Can more graduated seniors do "actual results" threads?

[shafthalf]

I had two 31 ACTs for a 33 superscore, a 3.5ish uw gpa and 3.8 or 3.9 weighted gpa.

Applied for political science/political Communication/ Public Relations at the following schools (in order of personal preference

USC (reach) — REJECTED
Northeastern (reach) — ACCEPTED
American University (match) — ACCEPTED to AU scholars
George Washington (match) — ACCEPTED ( to poli sci, my second choice major)
SMU (Match) — ACCEPTED
Boston (reach) — REJECTED
Syracuse (reach) — ACCEPTED Newhouse and Maxwell dual program
Drake University (safety) — ACCEPTED with tons of scholarships and soecial programs
Depaul University (safety) — ACCEPTED idk why i applied

Ive been pleasantly surprised this admissions cycle. While admissions officers seemed to have found me charming, financial aid offices havent seemed to agree.

[Sbp325]

Accepted: UCSD UCSB UCDavis UCR NYU Pepperdine LMU
Waitlist: UCI
Rejected: UCBerkeley UCLA USC & any ivies

GPA: 4.5 W
3.8UW
Rank: top 20%
SAT: 1560 (790 math 770 CR) w/ top 24 essay
SAT IIs: US History: 780
Math II: 790
APs
Biology - 4
Euro - 4
US History - 5
Calc AB - 5
Also taking Calc BC, Psych, Physics 1, Gov, Econ, and Lang this year

played for varsiy golf
interned at UCI medical for a summer
volunteered at local hospital
volunteered as atutor for underprivileged kids
part of school choir
club president and founder for Stand Up 2 Cancer Club

I was a bit unhappy with my results as I did expect to get into at least one out of UCLA, UCB,and USC. However, my school is very competitive and a magnet school, and although I have a 4.5 GPA, that is only top 20%. I will most likely be attending UCSD as a human biology major and then proceed to law school or medical school. Hope this helps!

[itunes38]

Accepted: Emory University, University of Florida (full ride), University of Central Florida (full ride), Rollins College
Waitlisted: Middlebury, Colgate
Denied: Cornell, Johns Hopkins

SAT: 1420
GPA: 3.96 UW/4.7 W
Rank: 53/656

white female, middle class

Took 5 APs before senior year, got one 4 and the rest 3s
My senior year course load is AP Macro/Micro, APES, AP Lit, AP Calc AB, U.S. gov honors, spanish 3 honors, anthropology honors

Essays: Kinda depends on each school, but I was most proud of my Emory supplements. My common app essay was good, I wrote about my motivation for learning Spanish. Mostly all my essays had to do with my love for learning languages and learning about other cultures.

Interviews: Middlebury and Cornell. Had a really good Midd one but I guess that didn’t matter. Never got a request for an interview from Emory so I thought that meant I wasn’t getting in, but I was thankfully mistaken…

Extracurriculars:
not amazing. president/historian of french honor society, national honor society, national academy of finance honors, finance internship, hospital volunteer, daycare volunteer, swim team, certified in doing taxes, language learning, medical academies, french club, spanish club, key club (i had no set passion or career path as you can see)

my intended major is international studies but we’ll see lol

note: my friend with much higher stats than me was rejected to emory, which goes to show that your essays DO matter. they matter a lot. i think that’s what got me in. most of the schools i applied to were high reaches (i was thinking go big or go home) so i was really surprised i even got into one of them.

[Luyanzzz]

What counts as work experiences? Does volunteer work and internship count?

[hurley1]

Schools:
Accepted: UVA (EA), Seton Hall Honors College, William and Mary, Washington and Lee, College of the Holy Cross, Benedictine College
Waitlisted: Boston College
Denied: Notre Dame (EA), Northwestern

Intended major(s): Political Science/ International Relations

Academics:
ACT: (33 composite, 35e 36r 27m 35s)
Class rank: School doesn’t rank
UW/W GPA: 3.9/4.48
Coursework:- APUSH, AP Human Geo, AP Gov, AP Bio, AP Stats, AP Euro, AP Lit, AP Lang, DE Russian
all Honors for other classes
small private school

Extracurriculars: Model United Nations (Secretary General), Lead Critic, Student Body Vice President, Varsity Softball, lifegaurd, swim instructor, NHS Officer, Girls State, Gov School, lobbied for a nonprofit

Essays: all really good except BC which I did not proofread at all

Interviews: Northwestern (good stayed in touch with interviewer) W&L (great) Holy Cross (great) Wake Forest (really good but decided not to apply)

Recs: good, took time to know counselor well and asked teachers I trusted

Notes: I had the GPA, test scores, and extracurriculars for every school I applied to. My biggest advice is to interest at schools that care about that, put time into your essays, and know going into this process that nothing is certain.

