My D is a junior and is fascinated with plant chemistry, particularly leading to plant medicine. She would like to pursue a degree in something that would allow her to do research and work on medicines based on plant chemistry. I have searched and not found anything except graduate degrees. Is anyone familiar with an undergrad degree or have any advice on whether she should choose biochemistry, botany, or something we haven't yet considered? She will of course be ultimately pursuing grad/PHD degree.
Any suggestions for schools, as well?
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Plant Science/ Botany - phytochemistry
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Princeton 2018 Wait List
Please post with any information on when, how or if Princeton might use the waitlist this year.
Last year there were 33 admits.
http://articles.philly.com/2013-07-04/news/40353809_1_list-eric-furda-students
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Where should I go to college?
So I recently learned that I have been accepted to the University of Kentucky, Emory, UPenn, and Yale. I am still waiting to hear from Vanderbilt. I am struggling over the decision of where to attend school. I am still waiting on financial aid decisions from Yale, Upenn, and Emroy, so that is a major factor. At UK I was awarded the Singletary scholarship with basically pays me to attend school there. That's hard to turn down when faced with potentially $65,000 of debt a year at Yale or upenn, I guess my really question is what's better, a state university for free or paying for a school like Yale or upenn? Also, I am very interested in engineering (particularly computers and robotics) as well as medicine. If you all could contribute any information or advice that might help make this decision slightly easier I would really appreciate it.
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'Prestigious'/costly school vs. 'non-prestigious'/cheap school?
I know these topics are cliche as heck, but I'm pretty confused right now, and would like some adult perspective on this. I'm a high school student from Florida, trying to decide between Georgetown, and Cornell College (LAC, located in Iowa).
I got no aid from Georgetown; I did get a good scholarship from Cornell College. All told, I would probably have to pay about +$40,000 more per year for Georgetown. I am an only child, and my parents have an income of about +200k a year. They strongly encouraged me to go to Gtown, and said that they could fully afford to pay the tuition out of pocket.
However, I'm kind of uncomfortable with this for a few reasons: 1) My parents still have their own loans to pay off, and they are planning to invest in a business soon; I am not sure how much they have in retirement, and they absolutely refuse to tell me (they work hard, but spend freely), 2) I want to go to graduate school, and my parents claim they will pay for that as well, 3) Cornell College is smaller, and is a LAC; maybe this would offer me more opportunities to know professors, get research positions, etc.? 4) I don't want to be stressed at Gtown for 4 years, thinking about how much it's costing my parents to pay for my degree.
Another thing that worries me is that I'm kind of a poor student). I have terrible study habits due to some anxiety issues. I made do in high school (pulling many all-nighters due to procrastination, and with many Bs and Cs), but I need to shape up in college--especially since I'm thinking of med school. Would a small LAC be better for me than a competitive place like Georgetown? Then again, wouldn't a low GPA from Georgetown be better than a low GPA from Cornell College? I have no idea.
Both of my parents are Indian immigrants, and they are strenuously in favor of my going to Gtown--in fact, I don't think they'd even let me go to Cornell (they're extremely rankings-obsessed; they were fairly disappointed that I 'only' got into Georgetown and other 'okay' schools).
So, actually, where I go to school is basically out of my hands, but I'm still really unsure about this choice, and an outsider's perspective would be helpful. Thoughts?
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Tiers and Rankings
Just going to clear some minds on the tiers and ranking, I retrieved all of this information from prep review, school admission organization, USA Today, and of course, College Confidential
TIER 1
1. Phillips Exeter Academy, NH
2. Phillips Academy, MA
3. Groton School, MA
4. The Hotchkiss School, CT
5. Deerfield Academy, MA
6. St. Paul’s School, NH
7. The Lawrenceville School, NJ
8. The Taft School, CT
9. Choate Rosemary Hall, CT
TIER 2
10. Milton Academy, MA
11. St. Andrew’s School, DE
12. St. Mark’s School, MA
13. Woodberry Forest School, VA
14. Episcopal High School, VA
15. The Thacher School. CA
16. Middlesex School. MA
17. St. George’s School, RI
18. Cate School, CA
19. Mercersburg Academy, PA
TIER 3
20. Georgetown Preparatory School, MD
21. Peddie School, NJ
22. Western Reserve Academy, OH
23. Concord Academy, MA
24. Miss Porter’s School, CT
25. The Hill School, PA
26. Emma Willard School, NY
27. The Loomis Chaffee School, CT
28. Northfield Mount Hermon School, MA
29. Westminster School, CT
and below
I have also collected information from many websites regarding the best all boy's and best all girl's schools in the U.S., and each website unanymously voted for the following
Best All Boy's School - Woodberry Forest School, VA
Best All Girl's School- Miss Porter's School, CT
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Who else hates their school?
