Archive for the 'Applying to College' Category

This may be the biggest decision of your life. College is a four-year period (which often goes uninterrupted). If your deadline for submitting your agreement to college has passed, you should have only told one college “yes.” Otherwise, if you told two or more colleges that you intend to join in the fall, the colleges reserve the right to revoke admissions to both schools and you’ll be out of luck.

If it’s that difficult a decision for you, you should visit the colleges for one last time to make your decision. If it’s not possible, contact students in the school and ask them what they think of the school, the programs, the areas of study, the student life, the food, and whatever else is pertinent to your lifestyle. Because you now have Facebook, that should be a lot easier.

If you say yes to two schools at once, you’re killing the chances for a student who may be wait listed, and trust me, these students will not be happy. But let’s say you’ve been wait listed from another school and get notified after the May 1st date that you’re accepted to the school. You can tell the first school that you agreed “yes” to that you’re respectfully revoking your admission there, and the only thing you have to lose is your deposit.

Make your decision and stick to it. The ethical decision is to say you’re ready to choose one school — as this is the very nature of “commitment.” Worst comes to worse, you can transfer. But you’ll very likely love the choice you make. Just don’t make it unfair to your peers who are dying to attend the school you’ve been accepted to but don’t want to attend.

The New York Times has an article on the seemingly latest fad in Korean academia: to win admissions to the most prestigious universities in the United States. One of the students at the prestigious Daweon Foreign Language High School, who graduated from Harvard, puts it this way: “Going to U.S. universities has become like a huge fad in Korean society, and the Ivy League names — Harvard, Yale, Princeton — have really struck a nerve.” An American Ambassador says, “Preparing to get to the best American universities has become something of a national obsession in Korea.”

The goals of the high school are some that may need to be emulated by those magnet programs in the USA: an extremely strong focus on studying hard.

Though the grueling study is a bit extreme — previously, one of these preparatory schools installed cameras in the dormitories so that students would not fall asleep during late-night study sessions. After all, while academics is one major goal for the students, another goal is to become a responsible citizen.

Beyond the hardcore studying comes the need to learn a third language (in addition to Korean and English) plus taking Advanced Placement courses. The school also runs for 10 months a year instead of the standard American 9.

Romance, too, is scolded upon. It’s perceived as wasting time. In the lunchroom, girls and boys sit separately.

What does that translate to in US colleges? Harvard has seen 213 new applications for its 2009 freshman class (up from 66 in ‘03). The Daewon school (and its closest competitor) have 34 graduates in Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. There were 133 graduates in total in this year’s class.

The culture in South Korea is a bit different. While our academic year in the US starts in August or September, South Korea’s starts in March. Graduation is held in February. (You can imagine the stress of college applications during such an odd schedule, but they work it out.)

A Princeton student from the Korean culture shares her story about the emphasis on top grades: “Ms. Kim developed fierce study habits early, watching her mother scold her older sister for receiving any score less than 100 on tests. Even a 98 or a 99 brought a tongue-lashing.”

The hard work doesn’t stop on weekends either. Classes in English and meet on weekends with the aim to raise SAT scores for Ivy League consideration. One student is taking 9 Advanced Placement exams next month in all different areas of study.

The test score averages are also high. The article says: “[The school’s] average combined SAT score was 2203 out of 2400. By comparison, the average combined score at Phillips Exeter, the New Hampshire boarding school, is 2085. Sixty-seven Daewon graduates had perfect 800 math scores.”

And so continues the life of a South Korean student:

“She rises at 6 a.m. and heads for her school bus at 6:50. Arriving at Daewon, she grabs a broom to help classmates clean her classroom. Between 8 and noon, she hears Korean instructors teach supply and demand in economics, Korean soils in geography and classical poets in Korean literature.

“I feel proud that I’ve endured another day,” she said.”

What if you’re an average student — with a B or C GPA and only “mid-range” SATs? Are you out of luck when it comes to college applications?

The answer, fortunately, is no. There are a lot of state schools that will accept 75% of all applicants. In fact, the school doesn’t have to spell “prestige” in order to be a very good school for the choosing. You can check out Colleges that Change Lives to rethink your college decisions. You may also want to look at A+ Options for B Students, an article in the US News and World Report.