[freshavocado]

Schools:
Rejected: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, UPenn, Yale, MIT, Stanford
Waitlisted: Harvard, Caltech, UC Berkeley EECS
Accepted: CMU SCS, Olin College of Engineering, UCLA, UCSB, UCD, UCI, UCSD, San Jose State

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1560 superscore (800 M, 760 CR/W), Essay: 20/24
ACT (breakdown): 35, did not submit
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 790 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.54
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school does not rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Euro (5), AP Stats (5), AP Chem (5), AP Calc AB (5), AP Comp Sci A (5), APUSH (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP SPLIT, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Gov/AP Micro (semester classes), AP English Lit, AP Calc BC
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AIME Qualifier (2014, 2015, 2016), won engineering award in school competition

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity tennis (4 yrs, captain my senior year), animal adoption club (president junior and senior year), Best Buddies club (publicist my junior and senior year), school newspaper (only senior year)
Job/Work Experience: n/a
Volunteer/Community service: Peer tutor (over 1000 hours)
Summer Activities: playing tennis, took summer classes, did computer science internship my junior year
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common app: wrote about struggles with self-esteem (7/10)

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 - history teacher, literally said I was the best student she had in 15 years
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10, chemistry teacher, didn’t see but I know he appreciated me for hard work during class (I would come to his classroom during lunch/after school to ask him questions, work on extra labs)
Counselor Rec: 8/10, counselor and I know each other pretty well but she has a lot of students
Additional Rec: none
Interview: none

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Computer science
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: needs significant financial aid
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: GPA, maybe test scores (they aren’t perfect though)
Weaknesses: lack of cohesiveness throughout app, extracurriculars
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I’m a pretty typical applicant lol

General Comments: Good luck to everyone! And everyone is different, don’t take stats too seriously

[FreePariah]

**Accepted: Harvard (RD), Yale (SCEA), University of Minnesota (EA) **

**Rejected: None **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown):
-32 second sitting: 34E, 30M, 35R, 27S
-30 first sitting with 7 writing
SAT II:
-730 World History
-720 Math 1
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86, H&Y would recalculate it to 3.7ish. My weighted GPA is 4.24
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 9/261, top 3% (rank is weighted though)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Language and Composition- 3, World History- 4
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP Bio, Psychology (couldn’t get into AP), DE Political Science, DE Macroecon, DE English, Yearbook
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
-Carnegie Mellon’s Summer Academy for Math and Science. 7% admit rate. According to program director, 25% of admitted students enroll in a top 10 USNWR school the following year.
-Placed in the top 5 in state for Future Problem Solvers sophomore year

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): I have leadership positions in all of these but skiing
-City Human Rights Commission
-School Board Representative
-Student Body President
-Future Problem Solvers
-Black Belt in Takewondo
-Yearbook Editor
-Varsity Ski Racing
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Vacation Bible School, taking care of disabled kids (some of my most valuable life lessons were learned here (: )
Summer Activities: Boys State (I was a State Senator), Carnegie Mellon SAMS. See above major awards
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
-Personal Essay: 8/10
-I talked about my experience washing dishes while reflecting on life. Memorable essay.
-Supplements: 10/10
-They were well researched and gave AOs an understanding of how I would fit in on campus.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 5/10
-Generic teacher rec. Very templatey.
Teacher Rec #2: 11/10
-It was based on my USSYP rec, which said I was the best student in a decade. Talked about my passion and critical consciousness. If character is taken into account in admissions, this alone would have gotten me in.
Counselor Rec: 11/10
-This rec letter demonstrated many of the same qualities of the teacher rec #2, talked about me taking advantage of resources in a community that doesn’t have many opportunities.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Interviewers were very impressed, thought I was exceptional in my extracurricular pursuits.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Sociology or Econ
State (if domestic applicant): MN
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Underserved public
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 90K during year I applied, but usually around 60K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM and first gen

Reflection

Strengths: My extracurricular involvement
Weaknesses: Test scores and GPA
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
-I come from a school most here would consider atrocious, which I am told helps me stand out. Working to address issues in my community and having tangible results demonstrated to admissions officers that I would be a good fit at my schools. All in all, my story was pretty interesting and unconventional.

