Name - Department Of Mathematics, University Of Utah: Fill & Download for Free

High-end racing games such as Forza Motorsports requires an insane level of details for the cars. So the actual racing car is scanned carefully by tons of modern equipments to create a super detailed model with the accuracy at mm-level. It's very impressive.But who does it better? A professional team with laser and cameras or a group of student with yardsticks ?The scanning work was done manually with yardsticks by students from University of Utah in 1970s. One of them invented the badass Phong shading method to render this VW bug correctly. Who is he ?1. Computer Graphics in 70sUSA, 1968, Ivan Sutherland has just created the first Virtual Reality system in the World (The sword of Damocles) while being an Associate Professor at Harvard University. The optical see-through head-mounted display used in Sutherland's VR system was a stock item used by U.S. military helicopter pilots, to view the cameras mounted on the helicopter's belly.Realized the potential of CGI, Department of Defense funded 5M$ to the 3-years-old Computer Science department of the University of Utah led by David Evans. David talked to Ivan about the challenges and Ivan joined him in teaching Computer Graphics in U of U.The powerful resources at Utah were instrumental in attracting the very best faculty, students and collaborators to work with David Evans and Ivan Sutherland, They scoured the research community to attract the best talent among the skill sets required. From MIT, they recruited engineering and signal processing talents. From Ecole Polytechnique and other universities in France, they attracted the mathematical talent of students, and one of them is Bui Tuong Phong (Bùi Tường Phong).Before Phong, Henri Gouraud went to the University of Utah and has just achieved a big step in rendering the curved surface. His method is well-known with the name of Gouraud shading. This method produces much more realistic image than any other methods existed at that time. But very soon, Phong would surprise us.2. The VW bug1972, Sutherland challenged a group of his students to choose something iconic to realistically render. They selected the Volkswagen Beetle - as a symbol of global culture, because it was large enough to measure as a group, and because Ivan’s wife, Marsha, owned one.The rendering method was a points and polygon description. Each auto part shared a set of points and lines that were painted on the surface of the Beetle to describe a set of mostly flat polygons. The Beetle was assumed to have left to right symmetry so they measured only half of the car.A volleyball stanchion and joints in the pavement formed a 3-dimensional reference system. They used yardsticks to measure the x, y, and z coordinates of the painted points on the car surface. Jim Clark and Robert McDermott were taller so they arranged to have the higher points of the car. Bui Tuong Phong and Raphael Rom were shorter so they measured the lower sections.The process was slow and tedious, taking many class sessions to complete. Marsha was a wonderful sport as she drove the car around town festooned with their markings.After each measurement session, they entered by hand the lists of point coordinates into text data files. The lists of polygons were also entered as lists of integer indices referencing the sets of points. Since a vertex could be shared across the nearby polygons, this smart way of describing model is still used nowadays in the most high-end systems.3. Phong shadingThe model of the VW bug was ready, the next step is rendering. A 3D model needs a shading method to calculate the color for each pixel on its surface to express the depth and space.At that time, there're only 2 reasonable choices which are the Flat shading method and the Gouraud shading method.In the Flat shading method, each polygon has a Normal vector. And the Normal vector is used to calculate the diffuse color for every pixels in that polygons.Then, the transition from polygon to polygon is discrete and is easy to be spot by naked eyes. As suggested by its name, this method is not ideal for rendering curved surface like the VW bug.In the Gouraud shading method, each vertex has a separated Normal vector, so it could store the calculated vertex color.The color for each pixel in a polygon is just the result of a quick linear interpolation between vertex colors. This method produces much more realistic image since the transition between polygons is smoother, thanks to the interpolation.However, it's not perfect. Bui Tuong Phong found out that the specular highlights are often inappropriately shaped, since they depend upon the disposition and shape of the polygons. Moreover, the shading of a surface in motion has annoying discontinuities due to the changing orientation of the polygons describing the surface.Then he decided to create his own shading method to eliminate those issues.Firstly, he invented the technique of Phong interpolation, allowing approximation of Normal vector for every position on the surface. He did that by interpolating the Normal vectors of the vertices forming the polygon.Secondly, he created a lighting model to simulate the interaction of the light with the surface. This is later called Phong reflection model. This is a simple way to explain t\his Math model:Consider a light ray hitting the surface at a point, we will look at the angle between the light direction and the normal vector at that position. Smaller angle means the Normal vector direction is close to the light direction, so the contact point on the surface receives a lot of light, and it should be bright. On the other hand, bigger angle means darker diffuse color.Don't stop at that. When the light ray bounces off the surface, the reflection angle is equal to the incident angle. If the reflected light ray hits the viewer's eye or the camera, the contact point should have a very bright specular highlight. That's why we should consider the angle between the reflected light ray and the view direction. Similar to the diffuse color, smaller angle means brighter specular color. Phong reflection model is the first one in the World describing the specular phenomenon.Finally, he combined Phong interpolation with his own reflection model to create a brand new shading method which produces much more realistic image than Gouraud shading. His Ph.D. dissertation about this method was published in 1973.His shading method was named after him: Phong shading. This new method became a new de facto baseline for rendering 3D models. It is widely used until today along with its variants. Next time seeing Phong-something in a 3D software, your heart knows that is the result of this masterpiece from Bui Tuong Phong.Notes: 'Shading method' is used because the term 'shader' was not available in 15 years after this event.4. A shock for CG communityPhong shading is much better than Gouraud shading in describing the curved surface, especially the stable specular highlights. But it also requires more computational works since you need to apply the reflection model for each pixel. You have to make a trade off between realistic rendering and the performance.Phong interpolation suggested that each pixel could have its own Normal vector somehow. This concept might be the inspiration for some advanced techniques like Bump Mapping and Normal Mapping. Jim Blinn, the creator of these techniques, is also the one improved Phong shading to reduce the computational works. The new and improved method, is named after both of them, which is Blinn-Phong. This used to be the default lighting model for many modern 3D softwares like 3DS Max, Maya, Blender or Unity. If you know what Jim Blinn did to improve Phong shading, or you have the same question, leave a comment below.After receiving his Ph.D., Bui Tuong Phong was asked to be a tenure at the University of Utah. Two years later, Stanford University invited him to be a professor there. At his peak, he died in 1975, when he's just 33 years old.Bui Tuong Phong took only 1 year to finish his Ph.D. dissertation, much faster than other students. Because he knew he got leukemia and didn't have much time left.His death is a big loss. According to Professor Ivan Sutherland and Phong's friends, Phong was intelligent, affable and modest.5. Phong's legacyPhong shading is honored in the History page of the University of Utah. He even appears in the list of 25 most influenced persons from the beginning of the Department until now, though he worked there for only 3 years.Many said that without Phong shading, Computer Graphics would be very different, some important softwares might not even exist. This might be true since he influenced many students in the University of Utah while he's there, more or less.Jim Clark, the tall guy measuring the VW bug roof, is the founder of Sillicon Graphics. OpenGL is developed by this great company.John Warnock, the creator of Flat shading, is the founder of Adobe, which develops famous softwares like Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects.Ed Catmull, the President of both Disney and Pixar Animations Studio.6. A mysterious manHe's influenced and inspired many CG researchers to contribute to the world we know today. But his information was very limited, most of his works were only recorded when he went to the US. This is what we know about him:Phong was born in 1942 in Hanoi. After attending the Lycée Albert Sarraut there, he moved with his family to Saigon in 1954, where he attended the Lycée Jean Jacques Rousseau.He went to France in 1964 and was admitted to the Grenoble Institute of Technology, which is an elite education institute with high admission requirements. He received his Licence ès Sciences (Bachelor of Science) from Grenoble in 1966.He continued to study about Engineering at ENSEEIHT, a top ranking French public engineering school with insane competitiveness, located in Toulouse. He received his Diplôme d'Ingénieur (Master of Engineer) here in 1968.After that, he joined the Institut de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (then IRIA) as a researcher in Computer Science, working in the development of operating systems for digital computers, while most of the humans on the Earth have no clue what a computer or a software is.In 1971, he heard about Ivan's class of Computer Graphics from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. He's attracted to this new area and went to the University of Utah.The rest is history.7. ReferencesBui Tuong Phong's Ph.D. dissertation: Illumination for Computer Generated Images (1973)Bui Tuong Phong's paper: Illumination for Computer Generated Pictures (1975)Robert remembersThe First Real Object Ever 3D Scanned And Rendered Was A VW BeetleIconic models in CGGraphics History - University of UtahUniversity of Utah's archiveIvan Sutherland's SketchpadSketchpad demo by Alan KaySOURCE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/47751073

