Larry goes to NYU after taking ACT 9 times

Larry goes to NYU after taking ACT 9 times

Transcription

Kamila
Hey college kids, welcome back to my podcast. Who cares about college and today’s interview? I’m going to be interviewing Larry. So Larry, could you introduce yourself?

Larry
My name is Larry Gu. I’m from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I’m planning on going to NYU this fall, studying global public health and media, culture and communications.

Kamila
Cool. So let’s start at the very basics. Are you the first in your family to go to college? At least in America?

Larry
I am not. My father studied for his grad school here in the US.

Kamila
And when you started preparing for college, was it your choice? Or was it more your parents pressuring you to start?

Larry
Um, it was definitely my choice. But that was also kind of a flaw because I procrastinated a lot, and started a lot of things later than I would have liked. But it worked out in the end.

Kamila
It’s good. Yeah. So when did you start thinking of college?

Larry
Probably the thinking about college definitely since like, sixth grade and stuff, but actually starting on the process, it would have to be like, two weeks before my senior year started. That’s when I started on the whole process.

Kamila
And you got into NYU?

Larry
Yeah. Surprising. Yeah.

Kamila
So was it important for your family? Or at least for you to go to a more prestigious school? Or was it you know, I’m going to try out for the school. And if I get in, that’d be cool.

Larry
So pretty much I, I guess so. Kind of, but I’ve mainly applied to in state schools, such as like, just in state schools in general, and the only out of state schools I applied to were NYU, and Emory. And I kind of put all my like all the eggs in one basket at that point, because I was like, I dedicated the majority of my time to crafting my application for NYU. So, you know, I just put all my eggs in one basket. And I feel like with my parents, they definitely didn’t pressure me to go, but they would have they, they obviously would have liked me to go that route. Yes.

Kamila
Okay. So in the entire college process from your freshman year, you know, doing your classes, LSAT preparation, stuff like that, was it all just kind of you doing it? Or did your parents help you out in the process? Like sign you up for LSAT classes in such?

Larry
Yes, it was, I’d say 5050. But I didn’t start preparing for the I took the AC T only. I didn’t start preparing for the AC t until sophomore year. And that’s when my parents also found me to tutor. But I feel like it wasn’t as effective as just working on it and grinding on it myself. So I spent the majority of like that process doing it by myself.

Kamila
I feel and then what did you do to prepare for the AC T?

Larry
Honestly, it was a bunch of YouTube videos. Also repetition. So I found a lot of AC t like old AC t tests online and I printed printed them off and then started just going at it. And yeah, that’s that was my process.

Kamila
Okay, and how many times did you take the AC T?

Larry
I took it nine times.

Kamila
Nine? Yes. Like official AC t test?

Larry
Yes.

Kamila
Why?

Larry
Yeah, no, it’s just because whenever I first started taking them, I saw it as like, an unnecessary aspect to my application, if that makes sense. Because I started my, like, the summer before my sophomore year. And as a, like a rising sophomore, I really did not care at that point. And I didn’t study as much as I should have. So I had to like keep retaking it until like I was satisfied. And that ended up my the summer before my senior year was whenever I got my final score and I was okay with that. Okay, so

Kamila
what was the score that you submitted to schools?

Larry
I suppose I submitted my super score of a 33 to to my schools.

Kamila
I see. Wow. Okay. And is that about the average for the schools you applied to?

Larry
Yes, it was, I’d say slightly above average for NYU, especially. But yes, or I’d say close to the average.

Kamila
So let’s move on to another part of your application, which is your GPA. Take me back to freshman year, and the classes you took, you know, the honors, AP or IBS. And all the way up until senior year.

