***brown university rd class of 2019 results***

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
21

**Decision: Accepted

Objective:
[] SAT I (breakdown): 800 (CR), 800 (W), 710 (M)
[] ACT (breakdown): N/A
[] SAT II: Bio 800, Math II 790, Lit 780
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): something like top 30/550
[] AP (place score in parentheses): 11 APs, mostly 5s
[] IB (place score in parentheses):
[] Senior Year Course Load: 3 APs (quarter system)
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/li]
[/list]Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Orchestra (Section Leader), Tri-M (President), Mock Trial, English Tutoring, youth orchestra, other small community service things
[] Job/Work Experience: N/A
[] Volunteer/Community service: spent summers as a camp counselor + cabin leader for at-risk youth (non profit organization)
[] Summer Activities: see above
[] Essays: Really good, I think. I have a pretty clear and honest voice, and usually that shines through. I wrote about things like feminism and exploring the world in the supplements, and my common app was about language and how it fails me.
[] Teacher Recommendations: I have some amazing teachers (two English teachers) who happen to think I’m alright, so that must have helped.
[] Counselor Rec: eh
[] Additional Rec: from camp director. Didn’t read, but I suspect it was wonderful (we have a really great relationship)
[] Interview: one of those group interview days where you’re shunted in and out in 45 minutes max. Didn’t think it went amazingly, but I got to articulate why I love the school so much.
[] Supplementary Material: N/A

[/list][ b]Other**
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: Yep *crosses fingers
[] State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: Asian (Vietnamese, but that hardly makes me special)
[] Gender: F
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate):
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

[/list][ b]Reflection**
[] Strengths: Essays? Genuine passion for my activities and a demonstrated fit with Brown, maybe? Decent grades don’t hurt, I guess.
[] Weaknesses: I’m definitely not a typical Ivy candidate (no cured diseases, no start ups, nothing to really make me stand out)
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I don’t know, I’m floored, honestly. I think Brown cares about interest and fit a lot, and I really proved through my app that I belong here.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: UCs, Middlebury, Pomona, Wellesley. Rejected at Swarthmore, Waitlisted at Williams. If money works out, I’m really hoping to get to Brown.

[/list][ b]General Comments: ** This will probably be my only post on this website. I know how it feels to scroll through results pages and compare yourself to all of these profiles, to wonder if you’re good enough to even be considered. And I go to a competitive school where people think that taking x amount of APs and doing y amount of activities and being president of z things makes you a smarter and more successful person. Today’s decision was proof enough for me that that’s not true. So my advice to whoever’s scrolling through these: in high school, the best thing you can be is genuinely passionate. Be good to others, be constantly interested in your world, keep learning. And all of that combined with being genuine in your essays and a bit of luck will get you somewhere special, even beyond some acceptance. Good luck to all of you!

22

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (790 CR, 770 M, 780 W)
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 770 USH, 760 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/117
AP (place score in parenthesis): USH (5), English Language (5), Physics B (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature, AP Calc AB, AP Physics C, AP Euro, honors gov, other random classes (hardest course load available)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Connecticut Governor’s Scholar, Harvard Book Award?

Subjective:
•Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate Team (captain), Political Science Club (founder and president), School Newspaper (editor)
•Job/Work Experience: Worked for the past four years at a local library
•Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer as a tech volunteer at a different local library, I ran a program over the summer that teaches middle school students debate techniques
•Personal Statement: I thought all my essays for Brown were excellent
Other
•Applied for Financial Aid?: Yep
• Intended Major : I put computer science on the application
•State (if domestic applicant): CT
•Country (if international applicant):
•School Type: Small parochial
•Ethnicity: Whiter than Casper the Friendly Ghost
•Gender: Female
•Income Bracket: Don’t worry bout it
•Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): Woman in computer science?

Reflection
•Strengths: SAT, GPA, essays (I thought), woman in STEM?
•Weaknesses: Very few real hooks, few major awards
•Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to?
Accepted: Dartmouth, Duke, UVA, UNC-CH, Cornell, Georgetown, UConn
Waitlisted: Yale, Northwestern, Amherst
Rejected: Harvard, Princeton, Stanford
•Schools you are waiting for?
General Comments: Apply to as many schools as you can, the schools I got into versus the schools I got rejected from seem completely random to me

23

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2090 (680 Writing [8 essay- oops], 710 CR, 700 M)
ACT (breakdown): None
SAT II: SAT Math - 690 / SAT Lit- 680
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP English Lang (97% avg.) / AP Biology (99% avg.) // 2 AP, 4 Honors /didn’t test
Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP English Lang, Pre Calc, Physics, Spanish III, electives
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none

Extracurricular/Activities/Volunteer Work

  • Professional snowboarder (internationally ranked in top 10) for 4 years
  • 2014 Olympian (competed at age 16)
  • Lots of travel experience & living on my own since age 14
  • (Volunteer) coach local teams when I can, public speaking after Olympics, appearances through U.S. Snowboarding

Essays:
Common app essay was pretty basic – I wrote about the Olympics because it is the only essay that every school gets. My Brown essays were far better, I think.

Teacher Recommendation:
Average, I think? I don’t have anything to compare them to. I don’t really have a close relationship with any of my teachers because I complete my courses through an online platform.

Counselor Recommendation:
I never read it… I’ve only met my GC once.

Other recommender:
I never read it, but a coach in the industry/ great friend of mine/ my roommate for a while wrote it for me. I think it was probably pretty good.

Interview: Awesome! My interviewer told me that she thought I would be a great fit an was “certainly going to write me a glowing recommendation”. I was very candid and open. She was super easy to talk to.