There’s also another option. While grades will always be required, some schools don’t require SAT or ACT scores to be submitted which should make poor standardized test takers have a much easier time. This list is also offered at FairTest.org.

The point is that you don’t have to be so heavily focused on the top schools — there are thousands of colleges out there, and chances are there are a few good schools that will suit you just fine!

You may have opened one too many thick envelopes (or, unfortunately, thin ones) and have felt some extreme emotional highs and lows this past month. The Moscow Times says that the top schools are reporting all-time acceptance lows, with Harvard at 7.1%, Yale at 8.3%, and Columbia at 8.7%.

In Russia, things are different, the Times reports. You don’t apply to a college. You apply to an academic program. Acceptance can be a lot easier or harder. But it’s not anything at all like American college acceptance and the world won’t end if you don’t get accepted into the program. Life goes on, they say, and in Russia, that’s true.

In America, the mantra seems to be “you are were you went.” In reality, that’s not the case. How many Yale graduates do you know that don’t fit the “Yale” perception — at least not yours? Chances are, you’re thinking along the same lines as me, and you need to know that not getting into your #1 choice isn’t the end of the world.

In ten years, college won’t really matter. In reality, college doesn’t matter even a few years after you graduate. Your hard work and perseverance will pay, but it may have nothing to do with the school you go to.

It’s not the end of the world as you know it if you don’t get in. Aim to succeed in college and beyond and let fate guide you to where you belong. It’ll likely be a lot better than you think — and everything works out for the best.

You may not have found a job or you got lucky and graduated with a career, but business school is always a possibility in your future. BusinessWeek rates the top 50 business schools for undergrads, and to make things easier, we’ve done it here at GoCollege too.

50. Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ), $10,949/year, 780 students. Accounting and finance is best (marketing and management, not so much)
49. University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL), $34,720/year, 2,089 students. Small classes but not great recruitment.
48. University of Minnesota-Carlson (Minneapolis), $10,498/year, 1,863 students. Limited program offerings and easy classes, but good recruitment within the Twin Cities area.
47. University of San Diego (San Diego, CA), $32,564/year, 1,077 students. Great personable professors, but the jobs are not so great.
46. University of Florida-Warrington (Gainesville, FL), $3,372/year, 2,177 students. Big classes that are mostly taught by TAs are disappointing.
45. Loyola College-Sellinger (Baltimore, MD), $42,730/year, 926 students. Small classes and one-on-one attention gets high marks.
44. University of Georgia-Terry (Athens, GA), $5,622/year, 2,388 students. Academically rigorous courses, and it’s hard to get into top level classes.
43. University of Maryland-Smith (College Park, MD), $7,968/year, 2,877 students. Wall Street hasn’t seen many student representation.
42. Boston University (Boston, MA), $34,930/year, 1,979 students. Good curriculum but tough grading system and not-so-good recruiting disappoint.
41. Case Western Reserve University-Weatherhead (Cleveland, OH), $33,538/year, 405 students. Small classes are great, but there’s a lot of work.
40. Binghamton University (Binghamton, NY), $6,012/year, 870 students. Close-knit administration is a bonus.
39. Michigan State University-Broad (East Lansing, MI), $10,090/year, 2,065 students. Good classes, not as good teachers/administration.
38. Pennsylvania State University-Smeal (University Park, PA), $14,343/year, 5,492 students. Good supply of recruiters, but the cost is high for some.
37. University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, WI), $7,460/year, 1,312 students. Too many classes are taught by TAs and not professors, but recruitment is high.
36. Baylor University-Hankamer (Waco, TX), $25,340/year, 2,565 students. Strong focus on ethics, but not strong in recruitment.
35. Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, CA), $33,000/year, 1,860 students. Great recruiting within the Silicon Valley area but not much elsewhere.
34. Northeastern University (Boston, MA), $31,899/year, 2,921 students. Co-op opportunities are aplenty.
33. University of Washington (Seattle, WA), $6,385/year, 1,750 students. Small community and close-knit professors, but hard to find jobs on the east coast.
32. Texas Christian University-Neeley (Fort Worth, TX), $24,865/year, 1,727 students. Solid leadership program coupled with tough marks and difficult recruiting makes finding jobs hard.
31. Texas A & M-Mays (College Station, TX), $7,266/year, 3,856 students. Honors classes perform better than other classes, which aren’t as challenging.
30. Bentley College (Waltham, MA), $32,896/year, 3,810 students. Small classes shine, and finance and accounting majors get the best jobs.
29. The College of William & Mary-Mason (Williamsburg, VA), $9,164/year, 453 students. Broad curriculum and intimate environment with great professors.
28. Babson College (Babson Park, MA), $34,112/year, 1,799 students. Students need to run a business for the entrepreneurship program. Work and grading is difficult.
27. Fordham University (New York), $32,720/year, 1,866 students. Strong focus on ethics and integrity but jobs aren’t easy to find.
26. Rensselaer Polytech Institute-Lally (Troy, NY), $35,885/year, 374 students. Big focus on technology and personal professors win points.
25. Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA), $35,610/year, 1,434 students. Faculty is well-liked, but recruiting is more difficult (accounting majors do better than marketing)
24. Miami University-Farmer (Oxford, OH), $11,875/year, 2,025 students. Accounting and finance programs get the jobs, but advising program isn’t recommended.
23. Southern Methodist University-Cox (Dallas, TX), $33,170/year, 917 students. Professors are accessible and recruiting occurs within the Dallas area.
22. Carnegie Mellon University-Tepper (Pittsburgh, PA), $37,544/year, 450 students. Intense work but school is small and quantitative skill focus is a plus.
21. Wake Forest University-Calloway (Winston-Salem, NC), $34,330/year, 415 students. A great workload that helps prepare students but also hurts them in the job hunt.
20. University of Richmond-Robins (Richmond, VA), $38,850/year, 670 students. Classes are small and students have a good relationship with professors.
19. Georgetown University-McDonough (Washington DC), $35,740/year, 1,297 students. Good DC location gives political focus.
18. University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign, IL), $12,232/year, 2,649 students. New building under construction with good staff and faculty.
17. University of Southern California-Marshall (Los Angeles, CA), $35,810/year, 3,497 students. Extensive alumni helps students find jobs.
16. Indiana University-Kelley (Bloomington, IN), $7,958/year, 4,069 students. Curriculum combines finance, marketing, strategy, and operations.
15. Washington University-Olin (St. Louis, MO), $35,524/year, 758 students. Good professors and administration, but recruiting falters.
14. Boston College-Carroll (Boston, MA), $35,674/year, 1,970 students. Lessons can be applied to real world and the career-services staff is accommodating.
13. Villanova University (Villanova, PA), $34,900/year, 1,804 students. Accounting program is top-notch, but marketing majors again feel out in the dark.
12. University of North Carolina-Kenan-Flagler (Chapel Hill, NC), $5,340/year, 658 students. Outstanding global focus and emphasis on technology makes the school shine.
11. University of California Berkeley-Haas (Berkeley, CA), $8,384/year, 700 students. Harsh grading with high-caliber faculty.
10. University of Texas-McCombs (Austin, TX), $8,908/year, 3,969 students. Good recruiting and accounting program.
9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Sloan (Cambridge, MA), $34,986/year, 246 students. Quantitative skills taught well and undergrads are challenged with MBA courses if desired.
8. New York University-Stern (New York, NY), $36,524/year, 2,335 students. Focuses on finance and is perfectly situated by Wall Street for great job opps.
7. Brigham Young University-Marriott (Provo, UT), $3,840/year, 1,616 students. Emphasis on ethical business leaders of the future.
6. University of Michigan-Ross (Ann Arbor, MI), $12,585/year, 1,069 students. Strict grading upsets students, but curriculum and teamwork win brownie points.
5. Emory University-Goizueta (Atlanta, GA), $34,336/year, 622 students. Hard-working professors and career service advisers.
4. Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), $19,291/year, 708 students. Challenging coursework prepares students well for business work.
3. University of Notre Dame-Mendoza (South Bend, IN), $35,187/year, 1,626 students. Powerful program with “die-hard alums.”
2. University of Virginia-McIntire (Carlottesville, VA), $8,690/year, 652 students. Excellent faculty and good starting salaries.
1. University of Pennsylvania-Wharton (Philadelphia, PA), $35,916/year, 2,519 students. Highly-esteemed students, faculty, and alumni.

