Common application - guided tour

Continued here

I've just realized that I haven't quite introduced the common application yet. This is the most commonly used service to apply to colleges, and almost 400 colleges accept the application. The convenient part is that you only have to fill out one version of the form, which will be understood and accepted by all the supporting universities. Thus, you won't have to fill out a separate application for every school.

Some schools (especially more selective ones) require supplements in addition to the Common Application. These are usually additional essay or short answer questions that try to get more information from the applicant.

Main site: More on the common application is here
Overview of the common application (the "parts" are arbitrarily divided by myself):

Part Ia: "Applicant", "Future Plans", and "Demographics"
This is the brainless part: name, address, phone number, ethnicity, etc.
The ethnicity part has been under debate for a long time because of current diversity considerations by different admissions offices. It is true that if you are an "under-represented minority" (that is, if your ethnicity group usually does relatively poorly on standardized tests and academics, at no real fault of your own), your chance of admission goes up; if they had an equal standard for everyone, these groups would be nearly non-existent on campus, which would deter applicants from these ethnicities. Likewise, Asians are quite "over-represented" because of a cultural emphasis on education. However, never ever lie in this part, especially if your last name (Wang, Li, Kim, etc.) gives things away.

Part Ib: "Family"
Again, you don't really have to think for this section. You may wonder why an applicants' parents are relevant to the applicant himself, but this shows the background quite well, and it (unfortunately) skews the decision. If the student has parents who never graduated from college, expectations drop. If one parent is an MD or quite powerful in a company, the admissions staff will believe that the child should be well-educated and have impressive results as well since he/she has the money to pursue more opportunities. In my view, this is highly unfair. A student's personality should be judged independent of his parents; what if the father was always busy and never really paid much attention to his daughter's homework? Or if the mother was hard-working but never really liked studying anyway so she didn't encourage her children to develop good habits? In these cases, the applicant stands at no advantage.

Part II: "Academics" and "Tests"
These are the last of the monotonous blanks to fill out. While the first part, containing school information, is mainly used as identification to create a file for each applicant (into which all the other loose forms, such as the essay and recommendations, will be collected), the "tests" section and the subsection named "colleges and universities" can have a profound effect on the decision.

Attending college classes as a high school student is highly impressive, even if it is just one course. The rigor of a real college course is viewed as much superior to the high school equivalent, and a good grade in that course demonstrates a good potential to succeed in college. Is this accurate? Somewhat. In any case, it shows seriousness on the applicant's part and testifies to his academic excellence.

The test scores are, along with GPA, the most important part of a student's academic record. While I think that most tests are poorly constructed, colleges don't agree with me and believe that these can predict performance in college pretty well, so they put a lot of weight on standardized tests. In a way they are right since these exams do not consider how easy the teacher is. SAT's and ACT's are general in content, and nearly all colleges accept one or another. The SAT emphasizes reasoning a bit more than its competitor, which also draws up a lot more controversy. SAT Subject Tests are exams in a specialized subject area that are an hour long each. AP/IB's are college-level courses and the exams are often recognized for credit at institutions. The more good scores you have in this section, the more impressive.

Part III: "Honors", "Activities", and "Work Experience"
Now you actually have to think. What do you put on? Sometimes it takes hours to brainstorm even three activities, and other times it seems like a chore to try and limit yourself to seven slots. "Honors" would include any academic distinctions and competitions, as well as honors societies. "Activities" are any extracurricular event (volunteer, music, sports, etc.) and note how detailed they want you to be, so that they really see how committed you are. Here, doing stuff "for college" becomes rather transparent. I actually think that a limit of seven spots is a good idea because otherwise students would just list about 30 things they did that are disjointed and meaningless in terms of the overall application, and as an admissions officer I would never want to read that. Obviously, an entry showing more involvement and time would be looked on in more positive light than a superficial commitment. Scattered activities actually hurt an applicant as it shows a lack of focus and/or doing random things to make his application look better.

Employment is looked at very heavily by college recruiters because they show a great sense of responsibility and maturity. Unless you have other activities to show that you keep yourself occupied, leaving this section blank hints at a more-or-less lazy applicant. However, usually a complete lack of employment will not hurt anyone because chances are that most people will not be able to fill it out either.

So that's pretty much it for the "objective" portion of the application. The "subjective" essays and recommendations are the much scarier part because the applicant and teachers really have to think hard about how to present everything in the best possible perspective. I will mention them in detail tomorrow.