Larry
I was actually a horrible student throughout middle school, and freshman year, I ended freshman year with a, let’s see. Yeah, a 2.75 GPA. Hmm. Yeah. And that was my freshman year. And I, it was really like, just because of me, that was like, I really don’t care about school at all. So the classes I took them were just a bunch of like, these classes, yeah, basics that I needed to get out of the way. So I can graduate to like financial literacy, like history classes, etc. You know, they’re, they’re really easy classes, but I just didn’t try it all. So I ended that freshman year with a 2.75. But the summer before my sophomore year is whenever I started my AC T grind. And that’s also whenever I start, like, started getting serious. And I took AP Bio and a push AP US History. And I started off on my pre IB courses, such as chemistry, English, precalc, and French. But I also decided to do yearbook that year, and photography to challenge myself. From that year, I jumped from a 2.75 to a 4.0 GPA. So I got straight A’s, my 10th grade year. That’s good, good. Yeah. Yeah. And then my junior year in 11th grade, that’s when all my IB classes started. I’m an IB student. So I took IB, World History, Biology, English language, French math, psychology, and to K and as theory of knowledge, and as well as a photography class. And that year, I ended with one beam. So my GPA, my weighted GPA was a 4.6. And my unweighted was a 3.8. And then, as 12th grade started, it was my final year of IB courses. So I took the same classes and photography as well. But that year, it kind of was a, it was a struggle, because I was completely focused on crafting my application, my college applications. So I ended with three B’s that semester. So it brought my GPA down to a 3.5, unweighted and a 4.37 weighted. And with all this like pandemic thing going on, and then like all that stuff, my second semester of my senior year, was I ended with straight A’s, so 4.0

Kamila
Okay, that’s good. So how hard was it, bringing your GPA up from 2.75% in freshman year, all the way up to the GPA that is much better now that you actually submit it to schools?

Larry
I’d say it wasn’t as hard as it seems on paper, just because I feel like I just I literally did not do any work. My freshman year, I just did not do any homework. I didn’t do any classwork. You know, I don’t I don’t know what I was on, to be honest. But yeah, once I once I just started put putting in like, some sort of effort, I saw a huge improvement, which, you know, boosted my self esteem and confidence. And that helped me to, you know, put in more work and then see, see the final results, which were really good.

Kamila
Okay. And I have one question that doesn’t really necessarily have to do with the college application process. But a lot of people tell me that your freshman year of high school is really easy compared to the other three years. Is that true?

Larry
Yes, it was extremely easy. So I feel like that’s why I saw the opportunity to slack off, if that makes sense.

Kamila
Okay, so now let’s move on to my favorite part extracurricular. So, take me through all the extracurriculars you did, or at least you put on your college application.

Larry
So I was definitely an extra curricular focused person rather than academics. So I I’ve been in Student Council since the sixth grade. And the school that I go to is a mid high so it’s from sixth through 12th grade. So I’ve been in I’ve been a representative since from sixth grade to 11th grade and my senior year I was student council president. So that took up the majority of my time And I feel like it was the most rewarding out of all the extracurriculars I did. And the second extracurricular I did was a club I started the summer before my junior year. It’s called tech support for senior citizens. And that’s where we go to Senior Centers or like retirement homes for every weekend, every Saturday, for about two hours in the morning, and just senior citizens can come up and we can help them with technology, while also like forming intergenerational relationships. Because I feel like that’s also last to end today. So I feel like that was another one of the main focuses I put on my application. And my extra my other extracurriculars were just like Key Club, Rotary Clubs, various community service clubs. And as well as like French club, like cultural clubs, such as like, Asian Club, etc. And I was also involved in sports a lot. So I was in a sport every year from sixth grade to 12th grade. So that took up a lot of my time as well. And I feel like that’s about it.

Kamila
Okay, so did you do any of these extracurriculars? Just so you had something on your application? Or did you genuinely enjoy each one? Because you have like a lot of extracurriculars?

Larry
I genuinely enjoyed each one. Because if, like, I just, I just feel like if I didn’t enjoy it, I just would not want to waste my time in that at all. And well, I’d say what student council for my sixth grade year, I was definitely, you know, pushed into that, because I didn’t know what what student council was. But then I grew to really enjoy and like it. And I feel like it was a good, like, it was a good way for me to dedicate my time.

