The College Search
Just thought I'd keep everyone posted on how college applications are going for me, in case you're interested. If you're not, feel free to ignore this.
I am applying early to Wharton , the business school at the University of Pennsylvania. After I get that application in (due November 1st), I'll tell you all about my other colleges.
11/3/2003 - I applied online (I actually submitted my application last Wednesday though). I really love Penn, but it's really up in the air whether they'll accept me. I plan to apply to the following colleges soon enough (tentative list, and I may be forgetting one or two):
Wharton - ACCEPTED!!!
Columbia - REJECTED
Princeton - REJECTED, but I don't GIVE A CRAP at this point
Brown - ACCEPTED
Northwestern - ACCEPTED
Washington University in St. Louis - ACCEPTED
Brandeis - ACCEPTED
University of Maryland - ACCEPTED
Tufts - ACCEPTED
Johns Hopkins - ACCEPTED
Yale - REJECTED
12/12/03 - After frantically trying to access Penn's extremely busy server, I eventually learned that I was deferred. Back the drawing board, I guess. I have a lot of apps to fill out this weekend.
3/23/04 - I realized that I forgot to add some colleges that I decided to apply to rather late in the game. That's all fixed. I'm receiving notifications of acceptances now, so I'll keep y'all posted.
4/1/04 - Well, I'm stil waiting on Princeton, but even they send me a death threat, I won't care, because I'm into Wharton, my #1 choice! Hooray!
Good luck! So you'd start college in the fall of '04?
Yup!
Wow, good luck, and keep us posted!
I visited Brown for a week years ago, and it seemed pretty groovy to me.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Totally agree on Brown being groovy, though I doubt that's a word I'd actually use. ;-)
I'm planning on applying to some of these schools as a transfer since I think I might be happier somewhere else. Case is alright, but it's not me. I think my top choices right now are Brown and Amherst, but I'm planning on reapplying to Columbia and Penn as well. Maybe I'll do better this time around...
Groovy. You know, I think that word was past its expiry date when I started using it years ago. In fact, I think that's *why* I started using it.
I used to do several radio shows at Amherst under various assumed names. It is (well, was at the time) a great campus in a terrific college town. You can take classes at U. Mass, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, and Hampshire (my college) free to boot, and you get into all five libraries.
You know I'm a nerd when I'm getting excited about the libraries, but really, they are amazing.
Good luck!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I love Brown's "conceptual" philosophy, where there are no course requirements or core curriculum, you can take whatever classes you want, and high grades aren't as important as learning and improvement. However, from what I understand, I fear it might even be a little too liberal for me, and hey, I'm pretty liberal. I should visit there and check the place out though.
Do check it out, but I wouldn't let the political climate bother you too much. When I attended Hampshire, I was quite liberal for Tulsa, but not so for the college. Know what? Really wasn't a problem at all.
But each person has to decide what are priorities in these matters. Me, if classes aren't tough enough, I won't stick around. Some, that's a magnet.
Hampshire also had no required classes. Again, for some, it was an atmosphere to thrive in, and for some, it was quicksand.
Again, I dug it.
Good luck!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Well, thanks for the advice and kind words. Now, bedtime for AJ.
Actually, one of the reasons I dislike Case is the political climate. It's not the only reason, of course, but it has made a difference for me. I wasn't overly liberal compared to people at home, but I feel out of place amongst the conservative student body here. I guess it could be different if the students are more liberal than you instead of more conservative (?) but it is still something to consider.
Brown is a wondeful college but Providence is a hell hole city. To be fair, it is much better than it used to be but it still deserves its moniker of the Armpit of New England.
I went to Bentley college in Waltham MA many,many years ago and therefeore I spent a lot of time on the Brandeis campus chasing woman. (Bentley was primarily an accounting school, did you ever see the girls that wanted to grow up to be accountants?)
I have always liked Northwestern and Chicago is one heck of a town for a kid like you AJ.
I dont see Wharton as your type of place but obviously you can't go wrong with that education.
Well, I originally wanted to be a screenwriter, but alas, the film industry is tough to get into from that end. My plans are to use my business education from Wharton to break into the film industry and maybe the creative side will come later. Plus, I'm good at math and analytical stuff, so the business curriculum sound pretty interesting to me. Not that I won't get the chance to take electives...
I visited Northwestern and really liked both the school and the city. We went to a show at Second City that was hilarious.
As always, I appreciate your advice. Good to hear from you!
Sorry to hear you were deferred at UPenn! What does "deferred" mean exactly?
I applied to Penn early decision, but since I was deferred, I didn't get in early. This means I have to deal with the regular decision admissions process. But Penn is still going to keep my application and consider it with the other regular decision candidates. So I still have a chance of being accepted to Penn.
Had I gotten rejected (rather than deferred), they wouldn't have even considered my application with the regular decision candidates.
I hope I still get into Penn regular decision, but if not, I'll (hopefully) have plenty of other good options for me.