Is business school in your future?

1. Applying to college is like taking another class at school. You can either take it as a “summer class” and get started early or you can worry about it as an additional “course” come your senior year of high school in the fall.
2. Leadership and commitment are extraordinarily valuable assets and are extremely important on your college application.
3. You need to believe in yourself. Little do you know where you’re really headed — nobody really has the right idea. Have a good attitude and work ethic towards other courses and you’ll be surprised. Never undercut yourself.
4. Statistics change. What happened two years ago may not hold true anymore. Just because your friend got into Yale in 2004 with “worse grades than you” doesn’t mean that your chances are better than his.
5. Read. A lot. Reading in college is going to have to become second nature. Getting a head start will only help you grow intellectually and will build up some motivation for later.
6. Volunteer early. Don’t just get into community service just because your college application demands it. It actually makes you feel very good.
7. Research scholarship opportunities. They vary from state to state and from school to school. You may be on your own on this one as some college counselors don’t have all the resources. Thankfully, you do.
8. Stand out. That’s what all colleges demand: someone who will be an asset to the school rather than an ordinary student. Write a college essay that matters. To get an idea of what works and what doesn’t, just don’t write on the same topics that your friends have written on.
9. Study your college and make a case. Read documentation on the school. Then, when the application asks you “why do you want to go to THIS school?” you need to have an answer that will blow them away.
10. Build up your vocabulary. Your SATs and ACTs need them. So do you. You’ll come across those words in college more than once and you’ll sound a lot smarter.
11. Challenge yourself. Trust me, you’ll be challenged in school, and if not in college, in the real world, so it’s better to get a head start now. Plus, it’s a great learning experience for you. Take AP or IB courses. Enroll in independent study courses or in classes at your local college. Always keep learning.
12. Be nice to your teachers. They write your recommendation letters.
13. Seek out the safety schools. Look hard and you shall find something that will make you happy. It will also make your life a lot less stressful.
14. Take your SAT IIs alongside the relevant AP class. It saves a lot of studying down the road. If that means you’re taking an SAT II in 9th grade, do it. Better to prepare earlier than to have to study all over again a few years down the road.
15. Assert yourself. Don’t be shy. Leadership is important. Colleges seek out the leaders of tomorrow, so be one today.
16. Explore internships. Find out what you’re passionate about and pursue it in the “working world.” Some people realize that they’re not cut out for that line of work, so getting a head start gives you more insight on whether you can live with it for years or whether it’s time to make a change.
17. The common college application can be recycled. You can send them to different schools (with the proper edits) without worrying about rewriting an entire new application.
18. Be yourself. Don’t be your parents’ child. Go to a school you love, not one that your parents love.
19. College interviews aren’t that bad. Present yourself as you normally would (be yourself — there’s no need to play dress up) and just talk about what interests you in the school. Interviewers want to get to know the real you. Just talk and you’ll be fine.
20. Ivies aren’t always worth it. They don’t necessarily offer better educations than your local schools or your “safeties.” The best school for you may not necessarily be the highest-ranked institution.
21. Apply early action if you can (when there are no penalties). You may grow impatient.
22. Organize yourself. You’ll need to continue it in college. Get a notebook and a daily planner that can keep you up to speed on your homework assignments. PDAs are fine too.
23. Your college counselor is a resource. Take advantage of him/her. Build that relationship today.
24. Consider competitions. Math and science buffs should look into the Intel Science Talent Search, the Siemens Westinghouse Competition, the Olympiads (in your field), or the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).
25. Don’t slack off. You’ll pay for it one day.
26. Build a relationship with your teachers that is more than about grades. In the grand scheme of things, grades matter little.
27. Halloween is the day before the Early Decision/Early Action admissions deadline. Finish your college application a lot earlier.
28. Get your recommendation letters in order. Teachers are asked by hundreds of students for these letters yearly. Be first or at least early.
29. Don’t pass up the merit award. It may never come back to you again.
30. Check financial aid deadlines and don’t be late.
31. Focus. Do your assignments. Do your homework. Slacking off will not pay.
32. Rely on yourself. In college, you’re the boss. A college coach may help, but at the end of the day, it’s all you.
33. You’re no different than the others. Well, maybe you are. But if your friends get rejected, take heed! Don’t say “it won’t happen to me.”
34. Create your own opportunities. Sometimes, you won’t get into the prestigious geography team, but your interest in politics can get you started on your own Congress Club. That will also make you a leader.
35. Relax. Don’t stress out. You’re not alone in this.
36. Don’t dismiss smaller schools. Liberal arts colleges may be great for you and perfect for what you’re pursuing. Single-sex schools can also offer superior learning experiences in a much smaller and closer-knit community than you’ll find in larger schools.
37. Visit the campus. You might really love it on paper, but until you visit it, you can never be so sure. Why do you think job applicants are interviewed before they’re hired?
38. Got a question? Call the school. They’re not screening calls and won’t hold it against you if you have a question about the application process or about coursework. Don’t be afraid to initiate.
39. Plan for the best but prepare for the worst. You need to be realistic about the entire situation. There are lots of schools out there — not only Ivy Leagues — but schools that really will be your perfect match. Seek and you shall find.

