this was so helpful as a uni student I wish I had heard this before it would have ease my ind so much but in the end I got into a degree that I am loving as I get to do TH-cam travelling vlogs all while studying and travelling
I’m currently a freshman at a very competitive high school in North Carolina and am struggling to stand out when surrounded by so many amazing students. Something I am trying to do is pursue my passions that are unique from other people. Glad this video reaffirms some of this. Great job Amy!😁
I’m trying these tips out! I just want to say that, wAmy, you are very intelligent. It really shows that you improve greatly from mistakes while trying to help others. You may not be a perfect person, but man, you sure have the qualities of one! Thanks for the tips!
Hi! Thanks so much for your kind words and I’m glad you’re implementing these tips! I wish I watched more college admissions advice videos when I was in high school 😅 You’re too kind. Thank you for your support and best of luck!
When I wasn't seeing many views, what kept me going was knowing that what I put out there would reach at least some people, or there was a *chance* my videos would reach some people and help them. I kept myself inspired by watching other TH-camrs and hearing their stories of how they worked hard for 2-5 years before seeing any results. Best of luck! You can do it.
@@wamyy5 thanks this helped, i run an editing channel right now but i am not fufilled so i wanna go into long form content like you; ill do my best, thanks amy :)
You can always explore opportunities outside of your school for coursework, internships, research opportunities, etc. It would look even more impressive if you took initiative to pave your own opportunity (compared to just participating in a school affiliated program).
Your are doing a great job would be intersting if you could interview people who came up poor as it is so hard to suceed from these types of backgrounds. Keep up the good work.
Hi, wAmy I am in 7th and taking Algebra one, and am the highest performing math student in my grade for my small school. Everything seems so complicated I wish I had a blueprint, do x get into this school. Although I'm learning that does not exist. I don't know if I should go to math camp to do a lot of activities, focus on my activities, or even if I should worry about this now. PLEASE HELP.
Hi, this sounds like a really general advice, but the best strategy to college apps is to not focus too much on college admissions and just try to be your best self. Colleges definitely don't want students who just want the college title then burn out. They want people who would go above and beyond the college experience and accomplish something in this world. If you love math and want to study it more with other gifted students, apply to a math camp. If there is another passion that you want to pursue, try that. If you are looking for academic challenges, consider applying to competitive high schools. You are already doing great :)
What was usually the class average score out of 100 on midterms & final exams in Caltech's undergraduate chemical engineering courses? My guess would be maybe 60/100 with a standard deviation of 20-30?
Amy can probably answer for Chem E major in particular, but not all Caltech exams have extremely low averages. Many classes, especially in math and CS give take home, open book, and sometimes even unlimited time (3~4 days long) tests, so students do score well as long as they study hard.
I am currently a Sophomore and I'm taking 3 honors and 1 AP course. I took the maximum amount of honors, but I could have taken AP world history or AP HUG. I instead chose regular world history, as I didn't know if I could handle the workload along with extracurriculars. Will this hold me back? To make up for this, I want to take 5-6 AP courses in junior year so that I don't have a small number of AP's. (My school doesn't allow students to take any AP's during their freshmen year) I just want to know if I am currently on track and in a good position for applying to schools like Stanford, Caltech, UC Berkeley and the Ivies. Thank You so much for this incredible video. It cleared up a lot of my queries :D
Once you have all the key APs for your intended major (ex: AP Calc BC and AP Physics C if you want to do engineering) and enough APs (compared to what top students at your school does), your spike and overall story is way more important! Just from the comment, not taking every single APs definitely does not disqualify you for top schools, but you would need meaningful extracurriculars in addition to challenging coursework and good grades to be in a "good position" for top school.
Hi! Thank you for making this video! I want to ask what should I do if I did a lot of variety of activities that are not related to each other but I really want to show I am passionate about the major I want to be in even though my extracurriculars may not be related to it? (currently a junior)
You likely did the variety of activities because they appeal to you in some way, right? Perhaps you just are someone who enjoys taking on new challenges. Maybe all of the diverse activities have something in common, like helping other people. While it is good to tell a complete story with your essays and activities, not everyone's story involves waking up with love for a particular career path first day of freshman year and just doing that for the four years of high school. Try to find a story that makes sense for your journey!
