College Admissions Thread

Esse numero dos:

'Write about something you did last Sunday afternoon"

Sunday has always been a day of rest and work for me. I believe that it is also meant to be a day of meditation and introspection. This past Sunday was no different. I used the morning to rest and get back my energy that was almost entirely depleted after a week of hard school work. After a leisurely breakfast during which I read the newspaper and watched CNN, I felt ready to get to work. My major goal of the day was to begin the process of making my father’s 1967 Ford Mustang roadworthy.
For the last decade or so the vehicle has been sitting in our driveway literally rotting away. It was such a shame that so beautiful a car was going to waste just outside my window. After obtaining my driver’s license in the summer of 2002, I resolved myself to fix that car up and make it mine. Thus, this has been my goal for the last few months.
The colleague of my father, also my primary physician, played a major role in influencing me to do so. An avid fan of classic sports cars, he in fact has his own classic car, a vintage AMX. During these last few months, he has been a big help to me as he has directed me in the restoration of the vehicle.
Last Sunday afternoon’s work was the first major step towards the completion. My objective was to replace the Mustang’s brake system. Despite the warnings from my father, my doctor and I were skeptical that the brake system was in need of a major replacement. We ultimately found out that my father was right when the ‘stang was test-driven one day in late August of this year. Therefore, I ordered a complete brake rebuild from Dallas Mustang.
On this Sunday, we began working at about 1:30 in the afternoon. My doctor’s patient, also a master mechanic, was able to help us in this complex process. He started by showing us what was wrong with each part and giving us advice about what should be done. I found it very intriguing to learn about such details of an automobile that I never thought would happen. In the midst of all this we realized that we did not have all the parts that we needed. My doctor and I then took a side trip to the auto parts store. While I was initially disappointed in the slow progress of the work, I gradually realized that such a slow process was necessary to fully restore a classic car that had not been maintained correctly in almost thirty years. I used this afternoon to learn more about the inner workings and details of the car.
I worked hard all last week, and I am once again looking forward to next Sunday when I will have the opportunity to work on the Mustang once again.

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I think we all agree that one is much better.

 

Interesting essay, adidasquiche.

It's pretty deep. That's also a good idea about med school; my dad keeps on encouraging me to go, mainly because I'm the last hope in the family to carry on the tradition. I really am not a fan of medicine, having had some wonderful first-hand experiences myself.

But good idea; I could always drop out.

Now here are a couple others.

One is a poorly put together personal statement:

My health has more or less been poor my entire life. Ever since I was a young boy it seemed that I would be plagued with this poor health, at least throughout my teenage years. I have always been an avid sports fan; I loved football, baseball, and especially basketball. Rather than participate in these sports that I adored so much
I was forced to always watch from the sidelines. I finally came to the realization that I would have make do with my physical problems and focus my restless energies on other things.
First, my temporary health related setback has not caused me to be a bitter or cold person. Instead, I am quite the opposite. I have definitely kept my sense of humor. I am one of the most sociable and outgoing people at my school. I have a good personality and I love making conversation with anyone, child or adult.. My physical situation has also caused me to become extremely mature for my age. I have already experienced hardships in my life and I have become very capable of dealing with them in a proactive way. For example, throughout my life I have learned that it is necessary to become completely aware about the things that go around you. Due to my stays in hospitals, I have become adamant at researching my situation and learning the procedure with which it can be treated. Even if I am not currently able to play sports, I make a point of going to all the sporting events that go on in my town. For the past two years, I have supported the Alabama Crimson Tide football team by selling hotdogs and peanuts at all of their home games. Wherever I go, I know I will be deeply involved in that place’s extracurricular activities.
In conclusion, I have not let these physical problems stop my mental and spiritual growth. I may not have had the chance to become the sports star that I had always dreamed of being, but I certainly developed a mature character and work ethic that has been and will be appreciated by many people. I will not my poor health dominate me for the rest of my life either. I plan to soon


Still no conclusion.

Now here is the world's best essay!!!

It's totally 'gay' and for UPenn. It asks: 'You just completed a 300-page autobiography. Submit page 217.' Well, being the fantastic smart ass that defines me, I enjoyed typing this:

Xiu Zing pulled the lever and the double-bolted doors slowly opened and the outline of the rotating capsule became visible through the icy mist of unfrozen nitrogen gas. After the necessary 48 hours of de-stabilization, it was finally time to open the doors of the cryogenic chamber. My pod was opened and with small amounts of electrotherapy.
I was back with the living.
Zing later told me that he was very worried that the process would be a failure. After all, it was the first ever resuscitation of a cryogenically frozen body.
“Welcome back, professor,” said Lauren. “You have a lot of work ahead of you!”
“What year is it?” I immediately asked, looking at the strange faces that stared upon my thawing, naked body.
“It is Post Apocalypse Year 208,” responded Xiu. “Come now to your chamber so that you can rest; we will tell you everything at lunar dawn.”
As I awoke the next morning after a heavily drug-induced sleep, I felt alive again!
For the next three moon stages, I bombarded my rescuers with countless questions. My cryogenic pod had apparently been found by a patrol squadron in a crevice in the uninhabitable mountains outside of the Sector Alpha 7. It was really a lucky discovery, especially since the patrol squad would never had entered those mountains had it not been for the chance discovery of Fiburon Ore there a few weeks earlier by a band of wandering cyborgs from a nearby commune.
Xiu’s answers to my questions left me in state of complete shock. Due to mass protonic wars after the arrival of a robotic messiah 29 years after my cryogenic travels began, the world was experiencing another ice age. The earth was mostly uninhabitable and covered in poisonous ice. The human race was literally reduced to forming wandering and sometimes barbarous tribes that scavenged for food in the vast tundras.
About one hundred years ago, the more intelligent tribes began relearning the ways of science. Since then, those scientific tribes had formed many underground communes around the Fiburon Ores which had now become the main source of survival for the humans.
Xiu’s commune was one of these scientific communes. Despite their hardest efforts, they were still far behind the technological status that I had expected the human race to be at. Xiu’s commune was delighted that I had come. It had been predicted in the Book of Truth that “a messiah of ice shall come in a ball of fire from the heavens,” and my arrival in a fireball from the past convinced them that I was indeed their messiah.
Was this possible? Could it be that I, Professor B., was the new messiah to this struggling human race?
I sat in my quarters and mulled it over. Why not, I thought. After all, in my time, I had been the most important research scientist in the whole world. According to a prestigious scientific journal I “made Einstein look like second grade earth science student.” My groundbreaking discoveries in the fields of quantum and astrophysics had made things that were previously considered impossible such as nuclear fusion and light-speed travel seem to be looming in the near future. My discovery of a wormhole in the Australian outback that could transport particles to and from other dimensions initiated dozens of top secret government programs in search of developing time traveling mechanisms.
Being highly lauded for my discoveries back in my time, I guiltily realized now how big of a role that I played as an individual in causing the Post Apocalyptical times that I now found my self in.




While I'm at it, a quick 300 word limit section asks me to describe an activity that represents the most commitment and why. I wrote:

Being editor of my high school newspaper was the most meaningful acheivment because it is something that I aspired to be. My high school split up into three separate schools, and, while I was zoned for one of the new ones, I decided to stay at the old school built in 1954 mainly because I wanted to be editor. This position was granted to me, even though I was unable to enroll in the class because of conflict of schedule. I have used this as an opportunity to teach new writers proper journalistic writing.


And then another asks about what would not be known from this application. Ideas???


And then a biggie; I need to write an essay about 'the courses of study that most interest me.'

Thanks though!

 

I never want to work. Stupid society.

 

Well I'm applying to (no particular order):

UPenn
Columbia
Rice
NYU
Emory
Georgia
Tulane
Texas - maybe
Hawai'i - maybe, just for fun (it's my best chance at a scholarship, not that it's necessarilly urgent or anything)

I really only have a chance, in my opinion, at NYU, Georgia, Texas, Hawai'i and Emory (mainly because my father went there for med school). I truly doubt I willhave a shot at the others, mainly because of test scores.

I've heard so many times of people with 1600 SAT (which I've learned doesn't really mean that much as I thought) and valedictorian, yet they are deferred from MIT or Yale or Harvard. I understand those schools want diverse amounts of people, but damn.

And then I'm angry at myself for not applying early decision to a place liek NYU, where they fill the bottom of the class up first. Now my chances are slimmer.

My grades are fine; I mean I have a 3.9 GPA but I feel it doesn't mean much. I'm not going to a rigorous school. My brother went to St. John's and had a very low GPA (something like a 2.8 or 3) and didn't get into the program he wanted to, even though he had a 1350 on his SAT. So this knowledge helps me, because the admissions can't really discriminate between what is a good school or not.

I have a personal interview for Rice in a couple of days here that I'm actually looking forward to. Having been to Rice plenty of times, I know about the difficulty of getting in. It's actually harder to get into than Columbia. I've also been told that Rice puts the highest focus on grades.

Now having said all of that, my top two choices are NYU and UGA, even though I have no idea wtf to do with my life. Chances are I will get into both and have just about as tough of a decision as trying to get 2 applications in the mail today before 5!

 

Well the post office closed today at 1; I thought they closed at 5.

I'm ****ed.

I did an online application for Penn, but somehow I sent in part 2 before part 1 and I didn't even do part 2 yet (this was a few days ago). So I was going to do it by mail, and now the deadline is passed because there's no mail service tomorrow and the earliest postmark I can get is the 2nd. It still works for Columbia though.

But if they don't even look at the application (even though their online system ****ed up), well then I just wasted $70.

 

Not in Houston.

Stupid small towns.

 

Actually I just got back from the post office that was 30 minutes out of town. Strange postal service.

Anyway, I would have called them (I was advised to in the e-mail i got back), but the offices were closed until January 4th. It was a stupid computer error. Luckily I got it and the Columbia one postmarked.

Considering I have no chance at them, the essays are crap.

Now I focus my time on colleges I know I can get into!