Intended Schools: Shotgunning, but these are the main schools:
Northwestern ED
Emory ED II (in the event NU defers)
UGA
Georgia State
Extenuating Circumstances
I was diagnosed with a chronic illness in December. I have been battling severe symptoms since my sophomore year, which caused me to do poorly academically since my stomach and GI tract were inflamed severely then. I am now medicated and in remission, but Crohn’s Disease negatively affected my academic performance. I will use my position in the Cancer Awareness non-profit to raise awareness for my illness and show that I am growing from that.
Academics
GPA (UW/W): 92 UW / 97 W
Rank (or percentile): N/A
Number of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.:
All honors
18 APs by the end of Senior Year + 1 DE
Senior Year Course Load:
Chamber Orchestra
DE Multivariable Calculus
AP Physics C
AP Computer Science A
AP Lit
AP Micro/Macro
AP Euro
Standardized Testing
SAT: 1520 Superscore → 780 M / 740 V (Retaking in June)
ACT: 33 (Forgot Breakdown but 36 M, 29 Sci)
AP/IB: One 5, Three 3’s, One 2 (Retaking one of the 3’s)
Extracurriculars/Activities
Non-Profit Founder
Worked with State candidates from the Insurance Commissioner of the state to the County Soil and Water Supervisor;
Has a following of ~3k for the Org; 30 officers across the three largest counties in the state with ~200 members.
Went door-to-door spreading information about our organization and the information we got from interviewing several elected officials and candidates
Reached several hundred households across the state.
Working with three of the state’s most prominent Muslim voter organizations (since I am Muslim)
Starting voter drive training and registrations in the schools we’re involved in and working with inner-city students to help increase voter participation and civic engagement in their schools
Will be holding a public forum/town hall for municipal officials running for election in a few months.
Gave a TEDx talk on my organization
FBLA Chapter Vice President
Brought in professionals to work with members such as the mayor to give business and stock investment advice
Gave resume workshops and ran Stock Market simulations for members
Raised >1k in profit for the club in food sales during school
Model UN President
Placed in national and state-wide conferences
Held conference for the first time in schools history
Held a workshop for middle/high school students
Debate and Speech Vice President
Team placed in international, national, and state-wide tournaments
Violin since 7th grade
All-State Orchestra
Year-Long State-Level Orchestra for 3 yrs
Chamber Orchestra all 4 yrs of HS
Ranked 3rd in the entire orchestra program
President of my orchestra program
Tri-Music Honor Society Officer
Will be auditioning for the Emory University youth orchestra this year
Muslim-Related EC’s
Worked under a new media organization by Muslim college students
Made scripts for videos/TikToks addressing Islamic news in the ME, US, and worldwide that amassed hundreds of thousands of views/likes/and followers with a collective of >250k followers on all platforms
President of Muslim Student Association at school
Speaking at the city’s annual 9/11 memorial
Planning to speak at town halls on behalf of Muslim students for issues affecting us
Volunteered at a local Islamic School and Mosque with tutoring and assisting with Sunday School, accumulating >100 hours
Spike Ball Club President/Founder
Will be competing in the state tournament with other schools in a month
President/VP for a non-profit org. chapter at school
Targeted at Pediatric Illness Awareness;
Raised >2k for the cause
Several charity events and planning on organizing a concert with my non-profit in the Summer
Co-Host and Founder of a podcast
Made weekly bite-size episodes on US news and interviewed students from across the state on politics and how it ties into school and student life
i.e., being Muslim in a public school, thoughts on Korean-American relations following the Korean President singing ‘American Pie,’ etc.
more than 1k followers on Spotify
Boys State Summer Program
Occuring this Summer
400 Boys selected out of the entire state and were nominated by the school
“participatory program in which students become part of the operation of local, county and state government”
“respected and selective educational programs of government instruction for U.S. high school students”
Boba Tea / Poké Worker
Started working in May 2023
Plan on working all throughout summer and into the school year
Political Science Professor Assistant
Will be working under the local college department chair of Political Science for a new course coming in the Fall Semester
Helping with forming a reading list; etc.
Awards/Honors
AP Scholar
Emory Univerity National Model UN Conference - 2nd Place
I think you have a very interesting profile, with great ECs, and good academics despite having dealt with undiagnosed Crohn’s disease. I’d say you’ve got a great plan. I think that you have a chance at Northwestern, and also at Emory. Certainly you’re likely to get into both U Ga and Georgia State.
