Can more graduated seniors do "actual results" threads?

Chance Me / Match Me!
2161

I attend North Carolina School of Science and Math which is freakishly competitive to get into anywhere from, so yeah.

Intended major: Environmental Science or Environmental Policy with a double major/minor in Computer Science
SAT: 1540 (790 reading, 750 math)
GPA: 5.26 (I had all A’s except for 3 B’s in math classes my first trimester of senior year. I tried to explain it by saying that my parents divorced first tri and I was the only student who hadn’t had calculus yet in 2 of those classes)

Extracurriculars:
helped to start up the composting system at school and wrote the successful $2,900 grant to industrialize the composting system. I now manage compost at school.
I taught a seminar for credit on environmental policy.
I lead an initiative to grow and plant thousands of milkweed plants and other native plants around my county to promote the growth of the Monarch butterfly population
I did environmental polymer chemistry research in synthesizing polymers to adsorb heavy metal and organic pollutants

Wrote $2,500 worth of grants to fond the construction of a garden and cistern system at my school to capture and filter polluted runoff
Co-president of the sustainability club on campus
Co-captain of the Envirothon team. We won 1st in wildlife at states last year.
former co-captain of science olympiad team. Won 4th in forensics at state last year
Volunteer at Boys and Girls Club - logged around 100 hours and set up a program to teach the club members computer science
Organized petition (unsuccessful) for a computer science class at my former school. 1/4 of the student body signed it, around 200 people.
organized the instillation of a solar panel array on campus

Recs: pretty good, but not stellar
essays: alright, but could have been way better. My essay to Cornell was excellent

Accepted: Macalester, UNC Chapel Hill (attending), NC State, Appalachian State

Waitlisted: Cornell

Rejected: Swarthmore, Amherst, Harvard, Stanford, Duke

Overall, my essays could have been better (should have written more about environmental stuff. I did my common app on Computer Science but wrote at least one supplemental at each school about environmental stuff) and I should have organized my extracurricular A LOT differently (I fit all my environmental stuff under 3 extracurriculars when I should have spread it out and elaborated more). I ended up getting rejected or wait listed from all my top schools, but I’ll be happy at UNC.

2162

Accepted: Ohio State (EA; Honors College; Eminence Fellowship - full ride (tuition, books, room, board, $3000 stipend, reimbursement for enrollment fee and housing deposit), Kenyon (RD; $10,000/yr), Denison (RD; half tuition), Colgate (RD), Hamilton (RD)

Waitlisted: Barnard (RD; submitted my application late…; withdrawn); Tufts (RD); Middlebury (RD; withdrawn)

Rejected: Brown (ED-deferred); Bowdoin (RD)

Enrolled: Ohio State; will go to Tufts if accepted off waitlist

School Type: large public
Location: Ohio
Race/Gender: white female
Prospective Major: Linguistics for schools w/ linguistics, Anthropology for schools w/out

Grades/classes
Unweighted GPA: not sure, probably 3.5ish
Weighted GPA: 3.97
Class rank: 3rd decile
IB Diploma

  • HL: English, Psych, German
  • SL: Math, Environmental, Physics
    No study halls; hardest possible schedule except each year except Chem not Honors Chem soph. yr and AP Calc AB not BC senior yr
    Had some C’s and D’s on my transcript that definitely didn’t help anything

ACT: 35
SAT: 1550

SAT II
Lit: 700
Math II: 790

Extracurriculars
Coxswain on school’s crew team - Varsity grades 10-12
Linguistics camps over the summer
Went to school in Germany for a month
ESL tutor, started summer program for kids w/ public library

Awards:

  • IB Diploma
  • NHS
  • National Merit Finalist

Essays

  • great for everywhere but Barnard

Recs

  • probably great, idk though

Demonstrated interest

  • crazy at Brown (4 visits, went to a class, summer program)
  • one visit everywhere else but Barnard (no visit)
  • emails w/ reps at Brown, Middlebury, Tufts, Bowdoin, and Barnard

Wish I’d done ED-II at Tufts but I still thought I had a chance at Brown lol. Sucky GPA and ECs dragged me down. Kinda had the “smart slacker” vibe b/c of my low GPA and high test scores that I don’t think sits well w/ colleges.

