The Official Adam Pascal Love Thread, part three — Page 483

I know that, Siamese- but even you've just said that you hardly took any difficult classes. You still got into NYU. It just doesn't seem reliable to me.

Hm.... I'm basically in IB for the money. If it's not going to get me any, I'm wasting my time.

Emcee, it's tough to explain. My teacher wants to see that we've explored some kind of emotion or theme; that the piece says something. Technical skill counts, as does experimentation.

Well, from what I've seen, Nia, you certainly have skill.

Do you guys have to pay for IB tests? I have to pay $400 this year for AP tests, which is a lot of money!

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"If you are at least somewhat considering a school with selective admissions, yes, it definitely helps. The admissions departments of said schools claim that they look for students who have challenged themselves by taking a harder courseload throughout high school."

Just to clarify, based on what my high school's college advisor told us, they look at what courses a student has taken in relation to what the student's high school offers. So someone whose school only offers 2 AP courses is in good shape if he/she takes both of them, while someone whose school offers 6 or 7 may not look so good if they only take 3.

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Oh, I didn't mean to give the impression that I barely took anything challenging at all. I took a fair amount of advanced courses, I just don't think I took as full of a load as a lot of people on this thread are currently taking. (I'm not trying to be defensive 'cause I honestly don't care, but I do think it helps to a certain extent.)

If you're curious as to what "advanced" classes I took:
Accelerated English 2 & 3
AP English 4
AP Biology
AP Microeconomics
AP US Government
AP European History

I would have taken a couple more in the social sciences, but they weren't offered at my school. I also did well on the SAT (out of NYU's average range), so I'm sure that helped a lot too.

I don't really know where I'm going with this post other than sounding super defensive when I'm really not trying to, but I do think your course selection matters somewhat.

Edit: BG, you're right. I forgot to mention that. That may have helped me out, too, as my school doesn't offer too many APs.

Updated On: 1/2/06 at 11:08 PM

Making you pay to take a TEST is cruel and unusual.

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I'm still kinda pissed that of the 4 AP classes I took, I was only able to use the credits from one of them (Calculus AB) because the other 3 (European History, US History, Spanish Language) didn't correspond to any of my college requirements - and I got a 5 on all 4 of the exams too!

I also wasn't able to use any of the 4 college courses I took during my senior year because, again, didn't correspond to requirements. I could have counted them towards elective credits, but that probably would have F*CKed up my scholarships by putting me over the 128-credit threshold before I completed my major.

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Updated On: 1/2/06 at 11:12 PM

BS-ing on the CAS forms can be amusing though. Some of the questions are really stupid.

I hated AP classes. They're so geared towards the test. That's not the way people learn.

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Yeah, Siamese, I'm taking five this year. It's tons of fun.

I think I'm pretty lucky because, from what I can tell, my classes aren't *that* geared toward the test. They are all interesting, especially AP Bio and Psych! I'm reading this completely fascinating book for Bio called "No Turning Back, the Life and Death of Animal Species". It's great!

I've decided that I want to be an astronomer when I "grow up."

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I would love to be a bum, but I don't forsee that happening. Possibly drug research or something equally as science-y.

You can live with me!

You have to write a play? Wow. I'm impressed. What is it about?

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Em, do you attend Barnard? (If that's too personal for this thread, feel free to ignore.)

I definitely considered Barnard or Columbia, but I didn't like the core program (although, I'm not sure if it's present at Barnard as well) and didn't care for the location. It's a better name than NYU, but NYU seemed like a better fit for me, so... (Plus, who knows even if I would have been accepted to Columbia/Barnard...)

Good night and Good Luck, Nia!

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