General Comments: When I first found CC as a sophomore in high school, I often felt discouraged by the sheer lack of opportunity in my community. However, I think it is important for students like me to realize that they have to be extremely exceptional to get into these schools, It doesn’t suffice to be the highest ranking student, you need to be “one of the best in a decade.” If any students in the situation I was in sophomore year want to ask me for more personal advice, I’d gladly try to help. Feel free to message me.

[oranqejvice]

Schools

ACCEPTED: UVM ( EA with 18k merit and 3k extra merit that was awarded later along with honors college) , Brandeis (15k presidential), Clark University ( 20k merit), and Boston University ( w/ grant money that exceeded our efc, will most likely attend)

WAITLISTED: Boston College (deferred EA, probably will accept spot), GWU (yield protection I think since I didn’t show much interest)

DENIED: Georgetown (deferred EA), Tufts, Havard

STATS:
Gender: F
Ethnicity: white
2nd Gen College student, Public School in MI
ACT: 35
SAT: 1410 (only sent to non-score choice schools, but it is on my transcript since it was a school day SAT)

Subject Tests:
Chem: 800 (sent to all)
Literature: 640 (only sent to GU and H)
Math level 2: 710 (only sent to GU)

GPA: (weighted, my school weights weird though): 3.92 ( Pretty solid upward trend with straight A’s senior year so far)
APS:
chem and lang last year, both 4s
this year I’m taking Ap Calc BC, Lit, Bio, and Art

Extracurriculars:
Field Hockey for all four years, Varsity only my senior year but I was JV captain my Junior year, won the state championship this year.
Ski Team for all four years
NHS and the subsequent volunteer hours that accompany
Animal Advocacy club and another Political discussion club that I attended a few times a year
Art/hobby type drawing

Rec letters:
My Math and Ap Lang teachers from last year, my former Ap Lang teacher has also edited my common app essay.

Essays:
My common app was definitely the strongest, I put the same amount of work into my supplements but the quality definitely varied a little.

REFLECTION
I’m pretty happy my results, I received good merit/ aid at all the schools I was accepted to none of them were out because of fin. issues, BU just came up a little less than all the others. I really wish I had waited to submit my Tufts and Harvard apps since I sent my Brandeis and Clark apps a month later than all of my others and had figured out how to list my activities better. I was listing NHS as just an honor and I should’ve clarified that I did volunteer work along with being in the organization. I also should’ve listed my art better because I did not effectively portray that as a passion of mine at all. I also wish I had applied ED 1 or 2 to Tufts since it really was my first choice and I didn’t realize it soon enough. I also wish I sent an update on a couple of awards I won throughout the year and an art show that I had work displayed in.

For future seniors:
Don’t apply EA to BC or GU unless you’re very, very confident in your stats since it’s harder to get for those two colleges in the EA round.
Send letters of continued interest if you’re deferred, I sent one to BC and got a nice reply from my rep, I’m pretty sure that’s the only reason I got a wL instead of a full denial.
Don’t be afraid of applying to a handful of reach schools, but put your energy into your matches and safeties first, to maximize your chances of good merit/ aid offers there. After you have those done, then have some fun with the reach schools. Just know that there is a significant amount of luck involved and don’t set your expectations too high.
Also, if you are looking at BU and are worried about lack of aid, good aid is definitely a possibility! If you show enough interest, have high/good stats, and show good fit, A good package is possible!

This is a super long post but I wish all future seniors good luck! I hope this helps you a least a little bit

[classyvintage722]

ACCEPTED:
Macalester College mix of merit and need-based aid
Smith College [need-based aid]
Truman State University [13k merit/grants]
Drury University [23k merit/grants]
WAITLISTED:
Wellesley College
Kenyon College
Grinnell College
DENIED:
WashU

Stats:
Gender: F
Ethnicity: White
ACT: 31
GPA: 4.0 uw/ 5.0 w
Public school in Missouri
Valedictorian; Full-diploma IB student
Applied as an English and Environmental Studies double major

Extracurriculars:
Chamber Choir, Girls for Good (service group revolved around girls’ and women’s issues), tennis (JV), piano for several years, and a few other smaller activities

Recommendation Letters:
Junior year IB English teacher and freshman year Bio/junior year IB ESS teacher (and then my counselor of course)

Essays:
I’m really proud of my Common App essay, and my supplements were fairly strong as well (the Macalester one was probably the best in terms of both content and structure because I was a little long-winded on the Wellesley essay and felt a little restricted with the word limit on Smith’s.)

