Frequently asked questions
From MyChances
To ask a question that hasn't been answered here, please add your question to Frequently asked questions (unanswered). This is a list of questions that commonly occur while using this site.
Contents |
College
Predictions
What does the percentage mean?
These are intended to be interpreted as probabilities. So if it says you have a 45% chance, that means that 45 out of 100 times, it thinks you'll get in. If the models are correctly specified, they will still get predictions "wrong" because of this, which is actually desirable: people with a 30% chance should get in more often than people with a 10% chance if the models work as they should. A 33% chance should be "wrong" 1 in 3 times. A 25% chance should be "wrong" 1 in 4 times, etc. The only model that should be correct 100% of the time is a model that assigns everyone to a 0% or a 100% chance of admission.
Community Predictions
Should I rate my own chances?
Yes! It won't mess up our rating system or cause any problems. In fact, we encourage this. We think that being thoughtful about your own chances and giving yourself a numerical rating is a good thing to do.
How can I get more people to rate my chances?
Come back to the site more often. Seriously; here's why: When people are playing the Admissions Game, they are usually shown the profile of someone who has already been rejected or accepted to college. Sometimes, though, they are shown the profile of someone who hasn't yet been accepted or rejected. The catch is that it only shows the profiles of people who have been back to the site in the past 3 days. So if you visit frequently, you'll have a better chance of getting your chances rated by the community.
Can I see the overall community accuracy?
Not currently.
Can I see an individual member's overall accuracy?
Yes. You can see your own by going to http://college.mychances.net/games/admissions-expert-stats.php . You can see any other member's by going to http://college.mychances.net/games/admissions-expert-stats.php?id=X , where X is their user ID.
Application Profiles/Trackers
Is the Selectivity Index the only thing used to predict admissions?
No.
What variables go into the Selectivity Index?
SAT or ACT, unweighted GPA, and class rank.
College Recommendation Engine
How is the College Recommendation Engine different from regular search?
Actually, it's just marketing. ... OK, kidding. Yes, we believe this is a fundamentally different type of tool. It is a discovery engine rather than a search engine.
How does a discovery engine work?
Instead of asking you to tell us what features you want the college to have, we instead ask you what features you want your advisers to have. We extrapolate from there to find the best-fitting colleges for your criteria.
Still not helping. Can you give me an example?
- Example 1: Let's say that you have no idea where you want to go for college, but you are interested in Computer Science, have good-but-not-perfect GPA and SAT scores, and want to stay on the East Coast. We can help! Go to the recommendation engine. Choose advisers that have a max GPA of around 3.7, max SAT scores in the 600s-700s per section, and add Computer Science to your list of interests. Now, go down to the college section and select states in the Northeast. That's it. Hit submit, and you'll get a list of schools that are recommended by your advisers. These will probably include RPI and RIT, and a few other fitting schools.
- Example 2: On the other hand, if you know you're interested in a few schools but want more, find advisors who are applying to those schools (you can do this directly on the form). Then, hit submit to see other colleges that they recommend. If you need safeties, consider filtering your advisers by selecting a max GPA, SAT, etc; those with lower scores will tend to recommend schools that are easier to get into.
Essays
Professional Editing
Does MyChances offer any professional essay editing services, if I want additional essay help?
Yes! MyChances has partnered with EssayEdge to provide you with high quality, dependable profession essay editing services. To access EssayEdge's professional essay editing service, click here.
Feedback
How long does it take to get essay feedback?
This depends on how many credits you have. There is always a queue of essays waiting to be rated; they are processed based on the number of credits that the submitter has. So if two people have essays in the queue, the one with more credits will have their essay rated first.
It's been several days and my essay still isn't rated. Why?
Because essays are rated in an order that is determined by how many credits each person in the queue has, those with the most credits will get their essays rated first. This means that people who heavily participate by giving essay feedback and rating chances will benefit by getting their essay feedback very quickly, but the downside is that those who are less active on the site will have to wait longer to get their essay feedback. The easy way around this is to earn more credits!
Contributing to the site
Wiki
How can I edit my high school's page?
If you follow these directions, you can be sure that your edits will show up on the main site and will be picked up by search engines.
- Go to your college tracker.
- Click on the name of your high school.
- Next to the "From our Wiki" subheader, click on the 'edit this page' link.
