I checked if there were any updated documents I needed to send to the schools such as midyear grades. The semester just ended which means most schools wanted an updated list of grades for those classes I took. I was able to check-in with my school counselor about any midyear grades which was an issue for Georgetown University. For my FAFSA forms I had to update the schools that weren't listed before because I applied to more than 10 schools which is the maximum amount of schools you can list on the FAFSA Form. I had to do this in order to get financial aid from those schools. I also completed my CSS profile which is due beginning of March for aid in private schools where I wouldn't get financial aid as much. After completing both and checking in with my counselor for anything else I was missing the last thing that is left for me is to wait for my acceptance or rejection letters in March and April. The next school I am waiting to hear back from is WPI on February 15th and I can decide if I want to commit to play volleyball there. Next week I want to specifically look into the finance programs in the schools I applied to to make a priority list of schools that I definitely want to go to when I hear back from them.
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This week I focused on completing the rest of my supplements, I was able to do a lot of this work over winter break as some of the school's deadlines were January 1st but this week I had to finish the rest which were due January 5th. This week I was also able to complete my project planner for January of my article about the college application process. When writing the supplements over winter break I realized how many there really are, since I am applying to 20 schools I had to create on average 3 individualized supplements for each schools ranging from 100 to 400 words a piece. I'm not sure why I put myself through that, but after sleepless nights over break I was able to finish most of them which I attached below and submit a bunch of my applications (about 10 - I lost track). The issue was that some of the colleges had even more supplements even after I submitted the application for their separate honors programs which I want to get into for scholarships which took extra planning and writing. But overall I am proud of myself for being able to overcome this obstacle of writing about so many different schools and I will be sure to add to my project not to choose to apply to over 20 colleges as it is too stressful and unnecessary. Next week I would like to figure out my FAFSA and finish up with any other colleges I have to submit. For my evidence I will attach the supplements as well as some completed applications that I am proud of and took extra time on. For most of my formatting for the supplements I pasted the question they wanted me to answer and wrote my finished paragraph in the same doc as CommonApp deleted my unfinished answers a couple of times due to refreshing. When applying to MIT I also had to create a separate account as they don't use the CommonApp and I will attach a screenshot below. I also didn't realize how costly submitting to all of these schools would be!
This week I finished editing my website by using my peers' recommendations. This included improving my about me page and adding a new page to mention how my inquiry corresponds to being a mindful learner. I also spent most of the week focusing on my Common App by filling out all of the information for colleges and adding the colleges themselves by submitting a transcript request form to my counselor. When completing the common app I had to focus on getting all of my activities in order and reviewing all of my information. My Common App is completed and next week I will need to focus on getting my recommendations done because when I was researching I realized that some schools require me to submit my application by December 1st in order to qualify for scholarships. I will need to complete those for my teachers, counselor, theatre mentor, and volleyball coach in order to get all of my recommendations in order by the end of January.
This week I got notified of my acceptance to Boston University, UMASS Amherst, WPI, UCONN, Florida State University, and Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. This has been an exciting week where I get to actually conceptualize and see where I want to go. This requires some investigation as I will have to look into every specific school and see if I enjoy its aspects or not. I started researching each school more in depth to get a sense of the kind of community each college is to decide where I want to go. An issue I encountered is that money-wise I didn't end up getting a lot of financial aid for most schools so it ended up being around 30-45k a year for each one so the means difference isn't that big of a deal. I wish I finally knew what my decision for college will be but I decided I would sleep on it for at least a week because it is such a big deal and I would like to visit the schools next week. My plan will be to go to BU, UMASS, UCONN, and hopefully Trinity to see if I enjoy the campus and culture there.
This week I was able to create a list of schools that I needed to send my FAFSA forms to, as well as the CSS profile I needed to update about any private schools I applied to. I checked if there were any updated documents I needed to send to the schools such as midyear grades. The semester just ended which means most schools wanted an updated list of grades for those classes I took. I was able to check-in with my school counselor about any midyear grades which was an issue for Georgetown University. For my FAFSA forms I had to update the schools that weren't listed before because I applied to more than 10 schools which is the maximum amount of schools you can list on the FAFSA Form. I had to do this in order to get financial aid from those schools. I also completed my CSS profile which is due beginning of March for aid in private schools where I wouldn't get financial aid as much. After completing both and checking in with my counselor for anything else I was missing the last thing that is left for me is to wait for my acceptance or rejection letters in March and April. The next school I am waiting to hear back from is WPI on February 15th and I can decide if I want to commit to play volleyball there. Next week I want to specifically look into the finance programs in the schools I applied to to make a priority list of schools that I definitely want to go to when I hear back from them.