Well ... they did of course "do" Benghazi; if anyone's governing philosophy can be blamed for insufficient embassy/consulate/state department employee protection it can only be the conservative governing philosophy to blame. I'll explain this both with math and with the fundamental rhetoric and theory behind the situation.Let's see, starting in the 80's there began a policy of out-sourcing government responsibilities to subcontractors on the conservative theory that market competition would reduce cost and increase quality. It was an application of the philosophy that "Government needs to be run more like a business", while the modern Democrat centrist-right/moderate wing has gone along with a lot of that out of political expediency in the intervening years since Reagan, the Genesis of the program change was and is of course the conservative political movement. I don't expect a lot of argument on this point, it's one they still use as a positive argument.Has it been effective? well aside from Benghazi and outsourcing security in foreign countries, it's been shown to be a waste of money in general; aside from the real reduction in monetary support willing to be paid by the conservative right congress in the time period preceding Benghazi.There's two problems then, a drive to reduce expenditures (not necessarily bad in and of itself), but it ended up actually costing more and providing less, and led to not just outsourcing to American contractors who cost a lot more than keeping those functions in-house (done by our military); but it was not just outsourcing from public to private, but even further to "off-shoring" (another misplaced business concept when it comes to governance), and as Benghazi has proved, off-shoring vital military responsibilities to who? Libyan private security contractors? What? Who? A bunch of Libyan street thugs with weapons who were hired to defend our "consulate", our diplomatic mission. Yes most times the foreign country is responsible for diplomatic security ... that would be fine in England, or Germany, or even Russia ... but Libya? Really? In the middle of a revolution/regime change (describe it any way you want to, a failed state at the time). It wasn't the Libyan government protecting our diplomatic mission, it was a group of hired guns that disappeared hours before the attack. Monetary savings aside ... is it really a better deal, was it really a cost savings? Or did we pay for nothing, not only was it a waste of money to treat this function of government like a business, it cost lives as well, it was a failure on both fronts.The Heritage foundation has of course claimed that the math doesn't support the claim that funding was cut, they of course are wrong as always for the exact same reason they've been wrong about everything involving math since their formation in the 70's; they haven't adjusted for inflation in their numbers. They never do, it's why they don't seem to understand how much money Reagan borrowed, or why George W. Bush's tax cuts didn't pay off the debt like they thought it would, or why the Laffer curve doesn't mean what they argue it means, although they seem to not even understand their own theory in respect to the Laffer curve.Let's look at some documentation on these subjects. Here's some quotes and links to a much wider ranging report on comparative costs of outsourcing government jobs ...First off, let's take a quick glance at the overall effectiveness and the incredibly huge amount of money we've saved by following this conservative "business techniques/market forces at work" ... remember this is the amount we can credit to those great conservative thinkers when it comes to the balance sheet of the country ...The result of POGO’s analysis was shocking. In 94 percent (33 of the 35) of the occupational series POGO analyzed, the average annual contractor billing rate was much more than the average annual full compensation for federal employees: on average, contractors may be billing the government approximately 1.83 times what the government pays federal employees to perform similar work.[76] When the average annual contractor billing rates were compared with the average annual full compensation paid to private sector employees in the open market, POGO found that in all occupational classifications studied, the contractor billing rates were, on average, more than twice the costs incurred by private sector employers for the same services. The most egregious example of an outsourced occupational classification that resulted in excessive costs rather than cost savings is claims assistance and examining—administrative support positions that involve examining, reviewing, developing, adjusting, reconsidering, or recommending authorization of claims by or against the federal government. To provide these services, on average, federal employees are fully compensated at $57,292 per year, private sector employees are fully compensated at $75,637 per year, and the average annual contractor billing rate is $276,598 per year. POGO found the government may therefore be paying contractors, on average, nearly 5 times what it pays government employees to perform the same services.[77] Put another way, the government may be paying the contractor providing support services for claims assistance and examining more than it does federal judges or administrative law judges, who earn less than $200,000 per year.[78] Contractors may be billing the government, on average, approximately 3.66 times what private sector employees are compensated for performing similar services. - See more at: Bad Business: Billions of Taxpayer Dollars Wasted on Hiring ContractorsSurprise, Surprise! It's been wasting a huge amount of money, we spent 1.78X what it would have cost us to have kept this in-house and pay for our own guys to do this ... but what about when it comes to security specifically?Security Work Abroad On point with POGO’s investigative approach are reports issued by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)[111] and the Government Accountability Office (GAO)[112] analyzing the cost of outsourcing services related to work in Iraq.The CBO examined contract expenditures in Iraq between 2003 and 2007. They estimated that the government awarded $85 billion in contracts during that period, of which between $6 billion and $10 billion went to private security contractors (PSCs).[113] The only occupation CBO reported was for PSCs, and it found that “the costs of a private security contract are comparable with those of a U.S. military unit performing similar functions.”[114] The CBO analyzed available information on a $332 million security contract between Blackwater and the Department of State for the one-year period beginning in June 2004.[115] The contract award total for that one-year period was $98.5 million. CBO estimated the government’s cost for military security to be $88.2 million (POGO assumes for the same one-year period, although CBO did not specify). The analysis attributed 37 percent of those estimated military costs, or $32.8 million,[116] to placing a certain number of military personnel stateside to rotate into action should hostilities extend beyond a set period of time. Given that the period of time for which the comparison was made was limited to one year, POGO finds no logical basis for including the cost of maintaining a rotational military force. The appropriate cost estimate for using military personnel for that one-year period would therefore have been the $55.4 million CBO estimated for deployed units.[117] Comparing the government’s $55.4 million cost for deployed units with the $98.5 million for the Blackwater contract shows the government had to pay 1.78 times more for outsourcing these security guard functions, rather than the parity finding asserted in the CBO report.[118] Even when the $32.8 million cost for stateside rotational military personnel is included, CBO cost estimates support POGO’s findings of lost savings when outsourcing services: military plus rotational costs were $88.2 million, and Blackwater’s costs were $98.5 million.[119] For another study, the GAO was charged with conducting a cost analysis of security services provided by contractors and government employees for both the Defense and State Departments during contingency operations in Iraq, and in 2010 released its findings.[120] GAO’s analysis was limited to State Department contracts because DoD was unable to provide data.[121] The analysis was further limited by the fact that State could not provide data on the administrative costs associated with procuring and managing security contracts.[122] GAO studied one contract for Baghdad embassy security and four distinct task orders under the Worldwide Personal Protective Services II contract. The obligations under the Baghdad Embassy contract and the Worldwide task orders totaled $643.6 million annually.[123] The cost analysis focused on the major quantifiable cost components such as salary, benefits, overseas costs, training, recruitment, background screenings, and support.[124] GAO’s cost analysis showed that contractors performed for less cost on the Baghdad Embassy contract as well as on three of the four task orders, saving an estimated $872 million for taxpayers.[125] The fourth task order showed that the use of federal rather than contractor employees would have saved the government nearly $141 million.