Can more graduated seniors do "actual results" threads?

[msdaae]

Accepted: George Washington University, UMass Amherst, New York University, Northeastern University, Temple University
Waitlisted: Kenyon College, Boston University
Rejected: None

Objective
SAT I: 680 CR, 650 Math, 690 Writing, 2020 Composite

SAT II: Literature (640), Math I (680); didn’t report.
ACT: Didn’t take

Unweighted GPA: 3.6

Weighted GPA: 3.81

Rank/percentile: Didn’t access my rank, but I think I’m in the top 10%

AP (score in parenthesis): Language and Composition (5)

Senior Year Course Load: Band/Chorus, Honors Calculus, AP English 5, Introduction to Human Rights, Music Tech, AP Physics (got a B-, that was a mistake), tutored one block in my school’s peer-run Writing Center

Major Awards: I got an award where the headmaster chooses one person from each sending town and all the schools in the state do it, Outstanding Achievement in Latin 5 and English 3 (both junior year)

Subjective
Extracurriculars:

• Tri-M Music Honor Society, 3 Years (President, 1 year)
• Latin Honor Society, 3 Years (Co-President, 1 year)
• National Honor Society, 1 Year
• Gay/Straight Alliance, 2 Years (Secretary, 1 year)
• A Capella Group, 1 Year (Section Leader, 1 year)
• Band, 4 Years (Section Leader, 2 years; Rehearsal Manager, 1 year)
• Chorus, 4 Years (Secretary, 1 Year)
• Piano Lessons, 8 Years
• Writing Tutor, 1 Year

Volunteer/Community service:

• I volunteer, but I didn’t put any on my applications

Summer Activities:

• Nothing
  Rate out of 10:
  Essay: 9? I didn’t like it but those who read it did.
  Teacher Recommendations: Both very good, in the 9~10 range. One by AP English 3 teacher, other by Modern US History teacher
  Counselor Rec: Didn’t read, probably a 7/10
  Supplemental Recommendations: None
  Interview: Only had an interview with an alumnus for Kenyon. It went very well, she said she’d highly recommend me to the admissions team and that I’d be a good fit there, but I guess it wasn’t enough.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Intended Major: English
State (if domestic applicant): Connecticut
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
First-Gen? No
Hooks: None?

Reflections
Strengths: I think my essay showed my character, my ECs are pretty good. While my grades aren’t fantastic, I have a very good track record in English classes.

Weaknesses: The fact that I’ve never gotten an A in a science class didn’t help (and my first A in math was, surprisingly, Honors Calculus), I only started taking more rigorous courses my junior year, I wish I had done better on SATIIs so I could report them, I wrote all my supplements in one night so they were not good (shocked I got into NYU because my supplement was like “Eh. The city’s cool.”). Lack of diversity in ECs, only got involved in the second half of high school.

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think that my application gave a good sense of who I am overall (especially helped for NYU, I think), I’ve had a decent amount of leadership positions (which I think helped for Northeastern). For waitlists, Kenyon was a low reach, so that’s not entirely surprising. For BU, I showed no demonstrated interest, my supplement was awful, and it looked like I was applying just because my sister went there (which isn’t an unfair assumption).

General Comments: I’m disappointed about Kenyon’s waitlist. It was my definite-top-choice before I heard from anywhere, but I’m starting to second-guess that (you want the schools that want you). I dread choosing between probably NYU and Kenyon if I get off the waitlist, because they’re so different that I have no idea which one I’d be happier at. My decision is much more difficult than my sisters’ (whose top choices also offered them scholarships, so duh), but I’m really happy about where I got in (and shocked: NYU was supposed to be my “Why not?” reach school)

What would you do if you could do it over again:

• I would have applied to safeties that I love. UMass and Temple were my safeties, and I didn’t really like either of them. If I had hugely overestimated myself and got denied/given no aid everywhere else, I would be heartbroken. So, finding safeties I would have been happy at if I had to go.
• Applied to an actual total “Why not?” reach school. NYU was supposed to be mine, but I got in. I know that this is the best thing to have to complain about, but I wish I had gotten rejected somewhere so I could know where my ceiling was, college-wise.
• Branched out club-wise. Most of my stuff is music-related. I did Debate Club freshman year, but then there was a schedule conflict and I had to stop (so it’s not on my application). I wish I had done Model UN. Just, more variety in my ECs.
• Tried harder. Especially in science courses. My freshman and sophomore grades are all not very good. I know colleges like to see improvement, but I don’t think it helped that I was obviously a slacker those first two years.
• Written better supplements. The only one this actually hurt me on was BU, and if I had gotten in, I’d still choose NYU, GWU, and maybe Northeastern over BU, so I guess it doesn’t really matter in the long run.
• I’d probably visit Kenyon to demonstrate interest, had an interview with an admissions officer there.
• But overall I’m very happy with these results. If I had gotten into Kenyon, it’d be just about perfect (but total hell as far as decisions go).

[carolinagirl811]

Objective
SAT I: (Did not send) 640 CR, 640 M, 650 W

ACT: 30 C, E 33, M 28, R 33, W 8

Unweighted GPA: Around a 3.9

Weighted GPA: 4.03

Rank/percentile: School Does Not Rank

AP (score in parenthesis): World History (3), Government and Politics (3), Literature (3), Biology (3), (Language and Composition (3)

Senior Year Course Load: AP Biology, AP Calculus (dropped), AP Language and Composition, Honors US History, Leadership, Debate, and Economics and Personal Finance

Awards:
-Athletic Award
-AP Scholar
-Scholar Athlete Award
Service Award
Varsity letters in Lacrosse
Key Club
Academics
Journalism
Interact Club
Journalism: Outstanding Scholastic Achievement Award and competition awards
Girls State: Various awards
We the People State Competition: 2nd place

Subjective

Extracurriculars:
-Cheerleading
-Track and Field
-Cross Country
-Club Lacrosse
-National Honor Society
-Leadership
-Debate Team
-Youth Group
-Church Choirs
-Co-editor and staff writer for school’s paper
-Junior Leadership
-We the People

