Posting answers to questions related to the college process. Feel free to inquire! Important note: if you ask off anon, I will likely respond privately and in a more detailed manner. It's just more personal!
To learn more about me, please visit my other blog, Ivy League Problems.
Anonymous asked: if i take multiple tries on the SAT/PSAT will that show as a bad thing?
It honestly depends how many tries it is. Two is certainly fine; most people take it at least twice. However, any more times than that, and you need to determine whether it is really worth it and whether your score will change all that much.
Anonymous asked: How hard is it to transfer to Penn? (I know it will differ for each school but I don't really know which school I want to transfer to so yeah broad question sorry.)
Everything you need to know about transferring you can find here. I don’t know too much about it since I got in regular decision, sorry.
lueloh asked: Hey! I don't know if you do this, but I am a high school senior accepted to various ivy league schools. My senior project consists of a blog in which I am/will write articles and journal-type entries about my experiences applying to universities and advice that I have. Could you possibly let your followers know of its existence? The blog is college-apps(.)tumblr(.)com. Thank you anyways :)
Check it out!
college-apps.tumblr.com
Anonymous asked: This whole process was very sobering and crappy for me. While I was rejected from Penn and Columbia (and I had a large amount of connections to the latter), Cornell offered me the option to transfer after my freshman year at another university. Do you know of anyone from your old HS that did this or other Ivies that do this?
I have never heard of this…you should feel special and not take this lightly!
Anonymous asked: I'm ending my freshman year now and I admit I haven't been doing my best... I just keep procrastinating. I have a 4.0 and I'm on varsity soccer, but I haven't done any planning for college. I just don't think I have a shot when I compare myself to these other people. Should I settle for not getting into ivy?
You have plenty of time. I honestly didn’t start planning/researching colleges until the summer before my junior year! Never settle, always try.
Anonymous asked: when people say that they have like a 3.92 gpa is that weighted or not?
I believe it is unweighted.
Anonymous asked: Can you get into the Ivy League with a C?
It’s certainly possible.
Hi guys! Just FYI, I’m going to be on a mini-hiatus until finals are over, which will be May 8. See you then! Keep submitting/asking :)
I took 5 years of Latin from 8th grade to my senior year. With that, I was able to place out of the language requirement at Penn, which was handy and opened up space for different classes!
I’m sorry about that, anon! Bear in mind that you can use any experience that may have impacted your GPA as a life-changing experience for your essay. Wow, good for you, that’s a quick turnaround! In my opinion you certainly do, as long as you keep it up. Your problems may not be an excuse, but they may be something that can help you get where you belong.
Anonymous asked: Being a high school sophomore, I haven't taken my SAT's yet :( but I did take them in 8th grade without any preparation for CTY and got a 1860 :O and I also do a lot of extracurriculars- I'm so worried that none of this will matter because of my GPA though, since that's the first cutoff that they do, right? :(
Hey, I took them in 8th grade too without any prep! 7th and 8th, actually. I got a 1560 and then an 1820, and my final score was 2330. 1860 is not a bad starting score at all! You may want to take a practice test just to see where you stand. No, I wouldn’t say that…you don’t really know the first cutoff. The thing is, GPA can depend on extenuating circumstances as well as course load. Someone could have an impressive GPA with a very easy course load, you know? As long as you have some sort of academic score/grades standing out you will be in the running.
Anonymous asked: I have a 3.49 GPA out of a 4.0, and I've been dreaming about Princeton since I was extremely young. Do you think I still stand a chance? Also I have 2 years of high school left and am getting the IB diploma, if that helps at all
Knowing only your GPA and a few academic stats are certainly not enough to tell for sure! But if I’m correct in assuming that your other stats are as impressive, then you would certainly be a competitive candidate. :)