Hi! This video already contains tips for high schoolers and shows what middle schoolers can be preparing for. For example, we emphasized how to build a spike and journey of growth, so you can start that in middle school. More details on what to do ASAP to get into a good college: th-cam.com/video/SzeM9WVpfh0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=JkUezxk7quzn9c4o
The same general advice applies to all stages of life, including middle schoolers. There is no need to take APs as a middle schooler, but try your best in classes and try to discover your passion. We also talked about competitive high school (or feeder school) vs. public school briefly in the video. For middle schoolers, it would be good to think about which high school you would be a better fit for and what you need to prepare to be successful in your dream high school.
Agreeing with Amy here, but also, you should try your best to get a high standardized score (don't just give up easily counting on it being "optional"). You never know how admission trends might change and getting a high standardized score is def one solid way to show where you stand compared to your peers.
Great Video! I would like to ask a question though. What do you think about the college admission advice to be yourself? There are people who say it is a myth and others mention that you should be yourself. I just want to clear it up.
Hi! I think that you should definitely be genuine to let your passion and emotions shine to touch the admissions officer. With that being said, just like Olivia said, you want to show yourself in the best light. That means that you pick and choose which parts of you to emphasize!
Hi, what do you mean by presenting the spike if not competitive in one field, let's say math. Does it mean putting the activities on common app that not only limit to math awards, but instead putting other events, such as volunteering or music?
If we were to use math as an example, you can think about what you want to do with your math skills. Do you want to continue researching math and making breakthroughs? Do you want to teach math to others? Do you want to apply math to a different field and research something else through math? If you want to teach math to others and especially combine that with your musical talents and create memorable songs that people can sing along to learn math, putting volunteering and music in addition to your math awards will complete a great story. However, if you want to continue studying and eventually researching math, concentrating on activities related to math, studying, and researching would make more sense.
Hello Amy. I am a software test architect who works with mobile app testing at Medtronic. I have posted on your videos before so you probably recognize me because you responded a couple of times. I have a simple question for advising today's early adolescent students - how soon they should start learning computer programming? I have six master's degrees and am about half-way done on a PhD in Data Science. I often do group work with very young students who told me they learned to write code in high school. One of them was from Los Angeles. I think he learned Java by his junior year at about age 17. I get the impression this is common. I know the AP exams now include computer science which I guess is common in densely-populated school districts but not in rural areas. So, I am trying to encourage younger children still in early adolescence to start coding. But how soon should they start to be competitive for schools like UCLA, Stanford, Berkeley, CalTech, etc. - a top 10 university or a flagship state school in the Pac-12 region? My "guess" is probably the sooner the better - by about the same time they are learning algebra and geometry. A good language to start with is probably python then move into JavaScript or Java with databases (sql or no sql). Specifically, they should probably start learning to write mobile and web apps routinely and use coding to solve problems. I also witnessed Chatbot AI in use for coding a digital signal processing sample project to a draft. It was wild to witness that from a senior iOS App developer who communicates a lot with the best from Silicon Valley at Apple. I bought my niece an iPad and also for friends of the family with children - also a MacBook for the latter to start programming. The challenge is that they live in rural areas which is removed from the resources found in large school districts like in Orange County of California or San Jose.
Just a very very personal opinion, but I don't think "when should students learn programming" should be a college admissions related questions. Students should learn when they have the necessary background knowledge (maybe how to operate a computer, or basic logic and computations) and when they want to start utilizing programming to do tasks.
Does the same thing apply when transferring as a junior? I go to a state school and want to transfer to canada(Hopefully U of T) going into my junior year. I'm still a freshman but I can't be lazy about this and just focus on my GPA.
