lfk725 I disagree.
no, SAT and grades may not bring you to top schools, but yes,really extraordinary brilliance and smartness will get you where you want to go(colleges), but that cannot be fully proved just by SAT and other stats.
Accepted: UC Berkeley (Attending), UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz & UCSD
School Type: Nationally Ranked Public Magnet
Location: San Francisco, CA
Race/Gender: Asian Male
Prospective Major: Business/History
UW GPA: 3.67
UC-Capped Weighted GPA: 3.96
Weighted GPA: 4.25
SAT I Scores:
-Math: 800
-CR: 800
-Writing: 700
SAT II Scores:
-MAth IIC: 800
-U.S. History: 800
-Physics: 680
ACT Scores:
-Composite: 35
-Math: 36
-CR: 36
-Science: 36
-English/Writing: 31
AP Scores:
Euro: 5 (Soph)
US: 5 (Jr)
Psych: 5 (Jr)
Calc AB: 5 (Sr)
Gov’t US: 5 (Sr)
Gov’t Comp: 5 (Sr)
Macro: 5 (Sr)
Micro: 5 (Sr)
Physics C-Mech: 4 (Sr)
Physics C-E&M: 2 (Sr) [I Gave Up]
Extracurriculars:
-Investing for the Betterment of Myself
Community Service:
-N/A
Work Experience:
-Worked In Family Business Since 7th Grade
Accepted: UCLA, UCSB, UCSD, UCI
Rejected: USC
School Type: Los Angeles Unified School District - Public School
Location: California
Race/Gender: Mostly hispanic and filipino
Prospective Major: Political Science
Unweighted GPA: 3.91
Weighted GPA: 4.1
Class rank: 19/408
SAT I Scores
SAT I Math: 610
SAT I Critical Reading: 610
SAT I Writing: 670
SAT II Scores
SAT II Literature: 560
SAT II U.S. History: 690
Extracurricular Info
Editor in Chief of school newspaper
Vice president of C.S.F.
Tennis team captain
Volunteering
occasional church and CSF work
AP Scores
3 AP World History
4 AP US History
1 AP Calculus
3 AP Gov - US
2 AP Gov - Comp
2 AP Eng Lit
Awards:
*Honors Award (from high school)
*California Scholarship Federation
*Hardest Worker (tennis team)
My stats are well below the middle 50% at UCLA but I was surprised that I got in. Just make sure you do your extra cuiricular’s and write a b1tchin essay.
Accepted: Columbia (attending), Penn, Northwestern, Tufts, NYU, BU, GW
Waitlisted: Duke (then accepted on may 3rd)
Rejected: Yale (SCEA)
white, female
GPA: 105.6 W
Rank: 23/116 (competitive magnet)
SAT: 720-RC 800-M 800-W (2320 total)
SAT2: 790-Math2C 770-Writing (took before new SAT) 740-US History
APs (as of college apps): US Hist - 4, Calc AB - 5
ECs:
Local Youth Theater Company (5th-12th)
School Musicals (10th-12th, Lead Roles)
Varsity Tennis (9th-12th, 2 year District Champs, State Individual Qualifier, 2-year Team Captain)
Mock Trial (10th-12th, City Champions, State Runner-Ups, Individual Awards)
Debate (10th-12th, City Champions, All-City Debater)
School Newspaper (9th-12th, 2-year Section Editor)
National Academic League (9th-10th, National Champions)
Hebrew High School (9th-11th)
Middle and Elementary School Tutoring (9th-12th)
National Honor Society (11th-12th)
Drexel Course (10th, recieved A)
UPenn Young Scholars (11th-12th, taking Penn classes, 3.85 GPA)
Columbia Summer High School Program (summer before 11th)
Summer Internship at well-known local law firm (summer before 11th)
Yale Summer Session (summer before 12th, taking Yale classes, recieved A and B)
Independent Awards/Honors:
AIME Qualifier
School Excellence in Calculus Award
UVA Book Award
Drexel University One-course scholarship (see ECs)
National Merit Semifinalist (Became Scholarship Winner)
Essay:
The one creative one was about going to Russia and Ukraine (birthplace of my parents) and how it affected my identity.