Work Experience:

-Nannying and Babysitting
-Dog Sitting

Volunteer/Community service:
-Juniorettes
-Key Club secretary and president
-Interact Club secretary

Summer Activities:
-Youth Leadership Summit
-Girls State

Rate out of 10:
Essay: 9. I wrote about overcoming challenges with my health and moving often.
Teacher Recommendations: I didn’t read them.
Counselor Rec: I didn’t read them, but had letter from both of my high schools sent
Supplemental Recommendations: None
Interview: I had an interview with Sewanee, Vanderbilt, and Grinnell. I think they both went alright.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Intended Major: Biology/Molecular Biology
State (if domestic applicant): Virginia
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
First-Gen? No
Hooks: Alumni connection to UNC Chapel Hill

Reflections
Strengths: I think my essays were pretty good. I also think that two of my interviews went pretty well and I’m involved in a lot of extracurriculars.

Weaknesses: Attending two high schools was hard because I’m not sure all of the schools I applied to received both school’s profiles. One was very hard and one was not as hard. I think my course load wasn’t as rigorous as it could have been. I also got very sick at the end of senior year and chose to drop Calculus and did not do as well as I would have liked to in Biology (B-). I sent letters to all of my schools, but I don’t know if all of them got them. I think I might have gotten into some of the schools I was waitlisted and rejected from because I got into three of my four schools in EA rounds prior to getting sick.

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think my supplement for Colorado College was strong. The University of Wyoming, University of Denver, and Sewanee were more or less my safeties, although I would have been blessed and excited to go to any of those schools. Unfortunately, due to my health, I didn’t go. I think I was waitlisted at Grinnell because it’s very competitive, but there, Tulane, and GWU, seemed like fits for me, so I thnk my health concerns may have had something to do with that. I think I got offered guaranteed sophomore admission instead of Admission to Chapel Hill because of my out of state status. I’m disappointed that I wasn’t at least waitlisted at William and Mary, but it’s competitive in-state too. Vanderbilt was 100% a low reach, so I completely understand not getting in there!

General Comments: My admissions process was beyond rocky because of my moves, sicknesses, etc. I feel blessed to have gotten into four schools at all.

What would you do if you could do it over again:
-I would have taken a more rigorous course load in high school
-I would have applied to more schools closer to home or in state

[duratec]

Accepted: William and Mary
Waitlisted: Stevens Institute of Technology, Michigan
Denied: UVa, Georgetown, UC Berkeley, Rensselaer, UNC

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1950 (Superscore) CR: 670, M: 610, W: 670

ACT (breakdown): C: 31, E: 36, M: 26, R: 32, S: 31, W: 26

SAT II: None

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9

Weighted GPA: 4.0

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 32/462

AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (4), AP English Language and Composition (4)

Senior Year Course Load: Some classes required to graduate (financial management, economics), 3 APs, and Dual Enrollment English

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): FBLA - 2nd in state for my category

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): FBLA 11-12 (Secretary, 12), Rho Kappa Honor Society 12 (Secretary, 12), Rec League Basketball 10-12, Church Youth Group 10, Bowling Team 10

Job/Work Experience: Worked at local nonprofit as finance intern (worked with sensitive payroll info, did clerical duties, etc.)

Volunteer/Community service: Junior Achievement Bowl-a-Thon (raised money for donation, participated in event), American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure (raised money for donation, participated in event)

Summer Activities: Work, other than that nothing

Rate out of 10
Essays: 8/10 I’m not really sure. I think it was well written but I think I suffered from being too generic

Teacher Recommendation: 8/10 One from my comp sci teacher and another from social studies teacher that likes me and had for 2 years

Counselor Rec: 6/10? I didn’t read it and I didn’t really know my counselor that well

Additional Rec: N/A

Interview: 9/10 (for Georgetown) - went pretty well as interviewer and I had similar interests/lived in same area in the past

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes (cuz why not?)

Intended Major: Computer Science

State (if domestic applicant): VA

Country (if international applicant): N/A

School Type: Public magnet

Ethnicity: White

Gender: Male

Income Bracket: $400k+

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope

Reflection
Strengths: GPA, interview, ACT scores (I guess??)

Weaknesses: SAT definitely, essays, not enough ECs

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I honestly have no clue. I still don’t understand what these admissions officers look for. I really liked the optional essay I wrote for William and Mary, which I think helped my chances there. However, my favorite essays were the ones I wrote for UVa and I got rejected there, despite being in-state as well. Despite all my rejections, I understood going into this that my choices were quite ambitious and I knew that it wouldn’t be easy.

General Comments: Well, this has been quite a process. If I learned anything from any of this, I should’ve asked for more help from others and not procrastinated. I really did everything very last minute and I think that showed on some of my essays. In retrospect, my essays were pretty generic. I tried to write about my passion for cars and being a car enthusiast, however I wish I did more ECs to reflect this. However, I’m extremely happy to get into W&M and I’m really excited to be attending this fall :)>- (assuming I don’t get accepted off the waitlist at Michigan).

What would you do if you could do it over again:
-Take more rigorous courses freshman and sophomore year
-I should’ve applied to more safety schools/more realistic options
-Participate in more ECs
-NOT PROCRASTINATE
-Spend more time on my essays/maybe even hire an essay coach
-Ask for more help from others

[YaBoyTony]

Accepted: UMich, USC
Waitlisted: UNC, Emory
Denied: Penn, Cornell, Notre Dame, Georgetown, UVA, Northwestern

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2170 (760CR, 680M, 730W)
SAT II: 700 US History, 650 Lit, 610 Math 1 (lol)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Unprovided but 20%ish
AP (place score in parenthesis): 4 USH, 4 Lang (3 more taken in senior year)
Senior Year Course Load: Three AP classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NHD winner

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Played multiple sports throughout high school, wrote/managed some small websites, wrote for a sports website and had 100 articles and 200k views
Job/Work Experience: Summer job w/family, tutoring
Volunteer/Community service: 200 hours, some charity races, some local elementary school helpering
Summer Activities: Worked a couple summers, chillin’

