Carlos Said:

Hi, I'm a junior, currently in high school, in San Jose, CA.I I attend a pretty competitive school. ?

We Answered:

You appear to be a reasonably strong applicant. I would think your chances of getting accepted at the UC schools would be good, especially being instate. Caltech, MIT, and the Ivies are a different story. There really isn't enough information here to give you a good analysis. Your test scores and your class rank (not your GPA) are important. So are you application answers and recs. But, assuming all that is strong, the chance of getting in would probably be less than 50%. You see, everyone who gets in will have similar stats. There are too many good high school students and not enough slots at the elite schools. So they really need you to stand out among the best students. That means you need to do something like research or college classes (at MIT and Caltech) or be some music prodigy or set up a humanitarian organization that feed starving Africans (the Ivies). If you haven't done these sorts of things, then you are just in a boat with the rest of the normal top students, and most of those people will not get in. On the other hand, many do. So, it becomes hard to predict. If you want to improve your chances, seriously consider getting involved in something impressive. If Caltech and MIT are your top schools, the best thing you can do is find a college professor who would be willing to work with you on a research project.

By the way, the elite schools are looking for well rounded class, not well rounded students. That means they want people who are really good at one or two things, not alright at many things. Keep that in mind for your EC activities. It is better to be really into one or two activities and really excel at those, than to be into 10 different clubs and not really involved in any of them.

So, I'm sure you can get into some really good schools, but you need to set yourself apart from all the other great students if you want a significant chance of getting into the elite schools. And, on a related topic, it's Caltech, not CalTech.

Good luck and keep up your grades!

Brian Said:

Can I get into the University of Chicago? (high school student)?

We Answered:

Chicago is a little bit different than other top universities. It has a lot of personality, and they definitely like students with unique personalities. They search for individualism and intellectual curiosity, and they learn if you embody these through your essays and your letters of recommendation. These are very significant to Chicago applications, and could really sway you in either way. Given your numbers, you do have a shot at Chicago, but only if you write some very strong essays and have fantastic letters of recommendation.

This school is less about the numbers than others. The most important factor is your high school transcript, though: have you challenged yourself by taking the most difficult courses you could and excelled in them? If your school offers dozens of APs and you only take a few more your senior year, then it doesn't look too good. The second most important factor to Chicago after that is the three essays, and the third most important factor is letters of recommendation. Extracurriculars, community service, test scores, and GPA are all still important, but less so than the first three.

Best of luck! Like my interviewer said, Chicago is not for everyone, but for the people that it's for there's virtually no other school in the world like it.

Tony Said:

What should I do about this aggressive, competitive mom?

We Answered:

remind your self of who they are (really crappy people) you can say any ting to your self to make your self feel beter but my sugestion is not to start rummos about them or personally attack them in any way then explaine to your daughter that she is doing great and probably beter than this girl because she has to cheat to get to where she is also explain to her that being the best is nice butnot when you have to cheat to get that way your daughter will be looked upon more highly because she is an excelent student and did it honestly remind her that she is meeting all of your expectations and then let it go if your daughter gets to feeling down remind her of these things you may also explain carma to her yeah this girl is doing good now but in 5-10 years she wont be any thing because mommy and daddy wont be able to pull stings for her where as your daughter earned what she has and will suceed further than this girl in life

Caroline Said:

What awards can i give to my biology students on awards day?

We Answered:

Since you already have "Most Improved"
"Outstanding Academic Achievement"
& "Most Enthusiastic", here are my suggestions:

"Fastest Learner"
"Know-it-All"
"Mr/Miss Perfectionist"
"Most Potential" (haha idk about this one, but if it's not offensive, you can use it)
"Teacher's Helper" (or something like that for someone who helps you pass out papers, etc.)
"Best In-Class Participation"
"Best Test Average"
"Excellent Biology Reader"
"Future Biologist"
"Most Helpful" (for students who help other classmates understand the material)
"Most Interesting Responses" (for creative test answers, classroom answers, etc.)
"Lab Pro" (for students that are always following directions during biology labs)

And finally:
"Amoeba" (for the slackers. just kidding.)


Good luck! I'm sure the students will be pleased.