Reflection:
I’m not entirely surprised by my results, and my goal was to was get into at least half of the schools I applied to, so at least I achieved that goal! I feel like I represented myself well in my application through my essays and extracurriculars, and I believe that I was ultimately accepted into a school that best suited my interests and goals.

For future seniors:

1. Have a balanced and realistic list of schools 2. Know that stats don’t mean everything and that college admissions can be super unpredictable 3. Use college visits as a way to gauge not only with a specific school but with that type of campus environment (rural, suburban, urban, etc.) 4. Make sure to communicate with your parents about travel and expenses so you can be realistic before becoming fixated on a dream school(s)

[jimhowe]

Accepted:
UVM (72,000 scholarship)
Northeastern (honors program and 112,000 scholarship, will be attending)
McGill (engineering and bio/phy/cs)

Waitlisted:
Case Western

Denied:
MIT
Harvard
Yale
Stanford
Harvey Mudd
Tufts

Stats:
White male
SAT: 1550, 800 math 750 writing
SAT II’s: Math II - 800, Physics - 800
GPA: 96%, 15ish/550
Competitive urban public high school in Massachusetts

Recommendation letters:
One from a great English teacher I had who really liked me, and one from my physics teacher who I took four classes with. My guidance counselor told me they were both really good.

Extracurriculars/other info: Three years of varsity crew, started rocketry club and participated in a few others. I loved physics in high school and even took a quantum mechanics class at Harvard my senior year and two math classes junior year.

Reflection:
I always wanted to go to MIT since I was a little kid, and it was always a goal throughout high school, so not getting in was pretty dissapointing while not too surprising. Looking back I know how stressful and competitive of a school MIT is, and although maybe I would’ve enjoyed it I can see how it wouldn’t have been a great college experience. The other top tier schools on my list I realized I applied to mainly because of their prestige and name which is very superficial, and a school that interested me from the start, northeastern, actually had the programs I was most interested in. I’ll be attending northeastern after a gap year and plan to major in physics + computer science and join the rock climbing team. I’m excited for their co-op program and can’t wait to start. Maybe I’ll try again for MIT as I plan to pursue grad school. : )

[confusedcucumber]

Major: Electrical Engineering (or Electrical and Computer Engineering at some schools)

Accepted:
Cornell University(attending)
UCLA
Georgia Tech
Carnegie Mellon
UCSD
Cal Poly SLO
University of Washington

Waitlisted: None

Denied:
Princeton
Johns Hopkins
UC Berkeley

Stats:
White Male
ACT: 35 one sitting (35 math 35 reading 35 writing 36 science)
SAT IIs: 800 math II, 800 physics, 790 US History
GPA: 4.4 weighted, 4.0 unweighted
Large public high school in SoCal, top 10%

Recs: I got one from my math teacher and one from my physics teacher, I feel they knew me very well and I made a big difference in their class so probably 8/10 for each of those.

Extracurriculars: 4 years varsity tennis at Division 1 high schools (I moved across the state between sophomore and junior year), 2 years of varsity wrestling, MUN, lots of associated community service clubs, I teach my own Sunday School class at my church, and I work a year-round part time job for the government in parks and recreation where I coordinate park permits/schedules, budget/run camps and classes, interact with the public and do overall management and maintenance work(been doing this since after sophomore year for 2 different cities, one before and after I moved).

Essays: Even though I had not done a lot of STEM stuff and won any big science awards for extracurriculars during high school, I really got a chance to show what I am passionate about and why I am passionate about it in my essays, and I think this made a huge difference in my application.

Reflection: I’m very happy with my results and I did not think I would have as much success as I did going in since I do not have any URM hooks or any nationally recognized achievements for these high powered schools, but I managed to get into a few great ones for engineering and I’m very fortunate for that. If I were to give any advice it would be to really budget your time well and get involved in something you’re very passionate about and let that shine on your app. It doesn’t have to be something related to your major, just something to show that you are a dedicated student and a creative thinker that the top colleges will want to welcome. I also think casting a wide net is essential in college choices, and not just 1-2 safety schools and 10-15 top 20 colleges, but a good range of schools to find your niche in the overall process.