I do not have direct experience with transfers, but since transfer admissions typically have a much smaller headcount than general freshman admissions, it would be much more case-by-case than general advice in this video. Sometimes the college that you are currently attending might matter more than anything (for certain U.S. state schools, they consistently select certain quotas from community colleges from the same state). Showing quantifiable academic achievements (like getting a high GPA) and having activities and achievements that showcase self-discovery are always good regardless of what stage of life you are in, but in terms of priority for your specific case, you might want to do more research on success cases of U.S. state school to Canadian college (U of T) in particular.
You can try options like 1. Looking for similar cases in online communities surrounding transfers 2. Looking for content creaters with similar experiences 3. Reaching out to student organizations at U Toronto to see if any of the current students would be willing to mentor you. Best of luck!
No, it is not necessary to win olympiad medals to get into MIT, but also no SAT and Toeffl would not be enough. There are too many students who score high enough on SAT and TOEFFL compared to MIT's freshman class. To make your application competitive, you can participate in activities that show your passion and interest. Winning olympiads is one way to show such passion and interest, but it definitely is not the only way.
Hi, Amy, were you aware of the top boarding prep schools like Andover, Exeter, etc. when being a 10-13 year old teenager back then or not? And if so, then why didn't you go to one of them?
I did not know! I think I only knew once a family friend started attending Exeter and another who applied to other boarding schools, but I didn't think it was necessary. I think kids would be leaving their parents too early, and our time together as a family is already so short!
@@wamyy5 My sister went to Exeter (4 years), Yale (4 years), and Harvard Business School (2 years). She knew about Caltech because we used to visit the school a few times (my grandparents lived in Pasadena). I loved what I saw there but feared it was too difficult for me (I'm deaf in both ears). She wasn't interested in either Caltech or MIT but only the liberal arts giants like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc. and chose Yale because my father went there for his BA in history.
@@wamyy5 I would have gone to Andover but my deaf disability hampered my chances of getting accepted into that school. So I was forced to remain at International School of Bangkok for 4 years. If I had been hearing, then I would definitely have chosen MIT for sure. Therefore, my path would have been like this: Andover, MIT, and perhaps Harvard or Stanford Business School.
Hi I am studying in a high school in China in 10th grade, I did not get a high GPA. Can I say that if I could have a very high GPA in my next two years, my GPA would still be competive? I wanna show a progress in my GPA in the case.
This really depends on what you are defining as "high GPA" and what your dream school is. For the video, we mostly focused on the top 15 U.S. schools because we both have the most experience with those schools, but there are plenty of great schools in the U.S. that you can get into with a couple of Bs. For the same overall GPA, showing an upward trend is definitely good! You should not let your 10th-grade GPA put you down and just try your best for the remainder of high school.
We tried to focus on what you can influence to make your application competitive in this video. Other factors like race, gender, income level, etc. might influence the chances of your application, but there is no clear cut "you can stop trying at this bar because you are from this background" for any background. GPA, standardized testing, challenging coursework, Spike, and extracurriculars are variables that any student can work on and improve, and being stellar in all 4 will very likely get you into your dream college regardless of your race.
Thank Olivia for her helpful advice by smashing the LIKE 👍 She will be helping answer your questions so drop your comments! 🔥
Thank you for having me, Amy! It was a pleasure to work with you ❤
this was so helpful as a uni student I wish I had heard this before it would have ease my ind so much
but in the end I got into a degree that I am loving as I get to do TH-cam travelling vlogs all while studying and travelling
I’m currently a freshman at a very competitive high school in North Carolina and am struggling to stand out when surrounded by so many amazing students. Something I am trying to do is pursue my passions that are unique from other people. Glad this video reaffirms some of this. Great job Amy!😁
Keep up the good work and best of luck!
Yay so glad you’re on the right track, Nathan! It’s more fun that way too :)
I’m trying these tips out! I just want to say that, wAmy, you are very intelligent. It really shows that you improve greatly from mistakes while trying to help others. You may not be a perfect person, but man, you sure have the qualities of one! Thanks for the tips!
Hi! Thanks so much for your kind words and I’m glad you’re implementing these tips! I wish I watched more college admissions advice videos when I was in high school 😅 You’re too kind. Thank you for your support and best of luck!
🙏thanks!
