SchwartzBlog

I wrote this post after visiting Carnegie Mellon

enjoy…

Blog Post Written for 10/18/10 - Carnegie Mellon Trip – Summary & Analysis

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During the last two days I have been at Carnegie Mellon University, and I can without a doubt say that these two days only confirmed what I already knew in terms of where I want to go. So lets get into it. Sunday I woke up at 4:45am (yea I know) and packed, because I was too stupid to do it the night or day before.

Car pickup at 5:45, and off to JFK. Flight to Pittsburgh, cab to CMU. When I got to CMU Registration I walked around, and then went to the main opening session. The room was stadium seating, probably 30 rows with around 150 students and maybe 200 parents. And I bring this up because with all of that, there was only one person sitting in the front row. So being me, I went to the front row, sat down and started a conversation. Nick Peterson was from Seattle and this was his fourth college on this trip, I think. He had seen Cornell, Yale, and Columbia so far. So right off the bat I assumed he was a bright kid. But not bright like he had pocket protector and glasses. In all honesty, He looked like a snowboarder. But he was smart. Let me also say that as a referee I have nothing against pocket protectors, but it helps make the point. So Nick and I started talking, and it turned out that we had a lot in common. We were both interested in the same fields, were both involved in student leadership, and one other thing. When I asked him about his flight back home, it turned out that our flights were 5 minutes apart and the gates were in the same concourse. So essentially Nick and I spent the next two days going to information sessions, sitting in on classes, and we even both got interviews.

I’ll get back to Nick in a bit.

Before I go on, I’d like to go back to that opening meeting. The director of admissions came out, introduced himself and a few other officers, and then he said he wanted all of us to stand up and tell him and everybody else what their name was, where they were from, and what they were interested in studying. And to punish those in the back, he started at the back row. So I went last. I would have gone first, but whatever.

Sunday night I met my “host”, Alex. Interestingly enough, I didn’t spend that much time with Alex. I got a bite to eat with him and his friends, and then we walked to the soccer fields where a pickup game was going on. One of the kids wanted to play and they needed a second to balance the teams, so I played.

Afterwards I went with one of the players to a frat house where they were talking about planning a theatrical performance for an event called “Sing” (Some of my friends know my connection with this, others don’t so I’m not going to bring it up). At CMU, “Sing” is an event in the spring where fraternities and sororities compete in putting on 13 minute renditions of musical performances or broadway shows. And since I actually have some knowledge in the area of shows, I started putting in some ideas and giving them feedback. They loved it. I was no longer a prospective student at that moment, I was, for the time being, one of them.

Afterwards I headed to a mixer, hung around for a little bit, and then went back to the dorm and a few hours later I was asleep. The next morning I woke up around 9, had my interview, went to a few classes and sessions, and went with Nick to the airport. Quick tangent (as if there weren’t any others): I missed school today, but I did attend an hour lecture in a calculus class and learned WAY more than what I missed in a high school math class.

This experience was amazing on two levels, both of which told me the same thing; that Carnegie-Mellon is the perfect school for me. Reason 1 has to do with its programs. Lets face it, almost every piece of technology we currently use will be obsolete in four years. Programming languages we use now will be obsolete in four year. Most of the things taught in Community Center Tech classes four years from now will probably be lightyears beyond the app store. So how do you teach a student body to be on the cutting edge of tomorrow? CMU answer: Teach them to learn. Have them learn to learn the new era (no its not a typo). Teach them how to problem solve on a level that no one else can. So when that software comes out in the years to come, those students will quickly know its flaws and can sell that information back to the company that made that software in the first place. But let’s be realistic; MIT does the same thing.

The second reason I know I want to go to this school is because of the people I already know there. The people I played soccer with were ages 18-23 (17 including me). Business majors, information technology majors, computer science majors, and more. Those head’s of that fraternity were the same thing. There were no airheads at that school. I could go play with some kids, and then talk to them about the inner workings of what they were learning. When I was with them, I felt at home. Then look at Nick. Nick is my age, lives in Seattle, and became my best friend over the past 36 hours. Just because we were the only two students who sat in the front row. Nick is the kind of kid who I could easily spend hours upon hours with, and we would have never met if it hadn’t been for Carnegie Mellon.

I’ve talked to quite a few people over the past 36 hours, and here is what I have told most of them: I am not in the slightest worried whether colleges accept me or not, and neither should anybody else. The reason why college admissions process is so extensive is because each college is built for a different type of person. So if the college doesn’t accept you, it is simply because they don’t think you are a right fit for that school. So even if you went, you probably wouldn’t enjoy yourself.

