# College/University '08



## Lucas Garron (Mar 30, 2008)

I only get to make this thread once; might as well. 

For all high school cubers who are graduating from from high school/some other institution and applied to college this year, how's it gone?

Apparently hdskull is a senior, and so are Macky, Joey, my friend Arthur, and me. There must be more...

As for me, I applied to MIT, Stanford, Caltech, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC Davis.

I didn't get into MIT  - though that rejection may be worse for them than they know. 
(No additional origami mathematician, nor a cube club for you, MIT!)

Thereafter, I was wait-listed at Caltech. 

I got accepted to the other four rough order of preference:
UC Davis 
UCLA 
Berkeley 
Stanford 

Currently, I'm leaning toward Stanford, but I haven't yet decided against Caltech (to which I haven't actually been accepted [yet]) and Berkeley (which I've already experienced a lot throughout high school).

So, what other matriculatory news do we have about cubers?


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## Leviticus (Mar 30, 2008)

well im year 11, so i will have to wait until next year, congrats though


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## Stefan (Mar 30, 2008)

With all your skills (and I'm not just talking about cubing) how can a college not want you? Did you get an explanation? I'm seriously puzzled.


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## ajmorgan25 (Mar 30, 2008)

I'm going to the University of Alabama.


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## masterofthebass (Mar 30, 2008)

Stefan, in the US, college admissions are completely bogus. Even the most qualified people don't always get in where they should, and school's don't have to give any reason at all. Lucas, I am surprised that the fact your not a US citizen didn't effect their decision. O well, Stanford is a good school too...


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## F.P. (Mar 30, 2008)

is it about the marks or do you have to do acceptance tests?
or both?


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## ExoCorsair (Mar 30, 2008)

masterofthebass said:


> Stefan, in the US, college admissions are completely bogus. Even the most qualified people don't always get in where they should, and school's don't have to give any reason at all. Lucas, I am surprised that the fact your not a US citizen didn't effect their decision. O well, Stanford is a good school too...



Yes, it is random with the "holistic" admissions process.

Still waiting for tomorrow, but most likely Penn State University Park.


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## Lotsofsloths (Mar 30, 2008)

I'm 13, but still, CalTech, or University of Virginia!


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## joey (Mar 30, 2008)

I applied for computer science at:
Bristol
Bangor
Glasgow
Northampton
Westminster

I'm pretty bad at exams and coursework, so my results don't really reflect my classroom work. At the moment I have conditional offers for all those Uni's, except Bristol which I was rejected :S

It looks to be Glasgow at the moment, it looked the best when I went to visit it. (Breadon McElhill lives close, he holds the UK NR) Bangor second probably.


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## pjk (Mar 30, 2008)

Lucas, do you live in Germany, but plan on going to school in America? If so, out of curiosity, what tests did you have to take to apply?

Congrats on your acceptance. And like Dan said, getting into schools in America is pretty bogus.


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## ExoCorsair (Mar 30, 2008)

pjk said:


> Lucas, do you live in Germany, but plan on going to school in America? If so, out of curiosity, what tests did you have to take to apply?



I was under the impression that Lucas lived in California.

Hence the UC acceptances.


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## joey (Mar 30, 2008)

Lucas has lived in the US for 7 years now


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## Dene (Mar 30, 2008)

Ok, so why is no one applying for Harvard or Yale or some other *good* University?

Or even better, Oxford or Cambridge!


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## joey (Mar 30, 2008)

Dene said:


> Ok, so why is no one applying for Harvard or Yale or some other *good* University?
> 
> Or even better, Oxford or Cambridge!


I would have applied for Oxford or Cambridge, but there is no chance of me getting in! (and i think there would be a large percenatge public schoolers)


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## ExoCorsair (Mar 31, 2008)

Dene said:


> Ok, so why is no one applying for Harvard or Yale or some other *good* University?



I applied, but I'll get my rejections tomorrow.


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## pjk (Mar 31, 2008)

Dene said:


> Ok, so why is no one applying for Harvard or Yale or some other *good* University?
> 
> Or even better, Oxford or Cambridge!


They (Yale and Harvard) are good for grad school, for undergrad you can get more for your money at other places.


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## Lucas Garron (Apr 1, 2008)

StefanPochmann said:


> With all your skills (and I'm not just talking about cubing) how can a college not want you? Did you get an explanation? I'm seriously puzzled.


But you love puzzles, right?
Anyhow, it's a matter of the application (and grades, SAT scores, etc. on it, which for me were pretty high but not phenomenal all-round). Even with an interview, I don't think the admissions officers MIT could see how much I would contribute to them.
I found the rejection inevitable, rather (and was surprised at Stanford). I was going to have a great application, but then my life and academics tumbled down -by the week I was writing the application, I was so melancholy (especially at how I failed to accomplish anything I really wanted to do at the end of 11th grade) that I stayed up nights trying to convince myself to start the essays, and didn't succeed in starting them until the last night, rendering them rather unpolished. I don't find it a sad matter _that_ I didn't get in nearly as much as _why_ I didn't get in.
(I blame it mostly on my [anonymous] English teacher, who was very apt at ruining school for me, dragging down my ability to do anything good [e.g. math that schools such as MIT like] outside of school.)



ajmorgan25 said:


> I'm going to the University of Alabama.