Your videos are so helpful, thank you for giving confused students some clarity❤
Thank you for the positive feedback❤
Thanks for sharing, I hope you are doing well.
Thank you for watching!!
big inspiration, i wanted to ask how do i keep motivation to do youtube when i dont see any views?? you do keep motivated
When I wasn't seeing many views, what kept me going was knowing that what I put out there would reach at least some people, or there was a *chance* my videos would reach some people and help them. I kept myself inspired by watching other TH-camrs and hearing their stories of how they worked hard for 2-5 years before seeing any results. Best of luck! You can do it.
@@wamyy5 thanks this helped, i run an editing channel right now but i am not fufilled so i wanna go into long form content like you; ill do my best, thanks amy :)
Great advice, amazing channel, thank you for sharing :)
Glad to hear it's helpful! Thanks for watching :)
Thanks for the advice!! This is so relatable :)
Yay so glad to hear :)
Hii, I know I'm late but your videos have helped me a lot. I was wondering what I could do if my school isn't very competitive (a public school) :)
You can always explore opportunities outside of your school for coursework, internships, research opportunities, etc. It would look even more impressive if you took initiative to pave your own opportunity (compared to just participating in a school affiliated program).
Your are doing a great job would be intersting if you could interview people who came up poor as it is so hard to suceed from these types of backgrounds. Keep up the good work.
i am taking a note.
Yay!
Hi, wAmy I am in 7th and taking Algebra one, and am the highest performing math student in my grade for my small school. Everything seems so complicated I wish I had a blueprint, do x get into this school. Although I'm learning that does not exist. I don't know if I should go to math camp to do a lot of activities, focus on my activities, or even if I should worry about this now. PLEASE HELP.
Hi, this sounds like a really general advice, but the best strategy to college apps is to not focus too much on college admissions and just try to be your best self. Colleges definitely don't want students who just want the college title then burn out. They want people who would go above and beyond the college experience and accomplish something in this world. If you love math and want to study it more with other gifted students, apply to a math camp. If there is another passion that you want to pursue, try that. If you are looking for academic challenges, consider applying to competitive high schools. You are already doing great :)
What was usually the class average score out of 100 on midterms & final exams in Caltech's undergraduate chemical engineering courses? My guess would be maybe 60/100 with a standard deviation of 20-30?
Amy can probably answer for Chem E major in particular, but not all Caltech exams have extremely low averages. Many classes, especially in math and CS give take home, open book, and sometimes even unlimited time (3~4 days long) tests, so students do score well as long as they study hard.
@@OliviaL54
You went to Caltech?
@@suthiraphanassarat8669Yes! I am the Olivia in the video 😊
I am currently a Sophomore and I'm taking 3 honors and 1 AP course. I took the maximum amount of honors, but I could have taken AP world history or AP HUG. I instead chose regular world history, as I didn't know if I could handle the workload along with extracurriculars. Will this hold me back? To make up for this, I want to take 5-6 AP courses in junior year so that I don't have a small number of AP's. (My school doesn't allow students to take any AP's during their freshmen year) I just want to know if I am currently on track and in a good position for applying to schools like Stanford, Caltech, UC Berkeley and the Ivies. Thank You so much for this incredible video. It cleared up a lot of my queries :D
Once you have all the key APs for your intended major (ex: AP Calc BC and AP Physics C if you want to do engineering) and enough APs (compared to what top students at your school does), your spike and overall story is way more important! Just from the comment, not taking every single APs definitely does not disqualify you for top schools, but you would need meaningful extracurriculars in addition to challenging coursework and good grades to be in a "good position" for top school.
Hi! Thank you for making this video! I want to ask what should I do if I did a lot of variety of activities that are not related to each other but I really want to show I am passionate about the major I want to be in even though my extracurriculars may not be related to it? (currently a junior)
You likely did the variety of activities because they appeal to you in some way, right? Perhaps you just are someone who enjoys taking on new challenges. Maybe all of the diverse activities have something in common, like helping other people. While it is good to tell a complete story with your essays and activities, not everyone's story involves waking up with love for a particular career path first day of freshman year and just doing that for the four years of high school. Try to find a story that makes sense for your journey!