My school is the worst school you could end up at. We're poor. We have 30-35 kids in each classroom. We taped the ceiling tiles together. We don't have locks in the bathroom. We have drug issues a lot. People do pregnancy tests in the bathroom and they take a dump on the bathroom floor. You can punch someone and beat them up and get away with it. You have assigned seats at lunch. We don't have anything. My teachers are bad teachers. My favorite class, Math 1 (a crap new version of Algebra 1), is even poisoned by my school and the state. I love math, but they ruin it. My math book has no lessons, it's ALL word problems. My WHOLE class is word problems. Instead of teaching me exponential functions, all I did was half-life bacteria problems. They don't teach us equations, that's not part of the curriculum. We have to make them on our own, and usually in "NEXT NOW" (the new terrible f(x) way. My teacher doesn't teach math either. She's never gotten in front if the class, or gave notes, never. There's a school two minutes in walking distance from my house. I can see it from my house. It's so much better, they have drama and Spanish and Math 2 (Geometry--they're ahead). Those kids have their necessary language credits knocked out of the way, and it doesn't factor into their HS GPA. Whereas I have to take them in HS and they're 4.0 classes, so my GPA is lower than them in high school and no matter how hard I'll try my class rank will always be only in the top half.
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Economics for leaders
My S did this last summer and enjoyed the program. Think they just opened this years applications.
They only accept about 200 students each year but if your accepted your only cost is transportation and a small fee to hold your place.
Foundation for Teaching Economics | Students > Economics and Leadership
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Emory/Georgia Tech vs USC (Biomedical Engineering)
So the admissions season is over and I got a couple of decisions...Tufts, Emory, Georgia Tech, UVA, Drexel and USC. I have trimmed down my options to USC, Emory and Georgia Tech. Yet, I still stand confused. Lemme explain.
You see I wish to study biomedical engineering- this field combines a lot of what I am interested in. However, I am also serious about being an entrepreneur no matter what I end up doing - this is why in my college search I wanted to find schools that would enable me to get degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Economics or at the least in Business Administration as well ( I say this because I have come to realize that for every Facebook and Whatsapp that succeeds, there are a 100 of such other start-ups that fail- most time not because of lack of a strong idea or technical strength but usually because of a lack of financial expertise and execution e.g a talented biomedical engineer who has great ideas but no economic expertise to start on his own and with out a good partnership that meets this deficiency ends up failing-).
To this end the 5- year joint program of Emory and Georgia Tech seems wonderful. I can get a joint degree in Mathematics and Computer Science or Mathematics and Economics (3 yrs at Emory) and Biomedical Engineering (2 years at Georgia Tech) in 5 years.The biomedical engineering program at Georgia Tech is ranked No.4 by US News and World Reports and this will adequately prepare me academically for top ventures in the field and would be a good degree base if I just end up pushing for top executive positions in biomedical companies.
However,although I know that Atlanta is a hub for technology, in terms of biomedical engineering, I am not really sure of its strength. I know for a fact the highest paying jobs for biomedical engineering are in California and Massachusetts and Atlanta is a considerable way behind.
This brings me to USC. USC has a great biomedical engineering program ( currently ranked 30th)- though not as good as Georgia Tech- as evident by the rankings showed in US News and World Reports...and its situation right in the middle of Southern California (where job prospects remain boundless) and in California in general (where 72 percent of start-ups in America begin) is rather tempting. Also, what has me hooked at the moment is how USC ALUMNI are extremely devoted and supportive to their school and college graduates- College Prowler lists it at the 9th best thing about the school- and how USC alumni rank amongst the most powerful people in business, film and engineering in Southern California.
Finally, I am a theatre freak....while I was little I acted in a couple of commercials and short films but on approach to middle school my mom wanted all that to stop..so it did. However, I still remain passionate about film and my friends keep on telling me about how I am naturally entertaining. In fact, while in high school although I stayed out of most drama productions on the request of my mom, I was still one of the three students nominated upon graduation for the Achievement Award in Drama- an incident which I believe just shows how naturally acting and being theatrical comes to me even when I do not practice.
Sometimes, I pose to myself the question "What would I do if I were not afraid?"
" I am black male with a British/American/African accent and although I have seen the likes of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyongo make a name in Hollywood. I know my chances of success remain slim like the majority of those who choose to pursue a career in the acting industry.
