Category: Centerspread

By Quynh Luu

Applying to colleges is a stressful process for many seniors, especially for those unsure of what they need to do.  After all, there are other concerns of filling out forms, such as maintaining grades and keeping up with club activities.  Here are some helpful tips that should make the whole procedure easier:

1. If you’re not currently a senior, think about starting applications during the summer. Although many students start on their applications during the fall, it would be a better to start earlier considering that first semester final exams usually occur during that season and winter.  Studying to pass those exams with flying colors is tough enough, so don’t try to pile on more work at that time.
2. Many colleges and universities offer the chance to apply for early admission or early action. This means that students can submit their applications in advance to perhaps increase their chances of being admitted.  If you have your mind set on attending a certain institution, look into whether that place provides this opportunity for a chance to receive some major benefits.
3. Remember that certain college majors may ask an applicant to submit other specific items along with the general transcripts and test scores. At UCLA (University of Los Angeles, California), an art major applicant would need to submit a portfolio of eight to ten pages along with their completed UC application.  At Yale University, an aspiring drama student has to provide three professional letters of recommendation.  Fulfilling all the requirements is crucial to being accepted into the major of your choice.
4. Submit your standardized test scores. No matter how poorly you performed on the SAT and ACT, colleges and universities expect to receive them.  However, keep in mind that your chances of admission are also determined by other factors beyond those results such as volunteer hours and essays.
5. Don’t be afraid to talk to your counselor and teachers. If you’re willing to open up to them, they can provide guidance and help you through problems concerning academic studies.  Remember, they all have had the same challenging experience of applying to colleges.
6. Keep everything organized. You will have to find many documents to submit to colleges.  Losing one of them could greatly affect your chances of being accepted.
7. If you are a student from a disadvantaged background, look into college application fee waivers. You will be able to submit an application to your dream college for a relatively low price if you qualify.
8. Don’t wait too long to submit your application. Problems such as overloaded servers might occur if you turn it in on the day of the deadline.  The college application is a life-changing item, so it’s important that the one you send to admissions officers will be great enough for an acceptance letter.

By Tiffany Lee

Application season is blooming, and many students feel tremendous stress when submitting applications due to endless college rankings, parental pressure and peer judgment.  With all this external weight on their shoulders, students often forget whose opinion actually matters: their own.

The American Dream has officially shifted from the pursuit of happiness to the pursuit of a school with a “good” name.  Eager students await the highly anticipated college rankings lists every year, and narrow down their choices from the top 100, or the top 50, or even the top 10.  But what do these rankings prove?  That Ivy League schools are the only ones worth applying to?  Of course not.  These lists are primarily based on undergraduate academic reputation, which consists of two subfactors: peer assessment surveys and high school counselors’ ratings, both of which could easily include biased opinions.  The rankings only exist to insure the aristocracy of the Ivy League.

Parental and peer pressure attack students even more.  Constant questioning occurs at school, when friends bemoan college applications together, and after school, when parents confirm that their children are going to go to Stanford.  But worst of all is the dreaded family reunion.  Unrecognizable relatives ask which college students are heading to and try to hide looks of disappointment when they receive an answer they deem as inferior.  Parents can’t stop talking about that one cousin double-majoring in Harvard, or the other cousin who just graduated a valedictorian from UC Berkeley.  The endless comparisons to others both inside and outside of school are unhealthy and simply wrong.

What makes a college the right choice?  Students should think about what the school offers that other schools don’t, the school’s strongest majors, the cost, location, student life and many other factors that contribute to an amalgam of the perfect college.  It’s impossible to find a school that’s perfect for everyone.

Pick a school that’s good for your major.  Some schools are better for engineers, and others are better for lawyers.

Pick a school that’s as close or as far away from home as you want.  Just remember this simple saying: Stanford for staying at home, Princeton for prying away your parents’ invasive fingers.

Pick a school whose culture fits you.  Distinctions between public or private, small or big and rural or urban schools can play a large part in making the next four years a comfortable experience.

Don’t whole-heartedly dismiss a school because of cost.  Many schools are willing to offer great amounts of financial aid and scholarships if they want you, so don’t shy away from applying to the more expensive schools.

