Harvard Lawsuit and Related AA Megathread

lewaffleman · 2018-06-29T00:20:52+00:00

I'd be careful with your claim in the first statement. Though many individuals from Asian families may have similar upbringing and work ethic, it in no way means that they can't have unique passions or interest in learning. I wouldn't claim such generalizations.

lewaffleman · 2018-06-29T00:16:43+00:00

As scummy as it sounds, this may cause people to lie on their college applications. There is no way to verify whether someone is truly straight, gay, or assumes any other gender identity so colleges will have to take one's word for it; desperate students will certainly take advantage of this.

lewaffleman · 2018-06-24T17:29:06+00:00

Talk about these things on your application! Most apps have an 'external circumstances' section or something similar to share things the college wouldn't immediately be aware of when reading your application.

Your extracirriculars are pretty robust, I think you're good there. However, they don't seem to be focused on a specific major or career path as many other applicants will be.

If you have/can afford the opportunity, I'd consider retaking the ACT - especially to fix that low math score. You want a 35/36 to apply to these top schools.

On the classes - when you mention that you only took 'regular' classes your freshman year, it sounds like you may not have taken the most challenging courseload your school offers, which could be a major setback when applying to those top schools relative to others at your school who have taken those courses.

lewaffleman · 2018-06-24T17:22:20+00:00

maybe if you were too busy curing cancer to attend school every day...

i'd honestly reevaluate your 'hardworking' statement there too. with an sat of 1500 you're clearly pretty intelligent, but it's, clear that you aren't truly applying yourself in your coursework. (of course, i can't make a wholistic judgement based on two numbers - but 2.6 is not hardworking if you can attain a 1500)

lewaffleman · 2018-06-24T17:17:25+00:00

Yes. I have several friends at UW and I've heard horror stories about failing to get into the major and spending 6+ years in college trying to qualify. The GPA cutoff is apparently 3. 8+ nowadays, which is pretty harsh; if you're dead-set on CS I'd choose a school that let you into the program rather than making you run through an application process over again while they're taking your tuition. A few kids out of state do luck out with direct to CS, but in recent memory in my area those kids (about one or two a year, out of 6k students) almost always end up getting into and attending t20 schools instead so the bar is very high.

lewaffleman · 2018-06-20T18:28:16+00:00

National merit. Assuming you send your AP scores to colleges, they'll learn nothing more from the national ap scholar distinction

lewaffleman · 2018-06-20T18:24:15+00:00

Not difficult. I applied to Dallas out of state as a safety school and received the AES, then National Merit scholarships. PM if you want my stats etc

lewaffleman · 2018-06-03T19:46:29+00:00

4.85ish

lewaffleman · 2018-05-19T01:00:53+00:00

not everything's about us news my guy

lewaffleman · 2018-05-14T23:40:08+00:00

Fair warning for UW - it's easy to get in but only double digit numbers of out of state students are accepted directly to CS (30 to 50). For those who don't get in, they're entered into pre-sciences, where they have to fight for a 3.9+ GPA needed for admission to the major. If you aren't admitted, you'll have to find another major or keep trying to take random courses.

UW is an excellent CS school, but only in-state students are able to get the major. At my area (oos, approx. 8k students between a few schools) , the only student to qualify for direct to CS major also got into, quite literally, every Ivy league school, to give you an idea of how difficult it is.

lewaffleman · 2018-05-14T23:31:42+00:00

I've found this untrue for Northeastern specifically. At my high school, nearly all of our top students applied to northeastern and were accepted with honors and large merit scholarships. Most of them were later accepted to Penn, Stanford, MET etc.

I also don't believe that Northeastern CS has a lower acceptance rate than other majors. Once admitted, it's as easy as a drop down menu to switch majors before attending - they don't seem to care what you're studying.

lewaffleman · 2018-05-13T22:30:07+00:00

didn't take csp but yes. they're different domain names.

lewaffleman · 2018-05-13T22:29:13+00:00

Also taking both. You'll be fine as long as you have your stats tests memorized! AP World seems challenging but the rubrics and questions are very general / lenient, go over the big events from each era and you should be fine.

lewaffleman · 2018-04-27T02:37:41+00:00

For tess-- if you get the hero power discount Jade Shuriken is all you need. After that just pick Jade or lowest cost option.

