<p>Oh, lol, i forgot to mention I applied to my state school, got in and that was my safety. I'm not much of a risk taker.</p>
o ok that makes more sense. That would be crazy to just apply to ivies lol.
My D results, class 2009.
Amherst College Accepted
Brown University Accepted
Columbia University Accepted
Dartmouth College Accepted
Harvard University Accepted (Attending)
Middlebury College Accepted
Mount Holyoke College Accepted
Princeton University Accepted
Rice University Accepted
Smith College Accepted
Swarthmore College Accepted
University of Chicago Accepted
Wellesley College Accepted
Williams College Accepted
Yale University SCEA Deferred/Accepted
Profile
School Type: Public
Location: Jackson, WY, US
Race/Gender: Caucasian/Female
Prospective Major: Philosophy/Anthropology/Lingustics
AIM: bleu et brun
Unweighted GPA: 3.97
Weighted GPA: 4.11
Class rank: Top 5% of ~150
SAT I Scores
SAT I Math: 740
SAT I Verbal: 790
SAT II Scores
SAT II Writing: 800
SAT II Literature: 790
SAT II U.S. History: 760
SAT II Chemistry: 690
Long-form Info
Extracurricular Info
Main Time Commitments:
Nonvoting member of our county’s Board of Education (11, 12); This is one of only two student positions in the state.
Global Connections Club (9-12; Leadership Board - 11, President - 12)
National Honors Society (11, 12; President - 12)
Coordinator of Elementary School Homework Help Program (11, 12)
Model UN (10-12; A few small awards)
Mentoring (10-12)
Various Clubs:
Key Club (10-12)
Newspaper (11, 12)
Amnesty International (9, 10, 11, 12)
Working:
Job at small local business (9, 10)
Tutoring (10, 11, 12)
Conferences/Committees:
Several UN-related/sponsored student conferences (10, 11, 12; Member of smaller subcommittees)
Student Principal Search Committee (10)
Miscellaneous:
Figure Skating/Figure Skating Club (9) – Occasionally required over 40 hours per week
Employment:
Office Assitant (9, 10)
Tutoring (9, 10, 11, 12)
October 2004: Selected as first Rotary Student of the Month from my class. Selection is made by principal and counselors.
Finalist in Coca Cola Scholarship
<hr>
Other Info
Also applying to Scripps, in case I need a safety school that offers nice merit scholarships.
<strong>EDIT: Haha, looks like they read this site. They waitlisted me after I declined the scholarship weekend on campus.</strong>
I took the hardest courseload my school offered, including independent study classes. All of my grades range from A+ to A-, with the exception of one B in college-level Chemistry during second semester sophomore year.
My schedule for senior year is :
AP Physics B
Anatomy and Physiology
AP Spanish Language
AP English Literature
AP Calculus AB
Independent Study Linguistics
Independent Study Philosophy
<strong>I missed two months of school due to being on bedrest for mono, so I had to dramatically alter my senior schedule. I am now taking AP English Literature, Human Physiology, and World Religions. The latter two are at my local community college.</strong>
In the summers of 2003 and 2004, I took classes for credit at Brown. They were Intro to Neuroscience (B), Nature of Cognitive Development (B), Medicine, Law & Morality (A), and Modern Middle Eastern History (A).
National Merit Scholar
I have several community college credits that I won’t try to transfer.
AP Scores: Statistics - 5, US History - 3
AP Classes I’ve Taken (10-12): US History, Statistics, Biology, Physics B, Calculus AB, English Lit, and Spanish Language
Independent Study Courses: Latin I (10), Lingustics (12), and Philosophy (12)
Updates:
February 8 - Accepted to Rice Interim Decision with $60K in merit aid
February 22 - Received Likely Letter from Wellesley
February 22 - Notified of Finalist status in Coca Cola Scholars
March 1 - Likely Letter from Dartmouth
March 12 - Phone call from Williams welcoming me to the class of 2009
March 14 - Received acceptance letters from both Swarthmore and Williams
March 21 - Accepted to Smith as a STRIDE scholar
March 26 - Accepted to Middlebury (weak financial aid)
March 28 - Accepted to Wellesley
March 28 - Accepted to Smith
March 28 - Accepted to Mt. Holyoke with a $25,000/yr scholarship
March 28 - Waitlisted at Scripps
March 31 - Official Dartmouth acceptance and reasonable financial aid package
March 31 - Accepted at Brown
March 31 - Accepted at Columbia
March 31 - Accepted at Harvard
March 31 - Incredibly surprising acceptance from Yale after being deferred in the EA round
For the class of 2010: Even if you think you’re SURE you’re going to one school, do your best to attend the admitted students days for all your top choices. Visiting is key. And although your choice may seem like a difficult one, try to take a step back and envision your life for the next four years. This choice will be easier and clearer than you think. Don’t be discouraged by bumps in the road or having to head down different paths than the one you think looks best. Everything will work out and some people think that everything happens for a reason. After I was deferred from Yale, I was VERY discouraged and thought that I’d have to go somewhere that wasn’t best for me or that I wouldn’t like as much. Had I been accepted EA, I would have without a doubt matriculated to the Yale Class of 2009. Instead, I headed down a different path and will be a member of the Harvard Class of 2009 - the place I’m convinced is the best place for me for the next four years. Don’t be a prestige whore. Don’t choose a school based on the name. Don’t choose a school because of what your parents, friends, or guidance counselor tells you. Take a step back and choose what’s going to be the best for you. It all works out in the end.