Start a cubing club! I wanna hear about the Alabama Open '08! 



masterofthebass said:


> Stefan, in the US, college admissions are completely bogus. Even the most qualified people don't always get in where they should, and school's don't have to give any reason at all. Lucas, I am surprised that the fact your not a US citizen didn't effect their decision. O well, Stanford is a good school too...


I'm a permanent resident (green card), and all colleges (that I know of) treat it the same as citizenship.
(Did going to college have any affect on your apostrophe's? Is this a affect I should know about?  )



ExoCorsair said:


> pjk said:
> 
> 
> > Lucas, do you live in Germany, but plan on going to school in America? If so, out of curiosity, what tests did you have to take to apply?
> ...


Uh, yes. I finally added location to my profile.



Dene said:


> Ok, so why is no one applying for Harvard or Yale or some other *good* University?


Boring, you mean? They don't have great pure mathy programs! (And hence good professors, fellow students, facilities, libraries...) Princeton has Conway, but that's not enough.


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## Dene (Apr 16, 2008)

Ok so I'm looking for a University to go to for an Overseas Exchange in the near future, and Europe seems unlikely (unfortunately) so I've been looking at America, and was looking at UCDavis, and the Philosophy department looks really good! But can somone fill me in on how the system works?

Here you do a 100 level paper in first year, 200 level paper in second year, 300 level paper in third year, 400 and 500 level papers for honours and masters students, and 600 and 700 level papers for PhD students. Now that's a very clear system, but looking at the philosophy department, it says something like "0-100 for freshman and sophomore students, 100-200 for juniors and seniors and 200-300 for postgraduates" but then it talks about how those are only guidelines and not strict to follow. Can people just do anything? Does it not matter? Is the level of work harder?

I'm not even going to comment on the stupid rankings that you have. I don't understand how a third year could be "junior". Speaking of that, do you guys really have 4 years of undergraduate study?

Can someone give me insight into what the Philosophy departments are like at the University of California?


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## Tim Reynolds (Apr 17, 2008)

I got into MIT, Yale, Brown, Cornell. Harvard and Princeton were no's, but I guess that just makes it easier for me to pick MIT. Within a week I'll probably be decided.


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## abbracadiabra (Apr 17, 2008)

It sounds to me like you decided already. Congrats, and good luck!


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## Lofty (Apr 17, 2008)

You could always come to the University of Florida, Dene  I have no idea what our Philosophy department is like tho... and yes we do have 4 years of undergrad. That is if you take 15 credits a semester which is approximately 15 hours of class a week. You can take a max of 18 and then you can do summers too if you really want to get out faster than three years. And do you guys have AP classes there? I have 30 credits from classes I took in highschool so thats a whole year off there.
Tim: Congrats on MIT! I wish I could have gone there...


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## deathbypapercutz (Apr 17, 2008)

Lucas Garron said:


> Dene said:
> 
> 
> > Ok, so why is no one applying for Harvard or Yale or some other *good* University?
> ...



From what I've heard, Harvard math pretty much owns... but I'm only a junior and behind on this whole college thing, so blah.


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## Karthik (Apr 17, 2008)

Lofty said:


> That is if you take 15 credits a semester which is approximately 15 hours of class a week. You can take a max of 18 and then you can do summers too if you really want to get out faster than three years.


What?
Every semester here in IIT, Madras, I do 20-26 credits and a total of 165 credits in a duration of 4 years.Only then am I awarded a B.Tech degree.
Are you saying that even the engineering and pure sciences courses have only 15 credits/semester or is this only the case with humanities?


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## Dene (Apr 18, 2008)

Lofty said:


> You could always come to the University of Florida, Dene  I have no idea what our Philosophy department is like tho... and yes we do have 4 years of undergrad. That is if you take 15 credits a semester which is approximately 15 hours of class a week. You can take a max of 18 and then you can do summers too if you really want to get out faster than three years. And do you guys have AP classes there? I have 30 credits from classes I took in highschool so thats a whole year off there.
> Tim: Congrats on MIT! I wish I could have gone there...



University of Florida isn't an option. You aren't a partner university with Canterbury. Your credit system obviously works different to ours so it'd be hard to compare. I have no idea what "AP classes" are.


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## Lofty (Apr 20, 2008)

Karthikputhraya: no one here regardless of major takes more than 18 credits...
Dene: well that stinks... AP classes are classes in high school where you have a big final at the end that if you pass you have a chance to get college credit for.


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## hdskull (Apr 21, 2008)

I bs-ed my way pretty much through high school. This year, there were a surprising amount of applicants at all schools, and many schools rejected qualifying candidates. Though I never tried much, I still thought I would've gotten in a better college. The bs admissions this year prompted me to work hard in college, I plan to transfer out of UCSD in one year (preferably to UPenn, NYU, or USC).

Good luck to those applying to college in the future. Plan and start early.

Havard/Yale acceptance rates were 7%/8% respectively.

