of the average American (preppy or not), which is the very definition of a generalization in the first place.
To your second point, I am going to have to ask you to not be as naive as Ezra. You of all people should know the connections that occur in preppy America. The fact that you are attending one of the Ivy League feeder schools (it’s common knowledge the association between Exeter and Harvard along with Phillips and Yale) you must surely see first-hand the institution of legacy in New England. Granted, there are a majority of students that get in based on their merit, but you must concede that Legacies still hold major clout in the admission process. Why else do they ask you if you have any family members that attended the institution? And why else would Ivy Leagues like Penn only allow Legacies to do on campus interviews? (See AdmitSpit’s post titled, “As promised, interview specifics for top schools.”)
The fact of the matter is that you have a statistically greater chance of getting into a school if you are a legacy or are on very good terms with notable alumni. In a school like Harvard where they pride themselves on the dynasties of families that have attended, you must surely realize, and acknowledge, that a number of the students are attending for prestige reasons alone.
I’d have to second Sam’s comments regarding your response above. Admissions at Harvard, as well as the rest of the Ivies, has changed considerably since the Great Gatsby days where legacy meant something to admissions. I’m a Princeton ‘90 grad (and was accepted at 5 other Ivies) but didn’t know one Ivy Leaguer.
As to the power of Harvard’s brand, I cannot disagree. Regardless of their undergraduate rankings, the word “Harvard” knocks down doors. My other activity besides ePrep (www.eprep.com) has involved serving the entire Ivy League through Ivysport (www.ivysport.com), an extension of the Ivy League Conference. Using apparel sales as a metric of brand strength, Harvard beats the rest of the League by a margin of 5 to 1.
I was delighted to discover this blog today. Providing college admissions from the perspective of students is certainly lacking on the web and blogosphere. A few months back I teamed with some Princeton classmates to launch ePrep as a free resource for students and parents on admissions and financial aid. I’m looking forward to following your dialog.
Not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but it’s a post about the SAT subject tests each top school requires for admission; hope it’s helpful! http://admitspit.wordpress.com/2006/09/26/standard-list-for-colleges-standardized-testing-requirements/
If what you’re looking for is SAT subject test score statistics for the schools, we’ll poke around a bit, but not sure if any schools actually release that data. I know Brown definitely doesn’t include any more data on admissions test scores other than the verbal and math breakdown you see above in this post.
Hey Dee,
A lot of applications (including the common app) ask how many weeks per year you participate in the activity. That means for seasonal activities you don’t have to divide by 52, but can just write that you play 12 hours a week for 6 weeks.
Luke,
Your statement, (”I know you’re insulated in Exeter with your other preppy friends, but by ‘high school students and people in general’ I don’t mean the ones that have the socio-economic clout to send their children to ivy-clad, New England prep schools where they can act like they’re Ivy Leaguers while still in high school, but actual people below the 99th percentile in social-economic status.”) could not be more off base. Most of the people I know who attend Exeter are on part, if not full, financial aid. PEA has an extremely generous financial aid policy. Perhaps people would rather believe it is the “money” that is keeping them from attending a school like Exeter, rather than ability.
And as for the Harvard legacy stuff, unlike other college applications, Harvard does not even have a space on the application to include any relatives who have ever attended Harvard.
So, Math Level 2 is not required for admission into UC? That’s strange.. my college counselor tells me that it is. Well, I am a high school senior and I’m really glad to have found your site. It’s awesome, keep up the good work ^^v
They’re creating schools now?! This appears to be another money-making venture for the supposedly not-for-profit organization. When are people going to realize that there needs to be some healthy competition which will make the tests more affordable and actually useful for measuring freshmen grades?
Help – my son decided to add one sentence to his essay after he copied it into his application form and submitted it with a TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR! What do we do? Will his application automatically be dropped!
Thanks, anonymous!
… someone left two comments regarding Stanford’s ACT statistics and Princeton’s SAT statistics. It’s fantastic to get such helpful comments from our readers; I appreciate it!
–Dee
I’m having trouble locating statistics about student admission by state to different universities. Does anyone have any websites where this information can be found?
I have a question: if I apply for Bioengineering:Premedical, does that still count as an engineering major (I looked through the courses and it seemed more premed than engineer)? So if I do go to Warren, the GE would be 11 and not 17?
And, I see that you mentioned Muir isn’t very social, what about Warren?
Nancy, that is a common misperception about the UC requirements. The UC’s do NOT accept the Math Level 1, but they do not require the Math Level 2. In other words, you can skip math entirely and submit Literature and Biology or Spanish and US History. The key is that the two tests must be in different fields of study: literature, math, history, physical sciences, and languages are your choices.
I strongly disliked this entry, honestly. I think it misrepresented many of the colleges discussed. (Esp the part about UCSD being full of “hot surfers”… where are they hiding? Anyways, I feel that the generalizations you assigned to the colleges had little to do with their programmatic focuses and resources, but rather on their location on campus (which really doesn’t matter after your 2nd year when you move off campus).
I must defend the other colleges!
Personally, I am a 4th year Revelle Student. I wouldn’t agree with you that it is “nothing too special, just a lot of work”. I do agree that the GE’s are a lot of work, but this is ignoring the whole point of having this many GE’s. Revelle is perfect for the student who is not sure what they want to study. The GEs provide an opportunity to explore MANY different disciplines. It is also perfect for the science major who wants to be well-rounded in the social sciences and writing, as well. It has been shown that the students who complete the HUM sequence score higher on the writing portion of the MCATS! Also, Revelle is a very prestigious college, which is ranked separately from (and higher than) the rest of UCSD in several national college ranking systems. Since it was the first college, Revelle carries with it a strong sense of tradition– evident in the events it puts on, its College Council, and its Student Affairs/Academic Advising Staff and programs. Nothing special? I would strongly disagree.
As for Muir, I would say that it is FAR FROM being the least social college! Muirons are known for being fun and creative!
In response to “If you are considering being an Engineer, I would strongly recommend Warren (as long as you don’t mind walking far for classes). ” Warren students who are engineers REALLY don’t have to walk far at all from the dorms, since all the engineering buildings are IN Warren.
Poor ERC! You ripped it apart! I think this is a wonderful college! In response to ” Unfortunately, other than nice dorms and a location near the gym and sports fields, ERC does not have much to offer. ”
I would HEARTILY disagree! This college is full of REALLY good-looking people! Plus the International House is here, so hot FOREIGN people too! Student government and College Council in ERC is very active (and has a lot of money). It is also a very spirited college (won Spirit Night last year). Further, since it is home to the International House and the Graduate School of International Relations/ Pacific Studies, many opportunities/programs are put on that have to do with culture and diversity. Plus they have a REALLY nice dining hall, possibly my favorite!
I love Sixth College! I am an RA in the Matthews Apartments, which house Revelle 2nd years, but are located in Sixth College. Though it is really far away from most things, this does foster a great sense of community. They’re a fun bunch!
As for the problem of distance to classes, there are many ways to avoid this– ie. take the shuttle! Just be sure to get to the shuttle stop early, or else you may be late. Or ride your bike! UCSD is pretty spread out, so everything requires some amount of walking. It is possible to get across campus by walking in about 15-20 minutes at a brisk pace.
I would love to talk more about these colleges, so should any readers out there have any questions at all, shoot me an email at mhenry@ucsd.edu
I definitely appreciate your insight; we liked Teja’s post because it gave a comprehensive review of each UCSD college, but as with all things, people will always have differing perspectives so it’s great to hear other people’s views too!
Hi I just submitted my uc application yesterday and realized that I went over the word count limit by 35 words. What can I do? Will the college just cut off my essay or should I mail each campus a letter?
I need help. Is it wise to repeat SAT in January? I got a good math score but my critical reading was below 600 but above 500. I want to go into a mathematical based field. Please help me before I register to do it over. I want to go Columbia.
Is Elizabeth applying by mail? Because I know for one that if you go beyond the word limit in the online application, the system will not let you proceed with the process anyway.
Definitely not a myth. Even if you are a minute late, you will be disqualified. Wait a few days and you might just get an email telling you that. Good luck!
Excellent point. If she was applying through a paper application and the whole essay fit in the designated area then I definitely don’t see it as being too big of a problem. It’s not like the AdComm is going to count out how many words she used.
I just applied to 6 UC’s: Berkeley, LA, San Diego, Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara, with mostly undeclared majors in biological/life sciences. I took the Math Level 2 in June 2006 and scored a 650. Since I wanted to raise my score, I took it again in December.. but I don’t think my score improved much. My Chinese SAT 2 score is 790, and my SAT score is 2080. Will my math score greatly hurt my chances of getting in? And is there any way to change what major I put on my application? Or is it pretty much set in stone…
According to Cornell’s Dear Uncle Ezra question and answer service, this year’s early decision results will be posted to online admissions accounts at exactly 5:00pm, Eastern time, on December 14.
Where can I get statistics on average GPA’s and test scores for minority applicants (latino, african-american, etc.) to Ivy League schools and other highly selective universities such as Stanford, Duke, etc.?
What’s the acceptance rate for the College of Arts and Sciences? and does each department in the college go into great depth?
If I were looking into the possibility of a career in fine arts, but want to keep my options open, would you recommend arts and science? or Architecture, Art and planning?
The acceptance rate for Arts and Sciences was 20%.
I’m not exactly sure what you mean by each department going into great depth. I’ll try to get back to you if you clarify your question.
As far as which college to apply to, if you are pretty sure you want to do art, I would apply to AAP. According to their website, you can apply for a dual degree program when you are a sophomore, and that way you would get a degree in both art and anything else. Plus, you can always take classes in other colleges, so your options will always be open. Here’s the description of the dual degree program from the AAP website:
“The dual degree program allows students to earn the B.F.A., as well as a B.A. from the College of Arts and Sciences, a B.S. from the College of Human Ecology or a B.S. from the College of Engineering. Students apply to the dual degree program during their sophomore year.”
On the topic of SATs, I always hear about how people would rather take the SATs on “x” date because the “curve” will be higher. What is this “curve” and how does it work and when does it help or hurt you if you are an average student (ie. With an average SAT score of between 1900-2000)
Hello! This comment is not related to the post. I know that I can add an additional campus after I’ve submitted my application. But can I change one of the campus I’ve applied?
Thank you!
Thanks Melissa for defending ERC because that’s my first choice college! Pray i get in! Anyways, I was feeling doubtful about my decision, but now I’m completely happy about it. Thanks. WISH ME LUCK!
Hi there. My question is on how big a factor test results, nationality and race are in the American admissions process.
I just took the SAT subject tests for the first time last Saterday. I think I got about 700 on the math 1, 650 on the level 2, and no idea on the chemistry, but it’s probabaly in the 500’s. How will the top schools see this, and how much difference would the fact that I’m a Canadian Indian (which legally means I’m also an American Indian) make?
Otherwise, I have a 90% grade average, and scored 88% and 85% on the two Alberta Diploma standardized tests (chem. and pure math) I’ve taken about 8 months ago. I paticipate in a volunteer organization and student government, and I’m sure I could get good teacher references and essays done.
The big question I have is: Would it be worth it to make a 10 hour drive this Saterday to the nearest ACT test center (I haven’t taken it or the SAT before) or should I just forget it? Thanks for your time.
When I applied to Stanford last year, they put decisions up online on December 15th and they sent decisions by mail as well.
If you log into your online account on Dec. 15, there should be a link to your decision there (unless it’s changed from last year). Good luck!
I’m a junior in high school currently. If I choose colleges to send SAT or AP scores to (since the tests usually allow you to submit a few free score reports to colleges), what will happen? Will the colleges just ignore the scores since you are not yet applying or is it helpful?
What are considered good scores for SAT, ACT, SAT subject (Math 2 and Physics) for engineering applicants to colleges like UC Berkeley and Columbia U? Thanks!
Pushyami–
I’d say, ideally, you’d want all your SAT scores to be in the upper 700s. Maybe on the reading and writing section of the SAT you could dip a bit, but not below 650 I’d hope. Definitely on the math section of the SAT and the Math 2 and Physics you’d want in the upper 700s (750+). For the math section on the SAT definitely shoot for an 800.
Not sure exactly what’s considered “good” on the ACT because it’s usually secondary, but you’d want to do as well as what I described for the SAT. Plus, I figure if you do as well as I described on the SAT, then you’d probably get a comparable ACT score!
Yeah, I originally wanted to take the SAT but they wouldn’t let me take it and the SAT II’s on the same day. I really really should have taken all these tests earlier! Anyway, the thing that worried me was that when I looked at college websites, a lot of them have December as their test deadlines. The other big thing was that when I talked to a counseller at a school that administers the test, she said that the ACT is more in line with Canadian curriculum.
P.S. How small would you say my odds are at getting into a school like MIT or Harvard? Thank you.
Ooh, I see your dilemma. In that case, if you’re really set on applying to those schools and you have to take the ACT, I guess there’s no choice except to drive 10 hours! I’d say MIT, if you applied to a science or math major, is probably out of the picture because your scores are a little low in math compared to what they usually accept, but Harvard, again depending on what concentration you applied for, because it’s a liberal arts school, I’d say you have a better shot for. Again, I think essays and teacher recs are what will make the difference in your case, so I hope they were good!
Information regarding Yale’s early action notification procedure was posted 12/4/06 indicating the information should be accessable the evening of 12/15/06 and that letters are to be mailed on the same date.
I know about Dartmouth’s notification date because they posted this announcement on ED candidates’ secure web site. (Well, at least on my son’s secure web site.)
This whole discussion is hillarious. I agree with you 100% Luke that people that go to Harvard are pretty much set for the rest of their lives just because of the “Harvard” on their resume. I think it’s sad and really unfair that it gets so much recognition, when academically it really isn’t that superior. But still, I don’t think people should chose Harvard just because of it’s prestigious name when there are so many other great schools with less of a name but that can offer so much more academically. I chose to apply early to Barnard rather than Columbia (although I had the grades for Columbia) because of the smaller Barnard community and student to teacher ratio. Even if I got into Harvard, I don’t think I would have chosen to go there because it wasn’t the right place for me. Harvard students judge each other’s intelligence purely on grades and the Harvard atmosphere is one of “survival of the fittest” for who can get the best grades. I would personally much rather be at a school like Barnard or Pomona where students work together investing in each other’s success rather than compete against each other and compare grades all the time.
All of you have good points. However, like most statements, it is not a truth. It is also not all lies. Yes, people with connections will most likely get into Harvard. No, people without connections will get rejected. Many people are accepted to Harvard that don’t have conncections with alumni, or family members; despite the fact that it might help admission into Harvard. I don’t know anyone from Harvard and until I get there, I might never know anyone; but I will be accepted, I’m determined.
Sophomore with the I.Q of 155
i did fairly well on my SATs, combined 2190 (verbal 750/math 650/writing 790). now, in one of my groups of friends, this is GREAT. they’re impressed, and basically think it’s amazing.
if i were to tell the other group… it’d be good. pretty darn good. not AMAZING, but not bad.
according to this data, my scores are BELOW the middle 50% on most of these schools! I know there are people out there that nail these tests, but honestly… how can I be in the 97th percentile and be below average for most colleges?!
I think you’re posing a very valid concern and a dire problem with the whole admissions process, but remember, that’s the whole point of an application! Clearly all these schools don’t want you just to send test scores; they look at so many other factors as well. Plus, you had a great score on your writing section, so unless you’re applying to be a nuclear physicist your scores probably fine!
Yeah, what is the deal with NU? They list “mid-December” as their date. Any specifics? My friend says last year it was around the 10th, but that has already passed…
Luke, join the real world. There are four national publications that rank the quality of american universities (academic rankings):
1. US News & world Report
2. The Atlantic
3. CollegeProwler (see “www.collegeprowler.com”)
4. The Princeton Review’s “Toughest Schools to Get Into” ranking
In none of the aforementioned national rankings does Harvard appear at the top. In fact there is no natioanl ranking publication that puts Harvard in the nation’s top spot. If you want to rank Harvard on its ability to market itself, well that may be another matter.
I have heard that a friend got an email from NU that said the 15th, but my daughter did not get any email and their website hasn’t been updated since August! I would assume the 15th…. 4:00 or 5:00 PM seems to be the standard at other schools. Anyone out there with better info than one friend’s email and a hunch?
Stanford actually updated their site by saying that admissions notifications for Early Applicants will be out on Friday, Dec. 15, no earlier than 3:00 p.m. You will receive an email.
I am not sure about Emory and the whole O.P.U.S. account thing. I think the 15th but I am not sure if we can check online or through e-mail…or if it is just regular mail.
I think we needed a second opinion regarding this topic. As a freshman, I might not know as much as a junior or senior student. A majority of what I’ve written is what I’ve heard from other people. The students that I’ve talked to at various colleges appeared to complain and give negative feedback rather than positive. I simply reported what I heard.
This is a very personal decision and I want to reiterate that it is based on personal choice and opinion. I was just here to give mine. For those who are considering this article in their decision making, it is important to do more research and get more feedback before jumping to any conclusions.
It seems that young students are overly concerned about SAT scores for undergraduate admission. I urge the young students to look at the big picture. If you don’t get into the undergraduate college of your choice due to an inadequate SAT score, you can simply go to your local college and reapply for graduate school or law school or medical school at the prestigious school you had in mind. I went to Notre Dame when I was an undergraduate. When I look back, I was far too young to go to college 2000 miles from home at the age of 18. I had too much culture shock. I wish I had waited until graduate school to go to Notre Dame. Plus in graduate school you can get more financial aid. College can get very expensive.
-U of Chicago (more Nobel laureates than any other American school, ever)
-Northwestern
-Rice
and, finally, the smaller liberal arts schools,in no particular order….exceptional undergrad experiences on par with (and,in some cases, better than, those at ‘top’ universities. Also, most definitely as competitive, overall, in terms of admissions rates):
Brown has posted early deciison results. My daughter got ‘deferred’. Not good not bad – just prolonging the wait. How horrible these past weeks have been.
Hope most of you have gotten in. Post your results.
ahhh!!! stressed out senior here. princeton? anyone know anything? sitting around waiting is driving me insane!!!! oh…i do know that they will both send you an email and you can check online (Jane). They also send a letter, but when will it happen?? thanks for all imput!
i hope we can rule out carrier pigeons…though since the Georgetown app was by paper anyways, who knows how old fashioned they are. Word from some of the kids who went to Georgetown from my school last year say there was an email involved, though i also heard from a college counselor that decisions were sent via mail this past monday… I’d keep an eye on your inbox and your mailbox.
I remember when I was trying to get into University. I had applied to the University of Toronto, York University and Ryerson. I was about to reluctantly accept Ryerson but on the day I was going to mail my acceptance letter to Ryerson, I got the U of T letter.
Hope this isn’t a repetition – haven’t read all posts – but my son heard from Duke last night via e-mail (Dec.14th) at 6. Much to our elation, he got in. Brown also sent out early decisions last night, and I believe Penn did as well. Stanford should notify today, but I’m not sure at what time.
You probably all knew everything I just said before
this message! In any case, good luck to everyone.
In response to the question about Georgetown. I too have applied early action and am anxiously awaiting a response. Out of frustration i called the undergrad admissions and they informed me that letters were mailed earlier this week and that we should recieve them today or over the weekend. I didn’t get one today, banking on tommorow.
Yes, I too would like to know when we hear from Georgetown! I thought we would be receiving something today, but perhaps they just mailed the letters today.
This ranking is of little use. It measures a school’s publication output. As a result, large universities, with many professors appear at the top. Schools like Dartmouth and Brown do not even appear in the top 50.
There are four national publications that rank the quality of american universities (academic rankings):
1. US News & World Report
2. The Atlantic
3. CollegeProwler (see “www.collegeprowler.com”)
4. The Princeton Review’s “Toughest Schools to Get Into” ranking
It would be nice to see the authors here discussing the academic rankings put forth by College Prowler (www.collegeprowler.com), The Princeton Review (”Toughest Schools to Get Into”), The Atlantic (2003) and US News. These are national publications held in high regard. They certainly make more sense than the Financial Times ranking which is based largely on a school’s publication output rather than academic quality (any ranking that places Dartmouth or Brown beyond the top 50 and places schools without undergrad programs in their ranking should be suspect).
i had a princeton interview and we just sat around and talked for a while about my life, my interviewers days at princeton, and current events. so casual i couldnt believe it.
During the test day, I brought in the scientific Casio fx-991MS and Graphing Casio-9850GB Plus and honestly, the graphing calculator helped me only in one number.
In my opinion, I think everyone should just try to get used to the scientific calculator as the graphing calculator is rarely needed as far as I’ve seen.
“The point I’m trying to get at is that you should never sell yourself short and settle for a ‘good’ college or a ‘lower Ivy’ (Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, UPenn, and Columbia) just because you might not get into Harvard. There is a reason why people are immediately impressed when they here even a muttering of Harvard whereas most people don’t even know that Dartmouth is a college, let alone a member of the Ivy League. Always try for the best; you owe at least that much to yourself for the four years you’ve toiled and suffered to be in the position you’re in today.”
Uh, NO. I agree with what Linda says–you don’t necessarily owe it to yourself to attempt one of the name-brand colleges or universities. You DO owe it to yourself to choose a school where you will have a spectacular four years, with an environment tailored to YOUR particular learning needs. Have some common sense, PLEASE.
What’s the address to send the “letter to the school, IN WRITING, requesting that your application be looked at under a different major”? Where should I send my request to UC Berkeley and UCLA to? What’s the two addresses?
Hi again! Well, I just got my SAT II results and it seems I’m a pretty bad predictor. Turns out I did a lot better in Chemistry and a lot worse in Math 1 than I thought originally thought.
Chemistry – 670
Math Level 2 – 670
Math Level 1 – 590
I seriously don’t know what happened here. But, anyway, I know that a 700 is good for the top colleges, but are 670’s really that bad? Could it be a deal breaker? Would it be worth telling them that I hadn’t taken math or chem. courses for about 8 months (I couldn’t take bio or physics because I haven’t finished those courses yet), and that I’m from Canada so I wasn’t used to the SAT’s? Or would they not care? I’m so confused…
hey, i’m an international student currently but my dad will be working in the states (CA) starting Oct 07 on a H1 visa. if i’m thinking of applying for a state university (UC), can i apply for in-state tuition fees? and will my chances of getting a scholarship be higher?
also, i got a score of 780 for math, 750 for verbal, and 640 for writing on the recent reasoning test. should i take it again? is it good enough for a place in UC berkeley?
in the recent subject tests, i got 750 for bio E and 770 for chem, and i’ll be taking math 2 next jan. is it a competitive score for applying to a prestigous course in UC (say, science major or business)?
i got my sat 2 results yesterday and was quite dejected..got 720 in maths level 2 and physics 730.what should i submut these scores or should i plan a retest,,plz suggest..
Ralph,
If you are an American Indian with a tribal affiliation you will have NO problem getting into one the more prestigious private colleges in the States. Your scores are pretty good and your grades are as well. I have a neighbor who has a tribal affiliation and was recruited quite rigorously by all the Ivies. Good Luck!
I’m not from the United States, but I intend to apply to MIT and I’m looking for a few different opinions of my chances of getting in. Despite the fact that I received what I expected in the SAT I Math, I did not do as well as expected in Critical Reading and Writing. My SAT I scores were (Math 800/Reading 680/Writing 640/Total 2120) and my SAT II scores were (Physics 800/Math 770). From what I’ve read, these are decent scores and I was particularly pleased with the physics, but I am not familiar with the SATs – I just found out about them last year – and any extra advice or even comments would be appreciated.
Hi, I am also applying to UC schools. But the more I read about students applying there also, the more I am regretting it! I am a very hard worker, I take AP classes and hold a 4.286 GPA. But my SAT scores are seriously crap! I’m talkin mid to upper 500’s. It was also a disappointment when my Dec SAT Subject results came in. I think I will totally do better if I take them again but will the UC schools even look at SAT scores after the Dec score report deadline?
This questions is about the ivies. I sent in my secondary school report, but forgot to send in the official transcripts with them. Is it okay to send them in separately?
I took the PSAT in early October and found out this week (January 4th) that I am a semifinalist. I have two concerns.
1) When I got my PSAT scores from my guidance counselor, he said that there was a possibility that I might have to take the SAT as part of the process. I got a 2310 on the real SAT in December (with which I was satisfied) and, quite honestly, I don’t want to take it again. Since I took it two months after the PSAT, do you think I will have to take it again?
2.) My GPA is around a 3.6/3.7 on an unweighted scale of 4.0. I took really challenging classes, but do you think this will eliminate me?
I was deferred from my early school in December. I’ve now finished my RD applications and realized that my new essays are infinitely better than the ones I sent in early. Can I now send in my new essays to replace the ones I sent in a while ago? The RD deadline for this school has passed, however.
I really like the new layout! Though I will miss seeing who the author of each post is and the tags (though the tags can be found when you click on comments I just saw…). Otherwise, I really like the color scheme, not too harsh!
Hi! I am an applicant of the UC and now it’s time to update my application. One section asked applicants to provide information related to academic record. One example of what the school wants us to report is “If you know that your academic performance in your final semester will significantly improve, please explain what circumstances have changed in your life that will enable you to earn higher grades.” Does providing this kind of information matter? Thanks
When submitting my RD applications, as long as i submit it by the day the deadline is, does it matter how close i cut it time-wise? Will i be disadvantaged because my applications were sent (online) on the 30th when the deadline was the 31st or the 1st?
As usual I am kind of nervous about the whole idea. My most feared question would be why princeton over for example Yale? Both offer majors i am interested in and lovely learning environments.
I am nervous as usual about the encounter I will have in two days with the interviewer. My most feared question is why princeton over all the other schools. I mean Yale and Princeton both offer economics and exciting environments. How can you simply decide which is “better” or what makes Princeton tick more than another?!!
We are looking for an excellent school to send our kids. Can anyone recommend a public school district (non-magnet) that scores close to 30 on the ACTs? For Example, Gunn in Palo Alto seems to average 29 on the ACT. Any information would be helpful. Thanks!
Hi! Wow, I just found this today– thank you for not pulling the same shit counselors pull about “doing what YOU want” or “choosing classes you LIKE” or “sleeping” (what is that, anyway? Just kidding.).
Not that there isn’t some truth to that advice, but I’m glad to find something that offers advice that will actually be listened to by someone trying to be competitive for a spot at University of Pennsylvania.
Just wondering: what exactly are the consequences of not going to the Early Decision school that accepted you? I’m not so vain as to think it’s going to happen for me next year, but everything I’ve checked basically just refers to the consequence as “serious”. Do you know what it even entails?
They don’t exist. If you’re depending on the high school’s average ACT to raise your kid’s scores up, you’re outta luck.
Your kids will do the best they can do. I’m at an average public high school, and I got a 35 on the ACT. My parents’ friends’ kid is at a $20,000/year private school. He got a 32.
And if you’re really scheming to find a public school that meet those criteria, you need to seriously re-evaluate your priorities.
I don’t know Kacie… I think you’re being a little too hard on Dan. I think it’s good that he’s trying to find a good school for his kids, but it’s true that he’ll be hard pressed to find any stats of this kind. Definitely at most good schools if his kids put in the effort to get a good education and meet their potential academically, they will do well on the ACT.
My son who is twelve and in the 7th grade would like to attend a Ivy league school. He recently took the SAT and scored 1720, i.e. CR = 660; Math = 540; Writing = 520. Do you have any proven tools to help raise his score to acceptable Ivy league level within the next four years?
I don’t like Harvard either, but I find it a “big” deal.
Why? Harvard is the college. Regardless of whether or not Bill Gates likes it, Harvard has quite a bit of a reputation. If Harvard deems something, say EA, as useless and discards it, it’s sort of expected that other schools do the same or at least experiment more with it. It’s a bit like Follow the Leader.
I just heard through the grapevine that students who apply to both UCLA and UC Berkeley are only admitted to one or the other but not both. I really want to go to UCLA but also applied to Berkeley even though it is not one of my top schools. Does anyone know if this is true and if I can withdraw my Berkeley app?
First of all I just want to say that I love this blog… it’s just a wealth of information!
Second, I need some advice on my situation. I don’t know where to put it so I guess I’ll post it here. I’m a grade 11 student at a public high school in suburban Vancouver, Canada. Sometime last year I had the impulse of wanting to go to a prestigious American school (the Ivies, MIT, Stanford, etc.). I have really good grades (99% – #1 out of a class of 380), pretty good extracurriculars (Student Council, Debate Team…), etc. so I thought “why not give it a try… open more doors.” So I studied for the SAT and got a 2390 in Oct. I was so excited and I thought that is way too good to throw away. And just last week I found out that I got an 800 on my Bio M SAT. But now the entire thought of applying to US universities is really daunting and stressing me out and I don’t know if it’s really worth it and if I even stand a chance. I’ll have NO problem whatsoever getting into a top Canadian university… I really don’t know if I’m just wasting my time and money vying for such a slime chance of getting into a good US school… And there really is no point going to the States if I don’t get into one of the top universities. And my parents aren’t really supporting this whole idea of going to the US and they tell me that even if I get accepted I won’t be able to go since they can’t afford it. I’m just kind of lost right now, not sure where I’m going in life… So I’d really appreciate it if you could please give me some perspective and direction and tell me what you think of my situation. Thank you!
Guys, the SAT may only be a piece of your application, but it is a really big piece! The higher your score, the broader the range of schools who will want you, and the more financial aid opportunities you will have. I prepared with Kaplan, raised my SAT alot, and got alot of college paid for!
Just wondering, how important is the SAT writing section? i know a bunch of colleges say it doesn’t count, but really, there is an obvious difference between a 700+ score and a 600+ score. I scored very well in both reading and math, both in the high 700’s, but i “bombed” the writing section, and got a mid 600’s score. (this was way under my PSAT writing score of 74!). Also, if i were to take the SAT again, and do well in writing, but go down in reading by a lot (like low 700’s, or even upper 600’s, which is likely for me), would they still look at my highest score from the previous test? I know they say they will take the highest score from 3 separate sittings, but seeing a bad score, even accidentally, may influence their decision. Thank you. btw, I’m a junior.
Damn! A 2390 on the SAT with outstanding SAT Subject Test scores, plus being from out of the US?!
You have a fantastic chance at being admitted to the top US universities, Weyden. Plus, they’ll probably offer you financial aid if you apply and let them know that your parents can’t afford to pay for the whole US tuition.
I rather certain with those scores you’ll be accepted to plenty of top US academic institutions. But don’t forget the other aspects of the application as well; you should have extracurricular activities and your essays and recommendations should be top as well! Good luck! I’m sure you’ll succeed wonderfully.
Do you know what the requirements are to be recognized by the National Merit Scholarship people? I got a 225 on the PSAT, but I’m not a permanent resident of the US yet…..I’ve applied for a green card (like two years ago)…so am I eligible?
I’ve moved schools twice in high school, so I’ve never been able to be involved in a club for more than a year. THat makes leadership positions somewhat hard to come by. Do you think colleges will understand this?
Wow. I have basically the exact same scenario as Billie: 780 CR/M, 690 W. Somewhat disheartening since I got a 230 and 240 the last two years I’ve taken the PSAT… But perfection is a rarity! I’m still deciding on whether to retake.
Robin, don’t listen to the grapevine. It is absolutely untrue that you can only be accepted to either UC Berkeley or UCLA. Both schools have their own admissions readers and their own policies on who gets in. They do not compare acceptances, nor do they meter them out between them. Assuming you have the grades/test scores and requirements to get a good score under the holistic/comprehensive review process, your application will stand on its own merit at each school. If you don’t get into both, it won’t be because of some rumored “behind the scenes” collusion between them.
Carolyn Lawrence, independent college planner.
Horace,
You are probably not going to like the advice I have to give you for your son, but here it is any way.
Don’t start stressing yourself or – perhaps more importantly – stressing out your son – over college admissions. He is 12. Much can, and will change, over the next five years. There is a world of difference between what a 12 year old child supposedly wants, and what a 17 or 18 year old young adult wants and eventually decides on.
The best thing you can do to help your son attend the best college for him is to not make the next five years of his life be solely about getting into college. Work with his middle school and high school to make sure he is taking appropriate courses, give him lots of opportunities to read for pleasure, and let him develop and explore his own interests and talents, not those someone deems “the best” for admissions purposes.
Colleges and universities aren’t looking for robots who have had parents pushing them towards “the Ivy league” since birth. They’re looking for people who are real 17 and 18 year olds, who have a sense of themselves, who have, in short, done more in high school than just worry about prepping for the SATs or getting into the Ivy League.
So, make sure he’s taking courses that are challenging, encourage him to read for pleasure, and listen to what he says about what he truly loves doing, not what you think he should be doing to “prep” for college admissions. When it comes time for him to look at colleges (in junior year of high school!), don’t already have your mind made up that he’ll attend an “ivy League” school – keep an open mind about the full range of wonderful schools out there, and listen to what your 17 or 18 year old son wants, not what you think your 12 year old son wants. That is the BEST way to help your son find and get into the right college match.
I would also highly recommend that you buy a copy of a book on college admissions written by the director of admissions at MIT, Marilee Jones. It’s called Less Stress, More Success.
Life is short. Don’t waste the last years of your son’s childhood stressing him and yourself out over college admissions. Enjoy who he is, encourage him to try new things, watch him grow, and all will work out just fine.
LoL, well my scores are:
Critical Reading: 680
Maths: 780
Writing: 700
Combined = 2160
SAT II scores:
Math Level II – 800
Physics – 780
Chemistry – 760
I wanna get MIT or Harvard!!! (i have loads of extracurriculars too). But it seems my scores are only average, damn! And to ashdk – we have every right to complain if we don’t make the college we want even if we have scores of 700+ in some subjects. And im from AUSTRALIA btw, so anyone noe wat my chances are like?
CDA-
In general, your SAT scores are great (your critical reading score is a little lower than the average for top tier schools). Your SAT scores would not keep you out of any schools; however, they would not get you in either (then again, that can’t even be guaranteed with a perfect score anymore…)
As long as you are an interesting candidate with good EC’s, essays, and GPA, you should be fine. Though I have no experience with the international applicant process, so I can’t comment on that part.
yea, i heard about that. however, i mean, not all is lost. Stanford should still have the supplement, and still would be able to answer the same quirky questions?
It’s true that the name Harvard will help you get a great job after college. However, after the first month of a job, you are evaluated on your performance, not the school you attended. In regards to coasting through life after graduating from Harvard, that is false. The only Harvard graduates who do that are ones with enough connections/money. Additionally, other Ivies, such as U Penn’s Wharton school, lead their students to the fast track in the business world. Non ivies such as MIT and Cal Tech have much better engineering programmes than Yale. Hence, if you are not sure what you are interested in, then Harvard is arguably the best school to attend. Yet, if you have an idea which field you are interested in, Harvard is not necessarily the best choice.
thanks for the insight Aaron. But the fact that im from overseas and our curriculum is obviously different to america and we don’t have like “SAT prep courses” or anything, so i’m hoping they’ll take that into consideration and give me bonus. lol i hope too much ey. a man can dream.
I am sure that the admissions committee will definitely take the fact that you live overseas into consideration. Most colleges split their admission officers into regions working with regions (Pacific North West, North East, etc). I am sure they have international admissions officers that focus on the applicants of a few countries. They know the students from those regions much better than I do, and so they take what they know into consideration when they read your application – before they “go to bat for you.” All of it is in context, and don’t worry I think it’s more of a feeling they get about the applicant.
I doubt you will ever hear “Oh, if they only scored 10 points higher in Critical Reading and Writing… THEN we could let them in!” Your SAT I scores are nothing to be ashamed of, and your SAT II scores are stellar. If your resume matches your scores, you should have a very good shot at any school you wish to attend.
The new SAT is pretty remedial. With about a month of hard work over the summer (8-10 hours a day), any top student should be able to score above 2300, probably above 2350. If you havent really tried to prep, think about it. THe classes are not enough. You have to take a strong personal interest in the exam. Engage in it. Love it.
Hi,
I’ve applied to Cornell for architecture and i’m nervously waiting for the decision date!!! Just to scare myself, or somehow make myself feel better or I don’t know, but what percent is accepted fora rchitecture? i mean i know they only accept like less than 60 people, but how many people actually apply for architecture?
I got a 21. I’m in 7th grade. If I were to go to college right now, what good schools in or around Massachusetts could I get into with a GPA of 3.7 and a 21 on the ACT? Please email me back!!!
I am from Canada and have a combined sat1 score of 1400, but in Canada we don’t use GPA just precent if i have 89% overall what is my gpa and chances to go to stanford at this stage.
Hi. I just want to say that I find this website to be really helpful and I thought I’d let you know—Dartmouth is posting their decisions online on March 29th.
Jason, I have to say, that’s going a little overboard. A college would much rather see that you did something exciting and interesting with your summer than a good combined SAT score because you wasted your summer prepping for it. I didn’t waste my summer studying, in fact, I only had a few tutoring sessions in September before I retook the test and I got a combined 2220 (800 Writing/710 Math/710 Critical Reading). Personally, I wouldn’t stress too much about the SATs.
Great list – just some additional info: Yale and Brown release decisions online on 3/29 (and apparently Dartmouth according to the post above). MIT releases online on 3/17; and Davidson releases online on 3/24…
If you haven’t noticed the trend from past comments on here, all the Ivies are collectively posting decisions online on March 29th–at 5 pm, to be exact.
I was recently reading a Princeton Review college book and it said that many of the Ivies – notably harvard along with a few companions – highly recommended four years of a foreign language. When they say “recommend”, what does that really mean? Does it mean “mandatory”? Thank you. I would fit Span IV into my schedule, but i simply cannot legally take 8 classes. I’m taking the four AP core classes along with journalism, Symphonic Band (highest band), and Academic Decathlon. Is that good enough?
Jen & Wendy – just curious about where you got your info…we applied at Harvard, Yale, Brown, Princeton and Dartmouth and the only definate online release info has come from Yale & Brown. It would be great to have answers from all on the 29…
I think Edie is confused-she may be a semifinalist eventually, but that hasn’t happened yet, at least according to the college board. her scores are probably a lock, they just haven’t announce this yet
i applied to UPENN for regular decision. i would like to know if i could be admitted to UPENN if i got four letter of recomendations, a GPA of 97/100, but i got 900 in the SAT. Besides, i had extra curricular activities such as the following: i was the vicepresident from my high school, and i won the first place in my country as the best public speaker in the national debate tournament.Do you think i could be admitted?………… i am a little worried and anxious to know the answer. MY SAT II was math 1 with 480 and math 2 with 550…….i do not know what to think ……please
I applied to Dartmouth and if you check your status online, it tells you in the “letter” that they are planning on posting their decisions on March 29th.
I thought you might be interested by an article we ran today about Arizona State University’s new plan to link a part of its president’s pay package to getting the school a higher rank in U.S. News & World Report. Critics of the magazine’s ranking system are growing in the higher education ranks, including Lloyd Thacker of the Education Conservancy, who called Arizona’s plan “rotten, educationally irresponsible, wimpy, short-sighted and wrong.”
Hi, I’m posting because I have two worries concerning college applications, one of which concerns SAT scores.
1) In the Sat I received a score of 2220, with 800 in Writing and 800 in Critical Reading but 620 in Maths. I am planning to apply to the top colleges in America, and am therefore wondering if I should retake the SAT in the hope of receiving a higher Maths score, as I realise it’s below average for a top university.
However, I don’t think it’s worth the effort to retake the entire exam for the sake of a few extra points, as this is a good reflection of my current ability in Maths (I was getting 580 in practice tests). I attend school in England, meaning I have A levels to study for and I don’t think I can devote more time for Maths, which I’m not taking at A Level. Any guidance as to whether I should retake the SAT 1 is much appreciated.
2) My second problem is the fact that the SAT 2 (subject tests) don’t really fit my abilities. I am doing Geography, Economics, Medieval History and English for A level, so I have decided to definitely do Literature as one of my subject tests, but the other three subjects aren’t offered as SAT subjects.
I have to decide whether it’s worth me spending a large proportion of my time studying for the French Subject Test or Biology Subject Test when I have to revise for my A Levels between now and May as well. Although I am relatively good at French and Bio, I have looked at the preparation books for these tests and I will have to make a serious commitment to receive a high mark in the SAT tests.
Any feedback is much appreciated, and sorry my post is so long thx.
Hi, I just discovered this site and wish that I had known about it when I was applying to colleges last year. The responses from the blog writers is extremely professional and knowledgeable; if I hadn’t looked at the ”about AdmitSpit writers” section, I would’ve been convinced that admissions staffers were in charge.
Just a quick correction – the University of Southern California has been sending out admittance letters since February, with the first round going out to the full and half tuition scholarship candidates. Non-scholarship admits have been hearing back since March, and the tail end of applicant pool have their letters sent out on April 1. The last letters sent out on April 1 have more rejection letters than acceptance. In other words, admit letters for USC have been sent out since February, and basically those with the best qualifications hear back as early as February, but the non-major scholarship candidates started hearing back in March.
Hmmm…I find a lot of your advice pretty helpful, but I’m not sure about this one. If she can only take three or four A-Levels she should take the ones she’s really passionate about because she’ll do better on them. As long as you also maintain a good GPA, don’t stress about the SAT2’s too much. I had two 670’s on math and chem and I still got accepted to MIT, so it’s okay. (PS I think they notice that you’re international and SATs are inconvenient and take that into account)
Ralph you’re totally right that students should be passionate about the classes they are taking, and I’m the last one to want people to take classes they don’t like just for the heck of it! It’s always tough though having limited information in people’s comments, and I hope everyone reading understands that any advice we give here doesn’t purport to know the full story and all your interests, etc. I read Theron’s comment as having a willingness to indeed be okay with switching to take Bio or French instead of one of the four chosen; it didn’t seem Theron was totally tied down to those exact four but rather that taking Bio or French instead would just be more difficult/challenging.
Also I’m glad you pointed out Ralph that schools will take into account whether a student is international and that leads me to think that we really do need someone here at AdmitSpit writing about applying from outside the US! I’ll work on it…
Does anyone know whether Hamilton, Bowdoin, Connecticut and Bates post regular decisions online and when? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
cheers,
g
I am a Canadian student and I have a question related to this issue.I took French in grade 9 and did not take it after that. Then, I realized when I was doing some research on the American colleges, I saw that they recommend 4 years of foreign language. The education system here in Canada requires you to take one level after the other. So should I take French next year after dropped it for a year? I know Chinese extremely well (800 in SAT II Chinese), so does this count as their recommended foreign language?
Since we can know only part of the elephant that is selective college admissions, I can give Dee’s comments on retesting here a strong endorsement: they exactly match my experience.
One improvement I can suggest is for Theron to ask the international admissions person at each of the schools to which she’s applying how they view A-level results. At the colleges with the largest applicant pools & admissions staffs, the committees are very familiar with the material tested, the range of actual results and the conversion or transferability of those British letter grades. Each of the HYPS-level schools have seen hundreds of applicants from UK and British Commonwealth schools annually for more than a decade now.
Another independent counselor (that is, one other than me) tells me that the UK’s A to E grades correspond roughly to the 5 to 1 scores that we Americans see from AP tests. Makes sense.
So, Theron, you should:
1.) Check with each school you’re considering (finding the individual to e-mail & tweaking a standard e-mail for each should be trivial) to ask if you can substitute A-level scores OR AP test scores for SAT subject tests. [Every US college with which I'm familiar has a higher confidence level in the conclusions they draw from AP test scores than the results of SAT subject tests.]
2.) If necessary, you can also make a compelling financial case for considering your A-levels. Taking any of the College Board’s subject or AP tests abroad are unbelievably expensive; generally more than 100 Euros or $120 each.
3.) Just as Dee says, use your time to do well on the A-levels for which you enjoy the work.
4.) Finally, we’ll all cheat you if we don’t tell you that this testing talk is, unlike in the UK, about a small part of your application. You’ll get much further investing time in demonstrating (not just saying) that you have a clear passion for some aspect of life on your chosen American campuses.
Three Stooges marathons, ultimate frisbee & naked parties are unique to US campus life. But you’re better served by thinking through why you want to attend a 4-year US liberal arts college instead of a 3-year, ‘pick your major when you apply’ UK university. Then, make the case for your position and your ambitions briefly & persuasively in your essays.
It doesn’t make any sense to me why there are separate cutoffs for each state. According to my score report, I received a 212, which is in the 99th national percentile. However, I live in Massachusetts, which last year had a cutoff of 222 (one of the highest, along with NJ). It seems to me that a 212 from MA should be recognized before a 205 in Ark, Miss., or ND. It doesn’t seem fair that someone in the 90-95 percentile should receive a scholarship before someone in the 99th just because of the state they live in.
Does anyone know when Cornell will release decisions? I know the common ivy notification date is 3/29 but I cannot find any such confirmation anywhere on Cornell’s site. Penn and Columbia sent either mail or email to confirm the 3/29 date.
Found your post linked from the UNC page (weird?) on http://www.mychances.net/ . I’m intrigued at how enthralled you are by Harvard.
It’s too bad that the actual data doesn’t back up your statements (by data, I mean income statistics). In fact, prospective studies show that attendance at an Ivy, including Harvard, doesn’t correspond with increased income throughout life vs people with similar scores who did not attend Harvard.
Eric – Ivysport is not an extension of the Ivy League conference, but way to blow your ego out of proportion. Harvard sales can be explained by the ungodly number of people who attend (not just undergrad, not just grad+professional, but also Harvard EXTENSION school).
Gabriel – Bowdoin doesn’t post their decisions online, and I would guess that the others don’t either. I’ve found that most of the small private colleges I applied to only send out letters. However, and I know this probably won’t help you much, I do know that the latest Bowdoin will mail theirs is the first week of April. They don’t currently know when they will send them.
Thank you very much! By the way, I am a junior. I’ve finally decided to not take the 4th year of Spanish. I am EXTREMELY involved in Band and Journalism, and while AcDec isn’t considered AP/Honors, it will probably be one the the most rewarding classes I will ever take in high school. In addition, I hate Spanish – though i do have an A. Again, thank you. This site has been so helpful!!
hi, i was just wondering if anyone could tell me what the realistic chances are of getting into a school like stanford/princeton/etc with only a 2050 combined sat score.
however, i took the test without any prep so would it simply be better if i took it over?
To EEJ, I agree! I think i missed the CA cutoff by 1 point because I got a 215, and the past two years have both been 216! It’s really not fair to do this by state!
I basically did horrible on the SAT’s. I received an overall score of 1440/2400. I just don’t understand why the SATs repeatedly continue to kick me in the face. I took a prep course and everything. On the other hand, this was my first real test that I took. I still have some more chances to improve.
It’s good that more and more colleges are making the SAT’s optional. I have a 4.0, I play sports for school, I’m in band, I work, and I’m in numerous clubs and National Honor Society. Colleges need to wake up and realize that the laziest of students can do well on the SAT’s, and not have anything else going for them. It can’t predict performance in college.
I know this is a bit outdated, but if you read this, how do the engineering concentrations at Harvard compare to the education at other, more engineering-concentrated schools (I’m thinking U of M)? Thanks!
i know a kid who scored a 2200 as a seventh grader, and currently in 9th grade, getting A+’s in all subjects, very good at instruments, and is on school teams. He’s the smartest in his AP class, having an average above 100
I just kind of search Yahoo! for AdmitSpit when I feel like reading college admissions help that sounds like a normal human being. Maybe because it is.
Works for me.
Alright, you’ve probably answered a question like this before, but I thought I’d cover all my bases. I recently auditioned for the choir program at my school and much to my surprise, made it into the top choir. We have an intensely-funded, talented program here and so this is a huge honor. However, like most arts classes, it’s not honors, not a core class, and will probably hurt my rank.
To take it, I will have to drop AP Bio (a honors-core class), and likely hurt my rank. I’m not going to be in a science-related major, but like most kids, I need those AP classes! What to do… what to do?
Curious to see the traffic (elsewhere, not on this post) about Zinch…they’ve certainly done a few things right over the last couple weeks…
We’re similar to them, a little more akin to those common-style applications than a social networking thing, and happy to chat with you about what we’re up to, too…
Ripped off who? This is not a novel concept, it’s been done for years by U-sphere.com, studentprospector.com, and applingtoschool.com. Don’t try to push your own start up company that is behind the rest of the field. Zinch seems to be the first to actually appeal to students-at least compared to those others i mentioned.
Does someone know if universities take into account that it’s harder for international students to prepare for the ACT/SAT? I’m studying for the SAT II with very old material (1998/99) cause that’s all I’ve got…am I hopeless??? I’m shocked by the enormous SAT prep industry you’ve got there! (I thought the SAT/ACT “measures your ability” to do math & english not to pay for books and courses of “preparation”).
And that was the result of the conservative study. Sounds like grade inflation to me. Not only that, Harvard undergrad is more name than education and academic challenge – you can understand that after talking to a Harvard undergrad for 5 minutes.
The last story was specifically about accepting admission to two schools during the regular admission round — neither yale nor stanford was an ED school for her — sorry if that was confusing… it was just to mention a related point!
I am not a college counselor but only a parent of a junior in high school now looking into colleges. But I totally agree with Carolyn Lawrence”s response to Horace on his 12 year old son. His son took the SAT!!!! Oh my god, it is too, too young. He won’t be thinking about college in 4 years, he will be burnt out. Please let him have a life as a kid in school. That doesn’t mean he can’t study and do well, but don’t put such huge pressure on him at that young of an age that he must get into an Ivy League school. He can have goals and aspirations, and he can do things to get closer to them especially by developing good study habits and expand his interests, but don’t have him studying for the SATs. It could just all backfire and he may resent school and college after a while. Encourage him but don’t stress him out.
no doubt…did you start that rumour or….what? That is like saying, “Yeah dude, I totally heard Wendy’s is getting sued cuz they like copied the hamburger from McDonalds…dude, like its a rumour bro…”
Are you just trying to buy some time for Zandiggity-Do?
Rumour has it Zinch is rockin the house doink! Don’t try to bull crap ideas into readers. Coming soon eh? Yeah big deal….get a life.
Zandigo and Zinch are the same thing – same slogan, both claim to have won the Princeton Business Plan competition. Did the team members just have a huge fight and split up. Seriously, isn’t this like the 10th site trying to do the same thing?
To poster #3 – learn how to spell. It’s “rumor”.
To Zinch founders – stop being sketchy and paying bloggers to write about you
What happened was that Mick (Zinch) and Jeremy (Zandigo) were originally working together….then decided to go different directions with the idea.
Doesn’t matter anyway. Zinch is dominating. According to their blog, they already have over 30,000 students. That’s pretty tight for only being live a little over a month. Zandigo hasn’t even launched yet. By the time Zandigo goes live, Zinch will already have smoked them.
We strongly discourage letters of appeal unless you can provide significant new information for us to consider. Our transfer selection process involves a careful review and it is very unlikely that we will choose to reverse our original decision. If you do have significant new information to present and decide to appeal our admission decision, please submit your request in writing, postmarked by May 15, 2007. Include your UC application ID number in your letter and submit it with all accompanying materials in a single envelope. We do not accept appeals by telephone, fax or e-mail. Log onto myBerkeleyApplication for your appeal decision. Decisions on appeals may not be issued until after June 15, 2007. Advise us of any change in your e-mail address in case we need to contact you during the appeal process. Even if you choose to appeal, we recommend that you do not delay accepting an admission offer from another college or university.
Mailing Address:
Transfer Appeals Committee
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
University of California, Berkeley
110 Sproul Hall #5800
Berkeley, CA 94720-5800
Nathan, you will need a lot more than a good ACT score to get into Harvard. You have to stand out in a specific field as well as being top of your class, and very involved. Best of luck to you!
Yup, you’re right… sorry about that Kacie — you know how it is… all our college writers have finals right now and all our high school writers had APs, so this month’s been a little tough getting content up, but hopefully it’ll come in handy for next year’s AP takers anyway…
I just got my results and i didn’t score as well as i wanted to because when i wrote the exam that was the 1st time i had heard of it and i only prepared for them for a month. what are my chances of gettin into an american university with my scores(1780/2400) if i was an A student at my high school and was the highest in my grade.
Hey, it’s Theron. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my questions!! I have found the information you’ve provided me with to be very useful. I especially appreciate Paul’s feedback .
So, I’ve now taken the French and Literature SAT Subject Tests, and ended up with scores of 500 and 710 respectively. I’m pleased with both of these, especially considering the difficulty I had with the French paper. I’m definitely going to look into taking APs or substituting A Levels for Subject Tests, as both these options sound very attractive.
You’ve got me slightly worried, however! I sincerely hope Stanford and Princeton (the two US colleges I’m 100% sure I’ll apply to) will be content with two SAT 2s + A levels!!
Anyway, I found your response to be extremely helpful, Dee, and truly appreciate the time it took you to reply to my etensive problem
Hello there,
When should we – students- expect appeal decisions?, hopefully not after June 15 as suggested on this site, has anyone received an earlier decision?
Thanks,
Jesse UCB Applicant.
Hey AdmitSpit People! Before I ask my question, I just wanted to say thanks for creating such a great website. Also, perhaps you could create a contact form on a separate page instead of having to hunt for your contact information if, say, I wanted to email you. But that’s enough babbling; onto my question.
I recently visited a college, and they gave me a sample of the 2006-2007 common application. On this application was a sticker saying “application fee waived”. The problem is, the application is for the 2006-2007 season, and I won’t be applying until this fall. Should I remove the sticker from the common application papers? Also, does the common application require fees to send online? And finally, maybe you could post some websites to find scholarships, etc other than the traditional fastweb and collegeboard. They always seem to have repeats or outdated postings. Thanks so much and sorry for making you read my ridiculously long comment.
Hi, you asked for ideas, I guess I’ll give you a question. =)
What’s the point of sending SAT/ACT scores to colleges before senior year? I was trying to guess-timate the costs of applying to college, and I was guessing it’d be about $100 per college with all the tests and whatnot needed to be sent in addition to the actual app. I’ve heard that large colleges like the UCs don’t bother looking at students’ scores because they receive so many, and I’m guessing many privates hold the same policy? Do you know if colleges keep these files on record, or do you have to re-send the scores when you apply there?
