CC Admissions Strategy Guide

Where should I apply?

• A good thing to do is to buy a college guide book (Kaplan's 331 Most Interesting Colleges, or something like that) during your sophomore year or the beginning of junior year, after taking the PSAT. (Although your score will increase when you take the SAT, the PSAT gives you a good sense of what type of schools you should be aiming for.) Read through the book periodically and start thinking about what you want in a school: size, academics, location (urban or rural), campus life, etc.
• However, be careful not to focus too much on rankings as a means of evaluating a school's quality (they can be very biased).  Talking to students, visiting, etc. may be more beneficial.
• It is advisable to start visiting colleges and thinking about which ones you want to go to in junior year, if not earlier. Keep in mind that the later you do this sort of stuff, the busier you'll be.
• Do not apply to too many or too few colleges.
• Always apply to at least one "safety" school. Two or three will be even better. Requirements for a safety school:

• you would be happy to go there, and if you were accepted to no schools except your safety school, you would not consider yourself a failure
• you'll almost certainly get in (it may be advantageous to pick a safety that admits purely on stats and publishes minimum cutoffs
• you can pay for it no matter what (in-state helps for this)

• In addition to your safety schools, apply to some reaches (dream schools) and matches (schools where you think you'll have a realistic shot at getting in). Look at mid-50% GPA/SAT score ranges (published by US News & World Report).
• It is usually unwise to apply to more than ten-twelve schools (unless they're all on the Common App, etc.). Doing so will give you less time to perfect each application and provide you with an overly stressful senior year. Start your tentative list with 2-3 match schools, 2-3 reaches, and 2-3 safeties. Then add an additional school to any category(ies) where you feel insecure or have a school that fits that you want on your list.
• Special rules apply for people applying under an Early Decision, Early Action, or Single-Choice Early Action plan.

College Rankings

ED/EA/SCEA

• Some colleges allow you to apply under an Early Decision (ED), Early Action (EA), or Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA) plan. These programs all allow you to apply and receive your decision earlier than under regular decision (RD).
• Early Decision confers a contractual obligation, meaning if you apply and are accepted there, you are promising you will go there. If you are accepted there, you have to withdraw your applications to other schools.
• In some cases you may be able to opt out of Early Decision (if your family can't pay), but this happens rarely, so do not count on this happening.
• If you apply Early Decision, you should

• know you can pay, no matter what financial aid is offered
• be sufficiently committed to the school
• be prepared to apply (have taken all required SATs by then, etc.)

• The advantages of applying Early Decision (ED) are

• at some schools, it is easier to get in ED than under regular decision
• if you are accepted, you don't have to work on any other applications

• Early Action also allows you to apply early, but is not binding (you don't have to go if you're accepted). You can apply EA to as many schools as you want. Having an EA school on your list can be a great advantage, particularly if it's a school that you have a realistic chance of being admitted to. If you get in EA to a school, you can be more relaxed during the period when you are waiting to hear from regular admission schools. Additionally, you may be able to shorten your application list and only apply to those other schools that you would prefer to the EA to which you have been admitted.
• Single-Choice Early Action is like EA, except you can only apply SCEA to one school. You do not have to attend if accepted, however.
• If you are deferred, your application will be looked at again in the regular decision round and you will know your final decision in March.
• However, bear in mind that if you are deferred/rejected, you will have to write many, many applications in a time span of approximately two weeks. Not to mention some deadlines might happen before decisions are received (for instance, this year Caltech decisions came out after the deadline for scheduling an MIT interview had passed).

The College Process

• Most colleges require you to submit applications by sometime in January, and will give you your decision by sometime in March or the beginning of April. Check carefully, however; some schools have regular admission application deadlines as early as the end of December. (A good plan is to shoot to have your regular admission applications ready by the end of Thanksgiving vacation; that way, if you run a bit late, you have plenty of time to recover.)
• Not all colleges follow this rule. Some have unusually late or early deadlines. Rolling admissions schools (e.g. University of Michigan) will review your application whenever you send it (and will give back your decision pretty quickly), but you should apply as early as possible to such schools since fewer spots will be available for you if you apply later.
• College applications usually ask you to provide your identification information, family background, SAT/ACT scores, list of extracurricular activities, summer activities, academic honors, and essays/short answer questions.
• Additionally, you may be required to provide two teacher recommendations (this number varies).
• You also have to get your guidance counselor to fill out a school report, which includes your rank, GPA, description of your courseload, and a counselor recommendation. (Colleges understand that counselor recommendations may be generic and will not penalize you.)
• In March you will receive your decision: accepted, rejected, or waitlisted. The waitlist is used by some colleges so that, in case not enough people decide to come to the school, they can invite people on the waitlist, thus giving them enough students to fill the class. In most cases this does not happen, and very few students on the waitlist are ultimately accepted.

High School

• It's good to be from a respected and competitive high school (since people realize it's harder to get a 3.8 at some schools than others).
• At the same time, the more courses your school offers, the harder courses you're expected to take.
• At a more difficult high school, your rank will probably be lower. (not good!)
• Schools often send a profile with your transcript detailing the distribution of grades, course offerings, etc. at your high school.
• Do not think that, because you go to a public school, you have no chance. Every accredited high school has the potential to get kids into great schools.

