@Avish11 Looking strong for Amherst! Make sure you explain on your application the reason your grades dropped in tenth grade. HPY is a long shot for even the utmost tippy top candidates, but you have a chance. Depends on what type of student they are looking to fill their class with the year you apply and no one can tell you what that will be.
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My daughter’s (class of 2023) stats:
No weighted GPA and no class rank - extremely competitive private school
UW GPA - 3.86 (1 B in Honors Precalc Junior year)
SAT : taken one time Fall Junior year - 730 EBRW/720Math
2 APs Junior year (school doesn’t allow AP until Junior and caps # you can take)
AP English Lang - 5
AP French - 4
5 APs Senior year - AP MIcro/Macro, AP Calculus AB, AP Biology, AP English Lit
Still waiting on scores
EC - tutoring, volunteering at Lotsa Love, school related service activities
No sports after Freshman year
Applied:
Indiana University - Kelley School of Business (EA)
UNC Chapel Hill (EA)
University of Georgia (EA)
Furman University (EA)
Boston College - Carroll School of Management (EA)
University of Virginia (EA)
Emory University (RD)
State of residence - NC
Gender - Female
Race - white
Income - Upper middle class
Hooks - Legacy at UVA and UNC
Accepted :
Indiana University - Honors College, Kelley School of Business ($10K Scholarship)
University of Georgia - ($9k scholarship)
Furman University - Bell Scholarship ($22K)
Boston College - Carroll School of Management
UNC Chapel Hill
UVa
Denied:
Emory University
Thoughts:
Definitely, benefitted from applying early - both for her peace of mind and to alleviate the anxiety from procrastinating. Without a doubt taking an extremely difficult course load and excelling was her biggest strength.
She has wanted to go to UVa since middle school so the decision wasn’t difficult. The only second thought was CSOM because of the direct admit and it wasn’t that close. We live a mile from UNC campus so she never wanted to stay close to home.
Attending UVA with the intent of going to McIntire
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Accepted: KU (attending full-ride), GTech
Rejected: Princeton, Columbia, Yale, MIT, Caltech, Vanderbilt, Rice, Wellesley
School Type: Public
Location: Missouri
Race/Gender: Caucasian
Prospective Major: Aerospace Engineering
Unweighted GPA: 4.00
Weighted GPA: 4.605
Class rank: 1 out of 496
ACT Scores
English: 35
Reading: 35
Math: 35
Science: 35
SAT II Scores
SAT II Math: 780
SAT II Physics: 680
AP Scores:
Physics C: 3
Physics I: 4
IB Scores:
Mathematics HL: 6
English A HL: 7
History of the Americas HL: 6
Psychology SL: 7
Cultural and Social Anthropology SL: 6
Spanish B SL: 6
Long-form Info
Extracurricular Info
*2 years of NHS as a fundraising committee chair
*3 years as a team leader for a youth advisory council that delegates money to community nonprofits based on grants
*3 years varsity scholar bowl (3x district champions)
*2 years varsity water polo
*2 years varsity track and field/ girls throws captain
Awards
*Valedictorian
*AP Physics Student of the Year (school)
*Engineering Student of the Year (school)
*Optimist Club student of the month
*National Merit Commended Scholar
*Missouri Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish
*Missouri Scholars 100 (one of the top 100 graduating seniors in the state)
*Missouri Scholars Academy (one of the top 330 rising juniors in the state of Missouri)
Recommendations
*Both teacher recommendations were very positive and I have strong relationships with both as well
*I used my English/ Anthropology teacher for one and my physics teacher for the other
*I had a limited relationship with my counselor due to the large class size and general apathy but I’m sure it was adequate
Random Extras
*I am an extremely strong writer, and had multiple people proofread and provide their thoughts on my essays and they turned out very well
*I have OCD so I wrote about the struggle that I have faced with myself but also how I am my own role model due to my ability to overcome. It’s cliche but my English teacher thought I took it somewhere new and interesting so I kept it.
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Accepted: San Diego State University (Accepted and Invited to Honors College in December)
Waitlisted: UC Santa Barbara (later accepted in June) (attending)
UC Davis (later rejected in June)
Denied: UCLA
Cal Poly SLO
UC San Diego
UC Berkeley
Major: Political Science (UCs) or Business (Cal Poly/SDSU)
Academic stats:
UC Unweighted GPA: 3.8
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.04
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.04
ELC eligibility (Top (9% HS): N/A
Rank, percentile rank, or percentile range (if available):
Comments about course load (including senior year): AP Human Geo, AP Government, AP Macroeconomics
SAT (total and sections): 1340 (690, 650)
ACT (total and sections): 31 (Math: 31, Science: 31, English: 27, Reading: 34)
SAT Subject Tests (if any): N/A
AP exams (scores in parentheses): US History (4) US Gov, Macroeconomics, Human Geography
IB exams (score in parentheses):
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Too specific
Subjective:
For the following, indicate level of recognition or award (e.g. local, state, national, international) and/or leadership roles:
Extracurriculars: Varsity Football, Baseball, Boy Scouts, NHS, Etc.
Job/Work Experience: Four different jobs from the beginning of high school
Volunteer/Community service: Plenty of this between boy scouts and NHS
Summer Activities:
Essays (topics, details): Talked about ADD, experience as a summer camp counselor, love for history and politics and for my community. I would say 9/10 overall, very good.
Letters of recommendation:
Demographics
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
High school type: Large Public
Gender: Male
Race/ethnicity: Caucasian/Hispanic
Applied for need-based financial aid?:
Pell grant eligible?:
Maximum Pell grant (FAFSA EFC = $0)?:
Highest level of parent education: Bachelors
Living with both, one, or no parents?: both
Recommendations:
If you are waitlisted at a school you would really like to go to definitely write an appeal. In general try to participate in major relevant extracurriculars to your major and that are sort of social justice related in general. I felt that the schools I applied to didn’t care about my experience playing football despite the fact I spent a very large amount of time on it. I’m also convinced that UCs and CSUs care about test scores much more than advertised. It was a tough and interesting cycle for me, and just remember that it isn’t supposed to make sense and you need to be ready for that.
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I did this on my chance me post, didn’t know there was a whole thread for this sorta thing so I guess I’ll do it here too lol.
Background:
State - MA
Race - White
Income - 45kish
School - Okayish urban public
Major - Computer Science
Stats:
GPA - 4.13 UW/4.80 W (school has weird 4.0 but actually 4.3 scale)
Rank - 2/320
SAT - 800M/730EBRW
ACT - 35C/35E/32M/35R/36S
Subject Tests - 800 M2 / 770 Chem
APs Taken: 10th - Stats (5) 11th - APUSH (4) Chem (4) Lang (4) CSA (5) 12th - Physics 1, 2, C: Mech, C: E&M (C was self-study) (idk yet) Calc BC (idk yet) Lit (idk yet) CSP (idk yet)
Extracurriculars:
- Co-founder of programming club, taught C++ to students (11th-12th)
- Captain of programming team (10th-12th)
- Math Team (9, 10, 12)
- Chess club (9th-12th)
- Varsity Tennis (11th-12th)
- Tutoring (9th-12th, 1-2 hrs per week)
- “Freelance Programmer” for AI in summer (6 weeks, 10 hrs/wk)
- Took CS50 for credit at Harvard Extension School junior year, got an A-
Awards:
- Dartmouth Book Award
- AP Scholar with Distinction
Essay/Recs:
Comp Sci Teacher - I got to read this one. Had him for 4 years, and he was the programming team coach as well. (8/10)
Stats/Calc Teacher - This was last minute because I was supposed to get it from my history teacher but that didn’t work out, I’m assuming it was okay at least. (6/10)?
Common App - Wrote about how I’ve come to enjoy Comp Sci and why my passion for it aligns with my personality. (8.5/10)
Rejections:
- Yale (7/10 Supplements)
- Brown (7/10 Supplements)
- Dartmouth (8/10 Supplements)
Waitlists:
- CMU SCS (9/10 Supplements)
- Cornell Engineering (5/10 Supplement)
Acceptances:
- WPI (8/10 Essay thing)
- Northeastern
- UMass Amherst
- Harvard EA → RD (10/10 Supplement - Talked about my future ambitions in a couple of different ways 1) How my shaky family situation has pushed me to want success for myself 2) How my teaching experiences and inspiration from CS50 led me to want to be a Comp Sci Teacher)
I will, of course, be attending Harvard in the fall. Hope this helps someone!
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Public High School - Rank 13/710
UW GPA - 4.0, W GPA 4.37
ACT: 34
SAT : 730 EBRW / 800 Math
Did not take any subject tests
AP: World, Physics, Physics C, APush, Music Theory, Psych, Gov, Calc AB (all 5’s except 4’s in Physics & Gov)
IB - English HLI, English HLII, World Religions
EC & Awards:
National Merit Finalist
Honors Orchestra all 4 years, All-Region & All-State Orchestra
Youth Orchestra all 4 years
Odyssey of the Mind all 4 years
Model UN 2 years - President
Mu Alpha Theta 2 years - President
NHS
taught cello lessons
Essays were very strong - spent a lot of time on them, especially the UChicago ones. Not sure how teacher recommendations were. Also submitted a 2 minute video supplement to UChicago.
Possible Major(s): Physics & Music
Applied:
University of Chicago (ED)
Case Western (EA)
University of Rochester (EA)
University of Tulsa (EA)
St. Olaf College (EA)
Lawrence University (EA)
Carleton College (RD)
University of Arkansas (EA)
State of residence - AR
Gender - Female
Race - white
Accepted :
University of Chicago
Case Western
University of Tulsa
Lawrence University
University of Arkansas
Withdrew applications from St. Olaf, Carleton and Univ. Rochester after being accepted ED at UChicago
Advice: Spend quality time on your essays. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and write something different. If you are able to do a college visit - take detailed notes. I used my notes to personal some of my essays.
Accepted: Arizona State University, University of Arizona, San Jose State University, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara
Waitlisted: Cal Poly Pomona
Rejected: UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, San Diego State University
School Type: Public
Location: California
Race/Gender: Hispanic Male
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Unweighted GPA: 3.304
Weighted GPA: 3.536
SAT: 1150
Class rank: 175 of 671
Extracurricular:
- Chess Club/Vice President (12th)
- Engineering Club/Treasurer (9th,10th,12th)
- Science Society (12th)
- Local library volunteer (12th)
Attending: Local CC. Thought about it long term and I don’t want to spend my time paying off my student loans. But the experience was amazing of my turnaround and getting into colleges I never would’ve though with my freshman 2.5 GPA.
In-depth Info:
Freshman GPA: 2.5
Sophomore GPA: 3.6
Junior GPA: 4.0
Senior (1st semester): 4.1
Senior (2nd semester): 3.8 (senioritis)
APs:
- AP Euro, AP Spanish 4, AP Lit, AP Calc AB, AP Physics, AP Econ, and AP Chemistry
STOP COMPARING STATS WITH OTHERS WHEN APPLYING TO COLLEGES. When I first started applying to colleges I saw the ridiculously amazing stats of students I was competing with and it took a toll on my confidence. Everybody has something unique that a college is looking for. Students with the better SAT or GPA at your school will get rejected by colleges that you wouldn’t expect, the process is spontaneous. If your stats don’t match with the average of your top/dream school, APPLY ANYWAYS. Anything can happen and maybe, just maybe you will be accepted to colleges you wouldn’t of expected and also expect to get denied by schools you expect to get into. For me, I think the personal insight questions is one of the most crucial parts of the application and take your time with it carefully. Good luck to all seniors applying, and if you don’t think you can get into that school you want to go to, APPLY.
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What does it mean when you write 7/10 Supplements? or 10/10 supplements?
I think they mean they are rating the quality of their supplements as 7/10 or 10/10 (perfect). @isabel72
@apocalypticc
You got accepted into Kansas University and Georgia Tech and you picked the former over the latter? May I ask why?
And holy crap, I just need to say your stats were amazing.
My guess would be the “full ride” part.
super helpful
If school doesn’t rank, how do they judge how good your GPA is?
school profile
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!
Regards: [IT Support Services Africa](Contact Us | TechCloud)
After four years of reading this thread, it’s finally my turn!
Accepted: North Carolina A&T State University, University of South Carolina, Virginia Commonwealth University, Tulane University, University of Maryland: Baltimore County, University of Maryland: College Park, North Carolina Central University, Vanderbilt University (most likely attending), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Clemson University
Waitlisted: University of Michigan
Rejected: Johns Hopkins University, Case Western Reserve University, Columbia University, Duke University
School Type: Public
Location: Maryland
Race/Gender: Black (Nigerian-American) Female
Major: Biomedical Engineering/Chemistry
Weighted GPA: 3.9
SAT: 1530 (single sitting)
ACT: 34 (single sitting)
Class rank: N/A
Extracurriculars:
-President of Church mentoring group (9th-12th)
-Vice President of National English Honor Society
-Communications Officer for Spanish Honor Society
-Spanish and Math tutor
-Over 100 volunteer hours
-Internship at Armed Forces Radiobiology Institute
- AP US History, AP US Government, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Language, AP Psychology, AP World History, AP Biology and AP Calculus AB.
Strong points: test scores, URM female in STEM
Weak points: GPA/transcripts, essays
Advice: Don’t rush the college application process. Know when things are due and take your time doing them. I wrote several of my supplements the night before and that along with my D in AP Language are probably why I didn’t get into Duke or Columbia, my dream schools.
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I hope this is helpful to someone who’s probably stressing (like me a year ago)
Accepted: Stony Brook University, Cornell, Hofstra, St. John’s Pharmacy Program, LIU Pharmacy
Waitlisted: NYU, Barnard, Columbia (my dream school)
Rejected: Brown, Harvard (Deferred EA), Yale, SBU Scholars for Med, Hofstra Medical program
Sophie Davis Medical Program comes out tmrw, will update.
School type: public
Location: Long Island, NY
Race/Gender: Bengali, female
Major: biochemistry/human biology with pre-med track
ACT: 35 (single sitting)
SAT: 1500 (did not send)
Class rank: in the class top 20/315
Sat 2: Biology M: 800, Math II: 750
APs: Biology: 5, APUSH: 5, Lang: 5, Computer science principles: 4, World: 5
National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction
EC’s:
Editor-In-Chief of Yearbook, VP of Science Olympiads, raised $400 for Girl Up through a charity I created in my school, National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, Peer tutor, Peer Ambassadors, hospital volunteering, I have a job as a tutor at a local tutoring center.
Strong points: test scores, academics
Weak points: extracurriculars (no sports or science research) and essays
I’m just a really bad writer, my essays were probably 6/10
Hoping my Cornell financial aid is good, I applied to their statutory college (Human Ecology) and the major is Human Biology. I didn’t really put much thought into the application but now that I was accepted I am considering attending even though the campus is rural (I wanted a city school, hence Columbia is my dream school). I’m really hoping Columbia will accept me off the waitlist, but the chance is slim to none.
I came off as a very passionate biology/pre-med nerd, but I think Columbia looks for more well-rounded applicants.
Biggest tip: just believe in yourself. allow yourself to process the rejections.
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Accepted:
UPenn (attending) - applied ED, deferred, accepted!
Franklin and Marshall
Mount Holyoke
Drexel
University of Delaware
Washington and Jefferson
Waitlist:
Swarthmore
William and Mary
Bryn Mawr
Case Western Reserve University
Rejected:
Princeton
Cornell
Barnard
School type: Public
Location: Palmerton, PA (small town)
Race/Gender: White female
Major: Biology, premed
ACT: 29, didn’t submit lol
SAT: 1360, 1370 superscore (proves upenn really is holistic)
Class rank: 2/122
APs : Lit and Comp, Microeconomics, Calc AB (my school only offered these three and for seniors only)
Cumulative GPA: 4.355
Hooks: First generation college student, also both my parents dropped out of high school, and I identify as LGBT.
Common App Essay:
I talk about how watching a cow give birth redefined my definition of femininity and helped me to become confident in myself after struggling with femininity my entire life. In the end, I tie it into my passion for biology and working with women.
EC’s:
Volunteer- 4 years of volunteering in a nursing home, 1 year of volunteering in the attached hospital where I looked after patients coming out of surgery. Over 300+ hours in a hospital setting. I also helped out my friend run a free breakfast program at our local church for children 4-18 years old.
Leadership Roles-
- Captain of Color Guard squad in school marching band for 2 years, Co-Captain for 3 years.
- Captain of Volleyball team for 2 years, also aided in starting the team in my sophomore year
- Captain of Boys Tennis for 2 years (our school didn’t have a girls team)
- President of Mock Trial
- President of Plural (LGBT club), helped with the revival of the club
- Chief-in-Editor/President of Avenger (School Newspaper)
- President of Leo Club
Also-
FBLA Nationalist
HOBY alumni
NHS member
Strong points-
I think I’m pretty good at interviews. My Penn interview was fantastic and I highly believe that helped me get in. Other than that, I would have to say my essays were very strong.
Weak points-
SAT definitely! I really should have studied more or something, but hey, it all worked out in the end.
Advice:
I think the essay is absolutely the most important aspect of your application. Talk about what you’re truly passionate about and let that passion become evident throughout your writing. A student tour guide once told me that in a room of 100 essays, your mom (or anyone close to you) should be able to pick yours out. That’s how personal it must be. Don’t get caught up in structure or the “essay format”, just write from your heart! Don’t be afraid to take risks!
Also for any other students that come from small schools/towns, please don’t give up. So many people told me that I had no chance at getting into Penn because our school academics weren’t strong enough and “no one around here goes Ivy.” BE THAT PERSON. PROVE THEM WRONG. If you want something enough, you will find a way.
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sup yall
Accepted:
Princeton (EA deferral → RD acceptance, planning to attend)
Columbia (RD)
Duke (RD, likely letter)
UPenn (RD)
UT Austin (Business honors)
Waitlisted: Yale, Northwestern, UC hicago, Stanford
Rejected: Harvard (no interview)
Major: humanities
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): None
ACT: 35 36M, 32 Reading, 36 English, 36 Science (9/12 essay)
SAT II: (All 800s) Math II, US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 6.0/6.0
Weighted GPA: 6.9/7.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/500ish
AP (place score in parenthesis): got eight 5’s, and got one 4
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: rigorous
Awards on Application: debate ranking (top 50), research presentation, boys state scholarship/party chairman, Nationalmerit semifinalist
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Healthcare research: researched rural healthcare, presented at a conference, working on publishing. Research involved looking through archives to piece together the healthcare history of a county.
Debate: natnl ranking, earned bid, did well at several tournaments, nationals qualifier
Boys State: party chairman, selected for a scholarship (1 of 2 out of 1000+)
rest are less important
Job/Work Experience: NA
Summer Activities: research, boys state, debate camp, volunteering, some competitions
Essays:
CA 10/10 (caring for my grandmother which led to healthcare research)
PTon supplements 7/10 (looking back the main one was kinda immature, could’ve been better, Princeton LOCI was solid, short essays solid)
“Why [college]” essays 8/10 (pretty basic in structure, thought the details were compelling though)
UChicago funny prompt: 8.3/10, favorite essay to write about
Teacher Recommendation:
Com sci teacher: 10/10
English teacher: 8/10
Counselor: 5/10
Mentor for research: 3/10
Interviews: i think i did my best in all, 10/10
Other:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): us citizen
Intended major(s): phil
School Type: not too competitive, but large and public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): sibling legacy to princeton
Reflection: should’ve been more efficient with time for writing essays
Strengths: essays
Weaknesses:
advice:
I personally believe that, just as how GPA/Standardized testing/AP’s have become less important, EC’s are becoming less important. Essays seem to be getting very important. Spend time on those.
2020 grads/parents…please keep this thread going. I would appreciate seeing stats with merit offers to any schools where accepted even if it was declined to give some insight for 2021 D. Thank you 
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