Kamila
I see. And then so you think Student Council and the tech support for senior citizens club were like the most impressive extracurriculars like your spike?

Larry
Yes, I’d say I’d say the biggest spike, which is probably the tech support club. Because I plan on going into the, I’d say the medical field, so like, community service, interaction, interactions with people, and then also just like helping people in general, I feel like that’s what my spike was focused on.

Kamila
Okay, so were you aware that a lot of more elite colleges, there’s this, like, you know, the spike thing going around? So did you know that a lot of elite colleges expect you to kind of have something else to your application?

Larry
I really didn’t know that until I started doing research the summer before my senior year. And I was, you know, pleasantly surprised. That was like, I already have a spike. So that’s, that’s great.

Kamila
What about your guidance counselor? What did she say about your chances of getting into different colleges? Like, did she think you could reach those reach schools, target schools, and then obviously, safety schools?

Larry
She had, she didn’t say anything about it. Like she didn’t say whether or not I would get in or not, but she just like, wholeheartedly supported? I’d say every student, every senior that came her way. So I feel like it was fine. Okay, so

Kamila
did you get a recommendation letter from her to?

Larry
I did not I get I got my recommendation letters from my history teacher, my French teacher, and also one from my principal.

Kamila
Oh, really? Did you know your principal? Well,

Larry
I did. Yeah. Okay.

Kamila
And did you pick these teachers? Because you had good relationships with them? Or do you think that you performed outstandingly in their class, and they would totally write you a good recommendation letter.

Larry
It was because of my good relationships with them. Because what my guidance counselor said was to, like, it’s best to ask for a recommendation from the STEM fields in the humanities fields. But both of my recommendations were in the humanities because it was a language and history. But I just took that chance, because I feel I felt like they knew me best. I feel like that personal relationship is going to be way more important than anything else. Okay, so

Kamila
they could write something more to your letter rather than Oh, Larry does good in class, Larry raises his hand a lot. Yeah. Now let’s move on to your essay. So let’s talk about your common app essay. First, what did you write that about?

Larry
I wrote that about one of my experiences in like, during my tech support club, and that was whenever I was helping. I was just helping an old lady with her computer and she was just scanning just music, music files and music sheets onto her laptop. And, you know, I was just I didn’t ask, I was just wondering because I was curious. I was like, Are you a musician? Because I, um, I played piano for, like 10 plus years. And I was just curious. And she, she was just like, she just said that she had no music career, like no musical background whatsoever. But she felt like she wanted to give back to her community. So she, what she did was, she scanned it all onto her computer, in order to project it onto like a wall at like a hospice home, or like a retirement home, in order to, you know, help them live, relive their golden years, if that makes sense. That’s what she said to me. And I feel like, that really touched me a lot, because I feel like I was helping someone, help someone, and that I could see like, the ripples in the water that, you know, that could touch so many people. And I feel like that that impacted me the most. And that influenced me the most on like what I wanted to do in the future. And that’s what I wrote about pretty much.

Kamila
Yeah, like gratifying feeling when you when something you do pays off? Yeah. And then your supplemental essays, can you take me through what you did for those?

Larry
So I only had to write one supplemental essay. For NYU, it’s just why NYU, that’s the only thing they asked me. And I pretty much because I didn’t want to just say, you know, I like NYU, because you’re in New York City. You know, that’s just too. That’s just I feel like that’s a factor that doesn’t really affect me that much. Like, if you’re a good school, it doesn’t matter where you are, you’re a good school period. And I just wrote about the opportunities that NYU would give me pretty much and like, because it’s it has so many campuses, throughout the world, like in China, Dubai, Africa, like everywhere. And I feel like that global perspective would really help me in my future career ambitions. And I just pretty much wrote about that.