5.19.2005 - Further Reflections:
As I think about the process and how I handled it, I feel that it’s worth it to note a few things I would have done differently. Most notably, I would have not applied to the following schools: University of Chicago, Middlebury, Scripps, and Williams. Other schools that come close to making that list are Columbia and Dartmouth, although I still think my reasons for applying to those two were justified. Don’t apply anywhere you couldn’t be ecstatically happy. There’s really no point, is there? You MUST find safety schools. But there are safety schools out there that match your needs, personality, and desires better than many of the reach schools you may be tempted to apply to. Girls: I cannot stress enough how cool some of America’s women’s colleges are. You may think they’re not for you and maybe they’re not. But they’re at least worth a glance and what harm could there be in just visiting one?
I realize that my case is a strange one, but I came up with a core list of schools that I really loved. Ignoring the four exceptions I listed above, I was sad to turn down every school I wasn’t able to attend. I’d encourage every high school upperclassman to try to develop a list like this. When you pick a college, no matter which college on your list it ends up being, from the most prestigious to the unknown college close to home, you should be EXCITED. Undoubtedly, you worked very hard to get to the place where you could make a decision about colleges. In my case, it had been a LONG time since there was something in my life that I could get REALLY excited about. Now, everytime I think about my next four years, I can’t wait. They can’t start soon enough for me. When I devote just a few seconds to thinking about it, I get a huge smile on my face and want to giggle and dance around. It’s not because of the H-Bomb. It’s because I found a place that I truly think is SUCH a perfect fit for me and is going to give me everything I could have imagined for the next four years, plus some. Whether you get to go to Harvard or Haverford or Hartford or The Barlard School of Clowining, just be sure that it’s a place that can make you REALLY excited about what’s in store for you and your life. Don’t apply to a school if you’d be disappointed to go there. There are too many amazing schools for that. Generate a list of schools that inspire you.
Now still happy about a second year at Harvard.
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Asian female, public high school in central Florida
SATs: 710 M/700 V/760 W
SAT IIs: 770 Lit/750 World History/740 Math 1/720 Math 2
GPA: 3.8-ish (I also failed one class)
Rank: ~7/600
APs taken:
World History
European History
US History
Art History
English Lit
English Comp
Calc I
Calc II
US Government
For language, I took Latin.
ECs:
NHS - VP
MAT - founder/P
Newspaper - layout editor/clubs editor
Theatre - female lead in a one-act, then I quit
I also did a lot of journalistic writing for several organizations
But I think what made me stand out was my TV work.
I edited/produced/filmed a local show, anchored for the daily show, created several independent projects.
I also went to south Vietnam several times on an self-sponsored charity mission.
Intended major/concentration: Linguistics, International Relations, Modern Culture & The Media
Brown - accepted (and will be going)
Yale - rejected
Columbia - rejected (I didn’t care for this one, as I applied out of peer pressure)
St. Olaf - accepted after they moved me to EA from regular
Williams - accepted by early write
Haverford - accepted
Wesleyan - accepted
Middlebury - accepted
As you can see, my list is very liberal arts/reach heavy. My only safety school was a tiny Lutheran school in Minnesota… not exactly a good match for me.
I was so sure I would be either going to Williams or Wesleyan (my dream school for ages), but when I visited, it just seemed so so so small. I felt suffocated… then I visited Brown. It was absolutely perfect for me; it had that community feel with a larger campus and population.
Additionally, the “What are my chances threads” are awful because everybody practically said I couldn’t get in anywhere because my stats weren’t strong enough. I never really cared for numbers, anyway.
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African American male attending a Quaker school in Philadelphia, PA:
Accepted: Howard University, Morehouse College, University of Pittsburgh, University of Maryland- College Park
Waitlisted: N/A
Rejected: Harvard, Yale
Interesting Note: 4/6, only rejected at Ivies. Only applied to ivies at request of my mom, so I’m happy.