Pick a school that has the right dorms.  Some schools force freshmen to stay in dorms, and some don’t have a four-year dorm guarantee.  Some schools don’t allow microwaves and water boilers, which could endanger those who intend to live on instant noodles.  Some schools don’t allow you to choose your roommate, posing a problem to those who want to live with their best friends for four years.

Pick a school that has the right weather.  Especially for comfortable Californians, a switch in climate could be disastrous.  Going from summer all year long to rain and sleet could dampen your spirits.

Pick a school that suits you as a whole, and don’t be afraid to be picky when doing so.  My brother’s strongest argument against the University of the Pacific was that it had too much brick.

In the end, you’ll spend four years of your life there.  Don’t be miserable.  Weigh the possibilities yourself instead of letting others put weight upon you.

By Yen Linh Duong

It’s senior year, and the time to apply to your dream school is finally here.  You’ve spent the last three years building up your profile and now it’s time to make your application shine.  You hop right into business only to find yourself asking, “What do they want from me?”  Don’t worry, the PHHS Legend is here to help.  Here are some of the definitions that can help make your life a little bit easier.

CBO (Community Based Organization)
– a non-profit organization that provides free advising for students

Common App ID (CAID)
– an 8 digit number ID that colleges use to identify students and the materials they submit for admission consideration

Counselor Recommendation
– a form filled out by your counselor that provide your basic profile of academic, extracurricular and personal characteristics

Early Action (EA)
– an application process where a student may apply and receive a decision earlier than the Regular Decision notification date.  The student then has until May 1 of senior year to make a decision on the offer.

Early Decision (ED)
– an application process where a student decides on enrollment upon a certain college.  Once that college admits the student, all of the student’s other applications to other colleges will be canceled.

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)
– a law that provides protection for the privacy of student educational records

Final Report
– a form submitted by a counselor that provides the student’s academic work until the end of senior year

Gap year
– a period of time between high school and college when a student pauses his or her education for other means

Member Questions
– unique set of questions that a student must answer upon admission to that specific college.  This may include additional writing prompts.

Mid Year Report
– a form submitted by counselors that provides academic achievement of a student through the middle of senior year

Restrictive Early Action (REA)
– similar to Early Action, a student might submit application and receive a decision early, but the colleges are allowed to place restrictions to your other early application process

Rolling
– a decision plan that allows the student to submit an application anytime during senior year

Writing Supplement
– additional writing prompts required by colleges

By Kylie Cheung

“The spaghetti burbled and slushed around the pan, and as I stirred it, the noises it gave off began to sound increasingly like bodily functions.”

This was the opening line of a Stanford Admission Essay.  The student got in.  Perhaps stirring pasta by itself doesn’t impress the way a prestigious summer program does, but here the student writes a banal action in a manner that engenders intrigue.  Only a rare individual could think up this sort of analogy and assert it as a personal introduction.

The college admission essay is not the sole determinant of acceptance, yet it plays the vital role of a medium through which you can prove yourself as more than letter grades and test scores and logged extracurricular hours; it communicates the essence of who you are.  Challenging? Yes—so here is some advice on how to craft your essay:

Analyze the prompt.  Break it down and identify the parts it asks you to write about.  Your essay must address all parts.  The second UC personal statement prompt, for example, asks for three things: something you’re proud of, why it makes you proud and how it relates to the person you are.  Many students begin by agonizing over choosing what they’re proud of.  However, the last part of the prompt is just as or even more important.  Sometimes starting there and working backwards is easier.

Analyze yourself.  The essay isn’t really about your talent, club, inspirational role model, etc.  Whatever your topic, it has to reveal who you are, your personality and dreams.  Think of words that might describe you, what your passions are, what motivates you to get up in the morning.  One thing may grab you by the heart and refuse to let go.  Write about that.

Reflect.  Sift through the memories that have stuck to you through the years.  Try to pinpoint whatever helps kindle you awake with the determination to live each day.  The events that have happened to you, the people you’ve met and the choices you’ve made have all molded you into the person you are now.  If any of them mark pivotal periods in your life, you can write about them.

Tell the truth.  Admissions officers can detect lies.  Resist the temptation to glamorize or invent in the hopes of a better chance of being accepted.  Stay honest.  Stay open.  Stay yourself.