[reidd799]

ACCEPTED: Penn State Schreyer’s Honor College (In-State), Colgate, Washington & Lee (Johnson Finalist, 40k merit aid, will be attending)

WAITLISTED: Cornell AEM, Williams, Michigan

REJECTED: Dartmouth

Major: Econ (AEM at Cornell because I liked that supplemental prompt better)

Stats:

SAT: 780 Math 750 English
SAT II:780 M II, 730 Lit
RANK: 23/1000 - Large, competitive, public suburban high school
GPA: 3.96 UW
AP’s: Stat/Macro/Micro/Lang/Calc AB - All 5’s
White Male

EC’s:

Member of a winning team of the National Economics Challenge
FBLA Club President, 2-time state champion, national place winner
Varsity Wrestling (4 years, captain as a senior)
Internship at a wealth planning firm
Mission trips to Appalachia every summer
Part-time job 10-15 hours/week

Recs: Both very strong. First was from econ teacher who was also the advisor for the Econ Challenge and connected with me on our trips. Second was from Lang teacher junior year who was quoted in my admittance letter from Colgate.

Essays: Common App was alright, probably not noteworthy. Looking back, definitely wish I had put more time and energy into these. Probably the weakest section of my application.

Awards:
National Merit Finalist

Reflection: I’m happy to finally be done with this process and could not be happier to be a General! For future students, start essays early and don’t be nervous to ask teachers to help. Also be sure to look at LACs, it’s a whole world of options I never thought about before I started to apply. From watching my friends journeys, SO many of them went HYPSM or bust and it didn’t work out in their favor and now aren’t happy with their options. Be sure to apply to schools ranging in selectivity. Don’t get worked up about who gets in where and who scored what. It won’t make any sense and it certainly won’t help you at all.

[apricotprincess]

I applied as a Biochemistry/Chemistry major but applied to a few schools as Human Development if they had it
ACCEPTED:

• Binghamton University
• Stony Brook University (Women in Science and Engineering Honors Program + Full Tuition Scholarship)
• University at Albany (Honors + Full Tuition)
• Hunter College (Sage Honors Program + 4.5k/yr)
• Lehman College
• Brooklyn College
• Queens College (Honors Program)
• Macaulay Honors College at City College of New York (Full Tuition + Macbook +Travel Fund)
• Rochester Institute of Technology (Presidential Scholarship 15k/yr)
• University of Rochester (Dean’s Scholarship 10k/yr)
• Fordham University (Dean’s Scholarship 33k/yr)
• Syracuse University (Renee Crown Honors + Presidential Scholarship 20k/yr)
• Colgate University
• Hamilton College
• Skidmore College
• Northeastern University
• Boston College

WAITLISTED:

• Cornell University

STATS:

• GPA: W/4.6 UW/4.0 (Full IB Diploma Program)
• SAT: 1490 (750 Math 740 English)
• SAT II’s: 750 Chemistry/ 730 Math II/ 700 Literature)
• EC’s: Excellent + I’ve held a job for the past few years
• Letters of Recommendation: Excellent too, I’m assuming I mean I didn’t get rejected
• Personal Statement: Written as a narrative about a little girl I used to teach dance to a couple of years ago. Super cute and heartwarming.
• Supplements: Most of them were about wanting to become a doctor and my love for working with children. However, when given the chance I made them a little edgy and talked about sexual harassment, women’s empowerment, and LGBTQ+ issues.
• About Me: White middle-class female from NYC, father is a skilled worker, mother is a teacher, oldest of three children, goes to a super small IB school

Reflection: Honestly, the college process was an extremely stressful but rewarding process for me. I really enjoyed writing all of the essays and seeing my outcome gave me validation for years and years of hard work. It’s wild that I wasn’t rejected from anything and waitlisted to an ivy league (that was pretty crushing because it was my dream school but it’s cool). I will be attending Stony Brook University in the fall because it is the most financially sound decision and comes with some amazing opportunities, along with the fact that I’ll be going away. What I think got me in were my extracurriculars and essays, I’m a good writer and I think I come across as extremely genuine… because they all were genuine.

