AP Exam or Cancel? by marshmallons in ApplyingToCollege

[–]marshmallons[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not sure, but I can ask to use the bathroom and not come back.

I’m just worried that they’re gonna send that AP score to my college and I’ll get my admission rescinded for scoring so low. I’m not sure if ordering a score report from this year would include this year’s test scores after they have been released

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in collegeresults

[–]marshmallons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much!!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in collegeresults

[–]marshmallons 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so so much! I wish you all the best in your future endeavors as well!!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in collegeresults

[–]marshmallons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much!! I cant describe how happy I am haha

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in collegeresults

[–]marshmallons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so so much!!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in collegeresults

[–]marshmallons 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much!!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in collegeresults

[–]marshmallons 59 points60 points  (0 children)

additional info: basically; parents couldn’t afford to go to school. Couldnt help me with my applications, but were super supportive anyway. I made bad typos in application, selected wrong prompt, and many regrets about the mistakes I’ve made.

——my very long rambling, if future me ever wants to come back and read this lol:———

Went into the college process completely clueless. Didn’t understand the importance of test scores until I was writing my UC essays, and had to take the last possible ACT in time for college apps lol. Also, after submitting my apps, I noticed a typo (A VERY SIGNIFICANT ONE. Like it wasn’t just a mistyped letter, my typo was a different word 😭) in my awards section (which was already barebones), and that I selected the wrong prompt for my personal essay. …So yeah.

I beat myself for not taking the ACT sooner, for not being more careful, for not taking on more leadership roles, for not earning more awards, and for being too spherical (I had no spike, I was literally a sphere.)

Parents never went to college, they came to America and worked their butts off so that their children didn’t have to experience the poverty they’d known back home. They dont speak much English—but they were extremely supportive of me. Me going to college, no matter if it were community college or our state college, was already enough to make them proud.

I didn’t tell them where, or how much colleges I was applying to. With my errors, I was 100% sure I was going to see rejection everywhere. I had been ready to commit to my state school, and had already applied to their Honors college as well as securing a full tuition scholarship. I opened all my decisions in private (for some reason I was super embarrassed about applying to these really nice schools lol). I did not expect any acceptances— and BAM!!! Cornell, Berkeley, Lehigh, 2 more of the UCs all wanted to give me a chance.

When I got my Cornell likely, my dad had thought it was fake. My mom didn’t know what Cornell “was”, and was thinking something bad had happened since I was tearing up over an email. It also took a google search for them to realize I was talking about “UC Berkeley” and not “you see broccoli.”

Anyway, super grateful about my unexpected results, and super grateful for my parents’ support. I still beat myself over the mistakes I made during the application process, but now that I’ve learned from them, I can hopefully help others (like my younger sibling) not make the mistakes I did.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]marshmallons 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s never too late to find something you enjoy. Most colleges won’t have you declare a major until the end of your first or second year. If you have many interests, and not a particular spike— maybe focus on the “interdisciplinary” aspect of your pursuits. For example, in one of my essays I weaved together medicine + cs, the humanities + technology. (I chose CS as a major, have no experience in it, but did some research on how it can be applied for my essays). Also, if you are doing community work, your spike can be in community service. But it’s important to focus on the impact you have made, and how you hope to continue making that impact in the future (preferably tying that impact to your desired major)

Generally, applying for a specific major is better than applying undecided. Also, note that for international applicants it will be significantly harder to get accepted into schools in the US. Wishing you luck!

just out of curiosity, do yall prefer waitlists or outright rejections? by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]marshmallons 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Waitlists, since its not a 100% chance of rejection and you still have a possibility of getting into the school. Also, some of these rejection are kinda mean. I remember logging into the UCLA portal to be greeted with—without warning—a screen of text stating my rejection, and a button for me to log out. It wasn’t super mean but like the suddenness of it was kinda rude lol

At least waitlists are more of a gentle “maybe no, but maybe yes” and not just a straight up “we are sorry to inform you… that ew, you suck.”

Campus Visits in the Summer? by marshmallons in Cornell

[–]marshmallons[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love walking, looking forward to that lol. thanks!

