College Application Time!

[Priscilla]

I know we have a number of high school seniors stressing about college applications and where they'll be accepted and decide to attend, so here's a new thread on that same theme!

[Calaedros]

Good luck everyone :)

I noticed a few candidates for interview around the various colleges before I went down for the Christmas holidays - all the best if any of you are one of them!

Cal

[Jesserli]

Well, I'm done with apps, (been done, actually) just have to do a few portfolio interviews and then wait! and wait. and wait.

[C_ris]

Good luck to you all!!! :ok:

[Madrigal]

Good luck, you guys... where are you applying?

I'm applying early decision for a few, but I have to wait for the new SATs to be administered... so I can't really do much until February. Argh.

[C_ris]

I got accepted already to University of Alaska, Fairbanks, but haffta do some stuff and need to find scholarships and do FASA

Congrats on getting accepted! And good luck in getting everything else you need!

[Magda]

I'm not sure if I understand this correctly but are you applying for universities now?

How do you get there? I mean do you have a kind of entrance exams or your marks (resultats) from school are considered?

And if you're applying now when do you start?

Sorry, if I'm off topic.

Anyway good luck to everyone :)

[Priscilla]

The way I understand it, anyone can apply to colleges if they have studied and can prove proficiency in the courses required for entrance. I say that because we have "home-schooled" kids who won't have been to public schools, and I assume they have to take some form of tests to prove they have learned the subjects that universities require. Also, you may occasionally have much younger people, in their early teens, who are very bright, who whiz through courses and are technically ready for university as young as 12 or 13! Add to that the people who may not have finished high school but have been working for a number of years and then apply to take college courses. There are no entrance exams for universities and colleges, but each place has what are called "applications". These are forms to be filled out which will include your high school (or equivalent) grades, extra-curricular activities, that sort of thing. Many also require you to write an essay about yourself - what you have done with your life and why you want to attend that particular university. In general, young people begin applying to colleges in about Sept., Oct. of their last year of High School, so they would be 17/18 years old at the time. They would begin college in most cases the Fall after they graduate from High School. Is that any help?

[Lady Arwyn]

Well, that's not really true. There ARE entrance exams for colleges/universities, but we don't call them that. We have the SAT and ACT. Each student has to PAY to take these tests (around $300 I think) and when you apply to a university you ask which test they want, and submit your results. Each university has different minimum scores. Most universities also have a minimum high school GPA (grade point average) and you have to have proof that you have taken and passed certain classes, such as algebra, 4 years of English, 2 years of a foreign language, etc. Often you also have to have certain "extracurricular activities" such as volunteer work, sports, student government, music, or something to prove you're not just an academic drone.

Each college/university has different requirements, some are much harder to get into than others. And some (not alot, but more each year) are no longer asking for SAT/ACT scores. They are finally realizing that such test scores only indicate how good of a test taker you are, not how good a student you are! Some people (like me) can ace a test for a subject they've never taken and know nothing about, and some experts cannot pass a test in a subject in which they are acknowledged experts in!

Then there is the community college system, where anyone can enter if they have a high school diploma or equivalent. For students who did very poorly on the tests, or had a bad GPA or didn't have all the required classes, most community colleges have agreements with universities for proving yourself at the community college, then transferring to a university (that's what I just did). Community colleges also have lower level (Associate) degrees for people who just want a vocational education and go straight to work as a nurse assistant or something like that.

The whole "home school" thing is controvercial. Home-schooled kids still have to have to meet all the same basic requirements, in the ACT/SAT scores AND the equivalent levels of learning in the academic requirements expected of traditionally schooled students. Because there is such a wide variety of home-schooling, some have been schooled only in the bible, some already have university level learning, and the rest somewhere in-between. Some home-school parents are so ill-educated themselves, their kids can barely read and write. My cousin home-schooled her kids and didn''t know math, they are all in school(court-ordered) now and in remedial math. Universities take each home-school case individually and determine if they are appropriately educated.

The number of home-school kids is a tiny minority of the general public, but it is growing. I am personally against this movement, but there is nothing I can do about it.

For non-traditional students like myself (going to a university for the first time at age 35) they have altered requirements. I don't have to have algebra or language already completed, and I have to have proven myself at a Community College first (my last classes were graded A-A-A-A-B) before they would accept me.