2163

A full ride at Ohio State is a very good deal! Congratulations! However, I am a bit surprised that you did stay on the waitlist for Barnard. It is part of the Ivy League as it is an undergraduate college of Columbia University (you get a degree from CU and graduate at Columbia Graduation). Plus you get a world class education with the best professors in the world.

I understand that Ohio State and Tufts are great schools, but Barnard is definitely one of a kind. Small, women’s liberal arts college within large, co-ed Ivy League university. Acceptance rate at Barnard was 14.8%. Most people I know who got into Tufts and Barnard chose Barnard, and I know a few people that transferred to Barnard/Columbia from Tufts. Networking, internships in NYC, amazing classes, cosmopolitan student body hard are all hard to pass down. However, a full ride to Ohio State is also absolutely wonderful! Best of luck!

2164

Hello, guys.
Please, can anyone tell my what is my chance to transfer to Baruch College with 3.28 GPA and 45 College credits for 2017 fall . Thank you. My major is CIS(Computer Information System.)

2165

Accepted: UW-Madison, Boston University, University of Minnesota
Rejected: USC, Stanford, Cornell, Northwestern

School Type: Public
Location: Wisconsin
Race/Gender: Caucasian/Female
Prospective Major: Biomedical Engineering
Unweighted GPA: 3.9
Weighted GPA: N/A
Class rank: N/A

SAT: 1450 (760 Reading/Writing, 690 Math)
ACT: 31 (35 Writing, 32 Reading, 28 Math, 28 Science)
SAT Subject Tests: 630 Spanish, 660 Environmental Biology (lololol)

AP Classes/Scores:
AP Psychology (5)
AP English Language and Composition (4)
AP Biology (did not take)
AP Calculus ABC (BC:3, AB:4)
AP Human Geography (4)

Clubs:
Photography Club (Freshman + Sophomore)
Math Team (Freshman + Sophomore)
Treasurer for School Newspaper (Senior)

Other Activities:
I play seven instruments and compete in piano, which I have played for ~11 years.
Freshman year I was with an acting agency and I was in an environmental education film.

Volunteering:
Weekly Hospital Volunteer (2 years)
Weekly Pharmacy Volunteer (1 summer)
Weekly Non-Profit Volunteer (1 summer)
Weekly Mentor for Middle School Science Symposium (1 academic year)
Freshman Advisor (1 academic year)
Peer Tutoring (~20 hours)
Misc. In-Class volunteering (~10-15 hours)

Work:
Barista at Local Coffee Shop (2 years, 20-25 hours per week)
-multiple sales contests won as well as employee of the month
Research Intern in Biochemistry Lab (2 years, 10-15 hours per week)
Guitar Teacher (

Interesting Points:
-My research abstract was selected for a talk and poster presentation at an international meeting in Brazil. It went very well.
-Since I did Calc ABC my junior year, I designed and completed an independent study project on the intersections of art and math. I talk about this in some of my essays.

-I have a genetic disorder called neruofibromatosis that has caused physical disabilities and tumors throughout my life. I talk about this and its impact on me in some of my essays.

Awards:
National Merit Finalist
Scholastic Art Awards: 2 gold keys, 2 honorable mentions (junior and senior year)
Honor Roll (all semesters)
School Academic Achievement Award for 3.8+ GPA (all semesters)
AP Scholar with Honor

Well I got rejected from most places… oh well, I don’t know why aside from the SAT subject test scores (which I didn’t submit to most places)

2166

Major: Business or Communications

Accepted:
Fordham University, Boston College, Boston University, The George Washington University, UVM, Rutgers, Pitt, Kenyon, Syracuse

Rejected:
Northeastern

Waitlisted:
American University

Objective:
SAT I - didn’t take
ACT - 30, 31 Superscored (28M, 28S, 32R, 34W)
SAT II’s: didn’t take
GPA: 4.7 weighted, 3.9 unweighted
Rank: top 10%
AP’s taken: AP US History (4), AP Lang (4)
Honor’s taken: Everything except sciences
Senior Courses- AP Stat, AP Environmental, AP Lit, AP Psychology, Peer Leadership
Major Awards (USAMO, intel, etc…): 2 business awards (county comp), 1 writing award (state comp)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (Leadership in parentheses)
-SGA (Senior Class President)
-NHS
-Peer Leadership (Senior Peer Leader)
-Cross Country/Track
-Newspaper

Job Experience: Beach staff (3 years)
Volunteering: Hospital Volunteer, NHS (60+ hours a year)
Summer Activities: volunteering/working

