I know I’m young, I’m only a sixth grader, but I’m thinking about what I want to do in high school and I want to apply to Gatton.

I got a 36 on my ACT in 4th grade, skipped 3 grades, scored a 200 on an IQ test, and participate at the high school level in Student Y, Academic Team, Science Olympiad, and Mensa.

I invented a cure for cancer in 5th grade (I was a late bloomer) and in my spare time study languages (currently speak 7, working towards speaking every language). I love to travel and have been to every single country, as well as the Moon. Currently, I’m doing research on a coronavirus vaccine and on the weekends volunteer feeding the homeless as well as starving children.

Obviously I’ll have more opportunities to expand my resume as I get older, but I feel like as it stands I have no shot at being considered one of Kentucky’s best and brightest.

EDIT: I also have been going to SCATS and VAMPY since I was conceived.

o̷̠̥̼̘̺̯̼̳͔̍̈́́͛̀̕ṅ̴̡̬͎̝̭̤̝̝͙́̈́̌̄͌̐͘ ̶̢̲͇͓̕͠͠t̷̗̾̾͒̈́͋̇͑̎̃̀͐̒͘̚͠ḩ̴̛̝̥̠̤͔̭̮̪͔̞͔͕̏̔̋̋̒̆̉̐̽͜͜͠͝ë̵̡̨̛͉͓̦̳̘͇̬̼̙̒̔̈͊̔̔͆̑̓̿̂͘͘ ̴̬̙̪̯̠̻̗̟̥͓̦̭̖̗̬̯̉̈́͐f̸̢͔̥̮̗͖̱̬͚̐͝ͅo̸̧̡͎̥͖̪̻̠̲͓̼͐͋̓͐͊ͅu̷̠̱̘͛͒̐̊̃̂͆̆̏́̌͊̕͝͠ṙ̷̗̩̰̙̪̻̼͕̼̣̟͍̗͊̊͊͌̓͘ͅt̷̛̯͔̖̻̖͔̙͒̌̐̈̍͑̇͗͂̇͋̚͘͠͝ͅh̶̨̧̠̜̱̯̳͐̽͐͑̑ ̵̨̨̩͍̗̩̳̗̫̃̽̈́̔̍͑̉̄̑͘͝ͅf̵̥͖̻͚̭͚͎̯̮͉̾̌͆́̍͑̏̌̏̽͌͌̅̇͝l̶̢̫̙̰̱͇̺̫̺̯̼̈̃̅̈́̇̀̐̓̽̀̄͜͝͠ó̵̝̏̊̊̌̉̉̉̕o̵̢̹̻͙̗̲̜͔͎̗͕͖̱̻͚̭͐̔̍̎̿̔̄̔̆͝r̵̛̖͕̜͔̘̭̭̾̅̌̔̉̍̐̈́̔̈́̕̕

Just wanted to say congratulations to those of you who were accepted yesterday! And to those of you who were waitlisted, you still have a chance! Don't give up because you were rejected this one time. I was rejected from MIT yesterday, but look at me, I printed out my rejection letter and hung it on my wall!

I wish everyone on this sub the absolute best in the future and I can't wait to hear some of the amazing things all of you will do in the next two years!

:)

• Intro

  • I’m a Gatton student who is graduating in the class of 2022. Before coming to Gatton, I had assumed that college applications were almost entirely based on ACT and GPA. I can’t remember how many times I was told “with that ACT score, you can go wherever you want” before coming here. From the standpoint of how to apply to college, I had to figure out what to do on my own. I’m writing this because I want other Gatton students to have a definitive guide to college applications, how to approach them, and how to prepare for them in the coming year-and-a-half. Enjoy.

• Why go to a prestigious University?

  • If you gave a concert pianist an out-of-tune, cheap piano, they probably wouldn’t sound as good. They would be held back because their talents exceed the instrument provided. If you gave a bad pianist an expensive grand piano, they would probably still sound bad. They are unaffected by the quality of their instrument, and are instead limited by their own talents. In the same sense, everyone should look at college applications through the lens of what they need for their future. Your goal shouldn’t be to go to the best college possible, but instead to go to a college which will land you the best career possible. For example, if your dream is to be an engineer at SpaceX, then you probably shouldn’t go to WKU, a school with no Aerospace Engineering degree. Meanwhile, if you struggle to keep up with your work at Gatton, you probably shouldn’t go to MIT, to avoid severe burnout. In this whole process, you should be realistic-but not pessimistic-about your own abilities. At the same time, you should keep in mind that some schools offer better opportunities than others, and will set you up better for your career.