What other tips do you have to offer?

So the long winter wait is over and those envelopes are arriving, thick and thin, yes and no, accept and reject (or waitlisted!). You’re now about to make one of the most important decisions of the next few years of your increasingly independent life and it’s important that you take advantage of all information available.

More often than not, students know little about the school that they’re about to attend. This isn’t an entirely awful thing – you can probably figure out how to make the most of your time anywhere. Some will want to stay close to home while others will flee to an opposite coast. Some might have a dream city in mind or desire nothing less than cheering on the big time football team from the student section on fall Saturdays. Maybe it’s the big campus green or the bustling student center that caught your eye on the official tour. Maybe mom and dad went there or maybe you really like the name of the place. Sadly, somewhere along the way, you probably forgot about the classroom component.

Beyond the artificial reasons for wanting to attend college, there’s the inescapable reality of the time that will be spent studying. After all, for most people, college is still an academic experience with an eventual undergraduate degree and then job or more advanced studies. Therefore, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the academic expectations of a school before you wind up blowing time and money on endless courses that serve no interest to what you want out of college.

Schools have different curriculums. Some require a subset of courses that all students take (a “core” curriculum). Others have a certain number of general education requirements (e.g. two semesters of a physical science, four semesters of a foreign language, etc). Still, others advance entirely open curriculums where students can take almost anything offered in course catalogs alongside their major area of study. One school might allow more advanced placement than another (which could save you both time and money). Another school might allow you to pass/fail (that is, elect not to receive a letter grade against your grade point average, unless you fail the course) the majority of your classes if you choose. Nonetheless, these things vary and you’ll want to know how they work before you end up confronting them firsthand.

Thankfully, the bulk of this information can be found on nearly all college websites, but it’s unlikely that it’s included in official welcoming admissions material. This information is there to win you over (maybe with a water bottle or bumper sticker or t-shirt), as schools are aware that they’re competing for you, still free agents. They’re out there making pitches as best they can, but as an admissions office, they care little of what will become your own academic experience. That, as so much of what you’ll learn in college, is up to you to discover.

If you’re like most high school sophomores and juniors, you’re probably preparing to take your SATs in the next few months and building up the skills to do so right now. Without a doubt, if you’re not an avid reader, vocabulary is a tough nut to crack and you should get an early start.

So if you’re looking to build up your SAT vocabulary, there are many ways to do it. Your mileage may vary, but here are some suggested routes to take.

1. Study flashcards. My favorite flash cards were these SAT Verbal English Flashcards. They not only give you the definitions but they also show them in context of a sentence so that you apply the terms correctly in your regular speaking.
2. Read. Stick your nose in a book — in fact, read a variety of magazines and books. Find something you’re interested in and read during your free time.
3. Seek out etymology. Look for roots in words and see if you can determine what a word means. If you have exposure to foreign language, such as Spanish, Latin, or French, you’re ahead of the gang because there are some similarities between these languages and English.
4. Use a dictionary. If you don’t know what it means, look it up. Write down words that you encounter throughout the day and then put those words through an online dictionary to get your definition.
5. Take practice vocabulary exams. You can buy a book and study all the words, or you can go with the free options as provided by the College Board.