Could you please make videos with tips for middle schoolers and high schoolers?
Hi! This video already contains tips for high schoolers and shows what middle schoolers can be preparing for. For example, we emphasized how to build a spike and journey of growth, so you can start that in middle school. More details on what to do ASAP to get into a good college: th-cam.com/video/SzeM9WVpfh0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=JkUezxk7quzn9c4o
@@wamyy5can u make a video for questbridge
The same general advice applies to all stages of life, including middle schoolers. There is no need to take APs as a middle schooler, but try your best in classes and try to discover your passion. We also talked about competitive high school (or feeder school) vs. public school briefly in the video. For middle schoolers, it would be good to think about which high school you would be a better fit for and what you need to prepare to be successful in your dream high school.
Thank you 👍
Heyy Amy , Is it advisable go for test optional if you have low SAT score but gpa is very high.
Yes I think you should only submit test scores if they show data points that boost your chances
Agreeing with Amy here, but also, you should try your best to get a high standardized score (don't just give up easily counting on it being "optional"). You never know how admission trends might change and getting a high standardized score is def one solid way to show where you stand compared to your peers.
this gave me hope 🥹🥹🥹🙏🙏🙏
You can do it! 😊
You can do it! In the end, keeping hope and growing yourself is what matter 😊
Great Video! I would like to ask a question though. What do you think about the college admission advice to be yourself? There are people who say it is a myth and others mention that you should be yourself. I just want to clear it up.
Hi! I think that you should definitely be genuine to let your passion and emotions shine to touch the admissions officer. With that being said, just like Olivia said, you want to show yourself in the best light. That means that you pick and choose which parts of you to emphasize!
@@wamyy5 thanks
Hi, what do you mean by presenting the spike if not competitive in one field, let's say math. Does it mean putting the activities on common app that not only limit to math awards, but instead putting other events, such as volunteering or music?
If we were to use math as an example, you can think about what you want to do with your math skills. Do you want to continue researching math and making breakthroughs? Do you want to teach math to others? Do you want to apply math to a different field and research something else through math? If you want to teach math to others and especially combine that with your musical talents and create memorable songs that people can sing along to learn math, putting volunteering and music in addition to your math awards will complete a great story. However, if you want to continue studying and eventually researching math, concentrating on activities related to math, studying, and researching would make more sense.
Hello Amy. I am a software test architect who works with mobile app testing at Medtronic. I have posted on your videos before so you probably recognize me because you responded a couple of times. I have a simple question for advising today's early adolescent students - how soon they should start learning computer programming?
I have six master's degrees and am about half-way done on a PhD in Data Science. I often do group work with very young students who told me they learned to write code in high school. One of them was from Los Angeles. I think he learned Java by his junior year at about age 17. I get the impression this is common. I know the AP exams now include computer science which I guess is common in densely-populated school districts but not in rural areas. So, I am trying to encourage younger children still in early adolescence to start coding. But how soon should they start to be competitive for schools like UCLA, Stanford, Berkeley, CalTech, etc. - a top 10 university or a flagship state school in the Pac-12 region?
My "guess" is probably the sooner the better - by about the same time they are learning algebra and geometry. A good language to start with is probably python then move into JavaScript or Java with databases (sql or no sql). Specifically, they should probably start learning to write mobile and web apps routinely and use coding to solve problems. I also witnessed Chatbot AI in use for coding a digital signal processing sample project to a draft. It was wild to witness that from a senior iOS App developer who communicates a lot with the best from Silicon Valley at Apple.
I bought my niece an iPad and also for friends of the family with children - also a MacBook for the latter to start programming. The challenge is that they live in rural areas which is removed from the resources found in large school districts like in Orange County of California or San Jose.
Just a very very personal opinion, but I don't think "when should students learn programming" should be a college admissions related questions. Students should learn when they have the necessary background knowledge (maybe how to operate a computer, or basic logic and computations) and when they want to start utilizing programming to do tasks.
Does the same thing apply when transferring as a junior? I go to a state school and want to transfer to canada(Hopefully U of T) going into my junior year. I'm still a freshman but I can't be lazy about this and just focus on my GPA.