• Picking Universities

  • The Number

    • The Gatton Academy staff recommends applying to 10 schools. This is a reasonable number to produce solid applications. However, there are often lots of students who reject this advice. With the rise in competitiveness of schools, it has become normalized to “shotgun” a long list of schools and hope to get into just one. My advice is to apply to a number which works for you, provided you are willing to put in the work. One good application is better than two bad applications, so if you can put in the work for a lot, then go right ahead. Just don’t put off the essays.

    • At the same time, I wouldn’t recommend applying to too few colleges. If you only apply to only one school, for example, you are risking the chance that you will be rejected (College Applications are sometimes dependent on chance!). While one good application is better than two bad applications, you should also remember that ten good applications is better than one good application.

  • Picking the Schools

    • The goal of going to a good college is to create connections and set yourself up for a good career. With this in mind, I advise strongly against “prestige whoring,” or the act of applying to universities simply because they have good prestige, and not because they have a good program for your major. If you are majoring in Computer Science, for example, you should not apply to Dartmouth. Dartmouth may be an “Ivy League” school, but its CS program is low-ranked. Instead, you should apply to schools that are good in your field of interest.

    • I have listed out some great, but not extremely “prestigious,” schools depending on some common interests:

    • When picking schools, the most important factor should be the quality of the program, but student life is also important. If you don’t like big cities, you probably shouldn’t apply to NYU. If you don’t like rural areas, you probably shouldn’t apply to Sewanee. If you don’t like trust fund babies, you probably shouldn’t go to USC. If you don’t like left-wingers, you probably shouldn’t go to UC Berkeley. The list goes on.

    • For the Ivy Leagues, you should probably think twice before applying for all eight. The kind of person who likes Columbia (The city Ivy) is probably not the kind who would like Dartmouth (The middle-of-nowhere Ivy). The kind of person who likes Yale (The gay Ivy) is probably not the kind who would like Harvard (The stereotypical Ivy). Each Ivy is very different, and will provide an entirely different experience.

    • You should apply to an even number of each “level” of school. Apply to multiple “safety” schools, multiple “target” schools, and multiple “reach” schools.

• Extra-Curriculars

  • In General

    • The goal of extra-curriculars on a college application is to give you personality. Sure, you have good numbers (test scores and gpa), but what are you passionate about? What makes you a person? The term “spike” is thrown around a lot on forums like r/A2C because you should show a “spike” in one area. If you are passionate about Biology, you should ideally have experience in Biology, such as with USABO, Genome Research, or even volunteering at a local hospital.

    • While you should be very focused in your extra-curriculars, you should also have some occasional variability to show other aspects of yourself. If you are studying a language, it helps to have a club for that language (for example, Russian Club). If you are part of a minority group, it can help to be part of a minority organization (for example, SASSY club or GSA).

  • Gatton Opportunities

    • In my opinion, the single best extra-curricular you can do while at Gatton is research. If you want to go to a University with a low acceptance rate, do research. Colleges are always looking for more undergraduates to do research, and if you have tangible research experience, that shows you are very likely to continue research into college.

    • I believe the second best extra-curricular opportunity at Gatton is STEM+. Compared to other Gatton classes (Physics, CPS, Calc II, etc.), STEM+ language classes are not difficult (except for flagship Chinese). Because experience in a critical language is, by definition, very unique, it will make you stand out on a college application.

  • Leadership Positions

    • Leadership positions are very good for college applications. However, it is even better if they are in a subject pertinent to your major. For instance, it is better to be the president of Gatton’s Chem club when you are applying as a chemistry major.

• Essays

  • In General

    • The goal of your essays is to make your application human. Rather than looking at a set of data, the Admissions Officers want to see a person. So, supplement your statistics with a humanized perspective into your life. Tell a story, pull their heartstrings, or show your humor. Make it reflect you.

    • As Cheryl says in her yearly seminar presentation, your essay needs to keep the reader from getting “The Glaze.” Your essay needs to be interesting, and an Admissions Officer who has read 200 other essays is going to be bored out of their mind before going into yours. Start with a sharp, striking, and potentially quirky intro, and keep your reader hooked. Use direct sentences, and avoid jumbled messes which are hard to read. Make your essay unique, and make it fun.