Advice for those of you applying for the class of 2023 and beyond:

• Aim for a 1400+ on your SAT’s. Doing well on the SAT is all about just knowing how to take it, the concepts are not that difficult if you’re taking calculus and it’s just a matter of reading carefully, practice and time management. From what I’ve seen, if you have over 1400 your chances improve a lot and a lot of colleges base merit scholarships on SAT + GPA.
• WRITE ABOUT THINGS YOU CARE ABOUT AND DON’T SOUND COCKY IN YOUR ESSAYS! Colleges want to learn about you, what you love, what you hate, what you feel strongly about. Your activities section + resume can talk for itself, just let colleges get a feel for your other than those things.
• Make sure to apply to safeties that you wouldn’t mind going to if worst comes to worst. I know too many people who only applied to reaches and things did not quite go in their favor. SAFETIES WILL ALSO GIVE YOU $$$ AND HONORS STATUS SINCE YOU’RE ABOVE THEIR AVERAGE STATS.
• In the end, chances are your decision is going to be based on money. Apply to schools that you know will be affordable for you and that offer merit aid or good need-based aid. Do your research about this stuff cause it’s kind of crushing that I can’t afford my private schools because I fell in love with a few of them.
• Undergrad is not everything! Honestly work really hard in college and go to a good grad school.

MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR

[SevenDad]

Just discovered this thread (my kids are already through their processes), and it’s great. One thought for future contributors is to include where you have chosen to attend…some folks upstream have shared that info, and I think it’s very interesting/informative.

[gigichuck]

I came into this process blind, but threads like this and the entire CC Community helped me out, so this is me giving back. I shotgunned (like most internationals) but I suppose it all worked out in the end.

Accepted: Amherst College, Dartmouth, Lafayette (Marquis Scholar), Wesleyan University, Minerva Schools at KGI

Waitlisted: Pomona, Columbia, Kenyon, Colby, Carleton, Hamilton, F&M, Trinity, Grinnell, Haverford, Bowdoin, Union, Whitman

Rejected: Colgate, Williams, JHU, the other 5 Ivies except Penn (didn’t apply there), Wellesley, Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore, Uchicago, Smith, MIT, Northwestern, Oberlin, Brandeis, Skidmore, Duke, Tufts, Stanford, CMC, NYU, Richmond, Middlebury, Vanderbilt, Scripps, Bates, MHC

Stats:
SAT: 1510 (790 M, 720 EBRW) first and only time
Subject Tests: 690 Math 2, 620 Physics (Abysmal, I know, but I only submitted it to Harvey Mudd, MIT, and Cornell)
GPA: 3.7

ECs: Very very very good. I balanced a lot.
Editor-in-chief of school magazine
Chess club
Math Club
Student Government
Neigbourhood clean-up (just about 12 times a year)
Writing for an online newspaper
French club
On some apps I put a feminist group but removed it on others lol idk why. It’s real though.

Recs: Beautiful.

Personal statement: Very stylized. I am after all, a creative writer

Supplements: Now this is the confusing part. The supplements I worked on for days got me rejected, while the ones I rushed on their deadline days got me in. Schools I didn’t think i would get into accepted me, schools where I thought I fit perfectly straight up rejected me. But those supplements I rushed were crazy real as well. I suppose it all came down to fit.

Awards: National & 1 international essay. Mostly maths, science, chess, and writing. Very good.

Comments: Admissions are a crapshoot. Don’t expect too much. I started with MIT as my dream school, changed to Princeton, then to Uchicago, then Uchicago & Swarthmore. I would’ve even ED’d to one of them, but after talking with different people, I decided against it. I don’t regret it.

Most of my waitlists and rejections were due to financial need (I could only afford around $2000. Some schools stated this explicitly in the waitlist letter, and even one in the rejection letter stating that I could appeal if I managed to dig out $70000 from somewhere. Needless to say I have no such money tree in my backyard ;)) If you are an international needing a full ride, be very careful. You could end up with nothing. Do not get fixated on elite schools. Do not even get fixated on schools with 50% acceptance rates, because for you, the acceptance rate is much different. Concentrate on creating the best application you can and then relax. Study for your SATs (I think my test score was a huge advantage, especially considering my background), pick the teachers to write your recs carefully. Do not let anything deter you. Ever.

If you’re an international who can pay, relax a little. You’re wanted. But you still have to work hard on those applications.

I got so many rejections and waitlists. Then in less than a week, 4 amazing acceptances. Minerva’s followed later. I am extremely happy with all my choices and I would do nothing differently. What matters is that you gave it your all. Be happy wherever you end up and make a difference in the lives of people around you.

Good luck to the class of 2023 applicants!

