<p>Bowdoin (first choice of 4 ranked schools):</p>
<p>Objective:
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): somewhere around 2150, never re-took after sophomore year, didn’t submit
[</em>] ACT: 33
[<em>] SAT II: I took 4, scores ranged from 680-780, didn’t submit any, just the ACT
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.80 UW (school doesn’t calculate)
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): World History 4, APUSH 5, Lit 5, French 5, Latin 4, US Gov (4), Art History (5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): NA
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP lang, AP MEH, AP macroecon, AP microecon, AP Stats, Adv Latin Lit, Chinese 4, Ancient Greek, Geology, Forensics, Advanced Programming
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar, can’t remember what else right now
Subjective:
[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): lots of writing including state level poetry awards, quite a few published works, theater stuff, state level award for ESU Shakespeare competition, Japanese, MUN, founded a serious writing group, a few more…
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: NA
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Buddhist retreat center, volunteered for may odd jobs, every summer, animal shelter
[<em>] Summer Activities: some, not too unusual. TASP was my best summer activity.
[</em>] Essays: 10/10. I seriously think my essays were the strongest piece of my application.<br>
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: IDK maybe 7 or 8? I didn’t see them so I’m guessing. One of my recommenders says I write better in French than his graduate students write in English lol, so if he said that in his LOR…:), the other teacher has had me in 3 classes plus an EC, and has been really involved with my family’s recent struggles involving serious illness and associated losses. He is super compassionate and supportive.<br>
[</em>] Counselor Rec:[/ul] 8ish? again Idk but he always writes great rec’s and he knows my parents and our situation/difficulties. Other
[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): mid-Atlantic seaboard watershed (who’s taking Geology?!)
[</em>] School Type: independent
[<em>] Ethnicity: mixed
[</em>] Gender: F
[<em>] Income Bracket: 58K
[</em>] Assets: nothing important
[<em>] Property: may lose our home even though we don’t even owe much on it.
[</em>] Extenuating Circumstances: job loss, serious illness, massive debt from unpaid medical bills
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): the usual Questie life - the struggles are real. [/li][/ul] Reflection
Strengths: essays and course rigor. I have always taken too many classes - often 3 different language classes plus a bunch of other APs. Although my grades aren’t tippy top (at all), I hope admissions people could see that I cared more about learning than about grades. Also I finished a couple AP languages by sophomore year because of studying them on my own as well as in school. That probably looks motivated. I do think my essays were good and I worked really really hard on them. My AP Lang teacher said my Bio essay was “stunning” and he wouldn’t change a word.</p>
<p>Weaknesses: GPA. The first year my dad was sick I got some B’s and even a C+ (le gasp). My EC’s also suffered starting sophomore year I had to give up stuff like riding and playing ice hockey – too expensive. Definitely my transcript is not
the strongest which is weird because that’s supposed to be the most important piece of the admissions puzzle but it wasn’t that deleterious for me.</p>
<p>Why you think you were chosen/not chosen for the match: It took me a REALLY long time to decide which colleges to rank. I ultimately chose 4 and switched the schools around and around until the very last minute that final rankings were due. Honestly I could see myself at any of the 4 schools. It was actually agonizing and I felt like I had to get it right. Finally I put Bowdoin first, and I guess it was the ‘right’ choice since they picked me too :). I’m understanding that’s the whole idea behind ‘match’ is to find a really good fit from the perspective of both the student and college…not just to get kids into great schools.
[/list] General Comments: see above. I think I already kind of reflected on the process. I will add that I had no idea how happy I would feel getting matched, how amazing this opportunity is, and how grateful I am. I did not let myself imagine what it would feel like to be matched and to know I’m going to spend 4 years at my favorite college (free!)…I feel like a new part of my life is starting already. I’m still in a bit of a daze. </p>
<p>BTW the formatting is definitely not working in this template - someone should fix it. </p>
<p>I enjoyed reading posts like these, so I’ll post one. </p>
<p>Decision: Matched</p>
<p>Match to: Williams College </p>
<p>Objective:
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 580CR, 800M, 610W (8)
[</em>] ACT: 34 (34E,36M,32R,35S,8W)
[<em>] SAT II: 800 (Math II) , 790 (Chemistry)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1%
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Eng Lang/Comp (2) , AP Calculus AB (5), AP Chemistry (5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: English 12, AP Calculus BC, AP Biology, AP Physics, AP Psychology, Japanese III, Piano II
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Placed in state math competitions, but nothing major.
