Process Essay -- How to be Accepted by Top Rank Twenty Universities

Many high school students are willing to go to the Top Rank twenty Universities or colleges in USA nowadays, and some high school students are even desperate to go to the Top 20 schools. Some students get forced by their parents to go to the top 20 schools. Some students are too desperate and get too much stress that they even get mental disease from it. Sometimes some students’ parents even get divorced because of the huge difference of their thoughts and opinions. Most people already know, even before they get to high school, how to go to the Top-Rank-Twenty Universities, but many people fail to go to the Top-rank-twenty universities, because there are too many steps they should follow.
First of all, when you graduate from middle school and become a high school student, you have to forget how you did in middle school, because the middle school life, or junior high school life, is really different from the life in high school. Even if you got pretty good grades in middle school, if you don’t strive a lot in high school, you can just ruin your grades in high school, and also your entire life following after the high school.
Second, you have to do well in school. You have to get good GPAs in 9th to 12th grade. GPA 4.0 and above is great for rank top 20 schools, and GPA 3.8 is fine for some top 20 schools, including Duke University, Cornell University, Vanderbilt University, and Emory University. (Citation: Pak, Colin. Studying abroad USA File. Seoul, Korea Republic: Nexus, 2003.) But you cannot guarantee to be accepted by the schools with your fabulous GPA of 4.0. And then you should not have any record of getting suspension, because the suspensions keep you from going to the top 20 schools. (Yang, Joo-Won, and Conference Team. American Colleges & Graduates 250. 1st ed. Seoul, Korea Republic: Baeksusa, 2004.)
Third, participate in school activities as much as possible. There are three kinds of activities: services, sports, and leadership. You should have all three of these in adequate amount for most top 20 schools. Cal tech. and MIT are the schools that do not need as much activities as other top 20 schools, but they still need some activities, and in addition, they need some awards in mathematics and sciences (Citation: Pak, Colin. Studying abroad USA File. Seoul, Korea Republic: Nexus, 2003.). So, you should participate in school activities.
Fourth, you have to do well on SAT. (Citation: Wall, Edward. Behind the Scene. 14th ed. Alexandria, Virginia: Octameron Associates, 2003.) For SAT I, you need 1800 (at least 600 each) to be qualified to register, at least 2000 in safety for some schools, and at least 2200 for every school (Citation: Pak, Colin. Studying abroad USA File. Seoul, Korea Republic: Nexus, 2003.). But you still cannot guarantee to be accepted by Harvard or Princeton with your SAT I score of 2200, and your fabulous GPAs. (Just accept and understand the words by its original meaning. “Fabulous” does not mean “F”, but just means great.) (Citation: Strenagel, Jeffrey. Personal interview. 30 October 2006.) And SAT II is required in every top 20 school. You need at least two SAT IIs for most schools and three SAT IIs for some schools, including Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and Johns Hopkins Universities. (Citation: Yang, Joo-Won, and Conference Team. American Colleges & Graduates 250. 1st ed. Seoul, Korea Republic: Baeksusa, 2004.) For SAT IIs, you have to get at least 700 for top 20 schools and at least 750 for safety. But of course, you cannot guarantee to be accepted by those schools with three SAT IIs with 750 each.
Fifth, you have to write the essays really well. Not always, but most schools want you to write an essay that shows about yourself well and why you want to go to that college. The judges from each school will read your essay and decide whether you will be accepted or rejected. So, you will have to write the essay really interesting to the judges. To write the essay well, you might need to visit each college’s homepage, and get some information from the sites.
Sixth, you need to have at least two recommendations from your high school teachers. You have to choose two teachers to ask for the recommendations. Your recommendation forms from your teachers in high school might affect in good ways, but also in bad ways.
Seventh, you should do well on application form. You need to write down your achievements, including the activities you have done, your GPAs, and your SAT scores. The application form reflects how you did in high school and your achievements in high school.
Besides these, you need lot more. For example, you need internship, inquiry, registration fee, and some luck. Luck is also very important. If you are lucky, you can go to Harvard with SAT I of 2100, but if you are very unlucky, you can be rejected by Notre Dame with SAT I of 2200, lots of activities, and good SAT II scores. (Citation: Strenagel, Jeffrey. Personal interview. 30 October 2006.)
As you can see, there are many steps you should follow. But striving a lot, doing your best is the most important factor. Even if you didn’t get to the top 20 schools, you have no regrets if you did your best, and you can go to the schools below rank 20. For instance, UC Berkeley or University of Michigan are more famous and well-accepted by people than some top 20 schools. So, try your best, and your achievements will show on your results. Then, good luck for those who are struggling to go to the top colleges!