I bring this up because I want to make it clear that I am not saying I should go to Carnegie Mellon because my GPA fits their profile. The reason I want to go to Carnegie Mellon is because I can see myself there. I can see myself going to class, playing soccer, and having mature lunch conversations. I see myself getting a degree in information systems, maybe getting a minor in music. Who knows, the opportunities are honestly limitless.
This experience was great, and I can only hope that I get to come back in the years to come.

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If you read all the way to this point, Thank You.

There were a few minutes left in the game. The rain was torrential. A Lightning player was tripped. It was a clear foul, and I was supposed to do something about it.  I was thirteen, a new, young ref, and I had been making a lot of mistakes. “Come On!” the Lightning coach rasped at me. He had screamed relentlessly throughout the game. Now, his voice strained, and his hands bunched up in fists, waving at me. He was a friend of my father’s, and his rage made me even more uncertain about my new credentials.

I blew my whistle for the trip. But I had hesitated. A ref can’t hesitate.  His actions need to be immediate, confident. The Lightening coach’s eyes bulged and he screamed at me some more. I looked at the other coach for comfort, some smile of sorts that could give me some more confidence. But I could see that even his faith in me was starting to fade. A Lightning player asked if I would stop the game. He had a good point. The rain was coming down in freezing sheets, and it was no longer fun. I could have stopped that game on account of weather; I could have carded the coach for yelling so viciously at me; I could have just walked off of the field and ended this torture. But I didn’t do any of that. I was petrified.

On that November day back in 2006, I froze.  Not just for one second, but for many, and often. But it wasn’t the freezing rain that paralyzed me.  It was fear.  I was afraid of what one coach would say to my employers, and I was afraid of what the other one would say to my parents. I was afraid of the screaming parents and of the 10-year-old players.  I was afraid of my new responsibility. I was afraid of everything I could think of. I sat in the parking lot at the end of that game and cried. I had lost control of the game, and of myself.

When they teach you the fundamentals of being a referee, they tell you to keep your whistle at your waist while you are on the field. So if you see a foul, you have at least one full second as you bring your whistle from your waist to your mouth to contemplate whether or not you should make the call. That second can be unbelievably terrifying. Anybody can memorize the rules of the game, but a referee does something more:  He memorizes, observes, synthesizes, determines, and reacts. One second can determine a lot.

Four years later, I walk at least three times a week onto more fields. I am one of the youngest high school certified referees in New York State to officiate varsity soccer games. On the field, I refer to the coaches as “Sir” as to give them the respect they deserve as adults. But through my quick and confident calls I earn respect as a referee. At the end of the game the coaches shake my hand, and refer to me as “Sir”. Then I travel to another field to watch a new young referee attempt to earn that same respect. As a mentor, I provide them with the confidence they need to make those same calls. I’ve worked hard. I have learned to stand up to fear. I keep my whistle at my waist. I can do a lot in one second.

College.

It is a word that in my high school, will drive some kids nuts.

Normally this is when I go online and try to find some reasonable percentages to prove my point. But honestly, knowing the demographic that read this blog, I don’t have to.

The college admissions process is a long one, but it is something that if planned correctly, can be executed with minimal stress.

So lets break down this proccess.

Standardized Tests

Colleges don’t want you actually taking the test before the start of junior year, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start preparing before the start of junior year. For the most part, anything you will learn in school that will help you with these tests, you will have already learned by the start of your junior year, with the exception of subject tests. So start early. If you start early, you finish early. And once you have the scores you want, you are done.

When you take these tests, you should come prepared. But don’t come over-prepared. Personally, I used the same pencil case for every test I took. And when I finished a test, I put the pencil case in my glove compartment and didn’t take it out until the morning of my next test. I didn’t show up to any test with more than 3 pencils, and I never needed more than 3 pencils. I never showed up with food, because I can go a few hours without food.

It’s not that I think you should be underprepared, but when you over-prepare for these tests, it usually means that you are stressed over it. And stress never helps in those testing rooms. The calmer you are, the clearer you are going to be, and the better you are going to do.

Chill out, take the test, and if you don’t do well, take it again. Simple as that.

Interviews and Tours

Most colleges say that getting an interview is recommended, not required. Well, if you are dealing with your first choice school or even second, it is no longer a recommendation. Don’t just go get a tour and an interview. Spend a day without a guide. Find a friend of a friend who goes there. Meet them for lunch and ask them to take you around. If you can’t find anybody, just go alone. The purpose of a tour is to show you how the school can fit you. But what it doesn’t show you is how you can fit the school.

