Hopeless to Harvard

[ayjiahui]

yeaaah. see, i don't really get it - you never tackled the question 'why harvard' in the first place. the sense that i get is that you only want to get into harvard because it is a top school. don't get me wrong, in no way am i undermining your intentions for applying - but i think you should also consider whether harvard is the place for you, especially for undergraduate studies.

i know my next statement will bring about some backlash and i reiterate that in no way am i trying to undermine you... i think it a good point to raise is that harvard - like many ivy leagues, as it has a graduate school chooses to focus on, most professors don't always have 'hands on' with students. instead, the teaching is done by 'teaching assistants'. is this really the kind of education that you want?

illustrated in this article

this is just one of the many reasons not to go to an ivy - but yeah, admittedly, there are people who still genuinely in love with certain top schools because they genuinely love the schools. it is really up to you though - what you want to gain from an undergraduate experience.

point to take away: find more tangible reasons as to why you want to go to harvard. (because for some schools, not harvard though, when you apply you have to write an essay titled 'Why X university') maybe you will start to find flaws with the school or maybe will fall in love with it more.

good luck with applications and whatever. ;)

[Glassylicious]

Originally Posted by alisonsakato

Your advice is indeed useful and I don't find it offended at all [/size][size=2]. I'll drop Accountings and Sociology. Other than that, do you mind share with us your study experience? I always find it hard to overcome tiredness and boredom while studying. I'm also overly anxious whenever I can't grab useful facts fast enough. Last but not least, I have severe inferiority complex that I don't believe that I'll ever succeed in life. This is sad .

Hi there alisonsakato,

Well, just reading the last few posts you made, I can already see a definite change of attitude. =) You're taking things on a positive and constructive note, which I am glad to see.

I wish I could give you a magic formula as to how one can effectively get motivated to study. The truth is, it's different for everyone. What works for my friends doesn't always work for me. =(

What I usually do is to force myself to be interested about something and try to incorporate it in my daily life. I'm doing a law degree at the moment. I could go over some Land Law stuff and the next time I try to rent a room I ponder about the intricate rules and issues about a tenancy, and the further complications that arise when I'm sharing a tenancy with a friend.

Or I start thinking about Contract Law rules when I shop for groceries in a supermarket, which creates a contract when I make a purchase. I make an offer when I bring the item to the cashier and when the cashier accepts my payment the offer is accepted and the contract is made. It starts to get fun once you start seeing the things you learn in everyday life.

If you have to learn and memorize the stuff anyway, might as well have fun doing it, right? =P

Also, if you're wondering what keeps me awake at 4AM typing out my essay, there are two possible factors that keep me going on even when my body is persistently badgering me to stop: the urgency of a deadline [the "fear" factor] and sheer passion.

Good luck!

[clep]

Most professors have TAs who normally serve the purpose of assisting students outside of class hours, but that's why they're called 'teaching assistants'. They provide help outside of class, they grade papers, they supervise labs. They don't and shouldn't give the lectures. In my Organic Chem class there are six amazing TAs, undergrads just like us, who run weekly problem and help sessions and who are smart enough to be able to teach us the material, but who could never and would never compare themselves to the prof who's been at it for 30, 40 years and can give lectures without any notes.

And who is one of the nicest people to spend an afternoon eating cookies with.

You see, good professors do more than teach well in lecture halls (and believe me, sometimes it is hard enough to find professors who can teach well). They care about you out of class, ask how you're doing when they see you on the street, help you explore and make connections between your interests, point you to opportunities you'd never have gotten otherwise, even collaborate with you on projects...in short, they help you in more ways than just achieving academic excellence. They provide a whole different perspective on life.

Because college really is much more than just academics, as I hope you know, given your statements about how you want to do community work and that kind of stuff. You want to meet people who will inspire you and whom you can continue to keep in contact with long after you've graduated. You want professors committed to their students and to teaching, rather than to just their research. There is no point having a famous professor who's written the textbook for the subject but whom you only get to see once or twice a week (or even a semester, in some cases) in a lecture hall. This is one area where schools can differ quite drastically, depending on department - even within the top 10 or 20, and you'd benefit from thinking about what kind of learning environment you want to end up in when you choose which schools you want to apply to.

[clep]

I have no idea what admissions boards will think. I suppose you'd do better to talk to guidance counselors about resitting CIE, and you'd have to explain it in your college application. Don't forget your SATs either. Sorry for not being of much help here.

I will just emphasize again what everyone else has said about thinking long and hard about your reasons for specifically choosing Harvard, as well as looking into other colleges, who certainly don't ever deserve to be relegated to your 'safety choices', and also what you want to get out of college besides academic knowledge.

[Xon]

I don't go through the arguments above.

Everything is worth trying. Hope is the best thing in life.

[slappyfin3]

Originally Posted by Xon

I don't go through the arguments above.

Everything is worth trying. Hope is the best thing in life.

Agreed!

In the application process, you're going to be competing with amazing people. If you overthink it, you're going to psych yourself out wondering whether you can measure up to their standards or not.

You have to just let go and be confident with yourself and your abilities. Try applying for Harvard, and if you don't get it the first time, you can try it again.

During that year before you re-apply, should it happen, you can engage yourself in activities which can help bolster your application and make you into a better person.

Just be sincere and try your best. You have nothing to lose.

[abuzar]

Hello guys it's been a while, right?

Go to Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS!

Well, you don't have to go to the best university in the world, to be a great student.


It's your own attitude. It doesn't really matter where you study, the most important thing is your own character. If you have an excellent character, wherever you go, you'll succeed.

I know the "ooohhh" and "aahhhhh" you get once you are studying abroad, but universities in Malaysia are not that bad.

Just work hard, and hope for the best. In life, we don't always get what we want, but still there are a lot of successful people out there. They also didn't get what they wanted initially, but they still succeeded.


Ouh maybe this post sounds like a self-comforting post for myself (I failed to go to Oxford), but UTP is not that bad for me.

Originally Posted by slappyfin3

Agreed!

In the application process, you're going to be competing with amazing people. If you overthink it, you're going to psych yourself out wondering whether you can measure up to their standards or not.

You have to just let go and be confident with yourself and your abilities. Try applying for Harvard, and if you don't get it the first time, you can try it again.

During that year before you re-apply, should it happen, you can engage yourself in activities which can help bolster your application and make you into a better person.

Just be sincere and try your best. You have nothing to lose.

[henry_yew]

Originally Posted by abuzar

Hello guys it's been a while, right?

Go to Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS!

Well, you don't have to go to the best university in the world, to be a great student.


It's your own attitude. It doesn't really matter where you study, the most important thing is your own character. If you have an excellent character, wherever you go, you'll succeed.

I know the "ooohhh" and "aahhhhh" you get once you are studying abroad, but universities in Malaysia are not that bad.

Just work hard, and hope for the best. In life, we don't always get what we want, but still there are a lot of successful people out there. They also didn't get what they wanted initially, but they still succeeded.


Ouh maybe this post sounds like a self-comforting post for myself (I failed to go to Oxford), but UTP is not that bad for me.

So keen to promote UTP eh? Haha....

Well, UTP is no short of undergraduate students, but it could sure do with a lot more postgraduate students.

[abuzar]

Henry, I get some money for promoting UTP lol.