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amanda-glassen · 3 years

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Reality Bites

It's the last day of school in 1992 and Alex is finally going to tell Olivia how she feels...if only she can get five minutes alone with her.

Previous chapters can be found here.

Chapter 6: The Race Was Long And, In The End, It Was Only With Herself

While standing outside of her seventh period classroom, Alex felt as if she was finally living the high school experience she had spent years longing for, but it pained her to think there was only one hour of it left. She had walked from the football field to their classroom hand-in-hand with Olivia. They had stopped to talk to some of Olivia’s friends along the way and there was the obligatory teasing about how Olivia had finally made her move. Olivia may have gotten teased by her friends, but their girlfriends were giving Alex hugs and telling her how happy they were for the two of them. These girls had seats at the “popular” table in the center of the lunchroom and, although Alex had never witnessed these particular girls giving anyone a hard time, she had held assumptions about them for a significant portion of her adolescence...but there they were welcoming her with open arms into their group because she was Olivia’s girl. They all started talking about summer plans for going to the Fourth of July carnival and beach trips to which Olivia responded by kissing her hand and asking ‘What do you think, babe?’ Internally she was melting into a puddle, but she kept her cool and said it sounded fun. It did sound fun, but Olivia had called her babe and because of that she would have agreed to just about anything.

With one minute left until the bell rang, Alex was giving Olivia chaste kisses outside of their classroom. Throughout her entire high school existence, she had been annoyed with her peers who would kiss in front of others, but now she had found a girl that she never wanted to stop kissing and she wouldn’t have had Olivia’s friend Travis not whistled at them as he walked by.

“I’m gonna smack him later,” Olivia told the now blushing Alex. “But right now I’m gonna hug you and then we should go inside. I’ll kiss you again in less than an hour.”

“You two are so cute,” they heard one of their classmates say in the midst of their hug. “Alex, everyone is still talking about how Olivia asked you out in fourth period.”

Alex turned to the side to see Jackie Chavez, the girl she had considered her nemesis until last week, but would soon be her roommate at Harvard. At the senior awards banquet, the principal announced that Alex would be the valedictorian and Jackie would be the salutatorian－the only difference between their GPAs being Alex’s 4.5 in comparison to Jackie’s 4.499 because of a chemistry test that Jackie had gotten a couple of wrong answers on in the 11th grade. Alex wanted to forget the awards banquet－how she vomited in the girls bathroom before the announcement because of how nervous she was. Her older brother Harrison hugged her once she left the bathroom and tried to calm her down by reminding her that she had already gotten into Harvard and none of this would matter in three months.

Alex felt like that night could have been treated as a psychology study on parenting styles. Mr. and Mrs. Chavez were warm and affectionate and they told Jackie that they loved her no matter what the outcome while Mr. and Mrs. Cabot had sent Harrison to find Alex because neither of them wanted to deal with one of her anxiety attacks. When she returned to the auditorium, Alex looked over at Jackie. She smiled at Alex and Alex tried to smile in return. It pained her to see how radiant Jackie looked that night in her bright pink dress, flawless makeup, and long, dark wavy hair. Before the awards were given out, she mingled with the other award recipients and the teachers with ease. To Alex, it appeared as if Jackie didn’t have a care in the world and then she realized it was because she didn’t. Her entire life hadn’t been building up to this moment. Valedictorian and Salutatorian didn’t matter to her because Mr. and Mrs. Chavez would have been proud of her regardless. It dawned on Alex that their home lives couldn’t have been more different from each other. Whereas Mr. and Mrs. Chavez rewarded Jackie for her successes, success was the expectation for Alex and she was punished for coming in second place. It was Jackie that had gotten the lead in the kindergarten Christmas pageant instead of her and Jackie that was named their middle school valedictorian. Harvard was Jackie’s dream school and Alex’s expectation. For twelve years, Alex had been in an academic competition with Jackie. The race was long and, in the end, Alex learned that it was only with herself. Regardless of which one was valedictorian and salutatorian, they ended up at the same university and in the same dorm room and Alex lost out on years of potentially having a friend that was in all the same honors and AP classes as her.

