Common App Questions

[randomnbgd]

Sorry for the load of questions these days, but I thought it would be easier and more useful for everyone to ask them here than at IAC. Anyway, here are some things I would like to ask.

First of all, are the preparatory lectures for competitions (some kind of advanced curriculum) in academic disciplines (in my case computer science, maths and physics, the areas of study most emphasised in my school) considered extracurricular activities or academic activities? Would the membership in a national debate team be rather an extracurricular accomplishment? Is it OK if I attach (in the additional info area) short descriptions of the competitions to help the schools know more about their significance?

Then, what is the difference in terminology between the occupation of a parent and the position/title? It seems to me that these two terms overlap. Do I have to inform colleges if my parents' positions change?

Also, my friend that has many awards from competitions like me and who applies to the US universities told me that copies of these diplomas are not necessary. I saw such information on Harvard's site, but I would like to know whether this is a generally accepted practice?

On the Common App website (in the FAQ section) it is stated that teacher evaluations and school forms can be copied, so that the professors would not have to write them several times. Do the copies have to be signed by the professor or otherwise verified?

That would be it for now. Thanks in advance.

[elz]

Sorry for the load of questions these days, but I thought it would be easier and more useful for everyone to ask them here than at IAC. Anyway, here are some things I would like to ask.

This is a great way to ask questions this time of year. You will also see how it easy it is to get a response and a very exact answer

First of all, are the preparatory lectures for competitions (some kind of advanced curriculum) in academic disciplines (in my case computer science, maths and physics, the areas of study most emphasised in my school) considered extracurricular activities or academic activities?

There is a certain logic to the application - if you can begin to follow the logic, it will help you with the whole process and help you adjust to the bureaucratic side of US life in many situations...so I will be very detailed with the how's and why's of this. The general rule of thumb is that anything organized as a part of your school can be considered any academic activity. Thus, I would really put these lectures under an academic activity. This is much like an AP class - these advanced lectures.

Would the membership in a national debate team be rather an extracurricular accomplishment? Is it OK if I attach (in the additional info area) short descriptions of the competitions to help the schools know more about their significance?

Debate team membership is a good activity to list as extracurricular since it is not yet offered in connection with the school - there are no hard and fast right or wrong places to put these things, but it does help to flesh out your application under extra curricular activities. As for describing your competitions, use common sense. For example I do not think that anyone needs an explanation of Physics - Gold Medal - Republic Level. However, many schools have no idea what Petnica is.

Then, what is the difference in terminology between the occupation of a parent and the position/title? It seems to me that these two terms overlap. Do I have to inform colleges if my parents' positions change?

Cultural difference here. Let me try to help -

Occupation: Accountant

Position/Title: Manager Payroll Department - Penzoil Worldwide

Occupation: Banker

Position/Title: Vice President

And no, you do not need to inform them if the position changes.

Also, my friend that has many awards from competitions like me and who applies to the US universities told me that copies of these diplomas are not necessary. I saw such information on Harvard's site, but I would like to know whether this is a generally accepted practice?

Cultural again - American brains thinks, "Who would disgrace themselves by lying about such a thing?" Academic honesty is highly valued in the USA. Of course one should be prepared to produce them if asked - but in general there is a strong honor system about these things in the US. Smith, one of the most elite women's colleges in the world, allows students to take the exams home to work on them - the honor system is that you do not cheat.

If I may say so, this kind of development in thinking (when it works) is one of the greatest gifts that a US education can give to a young person. When it doesn't work, of course it is a disaster.

Also, it is great that you and your friend are working together, but it is also good to ask us about these things just to be sure. We see some real disasters sometimes and wonder..why didn't the student ask us? Remember we are here for you to check with.

On the Common App website (in the FAQ section) it is stated that teacher evaluations and school forms can be copied, so that the professors would not have to write them several times. Do the copies have to be signed by the professor or otherwise verified?

Once again honor - they can just be photocopied - there is no need for validation at the Opstina.

Elz

[randomnbgd]

Thank you very much, I'm going straight away to fill in those missing fields in my application, since January 1st is approaching...

Well, this American honor code impresses me. Here in Serbia, some (and to say they are quite numerous) people would cheat about the awards even if they knew it is likely to be caught; they would make up some excuses afterwards.

[randomnbgd]

I remembered another one, for the SAT scores sending. I have checked with several institutions and they told me that only the report from the last test taken is needed (since every report contains results from three previous Reasoning tests and five Subject tests or so). Now, in order to avoid a disaster I would like to be sure that there are no colleges that require reports from each test separately.

I might have several questions yet to ask, so is it OK that I post them under this topic and not to open new topics for every single of them?

[randomnbgd]

I forgot something I came across during filling in Penn application. I was asked to find the ETS code for my school so I queried the search engine to find all schools from Belgrade. I noticed that the schools' names that were on the list (3rd and 5th Belgrade High School) were written in Serbian (Treca and Peta beogradska gimnazija). In all my applications I've put the English version of the name (Mathematical High School) instead of the Serbian one (Matematicka gimnazija). Should I have written it in Serbian?

[randomnbgd]

Unfortunately, I have another question. This one is considered with the Current Year Courses field on Academics page in Common App. There is space only for 8 courses, but now in my senior year I am attending 15 courses (typical for Serbian high schools). I thought that the best solution for this and all the similar problems (the lack of space on forms) is to put the missing data in the Additional Info area with an appropriate comment. Am I right, or is there a better way?

