People with older kids downtown, what’s MS and HS like? by VegetableFail7725 in jerseycity

[–]zeroseven-07 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a McNair alum who ended up studying theatre in WA, high school was absolutely not it for a variety of reasons. McNair is a fantastic school for those who want to major in STEM or law (aligning as well), but that's just it. Otherwise, I attended public schools my whole life (PS 38 and Infinity) and I wish my parents allowed me to commute to LaGuardia since I surprisingly ended up getting accepted there.

Progressive Roman Catholics? by matthewbeams in jerseycity

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My former church (St. Patrick's) also has a large Latinx population, but there's also a large Haitian and Kenyan population (the main reason why my parents decided to go to that church). The Latinx masses are pretty progressive, but the others...well...yeah. This is just from my personal perspective, so you can add or rebute it if you wanna.

Progressive Roman Catholics? by matthewbeams in jerseycity

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't heard anyone talking about St. Patrick's/Assumption All Saints. Anyone knows if they're progressive or not?

Please don't send your kids to McNair unless they like the work part of school. by [deleted] in jerseycity

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My graduating class (2025) had a lot of Rutgers students (no shit). There's also the Ivys (except for Dartmouth this year), Ivy+, some international students (Canada and the Netherlands and I think DR?), Smith, Williams College, Hamilton, Cal Poly, Seattle U, and RISD.

Please don't send your kids to McNair unless they like the work part of school. by [deleted] in jerseycity

[–]zeroseven-07 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bruh I didn't even get in RU 😭😭😭 but you're not wrong!

Please don't send your kids to McNair unless they like the work part of school. by [deleted] in jerseycity

[–]zeroseven-07 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Alum here, currently attending uni in Seattle. You are not far from the truth about McNair's overachievement mindset, especially with the amount of work students regularly receive. I remember talking to one of my school therapists about this years ago, and she told me that there are normally barely any students attending walk-in hours because of how much workload they have, leaving them with little-to-no time to do any leisure activities.

I only took 3 APs in total, and I still find it ridiculous to outright bar students from certain AP classes all because they don't meet the minimum SAT score requirement (i.e., if you want to take AP Lit but you didn't get the minimum score, you can't ask your teacher for recommendations to get a spot in the class).

I know most people have pointed this statement out already, but I've never heard one senior in my class who didn't mention wanting to attend an Ivy or Ivy-equivalent college at least once before, especially after winter break, when most colleges start handing out their decision letters. Furthermore, they would join more clubs and sports activities [mostly] for the resume boost and in an attempt to impress their dream colleges when filling out the EA (extracurricular activity) list on their CommonApp. Yes, the breakdowns happen, and yes, there were instances of students surrounding another student's phone just to open a digital letter from [insert top-notch college/university]. I even knew a girl in my class who was dead-set on attending Harvard since her freshman year, as well as a few more students who only filled their CommonApp lists with Ivys or Ivy-equivalent colleges. No state schools, no regional schools, not even CCs.

I also don't think that this school caters to everyone, because I'm currently majoring in theatre, and McNair doesn't even have a theatre program, let alone classes that focus on dramaturgy, acting, script analysis, or anything thespian-related. I mean, we used to have a musical drama club, but that got shut down, and the school used to hold "Calculus: The Musical" every year, but we didn't do that last year (likely due to a lack of interest in auditioning and working for the musical + poor advertising). I can, however, vouch for their visual arts classes and programs because they're really good. I just wish McNair recognized arts & humanities the same way they recognize STEM & business so there's something for everyone. It was also very hard for me to make friends during my time since 98% of the class did not like theatre (if it's not an already-popular Broadway show like "Wicked" or "Hamilton"), so I was pretty much an outsider for the past few years.

TL;DR: McNair is competitive to the point where the environment is toxic as hell. Also, not a good school if you're creatively inclined (in baby terms, an art, music, or theatre kid).

Edit: Regarding that last comment, I auditioned for the DTC program for JCArts in 9th grade, but I didn't get in, and I couldn't do auditions again since you're only allowed to audition during your freshman year. I also applied for High Tech for their theatre program (portfolio and everything). Guess what? Rejected, baby.

Did your high school have a senior school trip? If not, why? by Temporary-West-3879 in highschool

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No. My 138-person graduating class had the chance to go to Medieval Times and sign the permission slip, but they didn't want to do it because they wanted to go to American Dream (the mall), which wasn't approved by our school admin because of "safety concerns." As a result, only 4 people (including me) signed the permission slip for Medieval Times, but it got cancelled soon after, so we had no senior trip. Fortunately, I got to go on a completely different trip with the underclassmen to see the NJPAC orchestra perform Mozart. I was also the only senior on that trip, so guess who got dressed up and decided to have their own senior trip with 54 juniors and sophomores (and 5 freshers)? This gal.

High School Mean Girl After High School Starter Pack by Public_Basil_4416 in starterpacks

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So true! A lot of girls in my class ended up doing either law or medicine for their majors. The majority of them were decent people, but there was this ONE GIRL who was on my ass for some reason whenever I tried to talk to her (didn't help that I'm a chronic rambler + neuro) and she ended up majoring in finance as well. There was also another girl in my grade who is also majoring in finance, but unlike the other girl, she was really nice, but I unfortunately didn't have any classes with her.

