Standardized Testing

Yea, Im going to UCLA. And yea, it is a fine school, with lots of opportunities, and pretty much the top 2% of California students study here. Thanks to its high ranking and reputation and sun-drenched location, it gets tens of thousands of applications every year and only a handful of those people get in. I dont know why they accepted me but Im thankful for it.

Its definitely one of the top-tier public institutions, up there with Berkeley and Michigan and Virginia. I think its ranked 25th in the US News and World Reports. However, like I said, I doubt it can really hold up next to an Ivy or Stanford.

Quote:

---

Is Washington University any good? I didn't know that.

---

I think its ranked #8 in the US News, and the medical school is one of the finest in the world. So yea, its pretty good.

Eh, I don't know about that, you're splitting hairs when you compare a school like UCLA to other highly ranked schools.

Well, all the better for me I guess. When it came to transfer I applied to a bunch of different schools and went to the best one that accepted me, which was this place.

Its really a strategy everyone should adopt.

Exactly. I did the same thing. Apply to a lot of schools from different tiers, accept from the most-well-known school possible.

You're going to school because 1.) it will get you a job or 2.) it will get you into grad school. Really, the job interviewer or the grad school application reader doesn't give a damn if you liked your school's field hockey facilities or whatever else.

I just figured that going here would give me a leg up over the gajillions of Rutgers graduates who are going to be jockeying for a job in New Jersey (and put me in the same bracket as NYU guys).

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/col...udoc_brief.php

Only school in the top 20 I'll probably apply to is Columbia, and I don't really want to go there, though BC is ranked 37.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stone

This is something that I think everyone should know: there are a lot of companies that only hire people who graduated from Ivies or schools ranked alongside ivies (top 20 UN News and World Report Schools, basically).

It doesn't matter if you got a 4.0 at a very good but less prestigious school (say Brandeis), and the guy next to you got a 3.0 at a top 20 school - a lot of places are only interested in interviewing the guy who went to the top 20 place.

DiffX - UCLA is a fine school, and is in that top-20 area on the West Coast, at least. That's where you're going, right?

Is Washington University any good? I didn't know that. I don't know if the quality of the education at the 'top tier' schools is any better than the education at the 'second tier' schools. I went to Brandeis for one semester and I thought my professors were excellent - the problem was that a lot of the kids I was going to school with treated the place like a safety school and slacked off because they hadn't made it into their first choice.

When you're applying to colleges in high school, try to get into the most prestigious school possible. All of the other stuff will fall together.

---

Do they care if you transfer into said school? I'm going to go back to a community college after Christmas to get my math. I know they will do a good job of teaching me math as I've been there before, and they are expected to meet every college in the state and surrounding states’ Engendering class requirements.

=/ it would suck to get black listed from a company just because I wanted to be thrifty with my money the first few years of college.



Also what do big schools tend to look at when you are transferring to them? Are ACT and SAT grades still important or is a 4.0 at your current college what matters?

They generally dont care about SAT scores. The private schools I applied to - Stanford, Cornell, etc., did, but not the public ones. If youre gonna apply to Ole Miss, or Alabama, or Texas, or whatever, they probably wont care. GPA is much more important. Also, get involved with activities and stuff, and write a sparkling essay. I think the essay I wrote, which was truly brilliant and inspired for a college Personal Examination, is what put me over the top. I mean, when I went to orientation everyone from out of state was from like, NYU and Michigan and Virginia and stuff, all these great schools, I dont know how I got in while Im sure people from schools like that didnt. And generally, I think companies only care where you got your degree from. The original place doesnt matter.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by diffusionx

If youre gonna apply to Ole Miss

---

lol, Ole Miss is a party school. If you want Math and Science you go to Mississippi state or Huntsville.

I'm reconsidering Miss State too. I'm thinking of aiming higher than that. I'm also thinking of changing my major from Comp Eng to Electric or something in audio equipment design. I find that stuff a lot more interesting than computers. I imagine they don't out source that shit either.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by IronPlant

I think one of the better "jokes" about it is that many of the questions are nichie things that any student who aplies him/herself will be long past by their junior or senor year. At that point the student is being tested on his memory of things he rarely usses.

---

The math section fucked me cause I hadn't taken geometry and trig since 8th grade.

Got 790 verbal 710 math. I test really really well and have a ridiculous memory, though.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stone

If you've got a 1480, why wouldn't you try to get into an ivy or near-equivalent?

---

I didn't apply to any cause my grades weren't that good and I had no activities. I got into Washington University but ended up going to a semi-local school that wasn't that good 'cause I'm stupid and lazy. Flunked out freshman year.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by burgundy

I'm smarter than you.

---

Me > you