Rate out of 10
Essays: Common App essay sent to Mich, USC, and UNC was gr8 (gee, wonder why I did well at those schools.) Unfortunately I sent a much worse one to all other schools. (9/10 vs. 7/10?)
Supplementals: Varied. I wrote a brilliant one for Michigan and another solid one–makes sense why I got in there. My Cornell one was trash.
Teacher Recommendation: I liked and think highly of the teachers I had rec me, as they do me, but they don’t know me a ton other than as a smart kid so might have been generic and nothing new for colleges.
Counselor Rec: Again, don’t know her the best. Definitely a positive rec, but I think generic.
Additional Rec: None
Interview: @ Georgetown, Northwestern, & Penn. Penn one was rushed; he seemed like he had no time for it, but it was generally positive. Georgetown and Northwestern both went as well as possible, and both told me they’d recommend me at the highest level they could. Guess it didn’t pull weight.

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Poli Sci, but who knows?
State (if domestic applicant): Northeast
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 60k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First-gen

Notes:

• It seems many things affect college apps. Essays are DEFINITELY important–I had a marked difference between the schools that got the best version of my common app essay and those that didn’t.
• Georgetown accepted the only other person from my school who applied, and I suspect that hurt my chances.
• I should have ED’d! I feel as if I could have gotten into somewhere like Penn ED (not WOULD, but COULD have) but applying RD really put me up against the world.

Reflection
Strengths: ECs, sometimes essays
Weaknesses: Course rigor/rank, somewhat GPA, RD, SAT IIs
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: In retrospect, I think it’s easier to see why I WAS accepted than why I wasn’t. At Michigan, they recalculate GPA, which gave me a 3.9 using their system. They’re known as a very left-wing campus–as am I a left-wing person–and one of my essays had a little bit of left-wing undertones (though I only realized this when re-reading it rather than as I was writing.) And then other things, such as the fact that I write for a football website and they’ve got the best football team of all prestigious academic schools. And at USC, I wrote essays about things that related to California and LA without even trying to. One was about Tupac, one was about the atmosphere of LA, and another was about a team in LA–I actually wrote about the same topics for UVA (minus the LA one), but I got rejected.
So, if you’re a bubble applicant, it seems you need a lot of reasons that a school WOULD select you. That, or apply ED, which I would love to have done in retrospect… but I’ll be going to Michigan, which I’m completely fine with and actually thrilled about!

[anzhilin]

Accepted: Emory University, University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, New York University
Waitlisted: Washington University
Denied: University of North Carolina

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2230, 760 M, 730 R, 740 W
ACT (breakdown): 33 (Didn’t report)
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 13/720 (Top 2%)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Lit 5, Lang 4, World History 4, Stat 4, Bio 4, Art History 3
Senior Year Course Load: IB Contemporary History, AP Calc AB, IB English V, IB French 5, IB Biology 3, Newspaper, IB History of the Americas
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Jefferson’s Award

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): NHS, History Competition Club (Won 2 county competitions and 1 state award), Art Class (Won 1 county award), Youth Group (Worship Leader and Sunday School Teacher), Newspaper (Content Manager), Orlando Chinese Professional Association (Youth Officer), Beta Chi
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: NHS, 500+ Community hours for IB, Started art classes for children, 2 China’s missions trips
Summer Activities: China’s missions trip (taught English and raised money to support children)

Rate out of 10
Essays: 9/10 I honestly liked my common app essay
Teacher Recommendation: I have no idea probably 6/10 for all of them
Counselor Rec: Maybe a 7/10. She’s a good counselor and I trust her but I don’t know her well
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Business (Finance)
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: LARGE public school (>3,000) not that great
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Over 100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope

Notes:
-Most likely going to attend Emory University!

Reflection
Strengths: GPA, class rank, essays, SAT
Weaknesses: extracurriculars, recommendations
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I never submitted my SAT scores for WUSTL so I wasn’t expecting anything to begin with from that school. I honestly have no idea why UNC rejected me; I actually thought my best personal essay was to UNC-CH… weird… I think part of it may have to do with the fact that 1. I’m Asian and 2. There were many overqualified students applying to UNC from my school so paired against them, my stats were mediocre.

[jman457]

Accepted: Vassar(most likely attending), Trinity, NYU, BU, Binghamton, Purchase, Stony Brook, Ualbany, UVM, Fordham, Sarah Lawrence
Waitlisted:Grinnell
Denied: Brown, Wesleyan (ED II), Colby

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Superscore 1930 (650 CR 670 M 610 W) (did not send to most schools)
ACT (breakdown): 30 (29 E, 31 M, 27 R, 34 S/ 26 W & 8W) (Took both types of ACT writing)
SAT II: 560 Math 2, 650 Chem, 710 US History (Didn’t send)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 92.14/100 (W)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 14/72
AP (place score in parenthesis): Lang 3, US History 4, World History 4
Senior Year Course Load: AP Psych, AP Lit, Advanced Latin IV (basically the Caesar half of AP Latin), Econ/Latin American Studies, AP Calc, AP Bio.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, High Honor Roll, 100 on Chemistry and US history Regents (only one in the Grade), NHS

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Soccer (Head Benchwarmer), Boy Scouts(SPL, Eagle Scout), Drama Club (PR team), Latin Club officer, Ski Club (VP), School Newspaper, Yearbook.
Job/Work Experience: Yeah I should Probably get on this…
Volunteer/Community service: VOSCA (our towns version of Habitat for Humanity), Local Food Pantry, and some minor NHS stuff
Summer Activities:

Rate out of 10
Essays: Very Good, one of the best things I have ever written (albert Im not the best Writer), But the Sarah Lawrence admissions officers said that My Essay was very strong according to the reader cards they sent out.
Teacher Recommendation: No Clue
Counselor Rec: see above
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Im not the best public speaker, Interviewed at Wesleyan, and Brown.