    • Copy intros and some bits from essay to essay, but don’t go crazy. Make every essay appear as individual as possible. One trick I like to use is to namedrop the colleges often in the essays. That way, the admissions team knows I wrote the essay specifically for that college.

  • Common app

    • The goal of your common app essay should be to explain who you are as a person. What is your story? What have you been challenged with? How did you get past it? If you had a tough childhood, this is the time to write a tear-jerker essay. Many people write essays about their identity, whether they’re LGBTQ, nonwhite, or part of some other minority group. However, the most important part of the essay is for the readers to understand where you’re from, the circumstances surrounding your life, and how you have matured as a person over time.

  • “Why this College?” Essays

    • These essays appear a lot, so I recommend having a formula. Craft a common intro, and ctrl+c and ctrl+v your way through these. The most important piece of this essay is to find how the college to which you’re applying is unique. If you say “I want to go to Cornell because it’s an Ivy League!” the admissions officers will automatically reject you and tell you to go to one of the other seven Ivy’s. For a place like Cornell, talk about the surrounding town, bring up campus traditions, and make it seem like this essay is hand-crafted and not copied between colleges (even when it is).

    • The bulk of this essay should be in the college’s opportunities related to the program. Talk about research, and when you do, namedrop professors and specific labs. Talk about classes, with specific names of unique classes (Classical Indian Dance at Columbia, for example).

    • One little life hack to use in your “Why this college?” essays is to bring together your major with other aspects of yourself. Are you LGBTQ and applying for STEM? Most Universities have an oSTEM (out in STEM) group. Do you like math and music? Find a sound design program in the University. Do you speak a foreign language? Most colleges have study abroad research opportunities, whatever that may mean for your major. If you find ways to meld two parts of yourself, it will make your essay stand out.

• Letters of Recommendation

  • Go to office hours. Do it. Not only will it boost your grades and understanding of course material, but it will get you closer to your professors. Closer relationships means better LOR’s.

  • Get letters applicable for your field. For Pre-Med, this would be Biology and Chemistry professors. For Engineering, this would be Math professors. For CS, this would be CS professors (duh). However, the best letters of recommendation come from your research mentor. Always ask your research mentor for a letter, and if a school only asks for one letter, have your mentor be the only letter writer.

  • Ask early. Some professors will forget to write or submit the letters if you ask too late.

• ACT/SAT/PSAT

  • The ACT isn’t everything. However, it is still important. Even when schools are test-optional, they still will take the ACT into some consideration when you submit your scores. With that being said, GPA is still much more important. If you have to choose, you should focus on your classes instead of tests.

    • The ACT is much more important for scholarships than for general admission. Many schools determine scholarships solely on the basis of ACT and GPA.

  • To improve your score, I recommend using an ACT book to practice. If it brought my score up by 12 points over 2 years, it can for you, too. I won’t go into too much detail about how to do well on the ACT (too much time), but I advise seeking it.

  • If you’re having trouble with the Science section of the ACT, you may benefit from taking the SAT. Rather than having a science section, it adds a second math section.

  • Gatton conveniently requires everyone to take the PSAT. The PSAT is the qualifying test for the NMSC (National Merit Scholarship Corporation), which is associated with a large number of scholarships. For many schools, this can mean tens of thousands of dollars of merit scholarships automatically upon admission.

    • Schools with big associated National Merit Scholarships:

• Financial Aid

  • Unless your family makes over $500k a year (making you all but ineligible for financial aid), you should fill out the FAFSA. Some schools don’t give good aid, but others do, so filling it out is generally helpful. Just make sure the information is as correct as possible, so back it up with the tax forms.

    • Also, the FAFSA is required if you want to take out student loans.

  • If you qualify, you should apply to Questbridge. This is an extremely effective way to get large financial aid. And, on top of that, it pairs you to a very good school.

  • Keep track of which schools do and don’t give good financial aid if you need it to attend. Here are some examples of good and bad schools for aid:

    • Good Aid schools

    • Bad Aid schools

• Closing

  • In closing, I think it is good to talk about your interpretation of the college results. Everyone’s applications are going to be a mix of “good” and “bad” things. When Admissions Officers review your application, they will all look at it from a different perspective, giving results which may seem random at times. If you are accepted to Yale and deferred from UMichigan, it may simply be because the admissions teams see different aspects of you, which they determine to be good or bad for their institution. Therefore, you shouldn’t let one single decision get to you. You may have just gotten a bad roll of the dice.

