Applying To Colleges

[© Tweed the Younger]

I've basically all but committed to CUNY Law, but Hofstra just told me they'd give me $40k/yr scholarship to go there, which is an ego boost if nothing else.

I'm so jealous; it seems like everyone else always has a clear first choice.  I'm still deciding between Maryland, NYU, and Rochester   Since March 13th, I count 11 days when Maryland has been my first choice, 5 days when NYU has been my first choice, and 2 days when Rochester has been my first choice.  (Okay, so, maybe I do have a first choice of my possible first choices, but Maryland would also be the riskiest choice for me.)

flip a coin.  then if it turns out to be the wrong decision, you can foreverafter blame it on the coin.

[I'm JewCon in name only.]

well, it's official my graduating high school class is full of geniuses... lol.

2 more people got into Cornell yesterday, one into Penn, and 1 into Princeton (top of our class). Add on 3-4 Duke acceptances, and the bucketload of kids who got into UNC-Chapel Hill  awhile back.



I now, officially, feel little and insignificant

EDIT: Just wanna add in, that I'm proud of my HS for breaking all the stereotypes of High school in these 4 years

[Senator Snowstalker]

My sister got into Hunter. I'm aiming for UPitt.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

I got into NYU but I'm still committed to Reed.

[Lief]

I walked around NYU today. Such a cool neighborhood. So many cuties. So many awesome-looking restaurants. Still probably going to Columbia though.

My brother got waitlisted from Georgetown today, which is weird because he got rejected by George Washington. If he doesn't get off the waitlist he's either going to UT Austin or Boston College, though if I were him I would pick UT.

[© Tweed the Younger]

I walked around NYU today. Such a cool neighborhood. So many cuties. So many awesome-looking restaurants. Still probably going to Columbia though.

My brother got waitlisted from Georgetown today, which is weird because he got rejected by George Washington. If he doesn't get off the waitlist he's either going to UT Austin or Boston College, though if I were him I would pick UT.

if you're still in that neighborhood in NY check out this little restaurant 'Natori' and order the fried alligator appetizer.  absolutely amazing.

[Senator Ben]

Wait-listed at Harvard and Columbia is awesome! I hope you get to go to Harvard

Thanks!  I doubt it'll happen, and I expect to go to UVA (which I'm excited for), but twice in three years a Jewish debater from my school has gotten off the waitlist at Harvard, so I'm optimistic.

[N.i.K.]

I got into NYU but I'm still committed to Reed.

If you don't mind me saying so, you must have wrote one hell of an essay to get into such schools, considering that you had a 3.4 weighted. But you said you had a big upward trend, so maybe GPA doesn't matter as much as I thought.

I walked around NYU today. Such a cool neighborhood. So many cuties. So many awesome-looking restaurants. Still probably going to Columbia though.

My brother got waitlisted from Georgetown today, which is weird because he got rejected by George Washington. If he doesn't get off the waitlist he's either going to UT Austin or Boston College, though if I were him I would pick UT.

What's the big difference between Columbia Law and NYU Law anyway? They both have excellent placement, and seem to be on the same tier. Why not go to the school with the hotter girls?

[Foucaulf]

Congratulations to all! It seems like everyone in this thread has gotten into one school they wanted, and that's what really matters.

Was surprised Ben didn't get into Northwestern and Simfan didn't get into every school to which he applied, considering how much more impressive their resumes were. But they seem like they didn't set their hearts on one school in the first place, which is a very good attitude to have.

Too bad no one here got accepted to my school, but that also means there won't be the awkward moment when I bump into said person. There's a silver lining to everything.

[I left.]

Just our of interest: How much time and effort goes into these university applications in the U.S.? It seems incredibly difficult and annoying, from what I've been reading in this thread.

[Jayhawker]

Just our of interest: How much time and effort goes into these university applications in the U.S.? It seems incredibly difficult and annoying, from what I've been reading in this thread.

Depnds - My IU application took less than an hour. Many applications themselves take roughly that long. Just factor in the essays - you'll get 1-4 typically in an application, and how long it takes per essay.

[© Tweed the Younger]

Just our of interest: How much time and effort goes into these university applications in the U.S.? It seems incredibly difficult and annoying, from what I've been reading in this thread.

it is its own massive industry.  children of the upper-middle class or the bourgeois are often forced into cupboards, devoting the soul of their existence to the goal at the tender age of 16-17.  it's cruel stuff and goes a long way to pacifying the future managerial/political class, harvesting attitudes of submission to authority and a more general fatalism.

[© Tweed the Younger]

...and then of course once they are "successful" they get sacked with $150k of debt, so their lives are very literally foreverafter owned by finance capital.  land of the free.

[oakvale]

Just our of interest: How much time and effort goes into these university applications in the U.S.? It seems incredibly difficult and annoying, from what I've been reading in this thread.

Yeah, I've been reading through this thread with an increasing sense of horror. This whole process seems like a pretty miserable experience.

[bgwah]

Just our of interest: How much time and effort goes into these university applications in the U.S.? It seems incredibly difficult and annoying, from what I've been reading in this thread.

Yeah, I've been reading through this thread with an increasing sense of horror. This whole process seems like a pretty miserable experience.