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Urban Studies
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: public & tiny
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M
Income Bracket: Just over 100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Gender experimenter

Notes:
-Hardly focused on my Supplements

• Don’t let the Boy scouts fool you I am actually very Liberal, as well as most of our troop.

Reflection
Strengths: Extracurriculars, Test scores, essays, upward trend.
Weaknesses: SAT, extracurriculars ?
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: WOW! I am still shocked I got into Vassar (even though the acceptance rate for males is nearly double than that of females), mostly because of the Colby and wesleyan rejections whose class stats are lower than Vassar’s. I was all prepared to go to Sarah Lawrence, but now I am thrilled to be part of Vassar class of 2020! Seriously spend TIME on your Essays, to make you seem three dimensional. Seriously I failed my 10th Grade regular English Final, but I had a drive starting in 11th grade to do the best I could in school/tests to get into a good school, And it paid off!

[hssenior27]

Results:
Ohio state: accepted into honors
Loyola Maryland: accepted into honors w/ 26,000 per year
University of Maryland College park: accepted
Providence: accepted into liberal arts honors w/ merit
Boston College: Accepted w/ honors
Boston University: accepted w/ 20,000 per year
Ithaca college: accepted into 5 year OT Masters w/ 34,000 per year
Northeastern: accepted w/ 13,000 per year
University of San Diego: accepted into honors w/ 32,000 per year
American university: accepted but waitlisted for honors merit aid still pending
Georgetown: accepted

Decision: Likely down to USD or Georgetown but If I can get honors at American I would go there.

Objective:
SAT 1 (breakdown): one sitting 2030 (700 CR, 680 W, 650 M) superscored 2130 (740 CR, 700 W, 690 M)
SAT 2: 730 biology M, 730 Chem, 780 spanish w/ listening 760 latin
ACT: 33
Unweighted GPA: 3.6/4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.2/4.5
Rank: unknown probably top 15%
Senior Year Schedule:
Honors Calc
AP Micro and Macro Economics
AP Literature and Composition
AP Chemistry
Theo IV
AP Spanish
Video Design I
Major Awards: Perfect score on NLE x2

Subjective:
Extracurriculars:
-Varsity Indoor Track ( 4 seasons as a varsity runner captain senior year)

• Varsity Outdoor Track ( 4 seasons as a varsity runner captain senior year)
• Varsity Soccer (2 years freshman and sophomore years)
• Varsity Cross Country (2 years as a varsity runner and captain senior year)
• NHS member
• SADD member ( Students against destructive decisions 4 years)
• Club soccer (every year since 6th grade captain for multiple seasons)
• I work during the year at a target
• Camp Counselor during the summer
• Cofounder of a non-profit that helps foster kids become successful when they age out of the system
  -Volunteer Hours: 400+
  -Recommendations: Pretty good except counselor rec probably wasn’t great since I didn’t know him too well.
  -Essays: Good
  -Interview: Georgetown started out rough turned out great

Other:
-Major: Biochemistry/ neuroscience where it is offered
-Hispanic Male
-Private catholic school
-MA
-Did not apply for financial aid

• Big time legacy at BC of the 13 people on both sides of my family who went to college 11 of them did undergrad at BC

Reflection:
Strength: SAT IIs, essays, ACT was pretty good, nonprofit
Weaknesses: GPA SAT could’ve been higher, class rank was not great, ECs weren’t outstanding

Regrets:
Not applying to more reach schools. I was honestly afraid to be rejected, but URM with decent grades and pretty good test scores means I probably could’ve reached more. If I could do it over again I probably would’ve removed UMD, providence, Loyola, Ohio state, and BU from my list and instead applied to UCLA, WashU, Emory, UCB, and Duke.

I am surprised I got into Georgetown I thought my GPA was too low for them and my solid but average test scores wouldn’t help make up for my lower grades. Very happy with my results though as I have many good options to choose from.

[thetsaria]

Attending: Columbia (leaning) or University of Pennsylvania
Accepted: Columbia, UPenn, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, NYU, UCs (Berkeley, LA, SD, Davis, SB), UVa in Canada: UofT, McGill, UBC, Queen’s
Rejected: Harvard (deferred EA then rejected), Yale, Yale-NUS, Princeton, Stanford, Cornell, Rice, USC
Waitlisted: Brown

Objective
SAT 1: 2080 SAT composite (didn’t send unless required)
SAT 2: 770 Eng Lit, 800 French, 640 Chem (didn’t send last one unless required)
ACT: 33 C
UW GPA: 4.0 (I’m at an Ontario high school with 95/100 UW grades… Different grading system than US so my counselor told me schools add on 10-15%. Was therefore told my grades correspond to 4.0 USA GPA)
W GPA: n/a (school doesn’t offer AP classes)
APs: 5 (French – self study)
Rank: Valedictorian
Senior Year Load: Intensive Chemistry for First-Years; Intensive Calculus and Logic for First-Years (both at the University of Toronto); Grade 12 English; Grade 12 Physics

Subjective

Major ECs: Research assistant at one of the top chem research labs in Canada + rec from head prof (2 years); Singing, acting (all 4 years); working in hospital over summer in Nepal following earthquake on full grant; classes + volunteering in Israel during Israeli-Gazan conflict; black belt in tae-kwon-do
Essays: 8-9/10 on all, some of my best writing. Various essays about unique and painful circumstances growing up, living in a warzone, working in a hospital after a major natural disaster

Other
Intended major: Astrophysics; Biophysics
Indicated career interest: Scientist or Physician
Ethnicity: Biracial Native American + Caucasian
Gender: Female
Income bracket: Low (applied with financial aid – have gotten significant financial aid from most schools)
Hooks: semi-URM, female in STEM, low income (but not 1st gen)

Reflection
Strengths – I think I have a very unique story. Unique ECs
Weaknesses – Test scores

I’m extremely happy with the schools that accepted me. At the beginning of this applications process I was conflicted between trying for the big shots or doing ED to boost my chances somewhere. I knew that if I tried ED I would always regret not trying for HYPS. Regardless, I was still accepted to Columbia, the school I was thinking about EDing at, so super excited. No regrets. Can’t wait for NYC!