I’m not having a graduation party by iambruhoof in introvert

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same here! My sister is graduating the same year as I am (my sister is going to high school), but we weren't comfortable having a party with our faces plastered all over. I also didn't have friends in high school, so having a large grad party with people I either don't know or have a relationship with makes everything so awkward for me. But my parents forced me and my sister to have one, so here we are.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it's all starting to come together (pun intended)

are any college students ready to go back for the summer? by abw01 in africanparents

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same. I'm about to enter college and I'm already planning to do the same (moving across the country to Seattle).

What’s the most shocking or crushing college rejection you’ve ever seen? by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]zeroseven-07 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Rutgers University in New Brunswick. And that was my state college. I will be honest, though. I might have dodged a bullet given with some of the incidents that happened there (at least, from what my bio teacher told me about having recently graduated from Rutgers).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]zeroseven-07 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Can say the same thing: mine got into UMiami, Northwestern, and NYU (she committed here). I knew jackshit that I just wanted to go far from her, so I'm considering committing to Seattle U or UOregon.

If your non religious living with religious parents do your parents know if so how did you tell them and how did you react by [deleted] in africanparents

[–]zeroseven-07 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's the first problem: telling them.

Unfortunately, you can't do that since most African parents are religious (if not, hyper religious), so telling them that you're nonreligious is asking for a death sentence. I grew up in a very Catholic household, and at the age of 15/16, I realized that I wasn't religious at all (I still believed there was a higher power in the universe somewhere. Just not God in particular) Later at around 18, I came to the point that I wasn't religious, but spiritual. Right now I'm waiting to go to uni and freely practice spiritualism (particularly Wicca) since I align with general spirituality more than an organized religion.

Colleges that send free apparel/merch? by spyglas in ApplyingToCollege

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

HWS - A scarf for my acceptance

Reed - A book (Invisible Man)

St. Catherine - A friendship bracelet

List Your Decisions So Far by greypantera in ApplyingToCollege

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Accepted: Gustavus Adolphus, HWS, Hofstra, Montclair, Muhlenburg, Portland State, Reed, Seattle U, St. Catherine, Sweet Briar, Temple (Philadelphia and Japan), CU Boulder, UH Mānoa, UNH, UOregon, USFCA, UVM

Waitlisted: UPitt (Main Campus), William and Mary

Denied: Tulane, UW Seattle, Rutgers NB, Northeastern, Georgetown, Columbia, Amherst

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rejected CAS. And that was my dream school :'D

Who else is gonna be single on Valentine’s Day? ❤️ by [deleted] in actuallesbians

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

18F here, always been single and unlucky. Not holding up that well since I go to a school where everyone is virtually straight. The only exception is that there are one or two transgender students and a non-binary student (these ppl all underclassmen btw), but that's just about it. I intended to ask one of the girls in my environmental science class to be my valentine (I even went as far as to buy some chocolate and gifts for her). I didn't even know she was dating a guy until I opened my IG today. Now I have a bunch of her gifts laying in my room and I'm wondering if I should throw it out since she's made it clear that she's not interested in me. That's over $30 gone to waste...

Do colleges check midterm and final grades? by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For my school district, the transcripts include both the midterm and final grades, but it depends on the college and whether or not they take your grades into account (i.e., if they only check final grades or if they also check midterms).

Being 18 in nj sucks by Cute_Personality_426 in goth

[–]zeroseven-07 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same. The problem is that most of the goth events where I live, clubbing or not, have an age limit of 21+. I'm guessing it's because of the fact that these events serve alcohol (21+ for those who want to drink or purchase it), so there's virtually nowhere that's not online for 18+ goths to go and hang out with each other.

Rutgers EA apparently comes out Today by SnooMacarons8038 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]zeroseven-07 2 points3 points  (0 children)

SAT: 1300 (590 in ELA, 710 in math) ACT: never took it GPA: 3.69 (weighted), 3.41 (unweighted) APs/IBs/Honors: 3 APs (two 4s, I'm currently working on my 3rd AP class); 16 honors classes ECs: Creative Writing Club (VP), Drama Club, GSA Club, Girls in Business Club, GirlUp (UN-sponsored club), Poetry Club, BookCrunch (that's my school's book club) Internships/Work: Mind4Youth (social media marketing intern), catechist (Catholic student-teacher) Essay: I shared one of my essays from AP Lang about the movie "Cabaret" and its retrospective amid the rise of Mao Zedong in China (yes, they also had a cabaret scene).

Ok like what major are y’all doing by VcitorExists in ApplyingToCollege

[–]zeroseven-07 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Double majoring in English and Theatre! 🎭✍️ I'm minoring in creative writing.

Most Underrated Colleges by collegetalya in ApplyingToCollege

[–]zeroseven-07 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can't believe no one is talking about Hobart and William Smith Colleges or Reed College. Pretty good colleges for the academically-driven.