hello, are you just there alone? you haven't found anyone?
(eheheha)
(cute donkey noise)
classic.
(singing to Ain't it Fun by Paramore)
(singing to Still Into You by Paramore)
(humming in alien)
(pretending to preform a concert)
(being a dance icon)
sugar, sugar, sugar.
(more alien noise, but like a cute alien)
(sippy sippy)
good!
ok. good, good, good, good.
hello!
should i move this blanket?
get out of here!
oh, now i feel unsupported in the butt area
come back here.
i'm sorry :(
i'm too small for this chair.
hello, good morning.
welcome to my kitchen corner!!
it's been cloudy in la for like the past week,
which sucks because i love sunny mornings
but
it's just gonna be cloudy
sometimes it's ok for it to be cloudy outside
*sippy*
*dies*
everything's fine.
anyways,
welcome to my kitchen corner
today, i'm going to be painting my nails
and just talking off the top of my head
about something that you guys have really been wanting to know about-
which is college applications.
i don't have notes for any of these things,
and i'm not a college expert.
-in the SliGHteSt
i was wait-listed by almost every single school that i applied to.
so take all of my advice
and all of my words
with a grain of salt
...don't even know what that means
why a grain? of salt??
what does salt- like why?
i'm a college student, i should know this.
but i felt like i really needed to talk about this
because a lot of you guys have been asking me like-
what did i get on my standardized testing?
and what were my grades?
and what did i do in highschool?
and how did i get into UCLA?
i'm in my pj's.
and i don't have notes for anything,
so like, if this is a little disoriented
and weird
-i apologize.
if you're looking for actual college advice
ask someone who actually
knows college.
so the number one question i get asked
the MOST
is what did i get on my SAT?
-and my ACT?
and like what were my grades? and stuff like that..
i'm gonna be real honest with y'all
those tests
REALLY don't matter-
as much as
public schools like to
make you think that they do.
they actually barely matter.
i think that the public education system
has really failed us
in the sense that they gave us a very
incorrect idea
of how these college admissions work
and how to get into like
all the top schools.
my whole life
i was always preached
that 'well-rounded students'-
get into the best schools. you know?
gotta be good at EVERYTHING
master of none.
but, competent at everything, at least.
AND I'M HERE TO TELL YOU-
THAT, THAT IS A
GOSH. DARN. LIE
the reality of the american
education system is that
it's RIGGED.
It's hecka rigged.
and there are SO many more factors
that go into
someone's acceptance
or rejection,
than. you. know.
in fact, your grades and your essays
are like, MAYBE
fifty percent of the reasons why you get into a school.
but there are SO many more factors~
that go into it- that you don't know
and it usually has a lot to do with
MONEY.
i went to a public highschool.
like most of you guys did.
a good old fashioned, american highschool
*slurp*
and, in that highschool
i was told if i work hard
and if i get good grades
and if i do EVERYTHING on earth-
if i do community service,
and SpOrTs
and m u s i c
and A R T S
and become a mathematician
that i will get into
ANY school that i wanted
i can get into harvard,
-stanford
all those things.
and, it's something that
i think ALL public school students
have heard their
WHOLE lives. you know?
we were always told that
that's how you get into
an amazing school.
but, the truth is- most of the kids that get into
schools like that, the ivy leagues,
and a lot of like the BIG schools- NYU, USC
a lot of those kids
are preparatory school students
i didn't even KNOW about preparatory schools
until about, two years ago.
preparatory schools are basically these
private schools that
families who have enough money
send their kids to these schools.
and, these schools basically
GUARANTEE that these kids are going to
get into amazing schools.
i'm not saying it's a bad thing..
it's just really obvious
that the american education system
ABSOLUTELY favors the wealthy.
all those like "success" stories that you hear about
those kids that like come from NOTHING
and have to like WORK their way up
that's like the tiniest population of these schools.
those are the kids that are used to
redeem these schools.
but, in reality
most of the kids that these major schools
are not those stories.
don't get me wrong! there are students
that get into amazing schools, that come from nothing.
it's SO do-able, and it's SO achievable,
if you really put your mind to it.
but, it's a small percentage of the kids.
in reality, most of the kids that get into these schools
come from private schools that basically
ensure that if you send your kid to it,
and if you give them lots of money,
that they will get into harvard, stanford, ect. ect.
