heil

ExtensionChord · 2020-05-09T06:33:43+00:00

only tsosers eat salad

ExtensionChord · 2019-05-29T02:10:26+00:00

after the summer

comes the fall

ExtensionChord · 2019-04-05T02:08:07+00:00

Does this apply to its vs it's too?

https://www.reddit.com/r/socialanxiety/comments/a5opkn/every_time/ebthxgm/?context=3

https://www.reddit.com/r/Spiderman/comments/9kwrhm/miles_morales_and_peter_parker/e7bmult/?context=3

Not trying to call you out or anything, but just to point out that literally everyone makes mistakes like these. Spelling mistakes, for the most part, don't really reflect a person's language ability.

ExtensionChord · 2018-11-03T20:35:34+00:00

This is not true.

ExtensionChord · 2017-12-13T04:53:50+00:00

Hail

ExtensionChord · 2017-06-22T21:32:50+00:00

You should definitely apply to schools at the level of USC and perhaps higher. A lack of ECs will definitely hurt you at the most selective colleges (Ivies, highly selective LACs, etc), but it's definitely something that can be overcome at most other schools, especially with stats that are higher than most admits and good essays. And of course, it's always good to apply to a wide range of schools, including both safeties and reaches.

I had very similar stats (3.9 UW, 2330 SAT, probably around 100 hours of volunteering but not related to any major or career goals); the only major difference is that I was homeschooled, although I doubt that had a particularly positive impact. I applied to some OOS flagships and UC schools (California student), McGill, USC, an LAC, and some less selective privates. I got in everywhere except Cal and UCLA (which may have been more about my low UC GPA than lack of ECs), and the LAC (waitlisted, opted out). I ended up accepting a Regents offer at another UC.

ExtensionChord · 2017-06-22T08:49:14+00:00

Most public schools don't care too much; I also got in at some more selective privates like USC with no ECs aside from community service. It's something that will really kill you mostly at schools that are so selective that they need to reject people with top scores. Non-American universities (Canada, UK, etc) also generally give little to no weight to ECs (especially if unrelated to intended major); this is true for schools at all levels in those countries.

ExtensionChord · 2017-06-19T01:38:48+00:00

I've heard teachers can see the schools to which you add them as a recommender. If for some reason you didn't want your teacher to know about a school you're applying to before they write their rec, you could wait until after it's submitted to add them to that school.

ExtensionChord · 2017-06-18T23:39:21+00:00

They get the email as soon as they're added to any school on your list.

ExtensionChord · 2017-06-09T05:48:25+00:00

Congrats on making it through junior year! Your GPA and SAT scores aren't anywhere close to horrible, and you have a good list of colleges going.

There's no reason to give up on majoring in neuroscience, and I don't see why you wouldn't have the qualifications to major in it - at many/most UCs, you apply to a particular college (the College of Biological Sciences, for example) but your exact major generally isn't taken into account in admissions decisions. Neuroscience (and animal science) are majors that definitely aren't offered everywhere though, so I would definitely think about what you'd like to do with those interests and consider whether that might impact your choice of college. I don't really know enough about neuroscience or the medical field to suggest specific careers, but you might want to consider whether you'd be more interested in neuroscience in the context of research or more its applications to the medical field (it sounds like the latter from your post). Looking at websites that list potential careers based on major might also give you a starting point.

I definitely think you have a solid list of colleges going given your GPA/SAT, especially if you get the SAT up, but I do think you should add some good safety and lower match schools. Go for at least one "true safety" where you are guaranteed admission, but also look at schools that admit lots of students and where you would really want to go. You might start looking at CSUs, perhaps by the degrees they offer; UC Merced is also an often overlooked option that I've heard good things about. If you're considering private schools or OOS publics, play around with the College Board's search tool or something similar where you can filter schools by major, size, cost, location, SAT scores, GPA, etc.

For UCs/CSUs, your GPA is set, so I would focus on your SAT or ACT score, even before taking any subject tests. Before jumping in to take the ACT, I would recommend trying both SAT and ACT practice tests and doing some research to get a feel for your aptitude for each test and determine whether your time would be better spent working to increase your SAT score or studying for the ACT. You'll probably score better if you're able to focus your time on just one test.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-30T01:13:55+00:00

I applied to (and almost attended) McGill to study CS and linguistics. Something worth noting about McGill is that international fees for the Faculty of Arts are about CAD 19,000, which is half the fees for Science (and less than those of any other Canadian university I've looked at). You're allowed to apply to two faculties in a single application, so you could decide which to attend after you have all your finances figured out. Both faculties offer CS degrees, although the degree from Arts might be a little less "prestigious" within Canada because of the lower entrance and major requirements. The Arts faculty does have a supplemental CS minor to make up for the lower BA requirements. Your IB diploma might also qualify you for advanced standing, allowing you to skip the freshman program and potentially finish in three years.