I have just started preparing for the SAT and the Subject Tests, will be giving them around October.
Is that too late?
Which publications do you recommend? The official College Board?
Anything you’d like to tell me, advise me please?
Okay..so I got back my SAT II score for Biology M. A 750. I feel kind of disappointed for some reason, and I am wondering if it’s a good enough score for an ivy league school. So I guess I am asking- what is a “good” SAT II score? I was looking over at College Confidential, after stumbilng across it, and goodness gracious those scores freaked me out a bit!
seriously, everyone on this site needs to take a breath and calm down. You are going to get into amazing schools with scores over 700 and stop freaking out because you “only” got a 770 on math or some other junk. Kids these days are pushed ot the brink and have no idea how to handle all of the pressure. It is going to be okay…really.
good luck to you all – even though you really don’t need it.
it’s funny that “James” knows so much about the whole Zinch-Zandigo thing… intimate knowledge, in fact. Couldn’t be Mick or one of his associates, could it?
I guess not everyone can be as “sweet diggity-dogg” as Mick. Thankfully.
I agree with Andres – seems to me like Zinch is recruiting bloggers to write for them. These questions are so loaded it seems like the dude could have (probably did) written them himself. Give me a break.
I was just at the site, and it’s lame. Looks like they copied facebook with different colors, and then translated the whole thing on urban dictionary.
Just reading this interview, Mick seems like another greedy, dishonest, arrogant Ivy-league moron. “Inspired?” Yeah, by dollar signs.
One problem this genius seems to have overlooked – if colleges are hard pressed as it is to read through tens of thousands of applications, why on earth would they want to listen/watch every student’s multimedia collection?
Wow, poopscoop. And actually all of you. Do you have really low self-esteem? Because I don’t understand why you feel the need to bring yourself down when you’re receiving great SAT scores. Is it to fish for compliments so that you feel better about yourself.
Honestly, your transcripts count a lot more than SATs. And smart colleges look at recommendations as well.
On top of that, try to get out and be social once in a while. You’ll never survive college if you’re socially retarded.
I have to agree with Jeff’s comment on the likelihood of admissions officers having the time to go through and examine the profiles of “shout outs”, particularly the multimedia collections. While it’s a nice thought that admissions officers would want to really “get to know” the student interested in their school, it’s just not practical. It seems far more likely that any “shout outs” to a college/university will simply be added to a prospective student list to receive the same mailings anyone else inquiring about the school would get. The exception might be a very high-achieving student who shouts out to a school with a lower academic profile – in that case, the school might actually make an active attempt to personally recruit the “prize student” to their institution.
Hey.. I just finished my junior year and my highest score on the SAT I out of 2 tests is a 1760 and my composite score is a 1790..I’m going to study over the summer about an hour per day and will take the exam again in October hoping to get a higher score…Do you think my scores are good enough to get into a university like NYU, University of Florida, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, UT at Austin, or Emory.
I also have 4.0+ GPA. I took 2 APs last year and will take 2-3 this year and I’ve been in band for 2 years and play guitar and soccer
What is the scoop for international students? I have never studied in an English country, but my parents speak English at home and I have attended an internatioal school since the equivalent of 10th grade. I’m now finishing my Junior Year, and took the SAT-1 and SAT-2, hoping to go to a US unversity with a top international studies department. I speak 3 European languages fluently (BFD?) and have good (but not stellar) grades.
My SAT-1 score was 1680. Or more specifically: reading 560, math 580 and writing 540. Mediocre by US student standards. But what about for an international student? My guess is: Princeton & Harvard & Stanford are (obviously?) out-of-range. What about Georgetown? Boston College? Brandeis? BU? NYU? Other suggestions? Are UC schools impossible without a high SAT-2 Math-level-2 score?
Hey
i am from India and got a 2030 in my SAT Reasoning test:
Critical reading:640(87 percentile)
Math:760(98 percentile)
Writing:630(87 percentile)[do colleges consider this section?]
And in my SAT Subject Tests:
Math(level 2):800
Physcis:760
Chemistry:760
I am yet to complete my physics syllabus at school though and expect an increase in the physics score next time i attempt it.
Since here in India we have percentages and not grades(GPAs),i am not sure how my marks at school will reflect on the colleges in the US.
in my previous 2 years at school,my aggregate has been 93% last year and 88% this year.
Also,i have a pretty good record in terms of co-cirricular activities and sports.
My reccommendations are also pretty good.
What else do i need to boost my profile?
What all colleges can i accept to get through with all this?
P.S:All these scores were in my first attempt,do colleges take into account how many times the tests you take?
With your bloggers saying things such as “Please don’t be so naive, Ezra.” (from Luke), I’m quite alright with your site running out of content. Let it die, or clean up the act.
i have a sort of complex problem .i hope u solve it . i am an indian student and am going to start my senior year.As i have a greencard, i might be completing my school in california,while my parents r here in india.So the question is will i be qualifing for in-state fee in california after attending 1 year of school in california ?
with the amount of applicants for UCLA at 60000+ and a ever growing shortage of freshmen spaces it is actually becoming harder to get into LA. Berkeley has by no means the influx or demand as LA so even though the requirements are higher, LA still is the more strict in terms of mass effect
Nathan, my situation is similar to yours. I am a upcoming junior at a college prep high school. In April I took the ACT for the first time in HS, and I received a 27. I am OBSESSED with Harvard; it is my dream school. So, after all of my rambling and telling about myself, I say this: your best shot at acceptance into Harvard would be a 36 or close to it… and I mean CLOSE ! a majority of applicants apply to Harvard w/ a weighted GPA of 4.0 or above- and I’ve seen up to a 4.9- so since your GPA is below a “perfect” 4.0, I would compensate by doing extremely well on the ACT. Also, make sure you are well-rounded: be active in sports, clubs, academic associations, etc. i plan to take the ACT again in the fall and have been studying all summer. I expect a score of 34 or so.
good luck!
i was wondering, how do colleges view your hs senior year? i know they look for the strength of your class load, but … is that it? because applications seem to be mostly sent in before 1st semester grades come out (west coast). so how do colleges evaluate senior year?
I think Zinch has an interesting concept but I don’t see why any admissions officer will use it. Also, monetizing this is going to be really hard. They have a very difficult chicken-and-egg problem to figure out:
1. Students
2. College admissions officers
There is no value to either unless there are a lot of the other. The student part might be something they can solve by the scholarships they offer, but at the end of the day, it’s not a social network because you don’t really have a reason to use Zinch for any period longer than a few months per year. Therefore, the student growth will be limited.
Furthermore, the college admissions officers are already deluged and already do enough marketing. The decisions are already “arbitrary” to some – why would they make it more arbitrary by using things like Zinch?
As someone with extensive past experience selling products into admissions offices (mainly application platforms/software/data management tools), I find it hard to believe they will use this. Colleges have systems designed to handle applications and follow leads themselves.
The only way Zinch will be able to monetize is to sell studets’ personal information to colleges and most selective colleges still believe that the SAT/ACT score is an important factor along with high school grades, etc. in admissions.
The entire site is a little heavy on slang terms that will preclude it from being used by any serious admissions officer.
I was wondering the average acceptance rate for Cornell University. Also, the typical SAT scores needed to be accepted. Anyone who’s gone or is going to Cornell, what’s it like?
hai i like your help for job hunters can u send me a answer for “tell me about your self ” how to deliver it effectively that answer should impress the interviewer
hey ppl….i just want a favour from u all if u can kindly tell me if SATs a must for good universities like harvard yale MIT stanford etc…..i ve given my AS level and got 98 in math 93 in phy and 87 in chem…..and i am givin 2 more pprs in nov…..other den dis i ve alot of extra culliculars aswel….house captain of my high school and member of da soccer criket and basketball team…..so do i stand any chance of not givin sat and gettin into any of da top 5 univ in the US….
hey ppl….i just want a favour from u all if u can kindly tell me if SATs a must for good universities like harvard yale MIT stanford etc…..i ve given my AS level and got 98 in math 93 in phy and 87 in chem…..and i am givin 2 more pprs in nov……other den dis i ve many extra culliculars as in i m da house captain of my high school with 300 students under my command and am da member of 3 high school teams ie Soccer BAsketball and Cricket…..so is dere any chance i get into da top 5 univ in america without my SATs
Respectfully disagree with removing NYU from that list. To cite a few rankings, NYU is ranked in the elite top 5 Law and Business schools in the country (US News and Report)l, 1st in philosophy(2006-2008 Philosophical Gourmet Report), and high regarded as the premier school to go to for any of the Arts (Music, Drama, etc.). It’s a top school.
You’re only about half-right. Those 50,000 are split into two groups. About 14,000 become Semi-Finalists and the others are “Commended”. Also, the cutoff score must be below 214 because I got a 205 and still got in as one of the 50,000. No word yet on whether I’m Commended or Semi-Finalist. I think the cutoff actually goes by the 96th percentile and up. I remember reading that somewhere.
The National Merit people are kinda getting on my nerves now. I’m filling out apps and I’m not sure how to designate my National Merit Scholar status. One actually asks “Are you a National Merit Semi-Finalist?” They told me I qualified in May (and made me choose colleges) and they STILL haven’t sent word on my official status!!!! GRRRR!!!!
Hey, I’m kind of in a bad situation. I really want to go to UCLA but im pretty sure i wont make it =/ plus im out of state … I have a GPA of about 4.0 (weighted) and got a 29 on the ACT (still have 3 chances), but i think my extracurriculars are my strongest points … (Orchestra, 1st chair in youth symphony, school orchestra, won 2 cello competitions… science olympiad captain… internship at Kansas University Medical Center… Officer of HOSA and Tri-M and more… dont feel like typing them)… so my question would be …
DO I STAND A CHANCE AT GETTING ACCEPTED TO UCLA???? because if i dont, i would have to go to Kansas University… and im not looking forward to that >.<…
Both tests are stupid. The reading and science sections for the ACT are impossible because you are given so little time.
Don’t go to the Ivies. You don’t even get a good undergrad education except at Princeton and Penn. Go to a college fit for you.
Collegeboard is a bussiness that makes money. Period. Bill Gates needs a tax shelter, he’s NOT an educator. It’s little more than cookbook teaching. Sorry to deflate the bubbles of all the new teachers who “LOVE IT.” Here’s an idea: go get a GOOD education from a teacher’s college, because they teach you HOW TO create standards based assignments. You are just lazy or stupid if you embrace this program.
I’m a junior right now and I see some parallels between your son and me. I too took the SAT in 7th and 8th grade. I scored decently, somewhere in the 500s or 600s range for M and V (it was the old SAT back then).
To be honest, 7th grade is way too early to be thinking about college. It appears that your son has high hopes, and that’s great: he’s thinking about his future. Let him be ambitious, but don’t make which college he goes to life or death. You don’t want him to end up as a shell of a human being who never sees the light of day. He needs to develop a personality: interests in extracurriculars, sports, etc. Let high school happen for him. I let high school happen to me.
I’ve never taken a SAT course in my life. I practice, that’s for sure, but I haven’t stressed out over the SAT and colleges until this year (when I started preparing for the test). I’ve found that my score has naturally increased after all these years, and I’m scoring consistently 2250-2400 in the practice books (they don’t give you an exact score, just a range…). I’ll take it in January or March. In addition, I’ve got two 800’s under my belt in SAT subject tests.
The point is that your son still has many years to develop. Let him enjoy life for now, so that when he gets to be a junior (and starts to spend weekends studying for tests or AP classes), he’s happy that he had a childhood. The number one thing that will increase his SAT scores is developing as a person. He shouldn’t prepare now because it’s too early.
hi everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if you r loking for the answer of this qestion go for this link http://www.sgeek.com here u can find your answer in videos section!!!
“all the best”
All I’ve got to say is Zich sucks!!! They promise a million things and don’t give you anything back. I’ve been signed up with Zinch for a while now and have not heard anything back from any schools. I have pretty good SATs and good grades. I was really counting on Zinch to help me out the way they said they would. Screw them!!
I need interview Questions
and answers Particularly
1.“Tell Me About Yourself”
2.”Tell about Ur Family Background”
3.”Hobbies?”
4.”Strong and Weakness”
plz help me u guys i want to go to stanford university and i am from the caribbean i have a B in mathematics a in chemistry and a 2in physics in advance level i am writing the sat’s do i need to write the sat II and when do sat results come out and when do i apply and is there a particular format to follow in my application
edie will definitely make finalist. congrats on the 2310. 16,000 make semi-finalist and 15,000 make finalist. the fraction that does not get to finalist are usually people who did not submit their finalist application, submitted it wrongly, or had terrible grades…3.7 GPA is definitely reflective of easily qualifying grades
Hey Mohin…….i’m frm India too…….if you could plese tell me what is the syllabus for the SAT Subject tests…….i.e..Maths, Physics, and chemistry………..and if you have found the answer to your question,will you please tell me about the GPA thing as well……..please do reply………….my e mail is my_clone_is_me@yahoo.co.in
waiting for your reply…………..or you could leave your answer on this site as well……
hi i got a sat score of
cr 430 very bad i know
writing 460 much worse
but 780 in maths which is good i think
plz recommend me a good university i must go for computer engineering with my score for spring 2008
hey zuhair! donno if ur gona get this cuz its been over a month since you posted ur question but you CANT get into any good place without the SAT… you neeeedd to give it!!! If u’ve got such amazing grades, then you’ll ace the sat too. But, dont skip it — it’s a must…
Can you send me an answer to a question, “Tell me about yourself”
Assuming that you are a fresh graduate seeking for a first job and don’t have experience yet. And I’m gonna ask you this question: “Tell me about yourself”
i have to write my own essay for national merit finalist applications, and i have got to be the most scatterbrained person on the face of the earth. at my school, we had to turn in our applications separate from our essays, so i dont have my application any more, and therefore dont have the little sentence that says exactly what im supposed to write about. i was pretty sure it was just a general “tell us about your past and future” kind of thing, but i was wondering–does anyone know if there are more specific instructions on the essay?
I have a 3.99 unweighted G.P.A, top 2% of my class, president/chair/secretary/treasurer of clubs, and work part time in a professional environment(vs. fast food).
Should I still apply to any Ivy League? If so, which one(s)?
hey, i’m an international student and just got my SAT I scores, i got a 1740, it’s not a really good score but it was my first time taking the test and i think it was normal.
so i hv one basic question…i have an 1850 in SAT. So from all u people who hv already applied, or perhaps know a lil more about colleges, is it even worth applying to the ivy leagus (for a business course) with that SAT score? wil they even consider me?
This is not a place to discussion your Ivy League admissions chances. If you’re not confident in your application, don’t apply unless you have a serious self-esteem issue.
I just got my results from the Oct. 07 test today and it turns out I aced the Critical Reading section, 750 on the writing, and a decent score on the math, making my score a 2110. For reference, I’m not even applying to these schools.
These posts are pointless i think.
the only people who read them are worrying college-hopefulls!
sure, we can inform eachother of info we know- but we probably know the exact same things. its not like we’re admissions staff with some inside scoop.
atleast they work for getting some anxiety out. thats why im here in the first place-but as for getting any questions reliably answered… well, i’ve given up on that long ago..
Can you send me an answer to a question, “Tell me about yourself”
Assuming that you are a fresh graduate seeking for a first job and don’t have experience yet. And I’m gonna ask you this question: “Tell me about yourself”
As a currently “sought after” student by the institution, and NOT rich or white, I greatly disagree with all of these ideas that all Harvard kids are affluent people with great connections.
Although I am uncertain that I will be able to get in myself, I have met many Harvard students who are kind, involved with the community (I live almost next to Harvard) , and actually very very smart. In fact, most people I’ve met do have something that sets them apart from the kids at other schools.
Harvard does recruit students, encourage all local students who are interested to apply, and take MANY students from my public city high school. They even offer a “free ride” to anyone whose parents earn less than $60,000 annually.
Think twice before believing all generalizations about the more sought after Ivy League schools.
If a college recommends 2 or 3 sat II subject tests, do they take all of them seriously into account? Are they of less importance than the SAT 1 for competitive schools?
I need interview Questions
and answers Particularly
1.“Tell Me About Yourself”
2.”Tell about Ur Family Background”
3.”Hobbies?”
4.”Strong and Weakness”
5.what are the requirement for leadership quality?
6.Rate your good qualities?
7what is the difference between hard work and smart work?
8what do you mean by CMML level 5/4/3?
9.what are your (+)-ve? why strength?
10.what are you (-)-ve? why weakness?
11.give me reasons,why i should hire you?
What about a school like Bowdoin where SATS are optional. Mine are: CR 700 M650 WR790. Should I submit and will I get in????? My GPA is 3.97 weighted, and I am a dedicated vocal performer who submitted a CD which the choir director of Bowdoin loved. But am I good enough? Any other schools with my scores anyone reccs?
hey
i’m an international student i got a 2110 in SAT R( CR 730, M 720, W 660)
and 2300 in SAT II ( BIO 780, MATH II C 780, CHEM 740).
i want to do medicine eventually so i had planned on applying for a premed course. i know my scores are good but they aren’t great. should i bother applying at all as i am really behind on the whole admissions process? does anyone know if these scores are still valid if i want to apply for college in 2009 (if i take a gap year)?
thanks
can u please do a SAT breakdown for Boston University. Can u please break it down like how u did it from Brown? I love BU, but i only got a 480 on CR, but over 600 on other sections
Lets see, I made a 30 on the ACT as a seventh-grader. This year, in 9th grade, i made a 31/32 on the PLAN, which is a 10th grade test. So thats basically saying I should have at least a 35 as a junior, hopefully a 36. Im shooting for a perfect PSAT score also. Im pretty much in every xtracurricular academic club in my skool and i play varsity tennis. Aand for Harvard, I know i need to have one exceptional thing that really makes me stand out. Too bad I don’t know what that thing is yet.
I got 1680 on my sat test . Critical reading = 450 , Writing – 590 , and math = 640 . I can speak two languages which are Englih and Arabic . My GPA is very high I had an A+ in every single subjest. With This score and GPA would be accepted in Harvard univirsity
craziness! It’s so depressing hearing about such amazing SAT scores. I plan to study for about 2 months before I take the SATs. I’m so nervous!
I’m not really involved in many extracurricular activities because it’s expensive, etc. Plus, I do not have a variety of opportunities. So, I’m hoping that the colleges will not judge so intently.I didn’t realize how incredibly competitive people are racing for ivy-leagued schools! scores of 800’s!!!
I wish all those who took the SAT genuine luck in getting into their Universities!
Hi, I have a bacholor degree in commerce and presently working finance execuitive. my working experience above 3 years and presently i seeking a new job but some problem in job searching as interview question, fluent speaking etc. so i requisted you please suggest me same. tahnks !
To Dan: I too spent a lot of time looking at avg ACT scores of high schools, thinking that would help my kids. Finally a teacher told me, Don’t worry about the AVERAGE score at the school you pick. What you are looking for is an extraordinary AP or Accelerated or Honors program. What happens to the average kids is not what is going to affect your child. It is how rigorous and intensive is the college prep track.
The teacher was right, both my kids did very well and got full scholarships to college. Also, find a school where it is accepted or desirable to be on the AP track, so that their friends are all in it with them, makes it so much easier on them. They all suffer together and studying becomes part of the social activity.
I took the AP US History test in 2003, and, in addition to most of the above, my teacher advocated one specific tip. We were all supposed to start our essays with the following:
Can you send me an answer to a question, “Tell me about yourself”
Assuming that you are a fresh MBA graduate seeking for a first job and don’t have experience yet. And I’m gonna ask you this question: “Tell me about yourself”
Can you send me an answer to a question, “Tell me about yourself”
Assuming that you are a fresh graduate seeking for a first job as a teacher and dont have experience yet. And I’m gonna ask you this question: “Tell me about yourself”
hi guys, so i’m 18 from israel and want to learn in the US in more couple years.
my SAT scores:
verbal 620
math 780
writing 620
and my GPA iq really high. i want to get to UCLA NYU YALE COLUMBIA but when i saw these sscre of poepole who ereply in this thread, my confident decreased because you all guys have perfect score and i think that my scores are not enough although those are really goos score…
what do you say? what about the essays and recomadation that we have to submit in the application? do they have large impact on the people who admit?
Are you aware of any research comparing final ACT scores of students who took the ACT as 7th graders (Duke TIP qualifiers)and their final ACT scores in high school compared to those who did not take it before 11th or 12th grade?
I’m only a freshman in high school, but I’m freaking out because I never got the papers to place me in adv. courses. I really would like to go to Spelman or John Hopkins, but I’m afraid I won’t stand a chance b/c I missed my opportunity in getting in adv. classes. Does anyone have any advice on how to get into these colleges without adv. placement courses?
I am an international student and I applied to a private school on ED2 based on what I heard from my seniors and the admission officers who visited my school… however, after I visited the campus, I didn’t really think that this was the place for me.
The college has not yet released its decision on my application.. those are due in 2 days
Can I convert my application to a regular application or withdraw it ?
I think you should clarify that you do not submit grades, activities, etc. to the College Board but rather National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The College Board gives the test, but National Merit is a completely different comany who gives the scholarships.
I was just wondering if anyone could tell me if i did well on the SAT or not…
I got a 610 in critical thinking, a 430 in math, and a 540 in writing…
any ideas?
Hi, I’m kind of in a rough spot as well. I’m wondering with the following situation, if I have any shot of getting into MIT:
11th Grade:
GPA: About 4.2 weighted
31 ACT (Still have another chance)
Top 20% in class
I will have taken 6 AP classes by graduation
Extra Curricular Activities:
NHS, Lacrosse (Captain), Scholastic Bowl, Math Team, Science Team, Volunteering
Another thing I am kind of hoping will help are my recommendations. I am extremely motivated in the sciences and I often go in after class to talk with my teachers about topics that expand much farther from what we are learning.
I guess I don’t have the best academic standing, but I am definitely motivated to learn. I have a passion for the sciences.
Be honest please, I understand it’s difficult to really have a feel for whether I would make it or not, but I’d appreciate any advice. Thanks!
Does anyone know if you can retake just a part of the SAT? My daughter did well on all but math, and she doesn’t want to raise her scores except the math score. Can she just retake the math?
Thanks so much for your help.
I need interview questions and answers pariculary,”tell me about your self, what are your strength and weekneses, what about your last job or present job your in that you like, what are some challanges one has to go through.
Would it be a correct assumption that SAT scores are more influential than ACT scores when applying to a selective school? In 7th grade, i had a 650-710 range for all of the sections of the SAT, and haven’t taken it since. As a sophomore, a have a 32 ACT. I’m hoping that ACT scores are as important as SAT scores because I think that the ACT is easier, but one of my teachers said that I need to concentrate on the SAT more than the ACT. Is that really what I need to do?
Hi, I’m very much interested in applying to Cornell as a sophomore transfer. I’m very sure they offer admissions to sophomore transfers, but do you think I’d have less chance to get in if I apply as a sophomore, not the junior transfer?
Also, could you recommend a college where I’d have higher chance to be admitted? ^^; I’m planning to apply for school of ILR since I want to go to law school after undergrad, but I’m not sure if they admit a lot of transfers or not. Thanks a lot!
I am a PhD applicant for UC Berkeley, but it is 8th April and I did not receive my admission letter so that I will be able to inform university about my positive decision on my offer.
The selection process of American colleges are extremely selective. I achieved a score of 36 on my ACT’s, got 800’s on the Math II, Biology, and World History tests, and a 2400 on the SAT Reasoning Tests. My GPA is a 4.667, straight A’s in the hardest classes available. My AP test scores were all 5’s. Besides that, I was class president, and captain of my three sports, football, basketball, and track. I also placed 3rd in state in my respective track events. I still got denied into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and all the other Ivy’s. I now go to Harper Community College.
i got a 33, but I don’t really know what it means. i know its good, but what kind of scholarships can I get? How much money can a 33 earn me? I will probably retake the test for a better score.
My youngest son, now a Junior, just scored a 34 on his ACT. He is in a gifted program at school and has been encouraged to take the test every year since 7th so not to be stressed over the testing part. He scored 22 in 7th, 32 as a freshman, 33 as a sophomore and now a 34 as a Junior. With his involvement in extracurriculars such as Student Council, BETA, NHS, and BSA, along with a 4.0 gpa (AP/Dual enrollment incl), what are his chances at a major college? His dream goal is MIT, but I think he’ll settle for a state school. Also, does he HAVE to take the writing test???
is this true?
every year there is a conference in a near by city has three lectures a few weeks before the test. Every year one of the three lectures is the DBQ for that year’s test. the conferences topics this year were: the 60’s, electoral college/jaskonian, and Consolidation of Racism.
hey I’m from India and i have 2 questions:
1. Which schools are recommended if I have got a SAT score of about 1950?
2. Is it worth it to apply for Early decision to a college which is out of youre range and try your luck or a college which is mediocre but in your range.
Whichever test you are more prepared for is the one you should take. ex: You are starting precalc and this is your junior year. You may not want to try and show mastery in a subject you aren’t even finished with. In this case take the math I exam. If you have completed pre-calc and are in calc go with the math II.
Um, guys? Really. Please cease the complaining and the fretting. Listen, 1380. Yes, not YOUR score, so chill. I know.
But I pray that all of you whiners with the 1700s-2400s have some decency to relax and get a grip. Because maybe getting a “perfect score” is the only way you’ll be happy in life it seems.
I would rather have a saddening score than to be moralistically challenged and uptight. It seems like all you worry about.
Appreciate life’s beauty.
K, you have a composite of 1580 which is ok, but not great. Try taking it again.
As for me I hoping to get into Columbia, University of Chicago, or Cornell, and with a 1740 composite after the first time i think i need to take it again. Any tips on increasing my math score?
I need interview Questions
and answers Particularly
1.“Tell Me About Yourself”
2.”Tell about Ur Family Background”
3.”Hobbies?”
4.”Strong and Weakness”
5.what are the requirement for leadership quality?
6.give me reasons,why i should hire you?
Can you send me an answer to a question, “Tell me about yourself”
Assuming that you are a fresh graduate seeking for a first job as a teacher and dont have experience yet. And I’m gonna ask you this question: “Tell me about yourself”
Hey, I am Brandon from South Africa.I have written the SAT subject test twice and both times I got scores of an average of 1260. I want to use these results to apply to junior colleges. Are there any junior colleges you can advice me on applying to with these scores?
1.
cbass | August 30, 2006 at 12:43 am
FYI – Duke is not an IVY, and Brown is. Just thought you would want to know that.
2. Cbass proves my point! &l&hellip | August 30, 2006 at 7:39 pm
[...] The AdmitSpit blog just received its first comment today! Embarrassingly enough, apparently I left Brown University off of the list of Ivy League schools in the post “Ivy Leagues are not created equal,” and incidentally added Duke instead. (My apologizes!) [...]