THAT ASIDE,
i just rambled a long time for how rigged the american school system is.
it's still possible into an amazing school
even if you didn't go to a preparatory school.
i went to a crappy public school in the middle of texas!
-and i got into UCLA.
so, it's do-able. trust me. it is do-able.
but, it happens differently than
you would expect.
in order to get into an amazing school
you really have to stand out.
in ONE field in particular.
my SAT and ACT scores were low.
they weren't low on the rank of national rankings,
but, with my ACT and SAT scores i shouldn't have gotten into UCLA
i'm WAY below average.
on the SAT i got a 1290 out of 1500? or 1600.
i don't really remember what the ranking is.
i think it's 1600- right now i'm checking
"SAT r a n k i n g"
-out of 1600.
on a national ranking that's pretty average,
but at UCLA that's BELOW average.
and on the ACT i got a 26 out of a (36) 34?? i don't even know-
i hate standardized testing, i'm terrible at it!
basically, what i'm trying to say is, i didn't do well on
my standardized tests.
but, i still got in.
"WHY?", you ask.
for one thing, i had a very, very high GPA.
my GPA was a 4.3.
that was weighted because i took a few AP classes.
but, completely aside from that
i technically was not smart enough to get into this school.
i know for a fact that the only reason why
that i was able to get into this school,
was down to two things;
location and my INSANE essays.
once applications came out, i got wait-listed by a lot of schools.
but UCLA, particular, gives you the opportunity to submit a supplemental essay-
which is basically just like, an extra application that you can fill out.
and, the essay prompt was nothing
it was just like, "tell us about your life. tell us how life has changed in the past four months. just tell us about anything."
i, in particular, had a very, very rough experience.
kind of, the last leg of my senior year.
and, it's something i've never talked about on here before.
and it's something i don't know if i'll really, ever talk about
it's something really personal.
definitely the hardest thing i've ever had to go through in my whole entire life.
and so, i wrote about that in my essay.
and THAT essay, was insane.
and i'm so sure that that's the essay that got me into UCLA.
i KNOW IT, within my soul.
in order to get into a really amazing school,
you have to kind of shock these people
i was fortunate enough to have a very shocking story
-that really caught the attention of these people.
i'm gonna paint my nails blue, by the way.
it's so funny because, you know, our whole lives
of public school, we're always told,
"DO EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING THAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY DO."
"spread yourself out SO thin that you're BARELY making it through all these things
-you're getting A`s in all your classes, but you're NOT a master in anything."
it's something that we're ALWAYS told, it was something we were told our whole entire lives.
but, that's not even true anymore.
of course, it always helps to have good grades.
i would URGE all of you guys who are about to apply to schools,
focus on your grades.
they really do matter.
but, the thing that really gets you into a school
is when you have something that really differentiates you from other students.
that gives you a really specific purpose to get accepted
into a school.
this really only applies to REALLY hard schools to get into, though.
but you have to have something that really shines.
and, i guarentee there is something in each and every one of you
that WILL make you shine.
that will make you THAT perfect student to accept into a school.
you just have to find it!
and it's SO tough,
i totally am with you,
it's a tough thing.
it's kind of hard to explain, but i'm going to use a weird analogy to explain it-
a lot of these biggest schools would much rather
accept the world's best chess player, who has good grades,
not amazing grades, but good grades-
than accept someone who has great grades, all across the board,
but, doesn't really have a massive passion
doesn't really have something that really shines.
i'm the world's bets jump-roper! or something like that.
i don't think that schools would accept you just for jump roping,
but, you kind of like, get- get what i'm saying.
they want a kid who really excels in one thing.
like is AMAZING in art.
or AMAZING at math,
-than have a kid who's just kind of like ehhh, like mid-A grades all accross the board.
but not really, clearly exemplifying some kind of massive passion.
for me, my passion was music,
and i wrote about music in ALL of my essays
i wrote about making videos in all of my essays.
i wrote about my life in all my essays, because i had a pretty rocky childhood.