My husband is applying to CU (University of Colorado) for Fall 05, he's two semesters behind me right now.

[Jesserli]

We have the SAT and ACT. Each student has to PAY to take these tests (around $300 I think)

Errr... don't know where you got 300, but it's more like $28 for the SAT I and $8 for the SAT IIs (except writing, which is $18 because they have to hand-grade them).

[Priscilla]

Sounds about right on those SAT costs, Jess. We just paid for our son to take them last year.

[Lady Arwyn]

Which is right, Priscilla? The $300 or Jesserli's numbers?

When I was in high school it was about $200 per test (we couldn't afford for me to take it, and I wasn't college-bound anyway), the $300 per test was what I heard from my son's school councilor earlier this year.

[Jesserli]

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/calenfees.html

Fees pulled right off of the collegeboard's website. So it's $29.50, not 28, but still. Click and scroll down, and it has all the fees listed.

The tests they really get you on are the AP tests - those are $82 dollars each!

Edited to note that the fees are changing because they're changing the SAT, but it's only going to $41.50, not $300!

[Milo]

I'm a junior and I just took the PSAT. I'm acctually excited about the new SAT because i'm better at writing than math.. But they say its 3 3/4 hours long!!! :eek: I havn't decided which uni's to apply to, but they have to be good theater schools.

[Calaedros]

An interesting point made by Lady Arwyn - "And some (not alot, but more each year) are no longer asking for SAT/ACT scores"

What are they asking for instead?

I'm quite interested because over here (UK) there's been a lot of talk about how it's getting much easier to achieve the top grades in our A levels, and how for the top universities there is often a large difference in ability between some applicants, even if they all get straight As. My university is one of the first to start bringing back a specific entrance exam to be taken in addition to achieving As, but it isn't replacing A levels :) I had to take an early version when I was applying, and it seems to be more critical thinking based.

Cal

[Lady Arwyn]

An interesting point made by Lady Arwyn - "And some (not alot, but more each year) are no longer asking for SAT/ACT scores"

What are they asking for instead?l

Like I said, it's not many of them, only a few major universities and colleges.

What they look for instead is success in AP, IB and honors courses, academic activities such as chess, forensic team and science fair (and how well you did in competition). They also look for university courses taken during high school.

Some don't even look at GPAs anymore, not for *top* colleges where all the applicants have 3.8s and above. So many schools suffer from grade inflation (as you mentioned) and some high schools only grade to a 4.0 and don't offer the 4+ scale some school grade-point systems create.

So instead they have, as I said, started looking at the content of the classes applicants take rather than the grade. Getting a "C" in a really hard class counts for more for them than an "A" in a mediocre college prep class.

[Magda]

Thank you for the explanations.

I'm sorry I just left it, but I have my exams at school in this time.

Here it is not possible to have home-schooling. School is obligatory since the age of 7 and if the child doesn't go there the parents may be punished.

And in your system of marks A is the highest? What is the lowest?


Some don't even look at GPAs anymore, not for *top* colleges where all the applicants have 3.8s and above. So many schools suffer from grade inflation (as you mentioned) and some high schools only grade to a 4.0 and don't offer the 4+ scale some school grade-point systems create.

So you also have marks as numbers?

[Lady Arwyn]

Thank you for the explanations.

I'm sorry I just left it, but I have my exams at school in this time.

Here it is not possible to have home-schooling. School is obligatory since the age of 7 and if the child doesn't go there the parents may be punished.

And in your system of marks A is the highest? What is the lowest?

So you also have marks as numbers?

A - 4.0 90-100%
B - 3.0 80-89%
C - 2.0 70-79%
D - 1.0 60-69%
F - 0 (Fail) -60%

Some high schools offer classes that are considered hard enough that they give you 5 or 6 for an A, 4 or 4 for a B, etc. But because there seems to be no standard to these classes, they are of limited value in a college application.

A person with a 4.0 GPA in standard grading means they never recieved anything lower than an A in their high school career(grades/years 9-12). Anything you do before 9th grade doesn't count.