Essays: Main essay was good, supplements were some good and bad, a few had spelling mistakes but I still ended up getting into the school

Teacher Recommendations: Very good, I had a good relationship with both
Counselor Rec: probably good, but there are a lot of kids in my school so I don’t think it revealed too much extra
Interviews: Kenyon (went great), American (was decent)

Other:
State: NJ
School Type: Large competitive public school in suburban NJ
Ethnicity: White
Sex: Male
Income Bracket: middle class

Notes:
Looking back, I would definitely apply to less safety schools, probably only UVM, and add in a few more reach schools and not have as many “target” schools. I think I should have challenged myself more and taken a chance at some of the more elite colleges, even if it was a long-shot. I also should have looked into financial aid policies and scholarship offerings at these schools more bc colleges I thought would give me money (Boston College) gave me absolutely nothing which was disappointing.

However, I am super happy to be a part of the Fordham University class of 2021!!

2167

Hi everyone! Just an update for anyone that is curious–I got a 4k scholarship at Hunter for their Yalow Scholars Program, which dwindles down my tuition to 2k a year! I am excited and I just wanted to share the news for anyone who is struggling with colleges–larger price =/= better quality. Always do your research before committing, and be confident in your choice. Hunter has a wonderful pre-med program and I am ecstatic to be a part of the class of 2021! :slight_smile:

2168

Accepted: Dartmouth, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Boston College, and UVA

Waitlisted: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Duke, and UChicago

Rejected: Princeton, Brown, Cornell, Penn (deferred ED -> rejected at Wharton)

Objective:
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2300 (770/740/800/8) only sitting
SAT II (subject, score): Math 2 - 800
Unweighted/Weighted GPA: 3.9 ish UW
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%
AP/IB (place score in parentheses): APUSH (4), AP Lang (4). AP Calc AB (5). AP Gov (5). AP Comp (5). AP Environmental (5).

Senior year course load:
AP Calc BC
AP Physics
AP Statistics
AP Economics
AP Literature

Awards:

  • AP Scholar with Distinction
  • National Merit Scholar Commended
  • Chosen as 1 of 8 teens nationwide for a major program (lots of publicity)
  • (2x) High school award in math and science - given to best student in each class
  • Yale essay contest 1st place
  • Two other, smaller online essay contests - finalist/top10 winner
  • second place in We The People state competition
  • High honor roll, NHS, etc.

Extracurriculars (exactly what is on my Common App):

  • Blogger for the Huffington Post
  • Co-Editor in Chief of school newspaper
  • Co-President of DECA business club
  • Co-Founder of a growing company (annual revenue projected around $15k-20k)
  • Published writer and journalist: fantasy novel published on Amazon, reporter for local newspaper, published in 4 literary magazines
  • Editor for a national high school literary magazine
  • Karate Black Belt (first degree)
  • Class Treasurer
  • AVID Tutor and Freshman mentor
  • Former waiter and housekeeper at a bed and breakfast, ongoing private tutor with 3 clients, former employee for a financial literacy website

Recommendations:
Good

Essays:
Pretty good

Other:
U.S. State/Territory or Country: competitive state
School Type: Very large public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: No financial aid
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):

Strengths: ECs
Weaknesses: Scores and GPA
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think the peer recommendation helped me as well as the interview!
What would you have done differently?: Nothing

2169

Accepted:
Boston University
George Washington University (20k/year scholarship)
Syracuse University (20k/year scholarship)
U Del (11k/year scholarship, Honors Program)
SUNY New Paltz (5k/year scholarship)
Drew University (25k/year scholarship, Honors Program)

Waitlisted:
Skidmore College (need-aware)

Denied:
USC

Major (for all schools)- Visual Arts (CFA/CAS Double Degree program for BU with major in International Relations)
GPA- 4.03 W
ACT Score- 31 (32E 29M 31R 31S 9E)
AP: Physics 1 (3), US History (3)
Second decile, but top 15%
Essays: Decent
Rec Letters: The teachers I got them from all had me for several years so I think they were pretty good
EC’s: National Honors Society, Art Honors Society, English Honors Society, Social Studies Honors Society, World Language Honors Society, Math Honors Society, Italian Club President, AHS Co-president
150+ community service hours
Senior Classes: AP Lit, AP Bio, AP Gov, AP Drawing, AP Italian, Calculus

Gender- F
Ethnicity: White
State- NY
School Type: Public
Income Bracket: Single parent income ~100k

Looking back:
Honestly I would’ve been more realistic about price. BU was my number one and I got in but couldn’t afford the price tag! New Paltz gave me enough money where it will cost around 13k/yr, whereas BU is still 36k with financial aid. Due to this, I may not have tried as hard had I known that! But, my EC’s were somewhat weak for top tier schools, but my course load senior year is kind of insane.