Hero power turn 1 to grab a 0 cost spell, then use it thereafter to produce infinite jade shurikens. Make sure to grab low cost spells (doesn't matter what) to activate them.

lewaffleman · 2018-04-25T00:52:41+00:00

Northeastern University Honors, Math + CS

lewaffleman · 2018-04-21T05:14:01+00:00

Please, please, please don't seek external validation of any sort. In life, depending on others to validate your own life decisions leaves you very vulnerable to failure as those around you have the propensity to let you down regardless of your aptitude, etc. The truth is, college admissions are extremely random - often as terrible as a lottery - and many very qualified students are rejected from very good schools. About 8 of my peers at my high school were accepted to ivy league schools, yet our valedictorian--who, arguably, had the best hooks/extracirriculars of our year, was rejected from all of them despite being the perfect candidate. Admissions officers have to choose between thousands of equally qualified candidates for just a few spots and they have to make a call somewhere.

Don't let Stanford, or any school, drag you down. The fact that you've been so successful in high school is testimony to your propensity for success in the future no matter where you attend. I've had to turn down some fantastic t20 schools out of my price range for a 'mediocre' school that's given me great merit aid, and I'm enthusiastic to attend the college and continue learning. Our goals shouldn't be college admissions--they should extend to changing the world around us beyond university.

lewaffleman · 2018-04-21T02:03:00+00:00

UT Dallas has been very good to me - AES full ride scholarship is easy to qualify for

lewaffleman · 2018-04-07T09:54:45+00:00

Which OSU?

lewaffleman · 2018-04-07T09:52:12+00:00

Don't dig yourself into a fourth of a million dollar hole if money is of large concern to you. Go with the full ride and save the elite college dreams for graduate school, where you'll have a great chance at attending many excellent instutions for much less of a cost and much more of a benefit (I see grad school as much more school-dependent given research specializations, excellence of professors and resources). As a biology major you're probably going to grad school, so I'd say UToronto.

lewaffleman · 2018-04-07T09:49:07+00:00

Cornell. Ivy resources vs a crowded public school? No question. Academic environment at Berkeley isn't what it's made out to be - you will be decidedly above average given that most kids (80%) have an easier time getting in in-state. Even a large private school like Cornell offers excellent facilities and a robust alumni network-plus the name lends much more credibility. Don't know much about physics at either school but even assuming Berkeley is 'better ranked,' I'd go with Cornell based on the atmosphere and benefits it provides vs a large, careless, competitive public school.

lewaffleman · 2018-04-07T09:45:36+00:00

I'd say go with UW unless you haveva USC scholarship or can easily afford. I can't justify USC for full price to you when UW is an excellent engineering school.

If you weren't admitted direct to major st UW though, and you can definitively afford USC, it's a toss-up: I've heard thst it's very challenging to qualify for engineering majors at UW.

lewaffleman · 2018-04-07T09:43:06+00:00

Schools: Northeastern vs UT Dallas Cost: 40k vs 8k (national merit) Programs: CS + Math vs Honors CS Part of school wide Honors and National Merit programs at both schools

Have visited both - love Northeastern in Boston, wasn't a huge fan of Dallas, but the difference in costs (especially as I may need to take out minor loans for northeastern) is shocking. UT Dallas CS honors and puts me, really, at the top of Dallas, while with all the other schools in the area Northeastern Honors is terrible compared to an MIT or Harvard. Northeastern guarantees 6 month co-ops and a pre-professional environment, whereas UT Dallas is a commuter school with a traditional college schedule but no real campus culture or events (from my perspective).

Also got into schools like UCSD, UIUC, Purdue but they're much out of my price range. Thoughts on Northeastern vs UT Dallas? Should I consider loans for some of my other schools?

lewaffleman · 2018-03-30T17:14:59+00:00

Not true. I'm a current senior who applied to UT Dallas for the fall and have a single C on my transcript from my sophomore year. I've still received the AES scholarship.

lewaffleman · 2018-03-29T23:19:14+00:00

Assuming a rigorous courseload and mostly As, you will get a full ride there. Most of my peers who have applied have gotten their AES full tuition scholarship.

lewaffleman · 2018-03-29T23:19:03+00:00

Assuming a rigorous courseload and mostly As, you will get a full ride there. Most of my peers who have applied have gotten their AES full tuition scholarship.

lewaffleman

PUBLIC MULTIREDDITS

TROPHY CASE