3.
gettingin | September 3, 2006 at 11:22 pm
Hi, I’m a former Ivy League admissions officer who just started a blog of my own (gettingin.wordpress.com). I’m hoping to leverage my site to help seniors work on their college essays (as it’s one of the most important pieces of the application) and better understand the college admissions process. I’ll definitely be peeking at your blog from time to time to see your take on things.
4.
Susan | September 4, 2006 at 9:57 pm
“will be an immediate flag for an adcom if you suggest you’d like to pursue something they’re school doesn’t even offer”
using ‘they’re’ instead of ‘their’ might be another red flag
5.
riva | September 5, 2006 at 2:05 am
Just wondering: are you going to Harvard? I was browsing through WordPress tags to see if there were others of us here. If you are at Harvard, I’m in your class and I’m already on campus.
6.
Dee | September 5, 2006 at 7:44 am
Haha. Thanks, Susan!
7.
Dee | September 5, 2006 at 7:59 am
It’s great to see that there’s a few of us blogging about “getting in!” Thanks for your comment! I’ve added you to the AdmitSpit blogroll. Good luck!
8.
Dee | September 5, 2006 at 8:13 am
I’m hesitant about speaking in specifics about where I go to school! But, I do have 6+ friends attending Harvard and they’re really excited! (One of them was doing that camping trip this summer too.) I hope you’re having a great time in Boston!
9.
Ellen Pelan | September 13, 2006 at 6:04 pm
Dear Dee
What is your opinion on early action?
Do you waste it on a top school with a 10% admit (18 for early) or go for it with a 20th ranked school?
10.
Ellen Pelan | September 13, 2006 at 6:05 pm
please send list
11.
SB | September 13, 2006 at 7:27 pm
My son is a sophomore and is starting to look into admission criteria to various schools. Is it true that the admission “preferences” to any of the “top schools” may drastically vary from one year to another? What is the best way to find them out?
Dad
12.
Dee | September 14, 2006 at 6:10 pm
SB –
I can say quite confidently that admission criteria itself, in terms of testing and grades, does not vary drastically from year to year; the expectation from colleges is that scores and academic record will be high.
That said, in terms of admission “preferences,” I think it’s fair to say that all Admission Committees are aiming for balance. Their challenge each year is to select students who will contribute to a diverse, well-rounded class.
My advice to your son is, of course, to maintain high grades and testing scores as well as to focus on hobbies and extracurriculars that will allow him to stand out from other applicants. I’d recommend taking a look at the AdmitSpit post on this subject, “Well-rounded is out” at http://admitspit.wordpress.com/2006/07/31/well-rounded-is-out/ from July 31, 2006.
Best of luck!
13.
Nancy Dandridge | September 15, 2006 at 5:12 pm
My son was one of those lucky few who is going to UCLA. I had the opportunity to eat lunch with an admissions volunteer after his acceptance. Leadership, passion, consistency in interests (ECs), an essay that lets the readers know what makes the applicant tick, and a devotion to learning is what she is trained to look for. Oh yeah, and living in California is a huge plus.
14.
Sam Jackson | September 17, 2006 at 6:37 pm
These questions are really fun, and I can only hope I get some half as cool as they. Creativity is, I like to imagine, a strong suit of mine. More importantly, #1 would be my real chance to shine. It’s hard to recall just how often I ask myself what kind of fruit I would most like to be, so often do I consider hypothetical human-produce transformation.
Also: nice blog!
15.
Amin Ali | September 17, 2006 at 11:58 pm
Hi, I’m a junior planning on going to Georgia Tech. I read your article and it seemed really helpful. I really like the idea about how you group similar words into categories instead of just definitions. I have a PSAT test coming up soon and I was hoping you could send me a copy of your list.
Or if it is already posted, if you would direct me in the right direction to find it…
Hope you get this before my test!
Thanks in advance,
Amin Ali
16.
Dee | September 18, 2006 at 4:11 am
I’d love to send you a copy of my vocab lists. I think you’ll find them really useful.
As I’m off at college right now myself, I don’t have immediate access to the lists. I think it’ll take me another week or so to send them out (several other students have requested them as well).
I know the PSAT testing is usually around mid-October, so I’ll do my best to figure out the who’s, what’s, when’s, where’s, and how’s of shipping them out as soon as possible!
(You may be wondering why I can’t just post the vocab lists electronically — apparently there are some legal and copyright issues involved that I need to figure out.)
Definitely check back by September 25th for more comprehensive info regarding the new vocab lists though. I didn’t realize there’d be as much interest in them, so hopefully I’ll sort everything out soon.
I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for the comment, Amin!
17.
kramtark | September 23, 2006 at 8:08 pm
Don’t private schools, in general, also have lower admissions rates for out-of-staters?
18.
Dee | September 24, 2006 at 1:17 am
I looked into the admissions rates a little closer, and, honestly and unfortunately, I couldn’t actually find any statistics that showed that acceptance rates were lower for out-of-staters at private schools.
However, what I could find for private schools is the percentage of their incoming class from various geographic regions. For Duke’s Class of 2010 for example, 14% of students are from North Carolina, most amount from any one state.
BUT, don’t take this at face value — just because at private schools there may be a trend that a high percentage of students from in-state attend, there are many lurking variables (like maybe plenty of non-North Carolinians were accepted to Duke, but they decided to go elsewhere, or maybe more in-state students applied in the first place so they constitute a larger portion of the class), and one cannot assume that this means they actually accept more in-state students!
In general, I think a lot of private schools actually try to up the number of out-of-state students. (Stanford for example was committed to increased geo-diversity last year.) And even if private schools are accepting more in-state students, which, again, I’m not sure is completely accurate, the difference is nowhere near that of public institutions.
19.
Julia | September 24, 2006 at 9:23 pm
Your article really help me. I also have the PSATs coming up so could you please send me a copy too?
-Thanks
Julia
20.
Paul Kandell | September 25, 2006 at 9:00 pm
Cool site. Where did you learn to be so proficient in Webstering?
21.
May | September 27, 2006 at 5:55 am
Part of the application package also includes a recommendation from a teacher or counselor.
22.
Denice | September 29, 2006 at 1:39 am
Wow, I’ve been studying the old method. Could you please send me a copy?
23.
Cookie | September 30, 2006 at 1:41 am
Your articles are really detailed and helfpul. I would really appreciate if you could send me a list as well. I’m going to take the PSAT on Oct.18th, so if it’s possible, please send me the lists before then.
-Thanks!!
24.
Mohammad | October 1, 2006 at 6:15 pm
please send me the vocab lists.
Thanks
25.
riva | October 5, 2006 at 1:56 am
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514675
“Harvard, to the Highest Bidder.” An op-ed from The Crimson about development admits, clearly an incendiary topic. Thought you might enjoy.
26.
Victoria | October 9, 2006 at 12:12 am
What a fantastic way to study. If you could send the list to me, it would be fantastic.
Thanks!
27.
Samantha | October 12, 2006 at 4:35 am
A great way to add to the importance of being involved is by supporting team spirit. Having a fundraiser with custom T-shirts, flags, and hoodies, have always been a great way to raise money and raise school spirit!
28.
Sam Jackson | October 12, 2006 at 4:41 pm
I did the Biology E because we were studying Ecology at the time, whereas we hadn’t touched most Molecular stuff since the fall. This made it a pretty easy choice for me.
29.
Aurelia | October 14, 2006 at 4:47 am
Awesome Awesome POST!! WOW I may need to interview you for my radio show at http://www.parentingmyteen.com My Oldest Daughter is in her 2nd year of college and and getting her through her Sr. year of HS was so stressfull with the college applications, SAT’s, keeping her grades up and of course we can’t forget the social life!
Awesome Awesome post…
30.
M | October 14, 2006 at 9:20 pm
If you’re talking about the current frosh group at UCLA – I believe only 4800 (approx) were accepted this year. It was by far the toughest year for admission applicants.
31.
Alexis | October 15, 2006 at 1:48 am
Good thing I only made a couple of flashcards…good idea! I’d like a list as well. Thanks so much!
32.
Dee | October 15, 2006 at 1:52 am
The statistics from the UCs were taken directly from the University of California website. I’m pretty certain there’s no way only 4,800 students were accepted to UCLA… about 4,800 is the SIZE of the freshman class at UCLA, not the number of students accepted.
Yes, you are right though that this was by far the most difficult year.
33.
Sam Jackson | October 15, 2006 at 9:18 pm
Amusingly, most Exonians do much better on the M2C than the math 1–not because the testing group is self-selecting but simply because we’ve done the m2c stuff more recently (6th grade, as opposed to 1st… right?).
Fun fun fun. I’m done with my College Board poison forever, I think.
34.
Sam Jackson | October 19, 2006 at 6:54 pm
Equally important is for when you are pacing your patience for the test. Sadly, so much of it is your endurance, as far as attention is concerned. And if you are only expecting the 3 45, you’re going to be in for a nasty surprise after 3 hours and 45 minutes have gone by and you have god knows how many sections left over, sprawled out seemingly endlessly before you.
35.
Ezra | October 23, 2006 at 8:12 am
Let’s get real. A 2.0 from Harvard is pretty shitty. No way the barely-passing Harvard grad gets a job over a straight A’s Big Red grad. Most people would realize the dumb ass Harvard grad was probably a legacy admit, AA admit, jock, or a lucky bastard, and didn’t really belong at Harvard.
36.
Sam Jackson | October 23, 2006 at 8:49 pm
All very good tips, and I would put special emphasis on the eavesdropping (!) because even if you push yourself to think up lots and lots of questions beforehand, your peers are always going to have some more you never imagined. Plus, if there’s a big group of people, you can use someone else’s question as a lead-in to your own in order to cut the queue.
37.
Luke | October 24, 2006 at 8:22 pm
Please don’t be so naive, Ezra. First of all, if the student got into Harvard, they most likely have connections in the first place, but that’s besides the point. The fact is that most high school students and people in general know only that Princeton, Harvard, and Yale are the best and don’t even realize that Dartmouth and Cornell are even in the Ivy League. By the way, just because Cornell and Dartmouth play football against the Crimson does not put them on the same caliber. That’s not to say that they aren’t fine institutions; in fact, their undergraduate programs are arguably much stronger than Harvard’s since Harvard is more designed as a research institution with most of its time and energy spent on, well… research. Even though they may have somewhat comparable programs, Harvard is on a totally different level of academia. Go up to a person and tell them you’re going to Cornell and then go tell someone else you are a student at Harvard. Their reactions will prove my point more effectively than this post ever could.
38.
Pushyami | October 25, 2006 at 12:57 pm
At what stage in high school (junior spring?) and with whom should one set up interviews? Is it enough to call the undergrad admissions office? Is it possible to request an interview with a specific faculty member or a specific department?
By the way, this website is a fantastic resource for the college application process!
39.
Pushyami | October 25, 2006 at 4:53 pm
Thank you for you response! I will keep checking back regularly.
40.
Pushyami | October 26, 2006 at 4:59 pm
That is a very informative and comprehensive post — thank you for addressing my qs.
41.
Helen | October 31, 2006 at 2:07 am
Wow! What a great idea for posts! This is incredibly useful in learning what distinguishes schools from one another and the “feel” of each school. That’s something you really can’t find in viewbooks or on tours. Very unique and excellently executed.
42.
Sam Jackson | November 1, 2006 at 9:51 pm
Please don’t grossly generalize, Luke…
“most high school students and people in general” only know 3/8th of the Ivy League is in the Ivy League. Hmm. Hmmmmm. I know HYP have the most name-brand prestige recognition, but I don’t think it’s really fair to say that. That has never been my experience out in the world (before I came to Exeter or after).
But worst, by far– “If the student got into Harvard, they most likely have connections in the first place.”
…What? What the hell?
Sure, some. But not “most.” You want to back that up with anything? Something from the last 50 years, please.
43.
Luke | November 1, 2006 at 11:20 pm
Sam,
I know you’re insulated in Exeter with your other preppy friends, but by “high school students and people in general” I don’t mean the ones that have the socio-economic clout to send their children to ivy-clad, New England prep schools where they can act like they’re Ivy Leaguers while still in high school, but actual people below the 99th percentile in social-economic status. Let’s face it, of course you have heard of the other Ivies because you live in a social bubble where a majority of the students strive to get into the Ivy League no matter which school it is. Most Americans know of “HYP” only because of their prestige recognition and plead ignorance to the other five because they don’t actively search for the associations that these other Ivies make with the Big Three.
You are making a logical fallacy through your erroneous “generalization” of the entire American population to your single, prep-school existence. I am trying to describe the knowledge of the average American (preppy or not), which is the very definition of a generalization in the first place.
To your second point, I am going to have to ask you to not be as naive as Ezra. You of all people should know the connections that occur in preppy America. The fact that you are attending one of the Ivy League feeder schools (it’s common knowledge the association between Exeter and Harvard along with Phillips and Yale) you must surely see first-hand the institution of legacy in New England. Granted, there are a majority of students that get in based on their merit, but you must concede that Legacies still hold major clout in the admission process. Why else do they ask you if you have any family members that attended the institution? And why else would Ivy Leagues like Penn only allow Legacies to do on campus interviews? (See AdmitSpit’s post titled, “As promised, interview specifics for top schools.”)
The fact of the matter is that you have a statistically greater chance of getting into a school if you are a legacy or are on very good terms with notable alumni. In a school like Harvard where they pride themselves on the dynasties of families that have attended, you must surely realize, and acknowledge, that a number of the students are attending for prestige reasons alone.
How else could George W. Bush get into Yale?
44.
Eric | November 1, 2006 at 11:25 pm
Luke,
I’d have to second Sam’s comments regarding your response above. Admissions at Harvard, as well as the rest of the Ivies, has changed considerably since the Great Gatsby days where legacy meant something to admissions. I’m a Princeton ‘90 grad (and was accepted at 5 other Ivies) but didn’t know one Ivy Leaguer.
As to the power of Harvard’s brand, I cannot disagree. Regardless of their undergraduate rankings, the word “Harvard” knocks down doors. My other activity besides ePrep (www.eprep.com) has involved serving the entire Ivy League through Ivysport (www.ivysport.com), an extension of the Ivy League Conference. Using apparel sales as a metric of brand strength, Harvard beats the rest of the League by a margin of 5 to 1.
45.
Eric | November 2, 2006 at 1:39 am
I was delighted to discover this blog today. Providing college admissions from the perspective of students is certainly lacking on the web and blogosphere. A few months back I teamed with some Princeton classmates to launch ePrep as a free resource for students and parents on admissions and financial aid. I’m looking forward to following your dialog.
46.
disembedded | November 6, 2006 at 7:42 am
University of Chicago?
47.
Dee | November 6, 2006 at 10:21 am
Okay, University of Chicago is added!
48.
Geva Stern | November 7, 2006 at 10:40 am
What about SAT II subject tests? any word on those for Brown and Harvard?
49.
Dee | November 7, 2006 at 8:21 pm
Not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but it’s a post about the SAT subject tests each top school requires for admission; hope it’s helpful!
http://admitspit.wordpress.com/2006/09/26/standard-list-for-colleges-standardized-testing-requirements/
If what you’re looking for is SAT subject test score statistics for the schools, we’ll poke around a bit, but not sure if any schools actually release that data. I know Brown definitely doesn’t include any more data on admissions test scores other than the verbal and math breakdown you see above in this post.
50.
Gloria | November 8, 2006 at 3:56 am
I like your site
51.
Helen | November 8, 2006 at 4:14 am
Hey Dee,
A lot of applications (including the common app) ask how many weeks per year you participate in the activity. That means for seasonal activities you don’t have to divide by 52, but can just write that you play 12 hours a week for 6 weeks.
52.
Phillip H. | November 8, 2006 at 4:25 am
i love this site
53.
Linda | November 10, 2006 at 1:24 am
Luke,
Your statement, (”I know you’re insulated in Exeter with your other preppy friends, but by ‘high school students and people in general’ I don’t mean the ones that have the socio-economic clout to send their children to ivy-clad, New England prep schools where they can act like they’re Ivy Leaguers while still in high school, but actual people below the 99th percentile in social-economic status.”) could not be more off base. Most of the people I know who attend Exeter are on part, if not full, financial aid. PEA has an extremely generous financial aid policy. Perhaps people would rather believe it is the “money” that is keeping them from attending a school like Exeter, rather than ability.
And as for the Harvard legacy stuff, unlike other college applications, Harvard does not even have a space on the application to include any relatives who have ever attended Harvard.
54.
TalkingMango aka Mandy | November 11, 2006 at 11:00 pm
I wanted to tell you this is the entry I really needed to read. Thank you. You have no idea how much this is helping me.
55.
Teja | November 12, 2006 at 5:40 am
Thanks Mandy!
56.
Aaron | November 12, 2006 at 8:18 pm
I am so glad I found this. I’ve been only browsing, but I’ve found some great stuff. Thanks.
57.
Rocketsr71 | November 13, 2006 at 5:59 am
Johns Hopkins University? How about ACT scores as well.
58.
Michael | November 14, 2006 at 2:02 am
Washington University in St. Louis!
59.
CollegeWannabe | November 14, 2006 at 6:25 am
that’s pretty funny, i myself searched for almost exactly the same things today to get to this site
60.
anonymous | November 14, 2006 at 10:05 pm
Stanford middle 50% ACT scores: 29-33
61.
anonymous | November 14, 2006 at 10:12 pm
Princeton SAT middle 50% of enrollees stats:
Critical Reading: 680-800
Math: 690-790
Writing: 660-770
SAT II: 690-780
62.
Nancy Wong | November 15, 2006 at 12:27 am
So, Math Level 2 is not required for admission into UC? That’s strange.. my college counselor tells me that it is. Well, I am a high school senior and I’m really glad to have found your site. It’s awesome, keep up the good work ^^v
63.
David Sklenar | November 15, 2006 at 7:40 am
They’re creating schools now?! This appears to be another money-making venture for the supposedly not-for-profit organization. When are people going to realize that there needs to be some healthy competition which will make the tests more affordable and actually useful for measuring freshmen grades?
64.
Gail | November 15, 2006 at 11:38 am
Help – my son decided to add one sentence to his essay after he copied it into his application form and submitted it with a TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR! What do we do? Will his application automatically be dropped!
65.
Dee | November 15, 2006 at 10:13 pm
Thanks, anonymous!
… someone left two comments regarding Stanford’s ACT statistics and Princeton’s SAT statistics. It’s fantastic to get such helpful comments from our readers; I appreciate it!
–Dee
66.
Edie Steinhoff | November 16, 2006 at 4:32 pm
I’m having trouble locating statistics about student admission by state to different universities. Does anyone have any websites where this information can be found?
67.
Melody | November 17, 2006 at 2:22 am
I loved this entry! Thanks.
I have a question: if I apply for Bioengineering:Premedical, does that still count as an engineering major (I looked through the courses and it seemed more premed than engineer)? So if I do go to Warren, the GE would be 11 and not 17?
And, I see that you mentioned Muir isn’t very social, what about Warren?
thanks!
68.
Wilson Ames | November 17, 2006 at 6:50 am
Nancy, that is a common misperception about the UC requirements. The UC’s do NOT accept the Math Level 1, but they do not require the Math Level 2. In other words, you can skip math entirely and submit Literature and Biology or Spanish and US History. The key is that the two tests must be in different fields of study: literature, math, history, physical sciences, and languages are your choices.
69.
Christina | November 19, 2006 at 5:53 am
Northwestern (for students enrolled as freshmen in 2006):
Average Verbal: 690
Average Math: 710
From the NU Databook
70.
Kenny | November 19, 2006 at 10:06 pm
Thank you so much!!! I have been looking for something like this for over 2 hours.
71.
Melissa | November 25, 2006 at 2:49 am
I strongly disliked this entry, honestly. I think it misrepresented many of the colleges discussed. (Esp the part about UCSD being full of “hot surfers”… where are they hiding? Anyways, I feel that the generalizations you assigned to the colleges had little to do with their programmatic focuses and resources, but rather on their location on campus (which really doesn’t matter after your 2nd year when you move off campus).
I must defend the other colleges!
Personally, I am a 4th year Revelle Student. I wouldn’t agree with you that it is “nothing too special, just a lot of work”. I do agree that the GE’s are a lot of work, but this is ignoring the whole point of having this many GE’s. Revelle is perfect for the student who is not sure what they want to study. The GEs provide an opportunity to explore MANY different disciplines. It is also perfect for the science major who wants to be well-rounded in the social sciences and writing, as well. It has been shown that the students who complete the HUM sequence score higher on the writing portion of the MCATS! Also, Revelle is a very prestigious college, which is ranked separately from (and higher than) the rest of UCSD in several national college ranking systems. Since it was the first college, Revelle carries with it a strong sense of tradition– evident in the events it puts on, its College Council, and its Student Affairs/Academic Advising Staff and programs. Nothing special? I would strongly disagree.
As for Muir, I would say that it is FAR FROM being the least social college! Muirons are known for being fun and creative!
In response to “If you are considering being an Engineer, I would strongly recommend Warren (as long as you don’t mind walking far for classes). ” Warren students who are engineers REALLY don’t have to walk far at all from the dorms, since all the engineering buildings are IN Warren.
Poor ERC! You ripped it apart! I think this is a wonderful college! In response to ” Unfortunately, other than nice dorms and a location near the gym and sports fields, ERC does not have much to offer. ”
I would HEARTILY disagree! This college is full of REALLY good-looking people! Plus the International House is here, so hot FOREIGN people too! Student government and College Council in ERC is very active (and has a lot of money). It is also a very spirited college (won Spirit Night last year). Further, since it is home to the International House and the Graduate School of International Relations/ Pacific Studies, many opportunities/programs are put on that have to do with culture and diversity. Plus they have a REALLY nice dining hall, possibly my favorite!
I love Sixth College! I am an RA in the Matthews Apartments, which house Revelle 2nd years, but are located in Sixth College. Though it is really far away from most things, this does foster a great sense of community. They’re a fun bunch!
As for the problem of distance to classes, there are many ways to avoid this– ie. take the shuttle! Just be sure to get to the shuttle stop early, or else you may be late. Or ride your bike! UCSD is pretty spread out, so everything requires some amount of walking. It is possible to get across campus by walking in about 15-20 minutes at a brisk pace.
I would love to talk more about these colleges, so should any readers out there have any questions at all, shoot me an email at mhenry@ucsd.edu
72.
Anonymous | November 26, 2006 at 3:10 am
I’d love to hear about Brown and Tufts, personally. Thank you!
73.
J | November 26, 2006 at 6:19 am
I’d like to hear about some universities that aren’t brandname.
74.
Dee | November 26, 2006 at 11:12 am
Thanks for the comment, Melissa!
I definitely appreciate your insight; we liked Teja’s post because it gave a comprehensive review of each UCSD college, but as with all things, people will always have differing perspectives so it’s great to hear other people’s views too!
75.
RaY | November 26, 2006 at 6:49 pm
id like to hear abt UT/Rice/and A&M that would be swell
76.
Caroline | November 26, 2006 at 11:53 pm
Georgetown. Please and thank you!
77.
Susan | November 27, 2006 at 9:46 pm
Ditto on Georgetown.
78.
Elisabeth | November 27, 2006 at 11:24 pm
thanks for the info! helped a lot!
79.
Raymond | November 28, 2006 at 6:27 am
Northwestern’s middle 50% of ACT scores: 29-33 (’05-’06)
80.
Raymond | November 28, 2006 at 6:35 am
Yale: 21,099 applicants, 1,823 acceptances for an 8.6% acceptance rate.
Princeton ED: 2,236 applicants, 599 acceptances for a 26.8% acceptance rate.
Washington: 19% acceptance rate according to U.S. News.
81.
Don | November 30, 2006 at 10:46 am
Thrice on Georgetown. Thanks!
82.
elizabeth | November 30, 2006 at 4:21 pm
Hi I just submitted my uc application yesterday and realized that I went over the word count limit by 35 words. What can I do? Will the college just cut off my essay or should I mail each campus a letter?
83.
Britt | December 2, 2006 at 4:15 am
I need help. Is it wise to repeat SAT in January? I got a good math score but my critical reading was below 600 but above 500. I want to go into a mathematical based field. Please help me before I register to do it over. I want to go Columbia.
84.
Uncle Su | December 2, 2006 at 6:40 am
Is Elizabeth applying by mail? Because I know for one that if you go beyond the word limit in the online application, the system will not let you proceed with the process anyway.
85.
Uncle Su | December 2, 2006 at 6:43 am
Definitely not a myth. Even if you are a minute late, you will be disqualified. Wait a few days and you might just get an email telling you that. Good luck!
86.
Dee | December 2, 2006 at 8:26 am
Excellent point. If she was applying through a paper application and the whole essay fit in the designated area then I definitely don’t see it as being too big of a problem. It’s not like the AdComm is going to count out how many words she used.
87.
Sam Jackson | December 2, 2006 at 1:50 pm
Yale returns last year were Dec 15th 4:30pm online, give or take a few minutes. Online this year is dec 15th ’sometime’ again.
88.
Stephanie | December 2, 2006 at 7:33 pm
I just applied to 6 UC’s: Berkeley, LA, San Diego, Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara, with mostly undeclared majors in biological/life sciences. I took the Math Level 2 in June 2006 and scored a 650. Since I wanted to raise my score, I took it again in December.. but I don’t think my score improved much. My Chinese SAT 2 score is 790, and my SAT score is 2080. Will my math score greatly hurt my chances of getting in? And is there any way to change what major I put on my application? Or is it pretty much set in stone…
89.
Rustin | December 2, 2006 at 9:06 pm
According to Cornell’s Dear Uncle Ezra question and answer service, this year’s early decision results will be posted to online admissions accounts at exactly 5:00pm, Eastern time, on December 14.
URL: http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1164862800
90.
Mrs. Vant | December 2, 2006 at 10:41 pm
Where can I get statistics on average GPA’s and test scores for minority applicants (latino, african-american, etc.) to Ivy League schools and other highly selective universities such as Stanford, Duke, etc.?
91.
Janette | December 3, 2006 at 3:31 pm
What’s the acceptance rate for the College of Arts and Sciences? and does each department in the college go into great depth?
If I were looking into the possibility of a career in fine arts, but want to keep my options open, would you recommend arts and science? or Architecture, Art and planning?
92.
mark | December 3, 2006 at 7:18 pm
uhh what about amherst williams pomona swarthmore wellesley middlebury etc…
93.
Polina | December 3, 2006 at 9:59 pm
To see how many people applied/got in to each of the colleges in 2006 you can go to this link:
http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000003.pdf
The acceptance rate for Arts and Sciences was 20%.
I’m not exactly sure what you mean by each department going into great depth. I’ll try to get back to you if you clarify your question.
As far as which college to apply to, if you are pretty sure you want to do art, I would apply to AAP. According to their website, you can apply for a dual degree program when you are a sophomore, and that way you would get a degree in both art and anything else. Plus, you can always take classes in other colleges, so your options will always be open. Here’s the description of the dual degree program from the AAP website:
“The dual degree program allows students to earn the B.F.A., as well as a B.A. from the College of Arts and Sciences, a B.S. from the College of Human Ecology or a B.S. from the College of Engineering. Students apply to the dual degree program during their sophomore year.”
http://www.aap.cornell.edu/aap/art/programs/ugdualdegree.cfm
Hope that helps!