Yeah, this thread is gross. It's also reminding me that where you went to school doesn't mean all that much. I mean, does anybody really think Benconstine is smarter than Xahar? I know I've poked fun at Xahar before but he's obviously about ten times smarter than Ben.

[Prez Duke]

When I applied to Wake Forest in 2007, I had to write 7 essays and 2 short answers. I don't know why I did that application at the time.

[N.i.K.]

Just our of interest: How much time and effort goes into these university applications in the U.S.? It seems incredibly difficult and annoying, from what I've been reading in this thread.

Yeah, I've been reading through this thread with an increasing sense of horror. This whole process seems like a pretty miserable experience.

Yeah, this thread is gross. It's also reminding me that where you went to school doesn't mean all that much. I mean, does anybody really think Benconstine is smarter than Xahar? I know I've poked fun at Xahar before but he's obviously about ten times smarter than Ben.

Don't be a dick, dude. You're right about how it doesn't really matter in the end, but there's no need to put other members down for their accomplishments.

[Lief]

Tweed's last two posts are very on point.

What's the big difference between Columbia Law and NYU Law anyway? They both have excellent placement, and seem to be on the same tier. Why not go to the school with the hotter girls?

Columbia has better job placement (especially outside of New York, but generally within the city as well) and is more prestigious/well-known. And living in Morningside Heights is probably $5000-6000 cheaper per year, which isn't an insignificant amount of money.

[Meeker]

I walked around NYU today. Such a cool neighborhood. So many cuties. So many awesome-looking restaurants. Still probably going to Columbia though.

My brother got waitlisted from Georgetown today, which is weird because he got rejected by George Washington. If he doesn't get off the waitlist he's either going to UT Austin or Boston College, though if I were him I would pick UT.

GW has a habit of rejecting people they think are overqualified and won't end up going there in order to reduce their acceptance rate. I have a friend who got into Georgetown outright but was rejected from GW.

[Prez Duke]

I like NYU. My ex girlfriend is there now, but she's really not living it up like she should. I know I would be if I was in her shoes. I loved the neighborhood and the restaurants in the area.

My best friend goes to Columbia Med and told me he has to have 2 wallets. 1 to leave in his room and one to carry with him incase its stolen. Sounds like a  great place to be.

[ilikeverin]

It's also reminding me that where you went to school doesn't mean all that much.

It really, really, really doesn't, as I've been trying to yell at the Ben et als who are so excited to get themselves shoulder-deep in debt.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Just our of interest: How much time and effort goes into these university applications in the U.S.? It seems incredibly difficult and annoying, from what I've been reading in this thread.

The process is drawn out and depressing. Many colleges place emphasis on perspective students actually visiting the school and being interviewed. While I enjoyed visiting Reed and my interview, there's no denying that it was a hassle for my family and that if I was of lesser means such activities would be impossible.

The competitive aspect of the process is getting to the point of absurdity and this raises the stress levels of applicants to atmospheric levels. It's all too easy for essays to become contrived pieces of Inks for this reason.

I'm just thankful that I was able to get into a great LAC without going through the pressure cooker that is an "Ivy League"-prep education (I don't know what else to term it) that forces you to get straight A's on a full AP or IB schedule for all of your high school career along with a bunch of BS extracurriculars and sports. Getting a fairly SAT score was easy for me and I'm sure if I took more difficult classes that interested me, I would have done even better but in order to really be considered by a few of the schools I desired to attend I'd have to take AP Chemistry or other such horrors that literally had nothing to do with my future.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

It's also reminding me that where you went to school doesn't mean all that much.

It really, really, really doesn't, as I've been trying to yell at the Ben et als who are so excited to get themselves shoulder-deep in debt.

I'll disagree with this: different schools offer vastly different experiences. The difference between some crunchy LAC like Oberlin and Harvard or UC-Berkeley and Texas A&M is extreme. As far as academics/grad school/employment goes, it doesn't have to matter at all though.

[I'm JewCon in name only.]

my applications werent bad at all, but I didn't really apply to many reach schools

[I left.]

The German university system doesn't really place significant value on one university over another. Although there are rankings these days and certain universities (e.g. Munich) tend to be at the top usually, most universities in the country are thought to be relatively comparable, and I would say that which one you attended is not very important concerning future job opportunities.

Access to the universities (to simplify a bit...there are some exceptions and "personal interviews" are used in certain circumstances to make borderline determinations) is relatively uniform.

Slightly simplified, there are "access restricted" and "non access restricted" subjects. Each university determines themselves how they want to organize their programs. (Medicine, Dentistry and one or two others are restricted at federal level rather than at university level).

If a subject is not restricted (increasingly seldom with increasing student numbers, budget cuts, etc.), you just state you are going to study that subject at that university. Prove you have health insurance, show ID, provide a copy of your Abitur, and you're all set.

If a subject IS restricted, almost always, "applicants" are admitted to the programs ENTIRELY based on their average Abitur grade. They'll have x slots available, and starting at the top grade, x people will be admitted in the order of their GPAs.

That's pretty much it, I've never heard of anything remotely similar to what people in this thread have described.