2170

Okay, I have now gotten all decisions so I will post my full results. I am excited to be a yellow jacket next year!

Decisions from seven applications
Georgia Tech: Accepted EA OOS, Dean’s Scholarship (gives instate tuition) plus a couple small scholarships, net cost about 23k/year, will attend
Case Western: Accepted RD, 27k/year University Scholarship, net cost about 36K/year
Carnegie Mellon: Waitlisted RD, net cost 44k/year after need based aid (they give aid decisions to waitlisted students), did not accept spot on waitlist
University of Chicago: Waitlisted RD, rejected from waitlist
Harvard: Waitlisted RD, rejected from waitlist
Princeton: Defered SCEA, rejected RD
MIT: Rejected RD

MIT was my dream school since I was very young, even though I really didn’t know much about it. In my junior year, I realized Princeton was truly my top choice, and so I applied there SCEA. I didn’t get in, but I don’t have many regrets. I think the difference between me and most people on here is that I never did anything for the sake of looking good to colleges. I didn’t start the application process until senior year and didn’t know anything about it beforehand. I hate how some people do activities or choose classes based on what colleges want. I also hate that people study for the SAT/ACT. I did not, and I don’t really study for anything. I do tons of activities because I love to fill up my time with them. My parents are also the opposite of many here, they knew nothing about the college process and assumed I’d get in everywhere I applied. They were shocked when Princeton deferred me, though I was not surprised. I know I would have done well at the Ivies I applied to, but I understand that they get many great applicants, and I’m not mad that I got rejected. I do think the large amount of waitlists and deferrals are kind of a rip-off by the colleges. They waitlist far more than there is even a chance they will accept. That said, I am happy where I am. I am excited for a new life next year at Georgia Tech! Go jackets!

White Male
Math major
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 800/800/710 on old, 800/800 on new
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): only took once each
ACT (breakdown): 35S/35E/35R/36M/22W (didn’t send)
ACT superscore (breakdown): only took once
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math 2, 730 US History, 710 Physics (only sent physics to MIT and CMU)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.85 by my own calculation, my school only reports my weighted
Weighted GPA: 4.56 as of end of junior year, higher now
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10% out of 113
AP (place score in parentheses): Calc BC (5), Stats (5), USHist (5), Eng Lang (5), Physics 1 (5), World Hist (4), Chem, Comp Sci, Eng Lit, Physics C: Mech, Latin
IB (place score in parentheses): no
Senior Year Course Load: 7 classes, the max at my school, 5 APs, one fine art, 1 post-AP
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): none
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Won some state-wide and local academic contests, NMF, AIME, All-state athlete (not good enough for recruitment)

Extracurriculars: Lots of clubs, sports, activities with plenty of leadership but nothing THAT exceptional - I don’t feel like going into detail.
Essays: Good I think, definitely no typos or grammar errors since I proofread well and I think the content was good too.
Letter of Recommendation: One from my Physics teacher and one from an English teacher, should be super great.

2171

Accepted:
-College of William & Mary (will be attending)
-University of Southern California (spring admission)
-University of California, Los Angeles
-University of Virginia
-George Mason University (Honors College)

Waitlisted:
-University of Pennsylvania (later rejected)
-University of California, Berkeley (did not accept place on waitlist)
-New York University (did not accept place on waitlist)

Rejected:
-Stanford University

I also applied to George Washington University, but they lost my transcript and never considered my application. I called them multiple times well before the submission deadline, but they never bothered to respond. Lol.