[126] The results of this study highlight the importance of conducting cost analyses on a contract-by-contract basis prior to award in order to create a realistic baseline for either awarding a service contract or performing the work in-house to achieve cost savings. In addition to these studies, warnings concerning the blanket claim of outsourcing savings have come from a senior government official. Based on his role and experience on the ground as commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal stated that “the use of contractors was done with good intentions…we thought we could save money….I think it doesn’t save money. I actually think it would be better to reduce the number of contractors involved, increase the number of military if necessary, and where we have contractors, in many cases, I believe we could stop using foreign contractors and use a greater number of Afghan contractors.”[127] - See more at: Bad Business: Billions of Taxpayer Dollars Wasted on Hiring ContractorsSo it didn't save us money ... so what? I mean you have to have priorities right?Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) acknowledged on Wednesday that House Republicans had consciously voted to reduce the funds allocated to the State Department for embassy security since winning the majority in 2010.On Wednesday morning, CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien asked the Utah Republican if he had “voted to cut the funding for embassy security.”“Absolutely,” Chaffetz said. “Look we have to make priorities and choices in this country. We have…15,000 contractors in Iraq. We have more than 6,000 contractors, a private army there, for President Obama, in Baghdad. And we’re talking about can we get two dozen or so people into Libya to help protect our forces. When you’re in tough economic times, you have to make difficult choices. You have to prioritize things.”So apparently spending 1.78X the money necessary to use private contractors instead of our own military was a priority (just the mentioned Blackwater contract was $332 million) and that means cutting back on actual security because you can't get as much when it costs more.For the past two years, House Republicans have continued to deprioritize the security forces protecting State Department personnel around the world. In fiscal year 2011, lawmakers shaved $128 million off of the administration’s request for embassy security funding. House Republicans drained off even more funds in fiscal year 2012 — cutting back on the department’s request by $331 million. Jason Chaffetz Admits House GOP Cut Funding For Embassy Security: 'You Have To Prioritize Things'Of course that's the Huffington post, such a liberal source, so let's get some other sources ... Ok, here's the hill (read the whole story), but I'm just sourcing numbers below ... there has to be some logical counter argument supporting the conservatives.Democrats enacted $1.803 billion for embassy security, construction and maintenance for fiscal 2010, when they still controlled the Senate and House. After Republicans took control of the House and picked up six Senate seats, Congress reduced the enacted budget to $1.616 billion in fiscal 2011, and to $1.537 billion for 2012.GOP cuts to embassy security draw scrutiny, jabs from DemocratsOK here comes the Heritage Foundation doing some arithmetic ... look out!According to the fiscal year (FY) 2013 Congressional Budget Justification Department of State Operations (p. 11), overall funding for those programs has increased sharply over the past decade. Indeed, Worldwide Security Protection is more than double what it was a decade ago. Despite reductions from budget peaks in FY 2009 and FY 2010, both budget lines are higher than in FY 2008. (continues below chart)Comparing FY 2011 actual funding versus the FY 2012 estimate, there appears to be a reduction in Worldwide Security Protection and Embassy Security, Construction and Maintenance. But that reduction does not account for additional funding in FY 2012 from Overseas Contingency Operations funds amounting to $236 million for Worldwide Security Protection (p. 63) and $33 million for Embassy Security, Construction and Maintenance (p. 467). As a result, total funds for Worldwide Security Protection for FY 2012 are estimated to be $94 million higher than in FY 2011, while Embassy Security, Construction and Maintenance is estimated to be $61 million less than FY 2011. Together, there is a net increase.In terms of people, the budget justification reported that Worldwide Security Protection had slightly fewer positions budgeted (1,777 in FY 2011 versus 1,707 in FY 2012) and Embassy Security, Construction and Maintenance had the same number of positions budgeted (1,014 for both years).In its budget request for FY 2013, the Administration requested significantly more funding for embassy security—mostly through the Overseas Contingency Operations budget—but retained the same number of positions, apparently on the assumption that security staffing was adequate. Regardless, that budget, even if approved in its entirety, would have entered into effect after the events in Libya.Brett Schaefer - Brett D. Schaefer is the Jay Kingham fellow in International Regulatory Affairs at The Heritage Foundation.Libya Security Lapse: The Budget for Embassy Security Is Not ResponsibleSo did we really spend more, not less? well, since 2004 yes of course, we had two wars on, but only republicans are allowed to spend more on defense, they only force cutting security costs when it's Democrat in office they can blame the effects on, but the last couple of years before Benghazi of course not, because as is always the case the Heritage foundation being the "True Conservatives" they are, didn't adjust for inflation, they never do, even when inflation is the main thing they have railed against and complained about since the 70's when they were formed, but even in 1980 when inflation was ~12% they didn't adjust for it ... adjusting for inflation has a different name in conservative circles ... it's called "Washington Math", it's characterized as "Make-Believe" silliness. Liberals, moderates and moderate conservatives call it 5th grade pre-algebra because that's what it is, it's advanced fractions ... (percentages, ratios, proportionality), it's what conservatives parents are afraid their kids will understand and be corrupted with by those liberal college professors at universities. You know, like when a conservative mother sees her older bigger child scooching forward on a teeter-totter to change the point of balance by adjusting the ratio of it's position relative to the different amount of weight between the large and small child ... she yells no ... no !!! get off that teeter-totter !!! you quit using "Washington Math" right now before your Father sees you and gives you a whippun!!!So if we adjust for the higher costs of goods and services, acknowledge what that dollar is actually worth and how much it can purchase, we'll see it has in fact gone down, even with the Overseas Contingency Operations budget increase.For example, to buy the same amount of goods or services as 1,803 million (1.803 billion) in 2010 it would cost $1,900 million (1.9 billion) in 2012, that portion was cut to an actual 1,537 million (1.537 billion) in 2012. But wait ... there's an increase when you take the Overseas Contingency Budget into consideration ... that's a listed increase of 266 million added to that 1.537 billion! it equals 1.799 billion ... that's not a 33 million of a difference ... it's not a net increase at all, it's 4 million less ... but it's really a bigger gap because we had a cumulative increase in cost of 5.3% over those two years, it's a decrease in spending power of 100 million dollars and it's applicable to the defense industry as well as everything else.All they do is "Austrian Math" apparently, and that is what we call 4th grade arithmetic ... there's a problem with that, a big problem, YOU CAN'T SOLVE PRE-ALGEBRA PROBLEMS WITH IT! You can't adjust for inflation with Austrian Economics, all you can do with it these days is "Believe" in it, but you can't actually use it in an inflationary system, you'll just massively screw everything up clue-less-lee (sp?) and cause massive amounts of national debt like Reagan and George W. did; anyone who's convinced that lowering taxes right now would increase revenues isn't adjusting for inflation, that's why they're pre-dictions are always wrong ...Here's a Wiki page that is essential reading for anyone interested in Political arguments about economics:Inflation accountingThat's "Washington Math" ... yes, an international accounting standard adhered to by 178 countries around the world; but that's "just an opinion" right? Realistically thinking about it I believe there's some kind of 80:20 rule involved. One that states that at any given time there's 20% of the population that does not understand fractions, it doesn't matter how many times you explain it, they don't understand how to build a stringer for stairs (carpentry), they don't understand the concept of a constant ratio (I know someone who tried to convince me he was widening the stairs by blocking every single step out by an inch); Don't know how to bake really, they can't adjust for population growth using "Washington Math" ... like doubling a recipe; can't figure out their saving's account, or like someone I know, doesn't keep one, he doesn't understand a compounding percentage rate, that's exactly the same math as what you hear talked about called chained-CPI, this is what causes everything to always go up, up, up, every year, for the government to spend more and more and more ... it's called tracking inflation, it's spending the same amount of monetary value. What happens with conservatives is that they cut, cut, cut constantly, because they don't realize they have to adjust the amount upwards to stay consistently spending the same amount; that's why they have these stupid unpopular ideas like ending social security by cutting the COLA (cost of living adjustment FOR INFLATION), it would be less and less money every year for retirees, and it's really, really easy to understand the math to make it work, it's just 5th grade pre-algebra; it's