Just who gets in?

I will use a few examples to illustrate my points made in the last two posts: the lack of motivation of most students to be active in organizations once on a college campus and the level of achievement required in high school to get into the top schools. This data is used later to apply a formula I invented for admissions.

Note: I've bolded some of the great accomplishments of each candidate

Candidate 1:

SAT: 2270
SAT II's: 800 (Biology-Molecular), 780 (Math I), 770 (US History
Rank: 4th of 305
AP's: 5's in US History, Chemistry, Biology, and Psychology; 4 in Calculus BC and Physics
Course level: has taken 6 AP level, 4 IB level, and 2 honors (IB = International Baccalaureate, a more rigorous course of study)

Achievements: National Honor Society (=selective group of students chosen for leadership, character, academics, and service; Vice president ), National Merit finalist (prestigious distinction based on PSAT scores).

Activities: Science Olympiad (captain; SO is a competition-based club emphasizing problem solving and engineering; won three medals the year before at Regionals), some volunteer service in various places (~100 hours), Piano (local competition grand prize, played as soloist with two orchestras), Flute (a few distinctions in the local orchestra), Spanish Club (president), Chemistry club (captain). Attended summer school (college courses) at University of Pennsylvania before her senior year

Essay: on her experiences over the summer at UPenn and how that would entice her to try new things

This resume, which is based on a person I actually know, did not get into any Harvard-type school; she ended up going to Cornell, the highest place she got in (which is an Ivy League, but since this applicant is from New York, she got some preference). But this is an incredible resume! Overall, her problem was that she wasn't truly excellent at any academic area. The only distinction (that is not based on exam scores) was her Science Olympiad awards, which, as admissions officers may know, isn't that incredibly hard since at the regional level, almost half the participants get a medal.

However, did Cornell make a good choice by taking her?
- she did not continue with piano or violin
- she didn't join any clubs in college except a pre-med society and a science general-interest club, which requires no time
- she never tried new things in college (too busy?)
- maintained a good grade-point average

Overall, she did not add to the campus in any way. True, her grades were sufficient to be deemed an accomplished student, but there is no way she will make any difference in the college, present or future. Most importantly, she does not have the will to pursue anything besides her regular academic work, so she is restricting herself to be an "average citizen" - one that works for others.

I don't think Cornell made a mistake to admit this candidate, because she is diligent and intelligent, and will be mildly successful, but I'm just saying that this girl was not a great choice because she did not live up to either of the selection criteria - adding life to the university or showing future promise in wealth or fame.


Now, let's look at these stats of another applicant:

Candidate 2:

SAT: 2350
SAT II's: 800 (Math II, Chemistry), 780 (English Literature)
GPA: 99.12/100, Rank: 4th of 665
AP's: 8 total. 5's in US and World History, Calculus, Chemistry, and Spanish. 4's in Macroeconomics, Physics and English Lit.
Course level: has taken 10 AP level, 5 honors level classes in high school

Achievements: AP National Scholar (because of the 8 AP exams), National Honor Society, National Merit semifinalist, Department awards in Math and Social studies. Honor roll for the AMC (a math competition, reached by ~5% of competitors and 1% of students overall), two years. Honors in the National Chemistry Olympiad Exam (top 150 in US).

Activities: Lacrosse (JV 2 yrs, Varsity 2yrs, Captain for senior year, runner-up for MVP in junior year, team=3rd in section for two years straight), Math club (winner of two local math competitions, president of the club), Violin (prizes in several state competitions, concermaster [top player] in local youth orchestra, of which he is also president), Science Olympiad (co-captain of team, won three medals the year before), some volunteer service in hospital (~170 hours), had Spanish exchange student in junior year for two months.

Essay: #1:about his Spanish and how it improved with the exchange student
#2: why he wishes to pursue medicine

The above applicant would be the average admit for a university like Yale or MIT. I don't know for sure (this is a somewhat fictional person although not completely), but I have seen enough college information to safely make that conclusion. Can you believe it? What a phenomenal resume! Just look at the number of bolded items; it shows a great amount of talent, time management, and effort throughout the high school years. You must wonder what the top admits are like.

But, let's see if Yale (where he went) made a good choice:
- he played intramural lacrosse for two semesters
- plays violin for a small ensemble
- joined the math, science, and democratic societies, but no leadership
- wishes to pursue medicine like he said

Again, he does not show any evidence of doing anything special for the campus: what he does could be done by 70% of the population, yet he was admitted for his strength as a top 1% applicant.

The problem with college admissions

See also: admissions formula | selectivity | candidate examples

With the selectivity level of universities becoming legendary, the important thing to ask is: how can schools discern between the top students? I'm not satisfied with the current method of selection. The college admissions process has become a "game" of whoever can load the most significant extracurricular and academic activities on top of a crushing academic load (but I won't focus on grades/tests now). Oh yes, leadership should (must) be splashed in too, as well as some community service, possibly a job. Employment! Oh my, that can increase your chances of getting in by 75% whether you like the work or not.

I don't oppose encouraging students to do other activities; organizations typically depend on volunteers to carry out easier tasks, and it turns out to be a mutual benefit. Our strong extracurricular culture (especially sports) is one of the strengths of our educational system. Getting a paid job is also good for any teen in instilling responsibility. Lastly, academic prizes can encourage creative or critical thinking that will serve these students well later in life.

But I question whether this mechanical system of judging applicants by the level of achievements they accomplished in activities is a good way of selecting the freshman class. Colleges say that they aim to create a diverse, interesting student body; the students must add to the campus. Of course they have their own agenda of their reputation and endowment, and their selection must also consider those factors. But their current system fails to do both. It doesn't consider:
- whether any of the activities will continue
- students who wish to try new things in college
- anything deep about true character
- the student's self-motivation and leadership ability
- the student's willingness to pursue knowledge further (to be discussed later - this one may surprise you)

Some may disagree with those five points I just listed, saying that many of these characteristics are quite transparent in the essay, recommendations, etc. Indeed, all of those elements, especially the last two, can be shown in the application, and in multiple places, but the application is a document that is treated extra-specially - truths and facts are often twisted or exaggerated.

Doing a load of activities does not necessarily make you an interesting person. Obviously it is better than a person who does nothing... or is it? These two groups may both end up being bookworms in college. Listing something on the application does not imply a serious commitment to it after high school. Sadly, most do end up dropping their interests once they try to get that high GPA. Studying 40 hours a week will certainly not add to the campus life, though, and so if the admissions committee chose this student based on his excellent record in football or oil painting, they have made a grave error.

On the contrary, consider a student with an excellent personality, who doesn't shine in terms of his activities for whatever reason. The application does not leave much room to show your personality (the essay is supposed to, but everyone looks super-nice after 500 words of life highlights; the interview is designed to do the same thing but dressing in a suit/tie naturally makes people more polite than usual; the teacher recommendations should address maturity, motivation, etc. but what teacher would write negatively?), but character can add so much more to a campus in ways that no activity will ever be able to. Imagine - who would you rather take, a student who knows how to swim or a student who always makes the entire atmosphere lighter and more cheerful? Easy decision. But the second student will have a blank on their activities chart where the first would write his swimming accomplishments.

In this modern world, one of the most important traits to have is self-initiative. If you can push yourself to do a project and complete it, you are well ahead of the competition. These individuals know how to find new ways to promote themselves - whether it is writing a book, making a website, or starting an organization. If they can't get much money in their job, for instance, they can find other ways to supplement their income. Only luck can get in the way of these people; otherwise, they will find some way out of their predicament.

Motivation, fortunately, is more easily seen in the application. The essays are a beautiful way to communicate this information, but again, we must remember that even less-motivated students can turn a typical experience into one that demonstrates initiative, because they know how to play the "game". Recommendations can also reflect motivation, but I bet that not many high school juniors will go around talking about something they learned on their own or a project that they finished. In fact, since we live in a society where academics are scorned upon a little too much, such students may feel compelled to conceal their interests. Therefore, the college admission officers won't know much either about personal pursuits, and a perfectly well-motivated student may be facing rejection to a place he deserves to go to.

Leadership finds a similar issue. It doesn't have to be being the president of everything; in fact, this can really only imply popularity in most schools, which pretty much goes to zero in importance once in college. Leadership is more importantly the ability to organize and make things happen. A firm belief yet a willingness to compromise, a strong desire to lead yet the ability to listen to others, a keen sense of responsibility yet a warm consideration of others - these are all important facets of leadership that are almost impossible to delineate in an application.