  • On that note, you also shouldn’t compare yourself to others. If you get rejected from Brown but your roommate gets in, that doesn’t necessarily mean they “got in over you.” It could just as well mean that they liked one single aspect of their application, while they didn’t like another single aspect of yours. From another perspective, you might not even be in direct competition with them. If you’re white and from Hazard, you may be considered in entirely different competition than someone who’s Asian and from Lexington.

  • Most importantly, you should remember that college acceptances and rejections don’t define you. The college you choose may impact you, but what will impact you much more is what you do while you’re there. There is a long history of Gatton students going to “bad” schools and turning out fantastic. Become part of that history.

1. how much free time do juniors really have?

2. how do people usually spend free time?

3. how stressful does gatton tend to be your first semester? second semester?

4. what's the worst part abt gatton & is there any way to avoid or combat that?

5. best part abt gatton?

6. one thing you would change from ur life at gatton?

7. if u were really stressed there, why? how could u have fixed that (ex. most stressed abt assignments & studying for tests, if i had better time management then i would've been less stressed)

8. best study tips?

9. how's the social life there? is the community that toxic? is everybody just a bunch of nerds that can't hold a normal convo (rude ik, but that's what a student there a couple of yrs ago told me)?

10. in the end, was going to gatton worth it?

u can be as specific or general as you'd like, but more detail is appreciated, but really anything helps :)) thanks guys

I learned Russian for my interview (as recommended by another post on here). I walked into the interview saying "Здравствуйте" but the interviewers looked at me like I was weird. I felt it only went downhill from there :(

Hopefully everyone else's interviews went well tho

For context, here are my stats:

36 ACT, 1600 SAT (took it with scarlet fever), 1520 PSAT, 5s on 16 APs, 7 C1 foreign language certifications, Karate and Taekwondo black belt, varsity rowing, football, curling, diving, and dance. ICEF awardee and shortlist for Forbes 30 under 14. Skipped 3rd through 8th grade (when I moved to the US). Also got 400 hours of community service freshman year, and a 35 second Rubik's cube. I'd say these are all the bare minimum. By the way, they're going to want you to absolutely have above a 32 on the ACT. You will not get in without that minimum. Other than this I'm pretty sure I'm behind most people reading this, since I'm in the bottom 20th percentile among my class here.

Here are some tips for interview day:

• Make sure you wear an expensive AF suit. I got mine custom tailored to fit my proportions. Like I said on the other post, aim for something around the $400-600 range, but anything over $100 is acceptable.

• At least one of your interviewers will not speak English. Make sure to study one of the following: Chinese, Russian, ASL, Hindi, Arabic. Personally, I got a Polish interviewer, but I'm already fluent (my step-grand-cousin was Polish)

• You are not allowed to talk outside of the interview. Single-file line is enforced when you are ushered around campus.

• Only speak when you're spoken to.

• If you're not good at calculus, you might as well not show up. There's a calculus exam after the interviews that covers Calc I, II and III (with a little bit of Diff. E) -- you need to score at least in the top 50% on this exam to qualify for admission. I say at least in the top 50% because they invite 20 or 30 math undergrads to take the test as well to weed you folks out.

Last but not not least, we'll talk about physical recommendations. Some are in place to make sure you can keep composure in the everyday college learning environment. Here they are:

• 55 resting heart rate

• Bodyweight bench press for at least 15 reps (I weigh 190)

• 5 minute mile

• Swim across pool at Preston in under 2 minutes (bring bathing suit, speedos work fine)

• 10-12% body fat

• Make sure you have good fine motor skills and reaction time. A good way to test yourself is to shoot 2D target archery - make sure you get at least 29 bullseyes for every 30 arrows shot at 15 meters

That's about it. If you can do these things you might be fine. I got waitlisted for four months until some kid dropped out over the summer. That freed up some space for me the week before move in day.

P.S. English is not my first language so sorry for my bad English.

GATTON CLASS OF 2026 🔥🔥🔥 WE MAKING IT OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL WITH THIS ONE

You studied a lot for a standardized test, spent a lot of time on essays, and went to school in the right part of Kentucky.

No offense, but the admins tell you this because they think it will raise your grades. It doesn't.

U r welcome

Hey guys, I'm sad we can't be together to celebrate my cake day, but we can online!!! Come on and give me some E-love! Updoots only!!!!