I was recently accepted into Yale and they had this program for our newspaper where they gathered up kids who were accepted into the Ivies in our county (district). There were about 12 kids total, 10 from private schools and 2 from public schools (me being one of them). Now whenever my parents tell people that I am going to Yale, people all of a sudden start telling me "oh my god you must be bright" and often everyone wants to sit down and have a conversation with me about politics and my opinion on things that concern the nation (Healthcare and what we should do to create more jobs).

I am going to be honest here, I am not a moron but in NO way am I even beyond intelligent, maybe a little above average at best. The only way I was able to get into an Ivy was through pure luck. So I had the opportunity to talk to the other 11 kids who made it to the Ivies. I assumed that they were all going to be geniuses beyond my league, well here are some things I hear from them.

1. "Dude I only made it to Harvard because the high school I went to did not have a tough grading system, if teachers liked you, you made an A in the classes".
2. "Yea, I made it into Princeton because my parents paid for prep courses so I could score high on the SAT. I took it about 6 times, made a 1540 the first time and the 6th time around I made a 2230".
3. "Like I was lucky to make it into Brown, I only made it in because I played on the football team, teachers liked me so I had a high GPA and parents hired a tutor so I could perform well on the SATs".
4. "Yea man I made into Cornell because like my dad had me do research with this old guy over the summer and it looked good on my resume. I mean, I am happy, now my mom even lets me watch Porn without throwing a fit". (I coughed).
5. "I can’t even freaking believe that people think we are bright, I mean we are just people who know somebody, do our work in school and don’t sleep through classes."

So I had the opportunity to talk to those kids and I was stunned. Most did not even know the basics and a lot of them could not even debate efficiently on topics involving politics.

Why in god’s name do people think kids who get into Ivies are smart?

Technorati Tags: cornell, dad, football team, geniuses, gpa, grading system, harvard, ivies, jobs, mom, moron, parents, princeton, private schools, resume, sats, sleep, team teachers, tutor, yale

Specifically Princeton…
I am a high school junior.
4.000 GPA (weighted classes in my school get 5)
I tutor in mathematics and writing
Member of the Red Cross Club, FBLA, NHS, member of the marching, concert, and jazz bands (I play alto sax- 3rd chair) at my school.
I am in several honors and AP classes (including APLAC, Honors English, Honors Spanish, etc.). I am taking more next year
Best overall SAT score is 2050 (650 CR, 700 MAth, 700 Writing).
On school track team (throwing).
I also started a baseball team for children with special needs and am donating ALOT of time toward it.
Anywhere between top 10%-15% of class.
Planning on taking subject tests and ACT
Also invited to attend multiple leadership conferences…

Technorati Tags: alot, alto sax, ap classes, baseball team, children with special needs, cr, gpa, jazz bands, leadership conferences, math, mathematics, princeton, red cross club, school track team, score, subject tests, tutor

hi (:

I have a question about my ACT test scores that I recently got in the mail…my scores said I got a composite score of 33 and a 10 on the essay…and I really don’t know all that much about ACT scores and all, so I’m a bit confused. So I was just wondering, are those good, bad, average, etc, scores?
It broke down like this…I got a 34 on English, 33 on Math, 30 on Reading, and 33 on Science. I am really confused…the ACT test is scored so much differently than the SAT’s. =/

Anyways, to give you a little background info, I’m currently a freshman in high school (and I only went to take the test to get a feel for it, just so that I’ll know what to expect when I take it for real as a junior/senior). My lifelong goal since FOREVER has been to get into an Ivy League school. Princeton or Cornell would be my dream…anyways, so with those scores right now, would you say I’m on track? Or do I have a long way to go…or no chance at all?

Once again, I really don’t understand the ACT scoring process at all, so if someone could explain that a bit, it would be immensely helpful
Oh, and if you have any more tips for getting into Ivy Leagues, etc, that would be very helpful as well! (like GPA-wise, and how many APs and extra curricular activities to take on) Thanks

Technorati Tags: act scores, act test scores, aps, background info, composite score, cornell, extra curricular activities, freshman, gpa, ivy league school, ivy leagues, lifelong goal, mail, math, princeton, science

I plan on taking the SAT or ACT as many times as I can (or until I get the highest score I can). But I have a problem when I apply for colleges.

Can they see how many times I took the SAT or ACT?

The other day I was at Princeton, and the admissions guy was explaining how he didn’t like to see kids take the SAT more than twice.

So I’m really scared that if I take it more than once, that after that, they’ll start penalizing me for it.

I’ve heard that you can pay some college board of admissions to take away ONE test score, but that costs money, and if I take the SAT like 5 times, and want to get rid of 3 of the scores, that’ll cost me a lot of money!

So I was just wondering. Would they penalize me for taking the SAT and ACT more than twice?