College? Why on earth would you want to go to college???
All jokes aside, good luck with your college search. For me, it's been ten years since I graduated, and the one thing I've taken from my four years at St. John's University is that what you once majored in doesn't mean squat if you're doing something completely different. I was a pre-law major, and now I'm a freelance writer. My best friend was a Gov/PoliSci major, and now he's the biggest-selling salesman in the Northeast for a waterproofing company. Go figure. Anyway, lotsa luck, hit the books, get involved, and yeah, party a little, but not too much.
I was an English major, now I'm a computer programmer. I think I know more folks whose careers have nothing to do with their degrees than those that match.
Yeah, I was in IT for 7 years before I quit recently to write freelance. Truth is, I have no idea where my college diploma is. Sad, huh?
Hey, come to think of it, I'm not sure where mine is either! I remember it was huge and rolled up like a poster so it was a pain to store.
Hmm, interesting. I want to get into the film industry, so maybe I should go to med school...
Hey, I was just reading the schools you picked, they seem extreemly hard to get into. Im 17 but im only a junoir. Anywyas if its not to bold to ask, but, what did you get on the ACT or SAT. Im kind of scared myself because I want to apply to all those school espically Penn, and i'll be taking all my SATs and ACTs soon.
No problem, I don't mind sharing.
I never took the ACTs. I took the SATs twice, once in January 2003, and once in October 2003. I got a 1500 (710 verbal, 790 math) the first time and a 1570 (790 verbal, 780 math) the second time. Since almost all schools take the highest verbal score and the highest math score, that would give me a 1580 - 790 verbal, 790 math. However, I was considering applying to most of the schools on my list before I took the SATs the second time, so that would've been based on my 1500.
Good luck on the tests! But really, don't sweat 'em too much. From what I understand, the schools are becoming less and less focused on the standardized test scores.
Damn AJ, I wouldn't mind sharing with scores like that either. :-)
Heh. Thanks, but you'd be surprised - plenty of people at my school are more shy with their grades / scores, even when I know they're doing well. I'm always open with that kinda stuff.
I applied to schools last year.
My list looked like this:
UChicago
Brown
Cornell
Johns Hopkins
McGill
Swarthmore
Williams
Wesleyan
I considered Brandeis.
I have good friends at Penn, WashU, Northwestern, and Brown.
Anyway, so the only advice I can really give is not to stress out so much or rather obsess over your future. It's never worth it in hindsight.
Nice to see those acceptances come rolling in! Looks like you're going to have plenty of options. Hey, what happened with Wharton? I know you were deferred for early admission, but doesn't that mean it should still be on the list as a regular application?
Oh, yeah, you're right. I'll add it. And thanks!
Hi AJ, I too wish you luck on your college search.
I have a question, though, for you and the rest of listology. I noticed that most (all?) of the schools you applied to are east coast or at most mid-west. I'm assuming, maybe incorrectly, that you are from the east.
Is this common, that people from the east don't tend to look at west coast schools? I know lots of people from the west who applied to and went to east coast schools, but is the converse not so common?
Just curious,
Blas
I'm from Maryland, and of the ten schools I applied to last year, one was on the west coast (Reed, in Oregon), two were in the midwest (University of Chicago and Case Western, in Cleveland), one was in the south (Tulane, in New Orleans), and the rest were east coast. I ended up in the midwest. Most of my classmates stayed on the east coast. I only know of two people who went to the west coast (both to Stanford), and a handful who went to the midwest.
So, I dunno. If my high school is typical of the east coast, I guess most of us stay in the east. I think there's probably a higher concentration of schools in the east, which causes many people not to look beyond the coast, and specifically the mid-Atlantic and New England. I would guess it also has something to do with universities in the east being older, and therefore having had more time to make a name for themselves.
I have to admit that when I applied to college, and to grad school for that matter, I pretty much limited myself to the west coast, having an innate west coast bias. I would imagine some of that happens for people on the east as well. Of my friends, though, a number went to the east coast.
I also wonder if, in connection with your comment about the age of schools, if the east coast schools just tend to have better reputations. I could imagine that as well.
You can largely thank my mother for that. She wants me to stick around. :-)
But really, though, the only west coast school I was considering was USC, and though I'm very interested in getting into the film industry, I'm certainly not limiting myself to that. It's not that I thought the west coast schools weren't any good, it's just that I think I can get pretty much anything there is out west while staying closer to home.
As for my friends, I do think most of them are applying to schools on this half of the States. Although one of my friends applied to many schools in England!
Congrats on the Wharton news! That is terrific, AJ!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I am so happy for you. Congratulations again, AJ.
Thank you very much, guys! I'm excited!
Wow, congrats!!! Great news! I hope you love it there!
Thanks, Jim!
Well, I'm at Penn now. I've been here for half a day and I'm already exhausted. This orientation really keeps ya busy.
Well, as long as I have Listology to keep me sane. :-)