EDIT: btw, I chose UCSD.


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## ThePizzaGuy92 (Apr 22, 2008)

I'm only in 10th grade, so I have some time to worry about this 

I'd like to go to Cal State Fullerton, I'm not going to lie to myself and say I'm going to MIT, it would take some kind of... German speedcubing method creator? idk where they'd find one though.


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## CanadianPires (Apr 22, 2008)

Ok, slighty off-topic, but Im in 2nd year university in Canada (UVic in British Columbia) and have started thinking of grad school. UBC (also in Canada) or something below me in California, Berkeley or Cal Tech maybe. Any others in university right now thinking of grad school, and if so, any ideas where you're going to apply yet?


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## n00bcubix (Apr 26, 2008)

I'm a middle schooler but probably Stanford or Berkeley


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## brunson (Apr 26, 2008)

Lucas, 

Congrats on Stanford, as far as I'm concerned it's a better school than MIT. I work with 2 Stanford PhDs and they're incredibly smart and cool. I have worked with several ivy leaguers in the past and you can't have a fifteen minute conversation with them without them having to mention that they went to MIT or Columbia or wherever. I never thought any of them had skillz to back up their pretension.


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## SD14 (Apr 29, 2008)

i am to average to get any scholarship to get into mit so i get to go to instate college University of Kentucky or EKU


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## Swordsman Kirby (Apr 29, 2008)

Heh, early action for Caltech next year (since Stanford is far too hard).

Depending on whether or not I get in determines where I apply regular decision.


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## ShadenSmith (Apr 30, 2008)

SD14 said:


> i am to average to get any scholarship to get into mit so i get to go to instate college University of Kentucky or EKU





Another Ky cuber! Woohoo! Where in KY are you located?


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## hdskull (May 12, 2008)

So nobody's gonna dorm with me at UCSD? lol. I want a cuber dorm buddy, so that the clicking doesn't tick other ppl off, ahha.


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## Dene (May 12, 2008)

I'm looking at UCSD! It's my third option though, so unlikely that I'll be going there ^^


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## hdskull (May 13, 2008)

I see, haha, you're coming over from New Zealand for college?


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## Dene (May 13, 2008)

It'll just be for the first half of next year (second semester for you).


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## hdskull (May 13, 2008)

oh, I see.


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## Alex DiTuro (May 17, 2008)

Right now I'm a junior(prom's tomorrow and I'm not going)I'm really hoping to get into WIT in boston. Which brings me to this question: Hey, Tim If you're going to Boston for college, we should get a competition in Boston together. Of course, I'm still a junior and will still be in high school next year. Maybe we could do one in the spring and one in the fall. Hence, MIT Fall Open, WIT Spring Classic, or something like that. Oh, by the way I'm probably going to the Captain's Cove next week. I'm pretty nervous, it's my first competition!


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## DavidWoner (May 27, 2008)

Going to the University of Pennsylvania (my original first choice!)
also got into Northwestern University, and full rides at Tulane University and Missouri S&T.

rejected from Stanford, rejected from Berkeley(being from Missouri, i never stood a chance, even with 35 ACT and 4.1 GPA), waitlisted at Duke, took myself off.

hope to have a UPenn Open by 2010!


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## deathbypapercutz (Jun 9, 2008)

Vault312 said:


> Going to the University of Pennsylvania (my original first choice!)
> also got into Northwestern University, and full rides at Tulane University and Missouri S&T.
> 
> rejected from Stanford, rejected from Berkeley(being from Missouri, i never stood a chance, even with 35 ACT and 4.1 GPA), waitlisted at Duke, took myself off.
> ...



I'm interested in applying to UPenn just for the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology, lol. But I hear that place is a party school? If it is, I can't go, I'd never get anything done :-(


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## DavidWoner (Jun 13, 2008)

deathbypapercutz said:


> Vault312 said:
> 
> 
> > Going to the University of Pennsylvania (my original first choice!)
> ...



lol i applied to jerome fisher, but did not get in, but i do know one person who did. it helps if you go to the jerome fisher summer camp, although if you are already a junior then you have kind of missed your chance, otherwise i would highly recommend it. also, if you do get jerome fisher you will be doing 25-50% more work than everybody else. as for it being a party school- yes they party a lot, but only in their free time. its more of a work hard play hard type of environment, rather than just straight partying.


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## deathbypapercutz (Jun 13, 2008)

Vault312 said:


> lol i applied to jerome fisher, but did not get in, but i do know one person who did. it helps if you go to the jerome fisher summer camp, although if you are already a junior then you have kind of missed your chance, otherwise i would highly recommend it. also, if you do get jerome fisher you will be doing 25-50% more work than everybody else. as for it being a party school- yes they party a lot, but only in their free time. its more of a work hard play hard type of environment, rather than just straight partying.



Haha, thanks! That sounds fine; I can deal with being a dull stick who studies all day long


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## DavidWoner (Jun 14, 2008)

deathbypapercutz said:


> Haha, thanks! That sounds fine; I can deal with being a dull stick who studies all day long



dont let the UPenn admissions board hear you say that!


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