So walk around. Talk to some students. Figure out what is not on the tour, what the school is really about.

When I went to Carnegie Mellon, I took a tour and had an interview. But I also spent a day without either of them. I walked around. I ended up meeting some students at a soccer field and I played a pickup game with them. Then I talked to them about their degrees. And as I walked around the campus with a few of them, I realized exactly why it was the perfect college for me.

So when I wrote my supplement essay for Carnegie, I knew exactly what to say. I didn’t just talk about why I was qualified to be at that school, I talked about my experience there and why I knew that I belonged there.

Letters of Recommendation

Believe it or not, this was the one angle of the application that could have been my downfall. Because out of the three letters I asked to be sent, only two of them made it to the colleges. So, based on my mistakes, here is what I would recommend; Don’t just get your envelopes to teachers early, keep in touch with them. Most colleges say that they don’t need those letters until a few weeks after the deadline. But in my case, two of the three writers had their letters OUT by october, and I know this because the colleges had opened them and placed them in my file by october 6th. The third writer’s letter was out in early november. Which should have been fine, only it never made it to any of the colleges.

Luckily this didn’t effect me in a negative way because the other two letters arrived with plenty of time to spare.

Essays

One of the biggest parts of your application is your essay. And personally, I loved mine. Here is what I have to say about it:

Your essay has to be about you, not your parents or your guidance counselor. Take an hour and just write about yourself, about everything you love and why. Then give it to your parents and ask them what they think stands out, what they think you could really turn into something.

Your essay is not going to come together in one day, and it’s not only going to come together in front of your computer. One of my strongest paragraphs came after a dinner conversation I had with my parents after watching my brother referee his first soccer game. I actually wrote a post about it…

Overall

There is a reason the college process is so extensive. Those colleges need to figure out not if you are good enough, but if you are a good fit for them and if that college is a good fit for you. If a college denies you, it is simply because you were not meant to be there. But if you get in based off of essays that were not really who you were, you might realize later on that the college you thought you wanted, isn’t that great for you after all.

The process is a long one because it is an accurate one. It picks students that are meant for it. So I know you can’t help it, but don’t stress. You are going to get in to the college you were meant to get into. It is not fate, it’s the process that tries to let the admissions officer know who you really are.

I’ll post up an essay or two later on in the week. If you have any questions or you want me to talk about another portion of the process, just post a comment.

Thanks for reading…

As I go through the college application process, lets just say that my parents and I have not always seen eye to eye on every issue. And when that happened, one of my common phrases has been “You are not applying, I am.”

Here’s a quote from an another post:

The reason why college admissions process is so extensive is because each college is built for a different type of person. So if the college doesn’t accept you, it is simply because they don’t think you are a right fit for that school. So even if you went, you probably wouldn’t enjoy yourself.

So where do colleges get the best opportunity to see who you really are? Essays and Interviews. So here is what I have to say to any student who is applying. When it comes to essays, let parents edit grammar and spelling and phrasing, NOT CONTENT. That essay needs to be YOU. You don’t want to end up at a college that is the perfect fit for your parents.

And when it comes to interviews, I personally don’t think parents or anybody else should have any impact. You need to convey who YOU are. Think of it like this. It’s not an application, its like when you fill out a questionnaire to figure out what job would be best for you. You may think it is stock broker, but that application could come back and say “you seem like you would love working in medicine.” Be yourself, and let those admissions officers do what they have been trained to do, and at the end of the day, you will end up where you were meant to end up.

Be yourself, and wherever you end up, you will love it.

The last few days I have been putting the touches on my main college essay. I wrote it about my journey as a referee. Although since it has to be around 500 words, It just focuses on one story. A story about one of my early games about 5 years ago that didn’t turn out so well. But anyway, tonight I was sitting on the couch talking to my parents about the essay and about being a referee. And while we were talking about the difficulties of it, I said this:

“When you learn to be a referee, they tell you to keep your whistle at your waist. So when you see a foul, you have at least one second to contemplate whether you are actually going to call it or not while you bring your whistle from your waist to your mouth. And for a new ref, that one second can be terrifying. Anybody can memorize the rules of the game. What a referee does is decide based on the context of the game whether something should really be called. It is in that one second where you prove whether or not you are a referee.”

Both my parents looked at leach other, and told me to start writing. And tonight my main essay took a new turn. Just off of a dinner conversation.

Some kids have “Ah Ha” moments when they type, others have them over dinner.

Thank you for reading