Kamila
And what about, well, let’s talk about the essay writing process, how long did it take you to write your common application essay, you know, from formulating the ideas to actually submitting the final draft,

Larry
I actually wrote about five other different essays for my common app. They, they were not like some, I mainly put my, put my essays in the, in the prompt where it said, Write whatever you want to write about.

Kamila
Because I was what interests me, you don’t have to like write a prompt for yourself, or you can just write whatever.

Larry
Exactly. And I feel like that gave me the most freedom to you know, properly express myself. So I had five different rough drafts. Before I you know, I focused in and felt like, my final essay was the best essay I could write.

Kamila
Okay, and then did you have your family and friends read it over? Or was it just you?

Larry
I sent it to my history teacher? And I, I did allow my, like, my siblings and my parents to read it. Yes.

Kamila
Okay. And then for the why NYU? Did you visit NYU and know that it was kind of like the school you want it to go to? Or did you have to do deep research into it?

Larry
I’m actually I visited NYU, my sixth grade year. I remembered it. Yes. My sister also graduated from NYU. So whenever we dropped her off college, but that was whenever I was a sixth grader. And it really, it was also my first time going to New York City. And I feel it really, I feel like it changed my like my course. And I was like, this is where I want to be like this environment, especially where everyone’s so driven to accomplish their goals is really what’s inspiring. And I revisited NYU whenever she graduated in 2017. And I, it just solidified the fact that that’s where I wanted to be like the resources that they had, and that were available to their students were, you know, just so great. And that’s really what hooked me on NYU.

Kamila
I see. Okay, so it was very easy for you to write the why NYU essay. Yes. And then did you find it hard to stay in the word count? Because I feel like a lot of people struggle with that.

Larry
I did. I did. I always went over it. Like one or two words. And it was so annoying. But yeah, it was it was a little bit iffy with that part.

Kamila
So what advice would you give to people writing the just comment up essay? Why whatever, college essay and just supplementals in general. What advice would you give because I feel like a lot of people don’t know what to write. They don’t want to sound too cliche, or too emotional and stuff like that.

Larry
I feel like that’s also what I struggled with a lot was to figure out what would work what wouldn’t be too cliche. And I feel like it’s not. It’s not necessarily not necessarily a bad thing to be cliche about some things. It’s just like, what would you want other people to know about you? Like, what? What experience? Do you want other like this admissions counselor to know about you, that would not necessarily, you know, set you apart from other people. But to show who you truly are as a person, I feel like that’s the most important thing you could be is to be genuine, not to be over exaggerated, or to be, you know, maybe a little bit too too cliche, but like, just to show your genuine, genuine self and show. Like, what makes you you. That’s, that also sounds cliche, but you know, it’s just, it’s just true, like, what, what drives you, you know, what drives your motor.

Kamila
Okay, and then what motivated you to choose the essay that you did choose the tech support clubs, this tech support club essay,

Larry
I feel like that also came with, you know, some planning as well, because the previous essays I wrote, were before I knew about this quote, unquote, like the spike with elite colleges. And I feel like, like just highlighting one of the moments that like, changed my life for the better. While also know, helping my spike was the best way to go strategically, because I knew my grades, and my AC T, like my test scores, my standardized test scores were either below average, or just right, just in the middle of average. So I feel like that wasn’t what highlighted? My, you know, my performance as a, as a person and as a student. So I feel like, that’s how I chose writing. That’s how I chose my essay prompt. My essay topic was because I feel like it insinuated the spike even more than an RD did.

Kamila
So now we have all the components of your application. How did you pick all of the colleges that you wanted to apply to? And what were those colleges?