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, as independent (fingers crossed!)
Intended Major: Biology (pre-med track… but open to other possibilities)
State (if domestic applicant): Family: VT, Winter Address: CO, School: UT, Online Platform: NE… seriously no idea which state they go off of. I’ve had interview requests from people in every area who thought I lived there.
School Type: Private/ Online
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female

Reflection

Strengths: Unique teenage experience, snowboard achievements, my Brown essays
Weaknesses: Test scores (especially SAT II) and academic rigor… I did very well in all of my classes but the workload for AP classes was tough with my athletic schedule.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Great interview, good essays, uncommon applicant
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: NYU, Tufts, Northeastern
Waitlisted: Stanford, Columbia, Northwestern, Amherst, BU (no idea) 5 schools…
Rejected: Harvard (shocker)

INSANELY happy about this acceptance! I really felt like Brown was the best fit of any of the schools I applied to. CONGRATS!!! to all accepted… 8.4% is HARSH.
Is anybody planning on attending ADOCH? See you there!

24

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2300 (770 CR, 770 Math, 760 W) (2270 single sitting)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 740 Bio E, 740 Lit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Not given to me by school. Probably 3.8-9? Weighted 4.33.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):Top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Most rigorous available to me
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Award for Wordmasters lol, Girl Scout Gold Award, National Merit Finalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Soccer (9,10)
Girl Scouts (9,10,11,12) - Gold Award, highest possible achievement
Community Service Club (9,10,11,12) - Chairperson
Mock Trial (9,10,11,12) - 3rd at state two years in a row
Spanish Club (9,10,11,12) - Vice President
Model UN (10,11,12) - Some awards
Model Congress (11,12)
Debate - (11,12)
Yearbook - (10,11,12)
FBLA - Co-founder, VP (12)
Non-profit organization (not getting specific because it makes me identifiable) - founder, pres (12)
Other non-profit (lol) - peer mentor (11,12)

Job/Work Experience:

Volunteer/Community service:
Created a penpal program to connect disadvantaged students in my ethnic homeland with students at my school.
Volunteered as a peer mentor to a girl living in the aforementioned homeland

Summer Activities:
Internship at arguably the best cancer institute in the US. Did research, co-author on abstract. Pretty cool experience.

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App: 8/10. Idk, it was well written, but I wasn’t a huge fan of it. It was almost too deep haha. I wrote about my cultural identity, and how I want to build bridges (metaphorically, of course - I ain’t no engineer :D).

Supplement: 8-9/10 I actually really liked my Brown supplements - they were probably my favorites. Fun, but well written.

Counselor: 7/10 just because I have no idea
English teacher: 9/10 she told me it was very very strong
History teacher: at least 7-8/10, but I’m not really sure

Interview: Didn’t get one

Applied for Financial Aid?: Well, I hit yes on common app, but then never turned anything other than FAFSA in, so…
Intended Major: Poli Sci/Middle Eastern Studies
State (if domestic applicant): PA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: South Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >200k (I’m not getting any need based fin aid)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc): None

Reflection:
Strengths: SAT, rank, course load rigor, created a non-profit
Weaknesses: Common App Essay? I’m not really sure. Subject tests could have been better. Lol is being Asian a weakness?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: The applicant pool is competitive, and I guess I didn’t stand out enough.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, Temple, Rutgers, NJIT, Drexel, Northeastern
Deferred: Yale -->rejected
Rejected: Duke, all Ivies except Columbia
Waitlisted: Columbia

Brown was the first Ivy I checked, and I was definitely upset by the rejection. I’m really not sure what more I could’ve done to get in…
Anyway, I have some good choices, so I’ll move on.

25

Decision: Accepted (Engineering/Applied Mathematics)

Objective:

[ul]
[] ACT: 34 (34 M, 34 E, 35 R, 33 S)
[] SAT II: 740 (Math II)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.9 UW
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank, but 1 or 2 in (small) class
[] IB scores: Diploma Candidate (testing in May), predicted IB scores of 7 in History and English (I’m unsure about the rest because we don’t get to see most predicted grades)
[] Senior Year Course Load: IB Higher Level Mathematics, IB Higher Level Physics, IB Higher Level History of the Americas, IB Higher Level Literature, IB Standard Level Visual Arts A, IB Standard Level Spanish B, Theory of Knowledge
[li] Major Awards: Scholastic Art & Writing Gold Key (Poetry) and National American Voice Winner, Harvard Book Award, George Eastman’s Young Leaders Award, Published poet in an international writing magazine, best-in-class awards (Humanities, English, Design Technology), some other things too![/ul][/li]
Subjective:

[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: Orienteering Club (takes up a majority of my time, very committed!), Poetry (Published and nationally recognized), Varsity Soccer, Playing keyboard and singing in 2 bands (Rock and Jazz), classical piano, Academic Decathlon (Founder and/or President of Each Mentioned Club), some other things for fun.
[] Job/Work Experience: Paid performer with band, Working DJ
[] Volunteer/Community service: Athletic Leadership at school, Coaching and event volunteering for orienteering, Volunteer Event DJ
[] Essays: I don’t want to go into a ton of detail, but these were definitely the best essays I wrote this college season, and perhaps in a long time. Despite the 8 prompts I had to write on, I feel as though each essay was heartfelt, unique and personal. I am really proud of them, and kind of wish I put this effort into some of my other schools.
[] Teacher Recommendations: History Teacher (10/10, Said I was his best student in all his 13+ years of teaching), Mathematics Teacher (9/10, I did extremely well in Math, and was one of 3 students in his entire class so we were pretty close. He also had me for physics so it was like 2 recommendations in one!)
[] Counselor Recommendation: 10/10 (Also my English teacher, so had dual benefits in terms of the recommendation. Very small school, and she’s given me class awards and we hang out and talk a lot, so we’re pretty close. The principal of my school said it was the best recommendation he’s ever read, which was very humbling to hear!)
[li] Interview: Wasn’t even an interview. Went in, and he asked if I had any questions. I asked a few, and then it was over; he never asked me anything. Shows that the interviews don’t have much weight I think…[/ul][/li]
Other:

[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): Idaho
[] School Type: Private International Baccalaureate
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] Income Bracket: Upper-Middle
[li] Hooks: None at all![/ul][/li]
Reflection:

[ul]
[] Strengths: Essays for sure as they were my best work, academics (All A’s—besides some B’s in 9th grade—in extremely rigorous IB course load with 4 Higher Levels), excellent recommendations, dedication to extracurriculars (orienteering, poetry, and band).
[] Weaknesses: No hooks at all, no major awards, not a lot of research pertaining to major, imperfect test scores (especially the ones I took in junior year with no practice or prep…), and didn’t fill out Common Application Activity section very well (wish I would have spent more time on it!), maybe the interview???.
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I’m shocked that I was, but I think my essays and recommendations–aided by my academics–pulled me through.
[] Where else did you apply?:[/ul]
Accepted to: Brown, University of California Berkeley (Pre-Applied Mathematics), Swarthmore, Claremont McKenna, University of Southern California (Biomedical Chemical Engineering Honors with Presidential Scholarship), University of California Los Angeles (Pre-Applied Mathematics with Achievement Scholarship), University of Texas Austin (Biomedical Engineering and Plan II Honors), California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Biomedical Engineering with Outreach Scholarship).

Deferred: Yale-NUS.
Waitlisted: University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), Washington University in St. Louis, Vanderbilt, Amherst, Rice, Yale, Columbia.
Rejected: Duke.

General Comments:
I cannot believe it! After a slew of waitlists, I thought I was done for. Never give up hope! It’ll be a tough decision for me, but I am ultimately waiting for my top choices of Penn and Yale-NUS to maybe pull through for me… I can’t believe the admission season is (almost) over too; now the hard part! Good job, and good luck, everyone!

26

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2370 CR 800; WR 770; M 800
ACT: NA
SAT II: Bio(m) 800; Math (L2) 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 95%
UC GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): doesn’t rank
Senior Year Course Load: History, Poli sci, Math, Psychology, English (CBSE India board)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none
[ b]Subjective:**
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): elected president of school student body, Started a rural India style governance system in school, started a cultural festival in school, research in Psych. with a University professor, Diploma in Indian classical music
Job/Work Experience: Assisted a Music Therapist in a mental hospital and created proposals for other hospitals to incorporate music therapy
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered in a Himalayan School to teach a self designed creative writing course in both Hindi and English. Compiled the work to create school magazine for that school
Essay: common app connected an ancient Hindi Shloka to the importance of following ones own path, I would say 8.5/10 . supplement essays were nice, I would say 9/10
Recommendations: History and Psychology, should have been good. Also an additional one from Psych. Professor
Other list]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: no
[] Intended Major : Psychology
[] State (if domestic applicant):NA
[] Country (if international applicant): India
[] School Type: Large Public
[] Gender: Female
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): nope[/li]
[/list]Reflection
Strengths: Academics, test scores, I think my essays had insight, leadership, interview was amazing
Weaknesses: No impressive ECs or Awards
Schools were you accepted to? Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Rice (100% scholarship) Yale-Nus, UC Berkeley, Reed, Colby, Vanderbilt, WashU
Schools you were rejected from? Amherst, Harvard
Schools you are waiting for? none
General Comments: I never thought I could get in, but applied still. don’t shy away from applying, you never know what may happen. Also, I think they look for depth in the ECS and my ECs were probably showed that.

27

**Decision: Accepted

Objective:
[] SAT I (breakdown): 1950 (M: 690, R:620 W:640)
[] ACT (breakdown): 25 (I KNOW)
[] SAT II: None
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/321
[] AP (place score in parentheses): Enligsh Lang (4), Stats (4), Spanish Lang (5)
[] IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
[] Senior Year Course Load: Psych, English Lit, and Calc BC
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): A few significant debate awards/ good state and national rankings, AP Scholar, and QuestBridge Finalist. [/li]
[/list]Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Speech and Debate (Captain), Cross Country (Varsity Captain), National Honor Society (Vice President) The Sun Rises for Everyone (City Leader)
[] Job/Work Experience: n/a
[] Volunteer/Community service: Pretty solid ~800
[] Summer Activities: Subiendo (UT Austin Leadership Academy)
[] Essays: CA: Wrote about moving to America and speaking publicly despite my heavy accent
Why Brown: This essay took forever to write because I made sure I thoroughly researched every aspectof
Brown and showed how I’m a good fit for their mentality (I’ll elaborate in advice).
[] Teacher Recommendation: Waived my rights so never read them, but I knew my teachers personally so I am sure they glowed.
[] Counselor Rec: Great man, but I only got to talk to him twice in my entire high school career
[] Additional Rec: n/a
[] Interview: It went great! We talked about Latino poets and he seemed genuinely interested in my life. :slight_smile:
[] Supplementary Material:

[/list]Other
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] State (if domestic applicant): Tx
Country (if international applicant): n/a
[] School Type: Public and not competitive whatsoever
[] Ethnicity: Mexican
[] Gender: M
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): <30,000
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first gen, first gen American, low income[/li]
[/list]Reflection
[] Strengths: I poured my soul into those essays.
[] Weaknesses: SCORES, leadership positions
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I showed them what I can offer and what they can offer me, and basically asked them to be bffs
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Williams, Rice, NYU, BU, Swarthmore, Pomona, UT Austin
Waitlisted: Yale, Stanford
Rejected: Harvard, Columbia

[/list]**General Comments: ** Okay, here is my gran of rice:
As you can see, I was luckily accepted into my dream school, and I did not have the scores for it. Many times, I was told that applying was a waste of time because I’d end up framing dozens of rejection letters.If you are reading this and are thinking about applying to Brown (or other top-tier universities), I say do it. Do it and pour your essence into those essays. Research every aspect of the university, including classes, organizations, traditions, and even major research/professors. If you truly know the university, admissions will surely know that you are serious about attending and not just applying to rack up acceptance letters. Remember: admissions are truly holistic, every aspect of you should be considered. If you channel your love for the school, the school might also fall in love with you.

28

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2310 ( 750 CR 800 M 760 W)
[] ACT (breakdown): didn’t send
[] SAT II: 770 Math 2, 760 physics, 580 Latin (have to send all scores… I know Latin was bad!)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 20/646
[] AP (place score in parentheses): Physics B (5), English Language (5), Psychology (5)
[] IB (place score in parentheses): NA
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Physics C, IB Latin SL (AP not offered), AP US Govt, AP Macro, AP Calc BC, Engineering 4, AP Comp Sci
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Magna cum Laude (Latin I) Summa cum Laude (Latin II) on NLE, National Merit Finalist, US Presidential Scholar Candidate[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

  • [] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
    100 Member all girls volunteer club (12-Pres, 11-VP, 10-Treas): I updated everything this year, adding an online application and VolunteerSpot
    Belles: about 30/300 girls selected to be official hostesses of city. Wear antebellum dress and greet people at events, also do volunteering in casual wear. [Less frilly version of Azalea Trail Maids-Google image it!]
    Engineering Outreach: go to local elementary and middle schools, get kids excited about STEM
    Latin Convention: attended, school hosted one year [decorated, planned games, led people around]
    Latin club: host Saturnalia party for ~100 kids each year (12-rerum scriptores)
    Alabama leadership program: my HS representative, three day event
    Inner City Art Camp volunteer: about 20 hours one week in summer, my cousin’s church brings in underprivileged inner city kids and does art activities (main assistant in visual arts room)
    [    ] Job/Work Experience: none
    [] Volunteer/Community service: in extracurriculars. I don’t count hours, but probably at least 300
    [    ] Summer Activities: only ones on app were Alabama leadership program and Inner City Art Camp volunteer
    [] Essays:
    Common App: about criticism by classmates on engineering group project. We were creative, but everyone else did the same thing. Shows my quick thinking, response to criticism, determination, creativity, etc.
    Engineering (3 questions): reused other supplements mostly. One about senior engineering project and encouraging girls in STEM, another about my interest in circuits, another about how my first big project in Solid Edge got me interested in engineering.
    Areas of study: talked about interest in fashion, Latin, and physics and that most engineering schools make you set aside the first two (but not Brown!)
    Where I lived: nothing fancy. Born in Alabama, lived in Georgia (the state in US) for a year, moved back to Alabama
    Community: nerdy family. Grandfather NASA engineer, gives me vintage slide rules, engineering books, and NASA T-shirts as presents. Ends with sense of pride in being smart
    Why Brown: about getting lost on campus and finding my way out intuitively
    [    ] Teacher Recommendation:
    AP Physics and Engineering Teacher: didn’t read, should be excellent. Told my parents I was crazy smart one time [he’s taught several kids that have gone to Stanford, MIT, JHU, Duke, etc. for reference]. Known for three years.
    Latin teacher: didn’t read but would have been glowing. I participate a lot in class, she likes me. Known for three years.
    [] Counselor Rec:
    Should have been decent. Had to fill out forms about my interests, awards, parent brag sheet, etc.
    [    ] Additional Rec: none
    [] Interview: At lawyer’s office. He asked me my scores and where else I was applying. He did most of the talking [irritation with Brown’s admitting of few Southerners and many internationals]. He said I was the most qualified applicant he’d interviewed in a while and that he’d go talk to his former Engineering dean about me.
    [    ] Supplementary Material: none

Other

  • []Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
    [    ] State (if domestic applicant): Alabama
    Country (if international applicant):
    [] School Type: public school, competitive for top 20 or so kids [to be really highly ranked you have to do IB; I am the highest AP kid. Top ten take 8 IB classes with 3 HLs]
    [li] Ethnicity: White[/li][    ] Gender: Female
    [] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): 100k
    [    ] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nothing major

Reflection

  • [] Strengths: engineering electives [one every year. I know SolidWorks (with FEA), MATLAB, LabVIEW, Multisim, LaTeX]. Female Alabama native interested in engineering (by native I mean that my parents were born here, went to state schools, dad grew up on a farm…)
    [    ] Weaknesses: SAT II’s, no major awards, class rank
    [] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: strengths listed above I guess
    [    ] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
    All for electrical engineering
    Accepted: Carnegie Mellon, Tufts (Stern Scholar), Case Western (likely letter, 30k/yr merit), UIUC (James Scholar, 6k/yr merit)
    Waitlisted: WUSTL, Cornell, Rice, Northwestern
    Rejected: None

**General Comments: **
I wouldn’t rely on people’s essay ratings; it really is so subjective. For me the best way to write was to open with an anecdote and weave in my thoughts. I usually opened with dialogue out of context to create a hook. I wrote a lot for fun in middle school and early high school, so I’ve developed a strong writing style. Practice until you find a rhythm you’re comfortable with. Make sure it is your voice. I only got feedback from my mom, and I only sometimes took her suggestions.

Don’t pick your extracurriculars because you think they will look good on your resume. I didn’t do scholars bowl, debate, sports, or music like most driven kids at my school do. I did what I wanted, and I am very happy with my college results. Good luck!

29

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2160 760 cr, 720 m, 680 w
[] ACT (breakdown): 32 36 r, 27 m, 31 s, 35 e
[] SAT II: history 770, literature 760, chemistry 650, math level 2 590
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.94
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/233
[] AP (place score in parentheses):statistics (5), Lit and comp (5), history (5), chemistry (4), calculus ab (4), government (3)
[] IB (place score in parentheses):
[] Senior Year Course Load:AP psychology, ap physics, ap calculus bc, ap literature, german 4, studio art 2, gym
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):ap scholar with distinction, national merit commendation, national honors society[/li]
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):student government, academic team, interact club,
[] Job/Work Experience:
[] Volunteer/Community service: year round no kill animal shelter
[] Summer Activities:
[] Essays:
[] Teacher Recommendation: 2
[] Counselor Rec:1
[] Additional Rec:0
[] Interview:yes
[] Supplementary Material: art portfolio

[/ul]Other[ul]
[]Applied for Financial Aid?:y
[] State (if domestic applicant):NJ
Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type:public
[] Ethnicity:white
[] Gender:female
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate):80-90 k
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/li]
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths:
[] Weaknesses:
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted Rice university, Smith Colgate, Grinnell, Emory Oxford, Brandeis, Fordham Lincoln center; waitlisted: Haverford, Bryn mayr, Wellesley, Emory main, Dartmouth. rejected Oberlin, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Amherst, u of penn, u of Chicago

[/ul]**General Comments: **

30

**Decision: Accepted

Objective:

[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t send, idk I took it once
[] ACT (breakdown): comp 33 eng 33 math 33 reading 31 sci 34 writing 8
[] SAT II: gross I didn’t send these
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10% maybe
[] AP (place score in parentheses): World History (5), Calc AB (5), English Lang (4), Bio (4), Micro (4)
[] IB (place score in parentheses): none
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP English Lit, AP Physics 1, AP Chinese, Psychology, Gender Studies
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Questbridge Finalist, National Achievement Finalist and AP Scholar with Distinction[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

  • [] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): theater techie, speech and debate, and a few others
    [    ] Job/Work Experience: 2 summer internships at local university
    [] Volunteer/Community service: here and there, about 30hrs
    [    ] Summer Activities: Those internships and a short exchange program
    [] Essays: Best one’s I’ve written for any college (pretty darn strong)
    [    ] Teacher Recommendation: One’s known me for all of high school and the other’s an advisor to two of my clubs, so I’m sure they’re great
    [] Counselor Rec: Meh? Don’t know them too well.
    [    ] Additional Rec: nada
    [] Interview: I thought it was super awkward, but obviously it went well
    [    ] Supplementary Material: agh I wish I had one because I love art

Other

[ul]
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: Yessir and they are very generous
[] State (if domestic applicant): We’re known for cheese and beer
Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public (1/3 the people are competitive, others are like, meh)
[] Ethnicity: African American (immigrant parents)
[] Gender: F
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): <40,000
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First-gen URM[/li][/ul]

Reflection

  • [] Strengths: My essays and recs (though I haven’t read them)
    [    ] Weaknesses: Test scores (that I didn’t send), leadership and sports (not a super active person)
    [] Why you think you were accepted: uh…
    [    ] Where were you rejected: Yale, Dartmouth, MIT, Stanford (my acceptances would make me identifiable and I didn’t get waitlisted anywhere)

**General Comments: **
After getting all those rejections, I was p much resigned to the fact I wouldn’t get into an ivy, but surprise! Brown accepts. Onto advice, I guess…be sure to put significant effort into those essays! And get someone to review them too, that always helps. Er…get things done early too. I tried to meet the ED deadline, but admissions ended up getting everything in RD (that wasn’t so bad because then I could relax a little).
Good luck to y’all!

31

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (800 CR 690 M 780 W)
ACT: 34 (34E 33M 35R 32S Essay:10)
SAT II: Biology E: 740 US History: 800 Literature: 780
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92 UW/4.46 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Lang Comp: 5, APUSH: 5, Psychology: 5
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP European History, CP Calculus, AP Spanish, AP Lit, Honors Abnormal Psychology, Advanced Creative Writing, AP Enviro
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Ranked in top 20 in nation for marching band

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Marching Band (Color Guard): Many regional level awards, top 20 in nation and winner of Esprit de Corps award
Fencing (4 years)
Gymnastics (3 years)
Stage Crew (4 years) - co-head of lighting
Fencing Club (3 years) (Treasurer and Founding Member)
Ski Club (4 years)
Peer Mediation (4 years)
some other misc. stuff
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: 100-120 hours over the last three summers at a horseback riding camp for children with disabilities
Summer Activities: College class in ASL at Rutgers, Volunteering
Essays:
Common App: About how I challenged people’s beliefs about me because as a petite, nerdy girl, I can do lots of push-ups. It was kind of funny, and everyone who read it liked it. I spent a long time on it. 9/10
Area of Study: Kind of vague, I talked about how I loved the humanities because everything is so amorphous and up to interpretation. 7/10
Where you’ve lived: About how the house I grew up in was haunted. Cute, different, but wasn’t very revealing. 8/10
Community: I hated this essay. It was super stereotypical, about how I made a huge variety of friends through color guard, yadda yadda yadda. 6/10
Why Brown?: This was the money essay. About the architectural style of the Granoff building and how it clued me in to Brown’s deep commitment to interdisciplinary studies. It was well written, and the last line was a zinger. 9.5/10