“Olivia Benson, please report to the office,” they heard over the intercom. “Olivia Benson, please report to the office.”

Jackie smiled at Olivia and playfully touched her arm. “Let me guess, it’s for your next surprise for Alex.”

Olivia smirked. “I wish, but no. This time I’m actually in trouble. Excuse me.” She stole one last kiss from Alex before heading to the office to accept her fate.

“So you and Olivia,” Jackie said as she and Alex walked to their desks. “I think that’s awesome and I’m pretty sure our whole class was wondering when you two would finally get together.”

Just as their teacher’s penchant for alphabetical order placed Alex’s desk on the right side of Olivia’s, it also placed her on the left side of Jackie’s, so the two of them were able to continue their conversation even after they had sat down at their desks. “Why would our entire class assume Olivia and I had crushes on each other?”

Jackie stopped rummaging through her backpack and stared at Alex with a shocked expression on her face. “Really, Alex? You didn’t think you two were obvious?”

“Anyone in this class could see the eye sex going on between the two of you even if you both decided not to act on it earlier for some reason,” Steven Adams, their classmate whose desk was on the other side of Olivia’s, pointed out. “Smooth move not picking her for the poetry project last month, by the way. That would have probably given you an entire weekend alone with her.”

“This conversation doesn’t concern you, Steven,” Jackie said once she realized how embarrassed Alex had become. She grabbed a highlighter from the front pouch of her backpack and attempted to chuck it at Steven, but her aim was off and it landed at his feet instead.

Their English teacher had yet to start class, instead giving her students extra time to settle in and even goof off during the last class period of their entire high school careers.

Olivia came in five minutes later and tried to be inconspicuous when she sat down at her desk, but the smile on her face let Alex know that Olivia had been up to something.

“Missed you,” Olivia told her.

“I missed you, too,” Alex responded.

Moments later, they heard an announcement over the loudspeaker. “This is for Alex from Olivia.” An old love song from the ‘50s started to play and Alex recognized it as ‘I Only Have Eyes For You,’ a song she’d heard on the radio while in the car with her parents when she was younger and first starting to be interested in girls. She imagined slow dancing to it with the girl of her dreams and, although Olivia looked and acted nothing like that girl she had imagined all those years ago, she knew Olivia was even better.

“That’s so cute!” Jackie told the now blushing Alex.

“Way to go,” Steve congratulated Olivia. “...even if you’ve now made everyone else look bad for not doing something similar for their girlfriends on the last day of school.”

Alex reached over to grab Olivia’s hand. “More connections?”

Olivia rubbed her thumb on Alex’s palm. “Kind of. Mrs. Anderson, who works in the office and does the announcements, has been my mom’s friend since high school. I lied about getting in trouble, but I swear that’s the only thing I’ve ever lied to you about.”

The remainder of the class period flew by until one of their classmates pointed out that there were only 15 seconds left. When those 15 seconds turned into 10 seconds, the entire class started counting down out loud.

10...9....8…

She looked over and smiled at Olivia who winked at her in return.

7...6...5...4…

Her heart began to race when Olivia squeezed her hand.

3...2...1…

And just like that, her high school career was over and she was finally free to put four years of anxiety and sleepless nights over her grades behind her.

#cabenson #alex cabot #olivia benson

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etudias · 6 years

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(Edit: I am aware of the typo in the title, it should be experience)

Hi there, my name is Alessandra and I am going to tell y’all about how the whole college application process went for me. I think my experience ended a little differently than most, or at least most that people will share. It honestly took a lot for me to feel comfortable posting this so I really hope that it will help someone out there. It is however a very long post, so I am going to break it up into sections, feel free to read only what you need/want.

1. Researching Schools

I got excited for college. I was excited to go to college for as long as I can remember and was looking up different schools on site’s like the college board one, bigfuture, which by the way, I recommend, since probably 10th grade. So come Junior year I had a bunch of schools I was interested in. I ended up visiting a few in Boston over spring break that year. I visited Harvard, MIT, and Boston University (clearly my sights were set high). I did not really think it was that important to visit colleges, and that I should just visit the ones I got into to help decide (I now know that college visits can actually really help you get into a top school). The summer before senior year I worked hard to narrow down my list. I ended up with 12 schools that I applied to. This may seem like a lot to some, or not many at all to others. Most people I know applied to more like 5-8, but I know some people who applied to 20+, you gotta do what’s right for you. I wanted to apply to more honestly, but based on costs that is the number my mother and I agreed upon.

