@tavernier23 - Congratulations on your acceptances. You have some good choices! Thank you for posting your stats…I disappointed about your waitlist at UVA and UNC-CH. You had solid stats, IMO. Your results are ones that make me concerned about the whole process. Schools always seem to say you don’t more than 5 APs. You were over that number…
At any rate Congratulation!
All acceptances 
(These are all EA)
RD
Wake Forest
Attending College of Charleston
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): n/a
ACT (breakdown): 31
SAT II: n/a
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8ish
Weighted GPA: 4.666? SC weights funny
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 29/371
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geo: 4, APUSH: 4, AP Lang: 3
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Physics 201 & 202, Genetics, AP Bio, Spanish 3, Gov/Econ, AP Stats, AP Psych
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
3 publications about racial injustices, piano competitions, highly ranked music camps, visual arts awards, minor school awards, NHS, Beta Club
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Music Conservatory, Psych Club (President and Chairman of the Volunteer Services), NHS (SGA rep), Mock Trial, Spanish Club, Choir
Job/Work Experience: Babysitting?
Volunteer/Community service: About 150-200 hours total. Not much. Mainly from NHS/Beta Club/Psych related stuff plus I was ny church’s pianist while they were looking for a new one.
Summer Activities: Music camps, Cheerleading coach
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10, my common app essay was actually an essay I had published(it pays to recycle writing haha).
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 9, from my APUSH teacher who really knows me
Teacher Rec #2: 7 my AP Lang teacher who could barely remember my name during her class but now knows it
Teacher Rec #3: Spanish 1-2 teacher who has read my writing and encouraged me to look for contests/publication deals.
Teacher #4: Ap Human Geo teacher/psych club sponsor who basically helped plan out my high school schedule and gave me several opportunities for volunteer hours
Counselor Rec: eh avg she literally told me I shouldn’t apply to more than 3 colleges because I wouldn’t get in but jokes on her because I’ve gotten into all of them.
Additional Rec:
Interview:
I didn’t interview for any of my colleges and yes I did not interview for Wake. I had my Cofc scholarship weekend which went really well.
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Biology and Public Health
State (if domestic applicant): SC
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public < 2,000
Ethnicity: Black
Gender: F
Income Bracket: 65,000-80,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, 1st Gen to some colleges?,
Reflection:
I wish I would’ve applied to Vandy, Northeastern, Barnard, and UNC-CH. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it especially when you have realistic chances(middle 50% for at least the gpa OR test score for the colleges).
Strengths: Essays
Weaknesses: Test score maybe? Idk. I haven’t had any rejections/deferrals yet for any of the colleges/programs I applied to. It may change with UofSC Honors College and Wake Forest. I feel like me EC’s were ordinary though
General Comments:
Work on your essays as early as the end of your junior year of high school. It will be easier to manage all of your classes+college apps/scholarship apps that way. Do NOT way until the last minute like I did with some of them.
@labegg Thanks I am remaining on the waitlist at UVA with hopes of getting in. I really wouldn’t be concerned with the whole process all that much; it’s really a numbers game, and if you are a solid student and person, you will go to a great school that is great for you. In terms of APs, I look on this website at kids taking 8 APs before senior year, and it is a little ridiculous. Like how can you do that. I only took 6 throughout high school, so I was at a comfortable number for me.
Accepted: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, CWRU
Rejected: University of Chicago, Cornell, Columbia
Waitlisted: Nowhere
Objective:
ACT: 35E,35M,34R,36S 35 Composite
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93
Weighted GPA (out of 5.0): 4.6something
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Around top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis):
10th Grade: Calculus BC, Physics B, Computer Science (All 5)
11th Grade: Physics C (5), English Language (5), Macroeconomics (5), US History (3)
Senior Year Course Load:
AP Spanish, AP Bio, AP Lit, AP Psych, AP Stats, AP Micro/AP US Gov
Major Awards: None that would sway a decision
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Varsity swim (4 years+ captain)
NHS
Club Swim
Job/Work Experience: Tutor
Volunteer/Community service:
Chinese school and swim meets
Summer Activities:
Summer internship at Northwestern
Swimming
Essays (rating 1-10, details):I’m not rating my essays.
Common App: I thought it was genuine and well-written, and those who read it liked it.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
My 11th grade English and 9/10th grade math teachers - I think they liked me a lot. I didn’t really know my guidance counselor.
Other:
Intended Major: CS or Industrial Engineering
School Type: Top Public
Ethnicity: Asian (LOL)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): definitely not
Reflection: I am the Asian kid who has good stats but terrible extracurriculars. Although I hoped that my dedication to swimming would have helped me a little with elite schools, I don’t think they weighed it as much given that I was not recruited. Plus, I was an Asian male in engineering in a sea of asian male engineers - I just didn’t stand out. Lastly, I’ve realized that college admissions is not a true meritocratic process, and so it doesn’t define my self-worth, or the quality of the effort that I’ve put into my schoolwork and activites over the past 4+ years.
I got into UIUC’s top-ranked CS program, and am excited to go there this fall! And if I really want to go ivy, I can try again for grad school or something. I’m just thankful that this process is over and ready to move on.