the same thing with ending Medi-Care by fixing the benefit level so that it couldn't adjust for increasing health costs (inflation) year after year.So back to Benghazi, they clearly cut funding, even if it was the administration who chose to outsource the security it was an error of being too conservative, and they were pushed to do these things to save money because the Republicans apparent priorities were to spend 1.8X more than needed on private contractors, they were being too much like a business in government. It was congresses fault for cutting funding for security and it was conservative philosophy at fault for wasting money, overpaying because they are bad managers and aren't really paying close attention to the numbers, if you can just "believe" in whatever math you choose then you don't have pay attention, you can just "believe" private contractors save money and ignore the math ... you just blame the other guy.The Benghazi situation is a case of "WHOEVER SMEALT IT DEALT IT!"; The conservatives going on and on about it are the 5th grader in class who shit his pants pointing at the other guy who's a jerk for being good at math, (you start pre-algebra at this grade when I was growing up) and saying SHE DID IT! "SHE CAUSED BENGHAZI - SHE CRAPPED HER PANTS!!!" Except it's all their fault and they know it, THEY JUST NEED TO BLAME SOMEONE ELSE, JUST LIKE IN GRADE SCHOOL, (that's why we have loaded questions like this asked, it's offensive defense, and it's really offensive).The Republican Party, especially the conservative wing is in every way responsible for Benghazi, that's why they can't shut up about it, it's like Shawn Hannity says in one of his books ... the best defense is a good offense, or like Newt Gingrich's admonition in thing's I learned the hard way (one of his book's) ... he says never defend always attack. It's because there is no defense that will work, I've seen Newt say that balancing the budget is nothing more than addition and subtraction, it's just 4th grade arithmetic. That proves he is fundamentally incapable of balancing the budget because he doesn't even understand the math problem; with inflation it's all about fractions ("Fractional Reserve"), to balance it requires the use of 5th grade pre-algebra.Just to go off on a tangent, that's the difference between Trump and Cruz; Trump willingly admits he understands Washington Math (why the conservatives hate him); he really could be the true savior of the Republican Party, anyone who can make them pull their heads out of their asses and understand basic math again, and that there is no such thing as a "Free Market", that's actually incredibly great news, if you understand the economic arguments Cruz is the absolute night-mare ... Trump'll come to the middle and deal on immigration, he's already said as much, he's the most "Republican" Republican that has run in years ... "Tough on defense" at least the talk ... it can be useful to play the part; but before Reagan it wasn't a requirement for you to be a complete mathematical dumbass or to at least pretend to be one.Bonus Topic for discussion ... how about Bernie for president and Trump for Secretary of Defense, or for hilarities sake, we put Trump at STATE!!! ... they could pull off a good cop/bad cop routine, Bernie goes on international trips and threatens to call "The Donald" (he'd keep him on "Speed Dial") ... cause borderline crazy scares people ... like Dwight Eisenhower, you believed he might send a nuke ... when that moron Rand Paul is running for President and then questioned about nuclear weapons says "well, they're a deterrent ... but of course we would never, never use them" THAT ISN'T MUCH OF A DETERENT!!! THINK ABOUT IT!!! (Not that I'm saying we should use them, but sometimes you have to have attitude when dealing with people or they'll walk all over you, I think that goes for countries as well).C'mon Republicans, the majority of you are not as stupid as these Morons that have become the "Establishment"; you need to look closely at who among you can do what type of math, and quit hiring the stupidest among you, the "base", the "True" conservatives are neither a majority among you, let alone the country as a whole, and they just don't have any idea how the federal monetary system functions or how to do anything resembling balancing the budget.

Here is what I have found after working with kids and talking at length with many college admissions to find the college admissions secrets…These are some great tips and secrets to help you navigate the process:Grades, grades, grades and then more grades. Not for every school, but you can’t camouflage or sugar coat or breath spray great grades. Colleges usually count this as the all important factor and with so many kids applying, they may not even look at your application if it’s not in their general GPA ballpark. So make sure you hit it out.Many schools don’t care much about extracurriculars like most of the UC schools, especially UC San Diego or UC Irvine and yet in contrast, the Ivy’s really do care about your activities (that is if you are also close to their standard run of the mill grade and SAT criteria- about a 3.85/4.0 and 1560 SAT)-it’s what separates the standard from the standout(s). If you don’t have them, don’t apply unless it’s Cornell which loves all As, a 1560 SAT and then to top it off, you will likely also need to have great leadership and/or be very involved in campus and do something related to your major and your magically going to be accepted.I know this from spending hours at seminars and speaking to their admissions directors. You don’t need great activities here, but do need to show them you’ll fully take advantage of every type of club and similar activities on campus.They want leaders and doers (not sleepers) at Cornell.The other Ivy’s “secret sauce” if you will, is that the others want insane world or national championship caliber activities only. You have to be in a different league (and why they probably call it the Ivy League-kidding as you know).“Holistic reviews” are a great “buzz word,” but each school has a secret type of the student they want and you can learn that by what students they admit and who they accept and by studying the scores of admitted students too. It’s tough at first,but the patterns do emerge and as it should be. Every school has its special requirements and admit students that are the right fit.Admissions directors are paid to get applications and do a great job with “PR” encouraging everyone who speaks to them to apply and think they have a good chance when under there breath its more like (“Good luck with just playing the piano and in the school choir with all A’s and a 1500 SAT.” Instead, you’ll hear, “Sure we would love to have you apply.” They actually do a great job of getting the information out there and really have to keep their secrets close to the vest or no one who doesn’t even closely meet there requirements will apply right? Would you apply to schools you have almost no shot of getting in? Now after reading this, I hope you won’t or will limit those longshots. And its our job, as such, to uncover those secrets or closely held information. Acceptance and denials tell you much of what you need to know.And the more people the top schools like U Chicago can turn away, the higher the rankings of the school which is why they love to advertise in “bulk mailings” designed to look personal with your name on it where they paid the college board for your information that “we would love to have you at our school and we’re very interested in you” and sadly they’re probably not. But your application fee is needed for a great cause…to pay for special financial consideration for so many students who do need financial aid. So here’s a little secret…when you get those letters, unless you see one telling you that with a certain GPA you’ll get a scholarship tell your kids to “always recycle the trash.” It’s a great lesson.A lot of people want to be National Merit Finalist (16000 earn this designation annually) and my son was but it on average, after what we learned, it will barely helps you get into the top schools. Most schools don’t even look at it. But there are some schools that do actively recruit National Merit students because they too can advertise that they have 200 National Merit Finalist at schools like Baylor University the U of Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, University of Texas Dallas and University of Oklahoma who absolutely love it.If a school offers a National Merit scholarships like the ones in the link below (or for any set and defined scholarships based on an exact GPA or test score, (and some of these schools below generally do), you really have just hit the educational equivalent of the national lottery. You can also “google” for any school you may want to attend the following: “scholarships at U of Alabama or ____.” But please don’t tell anyone about this list of schools below or this search that helped is get many scholarships and it’s not just for narional merit since these schools are usually also the one who life straight A or 1550 SAT kids and have a great scholarship program in place. In other words check and hopefully check mate mate. You will be blown away by this list (and it’s. A great too not just for National Merit Finalists but if you have almost all As or 1550 SAT. Again please don’t tell anyone since our little secret (see below #10)For any of these merit scholarships (and most are guaranteed if you qualify), do apply to many of these schools because they do want you, it’s a great almost guaranteed admit and you’ll be a VIP, getting special enrollment, first chose of roommates and classes, special forums and events to attend and it’s easy if you do well getting into a top PhD program as a big fish in a small pond with easier competition since you're the star there (if you study hard).Guard this list with your life and it will warm your heart (and checkbook)…drum roll: NMF Scholarships (use it if you are a National Merit Finalist or an A close to all A student or 1550/35 ACT (or even lower in some cases lien a 31 ACT) to look up at least in some cases like ASU, U Arizona and U Alabama