94.
anonymous | December 4, 2006 at 3:02 am
Does anyone know which of the top schools will accept the February ACT test date (I’m thinking of retaking the ACT)?
95.
Anon | December 4, 2006 at 3:34 am
On the topic of SATs, I always hear about how people would rather take the SATs on “x” date because the “curve” will be higher. What is this “curve” and how does it work and when does it help or hurt you if you are an average student (ie. With an average SAT score of between 1900-2000)
96.
stressed applicant | December 4, 2006 at 3:38 am
Hello! This comment is not related to the post. I know that I can add an additional campus after I’ve submitted my application. But can I change one of the campus I’ve applied?
Thank you!
97.
Adam | December 4, 2006 at 5:41 am
Penn’s are going up at 4 P.M. on Dec. 14
98.
Janette | December 4, 2006 at 8:05 am
Thanks! that was really helpful.
99.
Julie Ann Fan | December 4, 2006 at 8:42 pm
Thanks Melissa for defending ERC because that’s my first choice college!
Pray i get in! Anyways, I was feeling doubtful about my decision, but now I’m completely happy about it. Thanks. 
WISH ME LUCK!
100.
jane | December 5, 2006 at 5:38 pm
Dartmouth has said they will post by this Friday (12/8) at 3:00 PM.
101.
Mr. E | December 5, 2006 at 10:47 pm
does anyone know if stanford puts decisions online? and if not, when do they mail the decisions?
102.
Ralph B | December 5, 2006 at 11:56 pm
Hi there. My question is on how big a factor test results, nationality and race are in the American admissions process.
I just took the SAT subject tests for the first time last Saterday. I think I got about 700 on the math 1, 650 on the level 2, and no idea on the chemistry, but it’s probabaly in the 500’s. How will the top schools see this, and how much difference would the fact that I’m a Canadian Indian (which legally means I’m also an American Indian) make?
Otherwise, I have a 90% grade average, and scored 88% and 85% on the two Alberta Diploma standardized tests (chem. and pure math) I’ve taken about 8 months ago. I paticipate in a volunteer organization and student government, and I’m sure I could get good teacher references and essays done.
The big question I have is: Would it be worth it to make a 10 hour drive this Saterday to the nearest ACT test center (I haven’t taken it or the SAT before) or should I just forget it? Thanks for your time.
103.
Lucas | December 6, 2006 at 1:58 am
Quick question, does anyone know how Stanford distributes notifications? Does it post them on the web, or just mail them?
104.
Dee | December 6, 2006 at 2:36 am
When I applied to Stanford last year, they put decisions up online on December 15th and they sent decisions by mail as well.
If you log into your online account on Dec. 15, there should be a link to your decision there (unless it’s changed from last year). Good luck!
105.
Lena | December 6, 2006 at 4:53 am
I’m a junior in high school currently. If I choose colleges to send SAT or AP scores to (since the tests usually allow you to submit a few free score reports to colleges), what will happen? Will the colleges just ignore the scores since you are not yet applying or is it helpful?
106.
Pushyami | December 6, 2006 at 6:13 pm
What are considered good scores for SAT, ACT, SAT subject (Math 2 and Physics) for engineering applicants to colleges like UC Berkeley and Columbia U? Thanks!
107.
Dee | December 6, 2006 at 9:35 pm
Pushyami–
I’d say, ideally, you’d want all your SAT scores to be in the upper 700s. Maybe on the reading and writing section of the SAT you could dip a bit, but not below 650 I’d hope. Definitely on the math section of the SAT and the Math 2 and Physics you’d want in the upper 700s (750+). For the math section on the SAT definitely shoot for an 800.
Not sure exactly what’s considered “good” on the ACT because it’s usually secondary, but you’d want to do as well as what I described for the SAT. Plus, I figure if you do as well as I described on the SAT, then you’d probably get a comparable ACT score!
108.
Ralph B | December 6, 2006 at 10:11 pm
Yeah, I originally wanted to take the SAT but they wouldn’t let me take it and the SAT II’s on the same day. I really really should have taken all these tests earlier! Anyway, the thing that worried me was that when I looked at college websites, a lot of them have December as their test deadlines. The other big thing was that when I talked to a counseller at a school that administers the test, she said that the ACT is more in line with Canadian curriculum.
P.S. How small would you say my odds are at getting into a school like MIT or Harvard? Thank you.
109.
SirTalon | December 7, 2006 at 7:09 am
Penn mailed out letters saying decisions will be posted online Thursday December 14th at 5 P.M. EST.
110.
Dee | December 7, 2006 at 7:09 pm
Ooh, I see your dilemma. In that case, if you’re really set on applying to those schools and you have to take the ACT, I guess there’s no choice except to drive 10 hours! I’d say MIT, if you applied to a science or math major, is probably out of the picture because your scores are a little low in math compared to what they usually accept, but Harvard, again depending on what concentration you applied for, because it’s a liberal arts school, I’d say you have a better shot for. Again, I think essays and teacher recs are what will make the difference in your case, so I hope they were good!
111.
Ellen | December 7, 2006 at 10:38 pm
Re Dartmouth ED date and Jane’s post:
Jane or anyone else —
Is there any way for me to find a confirmation of Dartmouth’s intention to announce its decision tomorrow for all/most/any applications?
Thanks,
Ellen
112.
em | December 7, 2006 at 11:12 pm
does anybody know more specifically when brown is notifying?
113.
Janice | December 8, 2006 at 3:06 pm
Information regarding Yale’s early action notification procedure was posted 12/4/06 indicating the information should be accessable the evening of 12/15/06 and that letters are to be mailed on the same date.
Details can be read on their website at
http://www.yale.edu/admit/news/ea.html
114.
jane | December 8, 2006 at 5:26 pm
I know about Dartmouth’s notification date because they posted this announcement on ED candidates’ secure web site. (Well, at least on my son’s secure web site.)
115.
Sue | December 9, 2006 at 2:15 am
Does anyone know what “mid-December” means for Northwestern? We’re assuming the 15th. Thanks, for any scoop!
116.
Lena | December 9, 2006 at 4:40 am
Thank you for taking the time to call colleges to answer my question!
117.
Charles Smith | December 9, 2006 at 1:21 pm
i hate you
118.
Sue | December 9, 2006 at 4:16 pm
Does anyone know when Northwestern is notifying?
I heard the Dartmouth info is out! As in, a friend knows he has been accepted.
119.
Tamora | December 9, 2006 at 9:22 pm
This whole discussion is hillarious. I agree with you 100% Luke that people that go to Harvard are pretty much set for the rest of their lives just because of the “Harvard” on their resume. I think it’s sad and really unfair that it gets so much recognition, when academically it really isn’t that superior. But still, I don’t think people should chose Harvard just because of it’s prestigious name when there are so many other great schools with less of a name but that can offer so much more academically. I chose to apply early to Barnard rather than Columbia (although I had the grades for Columbia) because of the smaller Barnard community and student to teacher ratio. Even if I got into Harvard, I don’t think I would have chosen to go there because it wasn’t the right place for me. Harvard students judge each other’s intelligence purely on grades and the Harvard atmosphere is one of “survival of the fittest” for who can get the best grades. I would personally much rather be at a school like Barnard or Pomona where students work together investing in each other’s success rather than compete against each other and compare grades all the time.
120.
Future Neurosurgeon | December 10, 2006 at 4:17 pm
All of you have good points. However, like most statements, it is not a truth. It is also not all lies. Yes, people with connections will most likely get into Harvard. No, people without connections will get rejected. Many people are accepted to Harvard that don’t have conncections with alumni, or family members; despite the fact that it might help admission into Harvard. I don’t know anyone from Harvard and until I get there, I might never know anyone; but I will be accepted, I’m determined.
Sophomore with the I.Q of 155
121.
Jordy | December 11, 2006 at 3:50 am
Brown should be up online by 5pm EST on Thursday, December 14th.
122.
Wendy | December 11, 2006 at 4:45 am
Hey Em, I applied early to Brown too. They notify on the 14th (Thurs.) at 5 pm. Good luck to us both!
123.
jazz | December 12, 2006 at 12:17 am
… this makes me want to throw up.
i did fairly well on my SATs, combined 2190 (verbal 750/math 650/writing 790). now, in one of my groups of friends, this is GREAT. they’re impressed, and basically think it’s amazing.
if i were to tell the other group… it’d be good. pretty darn good. not AMAZING, but not bad.
according to this data, my scores are BELOW the middle 50% on most of these schools! I know there are people out there that nail these tests, but honestly… how can I be in the 97th percentile and be below average for most colleges?!
i’m doomed. i feel doomed.
124.
Dee | December 12, 2006 at 4:59 am
Wow, Jazz! Hold on to your dinner!
I think you’re posing a very valid concern and a dire problem with the whole admissions process, but remember, that’s the whole point of an application! Clearly all these schools don’t want you just to send test scores; they look at so many other factors as well. Plus, you had a great score on your writing section, so unless you’re applying to be a nuclear physicist your scores probably fine!
125.
Cooper | December 12, 2006 at 5:53 am
Yeah, what is the deal with NU? They list “mid-December” as their date. Any specifics? My friend says last year it was around the 10th, but that has already passed…
126.
Taste of Reality | December 12, 2006 at 7:05 am
Luke, join the real world. There are four national publications that rank the quality of american universities (academic rankings):
1. US News & world Report
2. The Atlantic
3. CollegeProwler (see “www.collegeprowler.com”)
4. The Princeton Review’s “Toughest Schools to Get Into” ranking
In none of the aforementioned national rankings does Harvard appear at the top. In fact there is no natioanl ranking publication that puts Harvard in the nation’s top spot. If you want to rank Harvard on its ability to market itself, well that may be another matter.
127.
Sarah | December 12, 2006 at 8:43 pm
Brown is definitely the 14th? That’s a whole 24 hours earlier than I thought! haha. Thanks for that information, and good luck to everyone!!!
128.
Sue | December 12, 2006 at 9:18 pm
I have heard that a friend got an email from NU that said the 15th, but my daughter did not get any email and their website hasn’t been updated since August! I would assume the 15th…. 4:00 or 5:00 PM seems to be the standard at other schools. Anyone out there with better info than one friend’s email and a hunch?
129.
SRO | December 13, 2006 at 1:01 am
Stanford actually updated their site by saying that admissions notifications for Early Applicants will be out on Friday, Dec. 15, no earlier than 3:00 p.m. You will receive an email.
130.
Melody | December 13, 2006 at 2:44 pm
Has anyone heard about when/how Emory will notify its early decision applicants?
131.
Patrick | December 13, 2006 at 11:55 pm
I am not sure about Emory and the whole O.P.U.S. account thing. I think the 15th but I am not sure if we can check online or through e-mail…or if it is just regular mail.
132.
Teja | December 14, 2006 at 11:13 am
Thanks Melissa.
I think we needed a second opinion regarding this topic. As a freshman, I might not know as much as a junior or senior student. A majority of what I’ve written is what I’ve heard from other people. The students that I’ve talked to at various colleges appeared to complain and give negative feedback rather than positive. I simply reported what I heard.
This is a very personal decision and I want to reiterate that it is based on personal choice and opinion. I was just here to give mine. For those who are considering this article in their decision making, it is important to do more research and get more feedback before jumping to any conclusions.
Thanks,
Teja
133.
Working Engineer | December 14, 2006 at 4:43 pm
It seems that young students are overly concerned about SAT scores for undergraduate admission. I urge the young students to look at the big picture. If you don’t get into the undergraduate college of your choice due to an inadequate SAT score, you can simply go to your local college and reapply for graduate school or law school or medical school at the prestigious school you had in mind. I went to Notre Dame when I was an undergraduate. When I look back, I was far too young to go to college 2000 miles from home at the age of 18. I had too much culture shock. I wish I had waited until graduate school to go to Notre Dame. Plus in graduate school you can get more financial aid. College can get very expensive.
134.
Camille | December 14, 2006 at 10:44 pm
Glaring omissions, in my humble opinion:
-U of Chicago (more Nobel laureates than any other American school, ever)
-Northwestern
-Rice
and, finally, the smaller liberal arts schools,in no particular order….exceptional undergrad experiences on par with (and,in some cases, better than, those at ‘top’ universities. Also, most definitely as competitive, overall, in terms of admissions rates):
-Williams
-Amherst
-Swarthmore
-Middlebury
-Wellesley
-Smith
-Haverford
-Pomona
Oops…just realized the last poster mentioned almost every school I just did ! Promise I wasn’t copying…
135.
Goldelina | December 15, 2006 at 12:11 am
Brown has posted early deciison results. My daughter got ‘deferred’. Not good not bad – just prolonging the wait. How horrible these past weeks have been.
Hope most of you have gotten in. Post your results.
136.
helen | December 15, 2006 at 12:31 am
anyone know HOW georgetown will announce early action? I know its on dec 15…. but email? letter? carrier pigeon?
137.
Jane | December 15, 2006 at 3:45 am
Does anyone know if you can check Princeton early decision online or if you will recieve an email?
138.
kati | December 15, 2006 at 6:05 am
ahhh!!! stressed out senior here. princeton? anyone know anything? sitting around waiting is driving me insane!!!! oh…i do know that they will both send you an email and you can check online (Jane). They also send a letter, but when will it happen?? thanks for all imput!
139.
Sarah | December 15, 2006 at 12:51 pm
I got deferred from Brown as well.
And I’m not sure about Georgetown, but my friend is going crazy about it. I think she is expecting a letter.
140.
Greg | December 15, 2006 at 5:01 pm
hey helen,
i hope we can rule out carrier pigeons…though since the Georgetown app was by paper anyways, who knows how old fashioned they are. Word from some of the kids who went to Georgetown from my school last year say there was an email involved, though i also heard from a college counselor that decisions were sent via mail this past monday… I’d keep an eye on your inbox and your mailbox.
Good Luck,
-Greg
141.
arsenalist | December 15, 2006 at 6:08 pm
I remember when I was trying to get into University. I had applied to the University of Toronto, York University and Ryerson. I was about to reluctantly accept Ryerson but on the day I was going to mail my acceptance letter to Ryerson, I got the U of T letter.
It made me very happy.
142.
Camille | December 15, 2006 at 9:47 pm
Hope this isn’t a repetition – haven’t read all posts – but my son heard from Duke last night via e-mail (Dec.14th) at 6. Much to our elation, he got in. Brown also sent out early decisions last night, and I believe Penn did as well. Stanford should notify today, but I’m not sure at what time.
You probably all knew everything I just said before
this message! In any case, good luck to everyone.
143.
Mike | December 15, 2006 at 10:17 pm
Georgetown sent out letters earlier this week. Office of Admissions says if you don’t get a letter by Saturday, call on Monday.
144.
Chris | December 15, 2006 at 10:57 pm
In response to the question about Georgetown. I too have applied early action and am anxiously awaiting a response. Out of frustration i called the undergrad admissions and they informed me that letters were mailed earlier this week and that we should recieve them today or over the weekend. I didn’t get one today, banking on tommorow.
145.
Morgan | December 16, 2006 at 2:05 am
Yes, I too would like to know when we hear from Georgetown! I thought we would be receiving something today, but perhaps they just mailed the letters today.
146.
Jen | December 16, 2006 at 3:17 am
Stanford released today at 3pm PST.
My friend is doing mucho partying. He’s finally off AIM for once.
147.
Sabra | December 16, 2006 at 8:16 am
I applied to Georgetown and expected to hear back today. But nothing in mail or email. Does anyone know when we will hear?
148.
Maggie | December 16, 2006 at 8:56 am
has anybody heard anything from Cornell? I don’t see anything online (view decision links) and neither is there any emails evident.
thanks for your input. g’luck to you all!
149.
Mimi | December 16, 2006 at 9:30 am
Thanks for the advice and for the words of optimism! I was deferred, but I’m not going to worry too much about it.
150.
Maggie | December 16, 2006 at 2:12 pm
one of my friends didn’t get a reply from Georgetown too. she actually rang them up and got a reply through the phone!
well, she got it!
goodluck to you!
151.
More accurate rankings | December 16, 2006 at 5:40 pm
This ranking is of little use. It measures a school’s publication output. As a result, large universities, with many professors appear at the top. Schools like Dartmouth and Brown do not even appear in the top 50.
There are four national publications that rank the quality of american universities (academic rankings):
1. US News & World Report
2. The Atlantic
3. CollegeProwler (see “www.collegeprowler.com”)
4. The Princeton Review’s “Toughest Schools to Get Into” ranking
152.
More accurate rankings | December 16, 2006 at 5:58 pm
It would be nice to see the authors here discussing the academic rankings put forth by College Prowler (www.collegeprowler.com), The Princeton Review (”Toughest Schools to Get Into”), The Atlantic (2003) and US News. These are national publications held in high regard. They certainly make more sense than the Financial Times ranking which is based largely on a school’s publication output rather than academic quality (any ranking that places Dartmouth or Brown beyond the top 50 and places schools without undergrad programs in their ranking should be suspect).
153.
Chris | December 16, 2006 at 11:59 pm
well i didn’t get in
getting deferred is a bitch…
154.
kati | December 17, 2006 at 9:13 am
what about PRINCETON????? the agony of college is worse than the agony of love…help me!
155.
kati | December 17, 2006 at 9:26 am
i had a princeton interview and we just sat around and talked for a while about my life, my interviewers days at princeton, and current events. so casual i couldnt believe it.
156.
Vee | December 17, 2006 at 2:07 pm
During the test day, I brought in the scientific Casio fx-991MS and Graphing Casio-9850GB Plus and honestly, the graphing calculator helped me only in one number.
In my opinion, I think everyone should just try to get used to the scientific calculator as the graphing calculator is rarely needed as far as I’ve seen.
157.
izzy | December 18, 2006 at 6:29 pm
hey kati, I was so stressed about it too. So stressed, I phoned princeton! they were really nice about it and they told me right then and there.
158.
aj | December 18, 2006 at 9:13 pm
“The point I’m trying to get at is that you should never sell yourself short and settle for a ‘good’ college or a ‘lower Ivy’ (Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, UPenn, and Columbia) just because you might not get into Harvard. There is a reason why people are immediately impressed when they here even a muttering of Harvard whereas most people don’t even know that Dartmouth is a college, let alone a member of the Ivy League. Always try for the best; you owe at least that much to yourself for the four years you’ve toiled and suffered to be in the position you’re in today.”
Uh, NO. I agree with what Linda says–you don’t necessarily owe it to yourself to attempt one of the name-brand colleges or universities. You DO owe it to yourself to choose a school where you will have a spectacular four years, with an environment tailored to YOUR particular learning needs. Have some common sense, PLEASE.
159.
Denise | December 19, 2006 at 1:14 am
What’s the address to send the “letter to the school, IN WRITING, requesting that your application be looked at under a different major”? Where should I send my request to UC Berkeley and UCLA to? What’s the two addresses?
160.
Ralph | December 21, 2006 at 4:24 pm
Hi again! Well, I just got my SAT II results and it seems I’m a pretty bad predictor. Turns out I did a lot better in Chemistry and a lot worse in Math 1 than I thought originally thought.
Chemistry – 670
Math Level 2 – 670
Math Level 1 – 590
I seriously don’t know what happened here. But, anyway, I know that a 700 is good for the top colleges, but are 670’s really that bad? Could it be a deal breaker? Would it be worth telling them that I hadn’t taken math or chem. courses for about 8 months (I couldn’t take bio or physics because I haven’t finished those courses yet), and that I’m from Canada so I wasn’t used to the SAT’s? Or would they not care? I’m so confused…
Thanks for any help,
Ralph
161.
Yvonne | December 22, 2006 at 1:00 am
hey, i’m an international student currently but my dad will be working in the states (CA) starting Oct 07 on a H1 visa. if i’m thinking of applying for a state university (UC), can i apply for in-state tuition fees? and will my chances of getting a scholarship be higher?
also, i got a score of 780 for math, 750 for verbal, and 640 for writing on the recent reasoning test. should i take it again? is it good enough for a place in UC berkeley?
in the recent subject tests, i got 750 for bio E and 770 for chem, and i’ll be taking math 2 next jan. is it a competitive score for applying to a prestigous course in UC (say, science major or business)?
162.
dhuv | December 22, 2006 at 9:14 pm
i got my sat 2 results yesterday and was quite dejected..got 720 in maths level 2 and physics 730.what should i submut these scores or should i plan a retest,,plz suggest..
thanks
163.
ashdk | December 23, 2006 at 11:34 pm
I dont think that someone who got a 700 plus in their one of the SAT score shouldn’t be complaing. Thats just selfish in my opinion
164.
Left | December 24, 2006 at 3:34 am
Does anyone know what the cutoff is for each state?
165.
Jen | December 24, 2006 at 9:31 pm
Google “PSAT Cutoff Index”
166.
Linda | December 25, 2006 at 3:22 am
Ralph,
If you are an American Indian with a tribal affiliation you will have NO problem getting into one the more prestigious private colleges in the States. Your scores are pretty good and your grades are as well. I have a neighbor who has a tribal affiliation and was recruited quite rigorously by all the Ivies. Good Luck!
167.
Maggie | December 25, 2006 at 9:40 am
did anyone of you get deferred by Cornell?
mm…what next now?
168.
Not from US | December 25, 2006 at 10:59 pm
Hey there!
I’m not from the United States, but I intend to apply to MIT and I’m looking for a few different opinions of my chances of getting in. Despite the fact that I received what I expected in the SAT I Math, I did not do as well as expected in Critical Reading and Writing. My SAT I scores were (Math 800/Reading 680/Writing 640/Total 2120) and my SAT II scores were (Physics 800/Math 770). From what I’ve read, these are decent scores and I was particularly pleased with the physics, but I am not familiar with the SATs – I just found out about them last year – and any extra advice or even comments would be appreciated.
Thank you.
169.
Anna | December 26, 2006 at 3:57 am
Hi, I am also applying to UC schools. But the more I read about students applying there also, the more I am regretting it! I am a very hard worker, I take AP classes and hold a 4.286 GPA. But my SAT scores are seriously crap! I’m talkin mid to upper 500’s. It was also a disappointment when my Dec SAT Subject results came in. I think I will totally do better if I take them again but will the UC schools even look at SAT scores after the Dec score report deadline?
Thanks for much for your help!
170.
Yong Bin | December 27, 2006 at 4:21 pm
Hmm if possible I would like to know how these universities do their academics as well.
U Penn
U Chicago
Princeton U
U Michigan
Yup. I must say you guys have done a really great job. *salute*
171.
Yong Bin | December 27, 2006 at 4:23 pm
How’s the social environment in Harvard? Are people at Harvard overly obsessed with elitism like what ppl say?
172.
Joe | December 29, 2006 at 10:21 am
Hi.
This questions is about the ivies. I sent in my secondary school report, but forgot to send in the official transcripts with them. Is it okay to send them in separately?
173.
Alex | January 2, 2007 at 4:59 am
I was deferred from Cornell as well, the hotel school actually.
lame
174.
Carolyn | January 7, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Great tips. I’m actually going for an interview the day after tomorrow.
175.
Carolyn | January 7, 2007 at 7:55 pm
great tips.
176.
Edie | January 7, 2007 at 11:10 pm
I took the PSAT in early October and found out this week (January 4th) that I am a semifinalist. I have two concerns.
1) When I got my PSAT scores from my guidance counselor, he said that there was a possibility that I might have to take the SAT as part of the process. I got a 2310 on the real SAT in December (with which I was satisfied) and, quite honestly, I don’t want to take it again. Since I took it two months after the PSAT, do you think I will have to take it again?
2.) My GPA is around a 3.6/3.7 on an unweighted scale of 4.0. I took really challenging classes, but do you think this will eliminate me?
177.
Edie | January 8, 2007 at 12:16 am
Northwestern requires (or required last year) at least a 32 on the ACT to even apply.
178.
Mimi | January 8, 2007 at 2:13 am
Hi,
I was deferred from my early school in December. I’ve now finished my RD applications and realized that my new essays are infinitely better than the ones I sent in early. Can I now send in my new essays to replace the ones I sent in a while ago? The RD deadline for this school has passed, however.
Thanks for everything!
-Mimi
179.
Sam Jackson | January 8, 2007 at 4:25 am
I used blix back for WP 1.5… good stuff. Some of the hardcoded tweaks can be hard to work with if you want to customize, though.
180.
Aaron | January 8, 2007 at 8:46 am
I really like the new layout! Though I will miss seeing who the author of each post is and the tags (though the tags can be found when you click on comments I just saw…). Otherwise, I really like the color scheme, not too harsh!
181.
Patti | January 8, 2007 at 4:41 pm
What is the cutoff score for qualifiying?
182.
Siddhartha | January 8, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Whoa! I love the new layout. It’s so much more user-friendly and pleasant to look at. Nice job!
183.
louuuuu | January 9, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Hi! I am an applicant of the UC and now it’s time to update my application. One section asked applicants to provide information related to academic record. One example of what the school wants us to report is “If you know that your academic performance in your final semester will significantly improve, please explain what circumstances have changed in your life that will enable you to earn higher grades.” Does providing this kind of information matter? Thanks
184.
Annie | January 10, 2007 at 2:00 am
When submitting my RD applications, as long as i submit it by the day the deadline is, does it matter how close i cut it time-wise? Will i be disadvantaged because my applications were sent (online) on the 30th when the deadline was the 31st or the 1st?
185.
Lena | January 10, 2007 at 3:13 am
The new layout is great! I like the colors!
186.
AMY | January 11, 2007 at 2:59 am
WHEN CAN WE KNOW THE California’s PSAT cutoff this year for National Merit semi-finalists?
187.
Jen | January 12, 2007 at 3:29 am
^^By logging onto collegeboard.com/psatextra, you’re supposed to be able to compare yourself to other students in your state.
188.
Kathy | January 13, 2007 at 1:45 am
i got deferred from cornell. it sucks. but what does it really mean. I’m international by the way.
189.
Theodore | January 14, 2007 at 11:30 pm
As usual I am kind of nervous about the whole idea. My most feared question would be why princeton over for example Yale? Both offer majors i am interested in and lovely learning environments.
190.
Theodore | January 14, 2007 at 11:42 pm
I am nervous as usual about the encounter I will have in two days with the interviewer. My most feared question is why princeton over all the other schools. I mean Yale and Princeton both offer economics and exciting environments. How can you simply decide which is “better” or what makes Princeton tick more than another?!!
191.
dan | January 17, 2007 at 10:42 pm
We are looking for an excellent school to send our kids. Can anyone recommend a public school district (non-magnet) that scores close to 30 on the ACTs? For Example, Gunn in Palo Alto seems to average 29 on the ACT. Any information would be helpful. Thanks!
192.
Mary | January 27, 2007 at 9:57 pm
The most current scores I could find for Northwestern are Verbal 650-740 Math 670-760
193.
Barbara | February 7, 2007 at 1:21 am
Hi! Wow, I just found this today– thank you for not pulling the same shit counselors pull about “doing what YOU want” or “choosing classes you LIKE” or “sleeping” (what is that, anyway? Just kidding.).