As regards film, USC presents an opportunity I never imagined.
Yet, now it stands in my grasp I am afraid to take( this is definitely a YOLO moment)..
I know It is close to Hollywood (where I can seek auditions in the summer) and its school of Cinematic Arts is the friggin best in the country....plus, all the conections I would make.
I am undaunted by the tediousness of pursuing a degree in engineering and film and so right now- at least for the couple of days since I saw my decisions-my heart's been saying let's go
Yet my head is saying no!
Emory/ Georgia Tech seems like the more reasonable choice. It will give me a solid background academically and if jobs were going to be given and success in life determined solely on the academic strength of your colleges then Emory should definitely be it for my intended course of study.
I love both schools like hell and I never imagined making such a difficult decision. Two different parts of me are conflicting and I do not know what to do.
People, please send in your opinions and advice.
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High School Class of 2014
So, I have seen a thread for the class of '15, the members of which aren't even in high school yet. I figured that we needed a thread of our own. If there already is one (I haven't found one) direct me to that. Just post whatever, academics, non-school related things, schedules, that sort of thing. Uhh, I'll post my next year's schedule for y'all to compare yours to, and that sort of thing.
AP Euro
Honors Algebra II/Trig.
Honors English 10
Chemistry
Health
AP Psych
Latin II
Debate
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Good (Audition) Safety Schools for Prospective MT Students?
We all know that basically all MT programs are extremely competitive, but which ones are on the less competitive side? What are some good safety (obviously using this term light, for no program is really guaranteed admission) audition programs?
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Active Shooter Reported at Ft. Hood
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/02/us/fort-hood-shooting/
Not much known yet. The Ft. Hood web site news feed at the top of the page says to "seek shelter immediately."
http://www.hood.army.mil/
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Cal Poly SLO or Univ of Washington ?
My son's last choice is between just two Univs~ Cal Poly SLO and Univ of Washington
My son accepted Cal Poly SLO,UCSB,UCD,UCI,Univ of Washington,UCR
and rejected UCLA, UCSD
But I'm happy because he accepted his dream Univ CAL POLY SLO.
But Univ of WASHINGTON will give my son Total of $ 16,000 scholarship.It's very much money.
But THIS YEAR Univ of washington's instate acceptance rate will be around 69%.
is it a competitive Univ ? My son told me almost every friends whom he know entered the Univ.
Cal Poly, as you know , it's ROI (return on investment is very high, there's no public univs except UCB
which is higher than Cal poly in ROI 20 years or 30 years after graduation)
My Son loves CAL POLY so much and some times I AGREE with him.
But only problem is Cal Poly is OOS Univ for us. because I Live in WA.
I have to pay around $35,000 every year. My Son gets the grant $ 10,000 and we have to loan around
$ 20,000 per every year. then I have to support around $ 5,000 every year.
In case of Univ of Washington. Total amont of tuition for 4 years is around $ 48,000.
he got the scholarship of $16,000. so we have to pay for his tuition of Univ of Wa around 32,000 for 4 years.
so every year I have to give him around $ 8,000 and when he graduate, No Dept.
But in case of Cal Poly, around $ 80,000 Dept.
My son's major is Math and this year Cal Poly math acceptance rate may be around 22%.very competitive.
when I think ROI, the answer is Cal Poly. and when I think about the tuition the answer is Univ of wa.
please tell me what I have to do ?
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If you could give advice to your 8th grade self?
My counselors are basically throwing the mic in my hand during the local middle school's "High School Tour" day. Any Ideas on to what you would like to tell yourself? I'm super happy they picked me out of the whole high school to speak. I'm not overwhelmed at all but some fresh ideas wouldn't be too bad. Thanks... it's tomorrow so don't wait too long to reply
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In a dark place right now. Advice?
Got my SAT Scores back from March
630 CR 710 Math 670 Writing
Which is a 2010, exactly how I did last year as a sophomore (680 CR 640 Math 690 Writing)
Just depressing. I don't know what to do anymore. I studied. I put effort into it. I dont know what went wrong.
I am a straight A student, great extra curriculars, everything. I really want to go to a top tier school, but this SAT scores is just holding me back...
Do you guys think I should take it again in May/June? Or should I wait till the Fall (Senior Year) to try again after studying a lot over the summer?
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Financial Aid package
When is the FA package going to show up?
Thanks in advance.
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What major will benefit me???
Hello Everyone,
As of now I am majoring in computer science but am unsure if I enjoy it/understand it enough to make a living for it. I am currently trying to transfer to cal poly pomona which has CS as an impacted major. I am thinking that I should choose finance or accounting. My personality consists of being pretty intrusive and naturally curious, my math skills are fine, I am an extrovert and I am mostly looking for job security as well as a decent salary. Any suggestions are great, thanks.