for their other great scholarships. They really want top students and offer these fixed scholarships anyone with high grades or test scores to get these kids away from the ivys and top 50. Again guard the list with your life. It got my son 10 close to full rides and why did he have to choose UC Davis over these full rides - why me? That is another secret- have them pay themselves if they don’t take a full ride. What was I thinking?The Ivy’s really don’t care at all about National Merit Finalist award. I would believe that if you don’t have a national merit that they would probably look at the application oddly. Kidding, but sort of.Two schools in the country, for their 75% percentile, actually want all A’s and unless you’re a special admit, you have as much chance of getting in as winning the state lottery. Ready and they are UCLA and Cornell and you didn’t hear it from me. The school statements may try to change or breath mint these facts, but the reality of their numbers prove otherwise. Be a perfect high school student or don’t apply and I’m not kidding. Even special admit students at UCLA need a 3.92 GPA out of a 4.0 for their 25th percentile and why they call it special indeed. But it’s our little secret. Ask around and I can almost guarantee that is close to a fact and in fact I know 50 out of 50 non special admits at UCLA who didn't get in without all As and the 4 who did got in had all As as advertised. I’m sure there are exceptions to any rule just not many here. Yep, the deck is stacked at UCLA with a lot of bright straight A students as this great school should be. But don’t apply and save your parents 100 dollars if you don’t have all As as a regular admit. It’s not a reach, but a pipe dream even if a couple of kids probably do get in with some unusual situation due to a few openings.Cal Tech and MIT want a perfect 800 or 36 in math and that’s pretty much a necessity to get in for a non-special admit students (and it’s actually listed as proof on their websites overall with some statistically anomalies on rare occasions-you want to be well done and not “rare” when applying here). It’s the kids they feel they need to be successful here at this intense university (again as it should be). Heck, even the special admit students like first-time college students, American Indian and African American or for those kids and families where they don’t speak with English at home the 25th percentile generally speaking need a 780 in math to be at the 25% percentile. In other words, just do the math to see if you should apply. That and a national robotics title may (should help). With just about 1000 spots worldwide, you’ll absolutely have to prove you are one of the smartest kids in the world by having some major accomplishment - not a regional science award winner but again that is a little secret and why I told a kid I mentor not to apply this year and he did. He didn’t get inDream big but please spend your money wisely and selectively on top 50 ranked school applications. I’m seeing the last three years so many wonderful all A students and also ones with 4.3 GPA and 1500–1560 SAT and great extracurriculars activities getting rejected from every single top 20 school and for these star kids with a 4.3 kids, from every top 50 school (that or bad coaching more likely from me but that’s another secret right-dont listen to anything I say). Just today, they broke the news to a great kid and this no ordinary student with a 4.3 GPA and 1560 SAT and quality extracurriculars too like a regional silver in academic decathalon. But it wasn’t not enough rocket fuel for MIT or CalTech, UCLA and USC (he did hit it big at 95th ranked UC Riveride and 87th Santa Cruz as his only top 100 spots. He was completely shell shocked and I warned him last year and thankfully he listened to some advise by applying to schools outside the top 50. Other kids this year with all As and 1550 were rejected from UCLA, USC and the ivys, but luckily had some great and wise choices by getting into the rest of the top UC schools (Berkeley Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara and San Diego all top 50). They were smart to not expect admits into any top 30 schools and each hit with Berkeley as their single choice (if that isn’t a lottery pick then what is but all others weren’t interested. It was a wake call for me too. It’s gotten impossible to get in.Here is a little helpful secret and please don’t tell anyone… Generally, the top students at each high school with high SAT almost always will nail admission into the top Public schools in state-great school like U Michigan, U Washington or UCLA/Berkeley, U Colorado etc so do apply to these schools liberally in state. Why? They know in state students will probably attend due to the inexpensive tuition and you might find yourself with limited top private school selection so do use this great tip wisely even if you don’t love going to say Utah State. The kid listed above with a 4.3 GPA is now loving UC Riverside- a school he wasn’t going to apply to (but my convincing)! has him so excited now as he should be to have a top 100 college to attend. It’s a great feeling to get into a super school like Riverside or Michigan State. Never look a gift horse in the mouth. State schools are phenomenal and in par with any school in the country. Leave your egos at the door and you should be beaming with pride to get in. These are special places.There are only 12,000 Ivy League spots open annually and yet there are about 44,000 public and private high schools in the United States. In other words, if you remove international students and about 35% of the applicants which do you go to athletes according to a major recent article on this matter (Google it). And thus, your high school basically has about a one in six shot of getting a single student to the Ivys annually. The deck is a long shot number wise and don’t think your chances are ever great about getting in. Sure if you have top stats, why wouldn’t you apply, but have many many other wonderful choices. Duke and Northwestern and Hopkins are phenomenal world class schools and they love to feast on these kids who don’t have national caliber titles but do have top notch grades scores and activities too so apply liberally to the non Ivy’s for a great shot if your a top student. Again it’s our little secret since everyone wants the Ivy’s and these are much better shots for most top kids. But they still typically don’t take your average A- and 1400 SAT kid playing varsity soccer. They may occasionally, but you have to be top top top student to get in here as well-just not win a national title etc. a state title may work or something high caliber is very important too.And yet if you happen to go to a famous elite private school like Harvard Westlake in Los Angeles (and with 275 seniors only), they miraculously get five kids in annually to Harvard and five into Stanford…surprise surprise (and they boast about it on there website or they used to anyways). Yep it’s the famous old-school, old admissions are alive and well. And as it should be since these kids who got in are heavily vetted with tests that are much tougher than the SAT and a process that makes getting a membership to Augusta Golf Club look pretty easy. Yep it’s a nice chip shot from these schools into the ivy’s as a good student but a round (or year to attend) will set you back $45000 a year (per kid). And for many it’s worth it.Need blind financial aid is not always the case at some schools as per expert comments stating that it can affect your application process -just check with some people on Quora. It usually won’t affect your outcome but the rumors say that it can. I would still apply if you need the money though.Your stated major can actually affect your admissions at many but not all schools. The best are odd ones like Arabic studies or Greek studies or Chinese studies and something that few others study. My nephew got into USC with solid, but not spectacular scores writing about which classes on history he wanted to take and why and his application never made the history pile. It was a modern classic his acceptance and then he changed majors the following year. A straight A kid is now fortunately going to Berkeley undeclared because I suggested that with Berkeley being number 1 in the country for computer science he could have trouble getting in so he applied undeclared. For schools he was way above the 75th percentile for grades and scores like UCSD and UC Irvine, he applied and got into their computer science and he loved Berkeley and said he’ll go and he can still take some classes and if he does well get a BA in it or another field since he’s ok doing many stem majors. This is a highly intelligent kid who listened without any ego and now is going to his dream school. Be very skilled and layer your admission approach so you have so many more Great options. Those who don’t use these types of creative techniques from my perspective usually end up with very few school choices. Let the kids themselves within reason decide, but now they will have so many more wonderful choices and this gives them confidence to be very proud of what he accomplished. It also gives them the essential healthy esteem they need to move on from the college rejections they will get and really be excited about college.Computer science is a big “no no” for most kids unless you aced the SAT and have top grades too and elite scores higher than the standard admit. You want to come from a position of strength. it makes sense in any impacted or heavily applied majors because the admitted kids are usually extremely high performing test takers on average-ok above average is more like it. It’s very competitive and as such do make sure you can add it as a major because that too could be a major problem as well. If your scores are well above the 75th percentile, then yes apply. At some public schools like UCLA the major won’t hurt or help your chances so ask these question first to the admissions office (call is email them for a fast response) and they will always let you know if your major is a “major” deal or minor (puny right?).Another secret is that yes over 40% of kids end up changing