Not that there isn’t some truth to that advice, but I’m glad to find something that offers advice that will actually be listened to by someone trying to be competitive for a spot at University of Pennsylvania.
Just wondering: what exactly are the consequences of not going to the Early Decision school that accepted you? I’m not so vain as to think it’s going to happen for me next year, but everything I’ve checked basically just refers to the consequence as “serious”. Do you know what it even entails?
194.
Jenny | February 8, 2007 at 4:20 am
I was just wondering, do you think it is easier for females to get accepted into Engineering because of the small number of females in Engineering?
And I had thought that Engineering had the lowest acceptance rate.
Please comment, thanks.
195.
Pushyami | February 9, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Are there any schools ranked in the top 50 nationally that have rolling admissions? Has U Mich given up rolling admissions starting ‘08?
Admitspit seems to have gone dormant after adopting the new look … whatsup?
196.
Kacie | February 12, 2007 at 3:25 am
Dan…
They don’t exist. If you’re depending on the high school’s average ACT to raise your kid’s scores up, you’re outta luck.
Your kids will do the best they can do. I’m at an average public high school, and I got a 35 on the ACT. My parents’ friends’ kid is at a $20,000/year private school. He got a 32.
And if you’re really scheming to find a public school that meet those criteria, you need to seriously re-evaluate your priorities.
197.
Dee | February 12, 2007 at 8:13 am
I don’t know Kacie… I think you’re being a little too hard on Dan. I think it’s good that he’s trying to find a good school for his kids, but it’s true that he’ll be hard pressed to find any stats of this kind. Definitely at most good schools if his kids put in the effort to get a good education and meet their potential academically, they will do well on the ACT.
198.
Ralph | February 14, 2007 at 7:02 pm
I have a fact sheet from Yale that says the Class of 2010 had a middle 50% of 29-34 on the ACT
199. RubySquad | February 15, 2007 at 6:46 am
Harvard eliminates early admission
What’s the big deal about Harvard? Bill Gates did not like it that much. Anyway, has anyone heard of Western Governors University?…
200.
horace ward | February 16, 2007 at 4:13 pm
My son who is twelve and in the 7th grade would like to attend a Ivy league school. He recently took the SAT and scored 1720, i.e. CR = 660; Math = 540; Writing = 520. Do you have any proven tools to help raise his score to acceptable Ivy league level within the next four years?
201.
Jen | February 17, 2007 at 8:45 pm
What’s the big deal with Harvard?
I don’t like Harvard either, but I find it a “big” deal.
Why? Harvard is the college. Regardless of whether or not Bill Gates likes it, Harvard has quite a bit of a reputation. If Harvard deems something, say EA, as useless and discards it, it’s sort of expected that other schools do the same or at least experiment more with it. It’s a bit like Follow the Leader.
But that’s my opinion, and I’m not Bill Gates.
202.
Robin Dean | February 17, 2007 at 9:48 pm
I just heard through the grapevine that students who apply to both UCLA and UC Berkeley are only admitted to one or the other but not both. I really want to go to UCLA but also applied to Berkeley even though it is not one of my top schools. Does anyone know if this is true and if I can withdraw my Berkeley app?
203.
Wendan | February 18, 2007 at 3:21 am
First of all I just want to say that I love this blog… it’s just a wealth of information!
Second, I need some advice on my situation. I don’t know where to put it so I guess I’ll post it here. I’m a grade 11 student at a public high school in suburban Vancouver, Canada. Sometime last year I had the impulse of wanting to go to a prestigious American school (the Ivies, MIT, Stanford, etc.). I have really good grades (99% – #1 out of a class of 380), pretty good extracurriculars (Student Council, Debate Team…), etc. so I thought “why not give it a try… open more doors.” So I studied for the SAT and got a 2390 in Oct. I was so excited and I thought that is way too good to throw away. And just last week I found out that I got an 800 on my Bio M SAT. But now the entire thought of applying to US universities is really daunting and stressing me out and I don’t know if it’s really worth it and if I even stand a chance. I’ll have NO problem whatsoever getting into a top Canadian university… I really don’t know if I’m just wasting my time and money vying for such a slime chance of getting into a good US school… And there really is no point going to the States if I don’t get into one of the top universities. And my parents aren’t really supporting this whole idea of going to the US and they tell me that even if I get accepted I won’t be able to go since they can’t afford it. I’m just kind of lost right now, not sure where I’m going in life… So I’d really appreciate it if you could please give me some perspective and direction and tell me what you think of my situation. Thank you!
204.
Andrew | February 18, 2007 at 7:51 am
do you have a similar list for regular admissions?
205.
Lisa | February 18, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Guys, the SAT may only be a piece of your application, but it is a really big piece! The higher your score, the broader the range of schools who will want you, and the more financial aid opportunities you will have. I prepared with Kaplan, raised my SAT alot, and got alot of college paid for!
206.
Billie | February 19, 2007 at 6:03 am
Just wondering, how important is the SAT writing section? i know a bunch of colleges say it doesn’t count, but really, there is an obvious difference between a 700+ score and a 600+ score. I scored very well in both reading and math, both in the high 700’s, but i “bombed” the writing section, and got a mid 600’s score. (this was way under my PSAT writing score of 74!). Also, if i were to take the SAT again, and do well in writing, but go down in reading by a lot (like low 700’s, or even upper 600’s, which is likely for me), would they still look at my highest score from the previous test? I know they say they will take the highest score from 3 separate sittings, but seeing a bad score, even accidentally, may influence their decision. Thank you. btw, I’m a junior.
207.
Dee | February 19, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Damn! A 2390 on the SAT with outstanding SAT Subject Test scores, plus being from out of the US?!
You have a fantastic chance at being admitted to the top US universities, Weyden. Plus, they’ll probably offer you financial aid if you apply and let them know that your parents can’t afford to pay for the whole US tuition.
I rather certain with those scores you’ll be accepted to plenty of top US academic institutions. But don’t forget the other aspects of the application as well; you should have extracurricular activities and your essays and recommendations should be top as well! Good luck! I’m sure you’ll succeed wonderfully.
–Dee
208.
SS | February 20, 2007 at 4:14 am
Do you know what the requirements are to be recognized by the National Merit Scholarship people? I got a 225 on the PSAT, but I’m not a permanent resident of the US yet…..I’ve applied for a green card (like two years ago)…so am I eligible?
209.
SS | February 20, 2007 at 4:22 am
I’ve moved schools twice in high school, so I’ve never been able to be involved in a club for more than a year. THat makes leadership positions somewhat hard to come by. Do you think colleges will understand this?
210.
Barbara | February 21, 2007 at 6:19 am
Wow. I have basically the exact same scenario as Billie: 780 CR/M, 690 W. Somewhat disheartening since I got a 230 and 240 the last two years I’ve taken the PSAT… But perfection is a rarity! I’m still deciding on whether to retake.
211.
czlaw | February 21, 2007 at 7:06 am
Robin, don’t listen to the grapevine. It is absolutely untrue that you can only be accepted to either UC Berkeley or UCLA. Both schools have their own admissions readers and their own policies on who gets in. They do not compare acceptances, nor do they meter them out between them. Assuming you have the grades/test scores and requirements to get a good score under the holistic/comprehensive review process, your application will stand on its own merit at each school. If you don’t get into both, it won’t be because of some rumored “behind the scenes” collusion between them.
Carolyn Lawrence, independent college planner.
212.
czlaw | February 21, 2007 at 7:22 am
Horace,
You are probably not going to like the advice I have to give you for your son, but here it is any way.
Don’t start stressing yourself or – perhaps more importantly – stressing out your son – over college admissions. He is 12. Much can, and will change, over the next five years. There is a world of difference between what a 12 year old child supposedly wants, and what a 17 or 18 year old young adult wants and eventually decides on.
The best thing you can do to help your son attend the best college for him is to not make the next five years of his life be solely about getting into college. Work with his middle school and high school to make sure he is taking appropriate courses, give him lots of opportunities to read for pleasure, and let him develop and explore his own interests and talents, not those someone deems “the best” for admissions purposes.
Colleges and universities aren’t looking for robots who have had parents pushing them towards “the Ivy league” since birth. They’re looking for people who are real 17 and 18 year olds, who have a sense of themselves, who have, in short, done more in high school than just worry about prepping for the SATs or getting into the Ivy League.
So, make sure he’s taking courses that are challenging, encourage him to read for pleasure, and listen to what he says about what he truly loves doing, not what you think he should be doing to “prep” for college admissions. When it comes time for him to look at colleges (in junior year of high school!), don’t already have your mind made up that he’ll attend an “ivy League” school – keep an open mind about the full range of wonderful schools out there, and listen to what your 17 or 18 year old son wants, not what you think your 12 year old son wants. That is the BEST way to help your son find and get into the right college match.
I would also highly recommend that you buy a copy of a book on college admissions written by the director of admissions at MIT, Marilee Jones. It’s called Less Stress, More Success.
Life is short. Don’t waste the last years of your son’s childhood stressing him and yourself out over college admissions. Enjoy who he is, encourage him to try new things, watch him grow, and all will work out just fine.
Carolyn Lawrence, independent college counselor
213.
Sam Jackson | February 23, 2007 at 4:11 am
Do you know which of these are mail only, or which have online notifications in some form at the same or different time? Good list!
214.
CDA | February 23, 2007 at 1:52 pm
LoL, well my scores are:
Critical Reading: 680
Maths: 780
Writing: 700
Combined = 2160
SAT II scores:
Math Level II – 800
Physics – 780
Chemistry – 760
I wanna get MIT or Harvard!!! (i have loads of extracurriculars too). But it seems my scores are only average, damn! And to ashdk – we have every right to complain if we don’t make the college we want even if we have scores of 700+ in some subjects. And im from AUSTRALIA btw, so anyone noe wat my chances are like?
215.
Aaron | February 25, 2007 at 9:41 am
CDA-
In general, your SAT scores are great (your critical reading score is a little lower than the average for top tier schools). Your SAT scores would not keep you out of any schools; however, they would not get you in either (then again, that can’t even be guaranteed with a perfect score anymore…)
As long as you are an interesting candidate with good EC’s, essays, and GPA, you should be fine. Though I have no experience with the international applicant process, so I can’t comment on that part.
Good luck!
-Aaron
216.
Debbie | February 25, 2007 at 6:28 pm
yea, i heard about that. however, i mean, not all is lost. Stanford should still have the supplement, and still would be able to answer the same quirky questions?
217.
M | February 26, 2007 at 4:19 am
It’s true that the name Harvard will help you get a great job after college. However, after the first month of a job, you are evaluated on your performance, not the school you attended. In regards to coasting through life after graduating from Harvard, that is false. The only Harvard graduates who do that are ones with enough connections/money. Additionally, other Ivies, such as U Penn’s Wharton school, lead their students to the fast track in the business world. Non ivies such as MIT and Cal Tech have much better engineering programmes than Yale. Hence, if you are not sure what you are interested in, then Harvard is arguably the best school to attend. Yet, if you have an idea which field you are interested in, Harvard is not necessarily the best choice.
218.
CDA | February 26, 2007 at 9:36 am
thanks for the insight Aaron. But the fact that im from overseas and our curriculum is obviously different to america and we don’t have like “SAT prep courses” or anything, so i’m hoping they’ll take that into consideration and give me bonus. lol i hope too much ey. a man can dream.
219.
dinakaran | February 27, 2007 at 12:10 pm
hi
i need interview questions
and particularaly i need tell me about your self.
Regards
dina
220.
Andrew | February 28, 2007 at 2:15 am
thanks, this is really helpful!
you might want to include that some of them allow you to check decisions online such as MIT and UCBerkeley
221.
Aaron | February 28, 2007 at 9:10 am
I am sure that the admissions committee will definitely take the fact that you live overseas into consideration. Most colleges split their admission officers into regions working with regions (Pacific North West, North East, etc). I am sure they have international admissions officers that focus on the applicants of a few countries. They know the students from those regions much better than I do, and so they take what they know into consideration when they read your application – before they “go to bat for you.” All of it is in context, and don’t worry I think it’s more of a feeling they get about the applicant.
I doubt you will ever hear “Oh, if they only scored 10 points higher in Critical Reading and Writing… THEN we could let them in!” Your SAT I scores are nothing to be ashamed of, and your SAT II scores are stellar. If your resume matches your scores, you should have a very good shot at any school you wish to attend.
-Aaron
222.
Jason | March 1, 2007 at 3:13 am
The new SAT is pretty remedial. With about a month of hard work over the summer (8-10 hours a day), any top student should be able to score above 2300, probably above 2350. If you havent really tried to prep, think about it. THe classes are not enough. You have to take a strong personal interest in the exam. Engage in it. Love it.
223.
Serena | March 1, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Hi,
I’ve applied to Cornell for architecture and i’m nervously waiting for the decision date!!! Just to scare myself, or somehow make myself feel better or I don’t know, but what percent is accepted fora rchitecture? i mean i know they only accept like less than 60 people, but how many people actually apply for architecture?
Thanks!!!
Love
S
224.
johnathan santaliz 12 yea&hellip | March 3, 2007 at 1:20 am
i will like to take a test to go to your school when i am 18 years old. is there any chance of me taking a test right now.
225.
Aaron | March 4, 2007 at 3:04 am
which test and which school? a little confused by your comment.
226.
Leslie | March 5, 2007 at 7:53 pm
how about Tufts?
227.
freshman | March 6, 2007 at 3:32 am
I dont know when to take the bio e/m sat subjuct test. the one in june is the weekend before finals and the one in may seems too soon.
228.
Colleen | March 6, 2007 at 11:52 pm
I got a 21. I’m in 7th grade. If I were to go to college right now, what good schools in or around Massachusetts could I get into with a GPA of 3.7 and a 21 on the ACT? Please email me back!!!
229.
josh | March 7, 2007 at 5:33 am
thank you for the tips there realy gonna help me
230.
Beatrice | March 8, 2007 at 5:07 am
Wow, I got a 29.
I’m a failure.
231.
joe | March 12, 2007 at 5:12 pm
I am from Canada and have a combined sat1 score of 1400, but in Canada we don’t use GPA just precent if i have 89% overall what is my gpa and chances to go to stanford at this stage.
232.
CDA | March 13, 2007 at 12:59 am
How can you have combined 1400, what about your writing? And also your SAT II scores?
233.
joe | March 13, 2007 at 5:04 am
sorry 2100 sat
234.
Wendy | March 13, 2007 at 9:09 am
Hi. I just want to say that I find this website to be really helpful and I thought I’d let you know—Dartmouth is posting their decisions online on March 29th.
235.
Wendy | March 13, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Jason, I have to say, that’s going a little overboard. A college would much rather see that you did something exciting and interesting with your summer than a good combined SAT score because you wasted your summer prepping for it. I didn’t waste my summer studying, in fact, I only had a few tutoring sessions in September before I retook the test and I got a combined 2220 (800 Writing/710 Math/710 Critical Reading). Personally, I wouldn’t stress too much about the SATs.
236.
Wendy | March 13, 2007 at 11:25 pm
According to the College Board, Princeton’s middle 50% range of ACT scores is 30-34.
237.
Susan | March 14, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Great list – just some additional info: Yale and Brown release decisions online on 3/29 (and apparently Dartmouth according to the post above). MIT releases online on 3/17; and Davidson releases online on 3/24…
238.
Reggie | March 15, 2007 at 2:20 am
Thanks, this is pretty helpful. Also, I just want to say that Penn’s Regular Decisions go up on March 29th too.
239.
zachary | March 15, 2007 at 3:27 am
NYU is definately there? then perhaps why not Brandeis too ?!
240.
Jen | March 16, 2007 at 12:02 am
If you haven’t noticed the trend from past comments on here, all the Ivies are collectively posting decisions online on March 29th–at 5 pm, to be exact.
241.
Annie | March 16, 2007 at 1:49 am
i think USC should be on the list if UCLA and NYU are!
242.
BB | March 16, 2007 at 5:22 am
I was recently reading a Princeton Review college book and it said that many of the Ivies – notably harvard along with a few companions – highly recommended four years of a foreign language. When they say “recommend”, what does that really mean? Does it mean “mandatory”? Thank you. I would fit Span IV into my schedule, but i simply cannot legally take 8 classes. I’m taking the four AP core classes along with journalism, Symphonic Band (highest band), and Academic Decathlon. Is that good enough?
243.
jkl; | March 16, 2007 at 5:51 am
out of ten what would you consider the unvirsity of torontos medical program
244.
Susan | March 16, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Jen & Wendy – just curious about where you got your info…we applied at Harvard, Yale, Brown, Princeton and Dartmouth and the only definate online release info has come from Yale & Brown. It would be great to have answers from all on the 29…
245.
sheila | March 16, 2007 at 7:12 pm
I think Edie is confused-she may be a semifinalist eventually, but that hasn’t happened yet, at least according to the college board. her scores are probably a lock, they just haven’t announce this yet
246.
Marcos andres | March 17, 2007 at 12:28 am
i applied to UPENN for regular decision. i would like to know if i could be admitted to UPENN if i got four letter of recomendations, a GPA of 97/100, but i got 900 in the SAT. Besides, i had extra curricular activities such as the following: i was the vicepresident from my high school, and i won the first place in my country as the best public speaker in the national debate tournament.Do you think i could be admitted?………… i am a little worried and anxious to know the answer. MY SAT II was math 1 with 480 and math 2 with 550…….i do not know what to think ……please
247.
katie | March 18, 2007 at 3:36 am
Hi. I was wondering if Luke can post some ACT tips and whatnot
248.
Wendy | March 18, 2007 at 9:35 pm
I applied to Dartmouth and if you check your status online, it tells you in the “letter” that they are planning on posting their decisions on March 29th.
249.
Bob Werber | March 19, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Hello,
I thought you might be interested by an article we ran today about Arizona State University’s new plan to link a part of its president’s pay package to getting the school a higher rank in U.S. News & World Report. Critics of the magazine’s ranking system are growing in the higher education ranks, including Lloyd Thacker of the Education Conservancy, who called Arizona’s plan “rotten, educationally irresponsible, wimpy, short-sighted and wrong.”
The article is at: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/03/19/usnews
250.
JANAK | March 19, 2007 at 7:18 pm
UPENN: AVERAGE ACT: 32
251.
Theron | March 19, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Hi, I’m posting because I have two worries concerning college applications, one of which concerns SAT scores.
1) In the Sat I received a score of 2220, with 800 in Writing and 800 in Critical Reading but 620 in Maths. I am planning to apply to the top colleges in America, and am therefore wondering if I should retake the SAT in the hope of receiving a higher Maths score, as I realise it’s below average for a top university.
However, I don’t think it’s worth the effort to retake the entire exam for the sake of a few extra points, as this is a good reflection of my current ability in Maths (I was getting 580 in practice tests). I attend school in England, meaning I have A levels to study for and I don’t think I can devote more time for Maths, which I’m not taking at A Level. Any guidance as to whether I should retake the SAT 1 is much appreciated.
2) My second problem is the fact that the SAT 2 (subject tests) don’t really fit my abilities. I am doing Geography, Economics, Medieval History and English for A level, so I have decided to definitely do Literature as one of my subject tests, but the other three subjects aren’t offered as SAT subjects.
I have to decide whether it’s worth me spending a large proportion of my time studying for the French Subject Test or Biology Subject Test when I have to revise for my A Levels between now and May as well. Although I am relatively good at French and Bio, I have looked at the preparation books for these tests and I will have to make a serious commitment to receive a high mark in the SAT tests.
Any feedback is much appreciated, and sorry my post is so long
thx.
252.
Naik | March 21, 2007 at 1:36 am
Harvard, Princeton and Yale are posting decisions online at 5.00 pm ET on Mar 29th
253.
Andrea | March 21, 2007 at 2:31 am
Hi, I just discovered this site and wish that I had known about it when I was applying to colleges last year. The responses from the blog writers is extremely professional and knowledgeable; if I hadn’t looked at the ”about AdmitSpit writers” section, I would’ve been convinced that admissions staffers were in charge.
Just a quick correction – the University of Southern California has been sending out admittance letters since February, with the first round going out to the full and half tuition scholarship candidates. Non-scholarship admits have been hearing back since March, and the tail end of applicant pool have their letters sent out on April 1. The last letters sent out on April 1 have more rejection letters than acceptance. In other words, admit letters for USC have been sent out since February, and basically those with the best qualifications hear back as early as February, but the non-major scholarship candidates started hearing back in March.
254.
RalphB | March 21, 2007 at 5:44 am
Hmmm…I find a lot of your advice pretty helpful, but I’m not sure about this one. If she can only take three or four A-Levels she should take the ones she’s really passionate about because she’ll do better on them. As long as you also maintain a good GPA, don’t stress about the SAT2’s too much. I had two 670’s on math and chem and I still got accepted to MIT, so it’s okay. (PS I think they notice that you’re international and SATs are inconvenient and take that into account)
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Dee | March 21, 2007 at 7:06 am
Ralph you’re totally right that students should be passionate about the classes they are taking, and I’m the last one to want people to take classes they don’t like just for the heck of it! It’s always tough though having limited information in people’s comments, and I hope everyone reading understands that any advice we give here doesn’t purport to know the full story and all your interests, etc. I read Theron’s comment as having a willingness to indeed be okay with switching to take Bio or French instead of one of the four chosen; it didn’t seem Theron was totally tied down to those exact four but rather that taking Bio or French instead would just be more difficult/challenging.
Also I’m glad you pointed out Ralph that schools will take into account whether a student is international and that leads me to think that we really do need someone here at AdmitSpit writing about applying from outside the US! I’ll work on it…
256.
Anthony | March 22, 2007 at 7:50 am
very racist. where are african universities and the rest. stop imperialism
257.
Gabriel | March 23, 2007 at 11:32 am
Does anyone know whether Hamilton, Bowdoin, Connecticut and Bates post regular decisions online and when? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
cheers,
g
258.
Future Neurosurgeon | March 24, 2007 at 3:20 pm
The national cutoff index has risen from 202 in 2005, to 203 for 2006 PSAT takers. For individual state cutoff indices, google “PSAT cutoff index”
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Helen | March 25, 2007 at 9:59 pm
I am a Canadian student and I have a question related to this issue.I took French in grade 9 and did not take it after that. Then, I realized when I was doing some research on the American colleges, I saw that they recommend 4 years of foreign language. The education system here in Canada requires you to take one level after the other. So should I take French next year after dropped it for a year? I know Chinese extremely well (800 in SAT II Chinese), so does this count as their recommended foreign language?
260.
Paul Mulkerrin | March 25, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Since we can know only part of the elephant that is selective college admissions, I can give Dee’s comments on retesting here a strong endorsement: they exactly match my experience.
One improvement I can suggest is for Theron to ask the international admissions person at each of the schools to which she’s applying how they view A-level results. At the colleges with the largest applicant pools & admissions staffs, the committees are very familiar with the material tested, the range of actual results and the conversion or transferability of those British letter grades. Each of the HYPS-level schools have seen hundreds of applicants from UK and British Commonwealth schools annually for more than a decade now.
Another independent counselor (that is, one other than me) tells me that the UK’s A to E grades correspond roughly to the 5 to 1 scores that we Americans see from AP tests. Makes sense.
So, Theron, you should:
1.) Check with each school you’re considering (finding the individual to e-mail & tweaking a standard e-mail for each should be trivial) to ask if you can substitute A-level scores OR AP test scores for SAT subject tests. [Every US college with which I'm familiar has a higher confidence level in the conclusions they draw from AP test scores than the results of SAT subject tests.]
2.) If necessary, you can also make a compelling financial case for considering your A-levels. Taking any of the College Board’s subject or AP tests abroad are unbelievably expensive; generally more than 100 Euros or $120 each.
3.) Just as Dee says, use your time to do well on the A-levels for which you enjoy the work.
4.) Finally, we’ll all cheat you if we don’t tell you that this testing talk is, unlike in the UK, about a small part of your application. You’ll get much further investing time in demonstrating (not just saying) that you have a clear passion for some aspect of life on your chosen American campuses.
Three Stooges marathons, ultimate frisbee & naked parties are unique to US campus life. But you’re better served by thinking through why you want to attend a 4-year US liberal arts college instead of a 3-year, ‘pick your major when you apply’ UK university. Then, make the case for your position and your ambitions briefly & persuasively in your essays.
261.
Zach | March 26, 2007 at 4:49 am
UCSD is the only UC that is split up into 6 different sub-colleges
What about UC-Santa Cruz … it has 10 different sub-colleges?
262.
john | March 27, 2007 at 12:27 am
Rumor has it this guy ripped off soon to launch Zandigo (http://www.zandigo.com) and is going to face some legal problems.
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Pouya | March 27, 2007 at 4:54 am
All the ivy league schools release their decisions on the same day and time on 3/29 at 5 pm
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EEJ | March 27, 2007 at 6:05 am
It doesn’t make any sense to me why there are separate cutoffs for each state. According to my score report, I received a 212, which is in the 99th national percentile. However, I live in Massachusetts, which last year had a cutoff of 222 (one of the highest, along with NJ). It seems to me that a 212 from MA should be recognized before a 205 in Ark, Miss., or ND. It doesn’t seem fair that someone in the 90-95 percentile should receive a scholarship before someone in the 99th just because of the state they live in.
265.
Blarney McSmitherspants | March 27, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Does anyone know when Cornell will release decisions? I know the common ivy notification date is 3/29 but I cannot find any such confirmation anywhere on Cornell’s site. Penn and Columbia sent either mail or email to confirm the 3/29 date.
266.
Jeff | March 27, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Found your post linked from the UNC page (weird?) on http://www.mychances.net/ . I’m intrigued at how enthralled you are by Harvard.
It’s too bad that the actual data doesn’t back up your statements (by data, I mean income statistics). In fact, prospective studies show that attendance at an Ivy, including Harvard, doesn’t correspond with increased income throughout life vs people with similar scores who did not attend Harvard.
Eric – Ivysport is not an extension of the Ivy League conference, but way to blow your ego out of proportion. Harvard sales can be explained by the ungodly number of people who attend (not just undergrad, not just grad+professional, but also Harvard EXTENSION school).
267.
Wendy | March 27, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Gabriel – Bowdoin doesn’t post their decisions online, and I would guess that the others don’t either. I’ve found that most of the small private colleges I applied to only send out letters. However, and I know this probably won’t help you much, I do know that the latest Bowdoin will mail theirs is the first week of April. They don’t currently know when they will send them.
268.
Quynh | March 28, 2007 at 4:47 am
By online decisions you all mean by email? Or must we log into the school’s admission status page?
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BB | March 29, 2007 at 3:30 am
Thank you very much! By the way, I am a junior. I’ve finally decided to not take the 4th year of Spanish. I am EXTREMELY involved in Band and Journalism, and while AcDec isn’t considered AP/Honors, it will probably be one the the most rewarding classes I will ever take in high school. In addition, I hate Spanish – though i do have an A. Again, thank you. This site has been so helpful!!
270.
sam | March 29, 2007 at 5:38 am
hi, i was just wondering if anyone could tell me what the realistic chances are of getting into a school like stanford/princeton/etc with only a 2050 combined sat score.
however, i took the test without any prep so would it simply be better if i took it over?
thanks =)
271.