Courseload

• No, you do not need a certain special number of APs to get into School X.
• The type of courses you need to take depends largely on what your school offers. If your school offers 2 APs, it's good to take 2 APs. You don't need to take an AP in every class, of course. 2-3 per term should be plenty for most competitive colleges.
• The guidance counselor has a large role in determining how hard your courseload is judged to be. On the Common App School Report, they ask whether your courseload is "most demanding," "very demanding," "somewhat demanding", or "not very demanding" (I forget if those are the exact words, but that's the gist of it)
• Try to take courses that reflect your interests.
• Regardless, try to take the hardest courses your school offers in all areas that you think you can handle. Push yourself to excel in difficult courses. Warning, however. Getting a B in an AP course is acceptable; do NOT take an AP course if you think it will likely get you a C.
• It is better to take a lower level chemistry, physics, biology, or calculus than AP Environmental Science or AP Statistics.

GPA/Class Rank

• The higher, the better (obviously)
• (In general) Above 3.5 is pretty good, anything below 3.0 is considered a flaw.
• In some cases GPA may be considered relative to your courseload and the reputation of your high school.
• Usually people look at a combination of unweighted GPA and class rank since GPA weighting systems vary hugely by district.
• If your school ranks, it is highly recommended that you be in the top 25%.  Top 5% for the top calibre colleges.  (This rule of thumb works for the most compettive colleges; below that adjust down accordingly).
• A person who's ranked second in his class will be treated pretty much the same as someone ranked third in his class.
• To the question, "is it better to take an AP class and get a B or a regular class and get an A?", some would say the answer is always "to take an AP class and get an A." Obviously that is not possible for everyone. As above, do NOT take an AP class if it likely will bring you a C; a B in an AP class is acceptable at most schools. Not all AP classes are created equal and colleges realize this. "AP-lite" classes are usually ones that top colleges do not give credit for.

Standardized Exams - SAT/ACT

Extracurricular Activities

• It's better to devote yourself completely to a small number of clubs and activities that you're really interested in than to join every club you can find and not do anything for it.
• Officer positions are good.
• It helps if you can get something external out of the activity that shows your commitment (a great recommendation letter from your sponsor, or a paper if you worked in a lab, or a few awards if you did sports/debate/etc.).

Essays

• Make them interesting, a sense of humor helps. But forced humor that falls flat is far worse than no humor at all.
• Your goal is to provide admissions committees new insights of who you are. Do not simply rehash accomplishments presented elsewhere in the application.
• Even if you must recycle essays, it's usually wise to tailor essays to the school you are applying to (this may mean changing a few words or a paragraph). In particular, it is unwise to list all the reasons you want to go to Yale in an application bound for Harvard. This even applies for schools on the Common App (they have a way of letting you send different applications to different schools).
• Try to avoid
  • anything overdone
  • sex, or anything known to be taboo in America
  • sob stories
  • anything you wouldn't want your parents to read
  • anything you wouldn't want a complete stranger to read
  • anything you wouldn't want pasted all over the Internet
• Be cautious when talking about risky, sensitive topics (mental illness, politics, anything that incriminates yourself, etc.)  Do not go down this route unless you're a good writer.

Awards

• For the top 20 colleges (See College Rankings), it's nice to have some of these.
• Local awards are good, but national and international awards are much, much better.
• National Honor Roll, Who's Who Among America's High School Students, National Society for High School Scholars, etc. are not prestigious.
• Significant awards are not a pre-requisite for admission, however.

Summer Activities

• It's useful to do something over the summer other than sitting at home watching TV.
• Certain summer programs and internships are considered quite selective (most of them are in the sciences). Often the most selective ones are free (for instance, RSI).
• The most selective ones usually have their own threads in the Summer Programs forum.
• RSI is excellent for sciences, TASP for the humanities. Note that these programs are very, very difficult to get into, yet often provide great benefits for admissions (I think the majority of people who attend RSI get into MIT).
• If taking university courses, you should be graded in direct competition with degree-seeking college students.
• Use summers to pursue your interests and passions.

Recommendations

• Any teacher can say you're "excellent"; the box that will really push you over the top is "best in career."
• It helps if teachers use specific examples from class that show exactly how excellent you are.
• Bring them a short resume beforehand so they know something about you.
• Ask teachers two weeks to a month in advance. Don't ask them for a recommendation a week before it's due.
• If a teacher says no, do not be offended, or ask him multiple times. You would probably not receive a stellar report from him or her.
• Put all relevant materials in a folder with your name on it and give it to your teacher. Write her a letter explaining what you need him/her to do.
• Make your teacher a checklist.

Other

• Certain colleges may give you special preference if you are
  • an underrepresented minority or URM (black, hispanic, native american, etc.)
  • a recruited athlete (i.e. the coach of that school is recruiting you). Coaches will usually have a say in the admissions office, but the amount of influence they have varies from school to school. For Division 1 sports, coaches have a lot of influence and can usually get you in as long as you are not an academic failure if your exceptionally talented at said sport. If you are within the schools 25%-75% for the SAT, chances of admission probably exceed 80%. For DIII sports, the coaches will have less influence, but nevertheless can help get you in as the school will know that you have something to contribute to the athletics program. Again if you are within the 25%-75% for SAT and have a respectable gpa, chances of admission are comparably higher compared to regular applicants.
  • a legacy (parent went to the school you're applying to, etc. Sometimes, Master's and Doctorate degrees will also qualify as legacy. However, Harvard for one only considers legacy in regards to attending the undergraduate college. Some public schools do not consider legacy (e.g. University of California). Check with the colleges to see their guidelines.
  • a first-generation college student (your parents didn't go to college). You are not considered a first-generation college student if your parents have attended a college or university in any country, not just USA.
  • have overcome tremendous obstacles (as shown in your essays -- lots of caution is advised in case your essay ends up turning into a sob story)

• International students sometimes have lower chances at top 20 schools than their domestic counterparts
• At most colleges, transfer admission is significantly more competitive than freshman admission; in other cases, it will be easier IF you have an excellent record at your intitial school.

Financial Aid/Paying For College

International Students

College-Specific Information