{Yale University}

Hi!

So I have been wanting to do a post about the uni's I'm applying to, for each one an individual post, for a while. And I finally started.

First on my list is Yale University. Yale is the dream. Yale is the hope. And Yale is hard to get. Yale is the number two university of the US(after Harvard, the unconquerable number one) and the number three of the world(after, again, Harvard and Cambridge). Their admitted students score an average of 700-790 on the SAT, so since I am about 100 point under that average, my chances are small to get in. But if you never take a chance, you'll never win.

So, first, some basic history. Yale was founded in 1701 by the Colony of Connecticut and is the third oldest institution of higher learning in the States. It was called after its first benefactor, Elihu Yale. Five US Presidents graduated from Yale, and 48 Nobel prize winners are affiliated with the university.

As for Geography, Yale is located in the North-western United States, as are all Ivy league institutions, in New Haven, Connecticut. The campus is an urban one and has a vast size of 840 acres. It also has the second largest academic library in the US(after, duh, Harvard).

So, those are some fact about Yale. Now what can I tell about Yale? Well, eh, nothing. I haven't been there yet, but I have just scheduled my campus visit(information session and tour) for March 24th, just after my spring break trip :) So, after that, I'll tell you about Yale first hand! For now, I have just fallen in love with the academics, the old buildings and the prestige.

Concluding, Yale is probably any one's dream and I might be able to live it, well, that is, if I get that thick acceptance envelope.

For more info on yale, please visit: http://www.yale.edu/

Loves!

{EF-UFY University Foundation Year 102}

Hi!

So as many of you know, I am doing a University Foundation Year at EF International School of English in NY. In this year(9 months) I'm preparing for University in the US, by improving my English speaking, writing, reading etc.

These 9 months are split up in 3 terms, I finished term 1 and am now in the middle of term 2. Unlike term 1, we now have electives on subjects that interest us, but we do still have some basic classes:
- Application Workshop - 1 hour
In application workshop our University Pathways Manager, the lovely Megan, helps us
with applications and gives us information about the process.
- Advanced Reading - 2 hours
My least favorite subject so far, although I do like reading. In this class we are
reading 1984 by George Orwell and we learn how to skim and scan texts and how to
find answer to questions more easily.
- Academic Writing&Grammar - 2 hours
In this class we just do writing really, not so much grammar(yay). We prewrite,
draft and rewrite the final essay and have to hand in a different one every week.
- College Survival Skills - 2 hours
So in this one we learn how to survive in college(duh) and we read through a book
of case studies, not exceptionally interesting, but it can't hurt.
- Culture and communication - 2 hours
As the name says we talk about different cultures, especially the American culture
versus our culture and we analyze how different behaviour can be seen as weird or
even offending in other cultures.
Then there are the electives, there are many electives and I only can tell about 3(that's how many I have), but since this blog is all about me :P
- Biology - 2 hours
In biology we relearn the basics of cells and photosynthesis etc. I've had it all
before, but it is nice to learn it again :)Later in the term we'll write a paper
for credit.
- Economics - 2 hours
In economics, it is kind of the same thing, we relearn the basic economic theories,
but we also learn about famous economists, which I never did in school. We also
have to give a presentation with a partner on one of these famous people.
- Journalism - 2 hours
In Journalism we each write 1 piece per week, every week a different kind of piece.
We then want to put the most interesting one together into a UP newspaper :)
So those were all my subjects, as you can see 16 hours(80 minutes) per week, so I have a lot of time left to do stupid things or visit NYC :D

Loads of love,

Charline

{My lists}

Hi!

I have decided to post my most important random lists, later I'll do some individual posts about the items on the lists :)

List No 1: Movies to see
- Black Swan
- The Kings Speech
- Blue Valentine
- No Strings Attached
The first 3 are nominated (several) times for the academy awards, and I hadn't seen them yet, so I really have to. Theres more good movies/actors nomivated, but these are supposedly really good.
Here's a link to the NY Times list on Academy Award nominations:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/01/25/movies/awardsseason/25oscar-nominations.html?ref=awardsseason

List No 2: Books to read
- 1984, by George Orwell
- The imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman
- War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
The first one I have to read for reading class, the second I already started and it is really great untill now. As for the third, since it is such a classic I want to read it, but the 700-something pages scare me a little.

List No 3: Universities I applied to
- Yae University, New haven CT
- Georgetown University, Washington D.C.
- University of Chicago, Chicago IL
- Williams College, Williamstown MA
- Smith College, Northhampton MA
- American University of Paris, Paris France
This list is slightly different from the one I gave you guys about 2 months ago, but I'll get into detail about every university/college in later posts.

This was all for now,

Loves,

Charline

{Damn, I should update more}

Hi guys!!

I'm soooo sorry for not blogging for a month or so, but I promise, I'll update every day for the rest of the month.

I have had a crazy busy time after getting home. Over the holidays I finished 3 college applications(Yale, Williams and Chicago) and I finished the Chicago financial aid application.

I had an amazing Christmas and the best new years party ever(Thanks Mina!), although I don't remember all of it anymore, haha. For pictures, please check facebook. I can't upload anything since my cable is still in my suitcase, which is still missing(I'll address that one in a seperate post).

In the beginning of January I went to Holland for a few days to visit my mom, friends and family in Rotterdam and I had to pick up some official documents at my former university. I also met the monsters my mom teaches every day, good luck with that :) Afterwards I went back to Luxembourg, where I spend two more days before flying back.

Saturday the 8th of january I arrived in the States again and it's been crazy busy again. I had the Georgetown application deadline the 10th and the Smith application deadline the 14th of January, but I ot both in on time. Than I took SAT last saturday(the 22nd), and I now am waiting for the results.

As for school, the second term is fun. I have three electives and some standards subjects(for this also, I'll post a seperate post). I'm still on 16 hours per week, and I'd like more, but I'm not allowed. I have 8 different subjects nw, which means more homework: one of the reasons I haven't been updating.

Then, I have some exciting news: I am going to apply to the american University in paris. Yes, in Paris. This way I could get the american college system, but closer to home. Check out their website: http://www.aup.edu/ I'll also give some more info about this one later :)

In the coming week I have my financial aid deadlines for Williams, Smith and Georgetown comming up, so busy again. But I promise I'll update!

I'm staving, so I'm gonna eat now!

Loves,

Charline