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CRH on college applications
noenhancedproof
Posts: 17 ✭
Hello, I am going to be a senior in high school this year and I am beginning to fill out applications (U.S.). I have coin roll hunted half dollars with my grandfather for 3-5 hours a week for about 10 years. I also go to my local coins shop bi-weekly and coin show tri-yearly. Has anyone applying to college out coin roll hunting on their college applications? How did you describe it? Is it appropriate to put it as an extracurricular activity? Is there any other coin-related activities you put on your college application? Thanks!
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I think I put coin collecting in the hobbies section. It’s been awhile, though.
Written any articles or papers on the subject? Any service projects revolving around coins? Those might be good on the app.
Where are you applying?
Good luck!
My opinion I would not put anything like that on the application. However, if you wanted to put something like 10 Years of Numismatic Study on there, I could get behind that. It's all in the wording.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
You could also discuss how you are a student of history and one of the way that manifests is through nuimismatic pursuits and spin it that way. Anything positive AND different sticks in the acceptance boards heads. They will review a ton of varsity letter athletes...how many apps who talk numismatic study?
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I never used it when I applied but that was long ago sadly. Numismatics in general might be worth mentioning in passing to show you’re not unidimensional, but make sure you have a lot of other stuff including leadership positions. Also don’t fret too much or stress. For most jobs it matters more that you went to college than where you went.
If you include coins, I would group coins shows, coin research, reading, and roll searching all together. For a caption, describe yourself as an avid amateur numismatist specializing in __. If you have an interview (some schools offered interviews back when I applied and a few schools may still do so) will bring up interesting factoids from your application to start
You may apply to some colleges that require essays. I could see the shared experience with your grandfather as being a springboard subject for an essay that might be appropriate. I would focus it more on how through sharing time and developing interests together you came to appreciate him as a person and a mentor. You could then add how it opened up to you insight into how those who have gone before have so much to offer and you are looking forward to gleaning similar wisdom from the professors at their college.
After all those people reading the essays are likely going to be members of those under appreciated older generations themselves.
If you go to an interview, keep a couple of interesting pocket pieces to show them, but only if they bring it up. That sort of thing they wouldn’t forget. A 3-cent nickel or Morgan dollar would stick with them...... that sort of thing.
I've interviewed students for college. Typical activities that have impressed me include:
If you mention coin collecting, it should be more than about accumulating objects. You should tie it to something like history, art, monetary policy, business, personal growth, etc.
If you have time, it would be great to write an article for a journal like the ANS Magazine.
Ask your Grandfather what to do. After thousands of hours over 10 years of looking through half dollar rolls with him it would seem that he could offer the best advise.
Like @1northcoin indicated, to me the most interesting part of your post was not the numismatic part, nor the college application part, but hearing about the quality time you and your grandfather have spent together. This is absolutely precious, and it’s phenomenal that you have this opportunity. It sounds like your grandfather is young enough that he’ll be around for many more decades, but this time you’re spending together is something you’ll remember warmly for the rest of your life. But it’s not a one way thing. As a grandfather of two myself, believe me when I say that he’s truly enjoying every moment of this as well.
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Maybe because he might get some good ideas his grandfather wouldn't think of?
@noenhancedproof What subject matter do you plan to study?
I personally wouldn’t divulge any information in regards to your hobby. In today’s world it’s too risky to let anyone know you collect coins or have an interest in numismatics or hold anything of any value.
If the college or your degree pertains to numismatics than it would be pertinent to document your knowledge.
If your going for a biology degree I would just mention I have an interest in numismatics.
Think safe!
@ShaunBC5 I achieved 3rd place in an ANA YN essay contest which I‘ve been considering mentioning. Also, I’ve been looking for more places/contests to submit more numismatic essays which I have written.
Right now I’m planning on applying to...brace yourself...UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Irvine, CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly SLO, Cal Poly Pomona, SDSU, CSU San Marcos, UPenn, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and Harvard.
@Zoins I’m planning on majoring in biology (premed).
I greatly appreciate everyone’s diverse thoughts. They are helping me a lot.
The essay contest should absolutely be mentioned as it shows a skill that is truly valued (I.e. writing ability). I would tie the rest into it. @BryceM has a good idea for interviews.
I applied and interviewed with both Harvard and Yale, and both picked up on quirky things to ask me about during the interview. Both use alumni interviewers. Some are college alumni while others went to grad school there. In other words it is a diverse bunch, and they will look for something to engage with you. One of mine even did some research into bacteriophages given my professed love of biology. If you could connect writing, history, and art in with coins as others have suggested, it may make you stand apart in a good way and you might pique the interest of someone that you may very well have nothing in common with.