Focus your topic.  You are not cramming a comprehensive portfolio of all of your good points into your essay.  Within a small word limit, you can’t afford to ramble about generalities.  Paint a small but detailed self-portrait as if you had a one-inch picture frame.  Trying too hard to seem well-rounded will lead to failure—a circle is made of infinite points and none of them have substance.  Avoid tangents and dig deeper, not wider.

Be specific.  When you consider something important to you, you’ll likely know it in detail.  Add in those details.  Gushing about what you love proves how much you love it.  The advice “show, don’t tell” applies here.  Anyone can claim a life-changing experience, but not everyone can corroborate that claim with evidence.

Tell a story.  Narratives tend to enrapture more than exposition does.  Most good stories leave the character changed by the end, developed into a stronger and better person from facing obstacles and not giving up.  You want admission officers to root for you in the same way you root for your favorite characters.

Stay humble.  Your essay is not for bragging about your achievements.  Instead of being cocky, credit other people in your life for what they taught you.  Admit faults and insecurities; displayed vulnerability indicates more confidence than a perfectly polished ego.  Readers want to see if you can overcome failures and learn from mistakes.

Be confident.  At the same time, don’t put yourself down.  Even if you want the readers to pity you, build your essay to uplift by the ending.  You may have difficultly liking yourself where you are now, but don’t minimize your progress from where you used to be.  You’ve had tough times, but you’ve made it through them and that is worth celebrating.  Keep writing and rewriting.  You can do this.

Get feedback.  Ask your English teacher, an older sibling, a grammar-obsessed friend or anyone else who can offer constructive criticism.  In the end, though, it is still your essay.  If you absolutely want to write something, don’t let others hold you back.

Remember your self-worth.  College application essays, when done well, can help you in self-discovery.  You will grow and discover more about yourself later in life, but in your current stage you are still a unique person.  No one else has your same exact experiences, talents and passions.  Learn to believe you carry a special mix of traits you alone can contribute to a college campus and to the world.

 

By Walt Leung

With the early admission deadline for most schools having passed and the UC application deadline looming closer, there are tall tales of students applying with 12 AP classes while others are applying with none.  For seniors, the dilemma of choosing classes is over; for freshmen, sophomores and juniors, it has just begun.  How many AP classes should you take?  Which subjects should you take?

First off, the quantity.  For many, we load our schedules with AP classes to get accepted into college.  However, it is never advisable to do so at the expense of grades.  Any college will value a high GPA over an overworked student.  Applying to Harvard University with twelve AP classes and a 2.0 GPA doesn’t help your chances as much as eight AP classes and a 4.0 GPA. Grades first, classes second.

With that being said, colleges will also want to see that you actively challenge yourself.  It’s up to each student to navigate the fine line between keeping grades up and taking more AP classes.  Also, applying with eight AP classes won’t make too significant of a difference from applying with nine, but that extra class senior year may take away valuable time from college applications.

Even more important than the number of AP classes to take is which subjects to take.  This question is a little more straightforward; most of it depends on intended major.  A computer-related future?  Invest heavily into mathematics and physical sciences.  A medical-related future?  Invest heavily into biological and physiological sciences.

For those wishing to seek college credit, check in advance.  Many universities are highly selective with which AP courses exempt classes.  Do not be the student stuck with great scores on AP exams that won’t net any credit.  For example, Stanford University doesn’t award AP credit to a “5” on History exams, while the UC system will award credit for scores “3” or higher.

With that in mind, there are a few classes that are arguably more important than others.  For example, AP Language and Composition for juniors and seniors.  Regardless of your future profession, socializing and networking is an inevitable part of any occupation.  It may not be important to know how viruses infect cells when programming Javascript, but communication is inevitable on any job, and there is no better practice than learning how language itself is used.

On the other hand, many admission offices over the country place emphasis on specific AP classes: Calculus A/B, Calculus B/C, Chemistry, Biology, English Language and Composition, in that order.  Doing well on these classes can determine whether you get the thick acceptance envelope or the thin rejection one.

Ultimately, this doesn’t even factor in the sports we play, the clubs we immerse ourselves in, the relationships we build.  But two guidelines will never change: do not take more AP classes at the expense of grades and keep your future in mind.  And perhaps most important of all, please do not compare yourself to somebody else based on the number of AP classes you take.  As big of a fuss as we make about classes now, in the grand scope of life, the number of AP courses you take in high school really is trivial.

