<p>Accepted</p>
<p>Objective
[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (CR, M, W): 790, 770, 800 Composite 2360 (superscored from a 2240 and a 2310)
[</em>]ACT (breakdown): no
[<em>]SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math level 2 (770), US History (750), Biology M (730)
[</em>]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): school doesn’t calculate, I’d guess around a 3.4-3.5 (lol)
[<em>]Weighted GPA (100 scale): 103.4
[</em>]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 30/620
[<em>]AP (place score in parentheses): World History (3), Statistics (3), US History (4), Physics B (4), Biology (4), English Language (5) Spanish Language (did not take)
[</em>]IB (place score in parentheses): unfortunately not offered
[<em>]Senior Year Course Load: 6 APs - European History, US Government/Macroeconomics, Chemistry, Calculus AB/BC, English 4, Environmental Science
[</em>]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NMSF (one of the lucky folks to NOT advance to finalist, look at me now NMSC), AP Scholar with Distinction, Questbridge Finalist but did not do college match
[/ul]</p>
<p>Subjective
[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): LD Debate 10-12, JV XC 12
[</em>]Job/Work Experience: working with my dad, I don’t think I really included this on my apps mentioned briefly in essay
[<em>]Volunteer/Community Service: like 10-20 hrs lol, did not include
[</em>]Summer Activities: chilling ; )
[<em>]Essays: Common App 10/10 cried manly tears while writing it, Bowdoin supp 8 or 9/10
[</em>]Teacher Recommendations: a 7-8, a generic 7-8, and a 9-10 that I didn’t read but she loves me so I know it’s good
[<em>]Counselor Rec: 10
[</em>]Additional Rec: 10+ (XC coach, it was beautiful)
[li]Interview: no[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Other
[ul]
[<em>]State (if domestic applicant): Texas
[</em>]Country (if international applicant): USA
[<em>]School Type: public
[</em>]Ethnicity: White as heck ; )
[<em>]Gender: Male
[</em>]Income Bracket: way lower than the 0 EFC threshold : (
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first generation, compelling personal story of hardship, Questbridge Finalist but my QB app was rushed and bad, submitted Common App to all (intended to submit paper app of MyMIT, but didn’t so instead of a low chance there I had no chance, but I don’t think MIT was a great fit for me to begin with, see test scores)[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Reflection
[ul]
[<em>]Strengths: SAT and subject tests, story and essays, RECOMMENDATIONS(!), had about the strongest upward trend possible, took the most difficult courses available to me
[</em>]Weaknesses: grades (I have multiple Cs grade 9 and a little more than 1:1 ratio of B:A for 10-11), class rank, not a competitive school (we maybe get 1, sometimes 2 into the lower hanging T20 schools each year), AP exams, no really outstanding awards or ECs
[<em>]Why you think you received your decision: While my grades are not hot, I feel like I gave ample evidence elsewhere that I’m academically qualified, and my personal story is so compelling that I feel it’s what really carried the process. RECS AND ESSAYS. I’m a very good writer.
[</em>]Where else you have applied and/or have been accepted/rejected: Accepted Bowdoin and Amherst, rejected MIT (lol), waiting on Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Williams, Georgetown, UNC Chapel Hill, USC
[/ul]</p>
<p>I don’t know yet if I’m going to attend Bowdoin, still a lot of decisions incoming, but absent the Ivies, Bowdoin is a top contender, the fit is really good. I got really attached to Bowdoin a while ago, and that had faded, I almost didn’t apply, but I’m feeling nostalgiac after this acceptance. Very happy to have this option : )</p>
<p>General comments/advice/hindsight:
My experience is probably the exception to the rule because of my background, but there are some lessons that apply to all.
Getting good recs is incredibly important. I dedicated the last half of junior year through app times to getting excellent recommendations and it payed off one hundred fold.
There’s a lot of advice that gets thrown around here re: essays, and it’s commonly said that you should tell the story that only you can tell, but that didn’t help me. It’s important to be unique, but I think that approach is misguided. I tried at first reading essay advice from schools and others, but I just found myself disagreeing with a lot of it. I ended up drawing only on my own thoughts to form my essays. I thought they were great for the most part, and I wrote a ton of them. I shaped them over time, and I never asked for the input of others. I proofread by myself, and I wrote in my natural style.
It’s a small sample, but my results thus far tell me that schools are good at discerning fit. Just be yo-self, fam.</p>