2. The Schools

Okay so in alphabetical order here are the schools I applied to:

Barnard College

Brown University

Carnegie Mellon University

Case Western Reserve University

Duke University

Georgia Institute of Technology

Harvard University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Stanford

University of California - Berkeley

University of Georgia

University of Pennsylvania

So, some reasoning on my choices. I heard someone say something that I fully agreed with, and after everything still do. That you should apply to as many reach schools as you can because it raises the chances of getting into just one. So with that I applied to a bunch of reaches, a few meets, and 1 safety. The one safety school I decided on was because it was in state and in my state if you have a 3.75+ GPA and some other requirements, you get full tuition to in state schools and I knew that given the money, there was really no other school that I could consider a safety school that I would choose over it. I still stand by this choice.

3. My Stats

You are probably going to ask this and I’ve decided to be upfront and tell you because why the heck not. I sent in ACT scores, not SAT (although I did take it). I got a 32 (33 English, 33 Reading, 35 Science, 28 Math), I should have spent more time studying for the math as that score never changed, but it was my 3rd time taking the test and I was over it, my goal had been a 33, but to me that was close enough because I was tired. My GPA was a 3.875 unweighted and a 4.063 weighted. My school did not offer many AP courses, I took all that I could with the exception of 2 history courses that I had strong reasons for not taking and when I had my Harvard interview and I talked with the lady about it, she wholeheartedly agreed and said that as the counselor of her private school she even made her school stop offering those courses, so yeah I feel pretty valid about that. (Ended up taking 7 AP’s if you are curious about which ones, they are on my about page) I basically got all A’s in my academics, my B’s came from some arts classes and health, I know, I know. I’m going to briefly mention my school in this section because it is sort of related. I went to a public arts high school that is ranked number 2 in the state for academics and 75th in the nation. It was extremely rigorous.

4. Extracurricular’s and other application stuff

I was very involved. I participated in theater for all 5 years (my school was 8-12). I did technical theater and by 10th grade was crew head for shows and in 11th grade I worked every show (which at my school was a lot). Senior year I became a stage manager which is a big responsibility and sort of like being a president of a club, but even more responsibility. I calculated the hours I spent with theater junior year alone, 300 hrs. I was also very involved in orchestra, all 5 years. My school has 4 orchestra levels, the first two comprising the lower orchestra, 3&4 comprising the higher level orchestra, based on skill level, not age. I was in orchestra 2 for 8th and 9th grade, orchestra 3 for 10th and 11th grade, and orchestra 4 for senior year, orchestra 4 was a big deal, with only 11 members and you played not only in the higher level orchestra but also the touring orchestra. Lots of hours. I also played in my county’s honor’s orchestra for 2 years. I was on the executive board (basically president) of my schools National Honor Society (our school only opens it to seniors, so I was only in it for 1 year). I was part of Beta Club for 4 years. I was a math tutor. I founded a Girls Who Code club at my school and taught it. I was in our award winning mock trial for 2 years. I was a member of my schools Gay Straight Alliance. I babysat all throughout high school. I did more than that but this is already long enough and you can tell that basically, I was a try hard.

Let’s talk about summers. The summer after 10th grade I went to a 7 week long summer immersion program for coding called Girls Who Code. The summer after junior year I went to a week long orchestra camp, then my states Governor’s Honor’s program, which in my state is very prestigious and hard to get into (I think its like a 10% acceptance rate). I was a software engineering major and a math minor there. (Those are really the summers that count, but all other summers I went to orchestra camp)

More application stuff, I had a fair amount of school awards as well as the aforementioned Governor’s Honor’s. I got recommendations from my pre calculus teacher, who I founded a Girls Who Code club with, and my world history/ap psych teacher. They both loved me and I’m sure wrote great recommendations (with the exception of UGA where I did not send any). All the schools I had interviews with went extremely well. I was a legacy for Duke. I had an alumni friend write an AMAZING letter of rec for CMU. I felt my essays were strong (and checked by 3 or so people).