[elz]

Okay, here is the deal...College Board will send records of all the SAT exams that you have taken. See here is a note direct from the College Board website:

"We send a cumulative report of all scores that are available and reportable at the time your request is received. You cannot send only your latest or highest SAT scores, or separate scores for critical reading, mathematics, or writing sections, or only SAT, or only Subject Test scores. "

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testin...es/sending.html

Now before you or anyone else reading this goes into a complete panic - there are several ways that schools handle multiple score reports and for the most part it does not hurt internationals. Some schools may not even look at the old scores. Also when internationals sit more than once and improve their scores, most schools realize that you were caught off guard on the first round or two and that is to be expected. Also the SAT is only one part of the picture...for example, if you had a really dismal performance on the first SAT you took, but a really good school record, then retook the test and improved - most admission officers are going to say..ah the student has gotten the hang of it.

About the only way that retakes could damage international students would be in the case of taking the exam over and over again with no noticeable improvement - then the school will tend to look at other areas such as your GPA, any competitions, other factors to indicate your ability. If you are really good at other things...and yet just keep hitting the wall on the SAT, the school will probaby conclude that you have a problem with standardized tests.

Once again, we go into this whole American educational culture - retakes with substantial improvement show that a student has determination - that you are not a quitter.

As probably most people on this forum know, we offer seminars to prepare for both undergraduate and graduate exams - students here seem to underestimate the SAT and often feel that they do not need preparation. In most cases this is probably a mistake. The majority of American students who are competitive take preparation courses. Also most American students start this no later than the third year of high school. Sorry, but since other people will read this and since we start our outreach to third year high school students just as the admission seasons start to close (around mid January), I had to mention that. The earlier academically talented students to prepare for the admission process - the easier it is for us!

Never ceases to amaze me that people who cannot speak English manage to register for these tests...

Running a continous thread...like a series, "Admission of Randomnbgd" is a great idea...maybe you can develop a following who wants to see how it all turns out!

[elz]

Unfortunately, I have another question.

BUT FORTUNATELY, you have human readers and they can figure out what you have done! The most important thing is to approach this problem with logic so that the reader can understand. I believe that I would very neatly and precisely draw a line through the headers that state semester/trimeseter etc. Then I would also very neatly make a new label that says:

Courses for Academic Year*

Then I would proceed to impress them by listing all 15 of my courses for the school year - however, I would only write on the first 7 lines. Then on the 8th line I would note:

*All courses in Serbia last throughout the school year.

You may have seen some references to AP courses - in fact I am sure that you have. This stands for advanced placement. These are harder courses that students can take. For American students, this is the challenge because an American History - AP course is much more demanding that the regular course. Also there is a special exam brought to you by College Board that shows how well the student has mastered the material. An admission officer tends to conclude that a student enrolled in a large number of AP classes who is doing well (bear in mind performance need not be perfect) is really focused on learning. Of course, admission officers also know that when a student is taking 15 subjects, every subject becomes an advanced placement

[randomnbgd]

Thanks for the previous response, I'll see if it works. However (as usual ), I have another question, this time considering teacher recommendations. MIT asks for one teacher evaluation from a humanities/social science professor. Is it OK if I ask my English professor to fill it in? I am asking this, because perhaps the admissions office would not treat the recommendation seriously because of the level of English taught here. Or, maybe, that would be fine, as it would use as another mean of certifying my English knowledge.

[elz]

In terms of teacher evaluations, they are evaluating you as a student, not the level of English Remember, they want to hear about what kind of a student you, how hard you work, how well you get along with your peers, and so on.

Also I keep encouraging students to let their teachers write up what they want to say about you in Serbian - and you can get a translation of that for them to sign. There are many ways around the language barrier. However, an assessment by the English teacher is just fine.

Elz

[randomnbgd]

Hello,

It's me again, this time considering secondary school forms.

First of all, the class rank. Though there is an option in the forms filled in by counselor to indicate the rank, there is a field which says to estimate the rank in deciles if no precise rank is available. Does this apply to schools that do not rank as well (in Common App it seems it does, but some specific forms like that of Brown, MIT, etc., are not really helpful in clarifying the things)? Talking with admissions officers at the College Fair and reading on websites I found that many high schools from USA do not report ranks. However, are they obligated to report the estimated ranks? Since the rank is not a practice in Serbia, what would be a standard and right approach to this issue?

Furthermore, since science and math courses in my school are very advanced compared to those in other high schools in Serbia, how should that be indicated in the Common App form? The problem is with finding an American equivalent, it is something like AP, but it is still not the same as AP. Common App form does not ask for the content of courses, and only listing the name of the subjects does not help much in presenting the rigor of the program (that would make a lot of difference). Is there any solution to this problem? Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Janko Ilic

[elz]

Okay, the rank can be marked N/A for not applicable. Also there are places on the common application where you can add additional information such as that your high school is for math and science talents and the courses are quite advanced. Bear in mind that your SAT II scores also back up the fact that you are good at math. Also remember that you are taking 13 to 16 subjects each semester, so that also says something about the rigor of the program. Most of this is pretty obvious to any international admission officer, so don't get too worried.

Also we are going to spend the next few Wednesdays - starting with this one - at 3.00 p.m. assisting with applications. So that is a good time to come in with questions.

Elz