Major:
-Anthropology (first choice)
-Human Biology (second choice, where available)
-Biology (third choice, where available)
I also indicated interest in the pre-medical track where available

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1420 (760 reading/writing, 660 math); single sitting
ACT (breakdown): 31 (36E, 30M, 32R, 27S); single sitting
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Literature (710), Spanish w/o listening (570)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1

AP (place score in parentheses): in rough chronological order: World History (2), U.S. Government (4), Psychology (5), BC Calculus (1; AB subscore of 1 lol), U.S. History (4), English Language (5), English Literature (TBA), Biology (TBA)

IB (place score in parentheses): Spanish B SL (6), Anthropology SL (5)

Senior Year Course Load: IB English Literature HL, IB History of the Americas HL, IB Biology HL, IB Anthropology HL, IB Math Studies, IB Film SL, TOK (semester 1), Honors Debate (semester 2 - retaking at my teacher’s request so I can assist the newcomers)

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): these aren’t super major but:
-AP Scholar with Honor
-Quarterfinalist at VHSL Debate Championships

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
-Debate (Captain)
-Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (Vice President)
-Key Club (Social Media Manager - I run an Instagram page, lol)
-National Honor Society
-Mu Alpha Theta
-Girl Up

Job/Work Experience: N/A

Volunteer/Community Service:
-Organized a small fundraiser for local SPCA
-Junior volunteer program at local hospital
-Regular volunteer position as an exhibit interpreter at a local “science museum”… can’t be too specific here without losing my anonymity lol
-Lots of little things (blood drives, feeding-the-homeless-type events, etc.)

Summer Activities:
-VA Summer Residential Governor’s School for the Humanities
-EF Tour of Ecuador - made for a really cool essay that probably helped me get into UCLA lol

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Ehh, not going to give my essays numerical ratings, sorry. I worked very hard on all of them. Most were pretty “quirky” and a couple dealt with the kinds of “serious” topics people usually advise against writing about, but I made sure to tie them back into myself and my growth as a person. My Common App essay was about Governor’s School and how it helped me, you guessed it, grow as a person. My “why ___” essays were also pretty good, I think (I think my Why Penn essay is what got me waitlisted instead of rejected); my advice for those is to do your research and mention specific things about the college that the average Joe wouldn’t know so that adcoms know you’re interested… I think that the fact that I didn’t really do this for NYU might be why I got waitlisted instead of accepted, lol, so.

Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t read, but I have very good relationships with all of my recommenders, so I’m assuming they were pretty good!

Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): see above

Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details): N/A

Interview: Stanford one was pretty ehh, Penn one was really good. A lot depends on your interviewer. Luckily, interviews don’t matter a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Oho u bet ur buns I did
State (if domestic applicant): VA
School Type: Public (federally designated “low-income” public that qualifies for Title I, more specifically)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~$40k now, but in 2015 my mom only made ~$19k so that’s what colleges saw
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I’m kinda poor lol? I would have been considered first gen until 2014, which is when my mom got her degree… so that would’ve been a boost, but hey, my mom has a degree (and crippling debt) now!

Reflection
Strengths: Essays (except the Why NYU essay lol), recommendations, Penn interview, GPA, rank
Weaknesses: TEST SCORES and lack of super major awards and super cool extracurriculars
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I mean, see above lol
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I was very close to choosing USC, one of my dream schools, over W&M, the school that gave me a full ride. Think very carefully when making this decision. Is your dream school worth the amount of debt it requires? If you find yourself ultimately leaning toward your dream school because you’re worried about other people’s opinions, please reconsider. I’m not in college yet, but I’m pretty sure you won’t care about those people’s opinions once you actually get to college. Also, please don’t pull a me and stress constantly over your applications once they’re submitted. What’s done is done. You are lovely and you will find your home. Good luck!

2172

Accepted:

Williams College(attending)
Dartmouth College
Swarthmore
Middlebury
Colby
Hamilton
UFlorida(in-state)

Waitlisted:
Vanderbilt(econ)
Washu(business. did not demonstrate interest and I needed a lot of fin aid)
Uchicago(rejected from waitlist a few days ago.)

Rejected:
HYPS
Columbia
Wharton

To be fair, I got accepted to Williams early(but was permitted to apply RD because fin aid was unexpectedly low) and so I did not really put in effort for any college app beside Dartmouth(I applied in November) and Stanford. All my other Ivy essays were pretty generic and lame because I only wanted to see if I can get a good fin aid offer so Williams can match. I prefer smaller schools.