P.S. If you go the pre-med route, college GPA is important and matters more than the name of your school to most medical schools. Choose the school with the most grade inflation if there isn’t a huge difference in tier ranking. Berkeley, Princeton, and Pomona (and maybe UCLA) are going to have less grade inflation than Harvard and Yale for instance. Shop around. Do not fall into the trap of relying on data they give you at open houses that XY% (really high number) get into medical school as most are weeded out before that point. Some schools even restrict letters of recommendation including committee letters to artificially control the size of the applicant pool to inflate that percentage. The same trends also apply to other professional programs (especially law), but they tend to be a bit less cut throat. Good luck!
For coins, it could be interesting to have a discussion on foreign coins in colonial America to the gold / silver standards, fiat currency, Tether cryptocurrency (tied to US Dollar) and Bitcoin.
I would not put anything on an application about collecting coins. Some college admission offices may perceive numismatics as an elitist hobby and that’s not what schools are looking for today. I don’t see how coin collecting is going to enhance your application.
There are some Ivy League schools on his list. Coin roll hunting/numismatics sounds a lot less elitist than regatta which is probably not uncommon in that applicant pool.
I don’t think the California schools are looking for coin collectors.
@cameonut2011 I forgot to mention that if I got in and decided to go to one of the Ivies or Stanford that I plan to major in finance.
If I went to one of those schools for pre med and then to medical school I would end up with an insanely high amount of debt that I don’t want to incur.
I’ve also been trying to determine what the best UC for me to go is for pre med because I don’t necessarily want to go to one of the top tier UCs like Berkeley or LA and have a low GPA as a result.
Your insight is very helpful.
As a former Cal student from only a few years ago, I would 100% agree with this statement. Although I was a Computer Science major with no intentions of going to medical school, this statement applies generally to graduate school as a whole. Most of the people I know who are in graduate / medical school at Stanford/Cal did not attend top name universities, although if you can hang and get top marks at a top university your prospects only go up from there.
Also I did mention coins on my college applications, specifically attending Summer Seminar as well as a bit of research I had done as a part of the hobby. Just a general overview of what I was passionate about outside of school and athletics, and why. I can't recall if I was ever asked about it during any of my university interviews.
Just curious, would you actually be interested in attending the CSU's? It seems like you are already applying for the gambit of UC's, and I would think that even the lower tier UC's would be ultimately better for your graduate school prospects compared with the CSU's (not including Cal Poly SLO). I'm no guidance counselor though, so I could be completely off-base on that
I was in a similar situation as you. I was pre-med and applied to 15+ schools including UCs, Ivies and Stanford.
One thing I did differently is that a number of my schools were combined bachelor's / MD programs where you are accepted to medical school at the same time you are accepted to a bachelor's program. These range from 6-8 years total with 6 years cutting 2 full years off. Some programs have full scholarships as well. I received a full-ride to one of these programs but money wasn't an issue at the time so I chose to to attend a 4 year undergrad where I ended up getting finance and CS degrees and not going to medical school.
Here are some programs, but more exist out there:
Undergrad degrees are a bit flexible. While they list some, I've known people to choose others.
@stealer Can you elaborate on the research that you did? Did you do it by yourself?
The CSUs are my safety schools(schools that I can fall back on if I get rejected from all of the UCs + Stanford + the Ivies). I believe I am guaranteed admission to them based on my stats (3.8UW, 4.5W, 34 ACT. My stats are pretty strong, I am just trying to ensure that I have enough strong extracurriculars to complement my stats.
Thank you for your advice + experience. Congrats on studying CS and graduating from Cal! That’s an enormous accomplishment.
@Zoins Which undergrad institution did you end up going to, if you feel comfortable sharing? It would be nice to be able to fall back on finance if I decide not to continue with premed. I will definetly look into those 6-8 year programs.
I ended up going to one of the Ivys with a good reputation in finance, but you should decide what you want to do with a finance degree. It's a very different path from medicine and I wouldn't pick one for the money.
The 6-8 year programs really let you relax a bit as there is less GPA pressure.
I have to ask, Pre-Med vrs. Finance are almost polar opposites in a choice for a career. Which do you really want to do as that is a big decision.
I started out school at Ga. Tech eyeing a degree in Mechanical Engineering. It didn't take me too long to realize I would not be happy with that type of career. I ended up at UGA studying Geology.