[Prestonhorowitz]

Same. I would also like people to follow up if they got in or not…

[CS_Wiz]

Accepted: Harvard University, Yale University, Cornell University, University of Illinois UC, UI Chicago, Washington University.
Rejected: Stanford University
Attending: Harvard University
Intended Major: Computer Science

School Type: Moderately Competitive Public School
Location: Illinois
Race/Gender: Egyptian-American (born in Egypt) Male
SAT: 2390
ACT: 36
GPA: 4.0 UW/4.44 W
Rank: 1/270
21 Honors/AP Classes Total
11 AP Classes, 10 5s, 1 4, (Self Studied 2 APs)

EC’s
Varsity Track and Field
Varsity Cross Country
Started Ping Pong Team (State Champions)
Future Business Leaders of America President
400 volunteering hours for worthy causes
Math Team, Science Team, Physics Team
Held summer jobs
Tutor for middle school
Summer Dual Credit Courses
Google Computer Science institute after senior year
Started non-profit to teach kids coding basics, now it has grown into a regional organization with many volunteers
Helped start a bitcoin mine in Egypt, all proceeds go to fund young Egyptian scholars’ educations.
Gave philosophy lectures at local library (commended speaker)

Awards
State Science Symposium 1st Place Distinction for Computer Science Research
National Merit Finalist
AP Scholar
All-State Cross Country and Track
City Council Volunteer of the Year

Essays/Recommendations
Essays were terrific. Mostly about my journey from a poor family in Egypt to America and how I adapted
Recommendations were fantastic. From a college professor (where I took classes) who commended me on my research in the field of computer science

Can anyone give me any advice as to why I was not accepted to Stanford?

[RenaissanceMom]

@“CS Wiz” for computer science, Stanford was the most competitive school you applied to. Without a doubt, in that applicant pool you were competing with the most accomplished comp sci applicants. Based on your profile, you were probably one of them but Lady Luck didn’t favor you at Stanford.

[AddyB123]

Attending: Cornell University
Accepted: Cornell University, Case Western Reserve, Howard, Lafayette, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, and Smith
Wait-listed: none
Rejected: Brown

Objective:

• [] SAT I (breakdown): 2110, didn’t send
  [] ACT (breakdown): 32, 35 E, 35 R, 32 S, 27 M, 36 W
  [] SAT II: 730 french, didn’t send
  [] Unweighted GPA: we don’t use those lol
  [] Weighted GPA: 4.10
  [] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
  [] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s on French and APUSH, 4 on English lit
  [] IB (place score in parenthesis): NA
  [] Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP Calc AB, Honors French Lit, honors gov, honors English, physics
  [] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): not really, just Grand Concours awards

Subjective:

• [] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): investment club president, model un, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse
  [] Job/Work Experience: camp counselor
  [] Volunteer/Community service: summer of service
  [] Summer Activities: LEAD business program
  [] Essays: common app was good maybe 8/10; I loved most of my supplements! 10/10, my Brown was ehhhh
  [] Teacher Recommendation: I didn’t read them but great 8-9/10
  [] Counselor Rec: same as above
  [] Additional Rec:
  [] Interview: I only had interviews/interview-esque things for Wellesley, Smith, Brown, and Cornell. They all went well!
  [] Supplementary Material (portfolio, etc.): NA

Other

• [] Applied for Financial Aid?: yup
  [] State (if domestic applicant): OH
  [] Country (if international applicant):
  [] School Type: private college prep
  [] Ethnicity: black
  [] Gender: female
  [] Income Bracket: >$100,000
  [] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

[ul]
[] Strengths: good essays, good school
[] Weaknesses: test scores and gpa ehh
[li] Attending: Cornell![/li][/ul]

**General Comments: ** GO BIG RED!

[ZBlue17]

@AddyB123 what was you UW gpa? If you don’t mind me asking!

[elliegez123]

@ZBlue17 Did you not read? He/She said “we don’t use (unweighted gpa’s)”. lol

[DangerDan96]

Accepted: Boston University (Will Attend; Kilachand Honors College), NYU, Brandeis University, University of San Diego, Reeds College, UT Austin Honors College (Top 7% Auto-Admit), Worcester Polytechnic Institute, RPI, Fordham University, University of the Pacific, Allegheny College (Safety)
Waitlisted: N/A
Rejected: N/A

Objective
SAT I: N/A
ACT: 33 Composite Score (35 Writing, 35 Reading, 36 Science, 27 Math, 9 Essay)
SAT II: Molecular Biology (800), World History (800), Chemistry (770), English Literature (720), Math I (710)
Numerical GPA (Out of 100): 91.72
Weighted GPA (My school has a very convoluted weighting policy): 13.90/?
Rank: 10/444
Percentile: ~2.5%
AP Scores: AP English Literature (4), AP English Language (4), AP World History (4), AP Biology (4)
Current Senior Courses: AP Chemistry, AP Psychology, AP Spanish Language and Culture, AP Government and Politics, Tutor (AP Literature), Economics, Professional Communications, Calculus I
Awards/ Recognition: AP Scholar with Honors, Presidential Volunteer Award (Silver; 180-250 hours in 12 months), Grand Prize at Lakes High School STEM Competition (1st Place Biology/Chemistry: In-Vitro Efficacy of Small-Molecular Targeted Therapy for Colorectal Cancer (BRAF)), 2nd Place at Puget Sound STEM Competition (Biomedical Sciences), Recognition from the Society of In-Vitro Biology (2015), Distinguished Scholar by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)

Extracurriculars: Key Club of Lakes High School, Heart-2-Heart of Shoemaker High School, Science National Honor Society, Debate Team of Lakes High School
Volunteer Service: Patient Care/ Bereavement Counseling at New Century Hospice (Killeen/ Copperas Cove), American Red Cross of Madigan Army Medical Center (Oncology/ Hematology), Science National Honor Society (STEM Fairs)
Job/ Work Experience: N/A
Summer Activities: Research at Madigan Army Medical Center (Hematology/ Oncology; 2015), Volunteer Service at New Century Hospice

Prospective Major: Chemistry w/ Biochemistry focus (With a Minor in Political Science/ Public Health)
State (Legal Domicile): Texas
Country: United States
School Type: Large Public (Tier VI-A)
Race: Mixed (White/ Native Hispanic)
Income: ~$35,000 (One-Parent Income; Active-Duty Army)
Hooks (URM, First Generation, etc.): First Generation to College, Under-represented Region, URM (?)

