Dreamchaser
All Star
What's good everyone, my god sister is apply to colleges and I wanted to see what advice people wish they had learned before they applied to colleges?
College Applications
- Thread starter Dreamchaser
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Obviously the stats are important (GPA, SAT/ACT, AP scores, etc.), but depending on the school...they only go so far.
Recommendations are helpful, especially if they can get ones from teachers who actually give a shyt, and don't just jam out a generic template where they replace the kid's name.
Clubs/activities help as well....especially if they're involved from their freshman year. One token year of participation in some club to get it on an application is pretty transparent.
With the essays...take them seriously. Don't treat it as just another school assignment to get done for the sake of doing it. If there is an English or Social Studies teacher that knows her (and gives a shyt), have her work with them on the essays.
And, with the more exclusive schools, activities outside of school make a huge difference. Everyone is in student council, plays sports, and whatever. The kid who volunteered regularly at a local hospital or a political campaign, started a business...something...those are the kids that get into ivy leagues schools.
Check this kid out:
My biggest accomplishment in high school was beating Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Oh, or have rich parents who can donate generously for the rest of their lives.
Recommendations are helpful, especially if they can get ones from teachers who actually give a shyt, and don't just jam out a generic template where they replace the kid's name.
Clubs/activities help as well....especially if they're involved from their freshman year. One token year of participation in some club to get it on an application is pretty transparent.
With the essays...take them seriously. Don't treat it as just another school assignment to get done for the sake of doing it. If there is an English or Social Studies teacher that knows her (and gives a shyt), have her work with them on the essays.
And, with the more exclusive schools, activities outside of school make a huge difference. Everyone is in student council, plays sports, and whatever. The kid who volunteered regularly at a local hospital or a political campaign, started a business...something...those are the kids that get into ivy leagues schools.
Check this kid out:
My biggest accomplishment in high school was beating Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Oh, or have rich parents who can donate generously for the rest of their lives.
Have an idea of different programs that she'd be interested in. Different schools have different specializations.
the application process can be expensive so make sure her stats match up with the incoming freshman stats of the schools she's applying to. no applying to harvard with a 3.0 GPA and a 1000 SAT. the elite schools are big on minority outreach and have alums in every part of the country who take an active in role in helping kids get into their alma mater. look into that.
Dorian Breh
Veteran
if it's a kid who has an idea what she wants, going hard at that is your best way to move the odds in your favor. try to get in contact with people at the programs at the schools, stuff like that.
try to use the essay and the presentation of extra curricular to sell a cohesive brand. even if that brand is 'diverse interests', you want the application to be memorable like you could identify a character on a reality show.
try to use the essay and the presentation of extra curricular to sell a cohesive brand. even if that brand is 'diverse interests', you want the application to be memorable like you could identify a character on a reality show.
If the kid knows what she wants to major in, that'd be a big help in the essay. But like the others said, have her highlight her volunteer/community service, extracurriculars, and how that would be an asset on the college campus. I have my old essay from 2006 lying around somewhere in my documents and that's what I highlighted.
I'm 27 breh
I still get confused for a college student when I hoop on Maryland's campus
Imo if you want to give your god daughter the best chances at succeeding, I think focusing on schools with lower student to teacher ratios is important....
Big lecture town hall classes are overrated imo. There's nothing really cool about 200 students in a class. Low student to teacher ratios makes it a lot easier to clarify on any parts of the material.Professors don't feel as rushed and there's a more intimate connection because students aren't afraid to participant. Classmates actually get to know each other to an extant. The professors actually get a chance to know the students or pick up on their mannerisms, whether they're shy(introverted) or outgoing / competitive(extroverted) etc. It's a lot easier to get a recommendation in the future if professors know who their students are.A professor at a large school might 5 sections of a class with over 800 students in a semester, vs a professor at a smaller school teaching 4 sections with an average of 100 students total for the semester.