majors anyways and so determine if that is an angle you want to play at a few dream schools anyways (or at schools that you are not that into). But more importantly do what is right for you. One son got into UC Davis and NYU by applying to NYU for its very general…general studies even though he wanted computer science and to Davis for economics (supply and demand made that a smarter decision). But to make sure he had some great choices he did apply to computer science at some great schools like U Alabama and U Arizona because his stats were a bit higher for then and it worked out with a lot of great choices. It usually does make sense to take this more layered or latter approach. Our family had to learn the hard way from our oldest son who was rejected by 16/16 top 50 schools for computer science, but he did get a shot at a top 100 school since it’s not as ultra competitive. And the funny part was you guessed it…he changed majors which I believe impacted his school choices. You do want to have a lot of great college options when all is said and done. For computer science (pre med, physics, any engineering major or business at any top school, please do use care and be aware of the difficulty of getting accepted. But these are all great majors as well. For computer science, most kids studying it love the degree and with 50,000 kids getting USA computer science degrees yearly, it’s one of many reasons why it’s so difficult to get in.The schools want you to believe that you can’t bring up your SAT score, but my kids raised their scores from 1200-1560 and 1000 to 1460 with special, elite test prep. It was ridiculous (and ridiculously priced too) but it did get one son many full ride offers even though he had to pick the more expensive school. I should have told him son, you have two choices —pay for the college yourself or I’ll pay for it with a scholarship but I got sucker punched twice. What was I thinking? “But dad I love my school.” My wallet isn’t loving it but it worked out for him so it’s worth it in select cases. You will know.One of the best kept secrets to getting into colleges is (mathematically) to apply to at least 20 schools that you have a shot at getting in. The one son with tons of scholarships applied to 33 schools and it worked wonders. He had a slightly lower GPA and a top SAT score so I didn’t know where he’d get in so like fly swatting blind fold (sort off) we went college fly swatting and caught some flies (and fleas too) with many rejects as expected. The top 30 schools were all fleas and gave us the old collar and a few nice wait lists as U Chicago so nicely does. It’s there nice way of saying no thank you. But we were thankful and respect them for this nice touch. Work hard in school (and your applications) now and as a result enjoy a great college later. Or by default, community college will be calling to many who take the path of least resistance. No pain and no gain. Don’t worry you'll gain a fresh 10 in college anyways so it may as well be at one you love.To have a great shot, if your special and not a special admit is to target the key demarcation line of 75 percentile for your grades and SAT scores and at any school listing, this information as almost all admissions coaches and experts tell you this is a realistic shot for admissions. It’s certainly not a guarantee but a decent chance, a shot at selection. If your also “special” and a special admit, you will really want to focus in on the 25th percentile line. Anything below that mark is a reach school and anything above is safer school (but you are never safe). These days you really need a “safety net” with a lot of schools, but no school is really a safety school anymore in the days of mass student applications and some really high test scores from elite test preps. Use the common apps to apply to an uncommon number of great schools and then you’ll have many wonderful schools to attend. When college gives you lemons (a tough admissions process),simply make lemon aid and add a lot of sugar to sweeten up the outcome. You will need a “twist.”I see many kids I help mentor with 4.3/4.6 GPA including many AP classes and 1500 Sat or 33 ACT scores who get rejected by almost every top 50 school. Be very careful to have many choices since the admit rate is brutal these days and think about the top five students at each high school that your competing with that have these stats or better and with same or better activities. We like to feel we’re special with all of these accolades, but so are so many others with even more impressive accolades. Think of it as like a fun game of poker where you have a sizeable stack of chips that you won but someone else at the table has more than you.Waitlists are part of the waiting game and you have a possible chance at each school so always say yes that your interested if you are, but do let schools know immediately if not as a courtesy to others. My UC Davis son said that many of his friends were waitlisted so it’s is a possible chance of admissions. And here’s a little secret we discovered last year by accident- If it’s a private school, visit on a regular tour near the freshman enrollment deadline and do let them know nicely how grateful you are that you are a “waitlistee“ (a new word in the American Heritage Dictionary now) and you’ll be surprised when like my sons’s close friend how they pulled him aside and offered him a spot few minutes into the tour as they did at 14th ranked Vanderbilt. Why… part of successs is showing up (and demonstrated interest) so he hit the jackpot therein on a whim to visit. And if you think about it, this was a brilliant move showing interest at a key point in time. Check and chekcmate (mate) for being brilliant and showing up) but he actually also got in the waitlist at UC Santa Barbara too and went there (he had 6 waitlist and 2 acceptances from them and after taking tours too. It more difficult at a public school though. But give it the old college try and try this army tactic if you will. Show up at the admissions office of the school that you were waitlisted at and ask to speak to admissions directors (not the front desk person) and let them know it’s your dream school and then magically you just might end up waking up from a dream and into your dream school. sometimes kids get in a week after school has started and will abandon ship for their dream school.If you get into a school like U Alabama ranked 120 or so— this is an amazing school as is U of Arizona or Baylor. It’s someone’s dream school so if you get in and then visit and be proud of getting into these or other amazing schools. Hold your head up high at any admitted school and be proud. It’s truly a special honor and one that few in the country get to have. Schools outside the top 20 or 40 are unbelievable and you should be so excited to go to a school that the school which chose you feels you are a perfect fit. They know best. And the competition is a little easier at a school where the average is a 3.3 GPA than competing against almost all A students at UCLA. I’m not saying by any means turn down UCLA but the glass here is really half full and not empty wherever you go so look at the bright side (and upside too) for you to ace college and get into a top grad school.This is a huge secret…and a fact, a reality, a truism and it will save you from transferring in two years from a bad fit college. Trust me it happened to me at Santa Barbara as I was encouraged to save money and not go to USC-huge mistake and two years later I was loving USC every waking moment (when I did awake-joking mostly). The key determiner where you go for college for four years of your life (many take 6 years now so choose carefully) should be how well you get along with others here so talk to many students and staff and make sure you would absolutely enjoy being there for four years and not because it’s ranked 10 spots higher than the other. I would choose the lower ranked school in a heartbeat if it’s a much better fit (and you get in). Big fish in small ponds become PhD students (or masters) at top 30 colleges. This is the most underrated and least utilized secret in the list and read it twice or you’ll transfer and hate your school. Maybe this was why I had a bit of a soft spot for my sons choice of Davis over Alabama and it worked out since he loved the school…if you don’t love it don’t attend please. Would you marry someone you like and not love? Of course not and the same holds for college. “Love it or you’ll leave it.”The schools themselves really know where you fit in and if you don’t get in to your Dream school, it’s perfect so just study harder and then prove it to them when you go to their grad school.State public schools like U Michigan or U Texas give major advantages to in state students so buyer beware. You have a major advantage generally being a top student and applying in state… I must state. For example, U Texas is amazing school that everyone in Texas should have at the top of the list. However with only 10% of out of state students getting in (hint you’ll get into top 20 schools as well and probably won’t go here) so why apply unless it’s your dream to attend from out of state. The UC are a better choice for out of state kids…Why? because they take 2–4x as many kids As U Texas and the competition is actually usually easier than from the intense in state California competition, since you are actually only competing against that group of kids. And it’s the same for international spots but they also take much less than national kids. I have found it’s actually a bit easily to get in at the UC schools especially internationally than from the intense CA beauty pageant going on in state. At the UC schools, the very elite out of state kids are usually targeting the ivys so if you are just a smidgen below, you will have a statistically better batting average at the UC schools choice. In state, Texas is a brilliant choice as a top Texas student and people don’t realize what an underrated and amazing place it is and not just for football. U Michigan is one of the best schools in the world too if you get in here too. The top public schools are phenomenal and all under rated by the polls. if you