My major: I basically applied everywhere as a computer science major. I felt good about this with the way I spent my summers, some of my extracurricular, and classes I chose to take. I wrote a fair amount of essays about this and I feel as though my applications demonstrated the work I had put into bringing more people (especially women) into STEM, specifically cs, and my interests and knowledge of cs.

5. The Decisions

Finally the good part right? Well at least for you readers. I’ll go in order of the decisions (although towards the end I forget the order a bit because it was tech week and show weeks for my schools biggest production, I was busy) and add some commentary on some. (All regular decision unless otherwise noted)

MIT (Early Action) - rejected, it hurt a little being my first, but not unexpected

Case Western (Early Action) - deferred, then waitlisted, then rejected, everyone from my school got the exact same decisions from them and there were people from the bottom of my class to the very top lol

University of Georgia - accepted, oh boy I cried because finally thank goodness somewhere at least

Georgia Tech - waitlisted, then rejected, this one still stings, people with all around weaker applications from my school got in that applied early. the acceptance rate dropped from 40% to 8% between early and regular, biggest regret is not applying here early, once I was waitlisted here I felt for sure I wouldn’t get in anywhere else

Barnard College - waitlisted, still waiting to hear. at this point i just felt like I was getting waitlisted everywhere

Harvard - rejected, expected as are basically the rest of these

U Penn - rejected

Brown - rejected

UC Berkeley - rejected

Duke - rejected, but damn that letter I’m still mad about, like the fact the I got rejected was unsurprising at that point, but they sent me 3 long paragraphs of rejection bc I was a legacy saying how sorry they were and how many times they reconsidered my application. One sentence would have been better.

Stanford - rejected

CMU - rejected, and man I knew it was coming but it was the last school I heard from, my last hope, and it was closing day for my last school musical, this was a bad day, not so much for this one school but just the process in general

6. Reflections

So I got into 1 school, yup just 1. My safety school that’s it. Let me tell you I was devastated, not over any particular school, but that I didn’t get into any others. I ate 4 donuts and cried a whole lot the day of that last rejection. I got really REALLY stuck on the fact that I would only ever read that one acceptance letter, that one congratulations. I moped around and was sad and upset with my self and full of regrets like why did I not apply to more schools, it was a bad time. But let me tell you that time really showed my what good some friends could be, friends really helped me through that. Even though I had only one school I waited till the last minute to commit. So yes, fall 2018 UGA here I come, go dawgs! (and really its not a bad school, especially the honors program) I worked really hard to get myself excited for this school and as much as I am, with the major I want to go into, I know it is in my best interests to transfer, no matter how much I do not like the idea of transferring (its a good school don’t get me wrong, just not the best for my major). I am still trying to come to terms with the idea of transferring and honestly this whole process in general. I do not think I would have done things much differently, I put my best into my applications, honestly if I changed anything I would have just applied to more schools and probably only more reaches or meet/reaches at that. I have come to accept the decisions (mostly, I still get quite down about it from time to time). It was an odd year for decisions at my school in general. We usually send a good amount of students to top top schools like ivies and the equivalent, but this year no one got into any, heck our valedictorian is going to UGA too. (I think it has something to do with our class being super strong overall, 50% had a 4.0+ weighted, so therefore none of us really stood out) So yeah it really freaking hurts only getting into one school, I’m pretty sure I went through all the stages of grief, but now I am in acceptance and just getting excited for college!! and I am SO EXCITED

If anyone has any questions about this process, my inbox is open.

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spelling-checked-mostly · 6 years

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Why High-School Is Harder Than College

I am failing my math class. I have a D in AP Bio. I have a C in AP History. By some miricle i have an A in health, but that is probably because she doesn't have all of my grades in. Thank god i have a solid A in my English class. You may be assuming that i am just caving under the pressure of college level classes. However, if you have read the title then you can infer that i have done college level classes before, and that i found them comparatively easier. So what the hell is going on?