Teacher Recommendation #1: Not sure. I picked this teacher because he saw me help out other students in his class, but it’s impossible for me to say if he wrote a lot about that in his rec.
Teacher Recommendation #2: I think this one was good. This teacher and I were kind of on the same wavelength, and I gave him a ton of supplemental information to pull from.
Counselor Rec: She likes me, but it was probably kind of bland. She has 239 other kids to worry about.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Pretty good, over Skype. It was my first interview so I was really nervous, but I don’t think it helped me or hurt me.

Other

State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Very large public
Ethnicity: White, but chose not to respond
Gender: F
Income Bracket: >250k (did not apply for FA)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I wish

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores (except SAT Math), marching band awards
Weaknesses: Course load rigor could be better, only one substantial EC, did not discover cure for even a minor disease
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Brown gets a thousand apps like mine. White girl from NJ who likes the humanities with (comparatively) so-so ECs. There wasn’t anything that made me really pop out of the pool.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Rutgers and the University of Alabama EA, accepted to WashU, Oxford College at Emory, BU, and William and Mary RD; Rejected at Pomona, CMC, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, USC, and Middlebury; Waitlisted at American, UVa, and Kenyon

General Comments:

This was the Ivy rejection that hurt the worst. I really liked Brown and I would have been ecstatic to go there, but hey, there’s always grad school, right? :stuck_out_tongue: Congrats to everyone who got in!

32

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:

[] SAT I (breakdown): 2400 (800 R, 800 M, 800 W)
[] ACT (breakdown): N/A
[] SAT II: 800 M2, 800 Physics, 800 Chemistry, 800 Biology (E)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96 UW
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5% of class, 700+ Class Size
[] AP (place score in parentheses): Chemistry, Physics B, Physics C Mech, Physics C Emag, US History, World History, Lang, Latin, Calc BC, Comp Sci A (All 5’s)
[] IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Econ, AP Stat, AP Bio, AP Gov, AP Human Geo, AP Psych
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): USAMO Qualifier for 2 years, ISEF Qualifier, Siemens Semifinalist, ISTS Semifinalist, National Junior Classical League Awards, won science and math competitions at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc.[/li]
[/list][ b]Subjective:**
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Cross Country (Captain), Fencing (Captain), Track, Swimming, Math Team (President), Science Olympiad (President), Mu Alpha Theta (Founder and President), Key Club (President), Latin Club (President), FBLA (President), National Honor Society (Vice President), Boy Scouts of America (Eagle Scout and Junior Assistant Scoutmaster)
[] Job/Work Experience: Tutoring Business for 3+ years, Lifeguard, Research Internship in which I helped publish two papers with postdocs and graduates
[] Volunteer/Community service: Founded a free tutoring business at multiple locations, community service through Boy Scouts, volunteers at local retirement homes weekly, etc.
[] Summer Activities: Summer camp in 9th grade year, research at universities during 10th and 11th grade years
[] Essays: Common App (8/10), Supplement (8/10)
[] Teacher Recommendation: Both recs were very strong, (9/10)
[] Counselor Rec: Counselor doesn’t care much about recs, so probably mediocre
[] Additional Rec: XC Coach rec, very strong
[] Interview: In my opinion, one of the best interviews I had. Talked a lot about similar topics in life and even delved into interviewer’s life, etc.
[] Supplementary Material: N/A

[ /list][ b]Other**
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: Male
[] Gender: Asian
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): < 100K
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A[/li]
[/list][ b]Reflection**
[] Strengths: Overall well-rounded, strength in math and science
[] Weaknesses: Being too stereotypically Asian I guess
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: To be honest, the fact that I’m Asian may have been the factor. Literally cried when rejected/waitlisted from all of the Ivies and compared stats to everyone else.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

Accepted: Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley, Case Western, UNC Chapel Hill
Waitlisted: Stanford, Duke, Harvard, Caltech, UChicago, WashU

Rejected: Northwestern, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, MIT, Brown

[/list]General Comments: Honestly, I’ve been more confused than saddened over past few days after decisions came out. I know that I wasn’t going to be guaranteed to get into any Ivies or highly ranked schools, but getting rejected by most of them and then seeing the people that got in… makes it seem like my four years of high school were all wasted and thrown down the drain. Been trying to find flaws in my application, and except a few minor ones, I can’t come up with a valid reason why other than the fact I’m an Asian male. If any part of my gender and ethnicity had been different, pretty sure I would be in a more fortunate situation than now. Anyway, congratulations to the rest of you that got in, enjoy your next four years of college.

