Applying twice?

[Anton]

Hey,

I was wondering if it's a bad idea to apply twice to the same universities in the US?

The problem is that our school hasn't been really good with any follow-up regarding US uni's and I haven't really pursued it much myself, before lately. I didn't do really well just before the summer as I had a serious lack of motivation, but after re-evaluating what I really want to do, I'm back above top speed now. I think I am able to score good on my mocks in November/December, but I'm worried it will be too late to submit them. I expect I have a chance to score even higher in May.

I still haven't done my SAT's and I feel that I should improve on my extra curriculars, even thought I have quite good EC's now.

If it does turn out that I get quite good predicted grades in November/December I'm thinking I might have a good chance at some uni's. Am I way too late, starting out now? The problem is that I've gotten the impression that uni's don't really like gap years if you don't have much to do and I don't really have a plan for the coming year after my examination if I don't go straight to uni. I could always study a subject at a uni in Norway for a year, but that doesn't seem very interesting.

So, my 3 questions are:

1. Should I apply now in the regular decision applications just to give it a shot and get to know the system well, and then if I don't get in, find something good to do in my gap year and possible apply again in a year for early decision/regular decision? Will it hurt my chances, or should I instead wait till next year and apply after a gap year?

2. For a typical US application, will I only need to submit my IB predicted grades (and maybe final grades), or are there other requirements too? (Previous years)

3. Do ivy league uni's/stanford and other top notch uni's accept students even though their grades drop, then come back up, or do the expect the students to have top grades throughout all the previous years? (This is closely related to 2, as I'm wondering how much will show)

Please tell me if anything here is particularly messy as I feel it sort of is, but you should get my point

Thanks,

Anton

[Emmi]

I can't really answer #3 because I don't know, but I can help you with your first two questions.

1. This really depends on how well you think you can do and how ready you think you will be by the time the regular decision deadlines come around. I don't think you'd be able to make the early decision guidelines unless you started preparing pretty much right now and had everything done quickly, because these deadlines are usually at the beginning of November. Regular decision is usually in January or February, so you'd have your predicted scores by then most likely. Do you think with your extracurriculars and other components (which I'll get to in the second question) you would have a reasonable chance at the unis you're interested in? If not, take a gap year and do something amazing during it. If yes, apply. You can apply as many times as you want, you just have to start a new application each year (but if it's like your fourth time applying and you still don't get it, it's pretty unlikely you'd get in at that point )

2. You don't submit just grades on a typical application. You usually submit:

- Grades (your past high school/college grades, any predicted grades, your GPA if you have one, etc). This is usually done with a transcript but it can be done other ways if your school doesn't do that.

- Essays: depending on whether your uni does Common App or not (I believe most, if not all, the Ivies and unis like Stanford use Common App now) you will have anywhere from 2 to like infinity essays to write. The Common App has two essays (a shorter one where you write about an activity you did) and then an essay prompt that you pick from a list. You usually have a supplemental essay or two to write also for each uni you're applying to.

- Letters of recommendation: Letters from teachers, coaches, other people that know you and can say positive things about you. Unis typically ask for two, but you usually submit between 1 and 3 of them.

- SAT scores: self explanatory. For Ivy League aim for 2200+, and typically the higher the better.

Then on your application you will list things like extracurriculars, awards, volunteer service, job experiences, etc. There will be a section for that on the application.

Good luck

[Forester]

Your predicted grades have very little or no bearing on your admission. Your GPA, or the average grades you have recevied during your entire high school career, is the most important.