Subjective
Essays (1-10; Details):

• Common Application Essay: 10 (Discussed the implications of societal notions and stereotypes regarding education amongst lower-income students)
• Common Application Supplemental Info: 10 (Expressed how my mother’s death in October of 2014 altered my perception of life and the purpose of self-actualization)
  (For Boston University, since I’m committed to BU)
• Boston University Essay: 10 (Conveyed how the academic rigor and opportunities provided by BU foster the growth of the modern “Renaissance Man”)
• Boston University Honors College Essay: 8 (Discussed the implications of education for students of the lower socioeconomic strata; could have been longer)

Letters of Recommendation:
Teacher #1: 10 (Written by my AP Literature teacher)
Teacher #2: 10 (Written by my AP Biology teacher)
Teacher #3: 10 (Written by my AP Chemistry teacher)
Counselor: 6-8 (Do not have an established relationship with my counselor; very impersonal)
Interview: N/A

General Comments: All in all, everything worked out the way it should have

[NaijaBoy]

Ever since I first started snooping around CC, I couldn’t wait to be able to post in this thread and now hear it is! Hopefully this can help someone. Here it goes:

Attending: Columbia University
Accepted: UGA (Foundation Fellow), Georgia Tech(Presidential Scholarship Finalist,didn’t receive), Rice (Trustee Distinguished Scholarship and Rice-Baylor Finalist, didn’t interview), Harvey Mudd (Presidential Scholarship Finalist, didn’t interview and Harvey Mudd Merit Award), USC(Presidential Scholarship), Northwestern (HPME Finalist,didn’t interview), Duke, WashU (Langsdorf Scholarship), Johns Hopkins(BME admit), Harvard, Yale(Likely), Penn(Rachleff Scholar), Brown(Likely), Columbia(Likely, Egleston Scholar), MIT, and Stanford
Wait-listed: None
Rejected: UC Berkeley

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2230, 740 CR, 780 M, 710 W
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II: 710 Chem, 780 Math II, 790 US. History
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.672
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2 out of 559
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s on Calc BC, Stats, Lang, HumanGeo, Physics C: Mechanics, EnvSci, APUSH, and Psychology, 4 on World History, 3 on Chem
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: -AP Biology
-Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calculus through Distance Learning with Georgia Tech
-AP English Lit
-AP Computer Science AB
-AP Micro
-AP Government
-AP Spanish
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None really, just NMF, and some state and school level awards

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Designed my own psychological study and carried it out with the help of a Georgia Tech graduate student, Youth Worker at my church, Math Team Captain, Beta Club Vice President, Spanish, Science, National, and PreMed Honors Societies, Habitat for Humanity, Varsity Track and Travel Soccer
Job/Work Experience: Taco Bell Crew Member (20-25 hours a week)
Volunteer/Community service: Through my church and all of my clubs; substantial number of hours, but I never bothered to calculate it
Summer Activities: Working summer before senior year, AP Stats online summer before junior year
Essays: Rating essays is pretty pointless in my opinion, just wrote about how I tried to get an internship before my senior year and ended up getting rejected from all the programs and how it shaped me
Teacher Recommendation: I can’t say for sure I never saw them, but I had pretty personal relationships with all of my teachers
Counselor Rec: Same as above
Additional Rec: From my research mentor
Interview: All mine went well! Just tried to be as genuine and honest as possible (my Yale interview made me nervous afterwards because I had just gotten food poisoning and I had to keep excusing myself to the bathroom, but he was super understanding)
Supplementary Material (portfolio, etc.): My research report for my psychological study
Other
Intended Major: Biomedial Engineering with a Spanish minor
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yep
State (if domestic applicant): Georgia
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Black (first-gen American from Nigerian parents)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Around 200k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Idk URM I guess?

Reflection
Strengths: I think my essays were really unconventional and honest which I think helped
Weaknesses: Test scores and lack of national recognition
Attending: COLUMBIA! ROAR LION ROAR!
General Comments: Definitely don’t apply to as many schools as I did. Keeping up with everything is super overwhelming. And, on another note, when I went to tour schools, I fell in love with MIT, but even after going back and forth with the financial aid office for weeks, I was basically going to be in a mountain of debt to go there. Most schools wouldn’t reconsider my aid with my appeal based on some personal things, but some schools (Harvard, Yale, Columbia) altered it significantly so I’ll still have some debt but a pretty manageable amount. When I began applying to schools, I never thought I’d get into Columbia let alone go there. So my advice is to stay open-minded, believe in yourself, and above prestige and all that other nonsense, find the environment where you’ll grow the most (but don’t break the bank, of course)! I know how stressful this process can be especially as I’m the first in my family to have to go through it so if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.

