Getting into a top 20 school after taking two years off

[poincaraux]

wtf .. these are some OK options, but you should *at least* apply to whatever schools you want to go to. heck, if you have the spare cash, there's really no excuse for not applying to all 20 of the top 20.

as long as you make it past whatever pre-screening filters they have, your essay should be awesome. colleges value diversity like this more than you might think.

somewhat related: i'm a biophysics grad student. the standard path that people take is high school --> college --> grad school. after college, i moved to san francisco, worked as a programmer and hung out with friends for a couple of years. i wrote an awesome essay for grad school, and i got in to 9/11 schools, all tier 1-2. the key is to focu on the fact that you *really* know what you want to do. unlike all of these slobs who just go to college right away, you've had time to think about things, gain experience, gain maturity, and you have gigantic amounts of motivation to go to college and succeed.

you could also try to spin things as well as you can .. you went into business for yourself, excelled at it, and now realize that you want to go to college to help you succeed with the rest of you life/career plans, etc.

if you spin it right, your essay should get you very far. you have to think of "taking time off and making tons of money at poker" as a positive thing, not a negative thing.

[Snupoker]

In all honesty, your "reach" schools should be the 15-20 range. Emory, Vanderbilt, Rice type of schools that are pretty solid, but not top 10.

The school you go to isnt nearly as important as the effort you put in and the skills you come out of the experience with.

That being said, if you are a white male who isnt awesome at sports, skip the top 15. You have no chance.

Your only chance in the 15-30 range is someone picking up your app and reading your interesting journey and how it has further prepared you for adding to the dynamic of their school.

good luck.