Susan Stone | March 29, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Anyone know anything about Vanderbilt stats?
272.
jj | March 30, 2007 at 12:11 am
if my SAT score was rather low (1320/2400) and GPA is around 3.5. is it possible to get into USC or UCLA art major?
273.
BB | March 30, 2007 at 6:15 am
To EEJ, I agree! I think i missed the CA cutoff by 1 point because I got a 215, and the past two years have both been 216! It’s really not fair to do this by state!
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Ciara | April 1, 2007 at 7:51 pm
I basically did horrible on the SAT’s. I received an overall score of 1440/2400. I just don’t understand why the SATs repeatedly continue to kick me in the face. I took a prep course and everything. On the other hand, this was my first real test that I took. I still have some more chances to improve.
It’s good that more and more colleges are making the SAT’s optional. I have a 4.0, I play sports for school, I’m in band, I work, and I’m in numerous clubs and National Honor Society. Colleges need to wake up and realize that the laziest of students can do well on the SAT’s, and not have anything else going for them. It can’t predict performance in college.
275.
Alexa | April 1, 2007 at 9:42 pm
I know this is a bit outdated, but if you read this, how do the engineering concentrations at Harvard compare to the education at other, more engineering-concentrated schools (I’m thinking U of M)? Thanks!
276.
Sam | April 2, 2007 at 1:35 am
i know a kid who scored a 2200 as a seventh grader, and currently in 9th grade, getting A+’s in all subjects, very good at instruments, and is on school teams. He’s the smartest in his AP class, having an average above 100
277.
Barbara | April 3, 2007 at 1:45 am
I just kind of search Yahoo! for AdmitSpit when I feel like reading college admissions help that sounds like a normal human being. Maybe because it is.
Works for me.
Alright, you’ve probably answered a question like this before, but I thought I’d cover all my bases. I recently auditioned for the choir program at my school and much to my surprise, made it into the top choir. We have an intensely-funded, talented program here and so this is a huge honor. However, like most arts classes, it’s not honors, not a core class, and will probably hurt my rank.
To take it, I will have to drop AP Bio (a honors-core class), and likely hurt my rank. I’m not going to be in a science-related major, but like most kids, I need those AP classes! What to do… what to do?
278.
Barbara | April 3, 2007 at 1:46 am
By the way, is it just me or are those smileys a little awkward?
279.
Marianne Ramsey | April 3, 2007 at 1:17 pm
How about Vanderbilt Unversity… specifically the College of Arts and Science and School of Engineering? Thanks
280.
Dave Van de Walle | April 3, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Hi. Great stuff on your blog…
Curious to see the traffic (elsewhere, not on this post) about Zinch…they’ve certainly done a few things right over the last couple weeks…
We’re similar to them, a little more akin to those common-style applications than a social networking thing, and happy to chat with you about what we’re up to, too…
Take care,
Dave
281.
Brad | April 5, 2007 at 2:45 am
Ripped off who? This is not a novel concept, it’s been done for years by U-sphere.com, studentprospector.com, and applingtoschool.com. Don’t try to push your own start up company that is behind the rest of the field. Zinch seems to be the first to actually appeal to students-at least compared to those others i mentioned.
282.
Lois | April 7, 2007 at 6:42 am
What about Parson’s School of Design?
283.
Alexandra | April 7, 2007 at 5:59 pm
I would love to get a copy of those vocabulary lists, but cannot seem to connect to the AdmitSpit Store. Is it still operational? Thanks so much!
284.
Farcy | April 9, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Does someone know if universities take into account that it’s harder for international students to prepare for the ACT/SAT? I’m studying for the SAT II with very old material (1998/99) cause that’s all I’ve got…am I hopeless??? I’m shocked by the enormous SAT prep industry you’ve got there! (I thought the SAT/ACT “measures your ability” to do math & english not to pay for books and courses of “preparation”).
285.
Devin DeBacker | April 10, 2007 at 1:26 am
“71% of grades given out at Harvard are A’s.”
And that was the result of the conservative study. Sounds like grade inflation to me. Not only that, Harvard undergrad is more name than education and academic challenge – you can understand that after talking to a Harvard undergrad for 5 minutes.
286.
ari | April 10, 2007 at 7:30 am
Do we have to put our 7th/8th grade grades?
287.
wanjira | April 11, 2007 at 10:34 am
how do i get to knoe the test stations in nairobi kenya
288.
aa | April 12, 2007 at 1:07 am
Vanderbilt for 2006 was 1300-1470, but they don’t break it down into Arts and Science and Engineering
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lynn | April 17, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Is the last story true about your friend? And how can a person really get out of ED with no consequences? Please respond
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Dee | April 18, 2007 at 3:58 pm
The last story was specifically about accepting admission to two schools during the regular admission round — neither yale nor stanford was an ED school for her — sorry if that was confusing… it was just to mention a related point!
291.
Les | April 19, 2007 at 3:25 am
I am not a college counselor but only a parent of a junior in high school now looking into colleges. But I totally agree with Carolyn Lawrence”s response to Horace on his 12 year old son. His son took the SAT!!!! Oh my god, it is too, too young. He won’t be thinking about college in 4 years, he will be burnt out. Please let him have a life as a kid in school. That doesn’t mean he can’t study and do well, but don’t put such huge pressure on him at that young of an age that he must get into an Ivy League school. He can have goals and aspirations, and he can do things to get closer to them especially by developing good study habits and expand his interests, but don’t have him studying for the SATs. It could just all backfire and he may resent school and college after a while. Encourage him but don’t stress him out.
292.
rich | April 20, 2007 at 5:08 pm
no doubt…did you start that rumour or….what? That is like saying, “Yeah dude, I totally heard Wendy’s is getting sued cuz they like copied the hamburger from McDonalds…dude, like its a rumour bro…”
Are you just trying to buy some time for Zandiggity-Do?
Rumour has it Zinch is rockin the house doink! Don’t try to bull crap ideas into readers. Coming soon eh? Yeah big deal….get a life.
293.
Nathan | April 25, 2007 at 8:15 pm
What should one at a college prep school with a 3.93 GPA get on the ACT before having a decent shot on acceptance at Harvard?
294.
Andres | April 26, 2007 at 3:21 am
Zandigo and Zinch are the same thing – same slogan, both claim to have won the Princeton Business Plan competition. Did the team members just have a huge fight and split up. Seriously, isn’t this like the 10th site trying to do the same thing?
To poster #3 – learn how to spell. It’s “rumor”.
To Zinch founders – stop being sketchy and paying bloggers to write about you
http://agklocke.typepad.com/angela_giles_klocke/2007/04/buzz_zinchcom.html
295.
James | April 27, 2007 at 4:34 am
What happened was that Mick (Zinch) and Jeremy (Zandigo) were originally working together….then decided to go different directions with the idea.
Doesn’t matter anyway. Zinch is dominating. According to their blog, they already have over 30,000 students. That’s pretty tight for only being live a little over a month. Zandigo hasn’t even launched yet. By the time Zandigo goes live, Zinch will already have smoked them.
296.
Shashwat | May 1, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Mick’s cool.
297.
Uncle Su | May 2, 2007 at 10:30 am
From UC Berkeley:
Can I appeal my admission decision?
We strongly discourage letters of appeal unless you can provide significant new information for us to consider. Our transfer selection process involves a careful review and it is very unlikely that we will choose to reverse our original decision. If you do have significant new information to present and decide to appeal our admission decision, please submit your request in writing, postmarked by May 15, 2007. Include your UC application ID number in your letter and submit it with all accompanying materials in a single envelope. We do not accept appeals by telephone, fax or e-mail. Log onto myBerkeleyApplication for your appeal decision. Decisions on appeals may not be issued until after June 15, 2007. Advise us of any change in your e-mail address in case we need to contact you during the appeal process. Even if you choose to appeal, we recommend that you do not delay accepting an admission offer from another college or university.
Mailing Address:
Transfer Appeals Committee
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
University of California, Berkeley
110 Sproul Hall #5800
Berkeley, CA 94720-5800
298.
Sarah | May 8, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Nathan, you will need a lot more than a good ACT score to get into Harvard. You have to stand out in a specific field as well as being top of your class, and very involved. Best of luck to you!
299.
dAEmon | May 11, 2007 at 12:23 am
I wish some statistics were available somewhere on a per-score basis; i.e. XX% of students with a 36 were accepted/ XX% of students with a 35…
300.
ads;fjs;af | May 12, 2007 at 3:30 am
You should add Emory to your top schools list.
301.
Kacie | May 20, 2007 at 4:24 am
yay for timely information…I guess if we all take it on the make-up dates, we might be able to ace the DBQ.
302.
Dee | May 20, 2007 at 7:09 am
Yup, you’re right… sorry about that Kacie — you know how it is… all our college writers have finals right now and all our high school writers had APs, so this month’s been a little tough getting content up, but hopefully it’ll come in handy for next year’s AP takers anyway…
303.
Lisa | May 24, 2007 at 12:51 am
Take the E. Its very easy.
304.
zhao | May 24, 2007 at 5:43 am
i got 670 in my SAT math 1 and 660 in my physics
are my score ok?
305.
zambian girl | May 24, 2007 at 1:38 pm
I just got my results and i didn’t score as well as i wanted to because when i wrote the exam that was the 1st time i had heard of it and i only prepared for them for a month. what are my chances of gettin into an american university with my scores(1780/2400) if i was an A student at my high school and was the highest in my grade.
306.
Theron | May 24, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Hey, it’s Theron. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my questions!! I have found the information you’ve provided me with to be very useful. I especially appreciate Paul’s feedback .
So, I’ve now taken the French and Literature SAT Subject Tests, and ended up with scores of 500 and 710 respectively. I’m pleased with both of these, especially considering the difficulty I had with the French paper. I’m definitely going to look into taking APs or substituting A Levels for Subject Tests, as both these options sound very attractive.
You’ve got me slightly worried, however! I sincerely hope Stanford and Princeton (the two US colleges I’m 100% sure I’ll apply to) will be content with two SAT 2s + A levels!!
Anyway, I found your response to be extremely helpful, Dee, and truly appreciate the time it took you to reply to my etensive problem
307.
daman | May 25, 2007 at 7:36 am
hey….i scored 1580 in my SAT….not too good i guess…..so i was thinkin in which univ shud in apply……any suggestion will be appriciated…thnx…bye..
308.
Jesse Paul | May 25, 2007 at 11:59 pm
Hello there,
When should we – students- expect appeal decisions?, hopefully not after June 15 as suggested on this site, has anyone received an earlier decision?
Thanks,
Jesse UCB Applicant.
309.
Kathleen | May 26, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Hey AdmitSpit People!
Before I ask my question, I just wanted to say thanks for creating such a great website. Also, perhaps you could create a contact form on a separate page instead of having to hunt for your contact information if, say, I wanted to email you. But that’s enough babbling; onto my question.
I recently visited a college, and they gave me a sample of the 2006-2007 common application. On this application was a sticker saying “application fee waived”. The problem is, the application is for the 2006-2007 season, and I won’t be applying until this fall. Should I remove the sticker from the common application papers? Also, does the common application require fees to send online? And finally, maybe you could post some websites to find scholarships, etc other than the traditional fastweb and collegeboard. They always seem to have repeats or outdated postings. Thanks so much and sorry for making you read my ridiculously long comment.
310.
Dee | May 27, 2007 at 7:43 am
Well, we responded to your preliminary questions! Check it out: http://admitspit.wordpress.com/2007/05/27/response-to-kathleen-common-app-and-stickers/.
We will definitely keep an eye out for better/alternative scholarship sites… but let us know if you find any worthwhile ones too, okay!?
311.
Elena | May 27, 2007 at 8:36 am
Hi, you asked for ideas, I guess I’ll give you a question. =)
What’s the point of sending SAT/ACT scores to colleges before senior year? I was trying to guess-timate the costs of applying to college, and I was guessing it’d be about $100 per college with all the tests and whatnot needed to be sent in addition to the actual app. I’ve heard that large colleges like the UCs don’t bother looking at students’ scores because they receive so many, and I’m guessing many privates hold the same policy? Do you know if colleges keep these files on record, or do you have to re-send the scores when you apply there?
312.
Anu | May 27, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Isnt a 720 or 730 out of 800 a good score?
I’m kind of alarmed..
I plan to take the SATs in a few months and I’m sort of getting worried..
313.
Anu | May 27, 2007 at 11:37 pm
I have just started preparing for the SAT and the Subject Tests, will be giving them around October.
Is that too late?
Which publications do you recommend? The official College Board?
Anything you’d like to tell me, advise me please?
314.
Elena | May 28, 2007 at 5:32 am
Thanks!
315.
tami | May 29, 2007 at 7:35 am
hey i was just wondering if a 1530/2400 on the sat is good , this is my second time taking it and the first time i got 1380/2400 i know really bad!
316.
Macayle | May 30, 2007 at 3:49 am
Okay..so I got back my SAT II score for Biology M. A 750. I feel kind of disappointed for some reason, and I am wondering if it’s a good enough score for an ivy league school. So I guess I am asking- what is a “good” SAT II score? I was looking over at College Confidential, after stumbilng across it, and goodness gracious those scores freaked me out a bit!
317.
Durga | May 30, 2007 at 12:02 pm
i want the tell about yourself model format
318.
Mike | May 30, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Why not take both math level 1 and 2?
319.
digambar giri | June 1, 2007 at 11:39 am
send me interview question
320.
chicz166 | June 2, 2007 at 5:44 am
seriously, everyone on this site needs to take a breath and calm down. You are going to get into amazing schools with scores over 700 and stop freaking out because you “only” got a 770 on math or some other junk. Kids these days are pushed ot the brink and have no idea how to handle all of the pressure. It is going to be okay…really.
good luck to you all – even though you really don’t need it.
321.
Poopscoop | June 2, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Where do u think I could get in with these scores
800 M
800 CR
800 W
SAT II
790 IIC
790 BIO
800 World History
I have loads of EC including winning state championship. I also have a 4.3 weighted GPA
322.
Dan | June 5, 2007 at 8:15 pm
it’s funny that “James” knows so much about the whole Zinch-Zandigo thing… intimate knowledge, in fact. Couldn’t be Mick or one of his associates, could it?
I guess not everyone can be as “sweet diggity-dogg” as Mick. Thankfully.
323.
Jeff | June 5, 2007 at 8:25 pm
I agree with Andres – seems to me like Zinch is recruiting bloggers to write for them. These questions are so loaded it seems like the dude could have (probably did) written them himself. Give me a break.
I was just at the site, and it’s lame. Looks like they copied facebook with different colors, and then translated the whole thing on urban dictionary.
Just reading this interview, Mick seems like another greedy, dishonest, arrogant Ivy-league moron. “Inspired?” Yeah, by dollar signs.
One problem this genius seems to have overlooked – if colleges are hard pressed as it is to read through tens of thousands of applications, why on earth would they want to listen/watch every student’s multimedia collection?
324.
Seep | June 6, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Oh my goodness… I can’t tell you how much this helped….. thank you loads for taking out your time to write this!
325.
Mike | June 7, 2007 at 9:37 pm
I would remove NYU and put University of Chicago on your list.
326.
HAH! | June 11, 2007 at 4:12 am
Wow, poopscoop. And actually all of you. Do you have really low self-esteem? Because I don’t understand why you feel the need to bring yourself down when you’re receiving great SAT scores. Is it to fish for compliments so that you feel better about yourself.
Honestly, your transcripts count a lot more than SATs. And smart colleges look at recommendations as well.
On top of that, try to get out and be social once in a while. You’ll never survive college if you’re socially retarded.
327.
eyoon | June 12, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Hi,
I’m a junior and I was interested in applying to USC. Does USC accept early decision/actions too??
PLEASE reply!
328.
Erin | June 15, 2007 at 3:25 pm
I have to agree with Jeff’s comment on the likelihood of admissions officers having the time to go through and examine the profiles of “shout outs”, particularly the multimedia collections. While it’s a nice thought that admissions officers would want to really “get to know” the student interested in their school, it’s just not practical. It seems far more likely that any “shout outs” to a college/university will simply be added to a prospective student list to receive the same mailings anyone else inquiring about the school would get. The exception might be a very high-achieving student who shouts out to a school with a lower academic profile – in that case, the school might actually make an active attempt to personally recruit the “prize student” to their institution.
329.
Ugur | June 19, 2007 at 11:19 am
Hey.. I just finished my junior year and my highest score on the SAT I out of 2 tests is a 1760 and my composite score is a 1790..I’m going to study over the summer about an hour per day and will take the exam again in October hoping to get a higher score…Do you think my scores are good enough to get into a university like NYU, University of Florida, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, UT at Austin, or Emory.
I also have 4.0+ GPA. I took 2 APs last year and will take 2-3 this year and I’ve been in band for 2 years and play guitar and soccer
330.
Dave Stewart | June 20, 2007 at 8:57 am
What is the scoop for international students? I have never studied in an English country, but my parents speak English at home and I have attended an internatioal school since the equivalent of 10th grade. I’m now finishing my Junior Year, and took the SAT-1 and SAT-2, hoping to go to a US unversity with a top international studies department. I speak 3 European languages fluently (BFD?) and have good (but not stellar) grades.
My SAT-1 score was 1680. Or more specifically: reading 560, math 580 and writing 540. Mediocre by US student standards. But what about for an international student? My guess is: Princeton & Harvard & Stanford are (obviously?) out-of-range. What about Georgetown? Boston College? Brandeis? BU? NYU? Other suggestions? Are UC schools impossible without a high SAT-2 Math-level-2 score?
THANKS!
331.
Mohin | June 21, 2007 at 12:01 pm
Hey
i am from India and got a 2030 in my SAT Reasoning test:
Critical reading:640(87 percentile)
Math:760(98 percentile)
Writing:630(87 percentile)[do colleges consider this section?]
And in my SAT Subject Tests:
Math(level 2):800
Physcis:760
Chemistry:760
I am yet to complete my physics syllabus at school though and expect an increase in the physics score next time i attempt it.
Since here in India we have percentages and not grades(GPAs),i am not sure how my marks at school will reflect on the colleges in the US.
in my previous 2 years at school,my aggregate has been 93% last year and 88% this year.
Also,i have a pretty good record in terms of co-cirricular activities and sports.
My reccommendations are also pretty good.
What else do i need to boost my profile?
What all colleges can i accept to get through with all this?
P.S:All these scores were in my first attempt,do colleges take into account how many times the tests you take?
332.
MJ Kim | June 21, 2007 at 5:01 pm
hi! i’m a senior in korea and i seriously, seriously want to go to either columbia or harvard.
i got
SAT1
CR 750
M 800
W 790 (essay : 10)
combined 2340
SAT2
math 2c 800
chem 800
w history 760
AP
micro 5
macro 5
cal bc 5
psych 5
bio 5
chem 5
w history 5
GPA
3.90 unweighted
just with the numbers, do you think it’s worth trying ?????? i know the schools i mentioned above are really tough…
333.
Jargin | June 21, 2007 at 11:52 pm
I got a 680 on my Bio SATII…what does that mean?
334.
Jen | June 23, 2007 at 10:37 pm
With your bloggers saying things such as “Please don’t be so naive, Ezra.” (from Luke), I’m quite alright with your site running out of content. Let it die, or clean up the act.
335.
arun | June 25, 2007 at 11:06 am
i have a sort of complex problem .i hope u solve it . i am an indian student and am going to start my senior year.As i have a greencard, i might be completing my school in california,while my parents r here in india.So the question is will i be qualifing for in-state fee in california after attending 1 year of school in california ?
336.
VARUN | June 25, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I NEED A SIMPLE AND BEST ANS FOR THE QUESTION ” TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF”.
337.
app2usadvisor | June 27, 2007 at 5:05 am
I write about University admissions – primarily for international applicants.
338.
VAP | July 2, 2007 at 2:49 am
not necessarily
with the amount of applicants for UCLA at 60000+ and a ever growing shortage of freshmen spaces it is actually becoming harder to get into LA. Berkeley has by no means the influx or demand as LA so even though the requirements are higher, LA still is the more strict in terms of mass effect
339.
Terri A Skinner | July 2, 2007 at 5:24 pm
is a 11 a passing grade for act test for tyler junior college.
340.
Brittany | July 2, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Nathan, my situation is similar to yours. I am a upcoming junior at a college prep high school. In April I took the ACT for the first time in HS, and I received a 27. I am OBSESSED with Harvard; it is my dream school. So, after all of my rambling and telling about myself, I say this: your best shot at acceptance into Harvard would be a 36 or close to it… and I mean CLOSE ! a majority of applicants apply to Harvard w/ a weighted GPA of 4.0 or above- and I’ve seen up to a 4.9- so since your GPA is below a “perfect” 4.0, I would compensate by doing extremely well on the ACT. Also, make sure you are well-rounded: be active in sports, clubs, academic associations, etc. i plan to take the ACT again in the fall and have been studying all summer. I expect a score of 34 or so.
good luck!
341.
quyen | July 5, 2007 at 2:41 am
i was wondering, how do colleges view your hs senior year? i know they look for the strength of your class load, but … is that it? because applications seem to be mostly sent in before 1st semester grades come out (west coast). so how do colleges evaluate senior year?
thanks!
342.
Arjay | July 7, 2007 at 9:06 pm
I think Zinch has an interesting concept but I don’t see why any admissions officer will use it. Also, monetizing this is going to be really hard. They have a very difficult chicken-and-egg problem to figure out:
1. Students
2. College admissions officers
There is no value to either unless there are a lot of the other. The student part might be something they can solve by the scholarships they offer, but at the end of the day, it’s not a social network because you don’t really have a reason to use Zinch for any period longer than a few months per year. Therefore, the student growth will be limited.
Furthermore, the college admissions officers are already deluged and already do enough marketing. The decisions are already “arbitrary” to some – why would they make it more arbitrary by using things like Zinch?
343.
arvind | July 17, 2007 at 2:32 pm
please send me the best possible answer format of one of the chief interview question “tell me about yourself”. Also how to deliver it effectively.
344.
JB | July 20, 2007 at 3:16 am
Vanderbilt?
345.
Tommy | July 22, 2007 at 1:42 am
I am preparing for the SAT also, could you send me the list please.
346.
Nellie M. | July 22, 2007 at 2:46 am
Juilliard? What is the average SAT/ACT scores?
347.
Nellie M. | July 22, 2007 at 2:47 am
West Coast Baptist College? What is the average SAT/ACT scores?
348.
Anon Admissions Person | July 23, 2007 at 10:30 pm
As someone with extensive past experience selling products into admissions offices (mainly application platforms/software/data management tools), I find it hard to believe they will use this. Colleges have systems designed to handle applications and follow leads themselves.
The only way Zinch will be able to monetize is to sell studets’ personal information to colleges and most selective colleges still believe that the SAT/ACT score is an important factor along with high school grades, etc. in admissions.
The entire site is a little heavy on slang terms that will preclude it from being used by any serious admissions officer.
349.
Jen | July 25, 2007 at 6:34 am
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/apply/how_apply/personal_statement.html
UC’s changed their essay prompts.
350.
Jodi Hardy | July 27, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Is there a source for an up to date as of 7/07 list of which schools in the United States require SAT subject tests (and the related details)?
351.
dallas | July 28, 2007 at 6:43 am
average sat/act scores for u=University of South Florida and UCF?
352.
master J | July 28, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Please send me interview questions and sample answers as a customer service provider.
353.
Debb | August 2, 2007 at 8:19 am
Wow. Like what other people have said, calm down.
“MJ Kim”
You have some PERFECT SAT scores, and soo many AP! I don’t think you have to worry too much.
Like what others say, it’s not only scores.
354.
KadharMohideen P.R | August 4, 2007 at 11:19 am
I need interview Questions
and answers Particularly
“Tell Me About Yourself”
KadharMohideen P.R
355.
chakrapani | August 6, 2007 at 11:11 am
This is chakrapani Please send me the best answer for the question ‘TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF’.
356.
Miss Katerina | August 9, 2007 at 5:35 pm
I was wondering the average acceptance rate for Cornell University. Also, the typical SAT scores needed to be accepted. Anyone who’s gone or is going to Cornell, what’s it like?
357.
Tun Tun | August 9, 2007 at 5:36 pm
pls send me the best possible answer format of one of the interview question “tell me about yourself”. Also how to deliver it effectively.
358.
nicki | August 11, 2007 at 8:34 pm
yale only requires 2 sat subject tests with the sat, just so you know
359.
uma | August 14, 2007 at 4:19 pm
I want what are the main problems faced on all students in intervews.
360.
vijay | August 15, 2007 at 11:22 am
hi.. friend
please send ans for tel me about yourself .. i except 10 lines for this question…
361.
Hariharan | August 15, 2007 at 3:50 pm
hai i like your help for job hunters can u send me a answer for “tell me about your self ” how to deliver it effectively that answer should impress the interviewer
362.
Lula | August 19, 2007 at 12:03 am
I’m a sophomore in HS and I didn’t take the PAST yet but I still got a 1640 on the SAT…is that bad?
363.
Lula | August 19, 2007 at 12:03 am
*PSAT
364.
suresh.k | August 21, 2007 at 8:53 am
i need answer that they expect in BPO “TELL ABOUT YOUR SELF”
365.
Zohair Mazhar | August 21, 2007 at 4:52 pm
hey ppl….i just want a favour from u all if u can kindly tell me if SATs a must for good universities like harvard yale MIT stanford etc…..i ve given my AS level and got 98 in math 93 in phy and 87 in chem…..and i am givin 2 more pprs in nov…..other den dis i ve alot of extra culliculars aswel….house captain of my high school and member of da soccer criket and basketball team…..so do i stand any chance of not givin sat and gettin into any of da top 5 univ in the US….
366.
Zohair Mazhar | August 21, 2007 at 5:00 pm
hey ppl….i just want a favour from u all if u can kindly tell me if SATs a must for good universities like harvard yale MIT stanford etc…..i ve given my AS level and got 98 in math 93 in phy and 87 in chem…..and i am givin 2 more pprs in nov……other den dis i ve many extra culliculars as in i m da house captain of my high school with 300 students under my command and am da member of 3 high school teams ie Soccer BAsketball and Cricket…..so is dere any chance i get into da top 5 univ in america without my SATs
367.
Matt | August 24, 2007 at 12:43 am
Respectfully disagree with removing NYU from that list. To cite a few rankings, NYU is ranked in the elite top 5 Law and Business schools in the country (US News and Report)l, 1st in philosophy(2006-2008 Philosophical Gourmet Report), and high regarded as the premier school to go to for any of the Arts (Music, Drama, etc.). It’s a top school.
368.
kutty | August 28, 2007 at 11:30 am
I need the correct format and answer for Tell Me About Yourself
369.
Nicole | August 29, 2007 at 2:55 am
You’re only about half-right. Those 50,000 are split into two groups. About 14,000 become Semi-Finalists and the others are “Commended”. Also, the cutoff score must be below 214 because I got a 205 and still got in as one of the 50,000. No word yet on whether I’m Commended or Semi-Finalist. I think the cutoff actually goes by the 96th percentile and up. I remember reading that somewhere.