ACT (breakdown): 34.
ACT superscore (breakdown): 36 Math and Science. 34 English and 33 Reading
SAT II (subject, score): 790 MATH2. 720 US History.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8. Competitive Magnet Program in a decent school. Send about 20 kids to top 20 uni per year. Most of the 20 kids get into multiple top 20/ivy.
Weighted GPA: 5.3/6.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 15/780
AP (place score in parentheses): 5: Micro/Macro, Psych, HumanGeo. 4: Gov, Calc AB, Stats, European History. 3:English Lit and Physics 1.

Senior Year Course Load: IB Higher Level English Lit, History, and Psych.IB Standard Level Math, Bio, Spanish, TOK.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): School award for helping peers, Commended scholar, National AP scholar.

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Ran a small business with revenue about 30k.
VP of Financial and Investment Club
Secretary of UNICEF Club
Founder and President of ACT Prep Club
Competitive Computer Science summer program at local uni.
Job/Work Experience: The small business as well as working as a freelancer on the internet as a writer and a translator.
Volunteer/Community service: 150 hours at a place that I am very passionate about. 50 hours at local library.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: Legit 9/10
Teacher Rec #2: Never read. probably very average
Counselor Rec: 7/10? Not super close but closer than many students.

U.S. State/Territory or Country: FL
Intended Major: Econ
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian(Minority Asian though.)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: <$30k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): First gen

2173

indian female, CA public school

accepted: uc irvine, cal poly / rejected: ucb, ucla, usc, stanford

uw gpa: 3.8
weighted: 4.11

major: econ

SAT: old: 2110, new: 1410

10 AP classes: (1) 3, (1) 4, (3) 5, and the rest haven’t come in yet

extracurricular: work (10 hr/week), guitar for 7 years, not much other community service

overall: pretty good essays, decent gpa, rigorous schedule, lack of ecs

ended up going to cc, but starting as a sophomore with 16 units/semester bc AP gave me 31.63 units

ADVICE: it’s getting competitive! do your best and if you don’t get into the college you really really want, give cc a shot! you can save 75 GRAND and your chances of getting that degree from cal or la can TRIPLE or more :slight_smile: just do what you think is important and worth it in the long run

2174

Accepted:
Temple Honors Program (Full Scholarship) and Invited to Interview to 7 Year Med Program (Rejected)
UPitt Honors Program (15k per year scholarship) and Rejected from 8 Year Med Program
Rutgers Honors College (Full Scholarship and Attending)
UNC Chapel Hill Honors Program and Research Scholars
Johns Hopkins University
Hofstra (25k per year scholarship)
Drexel University and Invited to Interview to 7 Year Med Program (Rejected)
RPI and Rejected from 7 Year Med Program
Rejected from Drew/NJMS 7 Year Med Program

Waitlisted:
UPenn CAS (2nd Choice) (Later Rejected)

Rejected:
UPenn LSM (1st Choice)
Duke
Princeton

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35 (34 E, 35 M, 35 R, 34 S, 34 W)
SAT II: Math Level 2: 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 98.02 (We have a decimal gpa reporting system)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/~490
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (4), World History (4), Physics 1 (4), Calc BC (4), Calc AB Subscore (5), English Language & Composition (4), Environmental Science (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP Physics C, AP Spanish Lang, AP English Lit, AP Stat, Dual Enrollment in Anatomy and Physiology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): US Presidential Scholar Nominee, RPI Medalist for Science and Math, Several FBLA Regional Awards, One statewide FBLA award, One FBLA National Selection, Local District Competition Awards for FIRST Robotics, Commended NMSQT Scholar, AP Scholar w/ Distinction

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): FBLA (Vice President), HOSA (Founder/President), Science Research Club, NHS (Peer Mentor), Robotics (Secretary, Programming Mentor)
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Youth Council 350+ Hours (Vice President, Previously Committee Head), NHS 50+ Hours, Junior Achievement 50+ Hours
Summer Activities: Summer Before Senior Year: Bioinformatics Internship w/ NIH-NCBI Publication, Cancer Institute leadership program, FBLA NLC, Doctor Shadowing Summer Before Junior Year: JHU CTY Course, Cancer Institute Mini program, Summers Before Sophomore Year: CTY Courses
Essays: Common App spoke about my personal struggle and realization so it was really genuine, however wasnt the best i could do (8/10)
Supplemental Essays: I talked about what resources and facilities would align to my interests, but perhaps this method was not effective everywhere.(6-7/10)
Teacher Recommendation:
AP Physics Teacher - Considered me one of top students so probably 8.5/10
AP English Teacher - Did not talk to him as much but he knew i was a very driven student (6-7/10)
Counselor Rec: She loves me and knows my entire life story so I would have to give an 8/10
Additional Rec: Doctor I shadowed - Just a validation of my doctor shadowing done (6-7/10)