[annana]

I’ll do my sister’s
GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.3 W (.25 for honors and .5 for AP)
SAT: 720 reading, 750 writing, 800 math, 2330 total
ACT: didn’t send
SAT II
Bio-720
Chem-790
Math 2-800
AP
5: Physics C mech, physics C E/M, calc BC, chem, microeconomics, world history, human geo
4: English Lang, bio
Senior year course load: Spanish 4, AP govt(1 sem), AP lit, dual enrollment engineering principles, multivariables, organic chem
ECs: science Olympiad(team captain), veterans heritage project(founder/president), mu alpha theta, piano, volunteer @ animal shelter
Awards: national AP scholar, national merit scholar, qualified for AIME and ARML, selected for piano honors recital, a few minor math/science things
Work experience: summer job at subway
Didn’t see her recs and essays but she said they were decent
Accepted: northeastern, university of Rochester, Worcester polytechnic, university of Arizona, UMass Amherst, university of Oregon, Georgia tech
Attending: UA (we live in Arizona)

[shadyconcepts]

Accepted: UPenn (deferred ED --> accepted RD, attending), NYU, Rutgers (Honors College, merit aid)
Rejected: UChicago, Cornell, Columbia, Johns Hopkins
Waitlisted: WashU, Barnard

Objective:
ACT: N/A
SAT: 2370 (800 CR/770 M/800 W)
SAT II: 790 USH, 790 Lit, 700 Bio-E
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.7 (school doesn’t calculate)
Weighted GPA (out of 5.0): 4.24
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Lang (5), APUSH (5), AP Calc AB (4), still waiting on a bunch of scores
Senior Year Course Load:
AP Spanish, AP Environmental, AP Literature, AP Statistics, AP Economics, AP Psychology, Orchestra/Chorus
Major Awards: National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar, national speech/debate award, lots of creative writing awards (regional and national)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Editor-in-Chief of school literary magazine, principal violist in school regular and advanced orchestra (also admitted to regional/all-state orchestra), secretary for Forensics (speech/debate) club, Vice President/Co-Founder of volunteer chamber orchestra group

Job/Work Experience: Tutoring middle school and high school kids

Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer chamber orchestra (played music for nursing homes and other community places), music therapy in a hospital

Summer Activities:
-Johns Hopkins CTY for Chemistry
-Juniper Institute for Young Writers
-Music Therapy volunteering in a hospital
-Intern for New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

Essays:
Common App - not amazing or stellar, but I talked about my love of writing and how it gives me an identity/sets me apart from other people. Not my best work but certainly personal and unique to me.
Supplements - I really tried to be very specific and passionate, especially for my UPenn supplement (which was my ED school). The “Why School” supplements are annoying but crucial; I think they definitely played a part in my rejections/acceptances. Some supplements (like Cornell) were pretty bad, while my short supplements for Barnard were passionate and proofread over and over.

Other:
Intended Major: Undeclared for most
School Type: Public
Location: NJ
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: High (did not apply for financial aid)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None, but was recruited by KWH for Penn and had an alumni letter of recommendation, which definitely helped.

Reflection:
Here’s a special message out there for deferred/waitlisted applicants - don’t lose hope! I know the future looks bleak and your prospects look gloomy, but the RD round holds surprises you would never guess. I have average grades, no hooks (Asian female, woo!) and did not have too high expectations for myself. However, after I got deferred from Penn ED, I was dejected but did not give up. I wrote them two letters of interest, sent them my midyear grades, and even updated them in an email about recent accomplishments. I got accepted RD, committed, and didn’t look back. The whole college process can be scary and depressing, but I truly believe you will end up where you belong if you apply to schools you love and express your passion in your essays and overall application. Good luck! And go Quakers

[suburbanctguy]

Attending: Boston College
Accepted: Tufts University, University of Rochester, Lafayette College, Fordham University, Villanova University (Honors), Connecticut College, UCONN (Honors)
Wait-listed: Amherst, Lehigh
Rejected: Dartmouth, Georgetown

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t Take
ACT (breakdown): 34 C, 35 E, 33 M, 33 S, 34 R
SAT II: 770 Bio E, 780 Math II, 770 USH
Unweighted GPA: 96.5/100
Weighted GPA: 4.25/4
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 on APUSH, 4 on Calc AB
IB (place score in parenthesis): NA
Senior Year Course Load: AP Literature, AP Physics, AP Government, AP Spanish, Concert Band
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Yale Book Award, Silver Medal National Spanish Exam

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Math Team (Captain), Math Honor Society (President), Robotics Team, Students for Trump (President)
Job/Work Experience: Busboy
Volunteer/Community service: Hospital Lab Volunteering, Food Bank
Summer Activities: See Volunteer/Community Service
Essays: common app was pretty good and very me, supplemental were very good for BC and Tufts
Teacher Recommendation: I didn’t read them but I’m confident they were good
Counselor Rec: same as teacher
Additional Rec: Had to get peer rec for Dartmouth, I’m sure it was great but didn’t read
Interview: All went well, nothing extraordinary, although I thought Georgetown went really well.
Supplementary Material (portfolio, etc.): None

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
State (if domestic applicant): CT
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Catholic private
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Income Bracket: >$200000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection
Strengths: good grades and scores as well as essays
Weaknesses: extracurriculars were a little bland, no hooks
Attending: Boston College

General Comments: BC has been my dream school since I was a kid, so I’m thrilled!

[jarrett211]

Applied: University of Pennsylvania (ED), University of Chicago (EA), Northeastern University (EA), University of Massachusetts Amherst (EA & In-state), Boston University (RD)

Was planning on applying to any number of the following schools RD but never ended up doing so (not in any particular order):

Harvard, Tufts, Brown, Yale, NYU, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Georgetown, UVA, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, UMichigan, Northwestern, WashU, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Berkeley

Accepted: UChicago, Northeastern w/ $10,000 per year merit scholarship, UMass Amherst w/ admission to Commonwealth Honors College w/ $2,000 per year merit scholarship

Deferred: Penn (withdrew application after getting accepted to UChicago)

Withdrew: BU

Rejected: None

Attending: University of Chicago

Objective:

SAT I: 1500/1600 CR+M & 2220/2400 Superscore (720 CR, 780 Math, 720 Writing, 8 Essay) (3 Sittings)
2180/2400 Highest Single SAT (720 CR, 780 Math, 680 Writing, 8 Essay) (submitted all sittings for Penn because of their testing policy; 2 sittings for everyone else)

SAT II: 800 Math II, 740 World History, 730 Math 1 (only submitted for Penn), 720 Spanish

GPA: 3.81/4 UW & 4.65/5 W (3.82/4.62 at time of application submission)

GPA at my school starts in 10th grade & goes through the 1st semester of senior year; we don’t include freshman year grades. If it were calculated, my GPA would most likely be ~3.8/4.