I also wish I could shout out to everyone who ever commented on my thread, but I don’t know all your names at heart. So this is a general shout out. @MYOS1634 thank you for everything. You were the one constant on the thread since I started it, and you helped me more than you even know. @gearmom @paul2752 @katliamom @koreanstudent @CactusUsername @ (everyone!!!) Thank you so much.

[IvyPlaywright]

Accepted: Yale (attending), Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Emory, South Carolina (with honors college), North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Alabama, UGA

Denied: Harvard, Brown

STATS:
School: private/suburban/competitive Blue Ribbon school
Identity: Female, Afro-Caribbean (Haitian), middle class but single parent, Catholic

GPA (weighted) 4.0 (Our school doesn’t go past this.)
Class rank: Top Decile (no rankings)

ACT: 33
English - 36
Math - 28
Reading - 35
Science - 34

SAT II:
Chem - 800
Lit- 690?

AP’s:
World History - 4
English Lang/Comp - 5
Chem - 5
Art History- 5
Human Geography- 4
US History- 5

Exams planned for May- Physics C, Latin, Calculus BC, Music Theory, Comparative Gov/Politics, English Lit

Honors/Awards:
+National Honor Society (11-12)
+National English Honor Society- Vice President (12)
+Elizabeth Huffner Scholarship (9)
+National Latin Exam: Perfect (9), Silver (10), Gold (11)
+Outstanding Achievement in: Sacraments (11), Latin 2H (10)
+Regis College Book Award (11)
+Georgia Certificate of Merit Winner (11)
+FBLA Region Winner: Public Speaking II (11)
+FBLA Region 3rd Place: Sales Pres (12)
+FBLA State Winner: Sales Pres (12)
+AP Scholar with Distinction (11)
+Mu Alpha Theta Honor Society (11-12)
+Honor Thespian (12)

EXTRACURRICULARS:

+Varsity Academic Team- Lettered
+BT Theatrical Alliance- Lettered
+Mathletes
+Music Ministry- Senior Soloist
+Broadcast Team- Lettered
+Student Ambassador
+FBLA- Parliamentarian, Vice President of Service
+Latin Club
I’m not sure I got it all down, but here is most of it.

Work/Volunteer Experience:
+St. Joe’s Volunteen
+PSR Teen Mentor

Recommendations:
+AP Chem teacher
+AP Calc teacher
+AP Latin teacher
+Counselor

Essays:
Common App: Trying to marry my Haitian culture with my American surroundings. This is one of my favorite essays ever.

The rest were just random supplements.

[IvyPlaywright]

Reflection: This has been a trip. I was rejected from my dream school (Brown), but now I’m going to my perfect school. I am in love with Yale and its community. I can’t wait to be an authentic Yalie!! Boola Boola!
Tips:
-Be yourself
-Let loose
-DON’T overthink it
-Learn to accept failure. Mine changed my life lowkey.

[afslex]

Accepted: Duke, UMiami (honors/full tuition), Kentucky (honors), Centre, Minnesota (honors)
Waitlisted: Penn
Rejected: UChicago

white, middle class

Stats:
ACT 35, 36 superscored
4.0 uw
AP: 5s in gov world chem lang psych euro apush calc ab, 4 in bio

ecs:
orchestra/music stuff, quizbowl, nsliy/chinese stuff

recs:
ok

essay:
Wrote it about working in fast food
essay got good feedback from some of the schools i applied to

[emmajay]

Accepted:
MIT (attending), Caltech

Waitlist:
Princeton

Rejected:
Harvard, Stanford, UChicago (EA defer)

Stats:[ul]
[]SAT: 1590 (800M, 790V)
[]SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chem, 800 Spanish (Reading only)
[]ACT: didn’t take
[]GPA: 4.16 UW (my school does it out of 4.3; A+ is 4.3)
[]Rank: school doesn’t rank
[]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): All 5’s: Stat, Bio, Calc AB, Chem, Psych, Spanish, Microeconomics, CS A
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[]Commonapp Essay: crappy
[]Teacher Recs: Should be good. Asked my chem and English teachers. I think chem was probably the better one. She told my parents I was the best student she’d seen in a while.
[]Counselor Rec: Probably generic. She had us fill out a survey with things we thought she should know about us, so it probably looked better than the really generic ones.
[]Supplementary Material: Had an extra rec from my coach.
[]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Won a Nobel Prize in 10th grade, went on to get gold for the 100m dash in the Olympics, and then traveled around the world filming for my documentary about monasteries. That’s sarcasm for “no”.
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[]Location: MA
[]High School Type: Public
[]Ethnicity: Asian
[]Gender: F
[/ul]Other[ul]
[]Extracurriculars: copying from commonapp with some stuff omitted