By Walt Leung

SAT or ACT?  A few years ago, this question would have been predominantly one-sided.  Most students would have taken the SAT, and most college admissions officers would have recommended it as well.  However, as of the past few years, the ACT has started to rise in popularity, rivaling the SAT.  This often complicates matters for students; nobody wants to potentially make the wrong choice when it comes to one of the most important tests in high school.  Exacerbating this?  The difference between the SAT and ACT is enormous, and studying together might mean disappointing scores for both.

Structurally, the ACT and SAT are completely different.  The SAT is organized into small chunks; test takers perform small sections of reading, writing, and math at a time.  On the other hand, the ACT is organized linearly; test takers complete an entire subject before moving on.  As a result, sections in the ACT take 35 to 60 minutes each while sections in the SAT only take 10 to 25 minutes each.

Content-wise, many professionals denote the ACT as an achievement test, and the SAT an aptitude test.  The ACT generally focuses on material covered in the classroom, which is why questions tend to be of harder difficulty, but relatively straight-forward.  On the other hand, the SAT focuses on the reasoning aspect, with easier questions but tricky phrasing and more trap answers.

Furthermore, the ACT covers some advanced topics in mathematics, even going into trigonometry, while the SAT stops at Algebra II.  The ACT also has a science section that the SAT lacks.

Score-wise, the ACT is scored on a scale of 1 to 36, with each section having a composite score that is averaged for the total.  The SAT is scored on a scale of 600 to 2400, with each section having a composite score that is added to the total.  Colleges tend to place more emphasis on the total score for the ACT, as opposed to the composite scores for the SAT.  Therefore, students weak in one discipline but stronger in another are often recommended to choose the ACT over the SAT.

Ultimately, most advisors recommend students choose one test that best suits their test taking style and stick with it.  However, the ACT has finally gained its respect in the standardized testing department and is no longer overshadowed by the SAT.

By Michelle Lin

1. 2000: Assad family rises to power in 1971 and has ruled Syria for nearly 40 years. Current president, Bashar al-Assad, begins his regime in 2000, succeeding his father, Hafez al-Assad.
2. March 2011: Hundreds of people stage protests in Damascus, calling for democratic reform and demanding for more civil liberties. Security forces open fire on demonstrators, resulting in the first few deaths of the uprising.
3. July 2012: Fighting breaks out in Aleppo, the largest city and the former commercial capital of Syria. Rebels seize control of a large part of the city, leaving it in ruins.
4. November 2012: Syrian National Coalition is created, bringing together the main opposition factions. Conflict has increased to include several world powers and the rise of the jihadist groups, especially Islamic State.
5. August 2013: The regime allegedly uses chemical weapons to kill more than 1,400 people.
6. September 2013: Many rebel groups renounce their desires for a democratic government; instead, the Islamic Front is created to build a state governed by Islamic law.
7. 2014: The Islamic State (IS), the al-Qaeda breakaway in Iraq, has taken control of large parts of Syria’s territory. Fighting between IS and a variety of Islamists groups spreads.
8. 2015: Nearly 4 million people have fled Syria since the start of the conflict in search of a better life, and many of these refugees are seeing help from neighboring countries. Syria’s education, health, and social welfare are in states of collapse.

By Hannah Tong

Throughout history, refugees all around the world have traveled and sought asylum from other countries to escape the horrors of their life at home.

From 1915 to 1923, more than one million Armenians left Turkish Asian Mino due to a series of events now known as the Armenian Genocide.  The Ottoman Empire persecuted the minority of Armenians in present-day Turkey, forcing women, men and children to in death marches. About 1 to 1.5 million people were killed during this event due to religious differences between Islam and Christianity.

During World War II, almost 300 thousand Jews who were persecuted managed to escape the killings and concentration camps in Germany during Hitler’s reign of Nazism by fleeing to foreign countries.  Between 1933 and 1939, about 200 thousand Jews fled Nazism in France alone.

A few decades after that war, destruction and communist-controlled systems resulting from the Vietnam War led many people from Cambodia, Laos and especially Vietnam to flee from their homes and into America, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Hong Kong during the late 1970s and 1980s.

Just from 2007 to 2011, the United States had 278,850 asylum seekers alone.  In 2014, 19.5 million refugees traveled the world in hope for a better life.