@noenhancedproof ....There are good suggestions offered above. As long as you have the time, you may also want to talk to some people who have gone the med course (i.e. doctors) or the finance route....Today, engineers are in demand and business majors have also done well. Let us know your decision and certainly stay an active forum member. Good luck, Cheers, RickO
Not necessarily a problem. I started out as a Bio Major for Pre-Med, but couldn't get in to Med School. After the Bachelor's degree, I worked doing Basic Research at The Rockefeller University in NYC. Then went to Consumer Reports Magazine working in the Foods Deaprtment, and got my Master's Degree in Nutrition. After writing many of the Food articles for the magazine for over a decade, I realized I was doing a lot more reading (and enjoying) Finance instead of Nutrition. So i got my Certified Financial Planner designation in 1986, and that brings us to the present. Yes, they're different, but do what you like. The rules of the game allow you to change your mind!
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Go to med school if you want, but only if there isn’t a different way to be happy. Not kidding. I got absolutely, hopelessly hooked on surgery after a relative of mine snuck me into the OR to watch. The toll on your time, family, and health should not be understated or ignored. Paperwork, government interference, & legal nonsense have taken away much of the joy from the field. If making money is the prime motivator, there are LOTS of easier & better ways to do that.
Your stats are solid, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting accepted at many (if not all) of your choices as long as your extracurriculars are decent. The essay placement shows you can write, which is super important.
Life plans at your age are great. I had the same ones (Vandy med, accepted) and ended up on a different path (Oklahoma finance, graduated Supply Chain Management and then a directional school MBA pd for by work).
Do everything you can now as to give yourself as many good options later. You’re on the right path and will be able to make the right choices along the way.
Also - talk to doctors, young and old. That really helped me evaluate how I wanted to handle my educational/career path. It’s got to work for you.
@noenhancedproof I am a tenured professor at the University of Florida (UF) and serve on our admission committee. Your ACT score is great. I expect the various colleges will have different ways of weighting your GPA but, assuming you have taken a goodly number of AP and IB courses (also some honors and maybe dual enrollment), it should also be very high. What we at UF look for on an application is evidence of an extensive extra-curriculars. Everyone seriously considered for acceptance at the UF already has very high test scores and HS GPAs, so often it is other factors--overcoming obstacles, remarkable extra-curricular activities--that make a difference between who is accepted and who is not.
As an undergraduate, I went to Cal State Hayward, now known as Cal State East Bay. Even though I got into a very good graduate program, I think going to a CSU school has significantly handicapped me for all my career. My peer group, ie, the other undergraduate students, was very weak as were the courses. Given your qualifications, I would not apply to any CSU or, if I did as a safety school, I would pick only one. Save the application money (and put it toward coins
).
I differ with the posts that suggest going to a slightly weaker school. It is my experience that even though the UF is a very strong university, our best undergraduates who want to go to graduate programs find it quite difficult to get into the top 10. Because I think you want to go to the best medical school (or whatever post-graduate path/school you ultimately decide to pursue) I urge you to go to the best university that accepts you and that you can afford.
Also keep in mind that most students change their majors and life goals in college. I know I did. So, be certain that you remain open to changes. In part, college is the time to decide what you want to do with your life though, as @winesteven 's post shows, even post college you can still make major changes!
This. A drowsy interviewer is an easy interviewer.
This post reminds me of how many of us work in higher ed....too funny. I don't divulge personal/professional details here, but my advice is to be mindful of tuition costs relative to employment prospects. Far too many students graduate with an obscene amount of debt. In terms of the value of the school brand, there is Harvard and MIT, and then everyone else. Unless we're talking a "true" top school as recognized by industry, the name is virtually irrelevant. Advertised rankings are mostly nonsense. They are more a function of reporting and evolving methodologies than actual performance.
I would definitely refer to your numismatic writing award and interest as a brief summary of personal interests/hobbies. Good luck with the process.
I did 2 years at a small college, transferred to a nationally recognized university, got a degree in civil/structural engineering, went to med school, did internship at Dartmouth and did residency at UMass. I have never viewed small beginnings as a handicap.
I got out of med school with six-figure student debt. No big deal - it’s easy to pay off as a surgeon, right? WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!!! If I had gotten sick, lost licensure, been injured, or the economy massively shifted I would have been in huge trouble. Luckily, it eventually worked out but it’s a risky way to live.
It took me roughly 20 years to pay off and it was deeply painful every step of the way. It’s a real ball and chain when you’re starting a family, building a career, buying a home (all of which consume tons of cash), and setting out on life. Stay away from debt at all costs, even if it means a different path. Instead of focusing on grades or degrees, focus on actually obtaining knowledge - that’s the real value. Learn how to learn and learn how to solve problems.
Don’t get me wrong, my current job is enormously satisfying, but enormously frustrating at the same time. Find something you love and be great at it.