Bottom line: the application fails to read an applicant's real character - the only parts that are actually revealing about personality (like the essays) are highly subjective and easily manipulated. The students who actually display great character or leadership may be overshadowed by those who far exaggerate their abilities. Yes, "selling yourself" is always important, but it may not be the healthiest way to build a strong, interesting, and diverse student body.

The language of chemistry - symbols

Substances | Symbols

As hardworking as chemists can be in the lab, they find it tiresome to write out full names of elements all the time, and they use symbols to represent elements and compounds.

All elements are assigned a symbol. This can be either:
- a capital letter (e.g. N=nitrogen, O=oxygen, H=hydrogen)
- a capital then lowercase letter (e.g. Cu=copper, Au=gold, Fe=iron)

How do you know what symbol corresponds to what name? There is a handy tool that all chemists treasure: the periodic table. Complete periodic tables list the elements in a special order (which will be discussed later), while providing their name with the symbol and other important information that probably looks sort of confusing right now. This is a good example of one.

As you know, compounds are composed of molecules. These molecules contain atoms in a definite ratio because they are pure substances. To write the chemical formula of a compound, i.e. what atoms each molecule of the compound contains, you must list
- the symbols of the atoms contained in the molecule
- the number of each type of atom, written as subscripts. A subscript of 1 is omitted.

For example, water has two hydrogens per oxygen atom, so it would be written as H₂O. The formula of C₆H₁₂O₆ would mean that each molecule of the compound has 6 carbon, 12 hydrogen, and 6 oxygen atoms.
Thus, NaHCO₃ would mean?? (see below)

The order is a more complicated matter that I don't want to talk about now (but you know you would almost never see OH₂!). First (that is, starting tomorrow) I would like to drop my opinions on college admissions, which are starting to roll everywhere in the US.

Answer: NaHCO₃ means that in each molecule* of the compound, there is:
1 sodium (Na)
1 hydrogen
1 carbon
3 oxygen atoms.
This is the ingredient in baking soda, chemically known as sodium bicarbonate.

*Savvy chemistry students reading this may realize that sodium bicarbonate doesn't exist as molecules. Shhhh....

The Language of Chemistry - types of substances

Substances | Symbols

Everything is made up of atoms. Atoms are the basic units of elements, which cannot not be broken down by any means (water can be separated into hydrogen and oxygen gas by applying electricity, so it is not an element. However, for helium this is impossible no matter what you do, so it is an element*). They are like the fundamental building blocks in chemistry, since from the elements we can make anything in this world.

The atoms are arranged in some way to make molecules, which are the basic units of compounds. Not everything in this world is a compound, though. To be a compound, the substance has to be of a "definite composition". Think about water. You probably know that it's "H₂O", meaning that there is one oxygen atom for every two hydrogen atoms. This ratio must be maintained or else it won't be water. In pure water, if there are 70 oxygen atoms, there are 140 hydrogen atoms. If there are only 139 hydrogen atoms, it is not pure water. Elements are similar: in pure gold, 100% of the atoms must be gold atoms. FYI: elements and compounds are called "pure substances" because of the need for constant composition.

But ice cream doesn't have to be in a "definite composition". If you add just 1% less sugar, you still end up making ice cream. There is no compound called "ice cream". This is because ice cream is not a pure substance; rather it is a "mixture": composed of several compounds whose ratios can vary.

There is a very broad difference between ice cream and stirred salt-water, though, that illustrates two types of mixtures. They are both made up of several compounds, but the salt in the water is evenly mixed throughout, while the ice cream may not be as uniform (some more sugar here, a different flavor there, etc.). Salt-water is called a "homogeneous mixture" because of its uniformity (homo- = same, gen- = kind), and ice cream is an example of a "heterogeneous mixture" (hetero- = different). Big words, but important ideas.

You may have also heard of the term "solution". This is a special type of mixture: one of the compounds must be in a liquid. In salt-water, the water is a liquid, so the salt-water is a solution. Soda is also a solution because the carbon dioxide, sugar, and flavorings are all mixed with water.

Another common word is "alloy". This is a mixture of metals. Brass is not an element or a compound. Rather, it is a mixture of the elements zinc and copper.

*When you add sodium to water, an explosion (chemical reaction) occurs. Yet sodium is an element. Why? The sodium does not "break down" in this case; it actually adds oxygen to create a compound. So, "breaking down" is not synonymous with "reaction". There are only 110 or so elements, so you won't have to try decomposing substances to see whether they are elements or not - just check the "periodic table", which lists all them (in a special way)!