[NeouofPern]

Gaaaaccck..... I've started college stuff, and I'm a freshman. In highschool. *groans*

[Jesserli]

I got into my safety! (Rutgers University - NJ state school. No way I'm going there, but it's comforting to know that I got in SOMEWHERE)

Now just waiting to hear from the rest of them!

[Danae]

I hated going through the college application stuff. I'm happy all that was last year for me. :crazy:

[Jesserli]

My safety just offered me a LOT of money. Like, half of the total cost of the school.

But I really don't want to go there. :-/

[Blue Moon]

I am so glad that I am not going to an american university. The process seems so much more complicated than the Canadian. I've been griping about the supplementary applications I have to do for 2 of my schools, and now I feel bad. In Canada you typically only have to send of a transcript and fill out a few details about yourself like you name, address, phone number and SIN (like social security number), much nicer.

[pammie]

My eldest applied and was accepted to SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) in the Computer Technology Program. He just aced his prerequisite course but unfortunately scholarships are out as he hasn't even made honours since grade 9.

Hopefully his RESP will help, then he has a job, his dad pays child support (which will go directly to him), and if that's not enough we'll have to get a student loan for him.

[Blue Moon]

I need to brag bout this. I've been holding it in all week because I don't want to make anyone feel bad (those who haven't been accepted etc...)

Anyways, I got into Queen's University which is one of the top uni's in Canada, and one of the most prestigous. I'm thrilled about this, because up until this year I never thought that I would have a chance of attending a university as good as Queen's.

Surprisingly this isn't my number one school- I'd rather live in Vancouver and therefore UBC is my first choice, but I'm still waiting to hear back from them (probably because I haven't finished my application... I hate the questions so much, they are basically telling you to stretch the truth about how you percieve your personality, to make you seem like a better person than you really are)

Okay I'm done *Jumps up and down* I got into Queen's!!!

[Priscilla]

Hooray! So, if you get into your first choice (assuming you finish the application ;) ) will you still go there? My son's best friend is going to McGill (or is it Magill). Anyway, I believe he's doing well and likes it.

[Lady Arwyn]

Mike (hubby) put in his application for the University of Colorado for Fall 05 semester. Now we have 4-6 weeks to wait...

aargh!

[Blue Moon]

I'm not sure which school I will pick if I get into UBC also. It appears that two of my closest friends will being going to those schools (1 to each) and this might play a role in which school I choose. UBC is closer to home though, I have family who lives there, and I might be more keen on the program I applied to (BCOM) but I'm not entirley sure

Good for your friend's son getting into Mcgill, Priscilla. It's a great school (often times Queen's and Mcgill are considered to be the 'Ivy League' schools of Canada) I would have applied there but I'm not sure how I would do being in Quebec. I don't speak a word of french (actually I know 3) and even though the Uni is english speaking, Quebec still has all those pro-french language laws and I was a bit worried about how I would do. I also applied to Western Ontario but I never really wanted to go there, but I needed a third Ontario school. I haven't even heard anything from my back-up yet. I wonder what is up with that.

[skysong]

Been there, done that. Now I have nearly completed my first year at the college I wanted to go to, Arcadia University in Pennslyvania. I little adivce to those juniors and seniors in high school out there, don't be afraid to go to a college that no else has heard of and use the Internet(!) searches like fastweb help a lot and look at the Best Colleges of 2005 list they do an excellent job of rating schools. And get your application in as soon as you can so you have a better chance of getting in. Getting into the college of your choice is one of the best feelings in the world, but it is not the end of the world (safety schools!).

[Tabra]

I did tertiary education out of High School (TAFE for the Aussies out there), in child care. So by the time I applied to Uni, I went in as mature aged with my associate diploma behind me. In child-care if anyone's interested. Then I did a year and took about 8 off to have kids. I went back in the second half of last year.
This time, I am going to finish! So University of New England (armidale), class of 2007 or broke!

[Lady Arwyn]

Oops, I think I left out an important class of education. TAFE sounds like what we call in the US technical school for things like electroncs, data entry or drafting, or vocational school for hairdressing, nursing assistant, child care, etc. I should have included those. My bad, sorry.

Hey, can a hostie add those? Or can you do that in this forum?

Working on Technical/Vocational school
I have a Technical/Vocational school certificate/diploma