Having graduated from college a year ago, the only numismatic activities I added to my applications were about leadership positions in different organizations and the volunteering I did in them- ie running the YN Program, etc. Roll hunting is not something I'd add to a college application imho.
Andrew Blinkiewicz-Heritage
Don't know you and haven't spoken. If you have AT THIS POINT a... "calling" ....then research the school/S and get ready to wow them.
If you don't have a "calling" then get a degree at the easiest school you can find and head for civil service.
Civil Service will provide a lifetime income with benefits and no need to save or invest. But as a civil service person, YOU can invest (or have a "side" business) to your heart's content.
Without concern.
If, at a later date you wish to find opportunity in the private sector, you'll have -a- degree and a work history.
Dissatisfaction among doctors continues to rise every year. 20 years ago 75% of doctors were solo or worked in small groups and today it is the complete opposite. Doctors have less autonomy today. A significant number of doctors working for big groups are unhappy. The present trend of more government involvement in medicine doesn’t bode well for most doctors. Only go into medicine if it’s something that you really want to do.
Can you grade, authenticate, attribute and/or conserve? Even if you can only grade and authenticate - skip college. I did, and was making well into the 6 figures within 2-3 years of starting in the field. The industry is desperate for honest young ppl with keen eyes.
"He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.
When goods increase, they increase who eat them -- so what profit have the owners, except to see them with their eyes?"
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."
"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me."
http://www.youtube.com/user/alohabibleprophecy/videos
Good for you. Becoming a doc is tough.
These schools to me aren't as highly rated as the others: CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, Cal Poly SLO, Cal Poly Pomona, SDSU, and CSU San Marcos. That may determine which med school you eventually get into.
Prepare to party if you go to UC Santa Barbara.
After you graduate from high school take a year or two off from formal education. Get a job. Maybe be a cross country truck driver. That's what I did. I graduated from a University but the best education I ever received was traveling and meeting people. My university degree is in history with a minor in electrical engineering. The students at school and the faculty were for the most part o.k., but rather narrow minded in my opinion and they had a very limited grasp of the real world. As in NONE AT ALL.
I found the conversations with people at truck stops, diners, and with loading dock workers to be much more interesting, intelligent, and insightful than what passes for conversation with the student and faculty lounge set. School is nice. But as someone once said, "Don't let it get in the way of your education."
If I remember correctly it was research that I did to catalog and identify all of the dies for 1876 S T$ 2/2. I don't know if anyone ever cared as much as I did, but it was fun (and clearly I was/am very into T$s). I think I added all of it as my supplementary material, and also wrote an essay on how I got into coins and why it's important to me.
To a degree I can understand what @Mark is saying with the lower tier schools, but I would also warn that, specifically w.r.t. Cal, it is very difficult to get into grad school from here unless you know from Day 1 that is your end goal. I say this because:
1) It is extremely difficult to get to know professors. Even a special topics graduate course in CS that I took had 100 undergrads and 60 Master's/PhDs. Needless to say, the professor had no idea who any of us save the PhDs
2) It is extremely difficult to get into a research program with a professor. Again, I entered one after cold emailing 30+ professors and PhD students and the professor I ended up with didn't even know his Master's students by name. (YMMV by degree). I had many friends at smaller universities where CS professors were literally begging and bending over backwards to have undergraduates help with research work.
I would say that good professor to student ratio is very important, although name recognition after having graduated from Cal has been nothing but a plus in this industry (for better or worse).
To each their own. I had the opportunity to test grade with PCGS at the end of high school (never got the chance to follow through / who knows if I would have made it) but I am also very happy with where I ended up. I love coins, but I always felt that I wanted to keep it as a hobby.
I believe it is tough to be a surgeon, but at least your patients are unconscious for the most prolonged period of contact. Many other professions and top paying jobs would envy that. At least there is some mild relief albeit it is sadly not financial.
@cameonut2011
PM sent.
WTF?
That was meant in a totally non-creepy way.
Okay.
What you said comes across in a very derogatory way to anyone who practices medicine regardless of what their specialty is.
If you can't get into a US medical school and are determined, a Caribbean medical school may be the ticket.
I know the son of a US doctor who wanted to go into medicine but couldn't get into a US medical school. He went to school in the Caribbean and then got a US residency.
St. George's University in Grenada, West Indies advertises the following:
https://www.sgu.edu/md/discover/
US News and World Report has an article on these schools:
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/articles/what-to-know-about-caribbean-medical-schools
I think @BryceM understood my intent. It wasn’t a commentary on doctors or the profession. It was a joke about how difficult dealing with the general public can be at times.
My daughter played it extra safe in that respect by becoming a paleontologist.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars