Thanks, It really helped!
[color=green]**Accepted: **[color=black]
University of Rochester ($16,000 per year merit originally appealed to $20,000 merit)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute / RPI ($29,000 per year merit originally appealed to $36,500 merit)
Union College (NY) ($20,000 per year merit)
Clarkson University (Honors) $40,000 per year merit (Not really an acceptance since I was already attending)
Hamilton College
[color=red]Denied:[color=black]
Williams College
[color=black]Waitlisted:
Colby College
Haven’t heard back yet:
Swarthmore College (applied as transfer student) (Application Withdrawn)
Colgate University (applied as transfer student)
Objective:
- [] SAT I (breakdown): didn’t submit
[] ACT: 34
[] SAT II: didn’t submit,
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 100): 95,
[] Weighted GPA (out of 100), 97
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 7% (but this is self calculated, my school doesn’t rank)
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 (World History, Eng Literature), 3 (Chemistry), 2 (Physics I)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): none
[] Senior Year Course Load: The past year I have completed my freshman year of college through an early college program at Clarkson University called The Clarkson School. I graduated high school in January using one of my classes from Clarkson to fulfill my high school graduation requirements. The only difference between The Clarkson School students and normal freshman is that we have different dorms, but we take all the same classes etc. In my first semester my core classes were Chemistry I (A), Calculus I (A-), Physics I (B), and Ethics I (A) (my honors class). Second semester my core classes are Chemistry II, Calculus II, Physics II, and Ethics II.
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): “Built by Girls” National Engineering Competition Finalist 2016, Clarkson University Honors Program
Subjective:
[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Gender and Sexuality Alliance (Treasurer), Science Research with a professor at SUNY New Paltz in my Junior year, Polymer research at Clarkson University in my Senior year of high school/freshman year of college.
[] Job/Work Experience: Cashier at a local supermarket for 3 months during the summer
[] Volunteer/Community service: Only 40 hours, nothing consecutive
[] Summer Activities: Lots of summer research, both at SUNY New Paltz and at Clarkson University
[] Essays: Common App (8/10) I wrote about discovering my spirituality and how it connected to my love for science. It was a little risky because I mentioned how I used to be interested in Levayan Satanism…
[] Teacher Recommendations: AP Lit teacher (10/10) She loves me and I’m sure the letter was very well written; AP Chem teacher (6/10) he really likes me but I don’t know how great of a writer he is.
[] Counselor Rec: (8/10) He knows me very well and helped me emotionally throughout High School.
[] Additional Rec: Research advisor (?/10) I only submitted this one to Colgate. He gave me an A+ in the class, and seems to like me in the lab, but also doesn’t know me very well.
[li] Interview: My interview at University of Rochester went well, my interview at Hamilton went HORRIBLY.[/li][/ul]
Other
- [] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] Intended Major: Chemistry
[] State (if domestic applicant): NY
[] Country (if international applicant): Domestic
[] School Type: Public, semi-competitive
[] Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported): N
[] Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): White
[] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket: over 200,000
[] Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): None
Reflection
[ul]
[] Strengths: I think my strengths were definitely my test scores and my research activity.
[] Weaknesses: I really didn’t have any volunteer or leadership experience that was significant.
[li] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think I was rejected from Williams a) because it’s just really hard to get in, and b) I showed no interest at all except for visiting campus. Also c) I’m pretty sure the supplemental essay I wrote for Williams sucked. I think I was accepted to the colleges I was with the scholarships I was given because of my test scores, stellar high school record, my research activities, and my attendance at The Clarkson School.
[/li][/ul]
**General Comments:**
Accepted: Spelman College, Syracuse University, Binghamton University, Temple University, Stony Brook Univeristy
Rejected: NYU(ED2), Villanova
GPA: 3.9
SAT:1230
Hooks: URM, Mulitple APs
Rank: Top 20%
Multiple leadership positions
Pretty good essay
Pretty good recs
Deciding factors: My SAT wasn’t the greatest. I did significantly better on the EBRW than the math.
Accepted:
Rutgers NB, Syracuse U (attending), SUNY Binghamton, Quinnipiac U, Towson U, DePaul U,
University of Miami (spring admit), Rowan U, Drexel U, Penn State (2+2 program)
Waitlisted: not staying on the waitlist for all except UW
UPitt, American U, UW-Madison, Fordham
Rejected:
NYU (obviously lol), Tulane U, GW
Objective:
SAT: 1230 (630 EBRW, 600 Math)
ACT: N/A
Rank: did not submit (school gives us the option)
AP: USH (5), Psych (4), US Gov (current)
GPA: 3.65 UW/6.0 W (7 pt scale, this includes first semester senior year)
Awards/Honors: DECA regional and stars finalist, ACLU summer program, honor roll at HS, 2 school wide honor societies
Subjective:
ECs: varsity ethics team, debate team, DECA, chairperson for local community service organization, writer for school newspaper, 20 hour per week job where i am a manager, internship w local business, and a few more minor ones
I am not going to rate my essays or teacher recaps bc i don’t think that’s helpful
Other:
FA?: Yes i need a ton
Intended major: poly sci
State: NJ
School Type: Public (high ranked)
Race: white
Gender: female
income bracket: 45k-50k
Hooks: none
Reflection:
Strengths: my ECs and work experience and supplemental essays
Weaknesses: test scores
Comments: I am content with the way my admissions process occurred. I realize I applied to a ton of schools but I don’t regret it bc I was seeking a ton of financial aid and I wasn’t sure which schools i’d be able to afford especially because my parents are divorced which can make finances messy. Although I would’ve like to be admitted to Tulane and UW-Madison I realize they were high reaches for me and that not everything always works out. Good luck and go orange!
1 Like
I also did not submit my test scores to GW, but not sure if that played a factor into my rejection
Accepted:
-Loyola University Chicago (Enrolling Probably)
-UIC
-DePaul University
-UC Davis
Denied:
- Northwestern University (ED)
- UC Berkeley
- UCLA
- Princeton University
- Columbia University
- Rice University
- Johns Hopkins University
Waitlisted:
- University of Chicago (EDII)
- UIUC Engineering
- NYU
Objective:
ACT: 32
SAT II: Math II (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 100): 95.02
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA out of 36
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP English Language (3), AP US History (3)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus AB, AP Chemistry, AP English Literature, AP Spanish Language, AP European History
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): None
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): ICTM Math Team (Co-Captain), FTC Robotics (Co-Founder/Secretary), Chess Team
Job/Work Experience: Business in Entrepreneurship Club(Co-Founder/CFO), Office Assistant in Hospice/Home Healthcare Business, Tutor (Religious Studies, Math, Chemistry, and Spanish)
Volunteer/Community Service: Hospital Way-finder + Main Desk (100+ Hours), Teacher at Sunday School (5 Years)
Summer Activities: Religious Programs
Essays: Common Application Essay (7/10) => I talked about some unique accomplishment that was kind of tough (very tough) to put into words.
Teacher Recommendations: AP English Language teacher, AP Chemistry teacher, and APUSH teacher: they all claim to be good writers so I’m not sure.
Counselor Recommendation: He’s the only one who writes counselor recommendations so I’d figure he writes them very well.
Interview: I had an interview with Princeton University and Northwestern University. Both of them went well.
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Chemical Engineering at UCs and Northwester University; but (Applied) Math for the rest…
State (if domestic applicant): Illinois
Country (if international applicant): Domestic
School Type: Private, Competitive
Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported): N
Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): Asian (Indian)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: I don’t know.
Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): None
Reflection:
Strengths: I wrote a very fire essay for Chicago, and it is one that I am very proud of.
Weaknesses: My GPA and test scores were in the bottom half for the schools I applied to I think. Maybe if I spend more time on each essay, I would have gotten better results. Maybe I am aiming too high…
Accepted:
Santa Clara University
San Jose State University
UC Santa Barbara (undeclared, honors in Letters and Science)
UC San Diego (attending – got in undeclared, but I already changed my major to cog sci)
Waitlisted:
Cal Poly SLO
Harvey Mudd
UC Davis
UC Los Angeles
UC Irvine
Denied:
Cal Tech
Claremont McKenna
UC Berkeley
Stanford
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1550 (760 english, 790 math)
ACT (breakdown): 32 (34 math, 35 english, 32 reading, 29 science) ← didn’t send
SAT II: 770 Math II, 760 Bio M
Capped Weighted UC GPA: 4.26
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): CSP (5), Euro (3), Bio (5), Lang (5), Java (5), USH (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stat, AP Calc AB, AP Comp Gov, AP Micro + Macro, Unweighted English, Game Design, Honors Physics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none, biggest awards I’ve gotten is Cross Country Coach’s Award and Student of Excellence from CS teacher
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Charity club (secretary, 3 years)
Science Alliance (2 years, 1 year officer)
Cross-country (3 years)
Track (1 year)
Job/Work Experience:
Worked at restaurant for 1.5 years
Volunteer/Community service:
Mexico mission trip
Instructor at a Python coding camp
Instructor at a game design camp
Helped CS teacher with APCSP activities
Summer Activities:
Summer running club and camp
Job (see above)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 7.5 or 8
Many adults loved them, my friends liked them. I think I could have made them more interesting/shown a broader perspective of myself. I personally felt more confident in my common app essays than my UC essays.
Supplemental Review or LOR submission:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Computer science
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~$150,000
ELC Eligibility: no
First Generation: no
Reflection
Strengths: Stats/academic success, job
Weaknesses: Volunteering, no major awards
Comments: Applying for computer science really does make it harder to get in, despite many telling me not to worry about it because I’m a girl lol. Looking at where all my friends got in and did not get in, college admissions really does not make any sense. Getting a lot of waitlists is frustrating (although I’m pretty proud I got waitlisted at Harvey Mudd), but UCSD was one of my top schools based on fit so it’s all good.
Accepted:
Butler ($20k merit/yr)
Case Western ($25k merit/yr)
Georgia Tech (College of Sciences Dean’s Scholarship $21k merit/yr + research stipend)
Grinnell ($24k merit/yr)
Kenyon ($20k merit/yr)
Macalester ($20k merit/yr)
Harvey Mudd
USC
UCSC
UCD
UCSB/College of Creative Studies
UCSD
UCLA
Cal
Waitlisted:
none
Denied:
Yale
Brown
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1520 (750 english, 770 math) Single time Oct. Junior Year
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II: 760 Math II, 730 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA: 4.00
Weighted GPA: 4.55
Weighted and Capped UC GPA: 4.36
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): Euro (4), Calc AB (5), Chem (4), Calc BC, Spanish Language & Culture, Eng Lit, Stats
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stat, AP Calc BC, Gov/Econ, Physics, AP Spanish 5, AP English 4
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nat’l Merit Commended, CSF Lifetime, NCS Scholar Athlete, AP Scholar, Service award 9th and 10th grades
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
WISTEM (3 years, co-president senior year)
Varsity swimming (4 years)
USA year round swimming (11 years)
Job/Work Experience:
Swim Instructor (3 years)
Volunteer/Community service:
Sea Serpents/Special Olympics (3 years)
Lawrence Hall of Science Floor facilitator (1 year)
White Pony Express (3 years)
Summer Activities:
UC Davis YSP
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
I really liked them and felt confident. They were 100% my own voice and painted a clear picture of who I am.
Supplemental Review or LOR submission:
Who knows, but I have really good relationships with the teachers, coach and counselor who wrote them on my behalf. Regarding the teachers, I loved their classes and I think they enjoyed having me in their classes. I’m pretty quiet, but I worked hard and was super engaged.
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes (but we’re a donut hole family so that was kind of sadly pointless)
Intended Major: Chemistry
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~$300,000
ELC Eligibility: no
First Generation: no
Reflection
Strengths: Stats/academic success, essays, for UC’s having attended YSP at UC Davis
Weaknesses: No major awards
Comments: I was pretty happy with how everything turned out. I worked really, really hard and was happy to see that it paid off. It would’ve been nice if I could have really considered attending USC or Mudd but there is no way my family can afford $77K and $79K per year. Oh boy…glad to have some affordable options.
I visited Case Western, Grinnell & Macalester summer of Jr. Year & Harvey Mudd Spring Break Freshman year.
Interviews for: Kenyon, Brown, Yale, Case Western, Grinnell, Macalester
Accepted:
- UT Austin
- UC Berkeley
Denied:
- MIT
- UChicago
- Duke
- Brown
Waitlisted:
- Cornell
- NYU
Objective:
ACT: 36
SAT: 1590
SAT II: Math II (800); Physics 750
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Weighted: 4.2
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 33/750
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP English Language (4), AP US History (5), AP Physics (4), AP Micro Economics (5),
AP Calculus (5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus AB
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): None
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Tennis Captain
Job/Work Experience: Setup a business and supplied accessories to High schools; taught Maths and Physics to classmates and juniors
Volunteer/Community Service: National Honors Society - 100 hrs
Essays: Common Application Essay (7/10) Not very appealing
Teacher Recommendations: English Language teacher, AP Physics teacher, and Tennis Coach. Assume they are very good as they really like and respect me
Counselor Recommendation: Assuming good
Interview: I had an interview with MIT, Duke, Wharton and UT Austin for Honors. MIT and UT Austin went well
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: BBA
State (if domestic applicant): Texas
Country (if international applicant): Domestic
School Type: Private, Competitive
Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported): N
Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): Asian (Indian)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: High
Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): None
Reflection:
Strengths: Wrote very good essays including Supplementary ones for at least a few schools
Weaknesses: Extra Curriculars are so so. No way outstanding. Seems like I lost big time there. Not great GPA to make an impression on top schools.
Always thought I am an Ivy worthy but not enough thought and preparation went in it in High School unitl I got great scores. By then too late I guess.
1 Like
Denied at Wharton ED too
Agree
How many B’s did you get, and what do you think made up for lower gpa?
Objective:
ACT: 34 (32E, 32M, 36S, 36R)
SAT II: Bio E 740, Literature 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.76 UW
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 13%
Senior Year Course Load: 8 IB Classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Montana Student of the Year, University of Montana Best delegate award, Presidents Service Award Gold, National Park Service Award
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
- Redesigned my city’s public transit network to make it more accessible for low-income students.
- (President) of Model UN
- (President) of Academic World Quest
- (Director) of School’s TV channel
- (President) Girls who code chapter in Montana
- Documentary filmmaker
- Basic stuff (NHS, student gov, and action committee)
Job/Work Experience:
- Worked at a local community movie theater
- Intern at an environmental consulting firm
Volunteer/Community service:
- Teach Young Girls to Code (via Girls Who Code)
- Muir Woods (National Park) Volunteer Ranger
- Ecology speaker ( Muir Woods)
- Forestry volunteering
- Muir Woods (National Park) Volunteer Ranger (over 100 hour
Summer Activities:
- Summer classes at Yale
- Filmed a documentary
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common app (9/10) Wrote it on Socks
Supplemental (8/10) Wrote it about my love for marine life and public transit
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1 (10/10): “I’ve never had a student like her in my 15 years of teaching”
Teacher Rec #2 (6/10): Lukewarm
Counselor Rec (10/10): Was amazing
Additional Rec (if any) (9/10): Written by the principal, talked about my contributions to the school
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 10/10 The interview was my first and by far my best. The interview lasted two hours and ended with my interviewer telling me that I gave her hope for the next generation.
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Environmental Science and History/IR
State (if domestic applicant): Montana
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: 1/2 Asian 1/2 White
Income Bracket: >$100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Reflections: I was so sure that I was going to be waitlisted or rejected but I managed to get in. This just showed me that it isn’t all about stats. Colleges really do perform holistic admissions.
Strengths: Test scores, essays, EC’s, and Recommendations
Weaknesses: Class rigor and GPA
Accepted:
Bowdoin (Most Prestigious Scholarship Chamberlain Scholarship)
Wellesley
Carleton
Claremont Mckenna College (Merit Scholarship)
NYU
UChicago
Reed
Bryn Mawr (Merit Scholarship 48k)
Mount Holyoke (Merit Scholarship 100k)
Scripps (Merit Scholarship 90k)
Smith (Merit Scholarship)
St.Olaf (Merit Scholarship 80k)
Kenyon (Merit Scholarship 60k)
Oberlin (Merit Scholarship 72k)
Grinnell (Merit Scholarship 92k)
Waitlisted
Stanford
Washington University in St.Louis
Tulane
Columbia
Colby
Northeastern
Rejected:
The University of Florida ??
Florida State University
Denison College
Harvard
Brown (ED Deferred)
Pomona
Barnard
Yale
Duke
Northwestern
1 Like
Since so many people are doing it I guess I will too.
Accepted:
Duke (Deferred from ED, will attend)
UNC Chapel Hill (EA)
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UVA
NYU
William & Mary
UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine
UC San Diego
Waitlisted:
Johns Hopkins
Cornell
Rice
Dartmouth
Columbia
UPenn
UMichigan Ann Arbor
Rejected:
UChicago (Deferred from EA)
Brown
Carnegie Mellon
Stanford
Princeton
Yale
Harvard
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1560 (760 RW/800 M)
ACT: 34, 35 superscore
SAT II: 800 Math II, 750 BioE, 750 World History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.58
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/364
AP (place score in parenthesis): WH 4, Lang 4, EnvSci 5
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Calc AB/BC, AP Chem, AP Gov, Dual enrollment: Macroeconomics & Spanish
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): FCCLA Nationals Gold, National Merit Semifinalist, some scholarships etc.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): SAT/ACT club prep President, Ecology Club committee leader, FCCLA Chapter Officer (VP of Social Media), blogger and author for newspaper, Mock coop Head Board of Directors, etc.
Job/Work Experience: Worked at school coffee shop. Personal tutor.
Volunteer/Community service: volunteer at library, online, and river cleanups (earned national certification)
Summer Activities: 2 summer leadership camps at Ivy universities and youth tours on top of competitions
Essays (8-9): my personal statement was about my struggles, wrote pretty good supplementals about my major and community
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major and College: Environmental Science
State (if domestic applicant): NC
School Type: less than 2,000 public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Teacher Recommendation (9-10): 2 good recs from my AP teachers who knew me well
Counselor Rec (8-9): good relationship
Additional Rec (10): 2, one from another teacher who writes good letters and one from a youth group mentor who is an adjunct professor/researcher at UCLA
Strengths: High SAT scores and GPA. Very involved in and out of school. Poured my heart into my essays. Also had very good recommendations. I completely filled the Common App additional info section with other experiences.
Weaknesses: Didn’t take as many APs due to transferring from California my sophomore year, so I had to retake courses for credit.
General Comments: I feel really lucky to have gotten the acceptances I have. This year was really competitive.
Accepted:
-Franklin and Marshall (attending)
-Gettysburg
-Dickinson
-UVM Honors College
-St. Lawrence University
Denied:
- Bates (ED II)
- Colgate University
Waitlisted:
- Connecticut College
- Union College
Objective:
ACT: 34
SAT: 1500 (Math: 700 English: 800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4): 3.67
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 25/180
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP English Language (4), AP US History (4), AP Psychology (5), AP Biology (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus AB, AP English Literature, AP French, Honors Physics, Honors Anatomy, Honors Spanish, TA in Freshman Bio
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): None
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Indoor Track, Outdoor Track, Mock Trial (Co-Captain), Knitting Club, ASL Club, NHS,
Job/Work Experience: Worked in a restaurant for 3 years, my family owns a farm that I’ve worked on since I was 8
Volunteer/Community Service: Hospital, Senior Center, Various events
Essays: Common Application Essay (7/10) - I talked about my family’s prevalence in the town and my desire to be an individual, Colgate Supplement (8/10) - I talked about a book that taught us about living freely and taking risks
Teacher Recommendations: AP Bio and AP Psych - Not sure? I had a wicked strong relationship with both.
Counselor Recommendation: Ok, she doesn’t really know me.
Interview: Conn, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, F&M, Union - I thought the all went really, really well
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Neuroscience, French&Spanish
State (if domestic applicant): Massachusetts
Country (if international applicant): Domestic
School Type: Public, Somewhat competitive
Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported):
Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Low income
Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): None
Reflection: I’m really happy, I love my school and I had some really good, affordable choices.
Strengths: Test Scores.
Weaknesses: My GPA was in the bottom half for the schools I applied to I think. I’m weak in Math, and have been throughout high school.
I finally get to post this lol
Accepted: University of Rochester (full aid & scholarship yearly including grants- 68k/yearly)
Boston University (40k merit aid yearly)
Fordham (51k scholarships and grant for commuter & MetroCard Grant yearly
Stony Brook University (Full Excelsior Scholarship for in state residents)
Hofstra University (58k scholarship and merit aid, Adelphi, St. Johns, RIT (40K merit aid), UBuffalo (Full Ride)
Denied:
Tulane
Attending: University of Rochester Class of 2023!
Objective:
ACT: 35
GPA: 95 UW/ 99 W
Rank: Top 20 percent
School Type: Public Competitive
SAT II: 770 Math B, 750 Chemistry
AP Course-load: 7 Total APs
Subjective:
Common App Essay: 10/10 (I put my heart into the essay)
Supplements: 9/10
Letters of Reference:
Counselors Letter: 8/10
AP English: 10/10
AP STATS: 10/10
Supplemental: 10/10
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Undecided
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant) N/A
School Type: Public, Highly competitive
Ethnicity (): not reported
Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): not reported
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Low income
Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): 1st gen
Accepted:
UC Berkeley (attending)
UCSB (accepted in early february, chancellors reception invitation)
UCI (got my second choice major)
UCD
Menlo College (got a hefty scholarship but the school was REALLY not what I was expecting— I’m a legacy and it was overhyped)
NDNU
Occidental (loved the school, but the eventual major I thought I would pursue was unavailable)
USC (how? no idea)
Santa Clara University
George Mason University
Rejected:
Stanford (REA)
Duke
UPenn/Wharton
UCLA (after this, I gave up all hope for cal)
Georgetown
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): never took
ACT: 32
SAT II: 650 Math II, 630 Math I << obviously I didn’t send either one
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.3
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank but I would assume top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Took IB
IB (place score in parenthesis): predicted all 6s and 7s (A- & A)
Senior Year Course Load: IB Lang and Lit, IB Math Studies, IB Geography, IB ESS, World 1 HN (my old school never transferred my credit so I’m taking it at a different high school), Ceramics 2
Major Awards: none really— UKMT Silver, Trinity College London Theater and Flute distinction awards (near perfect scores)
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): All the basic high school ECs, best buddies, honor societies
Perhaps my 3 most significant ECs were my job, a new school curriculum and the charity committee— I work in retail and I am the youngest person working a managerial position… I am corporately recognized and am the top performer in the district.
As for the charity committee, i rallied up with some kids at my school to raise money for breast cancer as our first project. We ended up raising nearly 15k and donating it to our local charity.
My old school wouldn’t allow for students to take more than 1 foreign language but there were several students, like myself, who wanted to take 2. I met with the school principle, the school board and presented them with a new curriculum that would allow for students to take 2 foreign languages. Thankfully it all worked out!
Job/Work Experience: Retail
Volunteer/Community service: 500+ service hours
Summer Activities: spent my summers being a kid— didn’t do anything
Essays (8-9): my personal statement was about my struggles being a minority woman
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major and College: Econ/Finance/Mostly undecided
State (if domestic applicant): VA
School Type: more than 2,000 public
Ethnicity:
Gender: Female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, Low Income maybe??
Teacher Recommendation (10): 2 good recs from my favorite teachers
Counselor Rec (8): good relationship but was probably very generic
Strengths: Strong academics through adversity, my essays, and potentially the ECs? I think my self advocacy and determination shone through in my applications
Weaknesses: Test scores— I thought a 32 was pretty good but for some of the schools I applied to, it was in the lower 25%
General Comments: If you don’t know whether you should apply to a school because it’s too competitive, you should still try, it’s worth it. I never in a million years thought that I would be attending UC Berkeley, and almost didn’t apply because I thought it was a crapshoot. I also never thought I would get accepted to USC! While sure, rejections from top schools is a little disappointing at first, you will learn that everything happens for a reason!
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Accepted:
- Drexel University (32K)
- Illinois Institute of Technology (30K)
- Rutgers University (0)
- University of Minnesota (10K)
- University of Michigan (0)
- Rutgers University (0)
- University of Washington (0, Honors)
- University of Oklahoma (Full Ride, Honors, Attending)
- University of Connecticut (16K, Honors)
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute (26K)
Denied:
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Johns Hopkins University
Waitlisted:
- Tulane University
Objective:
SAT I: 1420 (760RW, 670M)
ACT: 35 (36E, 36R, 32M, 34S, 8 Essay)
SAT II: BioE (700), Lit (790), Math2 (600)
GPA: 3.95 UW; 4.67 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 6%
AP (place score in parenthesis): WHAP (4), APUSH (4), APLANG (5), AP Bio, APES, AP Seminar
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: dual enrollment (science & english), AP Bio, AP Stat, TA (blow-off class). Ended weak lol.
Major Awards: NM Commended Student, NTHS, AP Scholar, HOSA State Finalist, VEX Regional Finalist
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): FIRST Robotics (captain x3 yrs), Academic Team/Quiz Bowl (varsity x4 yrs), HOSA (vp x 2 yrs), Gay-Straight Alliance (founder & chairperson)
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: 60 hrs with local library, 20 hrs with school, 10 hrs with various medical, 20 hrs misc.
Summer Activities: none
Essays: fine, but bland
Teacher Recommendations: 9/10 from science teacher who I worked with in lab research. 4/10 from club sponsor who listed accomplishments already mentioned.
Counselor Rec: Unsure-- she likes me, but doesn’t know me well
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): OK
Country (if international applicant): Domestic
School Type: Public
Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported): N
Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Upper middle-class (60-90)
Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): woman in STEM & LGBTQ+
Reflection
Strengths: High ACT, extracurricular/volunteer involvement, Minority Points
Weaknesses: Lack of research experience, mediocre essays.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Great student-- just like everyone else applying to top schools.
@alexandra00, I have been following your posts partly because you applied to most of the schools my daughter did and several others we considered. I am very impressed with your ECs. And yes—I do believe the process is more holistic than many people suspect.
Wishing you the best at Bowdoin!
@whidbeyite2002 thank you sooooo much! very excited to be going there in the fall