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A parent's cautionary tale – SWF- Northeast need not apply?
I would like to start out by saying this is not a rant just one parent's observation as I've participated in this process over the past 3+ years; I would like to thank the many members who have provided their effort, time and expertise in transmitting the information that has been so valuable to me and I am sure others on the site. I would like to be as transparent as possible so that others may benefit from this Odyssey that was just undertaken – –
There are many reasons why parents and their children play the game of high stakes college admission but I think it gets crystallized down into the scene that we will probably remember from "Jerry Maguire" where Renée Zellweger says as the curtain closes to the first class compartment of the airplane to her son "first class used to mean a better meal and a more comfortable seat-- now it means a ticket to a better life" there is some truth to that statement as far as I see it in terms of this process that many of us have entered.
As Northstarmom might have pointed out my daughter was competitive in most every way except one – she was not an athlete in any way. In every other respect, she was "beyond the 75th percentile"; perfect score on the ACT; NMF; 800/800/750 on 3 SAT II's. She took 90% of the APs offered at her school and got fives on all of them. Her unweighted average was 98.5 out of 100. She was the editor of the literary magazine for the school which has won awards across the state, and she was the technical director for the theater company for 4 years- proficient at mechanical props and such.. She started her own business and website and makes $$; and most importantly (as seems to be the rage today) showed a "deep EC" over 10 years with the culmination in a GS gold award project with 3 regional speakers, 2 national speakers on safety issues for girls regarding pertinent topics of the day including sexual assault, financial literacy and the like.She has also held other leadership positions across her state for STEM programs, and currently has a nomination for the US presidential scholarship for her state.
As you can see, It appears as if she has almost all the things that "they"prize/request/advise.
Unfortunately, she is a middle-class/barely upper-middle-class white female from a high tax state/NE with parents or family who are not legacies of any of the schools she applied to; her ancestors come from Northern Europe; and she is not interested in sports competition.
Her results were typical of what many will report today-- denied at H, Y, Brown, MIT. Waitlisted at Bowdoin, Williams, Davidson.You might be wondering if she neglected the other things that we all talk about on the site. She did not. She visited each and every small school/LAC and interviewed at each one (other than Williams which has no interviews). She wrote personal thank you notes to each interviewer; she wrote personalized essays that mentioned professors by name for the classes that she shall sat in on while attending. She weaved and the such that (at least in this parents opinion) would likely make any Adcom smile in a gesture of knowing. In other words it was not generic, it was not canned; it was authentic.
Everyone has read the platitudes 1000 times "it's a crapshoot"its holistic/they can do what they want (and boy they sure do)- but this does not answer the why of the process for some.
I'm struck by what I read on a recent thread concerning the boy that was lamenting his friend's inability to get into one of 4 Ivy League schools that he had chosen based upon his stats, etc- and the multitude of pages that ensued all of which were enlightening- the most enlightening for me was the post by Lucilake who provided the concept of "institutional engineering".
As I mentioned at the outset this was our family's foray into the high-stakes game of college admissions – I have one special needs child was already in college doing well and I have one behind this child who is decidedly average in most every way!!!. Again, I am so grateful for the information provided on this site- it was interesting throwing our family's hat in the ring for this process.
PS before anyone takes us/me to task she has applied and has an acceptance to a financial safety a full ride to a NMF school.
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SSBM
who plays?
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Looking for cheap, safe motel to stay in Boston proper or in a close Boston suburb?
I will be visiting Boston frequently and am looking for a room (for a few nights at a time) in a safe area that is inexpensive. Does such a thing exist?
Thank you for any help or suggestions!
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Chances at UCLA, UCB, Columbia, Upenn, Rice, Gtown, etc.?
There are some questions THROUGHOUT the post about steps I should take. PLEASE PLEASE take the time to see if you have any insight? Thank you
If you could help a gal out and give some advice about these schools (My match/reaches):
USC
UPenn
Columbia
Tufts
UCLA (In state)
UCB (In state)
UVA (OOS)
Georgetown
Pomona
Northwestern
Rice (ED)
WashU
UWash
UCSD (keep in mind neuroscience major, In state)
Dartmouth
Duke
The question above, alone with this: I'm still a junior; how can I improve and increase my chances of acceptance? Obviously, I'm not going to start something just to get in, but small suggestions would be helpful...