are a top student always target your best two state schools even as back up targets so you’ll hit a bullseye regardless. Let’s keep this public secret private ok?So many kids are focused just on the top ranked schools, but if you also focus on the schools ranked 70–150th (and those unranked) , which are phenomenal btw, with top GPA or SAT scores you’ll likely get some incredible schooling and scholarship offers. Some of the best scholarship secrets are schools like U Alabama, U Oklahoma (it’s better than OK), U Arizona, Arizona State, LSU (they even tell you how much you’ll earn with their on site scholarship calculator so calculate your savings and bag a great admit too with a very high SAT score or GPA (and sometimes with a 3.5 GPA or 1300 SAT. These are smart application choice because admissions at a reduced rate is almost guaranteed. Have some great choices out of the gate. You’ll relax on your other applications.Life can be a breeze … if you get into many of the UC schools since its surprisingly still somewhat of a secret that many are in some of the best and most beautiful places in the world. UC Santa Barbara overlooks a scenic cliff on the Pacific Ocean and to chill or ”chillax,” the kids walk to the sandy beach off campus (Sorry Harvard and Chicago) but the school is breezy,and easy (ier) and a great choice if you stand the admissions heat (I mean sunshine). Ditto for UC San Diego. La Jolla is considered the nicest part of San Diego and it’s an incredible city with beachfront cliffs. Most students will you love it here and some take up surfing if you want (or shopping). likewise, UC Irvine is 10 short minutes from famous Newport Beach, the best and most scenic beach city in Orange County with the best surfing, shopping and scenery anywhere in California. UCLA is a beautiful conclave and among the most scenic communities in Los Angeles- 20 minutes from the ocean and nearby skiing (same day). Davis campus is insane and outside awaits a 1940 movie type old town with classic modern buildings on campus. The UC schools are really amazing from many standpoints not to mention jobs. Do factor in the weather as to whether or not you will want to attend the school of your dreams. Do you like hot weather or cold, four seasons or for some more of a Four Seasons small private college. Do you like hiking fishing and the outdoors and staying inside, a large campus or small; big city or rural….etc. These see below important. I wouldn’t do well in Chicago as much as love the city. For me it’s “Sunshine on my shoulders (great song)” but look at more than the rankings and especially the fit part.Always look closely at the published admit rates and also at the number of applicants. Getting into a UC School is not a breeze unless you have almost all As and secondarily a top SAT score. There is a reason UCLA has more applications about 115,000 than any school in the country and most of the UC are close. Great schools, great values great places to spend four years and Ca employees really respect them. Use math to eliminate schools likely to eliminate you like the ivys which average only 1500 admits worldwide. Seriously what are your real chances of a school that admits 7% of the best, and don’t ever just focus on the ivys and instead always select a wider net and include top schools with a much better acceptance rate like a. Georgetown, Vanderbilt, U Purdue, Virginia etc.Like in geometry, use the angles. For example, how many kids from California are applying to U North Carolina or U Madison Wisconsin (two amazing schools) so when you do you’ll have a chance at one heck of a school by going off the normal grid. Or what North Dakota State and you just mind find yourself getting in with lower stats. I’ve never heard of a top local kid I know doing this trick but it’s a brilliant move. Top Kids from California tend to fly together and apply to all of the UC, some Ivys, maybe a few like Duke or Georgetown but rarely to UNC or Ohio State (Michigan yes)…Applying off of the grid… gets you on the grid and why kids from Alaska do very well getting into top schools so all 50 states are represented (a little known but true secret). Most of all, be that “diversity” candidate or a person the admission director is thinking really why is a kid from San Diego applying to North Dakota State and if so they must want to go here so let’s let them in. Angle off the grid for a few select college choices.Please don’t tell anytime this secret-only 500 US kids apply to Oxford/Cambridge annually so make sure you schedule their own special test (required here) at least one year out since my son couldn’t get a chance to take it 3 months out. Also the tests are insane, so do study for it for a year if interested like you would the SAT. And they do admit 18% and less from US. I’d choose either school over almost any US college but that is another secret I won’t discuss here…The very top, elite schools like Harvard, Yale and U Washington, Duke, John Hopkins etc (all great schools) are trying to gauge your interest so go their summer school and events and tours. This is one of the biggest secrets yet joining Harvard or MIT for a summer school program and doing well even if it’s used to get into Northwestern. This is a huge admissions boost so see what programs they have for high school kids or spend the summer on your own taking a few classes and you have proven to admissions directors you have what it takes to attend an elite college. It’s expensive but spend the summer at Boston as the best money you’ll likely ever spend. And also do Email the admissions departments regularly, click in there website regularly etc since they keep track. Give them some love and they may love your application, effort and it will make a difference if you are a great candidate. Had my son been a little more outgoing during his hour phone interview I helped set up with an amazing admissions director at Cornell, I believe he would have had an offer.You can develop a great repoire with admissions directors (as a parent too) occasionally and if your son is daughter is the right fit you’ll have a possible acceptance. Occasionally call, email and ask to visit with them. Life is about developing relationships and I still communicate with the retired Cornell admission director who was incredible helpful to our family and my understanding of the elite admission processes. I still regularly talk or email to the past Cornell assistant admissions director and consider her a friend. She has been a huge help over the years and a great source for information.Here is an interesting “secret” for athletes (or top performers/artists)-For any friends, family or parents of a star athlete that you know-for someone who will be a recruited, division one caliber athlete where they can play for a team like- they can “vault” into an ivy league school. Ivy’s don’t give any athletic scholarships but more importantly, they do offer amazing financial aid to anyone accepted who applies within a set financial matrix.This is listed on their financial aid website (and with calculators too in some cases. And its why at Princeton (the top ranked US News school), if your parents makes under $300,000 and in other cases under $200,000, and you apply you will get a very liberal (not a degree per se) but a generous financial aid package covering a nice part of your tuition.And it gets even better at the $140,000 a year and is very nominal or free at around $90,000-$120,000 income level. Most ivy’s have similar aid packages making a private education similar or in some cases cheaper than most public schools. For those with top level talent, the coaches have several slots per Division 1 only sports that are almost guarantees forabide by the specific college rules on how and when to contact to let them know your interest level too. To get more info too, you can google “athletics and special admissions at the ivys’ and you will enjoy reading why about 30% of all admits now go to athletes.Now that you read this you too can be one of the “crew.” Regardless, its one way to “bank” an ivy education. And as it should be. Beating Yale at Harvard takes a lot of work and coach recruiting so if you have this level of talent, why play at your state school when you can possible attend an Ivy for free. But don’t tell anyone. Its also our little secret.Take every AP class possible which will save you money on college (up to $77,000 for one year)…if you pass your AP classes with 4 and 5 (or 3s on occasion) this can also help you graduate up to a year early or give you the freedom to double major which is also very smart and distinctive. Typically most Universities will accept a 4 or 5 on the AP test for credit and some a 3 but it varies widely and most students get some but not all credit for their AP classes. And for ones they don’t do be sure to take the same class again and then nail it in college for a so called “Mickey” (as in Mouse) class or an easy A.And it’s a great grade boost for most colleges too. Here is another secret…the UC schools as per several admissions directors have told me they gauge closely having 9 or more AP classes as a major admit factor. It shows them that you took advantage of all that school had to offer by challenging yourself academically .One kid at spring break told me that his AP classes were harder than his computer science classes in colleges and really helped prepare him too. most top schools including the private schools look very closely and ask or calculate this key admission factor. It’s incredible how important this overlooked item is in your acceptance process…My suggestion, as tough as these classes are in high school, is to try within reason to take every AP class that you can handle like a Vegas Buffet. Even if you get a “B” or a 3 on some of the AP test, you’ll probably be able to ace each class again as well as your regular classes at college due to the rigor you had and that is much more important than getting As in high school.The goal of college really should be to focus on getting into grad school or getting great grades for a job since you will a need a minimum of a 3.0 GPA for virtually every Fortune 500 company later (many want a 3.7 GPA so put