I thought that on the applications, they can’t SEE how many times you’ve taken the test. They only see the one you WANT them to see.

But I’m so confused about this!!! HELP!

Technorati Tags: college board, colleges, costs money, highest score, princeton, test score

I’ll be taking the SAT soon in around 4 months from now. I was wondering what is better? Should i enroll in courses or just study by the book. The price for the courses or books doesnt matter. If the course is better than studying by the book, then would it be Kaplan or Princeton? The same question also goes for the books as well.

Technorati Tags: 4 months, kaplan, princeton

I will apply for the class of 2015. Do I have any chance at all?

GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.5 weighted
Rank: 18/656, top 3% (may go up)
Class schedule: very rigorous
Senior courses: Spanish III, Eng IV Hon, Physics Hon, AP Stat, AP Calc
AP classes: I will take the Chem and Gov tests in May. Expecting 3 and 4.

Awards: Local writing awards, Rising Sunshine State Scholar

Extracurriculars: Academic team (captain), Math Honor Society (president), NHS (vice president), FIRST Robotics (historian/parts manager)

Service: Relay for life team, tutoring math every week grade 10, 11, and 12; mentoring children-about 80 hours

Recommendations: Pretty good

Essays: I am a great writer, so hopefully great.

SAT score: Low end, 2100 ish
ACT score: Haven’t taken, probably about 30
SAT Subject tests: I have no idea, but also on the low end I assume. (I will be taking Math II and Chem)

Lastly, I am a legacy.

Do I have any shot? I really wish Princeton had an ED.

My thoughts are if I can just raise my test scores I will be relatively competitive.

Thanks.

Technorati Tags: academic team, act score, ap calc, ap classes, first robotics, gpa, historian, ish, math honor society, nhs, princeton, relay for life, scholar, society president, spanish iii, stat, subject tests, sunshine state, team captain, test scores

I have a 21 on the ACT test.. I am hoping to get it closer to 28. I own a Princeton ACT and SAT book. I want toi some online websites that some of you guys used to get a high ACT score. Also if there any tips for the reading and science or any portion of the test that are good please tell me..

Ps ..I am much weaker in reading and Writing but stronger in Maths

My plan is to get a 31 on Math, 25 reading, 28 science, 28 writing

Thank you for your suggestions
Please answer the question

Technorati Tags: act score, act test, math, princeton, science

Ok I know I asked this last time, but I didnt get a lot of responses! ugh *sighs* so plez ppl I want more answers!! How many hrs should I study each day? and I already got all the 4 books.. (kaplan, princeton, arco and barrons) I even took sat books out and studied out of thoose. Yea I’m pretty desperate of getting in. I tried everything I could think of….

Oh yea and if you took any practice tests plz tell me what u got on thoose and what u got on the actual test…(just so I can compare exactly how hard it is of getting in to the prep books I used)

and plez dont tell me go to a prep school, I went to a kaplan course over the summer, specialized high schools institude and some other stuff. I need some info on SELF STUDYING!
@ the first and third answerers:

ugh I bet you guys dont even know what the specialzed highschools are!!!!!!! (stop answering stuff u dont know)
@ UR MOM: thanks!s soo mcuh for your answer!

Technorati Tags: answerers, arco, high schools, kaplan course, last time, mom thanks, ppl, practice tests, prep school, princeton, specialzed

I have a list of colleges I am looking into and they are: princeton, stanford, university of pennsylvania, columbia university, univeristy of chicago, washington university in st. louis, cornell, brown university and of course NYU since I am a NY native. I know thats alot of colleges to list but I’m a junior in high school and I’m considering my options. I know those are top ranked schools ( i got them from us. news americans best colleges magazine) so I need really good grades, SAT, AP classes etc.But my question is which of those listed above will be best for a major in accounting/financing and/or nursing?
I am taking alot of Ap classes this year ( 4) and I took one last year and I got a 4. i will be taking the SAT this year and I am preparing alot for it ( I take prep classes at my high school and also study on my own on the weekends).

Technorati Tags: accounting, alot, ap classes, best colleges, brown university, columbia university, cornell brown, list of colleges, nyu, princeton, stanford university, top ranked schools, university of pennsylvania, washington university in st louis

I am willing to devote 10 hours a day for the next three months to obtain a 2300/2400 on the SAT reasoning test. That is definitely not an exaggeration. I REALLY want to get into Princeton and I think I need a strong SAT score to do so. Which methods would be most worthy of my time:

An SAT prep course
Memorizing 1000 SAT words
Reading a book a week
Taking numerous practice tests
Memorizing all geometry and algebra theorems and formulae

Any other suggestions?

Technorati Tags: algebra, exaggeration, formulae, geometry, practice tests, princeton, reading a book, reasoning test, score, theorems, three months