I went to college before i went to high-school. It was what was best for my education at the time. Then my family moved and my circumstances changed and we decided that it would be best for me to maybe actually go to high-school. By the time i graduate i could have my general studies certificate, the governor's seal, my flabotamy license, my cna, my associates in general studies, and a high-school honors diploma. If i make it through the semester. If. I am not saying this to brag. I am saying it to make a point. I can do a lot of shit. I got to where i am by doing as well as i did in college, but i literally have an F in math. I have a few theories as to why. And, surprisingly, none of them are that i don't like math.

in college, they don't do "busy work." In my history class there were 4 tests total and a short (maybe a page) paper per chapter. In my AP history class i write a paper each week, there is at least one quiz per week, and there are endless work sheets. Do you see the difference? If each teacher assumes students need more practice work, then students end up with a bunch of what is basically busy work and we can't get it all done. At least, we cant get it all done and have a balanced life.

In college, if there is something due in class B, and class A right before it is going well, generally professor A with let you finish the work for class B. But heaven forbid i try to finish my math work in English. No, no, no. That's not okay. On top of that, i had more time in college. I went to class [i had the same number of classes per day then that i have now] and i did the work and i somehow had more time then. I think it only seems like i had more time, and that is because of how my day is/was structured. My first class was an 8 A.M. lecture every semester. My last was always an elective. My classes ended at 4:30/4:45. In the middle of the day i had a large break. I went to the cafe for lunch, to spend time with some friends and wind down, then i went to the library for a study group each day. I usually got through 3/4 classes per day before lunch. I started out really strong and tapered out through out the day. Now i have four serious classes per day jammed together with maybe a forty five minute break for lunch. I go home and i don't have time to do study groups because there is just too much to do and i am still trying to process my day.

fun-fact about my high-school, each morning we spend 30-45 minutes each morning in a class named "pride time." where we do basically nothing. That's 30-45 minutes of my time each day wasted listening to school politics. take that time and slap it in after lunch. Give us control of that and let us go where we need. Give us the opportunity to form study groups when we have the time to actually go to them, or even just a little time to let our brains catch up to everything that has been thrown at us thus far into the day. Don't restrict the number of times we can go to the library. I am currently only allowed to go to the library twice a week. And we can't do anything on Fridays. and its stupid.

I don't skip classes for fun. I only miss if i have to. I have always functioned that way. My last semester at the college, i collapsed one day and ended up in the ER. Needless to say i missed about a week of school. When i got back i handed in my late work, picked up the one work sheet i didn't get, and got notes from a friend. I got caught up in one day. About a week ago, a cold had me home for one day. I am still getting caught up. Missing one day of my courses fucked me over in high-school. I was out for a week in college and got caught up in one day. that seems a little backward to me. I am pretty sure this has to do with the combination of the busy work and the structure of the day. I feel bad for a friend of mine who will be gone all five days next week for vacation.

I think part of the difference is in how the instructors view their classes. In my current English class, my teacher is super strict. She informed us that she is strict to prepare us for college. In English 102 my teacher showed up 3/4 of the way through class, apologized for being late, thanked us for staying, and told us that her husband would have been very upset if she had missed the sale, then she had decided to stop and get lunch. Then she gave us each a chicken nugget for showing up to class and staying. True story. College professors are the most chill people ever. My 4 credit intensive immersion french professor cancelled class one day because she just didn't feel like coming and she felt like we had done enough that week. They don't care. I have 6 health sheets due this week already and it is only Monday. I don't even want to think about my math worksheets.

A lot of the difference in instructor attitude is likely caused by the difference in maturity of the student body. In college, you can trust your students to still be there 3/4 of the way through class. In high-school at least half of the class is probably high by 1/16th of the way through a lecture. You cant trust teenagers. And it is not that one bad apple ruins the bunch. More like a bad bunch fucks over one or two good apples. Its sad but true. I am pretty sure the girl behind me popped four Oxy in math. not even kidding. I know three people who came in high/drunk/hungover today. I firmly believe that college students are more mature. And i played magic/D&D at lunch with them each day. I am used to being around people who have a legit interest in getting straight A's and staying sane at the same time. People who have to deal with the whole world. I helped them out a bit, but they also helped me a lot and i am very grateful to them for that. I need that sort of environment.