You might want to retake the ACT. The reason I say this is that I presume that the science 29 was your lowest section, and it is very easy to raise the science section score. All you have to do is either do the science sections in The Official Guide to the ACT book (doesn’t have to be this year’s), or download retired ACTs that you can often find on the internet - these are legally in the public domain - and do the science sections. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with all the ways in which they present the data, you should do much better on the science on a retake. But frankly, your 1520 SAT and your 33 ACT are probably good enough as is.
Don’t worry about retaking the ACT. You don’t need to submit both and have a high SAT. Your plan to retake it makes sense, and only submit the SAT.
A couple of questions:
What is your motivation for re-taking an AP test? Your AP scores (as a whole) to date aren’t at the same level up as your grades or your SAT scores. AP scores aren’t required to apply…I am not seeing the value of spending the time to study for one test when you already won’t be submitting tests for all of your AP classes.
I understand that Crohn’s can be incredibly debilitating and challenging. I am glad to hear that you have a diagnosis and hope you have gotten symptom relief. Your grades are good, your SAT is very good, and your ECs & awards are diverse and robust. How will you frame the idea that at the same time Crohn’s hindered your grades, you were able to participate in international competitions, found a non-profit, give a TEDx talk, lead several clubs, participate in orchestra at a high level, start a podcast, and much more. It’s a bit of a contradiction without some specific messaging. You have good grades, so perhaps an explanation for them isn’t necessary.
As far as grades go, do you know how yours compare other students taking your very rigorous course load at your school? Although your school doesn’t rank, AOs will still compare your GPA to that of other current and past applicants from your high school. Understanding other GPAs from your high school and any Naviance data would help to calibrate your chances.
I think you know the answer b4 you start - Northwestern is a reach but certainly not impossible. Similar for Emory but better odds and even better if you add the Oxford option.
UGA seems probable but today not assured.
Why Georgia State vs other safeties ? Will you be happy there if you end up there ? With your stats, you’d get great merit at many many schools.
I wanted to retake my BC exam since I scored a 3, and a 4 or 5 is required for GT’s Dual Enrollment Math program. I studied quite a bit for this year’s exam, so we will see what happens, but that was the only reason.
My Crohn’s diagnosis came during my junior year, and my medication and remission followed shortly; it was that for a majority of my sophomore year, I was in a flare-up, and since I had no diagnosis at that point, nothing could have been done to medicate it. I suffered from it during my sophomore year.
Past applicants with higher GPAs than me and similar test scores were rejected from Northwestern; there was a good amount of students that were admitted from our school this cycle (5-10 kids is my range), but the data for that is not updated yet within our system. There is only one other kid I know with a courseload similar to mine (his 19 APs vs my 18 APs) with a 94 UW, and he was rejected from most of the schools he applied to except GT (he was a CS major, I believe).
If I have to attend a safety school, I would like to be close to home, where the state covers my tuition, and I don’t have to start over again. For a school like NU, where Journalism and PoliSci Majors are ranked high, I would choose a new start for those advantages.
I plan for a 1530+ SAT this June, whether an 800 in Math to get me a 1540 base or a few more questions right in Reading, the goal is to get to the 75th percentile for schools like NU.
The DE multivariate calculus that you listed in the 1st post is what you are planning for senior year? What is your plan if you don’t get into GT Math?
My anecdotal experience suggests that after about 10-12 APs, there is no benefit in college admissions. Take the APs you are very interested in, but there is no need for random APs, especially as scores less than 4 will not get you college credit (except at Georgia State in your list).
What you have achieved despite your illness is amazing. As for mentioning your illness and growth from that in your essay, it only makes sense if it’s part of your story in what you want to do in life & college. The essay is not a biography or a place to excuse any shortcomings in your application.
Let your college counselor put the history of the long stretch of illness culminating in the now well managed crohns diagnosis into her letter. You focus on your hopes and dreams in your essays.
Reason for wanting to take multivariable calculus, given your majors? Do you want to take advanced level statistics or economics courses (not generally required for your majors, though potentially useful) that may require multivariable calculus?
Take APs because you are interested in the material, and because the school has a good teacher for that AP. Do not retake an AP exam. Keep moving forward.
I have lowered the amount of APs for Senior year relative to Junior Year, but there are classes I would enjoy, such as Euro and Lit. Some are GPA boosters to compensate for my earlier grades in my Sophmore year, or at least that is my take on them.
I believe NU requires counselors to send LORs, and I already sent a Thank You gift to my counselor (who is new and I have only known her this year); I will make sure to emphasize my chronic illness since she played a part in getting my 504 plan set up later this school year, and I also talked to her extensively about it.
I’ve always had an affinity for math, but not so much so that I would want to major in Applied Mathematics in college; I did not want to stop at BC or Stats, and I believe that finishing off with Multivariable would show rigor and also not leave holes in my Senior year.