33

**Decision:Accepted

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t submit
[] ACT: 31 (lowest: math 28 | highest: English/Reading: 34)
[] SAT II: Didn’t submit
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10% of large, public high school
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Euro (4), US History (5), Lang (5), Calc AB (5)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): -
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Calc BC, AP US Gov, British Lit, French 5, Journalism
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none[/li]
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Newspaper (Copy Editor, Photo Editor, and this year EIC), Lacrosse, Youth Political Awareness PAC (Education Director), Internship for Carl DeMaio for Congress
[] Job/Work Experience: photography (god this sounds lame, but it’s true)
[] Volunteer/Community service: Key Club, Interact Club, a ton of tutoring (calc, English)
[] Personal Statement: CA 10/10 (this sounds insanely pompous but I really enjoyed writing this and thought it was a unique twist on my character; subject:having to make Thanksgiving dinner on my own because my mom sliced her thumb open on cranberry sauce?! ie: mainly going out of my comfort zone and somewhat succeeding). My supplements were probably 8/10, best was the reason I’m planning to study English and the humanities (seriously, just be honest, and if anything sounds like you didn’t write it or are writing it to please someone else, omit it.) Writing these was a cathartic and a really introspective experience; I think they added a necessary level to my application.
[] Teacher Recommendation: Submitted three (one from my calc teacher of two years, the others from English/APUSH. I think my calc recommendation probably set me apart and made me not seem like a one-track-minded student, but one that really had an interdisciplinary experience in mind). I didn’t read these, but I am still very close with these teachers and believe they were honest.
[] Counselor Rec: My counselor has about 500 other students, but I see her often and she knows how much I care about my education. This was probably a 8/10? Again, couldn’t read it.
[] Additional Rec: -
[] Interview: This was my first interview, for anything. Though my watch popped off and broke in the middle of it, it was a positive experience. I had dry mouth the whole time (anyone else?!), but my alumnus dispelled any hesitations I had about the character of Brown with her honesty and comedy.
[li] Supplementary Material: I submitted a photography portfolio of around 9 images because I wanted to put my money where my mouth was, if that makes sense. I didn’t want to write “photojournalist” and not have tangible meaning behind it. [/li]
[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[li]** Intended Major **: English[/li][] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: Black, Hispanic
[] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket: under 65,000
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): URM, first gen

[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: strong GPA, obvious interest in English/Education, commitment to ECs
[] Weaknesses: Test scores (I could only afford one sitting, but it worked out)
[] Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to? Accepted: Willamette, UC Davis, Vassar, Scripps, Reed, Tufts (!!!)
[] Schools you were rejected from? UCLA
[li] Schools you are waiting for? [/li][/ul]General Comments: When I read these decision threads, I feel guilty. I can’t understand why the guy above me was rejected, and it harrows me that we place so much emphasis on this whole process. We all know this one decision does not determine our futures, but still it feels like everything is hinging on this month. I’m stoked to be able to don the “green” boldface in this post, but I did not apply to Brown because it was an Ivy League. It was the only Ivy I applied to because of its character and its frankly rad curriculum. This post is to prove to prospies out there that this process, seriously, is holistic (whatever that means to you).
I am currently in the hardest part of this process: committing to my dream school (Tufts) or committing to a school I didn’t consider an option until now. I’m terrified of being first gen and am pretty positive I’ve found a better fit as a Jumbo (I’ll be visiting both schools next week). But I’m honored to be able to even type these words.

34

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I: single sitting: 2340 --> 800 M, 800 W, 740 CR --> Take my advice. It’s of no use enrolling in SAT lecture/tutorial programmes. Just buy the newest edition of the SAT guide and you will do fine. I did much better than those of my friends who took SAT tutorials
ACT: did not take
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Chemistry, 780 Chinese, 760 Biology (M)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School does not do GPA
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank
AP (place score in parentheses): No AP Classes
IB (place score in parenthesis): Math HL (7), Biology HL (7), Chemistry HL (7), History HL (7), English Language and Literature SL (7), Indonesian Language and Literature SL (7), TOK/EE (3), Predicted 45/45
Senior Year Course Load: Full IB Diploma
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:
ECs:

  1. Secretary of the Student Council
  2. Leadership Team of the MUN/Debate/Moot Court club
  3. Founder and President of the Math Club
  4. 4-year President and Head Student Trainer of the Senior Choir
  5. 3 years of Rugby (Junior Varsity Captain in my Sophomore Year), 2 years of Volleyball (Captain of Middle School Team)
  6. Musical Theater experience in and out of school

Volunteer/Community service: A LOT…mostly without knowing it :stuck_out_tongue:
Summer Activities: Travelling and Internships at Hospitals
Essays: I loved my Common App Essay. My advice to future appliers: Use the essays as a chance to reflect on your life journey. What makes you unique
Teacher Recommendation: Did not see
Counselor Rec: Did not see
Interview: This weird form thing that they sent out because there was a lack of interviewers :S
Supplementary Material: None

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Double Major in Biochemistry and International Relations
Region: Indonesia
School Type: Private International
Ethnicity: Mixed (White and Asian)
Gender: Male
Hooks: None I can think of

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: RD to Penn (Vagelos Scholars Program in the Molecular Life Sciences), Brown, Emory, NYU, Haverford, Lehigh, Trinity, American, Villanova
Rejected: RD to Harvard, Georgetown
Waitlisted: Yale, still thinking of whether to go to Yale or not even if accepted

General Comments:
Kinda bummed I got rejected by Harvard, but excited after seeing my potential classmates in Brown. Good luck to everyone trying next year and remember, colleges do not define who you are, you define what your college experience will be.