The biggest difference is me. I am tired more. i am sick of this shit. And sick. And dealing with insomnia. And dealing with teenager stuff. and i am just so ready to be done. I am trying to have a life (and sort of failing but succeeding too). And on top of that there is everything else and i am so done with all of it. I don't want to be here.

There are so many differences between high-school & college that it is hard to pin down one reason that high-school is harder. So much has changed and somehow, despite college classes being more intense, high-school is harder. I hate high-school and would do anything to avoid it. Case in point, I just wrote a 3.5 page essay to avoid my health homework.

Decided to write a paper during lunch. Its kinda satirical but also not so like, yeah. Enjoy!

@data-sweet-potata @teaismyremedy

#essay #writeblr

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michael-pemulis · 6 years

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Hi im interested in attending boston college, and im guessing you attend there? Would you mind giving tips and your stats and how you applied to the school? Thank you so much!

Long post under the cut.

Hello! I realize I’ve been a little vague about my actualschool, so sorry about that. I actually go to Northeastern University, and Iabsolutely love it. I’ll admit I don’t know too much about BC since it’s way out there at the end of the greenline, but what I have heard has all been really positive! I also find that justbeing in Boston really contributes to my college experience, since beingsurrounded by so many universities means you have lots of opportunities to goto talks, attend classes at other schools, collaborate with researchers, andreally be immersed in what you’re studying.

As far as stats/tips/app process goes, I imagine you meangrades and test scores and the like. In true studyblr fashion, I definitelyfeel a touch reluctant to post that stuff, but I’m also asking classmates allthe same questions about GREs and personal statements for grad school rightnow, so I totally know the feeling. So in the interest of transparency, here wego.

I received a 750 on both the math and reading sections ofthe SAT, and a 760 on the writing. (I took it twice since the first time I gota 730 on the math and as a physics major I didn’t want my math score to be the lowestone, but that may or may not have been worth it.) I also took the ACT withwriting, and I got a 34 on that. I can’t figure out what my writing score wasthough; I actually had to track down my high school’s college prep account toget a lot of this stuff because I couldn’t not remember.

While I always felt confident about standardized type tests,I was actually not that great of a student in high school (still working onthat), and my GPA suffered a lot at various points. To be clear, I mean thatfor a while sophomore year, I was failing my honors English class because I wasso behind on annotations. That said, I was also pretty good at damage control(I like to think I still am?) and usually pulled it together by the end of thesemester. My overall GPA for high school was 3.9, but that’s weighted with APand Honors courses; I did not actually do that well, but I can’t find anunweighted GPA. I can’t find an actual transcript, but I did track down myCollege Board account info, and my AP test scores were World History (4), EnvironmentalScience (4), Physics B (4), Microeconomics (5), English Lit. and Composition(5), Calculus AB (5), Physics C Mechanics (4), English Lang. and Composition(5), and Calculus BC (4). I also took AP Government and US History, but didn’ttake the tests. Again, disclaimer, I tend to over-preform on tests - I did notdo proportionately well in the actual classes.

I honestly didn’t have too much in the way of academic extracurriculars(it might have just been my casual mathletes membership, actually), but I wasreally involved in choir, theater, and orchestra throughout school. 7 years ofmusical theater, 11 years of choir (president senior year), several chamberchoirs and ensembles, solofests and state choirs, and 8 years of cello (I thinkI might have been first chair for a hot minute at one point?) were definitelymy “I promise I do things other than cry about math” selling points.

As far as personal statements go, I have some mixedfeelings. On one hand, I honestly I can’t believe my teachers let me think itwas a good idea to submit second person prose about toxic relationships for myCommon App essay, but on the other hand my college applications went reallywell so maybe that’s actually the secret. My method was to take personalwriting I already had and was reasonable pleased with, and then slash and burnit down to 650 words. I’m tempted to say don’t do this, since looking back Ireally don’t like what I ended up submitting, but also, see above. The mostimportant thing is to write something ASAP (maybe even write a few things andpick your favorite), and edit it for forever. Show it to your mom, show it toyour English teacher, show it to your English teacher from second grade, sendit to a stranger on the internet, and get as much feedback as you can. Editingis much more important than writing something good to begin with.