And lastly sometime before she physically leaves for college make sure someone has a talk with her concerning the usage of contraception. A lot of parents are too scared to have these conversations which is why too many young people are walking burning like hell being reckless. Somehow make sure this talk happens. The best form of protection is a condom, because it prevents against pregnancy and sti's
Big lecture town hall classes are overrated imo. There's nothing really cool about 200 students in a class. Low student to teacher ratios makes it a lot easier to clarify on any parts of the material.Professors don't feel as rushed and there's a more intimate connection because students aren't afraid to participant. Classmates actually get to know each other to an extant. The professors actually get a chance to know the students or pick up on their mannerisms, whether they're shy(introverted) or outgoing / competitive(extroverted) etc. It's a lot easier to get a recommendation in the future if professors know who their students are.A professor at a large school might 5 sections of a class with over 800 students in a semester, vs a professor at a smaller school teaching 4 sections with an average of 100 students total for the semester.
And lastly sometime before she physically leaves for college make sure someone has a talk with her concerning the usage of contraception. A lot of parents are too scared to have these conversations which is why too many young people are walking burning like hell being reckless. Somehow make sure this talk happens. The best form of protection is a condom, because it prevents against pregnancy and sti's
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Dreamchaser
All Star
Obviously the stats are important (GPA, SAT/ACT, AP scores, etc.), but depending on the school...they only go so far.
Recommendations are helpful, especially if they can get ones from teachers who actually give a shyt, and don't just jam out a generic template where they replace the kid's name.
Clubs/activities help as well....especially if they're involved from their freshman year. One token year of participation in some club to get it on an application is pretty transparent.
With the essays...take them seriously. Don't treat it as just another school assignment to get done for the sake of doing it. If there is an English or Social Studies teacher that knows her (and gives a shyt), have her work with them on the essays.
And, with the more exclusive schools, activities outside of school make a huge difference. Everyone is in student council, plays sports, and whatever. The kid who volunteered regularly at a local hospital or a political campaign, started a business...something...those are the kids that get into ivy leagues schools.
Check this kid out:
My biggest accomplishment in high school was beating Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Oh, or have rich parents who can donate generously for the rest of their lives.
Thanks for the info. When does this girl sleep at, started two companies at the age of 14?
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Dreamchaser
All Star
She's applying to University of California so size might be issue, but I guess I should give her the lay of the land about contraceptives before she attends college.
Dreamchaser
All Star
She wants to study biology, thinking about a pre-med route, definitely touched on the points you suggested on her essay.
Dreamchaser
All Star
I told to her to look at private school that are trying to reach out to minorities, but she has been pushing back on the idea. She focusing on state colleges, college application are expensive $60 for a goddam application.
Is she trying be a doctor or trying have a good timeI told to her to look at private school that are trying to reach out to minorities, but she has been pushing back on the idea. She focusing on state colleges, college application are expensive $60 for a goddam application.
Here's a good premed / med school program for minorities in LA.....
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Their target population is addressing minorities in need.
Also there's ways around paying the for $60 fee. I just bull shytted it and said my household income was like 10k. They never verified it. But there are fee waivers, so look into that
Only downside is, it's no UCLA or USC. And the surrounding area isn't the greatest, but it's a well known program for minorities. So she won't have to deal with the
from her peers and professors in undergrad, which can be disturbing at times.also @hashmander went to UCLA, I'm sure he can share how to get in.....
If she's going pre-med, I would suggest taking as many math classes as possible in high school.
Then when she gets to college, make sure within the first semester she takes a statistics course.
This would have worked wonders for me in lab, if I taken a statistics course before I took chemistry and physics. It makes doing lab reports that much more easier.
For sure breh, it seems so basic, but I could show a chart of rampart that it is on college campuses or among people under 23 in general.
it would be good to know her GPA and standardized test scores though. without that we don't know if she should be ruling out a school like stanford, especially if her household income is less than $65k a year. you can't beat free.I told to her to look at private school that are trying to reach out to minorities, but she has been pushing back on the idea. She focusing on state colleges, college application are expensive $60 for a goddam application.
and with public schools, the admission standards for in-state applicants are lower than those for out of state applicants.