• Billiards (Captain), 15hrs/week
• Robotics (captain), 8hrs/week
• Math Team (Captain), 2hrs/week
• Internship (software), 40hrs/week ish during summer
  []Awards:
• Women’s 8-Ball National Champion (2017 Platinum, 2016 Gold)
• Jr. National 9-Ball Champion
• Went to Jr. Worlds 4 times
• AIME Qualifier/AMC 12 Honor Roll (just once)
• MAML Finalist
• National Merit Semifinalist
• Math Prize for Girls Participant (lol tied for like 200th out of 260? so basically one of the worst there but it’s the effort that counts)
  []Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Well, I don’t know. Just relax, because worrying won’t make a difference in the decision. If you’re truly worried, do something. That’s probably easier for me to say, but you get the point. BUT ALSO GOOD LUCK TO THE 2023 APPLICANTS!!![/ul]

[quentinRJJA]

ACCEPTED:Chapman University (ED)

OTHERS: (I withdrew my other apps because I did Early decision) UCLA, Loyola Marymount, NYU, USC

Major: Film Production (Directing Emphasis)

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 32
GPA (state if weighted or unweighted, and on what scale): 4.2 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (3) US History (4) Language (4) Physics 1 (4) Physics 2 (3)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, Ap Gov, Ap Econ, Ap Calc AB, Ap Physics C, College Apps, Yoga, Baking and Pastries, Advanced Video Film

Subjective:

Extracurriculars:
Nerd Club Founder and President, Creative Writing Club Member and President, 48 Hour Film Festival. Chapman Summer Film Academy, Imagine Dragons Photography

Job/Work Experience:
Cosplay Commissions, Freelance Photography/Videography, Nerdist Shadowing

Volunteer/Community service:
FACE Foundation Videos, San Diego Comic Fest 2017 Board, San Diego International Film Festival Videographer

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App:
9 Common App Essay (create prompt)-I chose my own prompt in order to highlight my ability to make connections with people. I really wanted to press that the things I’ve done hav when because I have worked to meet people and make them happen.

10 Interest In Major-I wrote about how film has the power to change society and influence/inspire people.

10 Interest in Chapman- At SFA I stayed here for two weeks so I really have a feeling for the school and was able to show that here.

7 Advisory Groups- I wrote about how women are constantly pitted against each other to see each other as competition instead of working together and how to change that.

Film App:
10 Dodge Personal Statement- I wrote about where I draw inspiration from for things that aren’t really film related. I highlighted science, people around me, and cross-platform media.

8 Emphasis (Directing)- This is only really an 8 because of how short it had to be (150 words) I showed why I live directing because it encompasses all different forms of creativity

9 Writing Sample- This story came out really well, personally. It highlights a time at comic con when a little girl dressed as Rey thought I was actually rey and how interactions like that are small yet incredibly important.

VISUAL SAMPLE!!! I don’t want to rank mine because I’m bad at rating my own work but I was pretty dang happy with my film. I knew most people were gonna do something about teens/family because that’s easy to film and it’s relatable. So I did sci-fi. I made the set for under $100 and heck it looked good. Because there was no dialogue I had a LOT of sound effects that were woven together to make suspense. The story was about a pilot of a ship having to choose between saving themselves or an extremely important item on the ship.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

10 Common App- Physics Teacher- I am really into physics and want to minor in it and I have had homeroom and 3 classes with this teacher over the course of 2 years. This letter connects my love for science and film and looks amazing.

8 Common App- Creative Wroting Teacher- My creative writing teacher has known me for 4 years now and has seen me grow, as well as seen my involvement in films grow. He can talk really well about my leadership skills and such.

10- Supplemental App- SAG Actress/Friend- My letter for the film prod app was written by a Sag Actress who I met about a year ago. I’ve now gone to a lot of commissions with her and over the summer she hired me to make a custom Wasp (from marvel) costume for Comic Con. She talked about my ability to make friends and commentiond and how good I am to work with.

Reflection

Strengths: according to friends and family, everything
Weaknesses: according to me, everything
Why you think you were accepted: I have done a lot for someone my age, especially out of school. I also demonstrated that I am into taking risks that are reasonable and am amazing at making connections, all things that are important in Film.