-and that was enough to my dream school
UCLA was my top choice, and it was basically my only choice.
i did not have incredible, amazing SAT scores.
i just didn't, i'm not good at standardized testing,
and these days, colleges don't really care too much.
it's not like the number one deciding factor when it comes to accepting a kid.
so, if your SAT scores aren't that good,
and if you're not the valedictorian of your highschool, or anything like that
-don't worry!
there's still a very high chance that you can get into an amazing school
you just have to really show the school why YOU specifically
are going to have a very important role, in a college
something that a lot of people don't really know
is that when colleges accept students
location is actually a really important player in this game.
when a college accepts a student,
that student's acceptance is supposed to represent
the entire community that they live in.
meaning, they're not gonna accept like 35 students
from the same small town.
because they don't need to. they need
to accept one student from this town,
one student from a town over there,
because these colleges are trying to
spread their influence.
-and spread their impact as far across
the globe as they possibly can.
so, when i was accepted into UCLA- which i was the
only kid in my school who got accepted-
that i was the representative for
probably the whole entire region of texas,
that i lived in.
at UCLA so far, i only know one
other kid who is close to me,
but, he lives like an hour way from me.
i'm sure there's a few more.
location is a really important player.
and a student who is so much better
than me in every single way possible
but lives in a massive city,
and has a lot more competition
-has a lower chance of getting accepted into
a big school, than i was.
because i was from a small town,
and it was more necessary for the school
to pick me as a representative, than them,
because they have other representatives.
the school has already accepted students
from that town.
i think that the public education system
for the past kind of, fifteen years
has really not given us the
full... story behind college acceptances.
-and you can read up about it.
it's actually mind-blowing, the
way that they rationalize accepting students.
there's so much more that goes into it
than your grades.
there's so much more that goes into it
than your extra-curriculars.
they even predict what your role
in these schools are gonna be.
these major schools wanna accept kids that are a high impact
they wanna accept kids that are going to further the name of their school,
they don't wanna accept a kid who
is going to end up kind of dissipating.
if you are a student right now who has dreams of getting into a massive school,
that is super, super tough to get into,
give it your best, gosh darn shot.
show the school why YOU'RE special,
show the school why you as an individual are going to
change the student population.
everyone on earth is unique,
everyone on earth is special.
and you just have to see it in yourself
you have to see why you're a good student there.
because i guarantee, that all of
you guys have something, that's really going to make you stand out.
of course, get good grades.
that's always- that's always good.
colleges never decline students because
they have too good of grades.
but, with that being said,
i would focus on what makes you a very special student.
because i believe that every single student
is a special student.
you just have to find a way to barter yourself as that
you have to find a way to show these colleges
that you are.
i'm gonna finish painting my nails,
i got this new star glitter
and so i think i'm gonna put them on.
here's the grand reveal.
again, all these things that i'm talking about
with college, there's things that i've learned from
the past year of like really talking to the
student body that got accepted into UCLA.
and, talking to other students who got accepted into other big schools,
i'm not an expert.
i'm not an admissions person.
how would i really know what goes on behind those doors?
but, the more and more that i'm here at this
school, the more i'm realising that the
students that get into these schools
they're unique.
they're unique and they find a way to
show the school that they are,
the ones from small towns and humble
beginnings are a small population of the kids
that get accepted into these schools.
but it's still do-able
and it's SO do-able
and i did it, and i didn't think that i could do it
but i did it, and you could do it! and what's the point
in not at least giving it a shot.
the worst that could happen is you'll get rejected.
but like- you know...
that's alright!
we can deal with a little bit of rejection every once and a while.
*slorp*
that was a little bit of a dark note to end on.
YOU CAN DO THIS
I BELIEVE IN YOU
my heart goes out to everyone applying to colleges
right now. it was very tough.
i was
VERY
T E R I F F I E D
but, everything worked out.
and, if there's anyone who has insight about
their college application process, please!-
-feel free to tell me in the comments below.
because i'm sure that other people who are
applying right now would LOVE a little bit of
insight and a little bit of reassurance,
because the things that we've been told by
highschools is mostly wrong-
-pfft
sorry!
just breaking it to you.
i've been talking for a long time.
i'm going to go,
thank you so much for watching this video
i will see you guys in one week
with a brand new one.
god bless, and goodbye!!!!
and good luck!!!