The National Merit people are kinda getting on my nerves now. I’m filling out apps and I’m not sure how to designate my National Merit Scholar status. One actually asks “Are you a National Merit Semi-Finalist?” They told me I qualified in May (and made me choose colleges) and they STILL haven’t sent word on my official status!!!! GRRRR!!!!
370.
Yumster | August 30, 2007 at 5:02 am
Brown takes around a 27-33.
371.
Dharma | August 30, 2007 at 12:05 pm
i want personal interview approch question
372.
Brian | August 31, 2007 at 5:02 am
Hey, I’m kind of in a bad situation. I really want to go to UCLA but im pretty sure i wont make it =/ plus im out of state … I have a GPA of about 4.0 (weighted) and got a 29 on the ACT (still have 3 chances), but i think my extracurriculars are my strongest points … (Orchestra, 1st chair in youth symphony, school orchestra, won 2 cello competitions… science olympiad captain… internship at Kansas University Medical Center… Officer of HOSA and Tri-M and more… dont feel like typing them)… so my question would be …
DO I STAND A CHANCE AT GETTING ACCEPTED TO UCLA???? because if i dont, i would have to go to Kansas University… and im not looking forward to that >.<…
373.
Joseph | August 31, 2007 at 7:59 pm
good read. i’m going to be in sixth this year.
374.
J | September 3, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Both tests are stupid. The reading and science sections for the ACT are impossible because you are given so little time.
Don’t go to the Ivies. You don’t even get a good undergrad education except at Princeton and Penn. Go to a college fit for you.
375.
Erkin Turganov | September 6, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Can you please add GA Tech too? Thanks.
376.
J. Bartelheim | September 8, 2007 at 1:04 am
Collegeboard is a bussiness that makes money. Period. Bill Gates needs a tax shelter, he’s NOT an educator. It’s little more than cookbook teaching. Sorry to deflate the bubbles of all the new teachers who “LOVE IT.” Here’s an idea: go get a GOOD education from a teacher’s college, because they teach you HOW TO create standards based assignments. You are just lazy or stupid if you embrace this program.
377.
Imran | September 8, 2007 at 7:44 am
Hi…. i need the exact sample model for tell me about yourself
378.
cmh | September 9, 2007 at 6:03 am
Dear Horace,
I’m a junior right now and I see some parallels between your son and me. I too took the SAT in 7th and 8th grade. I scored decently, somewhere in the 500s or 600s range for M and V (it was the old SAT back then).
To be honest, 7th grade is way too early to be thinking about college. It appears that your son has high hopes, and that’s great: he’s thinking about his future. Let him be ambitious, but don’t make which college he goes to life or death. You don’t want him to end up as a shell of a human being who never sees the light of day. He needs to develop a personality: interests in extracurriculars, sports, etc. Let high school happen for him. I let high school happen to me.
I’ve never taken a SAT course in my life. I practice, that’s for sure, but I haven’t stressed out over the SAT and colleges until this year (when I started preparing for the test). I’ve found that my score has naturally increased after all these years, and I’m scoring consistently 2250-2400 in the practice books (they don’t give you an exact score, just a range…). I’ll take it in January or March. In addition, I’ve got two 800’s under my belt in SAT subject tests.
The point is that your son still has many years to develop. Let him enjoy life for now, so that when he gets to be a junior (and starts to spend weekends studying for tests or AP classes), he’s happy that he had a childhood. The number one thing that will increase his SAT scores is developing as a person. He shouldn’t prepare now because it’s too early.
379.
RAHUL | September 10, 2007 at 7:04 pm
hi everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if you r loking for the answer of this qestion go for this link
http://www.sgeek.com here u can find your answer in videos section!!!
“all the best”
380.
vijay kumar saini | September 13, 2007 at 9:57 am
PLEASE GIVE ME EFFECTIBLE ANSWER,THESE ARE-
1.TELL ME ABOUT YOUR SELF
2.WHY DO YOU JOIN THIS COMPANY?
3.TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FAMILY BACKGROUND
381.
Jorge | September 13, 2007 at 7:53 pm
All I’ve got to say is Zich sucks!!! They promise a million things and don’t give you anything back. I’ve been signed up with Zinch for a while now and have not heard anything back from any schools. I have pretty good SATs and good grades. I was really counting on Zinch to help me out the way they said they would. Screw them!!
382.
sudhakar | September 17, 2007 at 2:26 pm
how to start and where to end t
tell me about your self
383.
Maha Lakshmi | September 18, 2007 at 3:05 pm
I need interview Questions
and answers Particularly
1.“Tell Me About Yourself”
2.”Tell about Ur Family Background”
3.”Hobbies?”
4.”Strong and Weakness”
384.
mark | September 19, 2007 at 5:39 am
plz help me u guys i want to go to stanford university and i am from the caribbean i have a B in mathematics a in chemistry and a 2in physics in advance level i am writing the sat’s do i need to write the sat II and when do sat results come out and when do i apply and is there a particular format to follow in my application
385.
mark | September 19, 2007 at 2:35 pm
is 2000 for SAT 1 enough to get into USC?
386.
AA | September 20, 2007 at 6:50 am
What about Washington University in St. Louis?
387.
the dop | September 22, 2007 at 6:13 pm
edie will definitely make finalist. congrats on the 2310. 16,000 make semi-finalist and 15,000 make finalist. the fraction that does not get to finalist are usually people who did not submit their finalist application, submitted it wrongly, or had terrible grades…3.7 GPA is definitely reflective of easily qualifying grades
388.
student | September 23, 2007 at 8:27 am
Hey Mohin…….i’m frm India too…….if you could plese tell me what is the syllabus for the SAT Subject tests…….i.e..Maths, Physics, and chemistry………..and if you have found the answer to your question,will you please tell me about the GPA thing as well……..please do reply………….my e mail is my_clone_is_me@yahoo.co.in
waiting for your reply…………..or you could leave your answer on this site as well……
389.
lakshmanan.s | September 25, 2007 at 7:40 am
please send me “Tell Me About Yourself” one sample messages and 1+ year experienced IT profesional candidate only
390.
mayank | September 27, 2007 at 8:01 pm
hi i got a sat score of
cr 430 very bad i know
writing 460 much worse
but 780 in maths which is good i think
plz recommend me a good university i must go for computer engineering with my score for spring 2008
391.
Dave | September 28, 2007 at 9:35 am
I think it’s funny that zinch posts such ridiculous comments on its own blogs. Are they serious?
blogs.zinch.com
392.
V.S.Raju | September 28, 2007 at 12:19 pm
fine,
i want to know more about interview techiniques.
393.
Nancy Brutt | September 28, 2007 at 2:42 pm
I’m looking for a PSAT list for my daughter to help prepare her for the test. Please send me your list! Thanks.
394.
Neha | September 30, 2007 at 11:06 pm
hey zuhair! donno if ur gona get this cuz its been over a month since you posted ur question but you CANT get into any good place without the SAT… you neeeedd to give it!!! If u’ve got such amazing grades, then you’ll ace the sat too. But, dont skip it — it’s a must…
395.
allan | October 1, 2007 at 4:18 am
Can you send me an answer to a question, “Tell me about yourself”
Assuming that you are a fresh graduate seeking for a first job and don’t have experience yet. And I’m gonna ask you this question: “Tell me about yourself”
Will you help me about this?
Thnx
396.
krishna | October 2, 2007 at 2:30 pm
hey,
i want u help now . i am now in job hunting, so u send me a answer for ” tell me about your self” how express it or delivery it
397.
ali | October 4, 2007 at 12:31 am
i have to write my own essay for national merit finalist applications, and i have got to be the most scatterbrained person on the face of the earth. at my school, we had to turn in our applications separate from our essays, so i dont have my application any more, and therefore dont have the little sentence that says exactly what im supposed to write about. i was pretty sure it was just a general “tell us about your past and future” kind of thing, but i was wondering–does anyone know if there are more specific instructions on the essay?
398.
avinash | October 9, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Hi …. I am a fresher and i need the answer for the question “tell me about yourself “
399.
dhirender singh | October 9, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I need interview Questions
and answers Particularly
“Tell Me About Yourself”
Thanks & regrads
Dhirender Singh
400.
kamesh | October 12, 2007 at 2:38 pm
i need answer for the question “tell me about yourself”
401.
Haritha | October 13, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Thx!! this helped me but i also want to know if they look at my PSAT scores?????
402.
Seth | October 14, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I’m cutting it pretty close here, but I would greatly appreciate it if you could send me the list.
403.
sowmit | October 15, 2007 at 1:53 am
What about the SAT scores of—- Bostob College, Boston University, Tufts University? please inform about the Sat scores of those colleges.
404.
Gianna | October 24, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I really want to get into Brown, Stanford…. anyone know my chances with a act 29, great ecs, top 10 in hs class ?
405.
Yuki | October 25, 2007 at 1:48 pm
—–1st test—–
Critical Reading: 710
Math: 780
Writing: 680 – essay:7
—–2nd test—–
Critical Reading: 760
Math: 750
Writing: 640 – essay:9
I have a 3.99 unweighted G.P.A, top 2% of my class, president/chair/secretary/treasurer of clubs, and work part time in a professional environment(vs. fast food).
Should I still apply to any Ivy League? If so, which one(s)?
Thank you for your time…
406.
walter | October 25, 2007 at 10:36 pm
hey, i’m an international student and just got my SAT I scores, i got a 1740, it’s not a really good score but it was my first time taking the test and i think it was normal.
CR 560
M 630
W 550
Combined 1740
Any suggestions on where to apply?
407.
manik | October 26, 2007 at 7:06 am
Hey ppl
so i hv one basic question…i have an 1850 in SAT. So from all u people who hv already applied, or perhaps know a lil more about colleges, is it even worth applying to the ivy leagus (for a business course) with that SAT score? wil they even consider me?
408.
tori | October 30, 2007 at 5:50 am
I was seriously all ove the internet for the answer to this question thanks.
409.
Princy PG | October 31, 2007 at 8:47 pm
I want tell about yourself model format
410.
Becca | November 4, 2007 at 6:05 pm
I need to know what the standard ACT and SAT scores are to be accepted into UCLA. please help!
411.
Dan | November 11, 2007 at 11:36 pm
This is not a place to discussion your Ivy League admissions chances. If you’re not confident in your application, don’t apply unless you have a serious self-esteem issue.
I just got my results from the Oct. 07 test today and it turns out I aced the Critical Reading section, 750 on the writing, and a decent score on the math, making my score a 2110. For reference, I’m not even applying to these schools.
412.
Jenny | November 18, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Thanks for taking the time to post this, my school has been completely uselss with regards to this kind of information
413.
Anurag | November 23, 2007 at 10:44 pm
I want someone to help Yuki because I am in the same boat.
Thanks
414.
majimena | November 25, 2007 at 12:39 am
These posts are pointless i think.
the only people who read them are worrying college-hopefulls!
sure, we can inform eachother of info we know- but we probably know the exact same things. its not like we’re admissions staff with some inside scoop.
atleast they work for getting some anxiety out. thats why im here in the first place-but as for getting any questions reliably answered… well, i’ve given up on that long ago..
415.
sowmya | November 26, 2007 at 8:47 am
Hi …. I am a fresher
and i need the answer for the question
“tell me about yourself “
so plz can u give the answer
416.
krishna | November 27, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Can you send me an answer to a question, “Tell me about yourself”
Assuming that you are a fresh graduate seeking for a first job and don’t have experience yet. And I’m gonna ask you this question: “Tell me about yourself”
Will you help me about this?
417.
marina | December 1, 2007 at 3:00 pm
As a currently “sought after” student by the institution, and NOT rich or white, I greatly disagree with all of these ideas that all Harvard kids are affluent people with great connections.
Although I am uncertain that I will be able to get in myself, I have met many Harvard students who are kind, involved with the community (I live almost next to Harvard) , and actually very very smart. In fact, most people I’ve met do have something that sets them apart from the kids at other schools.
Harvard does recruit students, encourage all local students who are interested to apply, and take MANY students from my public city high school. They even offer a “free ride” to anyone whose parents earn less than $60,000 annually.
Think twice before believing all generalizations about the more sought after Ivy League schools.
418.
applying2college | December 1, 2007 at 4:40 pm
If a college recommends 2 or 3 sat II subject tests, do they take all of them seriously into account? Are they of less importance than the SAT 1 for competitive schools?
419.
applying2college | December 1, 2007 at 4:42 pm
what is a competitive sat II score for the top colleges?
would a 610 be bad for the ivies if another sat II score was in the 700’s?
420.
Mohan kumar paramasivan | December 6, 2007 at 10:44 am
I need interview Questions
and answers Particularly
1.“Tell Me About Yourself”
2.”Tell about Ur Family Background”
3.”Hobbies?”
4.”Strong and Weakness”
5.what are the requirement for leadership quality?
6.Rate your good qualities?
7what is the difference between hard work and smart work?
8what do you mean by CMML level 5/4/3?
9.what are your (+)-ve? why strength?
10.what are you (-)-ve? why weakness?
11.give me reasons,why i should hire you?
421.
Frank Scanlan | December 6, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Miami University graduates and students, please visit this site:
http://scanlanf.googlepages.com/home
Miami University Hamilton is a joke and needs reformed badly to rescue the reputation of Miami University.
422.
EM | December 8, 2007 at 5:16 pm
What about a school like Bowdoin where SATS are optional. Mine are: CR 700 M650 WR790. Should I submit and will I get in????? My GPA is 3.97 weighted, and I am a dedicated vocal performer who submitted a CD which the choir director of Bowdoin loved. But am I good enough? Any other schools with my scores anyone reccs?
423.
EM | December 8, 2007 at 5:23 pm
When does Bowdoin send out their ED and RD notices, and how? Online?
424.
nnadi charles tochukwu | December 10, 2007 at 4:50 pm
I filled application for fall 2006 and i did not recieve notification letter. I want to know why.
425.
Taarini | December 11, 2007 at 11:38 am
hey
i’m an international student i got a 2110 in SAT R( CR 730, M 720, W 660)
and 2300 in SAT II ( BIO 780, MATH II C 780, CHEM 740).
i want to do medicine eventually so i had planned on applying for a premed course. i know my scores are good but they aren’t great. should i bother applying at all as i am really behind on the whole admissions process? does anyone know if these scores are still valid if i want to apply for college in 2009 (if i take a gap year)?
thanks
426.
Idetrorce | December 15, 2007 at 1:17 pm
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
427.
Katy | December 15, 2007 at 4:07 pm
does anyone know what time Georgetown’s decisions are sent out?
428.
sarah | December 16, 2007 at 3:36 pm
it’s december 16th, georgetown WHERE ARE YOU???
Has anyone heard from Georgetown EA??
429.
jen | December 18, 2007 at 3:47 am
can u please do a SAT breakdown for Boston University. Can u please break it down like how u did it from Brown? I love BU, but i only got a 480 on CR, but over 600 on other sections
430.
Teja | December 21, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Lets see, I made a 30 on the ACT as a seventh-grader. This year, in 9th grade, i made a 31/32 on the PLAN, which is a 10th grade test. So thats basically saying I should have at least a 35 as a junior, hopefully a 36. Im shooting for a perfect PSAT score also. Im pretty much in every xtracurricular academic club in my skool and i play varsity tennis. Aand for Harvard, I know i need to have one exceptional thing that really makes me stand out. Too bad I don’t know what that thing is yet.
431.
yousra | December 22, 2007 at 3:59 pm
I got 1680 on my sat test . Critical reading = 450 , Writing – 590 , and math = 640 . I can speak two languages which are Englih and Arabic . My GPA is very high I had an A+ in every single subjest. With This score and GPA would be accepted in Harvard univirsity
432.
Madison | December 26, 2007 at 7:03 am
craziness! It’s so depressing hearing about such amazing SAT scores. I plan to study for about 2 months before I take the SATs. I’m so nervous!
I’m not really involved in many extracurricular activities because it’s expensive, etc. Plus, I do not have a variety of opportunities. So, I’m hoping that the colleges will not judge so intently.I didn’t realize how incredibly competitive people are racing for ivy-leagued schools! scores of 800’s!!!
I wish all those who took the SAT genuine luck in getting into their Universities!
433.
awadhesh | January 3, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Hi, I have a bacholor degree in commerce and presently working finance execuitive. my working experience above 3 years and presently i seeking a new job but some problem in job searching as interview question, fluent speaking etc. so i requisted you please suggest me same. tahnks !
434.
Lori | January 8, 2008 at 2:43 am
To Dan: I too spent a lot of time looking at avg ACT scores of high schools, thinking that would help my kids. Finally a teacher told me, Don’t worry about the AVERAGE score at the school you pick. What you are looking for is an extraordinary AP or Accelerated or Honors program. What happens to the average kids is not what is going to affect your child. It is how rigorous and intensive is the college prep track.
The teacher was right, both my kids did very well and got full scholarships to college. Also, find a school where it is accepted or desirable to be on the AP track, so that their friends are all in it with them, makes it so much easier on them. They all suffer together and studying becomes part of the social activity.
435.
eyeingtenure | January 12, 2008 at 11:42 pm
I took the AP US History test in 2003, and, in addition to most of the above, my teacher advocated one specific tip. We were all supposed to start our essays with the following:
“The preponderance of evidence shows…”
I guess it worked.
436.
Lucy | January 13, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Thank you, this really helped me, I had no clue what to write. The inispiring question has now been inspired.
437.
Lucy | January 13, 2008 at 11:15 pm
uninspiring*
438.
rex | January 16, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Can you send me an answer to a question, “Tell me about yourself”
Assuming that you are a fresh MBA graduate seeking for a first job and don’t have experience yet. And I’m gonna ask you this question: “Tell me about yourself”
Will you help me about this?
Thnx
439.
harikrishna | January 19, 2008 at 8:01 pm
A real time example for TEll ME ABT URSELF(engineering student example )plz as soon as possible
440.
geetha | January 25, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Can you send me an answer to a question, “Tell me about yourself”
Assuming that you are a fresh graduate seeking for a first job as a teacher and dont have experience yet. And I’m gonna ask you this question: “Tell me about yourself”
Will you help me about this?
Thnx
441.
HBS | February 1, 2008 at 7:36 pm
hi guys, so i’m 18 from israel and want to learn in the US in more couple years.
my SAT scores:
verbal 620
math 780
writing 620
and my GPA iq really high. i want to get to UCLA NYU YALE COLUMBIA but when i saw these sscre of poepole who ereply in this thread, my confident decreased because you all guys have perfect score and i think that my scores are not enough although those are really goos score…
what do you say? what about the essays and recomadation that we have to submit in the application? do they have large impact on the people who admit?
442.
Caroline | February 1, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Are you aware of any research comparing final ACT scores of students who took the ACT as 7th graders (Duke TIP qualifiers)and their final ACT scores in high school compared to those who did not take it before 11th or 12th grade?
443.
Rochelle | February 3, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I’m only a freshman in high school, but I’m freaking out because I never got the papers to place me in adv. courses. I really would like to go to Spelman or John Hopkins, but I’m afraid I won’t stand a chance b/c I missed my opportunity in getting in adv. classes. Does anyone have any advice on how to get into these colleges without adv. placement courses?
444.
Eve123 | February 13, 2008 at 7:31 am
I am an international student and I applied to a private school on ED2 based on what I heard from my seniors and the admission officers who visited my school… however, after I visited the campus, I didn’t really think that this was the place for me.
The college has not yet released its decision on my application.. those are due in 2 days
Can I convert my application to a regular application or withdraw it ?
445.
katie | February 14, 2008 at 7:20 pm
I think you should clarify that you do not submit grades, activities, etc. to the College Board but rather National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The College Board gives the test, but National Merit is a completely different comany who gives the scholarships.
446.
K | February 16, 2008 at 3:24 am
I was just wondering if anyone could tell me if i did well on the SAT or not…
I got a 610 in critical thinking, a 430 in math, and a 540 in writing…
any ideas?
447.
arwen | February 21, 2008 at 1:44 pm
thank you so much dee!
448.
tk2tspobid | February 22, 2008 at 12:11 am
Hi, I’m kind of in a rough spot as well. I’m wondering with the following situation, if I have any shot of getting into MIT:
11th Grade:
GPA: About 4.2 weighted
31 ACT (Still have another chance)
Top 20% in class
I will have taken 6 AP classes by graduation
Extra Curricular Activities:
NHS, Lacrosse (Captain), Scholastic Bowl, Math Team, Science Team, Volunteering
Another thing I am kind of hoping will help are my recommendations. I am extremely motivated in the sciences and I often go in after class to talk with my teachers about topics that expand much farther from what we are learning.
I guess I don’t have the best academic standing, but I am definitely motivated to learn. I have a passion for the sciences.
Be honest please, I understand it’s difficult to really have a feel for whether I would make it or not, but I’d appreciate any advice. Thanks!
449.
Donna Piacenza | March 1, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Does anyone know if you can retake just a part of the SAT? My daughter did well on all but math, and she doesn’t want to raise her scores except the math score. Can she just retake the math?
Thanks so much for your help.
450.
Joanna Richards | March 9, 2008 at 7:06 pm
I need interview questions and answers pariculary,”tell me about your self, what are your strength and weekneses, what about your last job or present job your in that you like, what are some challanges one has to go through.
Thank You
Joanna Richards
451.
Matt | March 11, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Would it be a correct assumption that SAT scores are more influential than ACT scores when applying to a selective school? In 7th grade, i had a 650-710 range for all of the sections of the SAT, and haven’t taken it since. As a sophomore, a have a 32 ACT. I’m hoping that ACT scores are as important as SAT scores because I think that the ACT is easier, but one of my teachers said that I need to concentrate on the SAT more than the ACT. Is that really what I need to do?
452.
Pavana | March 13, 2008 at 11:11 am
plz let me knw the answer for “most memorable moment “..
453.
Champak Dey | March 14, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I want tell me about yourself fomat and also the answer for the question “tell me about yourself”.
Thanks and Regards
Champak Dey
454.
Daniel | March 18, 2008 at 4:01 am
Hi, I’m very much interested in applying to Cornell as a sophomore transfer. I’m very sure they offer admissions to sophomore transfers, but do you think I’d have less chance to get in if I apply as a sophomore, not the junior transfer?
Also, could you recommend a college where I’d have higher chance to be admitted? ^^; I’m planning to apply for school of ILR since I want to go to law school after undergrad, but I’m not sure if they admit a lot of transfers or not. Thanks a lot!
455.
Sia | April 8, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I am a PhD applicant for UC Berkeley, but it is 8th April and I did not receive my admission letter so that I will be able to inform university about my positive decision on my offer.
Would you please help me in this case?
Best
456.
Justin | April 18, 2008 at 4:29 pm
The selection process of American colleges are extremely selective. I achieved a score of 36 on my ACT’s, got 800’s on the Math II, Biology, and World History tests, and a 2400 on the SAT Reasoning Tests. My GPA is a 4.667, straight A’s in the hardest classes available. My AP test scores were all 5’s. Besides that, I was class president, and captain of my three sports, football, basketball, and track. I also placed 3rd in state in my respective track events. I still got denied into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and all the other Ivy’s. I now go to Harper Community College.
457.
Matt | April 19, 2008 at 1:42 am
i got a 33, but I don’t really know what it means. i know its good, but what kind of scholarships can I get? How much money can a 33 earn me? I will probably retake the test for a better score.
458.
MOM | April 23, 2008 at 2:51 pm
My youngest son, now a Junior, just scored a 34 on his ACT. He is in a gifted program at school and has been encouraged to take the test every year since 7th so not to be stressed over the testing part. He scored 22 in 7th, 32 as a freshman, 33 as a sophomore and now a 34 as a Junior. With his involvement in extracurriculars such as Student Council, BETA, NHS, and BSA, along with a 4.0 gpa (AP/Dual enrollment incl), what are his chances at a major college? His dream goal is MIT, but I think he’ll settle for a state school. Also, does he HAVE to take the writing test???
459.
LEANNA | April 30, 2008 at 6:41 pm
You need a 31-34 to get in Harvard University. bummer for me. i got a 27……oh well….i got full tuition to troy university!!!!!
460.
Ali H | May 4, 2008 at 3:11 am
omg you are WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!! How amazing that you did this for charity out of a personal need. Props, girl!!!!
461.
Joe Mama | May 8, 2008 at 6:08 am
is this true?
every year there is a conference in a near by city has three lectures a few weeks before the test. Every year one of the three lectures is the DBQ for that year’s test. the conferences topics this year were: the 60’s, electoral college/jaskonian, and Consolidation of Racism.
if not what do you think the dbq will be?
462.
Siilenced | May 9, 2008 at 9:29 am
Thanks for the TIPS..
they helped much..
and the Test is Today …but ..woke up early to jog Memory
^ ^
wish us luck…..
463.
Aditya | May 20, 2008 at 4:19 pm
hey I’m from India and i have 2 questions:
1. Which schools are recommended if I have got a SAT score of about 1950?
2. Is it worth it to apply for Early decision to a college which is out of youre range and try your luck or a college which is mediocre but in your range.
464.
Annie | May 21, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Thanks for the list!
Wow.. everybody here is so smart …
465.
Professor Nougat | May 22, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Whichever test you are more prepared for is the one you should take. ex: You are starting precalc and this is your junior year. You may not want to try and show mastery in a subject you aren’t even finished with. In this case take the math I exam. If you have completed pre-calc and are in calc go with the math II.
466.
Leslie | May 22, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Um, guys? Really. Please cease the complaining and the fretting. Listen, 1380. Yes, not YOUR score, so chill. I know.
But I pray that all of you whiners with the 1700s-2400s have some decency to relax and get a grip. Because maybe getting a “perfect score” is the only way you’ll be happy in life it seems.
I would rather have a saddening score than to be moralistically challenged and uptight. It seems like all you worry about.
Appreciate life’s beauty.
Thanks!
Yeah.
467.
amanahill | May 22, 2008 at 10:12 pm
K, you have a composite of 1580 which is ok, but not great. Try taking it again.
As for me I hoping to get into Columbia, University of Chicago, or Cornell, and with a 1740 composite after the first time i think i need to take it again. Any tips on increasing my math score?
468.
senthil kumaran | May 27, 2008 at 6:26 am
I need interview Questions
and answers Particularly
1.“Tell Me About Yourself”
2.”Tell about Ur Family Background”
3.”Hobbies?”
4.”Strong and Weakness”
5.what are the requirement for leadership quality?
6.give me reasons,why i should hire you?
469.
jenna | May 27, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Can you send me an answer to a question, “Tell me about yourself”
Assuming that you are a fresh graduate seeking for a first job as a teacher and dont have experience yet. And I’m gonna ask you this question: “Tell me about yourself”
Will you help me about this?
Thnx and regards
470.
Brandon Blackbeard | May 28, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Hey, I am Brandon from South Africa.I have written the SAT subject test twice and both times I got scores of an average of 1260. I want to use these results to apply to junior colleges. Are there any junior colleges you can advice me on applying to with these scores?
471.
Mahaveer Singh | May 28, 2008 at 3:14 pm
we should confident while facing interview.