How I studied: Let me put it this way. Vocabulary isn’t my strong suit. I write well (or at least I think I do), but I’m by no means an enthusiast when it comes to reading books. So what did I do? I bought the vocabulary cards (2 boxes) and started reading every single one of them over a course of several months. I looked at each word and wrote a sentence using the word (in addition to the sentence applied by the publisher) on the back of the cards. That got me familiar with the terms quite quickly. With 2000 cards (and then more on index cards as I stumbled across new words), I disciplined myself to learn about 50-60 words a night. I’d quiz myself (often alone, but sometimes with a friend) on the terms. I wouldn’t give up my study sessions until I was absolutely certain that I understood the words. I’d also revisit the weaker terms every so often so that they wouldn’t be forgotten. Fortunately, there was overlap with words I found in tests and the SAT vocabulary words.

How did I do? After using these study skills, my SAT vocabulary score increased over 150 points. Now that was totally worth it.

Discipline yourself, work hard, and you’ll score well. You’ll also be happy to know that studying vocabulary isn’t a one-time thing. You’ll come across the words again in your everyday life and you’ll say, “hey, I remember learning that for my SATs!”

Last month, we talked about the top mistakes that students make on their college applications. This month, we’ll talk about a more grave issue: the top mistakes students make when choosing a college. This is when the school is not the ideal match for the student.

Here are the mistakes you can make.

You slack off in high school and don’t meet the minimum academic criteria for college. Ensure that you are taking the minimum amount of high school classes to meet college criteria. Having the right grades, good teacher recommendations, and acceptable test scores will give you an edge.

You’re fixated on one school. Believe me, MIT might be the school of your dreams, but it’s not a realistic view for most of us. You need to consider other schools and not get upset if you don’t get in your #1 school. Have a few other colleges lined up and safety schools as well. If you are really adamant about applying to the school of your dreams, you could transfer after a year or so. People do that, but many of them end up being so happy in their current college environments that they never switch.

You do it because your friends are doing it. Sure, we all love our high school friends, but for many of us, it’s time to move on. Don’t participate in a college program that isn’t right for you just because your friends are doing it. Chances are, you’ll make better friends in college.

You don’t seek out the community. College is more than just for yourself. It’s a decision you’ll be making and will be sharing with peers. Speak to college students and see if the school you’re choosing is right for you. At the same time, make sure you understand what you’re in for. You can get a wealth of information by asking the right people. One of my biggest mistakes in college was being unaware that the “unlimited meal plan” would not be as worthwhile as a point system where I could allocate some points to buying brain food for late night studying.

You don’t look into the school. Harvard University may look great on paper, but is the curriculum good for you? What if it doesn’t offer classes that you’re interested in whereas UMass does? Make sure to research the school thoroughly and visit the campuses. Brandeis University is huge and some people like smaller schools like Columbia University where everything is located within a mere few blocks. Consider the academic environment, the course offerings, the population (”I’m looking for a religious school — is it for me?”), the campus, the location, and any other factors. Believe me, they’ll actually matter. It is four years, after all.

You let finances dictate the way. Okay, so a school is $9,900 a year whereas another school that is within your range of consideration is $28,000. That doesn’t mean you should ignore the $9,900 school because it has inferior course offerings. On the other hand, don’t discount the more expensive school because financial aid is available too!

You screw up your college application. Remember, this is it. Your personality is put on the table for the admissions department to review. Don’t mess up. Don’t make mistakes on your college application. Put on your best dress because this is the one chance you have to shine.

Sure, those SAT words can be tough to study, but you don’t have to buy 500 3×5″ flashcards to learn them all. Enter Quizlet. Quizlet is a community-driven website that lets you study online in a variety of formats: flashcards, randomly generated tests, and while collaborating with your friends. It’s a smart system that will remember what you’ve already learned (allowing you to study only those “flashcards” you have trouble with) and you can import facts and vocabulary terms from another application directly into Quizlet. Other bonuses include learning accurate spellings (since Quizlet requires you to type in the answers on some exams), multiple choice tests, true/false exams, and more.

Better yet, Quizlet was built by students (a 17-year-old named Andrew Sutherland) for students. And you can take it much farther than vocabulary studying: for example, learning those dates for the art history exam gets a lot easier when an application like Quizlet exists.

If you’ve tried it, let us know how you like it. What are your favorite parts of Quizlet?