GPA: UW 4.0 (academic)-- only As and A+s (no minuses thus far) This GPA includes, essentially, A-G courses (5 core classes + my elective, band)
I have received two B's, but in PE my freshman year; how does this weigh in? Does it matter?
Classes I have taken considered "advanced":
Advanced English (9 and 10)
Advanced History (9)
AP European History (10)
AP Biology (11)
AP Language and Composition (11)
AP US History (11)
Precalculus (11)
Senior prospective schedule:
AP Lit-- MAYBE not AP... would this hurt me?
AP Microeconomics
AP Macroeconomics
AP Gov
AP Calc AB
AP Physics
AP Italian
Adv. Band
Test Scores:
ACT: Composite 34 : M36, E35, R34, S30 (I'm retaking so that I can get my science score up!)
SAT II: Bio (M) and Math II and maybe USHist-- I'm taking these in May. What scores do you think I'll need?
AP European History (5)
Hoping for either 4s or 5s in AP Bio, Lang, and USH! How important are AP scores in the admissions process?
Activities: *** denotes leadership position (required election)
1. Italian Club President (9,10,11,12)***
cultural activities coordinator in 9, VP in 10, President in 11, and 12
2. American Cancer Society Club President (9,10,11,12)
President in 11,12
Secretary in 9,10
Which goes hand in hand with...
3. Event Chair of Relay for Life- essentially, the top position. (elected to lead committee of students for planning our community's Relay for Life which raises approximately $50,000) (10,11,12) ***
This is pretty significant because we raise more money than Stanford, USC, UCLA, etc. Also, this event is typically run by adults, but has been taken over by students in my community.
3. Volunteer for many many hours at an organization in the urban area near me that houses cancer patients (children)-- I work on the living conditions for these patients and their families by making holiday cards, painting, cleaning, organizing, making the place a nice place for the brave kids! I also tutor the patient's siblings. (I'm not sure how many hours, but I know the number should be pretty high...) (10,11,12)
4. Intern at my hospital's cancer center, shadowed oncologist, volunteered, too! (I'm not sure how many hours, though, but a lot!) (10,11,12)
5. I've played piano for 11 years, numerous awards from my conservatory! Will submit arts supplement (9,10,11,12)
6. Flute and Piccolo which I play in my school's band (first chair), my region's orchestra (first), my school's musicals, competitions (with some awards), and a flute "choir" of mostly professional flautists (9,10,11,12)
7. Mental Health Support Group (President and Founder) (10,11,12)-- founded after personal experience
While this is registered as a club, it is more of a support group for those suffering from depression, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, etc., or those whose family or friends are suffering from those illnesses. It's a big part of my life and has over 50 members. We meet weekly at various locations and have created an outreach network with a local middle school. We've also organized events at school to raise awareness of mental illness. We also set up weeks throughout the year to help students de-stress. It's all pretty great ***
8. Varsity Tennis (9,10,11,12)- Captain as a Senior***
9. Hopefully participating in a research program this summer, whether it be a paid program or research with a professor (I applied, but not so sure I'll get in)
10. Robotics team member (though, no leadership position) (11,12)-- it was just founded this year
11. I've been in the band and marching band for every year and as I said above am the section leader and principal flute. Possibly next year's band president, though I don't know yet. (9,10,11,12)
12. Coding group that works with facebook and twitter engineers and university professor (11,12)
Work experience. I am not sure which to include. Can you advise?
1. Nordstrom Sales Associate (10,11)
2. Tennis Instructor (Summer and School year--9,10,11,12)
3. I teach piano to elementary and middle school students (11,12)
4. Child care... lol
5. Tutor (paid) for english, bio, etc.
Recommendations: Planning on getting these from my language and english teachers. However, I'm planning on studying neuroscience and linguistics. Should I also get one from my biology teacher? I know the ones from my language and english teachers will be AMAZING-- like 9-10/10-- while the biology teacher will probably write a 7-8/10... thoughts?
Additional info:
Prospective major: Neuroscience/cogsci (really interested in the crossover between science and language comprehension and understanding as well as mental illness and affects of stress-- physical and otherwise-- on the brain)
Prospective minor: depending on which school, either music or Italian
California resident
Income: It's PRETTY high...
Middle Eastern female
Trilingual
Mom went to USC
Both parents with Bachelor's, Dad has Master's
I took a human biology class at a local community college, receiving an A. I will take a few classes over the summer if I'm not accepted into a research program.
I know Java and learning Bluejay (self-taught). This isn't really a big deal, but I love it!
Will submit music supplement on the piano (Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique Movement 3)-- Good idea or pointless?
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