Again, transparency. I would do things differently now please I promise I know! I was is a really fortunate position to be able toapply to ten schools, partially through fee waivers and partially by virtue ofbeing relatively well-off financially. Please… don’t apply to ten schools. Imean if you want to, go for it I guess, but really, please don’t ever thinkthat’s necessary. Definitely have a safety school or two, but try not to applyplaces you really don’t have any intention of attending. I ended upinterviewing for one school, and it did not go great, so if you anticipatehaving an interview, please please please do a practice one. I was so awkward. LikeI said before, applications went really well, and of the ten schools, I wasaccepted to 8, wait-listed for 1, and rejected (I hate that term, but “notaccepted” sounds so arrogant) to 1. I’m hesitant to put a full list, but theyincluded one state college, Boston University, Northeastern, University ofRochester, and Yale. I’ll let you guess which one I got flat-out rejected fromlol.

I ended up getting similar financial aid packages for NEU,BU, and UofR, so it ended up coming down to where I wanted to go. Which bringsme back to stanning Boston, the greatest place ever to go to college in thehistory of places. Other than location, my biggest advice would be to look verycarefully at what the program you actually intend to study looks like at each school.For example, lots of schools are really excellent for certain subjects and havea very prestigious reputation, but if the course you actually want to study issmall, underfunded, or just not as good as other colleges, who cares? I know, alot of people, but try to put it aside as much as you can.

Holy heckkk this ended up so long. I’m alwayshappy to answer any other questions, and I do reveal more information to peopleoff anon so please don’t hesitate to come say hi!! I hope this kind ofaddressed what you were looking for, let me know if there’s anything I missedand best of luck with your applications!!!

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universi-tea · 7 years

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With so many people from around the world talking about there experiences in school, it can be a little confusing to figure out what it all means. All states have different standards so things can vary a lot, but here’s a general guide to help you figure out what the heck your American friends are talking about.

Read on after the cut to learn more about grade levels, classes, high school, college, and a lot more!

Grade Levels and Ages

Preschool is optional, but many children attend. It teaches basic skills like shapes, colors, and numbers, plus helps to develop social skills and prepare children for school. It often only lasts until lunch, depending on the parent’s schedule.

Kids typically start the first year of school, kindergarten, when they’re five years old.

Grade level + 5 is a pretty good estimation of someone’s age.

K-5th grade is considered elementary school.

6th-8th grade is considered middle school, but 6th grade classes are often still held in an elementary school building.

9th-12th grade is high school

Freshman year = 9th grade, Sophomore = 10th, junior = 11th, and senior = 12th

Types of Schools

Public schools are where the majority of students go. They’re free to attend and government funded, so depending on the funding they vary in quality. These schools do not require uniforms but do have dress codes.

Private schools are, you guessed it, privately funded. Student’s must pay tuition or receive scholarships to attend, and some schools require admittance exams. They may be religion-based, and may also have a more rigorous curriculum. Uniforms (or strict dress codes) are usually, but not always, required.

Charter schools are publicly funded but privately operated. They often act as an alternative to under-performing public schools in the area, and may offer a specialized curriculum.

Magnet schools, much like charter schools, are publicly funded but offer specialized a curriculum which draws students from across districts (like a magnet) to attend. They usually offer a focus in a certain subject, like science, for students with special interests and aptitude for that field.

Home schools, are exactly like they sound. Students learn at home, but still must follow state guidelines for class requirements. A special license is required in order to teach your children at home, and students must take yearly standardized exams to show they are on track. Classes may be taken through special homeschool work books, videos, online, or classes offered at churches, community centers, or colleges.

Schedules

In elementary school, students typically stay in the same classroom with the same teacher for all of their core subjects. They’ll leave to go to recess, gym/PE (physical education), lunch, and sometimes electives like music or art.

Middle and high school classes are taken in seperate classrooms and students get to choose their schedules relatively freely.

The school day typically starts around 8 and ends around 3.

Depending on the school, students may take either four classes for a semester and switch after winter break or eight classes all year.