Recs:
Only read one, but it was amazing. Head of Math Dep’t at my school said she was “high” on me.
Others:
No connections to schools, except for bother who graduated from Penn in '05.
Accepted: Northwestern-Medill (attending), UWisconsin - Madison, Penn State, UMiami, Holy Cross
Defer->Reject: WUSTL (ED2)
Waitlist->Self-deny: UMich
Reject: Duke (ED), Vanderbilt, USC
asian male, public school, first-gen (no legacy or connections)
GPA: 3.28uw
Rank: norank
SAT: 1960 (610cr, 700math, 650writing (8))
ACT: 33 (34english (11), 34math, 30reading, 34science)
SAT2: 800math2c, 790japanese, 710ushistory
AP: 4ushistory, 4stats, 3chem
ECs: 700hrs community service, nonvarsity baseball, school gov’t, school yearbook, band, tutoring
Awards: no significant awards that would’ve gotten my foot thru the door
Recs: 3 (counselor, 2 teachers)
Accepted: Yale (SCEA, attending), University of Michigan LSA Honors
Rejected: Stanford
School Type: Public
Location: MI
Race/Gender: Asian female
Prospective Major: Biology or Economics
UW GPA: 4.0
SAT I Scores:
Math: 800
CR: 760
Writing: 730
SAT II Scores:
Math IIC: 750
Chemistry: 750
Biology M: 760
Chinese: 770
ACT Composite: 33
AP Scores: Chemistry, Biology, English Language (jr): 5
Psychology, Calculus AB (sr): 5
English Literature (sr): 4
Extracurriculars:
Varsity debate and novice mentor
Forensics Captain, State semifinalist
DECA Internationals, 2nd place this year
Science Club President
International Club VP
Teen Court VP
Nat. Honors Society
Piano (10 years, some scholarships and awards)
Track and Field
Community Service:
160 hours at local hospital and pharmacy
40 hours at library
other fun stuff like bell-ringing for the salvation army
Work Experience:
assistant at Chinese school
private tutor (2-6 hrs/week)
babysitter
Essays: creative, random and funny, had voice.
Awards: Speech contests
Recs: 2 teacher, 1 counselor (amazing, she’s awesome)
Summer activities: debate camp and volunteering
a very nooby question, what is SCEA? is that EA? and I thought only Harvard and Brown have EA in ivy league
Harvard has Single Choice Early Action, slightly different from Early Action, there’s a comprehensive explanation at this site:<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/prospective/applying/early_action/index.html[/url]”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/prospective/applying/early_action/index.html</a>
Accepted: University of Chicago (EA), University of Pennsylvania (ED; Attending)
Rejected: Nowhere.
Withdrawn: Princeton, NYU-Stern, UC-Berkeley, Columbia, Northwestern, Dartmouth, Amherst, Williams
White Male
School type: Grades 12-13 (“pre-university” school in Quebec) were public; high school (7-11 here in Quebec) was private.
Prospective Major: Math/Econ; though I don’t know if it matters.
Unweighted GPA: 89%
Class rank: 9/76 in honours program; top 6% overall
SAT I: 2270 (800 CR, 760 M, 710 W)
SAT IIs: 730 Lit, 770 Math Level 2, 760 French
ECs: Newspaper editor, minor league hockey coach, bass+guitar player, quiz team, literary journal editor. No community service whatsoever (unless you count hockey coach, but I put that under “ECs” on the apps).
Harvard and Yale have SCEA. Brown is ED.
SUNY Fredonia
Accepted - SUNY Stony Brook, Binghamton, Albany(Accepted to 3+3 law program with full graduate tuition), Fredonia (Full Tuition), Penn State University Park, Indiana University Bloomington, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaine, Berklee College of Music($7,000 year), University of Rochester (Eastman)
Rejected - Syracuse, NYU
White Male
Public School, Long Island NY
Major - Music Composition, Sound Recording Technology
GPA - 90.256/100.00
SATs - 710 Verbal, 680 Math, 590 Writing
ACT - 29
AP Scores
Euro - 5
US History - 4
Government - 3
Music Theory - 4
ECs - New York All-State Conference (Mixed Choir) - Voice, Jazz Band, Concert Band, Chamber Choir, NYSSMA All-County Voice (10,11,12), Varsity Football (10-12), Captian 12, Numerous Community performances to raise money for charitys, National Thesbien Honor Society, National Tri-M Music Honor Society, School Musical Leads (10-12).
I was a busy boy, but I thought I’d throw this in here for us “mortal” students
Wow, this thread is so helpful! Thanks!
Attending: Wellesley College
Accepted: Wellesley, UCB, UCLA, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Middlebury, Grinnell ($10k/ yr scholarship), Mount Holyoke ($15k/ yr leadership award), Scripps, Pitzer ($5k/ yr scholarship), Colby
Waitlisted: Harvard, Haverford
Rejected: Swarthmore (deferred ED2), Tufts, Stanford, Bowdoin, Vassar
white female
parochial school
small town near Fresno, CA
SAT: 650CR 630M 700W
SAT II: 710EB 670US
ACT: 30C 34E 33R 26M 26S 33E+W
GPA: 3.9UW 4.1W
Rank: 3/81
APs: Bio 4 (jr), Govt 4 (sr), Lit 3 (sr), also took calc AB and econ, but didn’t take the tests.
Number of apps from your school: just mine. Half of the kids from my school go to community college, the rest go to nonselective religious schools instate, 1 or 2 a year go to a UC or USC.
Harvard SSP '04, Spanish A-
ECs:
-senior class president, class rep in student council (9, 10)
-varsity track, co-captain (11, 12), varsity swimming, most improved (9, 10), varsity cheer, co-captain (9, 10)
-ran a marathon this year, fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
-literary book club, Spanish club vp & co-founder
-gourmet cooking club, co-president (10-12), I have 5 published recipes, and am active in a Community Supported Agriculture program.
-tutoring & after-school program for at-risk youth (11-12)
-active member of a social justice and peace group in my community
Work:
-sales manager at farmer’s markets for my family’s farm (7-12)
Essays: common app was about the contrast and (figurative) tension between living on my family’s small farm in CA and the summer I spent in Boston, and the domination of big-business ag vs. my personal experience. Very heartfelt.
Attending: St. Anselm College
Accepted: St. Anselm College (20.3k in scholarship/merit aid*), Marlboro College (10k in merit aid), Stonehill College (5k in merit aid), Southern New Hampshire University (5k in merit aid), Hampshire College
Rejected: None
Deferred: Hampshire College (then accepted, deffered on EA Plan)
Waitlist: None
My Senior Year END stats (note, pretty much any academic stat was LOWER for me when I applied)
GPA: 3.54 weighted on approximately a 4.4-4.5 scale for me
Rank: 28/123
SAT: 750v, 710m, 610w (best scores, one new and one old attempt)
SAT II: Not Applicable
APs: Psychology (4) (Did not come into play)
Personal/School Qualities:
Race: White
Gender: Male
School: Trinity High School (NH) (Small private, Catholic school with a solid local reputation).
Location: Manchester, NH
Prospective Major: Undecided
Extras:
Yearbook (11th grade), Destination Imagination, Campus Ministry, Yearbook (12th grade, but not really that involved in any for one reason or another). They were poor.
Essays:
-Standard common application personal statement (Specifically, I showed my mother’s infleuence upon my current character in the major statement, while in the lesser one, I explained my dedication to a baseball message forum)
-Various other ones for Marlboro and Hampshire.
Notes:
- = The school has a “feeder” relationship with my HS, meaning that some of the merit (5.8k definitely, maybe more) was either school or region specific (5k from a Catholic HS Grant (qualified for it), 800 dollars from a scholarship dedicated to the school)
My grades and performance in general showed a severe upward trend, from a B-/B student to an A-/A student.
Matriculation Date: 2006
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Home: New Jersey Suburban
GPA: 3.92
SAT Total: 2200 M: 710 CR: 730 W: 760
SAT II:
Mathematics Level 1 710
Chemistry 750
Biology Molecular 740
AP:
Biology 5
Calculus AB 4
Chemistry 5
English Language 5
English Literature 5
Physics C 3
Spanish Language 3
US History 5
Cornell University Accepted: Attending
Princeton University Rejected
Johns Hopkins University Waitlisted
Connecticut College Accepted
Colgate University Accepted
Boston College Accepted
Wesleyan Accepted
Lafayette College Accepted
Rutgers College Accepted
Cook College Accepted
University of Rochester Accepted
Bucknell University Accepted
EC’s, awards: My complete profile is under Doghouse1 on campusapps.com
SHORT BIO
hispanic female; San Antonio, TX; 93 GPA; small private Episcopalian high school
HONORS
Chem, Alg 2/Trig, Geometry, Spanish 2
AP (terrrribbblleee scores)
Bio - 2
Calc AB - 3
Spanish 4 - 5
Physics - 2
SAT best (took 3 times b/c I’m not the greatest at these things):
Math - 610
CR - 570
Writing - 650
SAT II
Spanish w/ listening -740
Math level 2 - 600
EC’S, AWARDS, HONORS, ETC.
JROTC 6 years, 2nd highest rank senior year, many many many prestegious awards within this one group, I was really dedicated; 20k scholarship to Wells College for leadership; community service to include tutoring, open houses, fundraisers, etc; several awards for academics (mostly in Spanish and English); piano for 12 years; Varsity Softball 4 yrs, captain senior year; did NYLF DID in spring of junior year; EXPLO Summer program senior year; worked at Party City for a short while; ummm I think there are a few others, but that’s the jist…I plan to major in Pych, minor (or double major) in Medicine, Health, and Society, and do pre-med
ESSAYS AND SHORT ANSWERS
excellent
REC’s
two great, one I’m not sure but didn’t expect much
COLLEGES APPLIED TO (all RD)
Rejected - Rice, Wustl
Waitlisted - Notre Dame, UT Austin
Accepted - Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, St. Thomas, St. Edwards
Attending - Vanderbilt
I’m officially retired from the wars but found this thread interesting and potentially helpful to juniors so…
Rank:1/143 at rural Texas public with zero name recognition
ACT: 35 composite, 36 Math, 34 English, 35 Science, 34 Writing
SAT Subject Tests: None
Major: Bio/Neuroscience/Spanish
White/Female
High Spots: Regional Math Medalist, State Tuba, 2 yr Basketball Captain on State Ranked Team (lightly recruited D3), 2 yr Marching and Symphonic Band Section Leader in State Ranked Band, Honor Society President, Girl’s State, Hospital Volunteer (started campaign for bi-lingual training for volunteers), many hours as a Tutor (at risk, deaf).
Rec’s: “Top ten in twenty years of Calculus.” “One of the finest students I have had in 25 years of teaching Science.”
Essays: Essays concentrating on ranch life and how her perspective may be different than other kids (and what that could bring to class). Major essay on her un-prepared foray into bi-lingual healthcare.
Applied and accepted (with substantial merit*, with substantial preferentially packaged need-based aid#):
Yale RD
Amherst RD
Colgate RD (Alumni Scholars)#
Hamilton RD (Schambach)<em>#
Scripps RD (JES)</em>#
Rhodes RD (Bellingrath)*
Case EA (Trustee’s)*
UMiami EA (Singer)*
Centre EA*
Hendrix EA*
Millsaps EA*
Hanover EA*
Waitlisted, didn’t accept place:
Duke
IMO, top students -HYP prospects and the like - should really consider Colgate, Scripps, Hamilton, Rhodes, Centre, Case and UMiami. The financial packages they cobble together for students they want can be very “inspiring”. If professional school or unpaid grad school is in your future, these schools can be very attractive alternatives. Just my two cents.
This should give those of you with great stats but who are from no-name schools some hope. And you BWRK’s? It can happen. Put yourself all the way out there in your apps. If they don’t like you - why would you like them? 
Good Luck.
Oh, D will be attending Rhodes College. Her choice. Yale FA and Amherst FA don’t seem to care much for middle class kids of self-employed parents (FA was unacceptable to her). Colgate , Scripps, and Hamilton were VERY generous with need-based aid for this particular W female from the sticks. YMMV. Hope this helps someone.
Accepted: Wesleyan(ED)
asian male
GPA: ~4.7/5
SAT: 2240(800CR, 730M, 710W)
SAT II: 800 US History, 790 World History,760 Biology E
AP scores:
Bio- 5
US History- 5
Spanish-4
Psychology-4
Physics B-5
Chem-4
ECs:
football, wrestling, honor society
This thread seems more useful than most of what pops up in this forum. I’ll bite. It’s been a while, but I’ll see what I remember.
High School: Public math/science/tech magnet, c/o 2003 with Commonwealth diploma (KY-only honors diploma)
Personal: White upper-middle class female
Accepted: MIT (attending), Vanderbilt (with $25K/year merit scholarship), JHU biomed, U of Chicago, Duke, Rice, NYU
Rejected: HYP
Major: Neuroscience
GPA: 3.84 unweighted
SAT M: 800
SAT V: 770
SAT II Math IIC: 800
SAT II Writing: 760
SAT II Bio-M: 700
Class Rank: Top 10%, but HS didn’t rank
APs: seven 5s, five 4s, a 3 and a 2
Other college courses: Intro Creative Writing (at Bellarmine University), Medieval French Lit (at U of Louisville)
Extracurriculars:
4 years varsity cross-country, co-captain senior year
4 years on powerhouse academic team
3 years science bowl, captain senior year
2 years science olympiad
Volunteer work w/state ACLU education committee
12 summers on summer league swim team
7 summers on summer league dive team
Volunteer work as certified diving judge for summer league
Awards:
State Governor’s Cup: 2nd in general knowledge, 9th in English
National AP Award
AP State Award x2
ISEF Regional 3rd in Medicine/Health
ISEF Regional 3rd in Computer Science
National Merit Finalist
National Science Olympiad top 30 individuals in two events
Essays: Were good, but I don’t remember them that well. I know that I talked about:
- Being inspired to neuroscience by having an autistic twin brother.
- For a “Who’s your hero?” type question: Watching my mom fight to disprove the fad of facilitated communication as a treatment for autism, even though it caused her to be ostricized by other parents of autistic kids who wanted to believe that it was helping their kids…and eventually, her views being recognized as correct.
- The sense of “dual identity” that comes from going between parents’ houses that are in different states and very different types of neighborhoods…this was probably my best-written essay
- The pride I felt that I had done my ISEF projects entirely on my own rather than mooching off some professor’s work, and how it helped offset the disappointment of being passed over to go to Internationals in favor of moochers.
- How growing up in the South contributed to my sense of identity.
Hope this was useful.
jessiehl :…Hope this was useful.
YES, VERY USEFUL.
I am awed by the qualifications (stas and ECs) of some of you. You didn’t get in HYPs with your abilities! That is unbelievable.
I think curmudgeon is right. Top students should seriously consider places (Colgate, Scripps, Hamilton, Rhodes, Centre, Case and UMiami) since Ivies seem to be just like playing lottery for the whites and the ORMs.