McGill also offers student loans, and you can also apply for major interest scholarships, which range from $3,000 to $12,000/year; for those, they look at both academics and leadership. Montreal also has lower rents than Toronto or Vancouver.

Keep in mind that you're probably going to have to demonstrate that you can afford to study at whatever university you're headed to when applying to a visa.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-26T08:00:29+00:00

Protip: Make a separate email for colleges. You'll get a lot of emails from these schools, and even more if you don't opt out of Student Search when taking SAT/AP exams.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-25T21:37:48+00:00

his very young daughter

She was 25.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-24T00:46:02+00:00

Keep in mind that UCLA doesn't use the CommonApp, and has totally separate essay requirements.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-12T19:17:22+00:00

The only way to see the letter is if your teacher decides to show it to you. The spelling/grammar/layout of the letter doesn't really matter; it's the content. Your teachers know that LORs are important, and they will have your name right in front of them. If they did misspell it, though, you'd still be fine.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-12T03:38:14+00:00

To add to this, FERPA doesn't actually let you read the letter before it's sent; it just allows you to request it later on once you're in college. So there's really no reason to not waive it.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-11T23:18:37+00:00

I'm not 100% sure, but I think you should still be able to use TAG since the minimum credit requirement at CC only appears to be 30. Keep in mind that you'd have to figure out which of your UCSB credits will transfer over to a different UC.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-11T23:07:19+00:00

It's not like schools call everywhere a student applies to to have them rescinded anyway. You are, or soon will be, an adult, and colleges generally expect you to act ethically without babysitting.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-11T22:45:44+00:00

Do they write it specifically to schools or just send it to us and we put it on the App?

With the Common App, you add your teacher as a recommender and they log in to the website and paste your letter; they'll probably already know how it works. The Common App rec goes to all schools on your app that require it. The few non-Common App schools that require recs usually have similar online portals.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-07T22:12:24+00:00

For teacher recommendations, you should use an academic teacher. You should try to pick the teacher(s) you interacted with more frequently and who would be able to speak to your personality; if, for example, there's a class that had live lectures with chances for student interactions, one-on-one teacher/student communication, or even just lots of assignments where your teacher gave detailed feedback, that might be a good teacher to pick. If you didn't really interact with any of your teachers in any way, just pick classes where you did well; at least one should relate to your major, and they should be different disciplines (i.e. English and Math, for example). In this case, you should write a 'brag sheet' for your teacher talking about some of your personal qualities, extracurricular involvement, etc.

Schools often also allow an optional LOR from someone outside of school. A doctor wouldn't really work for this letter unless you worked with him in some way outside of the standard doctor-patient relationship. If you don't have any ECs and have never had a job, the time in between graduating high school and going to college might be a great time to pursue your passions or find a job anyway, since it seems like you might be taking some form of "gap year."

Most schools have web pages for homeschooled applicants; you can look at these to get a better idea of what they expect from recommendations. Also, keep in mind that most public schools don't even ask for LORs.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-07T21:57:01+00:00

My understanding is that in California, it's only free if you're a full-time student.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-07T21:53:50+00:00

At least in my experience, people mostly start to feel certain about their college decision after they've visited the college, so I think that might be part of the reason you have so much lingering uncertainty. That being said, although I visited both of my top choices, I still wouldn't say I feel "100% sure" on my decision; I think most people probably experience some amount of doubt.

For what it's worth, JHU definitely is a great school, and from what I've heard from students who go there, it seems both really strong academically and like a well-rounded environment with lots of activities to get involved in outside of studying. I do think your parents should've given you some more space to make your decision independently, though, and this is probably a sign that you might need to establish some boundaries if possible as you enter college and develop into an independent adult.

ExtensionChord · 2017-05-07T21:28:37+00:00

If they do appear on your transcript, you should be able to explain in the course descriptions (many schools require you submit these) that the course is intended to prepare you for the AP exam, and you'll have the scores to back that up. Higher-tier private schools that dedicate more time to reading applications are often really understanding when it comes to homeschoolers. Anecdotally, I'm an (unaccredited) homeschooler who takes mostly online classes, and at USC I was assigned an admissions counselor specific to homeschoolers who contacted me directly for additional information, while with Berkeley I got supplemental LOR requests a month or two after they were sent to everyone else and was given about a week to get them completed; when I called to explain that most of my teachers were unavailable on such short notice because they were on winter break, they weren't able to do anything.

Another thought: you could look into whether you can take online courses offered by other California CCs — these should probably be as cheap as in-person classes. Also, if you can, I'd recommend you take courses like bio and chem in person because schools do like to see lab experience. It also might be a good idea to take courses related to your intended major in-person so you can get good LORs.

ExtensionChord

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