35

**Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): ** 2370** Math 770, Writing 800, CR 800

SAT II: ** 800 ** US History, 770 Literature, ** 750** Japanese with Listening

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): No GPA, but a mix of mainly As and A-s with a few B+s and B-s

AP (place score in parentheses): BC Calc 5, Lit 5

Senior Year Course Load: Modern European History, History of Modernism in Art, Game Theory, English, Spanish, Advanced Chemistry

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist

[/list]Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Field Hockey, Political Awareness Club, Feminist Club, Japanese Lessons

Job/Work Experience: None

Volunteer/Community service: 2 service-oriented summer programs

Summer Activities: See above

Essays: Some random bullshit

Teacher Recommendation: Assuming pretty good
Counselor Rec: Assuming pretty good
Additional Rec: None

Interview: Went well

Supplementary Material: Just so-so

[/list][ b]Other**
Applied for Financial Aid?: None
State (if domestic applicant): NY
School Type: All-women’s private
Ethnicity: Japanese and white
Gender: Female
Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): Not sure, but probably upwards of $400k/year
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

[/list]Reflection

Strengths: I go to an ~elite~ NYC private school that the admissions officers are familiar with

Weaknesses: Stuff comes easily to me (I took the SAT once and without really studying) so I didn’t work hard enough, therefore some of my grades were sub-par

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: It’s a crapshoot. Maybe the admissions officers had a pleasant morning.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted at Barnard, NYU, Boston University, GW
Waitlisted at Georgetown, Emory
Rejected: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, UCLA, UCBerkeley

36

**Decision: Accepted off the waitlist **

Objective:

[ul]
[] SAT I: 2390
[] SAT II: 800 Math II, 790 Physics
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 1%
[] AP scores: 5’s in APUSH, WHAP, Calc AB, Stat, Micro/Macroecon, Music Theory, Latin, and English Language
[] Senior Year Course Load: Physics, Chemistry, Calc BC, English Literature, Computer Science, and Government (all AP)
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): qualified for AIME; some national Academic Decathlon medals; otherwise typical stuff like National AP Scholar, National Merit Scholar, etc. [/ul]
Subjective:

[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: Academic Decathlon (co-captain), FBLA (officer), academic discussion club (president), lab work, math club (officer)
[] Job/Work Experience: writer for a test-prep company
[] Volunteer/Community service: tutoring, hospital volunteering, key club/national honor society school volunteering
[] Essays:
Common app: Unique and quirky, but sort of rushed so kind of confusing
Major: Math/econ. Talked about wanting to find answers to questions. A bit bs.
Where you lived: A funny paragraph about how boring my suburb is. Pretty amusing.
Community: Talked about my Academic Decathlon team. A bit bs.
Why Brown: I talked about open curriculum and how I want to be a jack of all trades. Name dropped a few classes. Pretty good.
[] Teacher Recommendations: English and Econ teachers - very good.
[] Counselor Rec: *shrugs My school is pretty big, and I don’t know him very well
[] Interview: Excellent. She said she hoped I got in because I seemed cool. [/ul]
Other

  • [] State (if domestic applicant): PA
    [] School Type: large public
    [    ] Ethnicity: asian
    [] Gender: female
    [    ] Income Bracket: no financial aid

Reflection

  • [] Strengths: numbers, interview
    [    ] Weaknesses: not much significant awards/research
    [] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I conveniently won a few nice awards in the last few months that were relevant to my major as part of Academic Decathlon and FBLA
    [    ] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
    Accepted - Pennstate (Schreyers), UPitt, UCLA, UC Berkeley, NYU (Stern), CMU (SCS)
    Waitlisted - WUSTL, Penn, Rice
    Rejected - UChicago (deferred EA then rejected), MIT (deferred EA then rejected), Northwestern, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Yale

**General Comments: Well guys, it turns out that people do get accepted off waitlists. I’m not sure whether I’ll go, but this is really awesome. **

37

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I: N/A
ACT: 34
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA: 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/350ish
AP: AP Human Geography (4), AP World History (5), AP Psychology (5), AP Environmental Science (4), AP Calc BC (4), AP Lang & Comp (5), AP US History (5), one other which I forget right now lol but I know I got a (5).
Senior Year Course Load: AP French, AP Literature and Composition, AP Statistics, Calculus II, AP European History
Major Awards: National Merit Scholar stuff, AP Scholar with Distinction, nothing major.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars:
Cross Country
Outdoor Track
Indoor Track
School Newspaper
National Honor Society
Piano
Women’s Student Union
Writing a novel

Volunteer/Community service:
(Spent most of my ‘extra-curricular time’ doing this stuff)
Einstein Moss Rehab
The Franklin Institute
Philadelphia History Museum
Penn Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology
7 Cups of Tea
Various stuff for NHS

Summers:
Volunteering at the museums above
Summer program at Oxford studying British history
Working (waitress/various other jobs)

Essays:

  • Common App: Wrote about my love of reading and my transition from childhood into adulthood.
  • Intended Major: History/anthropology; Wrote about how it relates to my personal family history.
  • Where you’ve lived: Wrote a joking one about moving around to and from the US and England.
  • Community/group: Wrote about the global and historical community of women.
  • Why Brown?: Wrote about fitting in with the activist community there & how I would utilize the open curriculum not to learn only the things I am interested in but to expand my knowledge of many subjects.

Teacher Recommendation: One from a math teacher I had two separate years, probably good. One from an english teacher who loved my work and I am sure wrote a glowing rec. Didn’t read either one.

Counselor Recommendation: Probably good. Didn’t read. She likes me but we are not incredibly close (she has a lot of students.)

Interview: He was a young guy who just graduated the year before. Kind of awkward for both of us as it was both our first interviews lol. Went well enough. We emailed several times after. I’m sure he liked me.

State (if domestic applicant): PA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Strengths: Well-rounded. Clear passions demonstrated through ECs and essays.
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: I tried to be myself as much as possible but I know I came off as a political activist really into the liberal arts.
Weaknesses: No major awards/achievements. ACT score could have been higher.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Got lucky, honestly. I’m clearly not the most qualified candidate. My writing quality is pretty good though which I think was noticeable.
Notes: I am so lucky.