Other:

State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): USA
Intended major(s): Biology
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: M
Income Bracket: ~200,000k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None that I know of

Reflection: Overall, I am happy to be attending Rutgers Honors College on a premed track. This whole experience went a lot better than I had expected because I went through literal hell as I was diagnosed with a chronic illness in September of 2016. So I had to balance taking care of my health, keeping up with my grades and school activities, and applying to colleges. One piece of advice I have that I guess that kinda worked for me is that try to make positives out of your worst possible negatives like my disease really motivated me to pursue medicine by providing an alternate perspective as a patient. I think that positivity alone helped me get invited to two of the guaranteed admission to medical school programs.

Strengths: Test Scores, GPA, Reason for Pursuing Biology and Pre-Med
Weaknesses: No SAT II Science Scores, Honors

General Comments: In the end of the application process, I highly recommend that before you choose your final top colleges, make a prioritized list of factors that you want to rank your top colleges by. For me it was: 1. Health and Distance, 2. Money/Debts, 3. Resources. And another thing very very important thing is that as soon as you realize what you want to do in college, make sure you plan things out like test prep and activities and courses well beforehand such that you make yourself a competitive applicant.

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ACT super scored 32 normal 30
GPA 95.4 weighted
captain 2 sports teams, science fairs, and girl scouts

Accepted- Villanova, Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell, RPI, WPI, Honors college UMass Amherst, UMass Lowell, and Manhattan College

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Congrats! Do you mind sharing where you have decided to go? My D plans to apply to many of those schools- has a 1420sat- hopes to bring that up a bit in august. Best wishes!

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Class of 2017

I’m uploading this because I want to show that it’s possible to be a normal high schooler, and still get into good schools.

Accepted: Haverford (Attending), William and Mary, Oberlin (20k/yr merit scholarship), Skidmore, Muhlenberg, Binghamton, Earlham (EA, 27k/yr merit), Lafayette, Bard
Note: recieved merit scholarships at at least one other school, but don’t remember the exact details rn)

Rejected: Tufts, UVa, Wesleyan (ED)

Guaranteed Transfer: Boston University (turned down offer), Cornell ILR (Like, 95% sure will not actually use)

I also started a lot of applications that I didn’t end up finishing/sending in.

Objective:

SAT I- (first) 1390 (730 V, 660 M), (second) 1420 (740 V, 680 M).
SAT II- 760 Literature, 700 US History- only sent to Tufts, taken very last minute
ACT: N/A
Unweighted GPA: N/A
Weighted: 92/100, showed upward trend through Jr and Sr yr
AP: Pre senior yr: WHAP (4), USH (5), English Lang and Comp (5)
IB: N/A
Senior year courseload: AP Lit, AP Stats, AP GOPO, AP Psych, AP Japanese, Piano, Guitar, Music Technology, and of course, gym/health
Awards: AP Scholar, Honor Roll (freshman year)

Subjective:

Extra-Curriculars: Mostly concentrated around music. Had several freshman year, but tapered off.
Essays: Great. Common app essay was about my ethnicity.
Recs: No idea.
Interviews: excellent at Haverford and Earlham, really good at Muhlenberg, not that great at Tufts, and laughably awful at Barnard. Funny thing is, my interviewer and I wore almost the exact same outfit.

Others:
School: NYC public performing arts school
Race/ethnicity: white/afro-caribbean
Sex: f
Prospective major: History
Did not apply for financial aid

Notes: I wasn’t really dedicated to studying for my SATs, and we decided to focus on my essays, which I think was a smart decision.
For rising sr/jr/whoever: If you have any extenuating circumstances (I’ve had major health issues my entire high school career), make sure you write about them somewhere in your application. Also, liberal arts schools are super underrated, and shouldn’t be discounted. They’re filled with really awesome people, and are known for their excellent undergraduate teaching. Finally, make sure you visit schools, especially if you live relatively close. It shows the school that you are actually interested, it helps you write your supplements, and it allows you to cross some schools off of your list, or add others you weren’t sure of. I thought I would love Barnard and Conn College (spoiler: I didn’t), and I fell in love with Wesleyan and Haverford from visiting them and meeting students.
Last (for real): It sucks to get rejected from your ED school, but it will be fine. For me, personally, I think that the school I am going to is a better fit than where I applied ED.