ACP = Advanced - A = 4.5 weighted
Honors = Honors - A = 5.0 weighted
AP = AP - A = 5.0 weighted

All classes are at the ACP level unless listed otherwise.

Freshman Year:

Literature & World History: A-
World History & Literature: A
Honors Mathematics 1: B
Introduction to Physics & Engineering: A-
Spanish 2: A
Jazz Improvisation 1: A
Lab Jazz Ensemble: A
Freshman Wellness: A
Freshman Health: A

Note: Only 1 honors class and no AP’s available to freshmen.

Sophomore Year:

Sophomore English: A
Honors Modern World/American History: B+
Honors Mathematics 2: B+
Chemistry (lab): A
Honors Spanish 3: A
Jazz Improvisation 2: A
Stock Market Analysis: A
Sophomore Wellness: A

Note: No AP classes offered sophomore year.

Junior Year:

Honors Junior English: B+
AP U.S. History: A
Honors Mathematics 3: A
Biology (lab): A
Honors Spanish 4: A
Principles of Economics: A
Jazz Improvisation 3: A
Independent Study in Philosophy: Pass (P-F Class)
Centered Self (wellness): A

Note: 3 AP classes offered to juniors: APUSH, AP Stats, and AP Chem.

I centered the independent study on ancient & modern epistemology (study of how we acquire knowledge) and ethics. It is a strictly seniors only elective, but I wrote a strong proposal, and I became the first junior in recent memory (possibly the first ever) to be allowed to complete an independent study in history as a junior (not a hook, but I think a cool aspect that I go into on my application).

Senior Year (at time of application)

AP English Language and Composition: B+
AP European History: A-
Honors Ethics in the Modern World: A
AP Calculus AB: A
AP Spanish Language: A
Honors Theory of Music: A
Global Games (Wellness): A

Rank: N/A (but I later found I’m in the top 10% of my grade)

AP: AP U.S. History (5), Recently took the AP exams for Calculus AB, English Language, European History, and Spanish Language

Major Awards: State Champion in FBLA Management Decision Making and National Finalist (Top 15 out of 179 in a conference of ~11,000 people))

Minor Awards: 3rd Place in FBLA Global Business (State Level); Top 5 in FBLA Economics (State Level); 2015 FBLA Community Service Award; 2014 Youth Social Justice Institute Certificate of Completion + Letter of Recommendation (not sending because it’s generic)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (including only what was put on CommonApp):

Captain, Mock Trial Team (9, 10, 11, 12)

• Lead Attorney
• Competed regionally against other teams in local and state tournaments
• Recruited and trained core of team
• Named captain senior year
• Responsible for representing team at club fairs, as well as organizing meetings and managing communication throughout team
• Received letter of recommendation from my lawyer coach (who I've known for 4 years)
• ~1200 hours spent here so far (most important EC)

Vice President, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) (10, 11, 12)

• Named Business Activities Manager Junior Year - Responsible for planning and organizing business events and bringing in guest speakers
• Named VP Senior Year - Oversee all committees - Finance, Public Relations, Business Activities, and Community Service
• Helped fundraise for state and national conferences
• Recruiting
• Awards (see above)
• ~350 hours

Founding Member, Deeper Discussion Club (11, 12)

• Helped launch weekly forum where each week students debate contemporary moral and philosophical issues
• Helped start a club in area of interest

Improvisational Jazz Pianist (9 years)

• Member of high school improv group for 3 years
• Performed numerous concerts after school
• ~2000 hours playing experience over 9 years

Volunteer at Homeless Shelter (11, 12)

• Work in food pantry & help serve low-income and homeless people
• Help serve, restock, & load goods
• Assist w/ administrative tasks
• Help translated for Hispanic guests who don't understand English (& try to help them learn a bit of English as we go through the pantry)
• Completed the Youth Social Justice Institute Program Summer 2014 (consisted of attending social justice seminars & volunteering; received certificate of completion & letter of recommendation)

Job/Work Experience: No experience at time of application (currently work as a Math tutor at a local center)

Volunteer/Community service: See above (I would estimate total volunteer hours to be ~100+)

Summer Activities: Volunteering, Online College Courses (w/ research) (big part of my application; I have spent about 250 hours over 4 summers taking these ~ conducting independent research; research won’t be submitted as it’s informal); College Touring; Traveling; College Apps; Various Camps

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Personal Statement - 9.5/10 (about background & interest in philosophy & how fear of death inspired me) (I spent 4+ months working on it, & I can tell you right now that I’m not overrating myself), Supplements: Penn (8/10), and UChicago (9/10 for Extended Essay, average for everything else)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: AP U.S. History Teacher 7-9/10 (Good)

Teacher Rec #2: Honors Spanish Teacher 8-9/10 - Had her for two years (Very good)

Counselor Rec: 9-10/10 (Spent lots of time with him, so even in a large school he was able to get to know me personally) (Fantastic)

Additional Rec: Mock Trial Lawyer Coach: 9-10/10 (Fantastic)

Interviews: Only Interviewed with Penn (8/10); Did not request Interview with Chicago

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes (but not necessary/required to attend); Did not end up receiving any aid

Intended Major: Philosophy (or some variation on a major centered around philosophy) (pre-law as well)

State (if domestic applicant): MA

School Type: Public (class of ~450 kids); wealthy suburb of Boston; competitive; ~Top 10 in state & ~Top 250 nationally

Ethnicity: White

Gender: Male

Income Bracket: Lower Upper Class

Hooks: Penn Legacy (father attended Wharton; guess that didn’t do much haha); other than that nothing

Reflection: Don’t underestimate the essays; don’t go prestige hunting; look for schools that fit in all regards; start the application process ASAP and try to finish all standardized tests by June of junior year to avoid stress senior year; apply to many schools non-restrictive EA if you can; message me if you have any questions about this process in general or any particular schools (especially UChicago). Good luck, and I hope this helps!