Accepted: Berkeley EECS (Regents), Cornell University, Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins, Rice University, WashU, UIUC, Purdue, All the other UC’s, UT Austin
Rejected: MIT, Stanford, UPenn, Yale, Columbia, Princeton
Waitlisted: Northwestern, Duke, UMichigan
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 760 CR 800 M 790 W (Comp: 2350)
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II: Math(800), Biology M(790), Chem (750)
PSAT: 230
Unweighted GPA (if available): 4.0
Weighted GPA (if available): N/A (school does not weigh)
Rank/percentile (if available): Top 10% of ~400 (school does not rank, but 4.0 is typically within 10% at my school)
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Biology(5), AP Language and Composition(5), AP Calculus BC(5), AP Psychology(4), AP Chemistry(4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Compsci, AP Lit, AP Government, French 4 H, AP Statistics
Major Awards: FBLA Nationals Top 15 Finalist, TEAMS Nationals Top 10 Finalist (7th in US for Prepared Presentation), USABO Semifinalist, AIME qualifier, some awards at regional science fair, etc.
Subjective
Extracurriculars:
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Recommendations: Math Teacher, French Teacher
Supplemental Recommendation from my Cornell Research Mentor
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: Competitive Public School
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Notes:
Reflection
Strengths: GPA, Test scores, awards
Weaknesses: Not as many leadership positions as I would have liked
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I showed a lot of interest in my particular major with the activities that I did, such as with research internships and engineering competitions.
Accepted: Babson, Bentley, Brandeis, CWRU, Colgate, Northeastern, UPenn, Rice, SMU, UNC, UT Austin
Rejected: Cornell, Harvard (REA, Deferred), Northwestern, WashU
Waitlisted: UChicago, UVA (EA, Deferred)
Objective:
SAT I: 650 CR 690 M 700 W (Comp: 2040) (Only sent to UPenn and UT Austin)
ACT: 35 E 30 M 32 R 34 S 36 W (Comp: 33)
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.91
Rank/percentile: 79/815
AP (score in parenthesis): AP Statistics (4), AP Physics 1 (4), AP World History (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Calculus BC, AP Environmental Science, AP Psychology
Major Awards: Academic Award AP World History (Best grade in the school), Varsity Letters, Texas Leadership Salute, TFA State Qualifier
Subjective
Extracurricular:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Recommendations: English Teacher, Physics Teacher, World History Teacher, Psychology Teacher (Harvard only)
Supplemental Recommendation: Scoutmaster
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Economics
State: Texas
School Type: Competitive Public School
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Notes:
Reflection
Strengths: GPA, EC’s, Interviews
Weaknesses: Not as strong of an academic record that I may have liked
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think my interviews really tied the knot for UPenn and Rice probably because I’m a debater. I also think that my Common App essay was pretty good. Looking back on it, I applied to way too many colleges. I didn’t know exactly where I wanted to go and had little time to visit/research/etc. so I picked a bunch of targets and safeties that had good economics programs and were mostly in the northeast (I knew the reaches for a while). I was pretty clueless getting started because I didn’t have a college counselor or any siblings who had done it before or parents that knew the application process.
What would you do if you could do it over again: I would get a better ACT score, request interviews earlier, apply to fewer schools, focus on one or two things (EC’s) and get really good at them, and hold more leadership positions
General Comments:
DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! I know you’ve probably heard that a lot but its so very true. Also, ask for advice if you need it, I’m happy to help out and I’m sure other seniors/teachers/counselors/people are too. If you can, try not to stress and to have fun with it; it’ll all work out in the end.
D’s stats ('16) ( asian, female, no hooks, no sports whatsoever!)
Objective: GPA UW 3.87, W 4.35 (but for UCs, she had UW 4, UC GPA weighted capped 4.4)
APs taken 10 (tonly 5 at time of application, didnt submit any score as she failed two!)
ACT: 33 ( taken 6 times!)
SAT: 2060
Sat 2 : mid to high 600s ( submitted only to schools that required it)
Rank: doesnt rank but upper 5% ( private smallish catholic school, not competitive)
Awards: Speech awards( 3 , l ocal and county – all first place)
Piano ( 1st place , two local /regional )
generic end of school academic awards
Poetry writing awards ( local)
Essay contests ( local/regional, x3)
ECs: Volunteer at local soup kitchen , local church
three generic clubs at school
summer scholarships to piano camps (2)
speech /leaderships camps ( local college) – for summer ( nothing fancy )
Leadership: (3), school newspaper, regional philanthrophic club and math club
Essays: Stellar! ( worked on these for several months, many drafts until counselor ,
who used to be an ivylevel admit officer, declared them “superb!”
Financial: >500k
Major: economics/communications (depending on college )
Recommendations: prob 9/10 ( didnt get to read)
Acceptances: Stanford ( matriculating), UC berkeley, UCLA, UCSD , U. of Notre Dame USC, Boston
College, Northeastern, temple, and a few other safeties
Waitlist: Upenn, Uchicago
denials: JHU, Northwestern
Comments: Living proof that taking the ACT/SAt more than 3x is ok( though admittedly stressful
and costly) and AP scores ( or lack of ) has little effect on the admissions process.
Essays can make or break an an application so work hard on those, and packaging
is key!!!
Acceptances: MIT, Hopkins, Columbia, Brown, Penn, Cornell, CMU (SCS), Duke, UC Berkeley (regents), instate safeties
Waitlists: UChicago, Stanford
Rejections: Harvard, Yale
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2370: 800M, 790W, 780CR
ACT:
SAT II: 790 Math II, 800 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/407
AP: All 5s in 8 AP exams
IB: none
Awards: nothing major
Subjective:
Extracurriculars:
Didn’t really do too much outside of usual school clubs.
Was in a few engineering clubs and worked with a homeless shelter for seven years (my only main EC)
Essays:
Common App essay was great (9-10/10). Supplements for colleges varied widely. Some were great, others sucked and were done last minute
Teacher Recommendation: two of my favorite teachers, pretty sure they were great
Counselor Rec: probably good but generic
Additional Rec: none
Other:
State: MD
School Type: public
Race: White
Hispanic (Y/N): N
Gender: M
Income Bracket: Middle Class
Hooks: haha
Reflection:
Strengths: creativity in essays, scores/gpa
Weaknesses: extracurriculars, lack of interest in many places, not the best at the “Why here?” essays
I’ve been on College Confidential a lot throughout the years, and I’m still in disbelief that the entire admissions process is finally over. It’s been a wild ride, and I’m really proud of where I’ve gotten. I’ve received acceptances from some pretty amazing places–MIT, Hopkins, Duke, Berkeley, many Ivies–that four years ago I could have only dreamed of. I didn’t have the extracurriculars or the athletic hooks, but I did put my heart into my essays and my applications overall. If I could give advice to next year’s students, it’d be to reach high. Be yourself in your essays–and I mean that. Screw everything you learn in English class–have two word sentences, use “I” as much as you want, address the audience directly, stand out. Be creative and be innovative. I didn’t think I’d get into a single Ivy League school–turns out I got waitlisted at two and accepted at another two. Shoot for the moon, you may very well end up among the stars.
Accepted: Dartmouth, Georgetown, Amherst, Bowdoin (Faculty Scholar), Wesleyan, Colby (Presidential Scholar), University of Virginia
Rejected: Stanford, Northwestern, Harvard, Brown (deferred from ED, rejected RD), UPenn
Waitlisted: Cornell, UChicago, Swarthmore, Middlebury
Objective:
ACT: 35 Composite (35 English, 35 Math, 35 Reading, 30 Writing, 36 Science)
SAT (didn’t send anywhere): 2100
SAT II: 770 Math 2, 730 Physics, 680 Chem (didn’t send chem)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA (out of 5.0): 4.76
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/553 (tied with others for valedictorian)
AP (place score in parenthesis)–
10th Grade: Calc AB (5), World History (5)
11th Grade: U.S. History (5), Language and Comp. (5), Physics 2 (5), Calc BC (5), Chem (3) [oops]
Senior Year Course Load:
AP Environmental, AP Biology, AP Literature and Comp., AP Statistics, AP U.S. Government, AP Macroeconomics
Major Awards: National Merit Semifinalist at time of application (later named Finalist), AP Scholar with Distinction
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Varsity tennis, only freshman and sophomore year due to injuries at end of soph. year
-One season of JV cross country sophomore year, figured I’d give it a shot
-USTA club tennis team
-NHS (Vice President)
-Society of Female Scholars (President)
-Interact Club
-Principal’s Student Advisory Council
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service:
-Local public library volunteer from freshman through junior year
-Plenty of random volunteering on my own, just for fun
-Ton of volunteering hours through NHS, Society of Female Scholars, Interact
Summer Activities:
-Stanford EPGY for Creative Writing in 2012
-Johns Hopkins CTY for Neuroscience in 2013
-Brown “Summer@Brown” for “Between Darwin & Design” in 2014
Essays:
Common App–I spent the most time on this essay, hands-down. I did the prompt about failure and talked about how I failed my driving test not once, but twice…whoops. It felt really genuine, had some humorous touches; I got a hand-written note last week from the admissions officer at Colby who read my application, and she mentioned how she laughed out loud at my essay.
Supplementals–Some felt really good, some were so-so. Northwestern was probably the worst, so I wasn’t surprised by the rejection, as I also never got an interview since my interviewer never answered my email. There was one essay in particular that I felt really good about, so I used and modified it for a few different schools (Stanford, Georgetown, and Dartmouth…worked for the last two, but not the first, obviously).
Recommendations:
From junior year AP Language and APUSH teachers; I read both, they were extremely nice and I feel that they may have really made an impact, but who knows?
Other:
Intended Major: Honestly applied under several different majors, almost all science-related though, even put undeclared for a few (Georgetown and UPenn if I remember correctly, but my essays elaborated)
School Type: Public
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None, but somehow still defeated the odds. Still shocked
Reflection:
Applying to elite schools can really be a complete crapshoot, and in all honesty, I was just hoping for one or two acceptances out of all these schools…so I was ridiculously surprised (and happy!) to see some of these acceptances! Don’t get scared by the odds and go for it. The only advice I would give is to not put all of your eggs into the elite school basket. I know people with perfect scores/ranks/everything who applied to only the biggest schools and didn’t get into any of them, so now they’re stuck with the in-state schools they never expected to end up at. I also think essays and interviews are really, REALLY important. But really, take some risks, it can be worth it! Lastly, don’t feel down if you get rejected…you can’t forget that money and several other uncontrollable factors play big roles. Good luck.
Accepted: Harvard, Yale, MIT, Columbia (Likely, John Jay Scholar), UChicago (Provost Scholar $37,500), UPenn (Vagelos Scholar), Amherst (Schups Scholar $25,000), Williams, Duke, Brown, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, UVa (Echols Scholar)
Rejected: Stanford
Waitlisted: Princeton (EA)
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 800 CR 800 M 770 W (Comp: 2370)
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II: Math(800), Physics (800), Latin (790)
Unweighted GPA (if available): 4.0
Weighted GPA (if available): N/A
Rank/percentile (if available): I go to the most competitive school in the country (UK). It does not rank, but my counselor said I was in the top 3 in my class.
AP (place score in parenthesis): I do not take APs, but A Levels, which are similar. Average score on those is 99%
Senior Year Course Load: A Level Math, Further Math, Physics and Latin
Major Awards: National Physics Team Competition Winner, National STEM Challenge Runner’s Up, UKMT Mathematics Challenge Gold + invitation to further rounds
Subjective
Extracurriculars:
-Directed Ancient Greek Play
-Created website to host notes and share with community
-Environmental Action and Conservation: run different schemes and grant programs at my school, co-president of natural history society, went to a program at London Zoo on conservation
-Editor of my school newsletter
Volunteer/Community service:
Recommendations: Latin teacher, Physics teacher
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Physics and Classics double major
State (if domestic applicant): n/a
Country (if international applicant): UK
School Type: Competitive Private School
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Reflection
Strengths: Very high scores, grades etc. I’m assuming very strong recs, though I didn’t see them. Participation in SSP and other physics stuff + interest in classics which is pretty rare. But all of this is speculation TBH.
Weaknesses: No major awards/ research. No hooks.
A note on essays:
Essays will not get you into a college. My essays for Stanford were-- if I may say so myself-- perfect. I had the same resume as I did for all the other schools, great essays-- and that was the one place where I got rejected. My essays for Amherst and UPenn were abysmal. But I still got scholarships at both. My advice for essays: I’d write the essays to flaunt your accomplishments, build your story… Not so much to show your critical thinking/ creativity/ reflections on life… Because in the end they’re scanning them for content, and almost anything we write will be cliched.
A note on highly selective colleges:
I have seen some very talented people-- and I have high standards-- get rejected from lots of colleges. Like 2400s, ISEF etc. College admissions is weird af. It’s mysterious and random. Apply to more places to be more likely to get in-- especially places like HYPSM, which–in my eyes-- are “reach reach” schools, significantly more uncertain than other places, even those with lower admit rates (like Columbia).
A note on early admissions:
People think you have a better shot at these great places if you apply early. This is DEFINITELY true if you apply ED. But applying EA, I think, is really just as much of a crapshoot. At Princeton, where 50% of early admits are from “diverse backgrounds”, at least 25% recruited athletes, 16% legacy… I mean for the “normal” student, the chances are more or less the same. If you fall into one of the above categories, though-- really, apply early!
Accepted: University of Pennsylvania (early decision, ~$3k short of full ride)
Rejected/Waitlisted: nowhere
Objective:
SAT I: 800/800/800 11 essay (2400 single sitting)
ACT: nah
Unweighted GPA: 3.96
Weighted GPA: 4.7
Rank/percentile: 9/500
AP (score in parenthesis): bio (5) u.s. government (5) english lang (5) psych (5) calc bc (5,5)
Senior Year Course Load: ap lit, ap stat, ap chem, molecular bio, tech requirement
Major Awards: scholastic art and writing regional awards (2 gold keys, 1 silver, 2 honorable mentions when applying, and then i got another silver/honorable mention after i was admitted), school writing award, national merit, ap scholar with distinction, i think some other school award?
Subjective
Extracurriculars:
Volunteer/Community service:
Recommendations: math and english teacher
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: biology
State: MD
School Type: noncompetitive big public school
Ethnicity: mixed race (half taiwanese/white)
Gender: female
I was recruited by the Kelly Writers House for writing (was emailed by the editor of this magazing I submitted work to, editor put me in touch with KWH, and found out I was recruited 2 weeks before decisions). I don’t go to the best high school, i don’t have a high income, and i didn’t have a single internship or research position. i spent my summers just relaxing, writing for pleasure. My interview for Penn went really well, and after I was accepted my interviewer congratulated me over email
Reflection
Strengths: test scores, gpa, objective stuff, writing
Weaknesses: not really good extra curriculars, not rigorous courseload, no national awards, not many big science extracurriculars or awards. basically all the subjective stuff
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Admissions is really, really subjective and to be honest I’m not totally sure what got me in. Maybe it was getting recruited, maybe it was my SAT score, but I like to think it was my essays that really got me in. They embody my personality so well, and they were risky but they’re just the most honest depiction of me as a person, not just an applicant.
What would you do if you could do it over again: I WOULD HAVE CALMED TF DOWN AND STOPPED DOUBTING MYSELF!!!
General Comments:
Don’t compare yourself to people around you. There are some way more qualified people in my school who took like 6 ap’s a year, and I thought I would never be able to get into such a good school when put against them. I already wrote a sappy manifesto back in december when i posted my results from Penn in the decisions thread, but basically don’t put yourself down and take a risk. Last year at this time I wasn’t even considering Ivies, I didn’t even think I stood a chance at any super competitive school much less that I could be recruited. And applying early, I was so scared that I had wasted my early school on something too far out of my reach, I cried so much and thought I made a huge mistake. People around me told me I wouldn’t get into Penn, I believe even some lovely poster on this site implied I was reaching too far. And I’m really glad I didn’t listen to any of those people, and for all you little children applying to college next year don’t listen to the people who put you down because you will surprise them and you will surprise yourself.
I’m so worried for you future seniors, this process is scary and riddled with jealousy and hurt feelings. But keep your head up, dope things will happen to you.
RESULTS:
Accepted
Rochester, University of Michigan, USC, Syracuse, Emory, UC Irvine, UC Davis
Waitlist
UCLA, UC Berkeley, Pomona, Boston College
Rejected
Northwestern, Wash U, BU, Stanford, Georgetown, Harvard, Penn, Tufts
Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 31 (35R - 35E - 26M - 27S )
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.65
Weighted GPA: 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 25%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Latin (3)
Senior Year Course Load: Full IB
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Questbridge Finalist
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis)
2 President Positions
1 Captain Position
2 Varsity Electives
Job/Work Experience: Part Time for ~1 year
Volunteer/Community service: ~300 hours
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Don’t know how to rate my own work. Probably pretty powerful and focused on my personal growth through an extracurricular.
Teacher Rec #1: Waived Access. English teacher who loved my writing and was enthusiastic about recommending me
Teacher Rec #2: Waived Access. Very close personal relationship with this teacher. Had him for 4 years.
Counselor Rec: Probably pretty generic. Didn’t know him that well.
Additional Rec:
Interview: N/A
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Econ/Business
School Type: Inner City Public Magnet
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation
Strengths: Story/Essays, Test Score, Recommendations, EC’s, Strength of Schedule
Weaknesses: GPA, Rank, Test Scores (for top 20)
Reflection:
Most of my schools were a reach with my GPA and test scores. Wanted to make up for it with other parts of my application. Wasn’t enough to sneak into most of the top schools, but I am happy to have acceptances to Michigan, Emory, and USC with very good financial aid.
Accepted: UGA Honors (Full Ride), Emory University
Waitlist: UC Berkeley, Boston College, Georgia Tech, NYU
Deny: Cornell (Deferred ED then Rejected), USC, Northwestern, UMich
ACT (breakdown):
Overall: 34
English: 33
Math: 35
Reading: 32
Science: 34
SAT II:
Math 2C 780
GPA:
3.89 (UW)
4.1 (W)
Rank:
School doesn’t rank
AP:
Chemistry (3)
U.S. History (3)
Senior Year Course Load: (We couldn’t take APs until Junior Year)
AP Calculus AB
AP Psychology
AP Physics C
British Literature
Symphonic Band
Latin 4
Student Government
Major Awards:
Presidents List and Honor Roll
Latin Magna Cum Laude (9-11)
1st place Drum Major
Extracurriculars:
Marching Band [Drum Major (12) and Section Leader (11)]
Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony (1st chair Concert Master)
District Band (7-12)
All State Band (8-12)
Jazz Band (8, 11-12)
Pit Orchestra (10,11)
Janfest (9-12) Honor bands (9,11)
Chamber Ensemble (9-11)
Marched in the Outback Bowl (9)
Marched in the London New Year’s Day Parade (11)
Student Government [Secretary]
Spartan Service League (10-12) [Co-Founder]
New Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra (10-12) [Teacher(12)]
National Honors Society (11-12) [Public Relations Officer]
Student Advancement Leadership Team (11-12)
JV Tennis (9-11)
Mu Alpha Theta (11-12)
Varsity Math Team (9,11,12)
Tri-M Honors Society (10-12)
Beta Club (9-12)
Volunteer/Community service: 160+ Service hours
Summer Activities:
London and Paris Study Abroad (9)
China Mission Trip(10)
Taught myself Saxophone to play in the Jazz Band (10)
Helped with New Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra (10,11,12)
Accepted to Columbia Summer Business Program (11)
GCSU Marching Band Camp (11)
Played in Carnegie Hall (11)
Intended Major: Business
State: Georgia
School Type: Private Christian
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8. Talked about how much business meant to me
Teacher Rec #1: Waived Access. AP Calc teacher who believed I was the fastest test taker with close accuracy
Teacher Rec #2: Waived Access. AP Chem teacher who has had me for 3 years. (Homeroom 9th, Honors Chem 10th, AP Chem 11th)
Counselor Rec: Probably 10/10. She believed I was a one of a kind on the campus due to how great I was at music
Strengths: Test Score, EC’s
Weaknesses: GPA
Reflection:
Extremely shocked to see the rejections and waitlists, but in the end I got into my second choice. Moral of the story is to have hope for yourself. Don’t feel bad because of the rejections. College gets more and more competitive each year and just because the admissions board didn’t accept you, doesn’t mean you aren’t worthy. Good Luck!!
Finally posting the results~~
Accepted: WashU (full-ride), Northeastern, Stony Brook, University of Washington, Washington State University
Wait-listed: UChicago, Boston College
Denied: Stanford, Cornell, USC, Pomona, Northwestern
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
Weighted GPA: 4.4
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 12/475
ACT: 32 C 35 E 29 M 34 R 31 S W 23
AP (place score in parenthesis): Will have taken 11 APs by end of senior year. Freshman: Biology (3) Sophomore: World (4) Physics B (2) Junior: US History (5), Eng. Lang (4), Chinese (5), Calc AB (5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Com Sci, AP Gov, AP Comparative, AP Calc BC, AP Lit, Chamber Orchestra, PE.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars:
Violin 11+ years, 4 years of Chamber Orchestra (principal player), Orchestra leadership team, District honor orchestra 3x, Solo & Ensemble (1st violin),
Tennis 2 years
Piano 7 years
aced 2 classes in local cc
played violin for retirement homes
summer swim
HOSA, Key Club 2 years, Red Cross 2 years
Fluent in Chinese and English.
Job/Work Experience:
Interned at a high-tech chemical wafer manufacturing company this spring, committed over 90 hours. Learned a variety of work management techniques and ethics.
Babysitting count?
Volunteer/Community service:
100+hrs. from Key Club. Red Cross. NHS.
Chinese Mandarin Camp.
Hospital Volunteer
Teacher Recommendation: From AP US and Lang teachers. All had really good things to say (top student in US, and lang teacher exaggerated a lot)
Counselor Rec: Talked to her a few times, not super close, but should be decent.
Other
Applying for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biology related
State (if domestic applicant): WA
**** UW was my 2nd choice (Stanford was of course my 1st), and WashU was like 7. But, after learning more about WashU after I got in, I realized just how good it is and how lucky I was! I’ve wanted to go to UW for like 4 years, and didn’t really know about WashU, but WashU is seriously getting up there.
Surprisingly, I did not lose any sleep over the rejections. In fact, I recovered within seconds after seeing the results.
Definitely apply to schools you aren’t sure about! You’d never know, it might open new doors.
ACCEPTED: University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Wellesley College (likely), Kenyon (10k/yr merit), Macalester (18k/yr merit), Mount Holyoke (full merit 4 years)
WAITLISTED: Harvard (took spot), Pomona, Swarthmore, Bowdoin (accepted to fly-in)
DENIED: Amherst, Dartmouth, Yale (Deferred SCEA), Princeton
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 32
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.05/4 UW
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10% (no ranking)
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Comp Sci, Stat, AP Eng, AP Comp Gov, AP World History, Italian, Spanish AP
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Scholastic Awards, School Awards for writing
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Lit Mag Editor, Yearbook Editor, Class President, Model UN VP, Student Action Team President, Admissions Ambassador, 400 hours community service, Varsity Field Hockey, Spanish Club, Peer Tutor, Job at Catering Company
Summer Activities: Language Classes, Service, Writing camp by Scholastics
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9/10 both
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9/10 both
Teacher Rec #1: English teacher 9/10
Teacher Rec #2: Language teacher 9/10
Counselor Rec: 8/10
Interviews: Most were really good [ Brown 8/10, Penn 9/10, Wellesley 8/10, Kenyon 9/10, Holyoke 8/10, Harvard 6/10 (OUCH), Pomona 9/10, Swat 6/10 (OUCH x2), Bowdoin 7/10, Dartmouth 7/10, Yale 7/10, Princeton 8/10 ]
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes (and I got enough financial aid at ALL of my schools)
Intended Major: International Relations
Country (if international applicant): Mid Atlantic USA
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
Reflection
Strengths: essays, ecs
Weaknesses: SCORES (but I overcame this!!!)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I put together a strong app. Test scores are not everything.
General Comments : I am proud of myself. I did not let any of the people who said I wouldn’t get in get to me. And, my results show how random this is. Don’t let people put you down!!!
I did not spend ONE MINUTE prepping for standardized tests. I went in raw and got 98th percentile scores. For me it didn’t make sense to study for hours just to get in that 99th percentile when it’s all inflated due to other kids taking prep classes and cramming. Instead I used that time to hang out with friends, do extracurriculars, and enjoy high school! All my friends had the same mindset, we all got 32 ACT and now 2 are going to MIT, 2 are going to UPenn and I’m…
------------------------------------------ BROWN or WELLESLEY 2020!!! ------------------------------------------------
ACCEPTED: Cal Poly SLO, Sac State, UCSB, UC Davis, Northeastern, American (with $12k/year in merit), George Washington (with $20k/year in merit)
WAITLISTED: UCSD
DENIED: Tufts
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2030 single sitting (740 CR, 600 M, 690 W), 2060 super scored (740 CR, 720 W, 600 M)
ACT (breakdown): 31 C, don’t remember score breakdown
SAT II (place score in parentheses): US History (780), English literature (720)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parentheses): English Lang (5), Psychology (5), US History (4), World History (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature, AP Physics 1, AP US Gov/AP Microeconomics, Senior seminar, AP European History, AP Comparative Government & Politics, AP Calculus AB, Advanced Journalism
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Honor, National Merit Commended
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): National Honor Society (officer)(2 years, 1 year as officer), speech and debate (4 years), academic team (3 years), a school spirit committee thingy (2 years), French Club (2 years)
Job/Work Experience: 2 years working for my dad’s company
Volunteer/Community Service: volunteer at my place of religious worship, tutoring. Also an intern on a local political campaign.
Summer Activities: Debate camp summer before sophomore year, internship started last summer
Essays: They ranged from a 7/10-9/10, though most were a solid 8/10 I think.
Teacher Recommendations: No idea, never read
Counselor Rec: No idea, never read
Additional Rec: N/A
Interviews: Didn’t apply for one anywhere
Other:
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large(ish) public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $250k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None. Legacy at UCSD but that doesn’t count for anything there.
Reflection:
Strengths: Internship, essays, demonstrated interest at most of my schools, SAT II scores
Weaknesses: SAT I & ACT scores (especially math scores), no hooks, so-so extracurriculars
General comments: I didn’t do any interviews, but I wish I had. Definitely interview! Ultimately though, I’m pretty pleased with how things turned out. Of course there are things that I wish I could’ve done differently but I will be attending one of my top choices in the fall. Everything will ultimately work out the way it is meant to
Accepted: UMaine (State school, merit aid, honors,) Lesley (merit aid, honors,) Suffolk (merit aid, honors,) Brandeis
Waitlisted: Colby College and Boston College aka my top choices
Denied: Northeastern and Tufts
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2040, 610 M, 710 R, 720 W
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 630 US History, 740 Lit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2nd
AP (place score in parenthesis): Lit 5, Lang 5, US History 4, World History 3 (only five APs total offered, and instead of AP Gov I took a college Gov class.)
Senior Year Course Load: Some required random classes to graduate such as economics and future perspectives and 4 college classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Honors?
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 3 sport athlete with some success and recognition, NHS, a few clubs, Vice President of a club
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: NHS member, Vice President of a Volunteer club, a few other things
Summer Activities: Attended Girl’s State
Rate out of 10
Essays: 9/10 ?? It feels awkward to rank my own essay but I was pretty proud
Teacher Recommendation: 10/10 for all of them
Counselor Rec: Didn’t read it, assuming it was good?
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A, requested for Tufts and Colby and never heard back
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: English
State (if domestic applicant): ME
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: public & tiny
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Just over 100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Not really
Notes:
Reflection
Strengths: GPA, class rank, essays
Weaknesses: SAT, extracurriculars ?
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Weeell I know my stats were a bit on the lower side for these schools but I am slightly bummed, especially about BC. But in the end it doesn’t matter, because despite Brandeis being an amazing school, I’ve decided to attend my super cheap state school. I have a full year of college done already going in thanks to APs and college classes, I’ll graduate a year early, and it’ll cost 0 tuition. And I want to go to grad school anyways, so it’ll be good.
Accepted: UTampa, UMass Amherst, Ithaca College ( All Honors College & Merit), Manhattan (Pres. Scholarship), UPitt, Northeastern (N.U. in Program), Fordham (Merit)
Waitlisted: Boston University
Guaranteed Transfer: Cornell University
Denied: Boston College
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2090, 640 M, 720 R, 730 W
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 14%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Psych (5), US History (4), taking Lit and Gov now (can’t take many AP’s at school because of block scheduling)
Senior Year Course Load: 3 AP courses, One Honors, Mostly requirements
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended Scholar
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Kickboxing, Italian Honor Society (President), National Honor Society (Special Events Coordinator), English Honor Society, Varsity Debate Team (Captain)
Job/Work Experience: Waitress since soph year of HS
Volunteer/Community service: Major fundraiser for Autism Speaks
Summer Activities: N/A
Rate out of 10
Essays: Didn’t like mine that much I would say 7.5-8/10
Teacher Recommendation: Assuming at least 9/10
Counselor Rec: Didn’t read, probably 8/10
Additional Rec: Debate Advisor, assuming 9.5/10
Interview: Cornell Alumni Ambassadors Meeting
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Undeclared
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Small, Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Don’t want to say hahaha
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A?
Notes:
-Alum Meeting went 2.5 hours and I believe helped me greatly.
Reflection
Strengths: SAT, Extracurriculars?
Weaknesses: GPA, Course Load
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My courses were not challenging enough and I applied to schools with a great amount of applicants. I would say that having a strong GPA, even if it is just strong weighted, impacts just as greatly as the SAT scores and even if you don’t do extremely well in Honors and AP’s, colleges do see that you’re applying yourself.
Accepted: Bates College (matriculating), Trinity University, Texas A&M University, Washington College
Waitlisted: Kenyon College, Connecticut College
Rejected: Colby College, Grinnell College, Macalester College, Middlebury College, Swarthmore College, Vassar College
Objective
SAT I: 730 CR 660 M 550 W (Comp: 1940)
SAT II: Chemistry (620), Literature (630), US History (570)
ACT: Didn’t take – really should have taken.
Unweighted GPA: 3.32
Weighted GPA: 3.96
Rank/percentile: 23/100
AP (score in parenthesis): AP World History (3), AP European History (3), APUSH (3), AP English Language (3), AP Chemistry (2)
Senior Year Course Load (DC= Dual Credit): DC Bio, DC Forms of Literature II, DC U.S. Government, DC Sociology, DC Trigonometry, DC Composition II, DC Texas Government, DC Philosophy, DC Art Appreciation.
Major Awards: History Fair 2nd Place, GTAME Regional Algebra II 2nd Place, GTAME Regional Bridge Building 1st Place, HUDL Varsity CX Debate 2nd Place (so basically nothing much)
Subjective
Extracurriculars:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Intended Major: Political Science
State (if domestic applicant): Texas
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: Competitive Public Charter
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
First-Gen? Yes
Hooks: 1st Gen Asian Male, Low-Middle Class, ADHD, LGBTQIA+
Reflections
Strengths: Hooks, Essay, ECs, Interview, SAT (maybe), Interest
Weaknesses: GPA and SAT Writing killed me, didn’t take ACTs and SAT IIs were mediocre, had very little awards.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Attended the fly-in for Bates, did interview, and SHOWED INTEREST by talking to the admissions officer of my area to the point that she knew my first name and remembered my strengths. My best interviews were with Bates and Trinity, which got me accepted, especially when I talked about my debating, however mediocre it is. My stats were good enough to get acceptances from Washington and A&M alone, but my stats were too low for Swat, despite attending fly-in and doing interview. The rest of the schools were a classic case of “I did interviews, but didn’t show enough interest or uniqueness to make the grade against 500 students of similar or higher stats.”
General Comments: The college application process was a huge slap in the face and reality-check for me, and a good life lesson to have when I apply to grad school. I was honestly really arrogant during the entire process, and I applied to a bunch of reach schools that I thought I was a match for – it’s an honest MIRACLE that Bates accepted me. I regret my GPA immensely, and I also regret that I didn’t improve my test scores at all. I spent way too much time goofing off and comparing myself to my best friends with higher ranks which really didn’t help my arrogance/insecurity at all, and family problems killed most of my focus during junior year. Also, college apps are a major crapshoot - make sure you have a wide variety of places to throw the die in. D
What would you do if you could do it over again: Considering that the end of my application process was more of a miraculous acceptance than anything, I’m not really happy about how little effort I put into the process to make it less of a crapshoot (even if I would have chosen Bates in the end), so there’s a lot I would have done.
I finally get to post here! Yay! I’ve been stalking this thread for months and I’ve been looking forward to sharing my results.
Attending: Most likely Simmons (haven’t officially committed yet)
Accepted: Lesley University ($10k/yr Presidential), Ithaca College ($17k/yr), Simmons College ($19k/yr Presidential), Pace University NYC ($25k/yr Presidential)
Waitlisted: Sarah Lawrence College
Denied: Northeastern University, New York University
Objective:
Homeschooled Student (through a college prep correspondence school)
SAT I (breakdown): 1930 (640 CR 620 M 670 W 8 E)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School ranks out of 100 - 89/100
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top Quarter
AP (place score in parenthesis): Not available through the school in which I’m enrolled
Senior Year Course Load: British Literature, French 2, Social Civics, Algebra 2 & Trigonometry, Chemistry, Chemistry Lab
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Started a website for a popular music festival (Warped Tour) which got a lot of attention, even from bands and companies and the tour itself. Written some articles and done a lot of research on gerbils, rabbits, and hamsters. I’ve rescued multiple pets first-hand, which one of my recs mentioned in her letter. I’ve been to dozens of concerts, I enjoy mountain biking, amateur photographer, and I’m involved in the LGBT community.
Job/Work Experience: ~3500 paid work hours (babysitting in the beginning of HS, McDonald’s in grades 11-12)
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Rate out of 10
Essays: 7-8/10
Teacher Recommendation: Written by my dad, 10/10
Counselor Rec: Didn’t read, probably 7-8/10
Additional Rec: Family friend who has been helping a LOT with college admissions, she’s a published author and a professor at SLC, Harvard alumn, very personal rec letter 10/10
Interview: Interviewed at Lesley University with the dean of admissions and she practically offered me admission on the spot
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Depended on the school, applied to either psychology, biology, or behavioral neuroscience at each
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private college prep correspondence school (completed at home)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 120k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
Notes:
Since I’m a homeschooler, I created small binders containing an overview of my courses and how each grad requirement was filled (and some other official document type stuff) then mailed them out to the schools
Reflection
Strengths: Probably my essays and recs, and my SAT in some ways, and my work experience
Weaknesses: GPA, SAT in other ways, definitely ECs
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was accepted where I was accepted because of my SAT scores and my strong essays. I also believe that being homeschooled helped me stand out a bit. I was a bit shocked to be waitlisted at SLC but I believe it’s because of my weak ECs. I was rejected from NEU for my test scores and GPA, and while that also contributed to my rejection from NYU, I think that was more due to my lack of ECs.
Overall I am very happy with the way things turned out. I had my schools ranked spot-on (NYU and NEU reach, SLC low reach, IC and Simmons target, Pace and Lesley safety). I wanted to go to either NEU, Simmons, or Ithaca and I have two of those three options. If I went back in time, I wouldn’t change much except I probably wouldn’t have applied to NYU or SLC. I knew I couldn’t afford those schools even if I got in, and it was really a waste of time. I didn’t care much for either of them to begin with.