in the hard work when you. Party a little now and party a lot more in the future.Hard work now will likely help you succeed later in college and beyond so use AP classes, not to game the system, but to learn everything you can. And if you don’t get a 4 or 5 on the Ap test take AP calculus once agoan in college and it should be an A if you work hard again. Just do the math right? I like to say AP classes show your Ap-titude.Here are a few secrets for great extracurrulars? College love leaders who start a few popular clubs and serve as president; It never hurts being student body president either. Put in 400 hours over 3 summers of volunteering at a well known charity and that is a huge positive in your application and hours do count. College love any type of home run activities especially extracurriculars such as speech and debate (you can’t debate that), Academic Decatahlon and Science Bowl, plus any national competition like Siemens or Intel competitions. First, speech and debate for the top participants in any state will likely land you a half or full ride and even better special admission at a great school that has this team. My friend at USC got in as one of the top debaters in Illinois with a half ride and with very low GPA too. We couldn’t believe it and debated the merits therein but that is another story. The best activity (a true secret) to help prepare you for college is Academic Decathalon and it has 11 subjects that will actually help you decide what to major in or a major advantage. My son is going to get his PhD in economics when he graduates from Davis due to him loving economics here and winning a silver at states in it. The kids spend about 3 hours a day and when they go to college almost all of them destroy the curve because it’s so easy in comparison and taking a multiple choice is quite easy for them. We know one kid who has straight As in computer science at number one 1 ranked Berkeley and he said academic Decathalon was much tougher than any class at Berkeley. Another had a 3.9/4.9 in high school and now has 3.85 in computer science and econ at ecom and says college is pretty easy in comparison. They also do interview and speech so the kids become expert interviewers for college and grad school and make lifelong friends and the team has spots for A B and C students. Any kid should strongly consider taking this incredible extracurricular activity and the likelihood of it helping you get top grades and a PhD after college is always positive. Two of my kids did it and since both are almost done, don’t tell anyone but it’s our little (I mean big) secret. Also colleges love it too since it shows you love learning for learning sake and the kids do usually get into better schools than many of their peers with a slight bump for college admissions from what I have seen. Yes doing so is clearly ….“Academic.”A Summer school secret-If your first choice is a school that happens have a special “summer program for high school students” and run in conjunction with the University…then that program could be your “lottery admit ticket” since: A) it shows you are very interested in attending that college (and likely accept if they offer) B) you can talk about it in your essay with personal insights others don’t and C) it shows interest and likely acceptance of an offer. My son’s best friend did this program at Emory (it’s incredible), and sure enough he applied for Early Decision and bingo he hit the lottery with a 4.3 GPA and a 1500 SAT and qualify extracurriculars (into a top 22 ranked school). Then for a “double double,” his family hit the jackpot twice (or paid the slot machine twice depending upon how you look at) when his younger brother did the same thing and is now a legacy and he got in this year. Emory knew he too was dying to go their school (and it was a layup for them by admitting him) since his brother clearly loved it and had him apply. They got two top students guaranteed and kept it all in the family. I also noticed that Princeton loves our kids High School and is the only Ivy League school to regularly offer the public high school an annual admit. Is it by chance… no chance lol is my belief. They know the too kids do well.Both factors are secrets in helping you to heavily increase your odds and especially if a sibling is attending, and don’t forget to also apply to the same school and mention this fact. Why? Now the school knows you’ll most likely accept if you apply since your brother or sister loves it so much they told you to apply. Getting admits to accept their offer of admissions will in fact improve the schools rankings so this factor tells them they have a great shot at getting you… you are a “layup” for them so use this strategy to obtain tough admits. Call the school and find out about the summer school to. For elite colleges aces high school summer school works or even getting two As at Harvard or UCLA is a major green flag (meaning this kid can handle the heat. But if you aren’t brilliant it could also backfire if you get a C so drop any such class I’d you can. Getting As at any major university especially an Ivy or MIT may not be a slam dunk but it close to a layup for admissions if you have good enough scores to get into the main pile. Think about this logically… applicant A is perfect and is applicant B but applicant B took 2 classes at Harvard summer school and got all As. Who ya gonna call…Ghostbusters. No kid B. And taking classes at any elite college will help you get in (or get a possible scholarship if exceptional in every way) into many more colleges and it’s a game changer but with major risks if you do poorly…the so called double edged sword. But if an incredible student in one area put it off the glass softly for a winning basket.Early Decision (ED). Like any other decision in life, this could be your equivalent of the educational lottery (in a good way. Making an early decision for early decision will substantially increase your odds of acceptance, but nevertheless, it’s a case of buyer beware since it’s almost always binding so only do ED if you love the school and do it early. I would strongly advise someone who would love to get into a top ivy to do this and only pick your first choice (not your best chance because you’ll have to live with-and love your choice). It is highly underutilized by top public schools (and I don’t understand why) but it’s always encouraged at private high schools for a smart reason-demonstrated interest. And if your rejected/deferred, usually (not always) you’ll still get a second chance/look in the regular admit pool so you get a double double (ok and a cheesy comment or too right)? Similarly, I would also suggest taking “Early Action (EA) whenever possible at a larger range of schools as permitted… but -again please do read the fine print listed for any school for both because there are a lot of predetermined outcomes hinging on each and in some cases legal binding enrollment (hint your stuck going here unless you can prove financial aid didn’t meet your full need). Spend a lot of time studying and reading up on both and really understand the nuances. I would call severs of the school admission officers (or email them) for their own details. But please don’t tell anyone at the public schools since so few students these days that I have seen including my own bothered to take advantage of this major admissions advantage. It’s also important to usually apply earlier than their regular deadline as a general suggestion.Timing wise, I believe it’s always much better to try to finish some of your applications (or if a self starter) all of them over the summer. Doesn’t it make sense to be finished when everyone else stresses last minute near December and during school which is a major student stressor. Be relaxed, and grab a Starbucks or Net flix while your friends are stressing out big time. Why would anyone do that to themselves (hint most do) when you can likely give yourself a small boost by trying to be the top candidate to apply and on day one. To me anyways, it does show your interest in their school to put them first or early. A family friend whom I advised this year had a possible shot at Princeton as a top all A diversity student from a school they love offering similar diversity students annually. However he waited until the last moment, got behind and he couldn’t apply. This was a major mistake but a life learning moment.. “Showing up” is the number one key to success. Apply yourself and apply early as another big secret. It will open you up to adding many more schools as friends apply and you say you know what I would love to attend Georgetown so you simply crank out another Georgetown app… Soon enough, you are heading off to Washington DC for one great school because you had the time to apply. Always apply and also apply yourself.Don’t ever stress out over college (the best secret of all), because community college is the best option for many kids and if you ace it, you can often times go anywhere in the country. You’ll save money and sure it’s not like a 4 year college but my son did it and loved it and the kids are exceptional here too.For the right kids, usually hard working ones without a super high GPA or SAT score or even without a ego of feeling they need a four year school, community college is a truly a brilliant way to get into many top colleges (and sometimes with scholarships) with solid grades, but remember you do lose out two years of college life “for better or worse.”My oldest got into electrical engineering this way at UC Santa Cruz with a 3.3 GPA, but he also get rejected from UCLA, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley and that major is brutal for kids (another secret-watch out for that and computer science in college unless you are incredible at these subjects.Most of all, enjoy the process itself, and it ends up correct in most situations. The colleges know what they are doing; sadly most students do not because they don’t know how the game worksI loved the question and good luck to you. In the end, going to college was found recently in a study to pay 85% more than a high school degree so the fact your attending is worth every penny. Best of luck to you