Larry
So I applied to three in state schools. So I applied to the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City University, and the University of Tulsa. And what motivated me to apply for those schools. Were just because they were, you know, they’re the pretty much the only colleges in Oklahoma. Yeah, and all of my friends are going to like either Tulsa university or the University of Oklahoma. And they’re all super, like good and big schools as well. And I feel like that close to home feeling definitely motivated me to apply to those schools. But what motivated me to apply for out of state schools such as Emory and NYU, I feel like with Emory, it wasn’t necessary. It was like that was probably because of I’d saw that they have a really, really good financial aid program. And, like, what they had, like major why’s interested in me that as well. So I just went for it. And with NYU, it’s just, you know, that’s one of my, that’s my dream school. So that’s why I applied.

Kamila
I see. Okay, and then which colleges did you get accepted, deferred and then rejected from?

Larry
Um, I got accepted to all three of my in state schools. I didn’t hear back from Emory because I got accepted early decision to NYU.

Kamila
Okay. Yeah. Binding? Yeah,

Larry
yes, it’s binding, but not so binding, if that makes sense. Because if, because it says, if you can’t pay for it, like we’re not gonna bind you to this college. So that’s, that always worked out.

Kamila
I see. Okay. And then did your state schools offer you substantial financial aid or a full ride scholarship?

Larry
Yes, one of my state schools did offer me a full ride. But the other two offered me a good amount, like a very good amount of financial aid. But it didn’t compete with the financial aid that NYU gave me.

Kamila
Okay. Yeah. The thing is, I have I mean, I don’t know much about NYU, but from what I hear, it seems to have like, not that good of financial aid, so not at all. Really. Did you get a good amount though?

Larry
Yes, I got I personally, I got a really good amount, but I feel like maybe this year it was affected by you know, like, especially with regular decision kids. It was affected more so by you know, the Coronavirus like COVID-19 and all of that stuff, because from what I’ve seen and heard A lot of the regular decision kids didn’t get as much financial aid. As, like some of the early decision kids I’ve seen. First come first serve. I feel like it might have been first come first serve this year. Yes.

Kamila
Okay. And when you apply early to schools, do you? Do you think that really helped your chances of getting into NYU?

Larry
I feel like with a competitive school like NYU, I really don’t know. But I feel like yes, because it definitely showed my interest a lot. Because I’m committing, you know, I’m pretty much like committing to this school, you know? So yeah, I’d say a little bit.

Kamila
Okay. And then do you think having your sister being a legacy for you? Do you think that helped you? Either, too,

Larry
I’d say, I’d say probably in that in that process, because, like, having her as like, you know, like a, also like, as a college admissions counselor, kind of like, because she’s gone through that entire process. And I can just ask her things. And that’s, that’s, you know, that’s a great resource to have. But I definitely feel like with, you know, Legacy students, it definitely comes with an advantage.

Kamila
So how did you feel when you opened your NYU application? And you got in? Oh,

Larry
yeah, it was great. I was in. I was in French class. And

Kamila
they do not wait for your family?

Larry
No, see, here’s the thing. NYU said that they would come out on Friday, like the like, then this is like the decision, stuff would come out on a Friday. And it was a Wednesday. So I saw that they sent me an email. And I was like, Cool. What is this? And they sent me like a financial aid checkup thing. And it was like, I was like, What the heck does this even mean? Why would I get a financial aid notification if I, you know, didn’t get in. And then I checked the application portal, in class, and I saw that I got in with my financial aid. And I was just like, Oh, my God, like, I definitely cried a little bit. And I ran out of the classroom. Like, it’s like, it was great, honestly, honestly, like, now that I look back on it might have been a little bit embarrassing, but I really don’t care. Yeah, I’m

Kamila
sure you don’t. Oh, my God. Okay, so you’re committed to NYU. Did you visit you visited NYU. So did you visit when you were in the college application process just for like one last little checkup before you decided to go early?

Larry
Huh, I so the summer before my senior year, I actually went up to go like, I want to go visit my sister. She works in New Jersey now. And we pretty much visited NYU. Boston schools such as like Boston University, Northeastern, you know, stopped by Harvard, MIT just for the cloud. Also, like, just drove around that the North East Coast. And there’s so many prestigious schools up there.