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Son went to Georgia Tech and loved it. Ranked #4 in Engineering, amazing facilities, so right up there with MIT, Cal TEch, Berkeley and Stanford (tied #4 with Cal Tech). Have a great time.

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College advice from a rising college Sophomore at the bottom.

Accepted:
-University of California-Santa Barbara (attending)
-University of Southern California (had a recommendation letter from a USC Board Member)
-Barnard College
-Boston University
-University of Washington
-University of California-Santa Cruz

Waitlisted:
-Tulane University

Rejected:
-Stanford University
-Harvard University
-Columbia University
-University of California-Los Angeles
-University of California-San Diego
-University of California-Davis
-Emory University

Major:
-Biochemistry
If this option was not available, I chose Chemistry

Objective:
SAT I: 2110/2400 740 Math, 710 English, 660 Writing
ACT: 30 I forgot the breakdown
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Literature (720), Math I (720), Math II (760), Chemistry (760)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.5
Weighted UC GPA 3.9

AP (place score in parentheses): Chemistry (3), Literature (3), Macroeconomics (4), Microeconomics (4), AB Calculus (4), Statistics (5)

Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus AB, AP Statistics, Spanish 4, AT Biology Honors, AP Economics, Senior Level English

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Didn’t really get any…

  • World History Student Award
  • Varsity Basketball: Most Improved Award
  • 2-Time Sectional Basketball Champion

Subjective:
Extracurriculars:
-Founder/President of Diversity Club
-President of Anime Club
-4 years of Basketball. 3 years on varsity

Job/Work Experience:
-2 years of working as a Library Assistant

Volunteer/Community Service:
-I volunteer at the Red Cross Blood Services every weekend
-I took a 3-week, volunteer, reforestation trip to Guatemala last summer

Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8/9 for my Common App Essays. My essays to Barnard were really good, probably the main reason I got in. USC essays were also good. Didn’t put any thought into Ivy League essays.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes. Got absolutely nada from every school. I did get a $40,000 scholarship from my private high school. Split up into $10,000 every year.
State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type: Private (one of the best private schools in CA). 18% Acceptance Rate.
Ethnicity: Black (Nigerian)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~$400k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Black, Nigerian-Immigrant, STEM major (not many black people in STEM :confused: )

Reflection
Strengths: Essays, Test Scores, ECs
Weaknesses: GPA
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
GPA, especially for UCs. Most private schools took into consideration the fact that I went to a selective private school. UCs don’t care.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
PLEASE READ!!!
I was really upset when my parents didn’t let me go to USC which had been my dream school or Barnard College which was a close second. But they said they were too expensive. I thought it was really selfish of my parents to not pay for a school that they could obviously afford. I cried for weeks and I didn’t eat properly for over a month to the point where I had lost almost 10 pounds. But UCSB was a close third, especially after I went to their Open House. I waived out of healthcare and with my $10,000/yr scholarship, my parents only pay $21,000 which is definitely manageable with their income.

I absolutely love UCSB. The academic course load is definitely manageable, much easier than it was at my high school. After 5 years at my high school, working so hard for mediocre grades, I can finally relax. I have a 3.7 GPA at UCSB without having to kill myself for it. I have a social life, I’ve joined a lot of clubs, and I’m on a rowing team that I absolutely love. The campus is gorgeous, right by the beach. It’s 70 degrees all year round.

If I had gone to USC, I would have been proud of myself. I would have bragged about the prestige. I would have been happy but not nearly as happy as I am now. I spent almost 3 years on this site, obsessing over every little part of my application, and I really do regret it. I admit I’m contributing to the problem here by posting my results, but I’m also hoping that some high schooler will reach this part and realize that in the end it’ll be okay. The bittersweet truth is that you deserve to be where you end up. If you aspire to attend a college that you get rejected to, the truth is you would have been miserable there anyways. You would have spent the next 4 years struggling to keep your grades up, maybe like your doing right now. Adulthood is going to hit you the second you graduate college, so spend the next 4 years somewhere where you’ll be happy.

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“You would have spent the next 4 years struggling to keep your grades up, maybe like your doing right now.”

I mean this isn’t really true. Geniuses get rejected from challenging schools all the time.