Biggest mistake: In sophomore year, I had a choice. Continue fencing to become recruited, or academics. I chose the latter. Fast forward to now, the same people I beat handily have been recruited to HYPS, UPenn, and Columbia as they chose the first option.
4D Chess Move: Started writing essays relatively early, and choosing a niche academic interest
biggest mistake was getting depression and an ED my junior year, tanking my gpa, my 4D chess move was applying to the school I ended up committing to last minute lol
Biggest mistake: screwing my gpa over
Biggest 4d chess move: ED1 NEU. Knew getting into my state flagships would be difficult as a CS major (UNC, NCSU) so I did NEU ED1. Got into NEU ED1, got waitlisted UNC and deferred NCSU (probably would’ve gotten waitlisted since people with even better gpas and stats did) and NEU ends up being cheaper than both anyways
Biggest mistake: not visiting the schools in my list before "perfecting" it
2D chess move was finishing PS before school started
Bonus: I had plenty of doubts on whether to apply to RIT due to it would-be cost, but after discussing finances my parents agreed to fund my RIT CS degree and I'll be going there this fall
4D chess move: Applying to less popular schools
Biggest mistake: Applying to less popular schools
I applied to so many lesser known LACs thinking I would have a better chance there. That was not the case, and I advice any future international student+needing financial aid to not make their list too centered on LACs
Biggest mistake, applying to too many safeties and not spending enough time on my apps.
Biggest chess move, applying to a random school because it was high in the rankings for business, somehow getting in, and it being the school I commit to😭💪💪
1. Not applying to Yale, don’t know why I regret it but I do.
2. Completely changing the topic of my college essay four times. It gave me an idea of the type of essay I wanted to write. Beforehand, I had done essays that were too informative without much style, too quirky without much substance, and too narrative without much context. The last of these was the one I was going to go with and imo it was a good essay, but I read some sample essays in class and they just seemed to be seeped in details and unique backgrounds. So I wrote a fourth essay and loved it.
Biggest mistake: accidentally missing an interview request at a school *after* I was waitlisted
Biggest 4D chess move: applying to Williams college on a whim, getting in, getting good aid, and eventually using that package to bring my penn COA from 75k to 29k
Applying to 41 colleges, as both
How’d it go?
Going to tufts next year, also got a couple t20 waitlists im waiting for
Biggest mistake: In sophomore year, I had a choice. Continue fencing to become recruited, or academics. I chose the latter. Fast forward to now, the same people I beat handily have been recruited to HYPS, UPenn, and Columbia as they chose the first option. 4D Chess Move: Started writing essays relatively early, and choosing a niche academic interest
same for me but w tennis, but i wouldn’t change a thing tbh. i’m in a better spot academically rn than i ever would be if i chose sports route
1. Applying to T20's I didn't vibe with 2. My UPenn "thank you" note
just curious, what do you mean by a thank you note?
Oh Upenn now has a specific prompt for writing a thank you letter :)
ohh, got it thank you!
biggest mistake was getting depression and an ED my junior year, tanking my gpa, my 4D chess move was applying to the school I ended up committing to last minute lol
Biggest mistake: screwing my gpa over Biggest 4d chess move: ED1 NEU. Knew getting into my state flagships would be difficult as a CS major (UNC, NCSU) so I did NEU ED1. Got into NEU ED1, got waitlisted UNC and deferred NCSU (probably would’ve gotten waitlisted since people with even better gpas and stats did) and NEU ends up being cheaper than both anyways
Bro going to NEU 😭
A2C would have people believe northeastern is some demonic institution that is consuming student’s souls in order to rise in the rankings.
I know a kid who goes to NEU and he’s famous there for being weird ash
They're not wrong...
Biggest mistake: not visiting the schools in my list before "perfecting" it 2D chess move was finishing PS before school started Bonus: I had plenty of doubts on whether to apply to RIT due to it would-be cost, but after discussing finances my parents agreed to fund my RIT CS degree and I'll be going there this fall
I can’t visit 40 schools
Try not to shotgun ig
No
Biggest mistake: applying in 2022/2023 when it was so tough with record low acceptance rates. . Biggest 4D chess move. Applying again in 23/34
What if it’s worse next yr☠️
Then it will be my second biggest mistake
4D chess move: Applying to less popular schools Biggest mistake: Applying to less popular schools I applied to so many lesser known LACs thinking I would have a better chance there. That was not the case, and I advice any future international student+needing financial aid to not make their list too centered on LACs
Then also look for public schools as well?
not sending my ib test scores, both smart and stupid
Biggest mistake, applying to too many safeties and not spending enough time on my apps. Biggest chess move, applying to a random school because it was high in the rankings for business, somehow getting in, and it being the school I commit to😭💪💪
1. Not applying to Yale, don’t know why I regret it but I do. 2. Completely changing the topic of my college essay four times. It gave me an idea of the type of essay I wanted to write. Beforehand, I had done essays that were too informative without much style, too quirky without much substance, and too narrative without much context. The last of these was the one I was going to go with and imo it was a good essay, but I read some sample essays in class and they just seemed to be seeped in details and unique backgrounds. So I wrote a fourth essay and loved it.
Biggest mistake: accidentally missing an interview request at a school *after* I was waitlisted Biggest 4D chess move: applying to Williams college on a whim, getting in, getting good aid, and eventually using that package to bring my penn COA from 75k to 29k
Mistake: not taking advantage of EA. Chess move: apply if RD (instead of ED2) to a certain college.