The same classes meet everyday with these schedules.

There’s also something called block schedule where block ‘A’ will meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with block ‘B’ on the others day, and then switch the next week.

Classes

Core classes are considered English, math, science, and social studies. Students are required to have a certain number of classes in each to graduate.

Students are also required to take a certain number of electives, some of which must fit certain requirements like foreign language and fine arts.

Every state is different, but as an example the high school graduation requirements for North Carolina are, as taken from the NC site: 4 credits of English (I,II,III,IV); Foreign Language not required for graduation, but 2 credits required for admission to a state college; 4 credits of math (Algebra I, II, Geometry & one beyond Algebra II), 3 credits of science (A physical science, Biology & Earth/Environmental Science), 4 credits of social sciences (Civics & Economics, World History, American History I and American History II), 1 credit of health/physical education, and 6 elective credits (chosen based on student’s interest and availability at their school).

Especially in high school, students have lots of electives to choose from. Anything from interior design to baking may be offered, depending on the size of the school and funding.

Students may also take advanced placement (AP) classes. They’re more difficult, and last the entire academic year (even if other classes are on a semester schedule). They also count for college credit.

Honors classes are also more rigorous courses, but do not count for college credit.

Students and their advisors choose classes together that fit the student’s future goals.

All classes have some sort of exam at the end of the term.

Grades

GPA (grade point average) is used in high school and colleges. Each grade is given a corresponding number -- 4 for A, 3 for B, 2 for C, 1 for D, and 0 for a failed class (add one point for AP classes). These are averaged together, leaving you with your GPA.

Grading systems vary, but a pretty standard scale is the 10 point. By this, 90-100 points is an A, 80-89 is a B, and so on.

A pretty common question was if it was actually possible to get straight A’s all through high school, and as for grades in the overall class -- totally possible. Not a breeze, but possible. It’s unlikely that someone would make an A on every assignment in every class all four years, but that’s not out of the question either. It all depends on the person!

SAT and ACT

These are standardized tests meant to gauge how well a student will do in their first year of college. They are not the same as end of year exams. different colleges prefer different tests, so students may take one or both, depending on where they're applying. The SAT covers writing, critical reading, and math. The ACT covers English, mathematics, reading, science, with an optional essay.

Extracurricular Activities

Having extracurricular activities that show your interests, talents, and ability to manage your time well is a really important part of college applications. This is why nearly every American student is involved in multiple extracurricular activities.

High school sports can lead to college scholarships, which is why they’re a popular option. If you’re really talented, colleges may recruit you and give you a ‘full ride’ (pay all of your tuition) to get you to play for them.

Other popular activities are special interest clubs, yearbook, choir, debate, after school jobs, and volunteering.

College

College is the term used conversationally for what is called ‘university’ in most other countries.

Community or junior colleges allow students to earn an Associate’s (two year) degree for a much lower cost.

Traditional four-year colleges typically have “university” in their title, and students earn their Bachelor’s degree from these.

After undergrad (earning a bachelor’s degree), some students go to grad school. For professions in the medical and law field, students must go to med or law school right after graduating because, well, would you want a 22 year old doctor?

For other fields, grad school ranges from basically required to find a job to totally unnecessary.

Programs can take anywhere from two (master’s) to five or more for a doctorate degree.

In college, students will always have a major and often have a minor.

A major is your major field of study, which will usually be listed on your degree (ie, major in biology to earn a Bachelor of Science in Biology), though sometimes a more general department (major in advertising for a Bachelor of Art in Communications) will be listed instead. All schools and programs are different as far as what will be listed on a student’s degree.

A minor is another area of interest which is used to fill other hour requirements for graduation. This will not be listed on the degree, and may either support and help refine a major (fine arts minor + elementary education major = art teacher), or may just be to explore interests outside of a student’s field. Minors are not required at all schools or in all programs; students may choose to double major or simply take independent electives to fill hour requirements instead.

At many schools, students aren’t required to declare a major until their junior (third) year. The first two years of classes are typically general education, like math and English, that are required for all degrees.

Hopefully that cleared up some of your questions, and if you have any more I would be happy to help!

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