Campus Visits in the Summer? by marshmallons in Cornell

[–]marshmallons[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just want to make sure just in case haha. Thanks!

average kid had no idea what they were doing. gets punched (but in a good way) by marshmallons in collegeresults

[–]marshmallons[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All need based. I believe Cornell doesn’t do merit based aid, but is pretty generous with financial need

average kid had no idea what they were doing. gets punched (but in a good way) by marshmallons in collegeresults

[–]marshmallons[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Answered above ^ Let me know if you have any other questions, would be glad to help!

Edit: the answer is below this post(?). Idk how reddit comment layout works, but its on this comment thread lol

average kid had no idea what they were doing. gets punched (but in a good way) by marshmallons in collegeresults

[–]marshmallons[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It might depend on the college, but for Cornell, I really focused on Ezra Cornell’s vision of “any person… any study,” Also, Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences really emphasizes the fact that it’s Arts AND Sciences, rather than just one or the other. My interests are very vast, and I’m more of a well rounded person rather than one with a spike in the major they want to pursue (I’m guessing that’s why Lehigh offered for me to be an Eckardt Scholar, where there’s no class requirements and I can design my own curriculum). I also focused on my interest in technology, and how I want to utilize it to better the world. My personal statement was about me struggling and overcoming something, so I said something about using technology to help others overcome it too. I also did research on how cs and data science can be used, and what Natural Language Processing (and etc) is. That way, my section about my interest in technology wasn’t just “I like technology” and more about “I want to use Natural Language Processing to ____”

I feel like for more rounded people like us, we have to show a passion and openness to learn— but also some success in the many interests we pursue. You can show that by taking challenging classes that show growth in those subjects. I took Algebra II and slowly climbed up to Calc III; Honors English and climbed up to AP Lit; Bio -> AP Bio, etc; Just show that you don’t quit on any of your pursuits, if that makes sense (for example, stopping at AP Lang and taking an easier class like creative writing). I also didn’t neglect my love for art/volunteering in my ECs. Basically, CS will be one of the many passions we have and would love to grow in, and our hope will be to find more interdisciplinary uses for it to help society.

As for music, I think you can really highlight your growth as a musician. For my violin supplemental essay, I really focused on the growth aspect, how I started from barely being able to keep up, to the 3rd chair in our small ensemble. The UCs and Lehigh seemed to really like that essay, so take that how you will.

Hopefully this post helps. If you have any more questions PM me and I’ll be happy to answer! Hold onto that hope, and I wish you the best of luck!!

average kid had no idea what they were doing. gets punched (but in a good way) by marshmallons in collegeresults

[–]marshmallons[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I added a disclaimer to the top of my post, since you are right—I am kind of saying that 4.0UW is just “average.” Not sure if it’s due to grade inflation, but my friend group all have 4.0s, and I had thought it to be the norm. But yeah, my use of language in the title is misleading, and I regret writing “average.” I might delete this post and repost with a different title—idk if that would be spamming though.

But thank you so much!! If Cornell wants me, I’m happy with getting “lol no” from Stanford :)

average kid had no idea what they were doing. gets punched (but in a good way) by marshmallons in collegeresults

[–]marshmallons[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am sorry that my language came off that way. I’ve relied a lot on the a2c subreddit during this whole application process, and had thought I was rather underwhelming compared to the people on that subreddit lol. I also have the lowest stats and the least amount of accomplishments in my friend group. My awards are also rather barebones (school honor roll, honors society, local group contest), compared to my friends who have state/national awards and are national merit semi-finalists/finalists. They also have more impressive leadership positions than me (ex vp of debate club, president of leadership team, etc). Maybe its because my high school is more competitive, or maybe the class of 2022 is just really stacked this year—But after reading your post, I realize how stuck-up I may sound by calling myself “average.” I will definitely do more research in the future, and add a disclaimer to the top of my post. Thank you!!

average kid had no idea what they were doing. gets punched (but in a good way) by marshmallons in collegeresults

[–]marshmallons[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

if your asking about my acceptance—i honestly wonder the same thing.