As of today, one of the biggest groups of refugees is coming from Syria.  Since the outbreak of civil war in 2011, over nine million Syrians have taken refuge in neighboring countries, including the Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Jordan.

Controlled by a religious organization named ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), Syria suffers constant war and destruction, constant fear and constant killings.  These refugees left and sought asylum because they were following their friends and families, their homes were destroyed, they were threatened by other officials to leave and the high cost of food and necessities caused them to lose all their money.

It is only ideal that the citizens of these countries find somewhere where they know they can be with their families safely.  It takes courage for a refugee to escape and leave behind what they used to call home.

By Tiffany Lee

Millions of Syrians have been forced to leave their home countries due to the Syrian War since 2011.  When attempting to go across the Mediterranean Sea, the refugees take large risks, paying smugglers large amounts of money and forcing themselves into unreliable dinghies, to escape to other lands.

Before the refugees are even allowed inside the small, meager boats that can only be described as dinghies, they pay smugglers about a thousand euros so they can be crammed into a small vehicle with other desperate refugees.  The refugees, arriving at the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, climb inside crowded rubber boats with over 30 people in each vessel.  Then, they attempt the trip.  They set off into the endless blue, throwing their life vests on, willing to escape.

The hope is Germany, or Greece, or just Europe in general.  However, the packed rubber boats must travel over an overwhelming 2500-km distance, which is almost unimaginable and definitely life-threatening.

The Syrian boy made international headlines, his washed-up body showing people around the world the dangers the sea poses to the Syrian refugees.  But the refugees already know the rubber boat can be easily overturned by the Mediterranean waves.  They already know that most refugees drown.  They already foresee their own deaths.

Many refugees also escape to Europe by land, which is not nearly as risky as the sea, but there is a higher risk of being caught by border guards.

Still, hundreds of thousands of Syrians choose to make the oversea journey.  When asked why he would choose such a lethal trip for him and his two children, a Syrian man responded, “In Syria, they are dead already.”  For the refugees, despite the oceanic dangers, sea is still safer than land.

 

By Angel Palomino

Since March 2011, Syrians have been fleeing their country due to a long civil war.  Throughout the war, the death toll is estimated to be around 200 thousand people.  The UN (United Nations) Refugee Agency approximates that over four million people have fled to surrounding countries.

The civil war began with the Regime soldiers shooting protesters who wanted to release children who had been imprisoned for drawing pro-democracy graffiti on a wall.  After the protesters were shot, rebels quickly retaliated, bringing the two forces to fight.

After four years, the Syrians still have to flee and hide in surrounding countries to escape the horrors of the Regime.  According to the Observer, the Regime has used chemical warfare, bombs, tanks, shootings and the destruction of cities to kill the Syrians.  As people flee from the Regime, they still have to evade the IS (Islamic State) terrorist group as it also kills the refugees fleeing Syria.

According to a survey by the Washington Post, some of the reasons the refugees are fleeing Syria are the following: 43% of the refugees said the main reason they left was because Assad government forces occupied their towns; 37% had their homes were destroyed; 35% were threatened if they didn’t leave; 48% left at the urging of their families; 38% were urged by their friends; 32% followed their neighbors to safety; 32% couldn’t find necessities, food and water; and lastly, 16% fled when they ran out of money.

As life in Syria gets increasingly more dangerous they have several challenges to go through.  As the dawn calls to prayer, many women and children move quietly and sneakily, trying to avoid meeting the explosion of the Assad bombardments.  Many civilians have tried to flee, but they are scared of dying while getting capped at.

Teachers, doctors, and even normal government workers are forced to line up on the street by rebel fighters and are asked to describe their religious belief and their jobs.  Fear grew among them as they witness brutality of the soldiers shooting others next to them if they give them a wrong answer and leaving them bleeding to death.

Peter Oborne, a British journalist, interviewed the citizens there. According to a principal there, the soldiers had banged on her door at 4am; they wanted her husband and children inside the house to go into the street, and she saw her neighbors also lining up outside.  Then, the people were divided into two groups: one for young men to join the jihadi fighters, and another to be questioned.  She then stated that the soldiers had shot a man, who was wearing a pro-government shirt, in front of the families that were lined up.

But as more and more Syrians flee, the surrounding countries can no longer take any more refugees and they have started rejecting them. Russia has brought itself into the civil war to end the fighting.