<p>I remember frequenting this site when I was applying to schools. It was an extremely stressful and extremely exciting time of my life. An older friend of mine told me that I'd have one disapointment and one surprise. Well I applied to Columbia ED and after being deferred I panicked and applied to 12 other schools getting into all but one (waitlisted) and then eventually getting rejected by Columbia. The college process doesn't always play out like you'd like it to, but sometimes you just gotta have faith and believe that what's best for you is what will come. My deferral from Columbia was a blessing in disguise but if you were to tell me so the day I got my e-mail from them I would have called you crazy. </p>
<p>You can't predict some things. Heck I asked countless people here and none believed I was a shoe in for an ivy league or even had a REALLY good shot for one. But when the letters came I found myself trying to decide whether Harvard, Yale, Penn, or Princeton was a better fit. And while I'm not a big fan of cliches a particularly insightful one (and one my mom always repeats): When one door closes, another one opens. Good luck to everybody on the future endeavors, you guys will be successful no matter where you go. Also congrats to the EA class of 2011, if you need some advice maybe I can lend some.</p>
<p>Thank-you. Hope it will be the same outcome for my daughter. Because of the deferral from Columbia, she is wondering if she'll get into any school now. I am more like your mom. I think there'll be better things to come.</p>
<p>What he posted when he was applying:
"SAT I: 640 CR 770 Math 700 Writing
SATII's: Math Level 1:750 Math Level 2: 760 Spanish:770
(Taking US history SAT II jan 28)</p>
<p>I had a 3.92 UW GPA ranked 6 out of 410 students. My weighted was 4.83 4 out of 410 students. I took 3 AP classes last year AP Chem (3) AP US (5) AP Eng Lang and Comp (4) and was an AP scholar.
I co-founded a chapter of JSA (VP), was the VP of Building with Books (raise $ to help build schools in underdeveloped countries), VP of NHS, President of Physics Club, Co-captain of Math team, secretary of interact (another volunteer organization).</p>
<p>Last summer I was an IT intern at Praxis Housing Initiatives in NYC. Its a non-profit that helps find housing for homeless people with HIV/AIDs. </p>
<p>Also, my parents are first generation immigrants from Argentina, I am hispanic and the language spoken at home is Spanish. Neither of my parents have gone to college and I come from a very low-income family.</p>
<p>My essay was about a life altering event in which my father was diagnosed with stomach cancer and how I turned it into an inspiration</p>
<p>My secondary essay is about my identity, being both Jewish and Hispanic. </p>
<p>List of colleges:
Harvard
Princeton
Yale
UPenn
Columbia (ED==>Deferred)
Dartmouth (History teacher was former admissions officer and she knows dean of admissions)
Georgetown
Tufts (Brother is graduating from there this year, made Dean's List several times)
Williams
UVA
NYU
BC
BU
UCONN "</p>