I do not have direct experience with transfers, but since transfer admissions typically have a much smaller headcount than general freshman admissions, it would be much more case-by-case than general advice in this video. Sometimes the college that you are currently attending might matter more than anything (for certain U.S. state schools, they consistently select certain quotas from community colleges from the same state). Showing quantifiable academic achievements (like getting a high GPA) and having activities and achievements that showcase self-discovery are always good regardless of what stage of life you are in, but in terms of priority for your specific case, you might want to do more research on success cases of U.S. state school to Canadian college (U of T) in particular.
@@OliviaL54 Thank you for the info. Are there any methods you would recommend me on gathering information? I don't have a clue
You can try options like 1. Looking for similar cases in online communities surrounding transfers 2. Looking for content creaters with similar experiences 3. Reaching out to student organizations at U Toronto to see if any of the current students would be willing to mentor you. Best of luck!
@@OliviaL54 Thank you! Never though about actually reaching out to university organizations.
Can i apply early action in November
Every school has slightly different timelines, so it would be best to consult the relevant school's application timelines.
@@OliviaL54 it is necessary to going mit to give other requirements like national Olympiad etc . sat and TOEFL is enough for mit
No, it is not necessary to win olympiad medals to get into MIT, but also no SAT and Toeffl would not be enough. There are too many students who score high enough on SAT and TOEFFL compared to MIT's freshman class. To make your application competitive, you can participate in activities that show your passion and interest. Winning olympiads is one way to show such passion and interest, but it definitely is not the only way.
Hi, Amy, were you aware of the top boarding prep schools like Andover, Exeter, etc. when being a 10-13 year old teenager back then or not? And if so, then why didn't you go to one of them?
I did not know! I think I only knew once a family friend started attending Exeter and another who applied to other boarding schools, but I didn't think it was necessary. I think kids would be leaving their parents too early, and our time together as a family is already so short!
@@wamyy5
My sister went to Exeter (4 years), Yale (4 years), and Harvard Business School (2 years). She knew about Caltech because we used to visit the school a few times (my grandparents lived in Pasadena). I loved what I saw there but feared it was too difficult for me (I'm deaf in both ears). She wasn't interested in either Caltech or MIT but only the liberal arts giants like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc. and chose Yale because my father went there for his BA in history.
@@wamyy5
I would have gone to Andover but my deaf disability hampered my chances of getting accepted into that school. So I was forced to remain at International School of Bangkok for 4 years. If I had been hearing, then I would definitely have chosen MIT for sure. Therefore, my path would have been like this: Andover, MIT, and perhaps Harvard or Stanford Business School.
Hi I am studying in a high school in China in 10th grade, I did not get a high GPA. Can I say that if I could have a very high GPA in my next two years, my GPA would still be competive? I wanna show a progress in my GPA in the case.
Regardless of if it'll become competitive, just try your best. If you can show improvement throughout high school, that's good too!
This really depends on what you are defining as "high GPA" and what your dream school is. For the video, we mostly focused on the top 15 U.S. schools because we both have the most experience with those schools, but there are plenty of great schools in the U.S. that you can get into with a couple of Bs. For the same overall GPA, showing an upward trend is definitely good! You should not let your 10th-grade GPA put you down and just try your best for the remainder of high school.
thanksssssssssss
Hi Iam from India I love your videos so much.Can you make a video on solving of physics
Please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
wAmy, I have a question. Does R {test} really help someone study for the SAT?
Hi! I would recommend using Khan Academy first as much as you can and after you tap out of free resources, then try paid ones!
You should've mentioned race. Even if supreme court banned race-based AA, I doubt race is no longer a factor.
We tried to focus on what you can influence to make your application competitive in this video. Other factors like race, gender, income level, etc. might influence the chances of your application, but there is no clear cut "you can stop trying at this bar because you are from this background" for any background. GPA, standardized testing, challenging coursework, Spike, and extracurriculars are variables that any student can work on and improve, and being stellar in all 4 will very likely get you into your dream college regardless of your race.