Subjective:
[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Math Team (11,12) , Math Club (11,12)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Part-time job that I started during the summer.
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: around 40 hours
[<em>] Summer Activities: Part-time job
[</em>] Essays: My personal statement was superb and I started on it during the summer. Honestly, just write about yourself. Show your unique voice in it and don’t just simply tell the admissions officers about yourself. The second essay was a pretty typical college essay.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: Good recommendations. From teachers I knew for 2/3 years and I think they like me very much.
[</em>] Counselor Rec:[/ul] Typical counselor recommendation, but she was really enthusiastic about it. Other
[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): HI
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: <15,000
[</em>] Assets: <2,000
[<em>] Property: None
[</em>] Extenuating Circumstances: Mother lost her job.
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation [/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Why you think you were matched/not matched and general comments:</p>
<p>I was really shocked that I was matched because my stats are not really that impressive in the extracurricular side. I think my essay was probably the strongest hook. My test scores probably helped me a lot too. If one of the tests don’t work for you, try the other! Don’t be discouraged by the people with their long list of EC’s and awards!
Good luck to the people that didn’t get matched. More people get into partner schools through RD than through match. </p>
<p>Oh hey, Amber <3 ! You already found me this week (hint: Explore Bowdoin) lol, so we’re still missing 3 wayward polar bears. Let’s keep hunting! (I’ll PM you my <em>real</em> identity if you haven’t figured it out).</p>
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2250 (760R/750M/740W), one sitting
[</em>] ACT: N/A
[<em>] SAT II: 760 Math II, 790 Physics
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank, but probably top 5%
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (4), Lit (4), USH (4), Calc AB (5), French (4), HuG (3), Chem (3), Stats (4)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): Math SL (7)
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: IB Physics HL, IB French SL, IB Lit HL, IB TOK, AP Calc BC, IB Bio HL, IB History of the Americas HL
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, National History Day NYS comp (3rd in essay div), a couple more minor things
Subjective:
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Quiz Bowl (Captain), Pit Band/Orchestra Violinist, Rugby, Sci Olympiad, NHD
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Couldn’t work because it would reduce food stamp benefits
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Tutoring (French, Chem, Maths)
[<em>] Summer Activities: Took physics courses at Stanford’s EPGY/SPCS for two years. Frontiers of Physics then Quantum Mechanics
[</em>] Essays: Bio - 9 or 10. I put a lot of time and editing into this one. I’m ethnically Native American but was adopted by African-Americans at birth. That of course is inherently a benefit, but more importantly I think I was able to tie it into how circumstances influence us more than we recognize, and talent and hard work are secondary to a lot of luck. As for the optional essay, I wrote about how my experiences at Stanford humbled me and showed the kind of community I wanted in college. I’d say that was an 8 or 9
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: History Teacher: 10. It was phenomenal, we’ve been super close for 3 years. Science was probably an 8 or 9, I never read it
[</em>] Counselor Rec: 9/10, she was really really sweet and wanted me to get in so badly
Other
[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): NY
[</em>] School Type: Urban Public, ~400 students
[<em>] Ethnicity: Native American/Black/White
[</em>] Gender: F
[<em>] Income Bracket: ~20,000
[</em>] Assets: None
[<em>] Property: None
[</em>] Extenuating Circumstances: N/A
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, kinda weird background[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Why you think you were matched/not matched and general comments: Junior year I took 6 APs, 4 of them self-study, in addition to the IB full diploma program. Not that that’s an automatic in, but I think it helped display a drive for learning and taking advantage of opportunities. Similar with the Stanford courses: not inherently a plus, but they prepared me for harder coursework junior year and really helped me see beyond my small city (Buffalo). I think I tried to establish throughout the app the importance of perspective to me, and I guess that worked I am thrilled and so grateful. Good luck and congrats to all of you matched and not, opportunities like this are something special.</p>
I am thrilled and so grateful. Good luck and congrats to all of you matched and not, opportunities like this are something special.</p>