Kamila
Yeah. So I clustered in one space. I mean, it’s really Yeah, me when I go visit and stuff. So yeah, no,

Larry
yeah, we pretty much just had like a three day road trip type deal. And just visit all the schools up there. Like all of like the famous prestigious schools up there. Even though I knew I wouldn’t never like have gone. It was just really cool to see like all of these different college campuses.

Kamila
Yeah. Okay, so what do you what are you thinking of studying in NYU?

Larry
I’m thinking about studying, I’m definitely going to study actually, I’m definitely going to study global public health, and also media, culture and communications. So whenever I was researching my majors, I had no idea what I was going to do. I, you know, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in the future, like grad school, etc. But I focused on two things anthropology, and public health. And I, I looked at NYU, like public health department, and I really liked how they formatted it because it doesn’t like you can’t just take public health as a major, you have to take public health, and also a concentration to like a double major, but in one major. So I feel like that was super super important for me, because I was not sure what I wanted to do. I did interest everywhere I wanted, I was interested in you know, astronomy. I was also interested in like, what like law and like all this other like weird stuff. So I feel like it definitely helped me because it was half and half it was half you know, science and half, like media studies that like I’m really interested in like, you know, media, culture and communications, all three of those things. So it was just a perfect fit.

Kamila
So is that what you put on the application saying that this is your For like, this is the major you want to go into? Yes, I did. I see. And I forgot to ask you something when I was talking about financial aid, but did you earn any external scholarships? not affiliated with NYU, but just yourself?

Larry
I did. I earned one external scholarship. But I’m also waiting for like more details for other scholarships that I’ve applied to and the like the, like, they come out in like late July or early August. So I’m still waiting on those.

Kamila
You see, okay. And then are you relying on those to help you pay for what NYU is not giving you?

Larry
I am not. Because we, I feel very grateful to have like, have the amount of financial aid that they’ve given me. So yes,

Kamila
so we’re coming to the end of this, I want to ask you a few more broad questions. So do you have any regrets with how you handle the college application process, or just anything you did in school that could have affected your results,

Larry
I definitely should have tried harder in middle school and freshman year. But I feel like that also helped me a lot because it showed me like what I needed to do in the future, which was important. And also to probably regret procrastinating a lot. And not taking the AC T more seriously, because I hated taking that test. Oh my gosh. So yeah,

Kamila
I think to take the LSAT, instead,

Larry
I took the PISA, and I was like, now for me, so I just focused, I just focused my time on the A CT.

Kamila
I see. Okay, and then what advice would you give for high schoolers? Now, it can be anything with classes, extracurriculars, essays, anything.

Larry
Honestly, just just seriously, do what you’re interested in doing. Like people will notice. Notice, like what you love to do, like just just it’s just really clear no matter like what you think people will see if you’re truly passionate about something rather than just doing it based on like, you know, resume building, etc.

Kamila
So yeah, so do you think a college will notice if you try to build your resume up?

Larry
Yeah, yes. And no, if you do it in a way that, you know, they know, they won’t notice. Like, for example, you’ve already known about, like, the spy thing and you you’re not sure what you want to do in the future. But you know, like, you want to focus on the spike, then maybe, maybe you can, you know, get that across, but I feel like it’s definitely super, super difficult to do what you don’t like to do. So that’s just that’s just me, though.

Kamila
Well, thank you so much for being interviewed. And Larry, I really do hope the best for you and NYU. I mean, New York. It’s it’s still recovering. Really? Definitely. It’s very slow. Yeah. So I hope you get the college experience. Go out partying. Did you pick a dorm mate?

Larry
I did. I chose a roommate already. Good. Well,

Kamila
I wish you the best of luck with everything you already got in so that’s good. Have a good day. Bye.

Larry
Thank you. Bye.

Kamila
I hope you enjoy my interview with Larry. If you did, make sure you subscribe so you can get more great content like this. But other than that, I hope to see you guys in the next episode.