This week I completed my UMichigan Portfolio. This is something that i needed to spend significant time on and submit as an extra supplement even after I already did my application for the special business program. I researched the topic of local issues in my community and how I could create a business initiative to fix this those issues. I ended up focusing on how my town, Grafton Massachusetts needs to improve its community feel. I came up with the idea of fundraising money from the town's residents to create events at the community center for senior citizens and kids and then posting it all on social media to bring the people in the town together. Theoretically such a plan would help improve my community if I actually started it and had the funds to do it. I attached a copy of my essay below. I also had to submit an "artifact" and describe its significance to me. I attached a photo of me from the Russian Theater I attended and I talked about my volunteering there in order to show that part of me to the business program at UMichigan. Overall, I had trouble coming up with an initial business issue/idea I could improve in my community as I wanted to do something with recycling first because my town in Grafton doesn't do much of it but I thought other students would write about that and wanted to create something more unique. Hopefully my portfolio will help get me into their business school.
This week I had two more interviews with Princeton and Georgetown but they were in person. After having an interview with MIT last week I thought it went pretty well but I wanted to prepare for these schools separately to curate some more school-specific questions which I had to research about their schools for. I also looked up some articles on what to wear to an in-person interview and learn about body language to portray myself in a more positive light in my first impression to them. Overall these interviews went well, especially the Princeton one where the guy even said to keep in contact with him when I find out where I am going because he is interested in my future career as a person. The Georgetown one could have gone better but I think it was more because the interviewer was different than I expected. I attached the list of questions I asked the Georgetown and Princeton interviewer below as well as the article I used to learn how to act in interviews. I had some issues come up where I couldn't decide what to wear but I ended up choosing something casual as this was labeled as an "informal" meeting. They said they would give me positive reviews, can't wait to see if I make those schools! I will have to add a page about interviews to my college guide.
This week I focused on preparing for my MIT interview this upcoming Saturday. Not every student gets the chance to do this and they reached out to me directly to conduct an interview with an alumni to get a better idea of my personality and if I would fit in with the rest of the students at t he school. I looked up the statistics on this, and those who were offered an interview had an 11% chance of getting into MIT compared to 1% without it so this is a big deal and I need to make a good first impression. I wanted to be really prepared and ready for this interview so I researched information about the school on their website first to get a better idea of the specific programs they offer which I am interested in to talk about as well as forming questions that I have about the school to ask and prolong the conversation. My goal was to have the zoom meeting last an hour and a half and talk about as many topics as possible so they can get a good report on me to send to admission. The second step that I took was watching YouTube videos about other students who went through this process to get a better idea of what questions they will ask me. I created a little note to myself with topics I want to discuss and questions I want to ask for this purpose. Also, after reading about interviews I found out I need to look presentable even if the interview itself is labeled as "informal", usually before covid they would actually sit down with students in person at the local caffe but in my case it will be over zoom. I attached my notes and the links that I used to prepare, I hope it goes well on Saturday! The other thing I focused on this week was my FAFSA, I was getting emails from colleges I had already submitted saying that they didn't receive my financial aid because I hadn't signed a document which I figured out and hopefully that doesn't workout against me in any way. I also created a separate note with the dates that I will find out my acceptance from all of the colleges that I am planning on applying to. This week I focused on completing the rest of my supplements, I was able to do a lot of this work over winter break as some of the school's deadlines were January 1st but this week I had to finish the rest which were due January 5th. This week I was also able to complete my project planner for January of my article about the college application process. When writing the supplements over winter break I realized how many there really are, since I am applying to 20 schools I had to create on average 3 individualized supplements for each schools ranging from 100 to 400 words a piece. I'm not sure why I put myself through that, but after sleepless nights over break I was able to finish most of them which I attached below and submit a bunch of my applications (about 10 - I lost track). The issue was that some of the colleges had even more supplements even after I submitted the application for their separate honors programs which I want to get into for scholarships which took extra planning and writing. But overall I am proud of myself for being able to overcome this obstacle of writing about so many different schools and I will be sure to add to my project not to choose to apply to over 20 colleges as it is too stressful and unnecessary. Next week I would like to figure out my FAFSA and finish up with any other colleges I have to submit. For my evidence I will attach the supplements as well as some completed applications that I am proud of and took extra time on. For most of my formatting for the supplements I pasted the question they wanted me to answer and wrote my finished paragraph in the same doc as CommonApp deleted my unfinished answers a couple of times due to refreshing. When applying to MIT I also had to create a separate account as they don't use the CommonApp and I will attach a screenshot below. I also didn't realize how costly submitting to all of these schools would be! Most of the harder to get into schools cost around $75 EACH, now that's an investment, I better get into one of them :)
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AuthorJust a senior at Nipmuc Regional with the goal to educate myself and others on the college process Archives
February 2022
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