School Type: Quaker
Location: Philly
Race/Gender: Black
Prospective Major: Journalism/ English
GPA: B+ (school doesnt give GPA)
Class rank: (school doesnt rank OR give awards)
SAT I Scores (look how low they are… but LOOK how many places I got in! my my my… it seems that SAT’s do not matter at all)
SAT I Math: 550
SAT I Critical Reading: 580
SAT I Writing: 640
SAT II Scores
SAT II Literature: 580
SAT II French: 470 (HAHAHAHAHA)
SAT II Math IC: 540
Long-form Info
Extracurricular Info
-Head of News on School Newspaper
-School Chorus
-School Choir
-School A Cappella group
-long term interest in music (can play 3 instruments)
-No sports
-Little if any community service, but involved in school (helping out Administration and such)
-VERY strong writer; thus, my essays were solid and polished.
-Held down a summer job as a camp counselor for three years.
THUS: commitment shown to writing, work, and music.
Grades: (the school is tough, but I was very lazy during freshman year)
9th: Mainly C’s
10th: C’s and B’s
11th: Mainly B’s
12: All A’s and B’s
Accepted: Brandeis (attending, full-tuition), BU (half-tuition), Vassar, Haverford, Northwestern, Wash U., UChicago, Tufts
Waitlisted: Cornell
Rejected: Columbia (ED deferral)
School Type: public (somewhat above average, not stellar)
Location: MA
Race/Gender: Asian/Female
Prospective Major: English
Unweighted GPA: 3.9
Weighted GPA: 4.4
Class rank: 3/~290
SAT I Scores
SAT I Math: 760
SAT I Critical Reading: 800
SAT I Writing: 680
Total: 2240
SAT II Scores
SAT II Literature: 750
SAT II U.S. History: 750
SAT II Math IIC: 770
AP Scores:
Lit: 5
Calc AB: :-/
US: 4
Bio: 4
Lang: 5
Extracurriculars
- newspaper (9-12), (co-editor in chief 12)
- mock trial (9-12),
- math team (9-12), (secretary 12)
- nhs (11-12), (vice-president 12)
-
- several other unimportant things
<ul>
<li>a little bit of NHS-related volunteering, nothing significant</li>
</ul>
Work experience
- several years at a Chinese food restaurant, cashier
- one summer, full-time, menial job at father’s company
Awards
- girls state
- HOBY
- Yale book award
- National Merit Finalist
Essays:
- for the common app, did topic of my choice - being stranded between my family’s culture (+ guilt for neglect of said culture) and my urge to assimilate (my town is a predominantly white suburb). I waxed lyrical about literature for the other ones, mostly. (including UChicago, where I didn’t do any of their given essay topics)
Recs
- very positive, especially from my english teacher, but not outstanding
A NOTE:
I am proof that you can be a decent student with decent SAT’s/extracurrics/essays but expressly NOT SPECIAL, and still get into good schools. Even if you’re an Asian female, ha. I think my extracurriculars were my weakest point - they were very standard, and it’s probably why I didn’t stand out enough for Columbia & also Cornell. (although that one’s sketchy, the two other people from my school are a legacy and a recruited athlete)
Good luck everyone! And please take everything you see on this site with very large grains of salt. It helped me a lot with applying, but it also made me extremely stressed out about the !!! students who applied to crazy schools. So don’t overly stress out and take your time with everything, especially the essays. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE.
Wow, I’m kind of surprised to see how many schools people applied to. I only applied to four when I was in high school. I picked the one I liked best out of each of the four types of schools I was applying to. Probably not my best idea ever.
My D applied: James Madison, George Mason, Goucher, Towson, Randolph Macon, Nazareth, & St. John Fisher
Accepted to all but James Madison:
Stats:
Class Rank: 41 of 144
SAT’s 1070
ACT’s: 23
GPA 3.3
2 AP classes
A lot of EC’s, including:
4 years of theatre including lead role in senior year production
class officer
school newspaper
yearbook staff
big brother / big sister program
church lector / cantor
2 foreign travel experiences
Accepted: Duke, Vanderbilt, Washington and Lee (Full tuition), Tulane (Half Ride), UDelaware (Full Ride), UMaryland(Prez Scholarship 8k/yr)
Waitlisted: Harvard
Rejected: Yale(deferred SCEA), Darmouth, Penn
Prospective Major: Politics/Economics/History?
School Type: Competitive suburban public
Race/Gender: White male
SAT: 2220 (750r/720m/750w(12))
GPA: 3.9ish UW, 5.1ish W (AP=5.5) (Took 11 AP Classes)
Rank: 5/281
ECs:
Student Body President
Varsity Swim Captain
Young Republicans Founder/President
Capatain - Academic Bowl/Math League/Science Olympiad, etc.
Eagle Scout
Lots of volunteering for GOP (RNC in NYC, etc.)
Awards:
National Science Olympiad, Commended National Merit, Math League Medalist, Science Olympiad Gold Medalist, etc.
Essay: About how I took an idea I had and helped overturn a crappy program in the high schools in my state
Ivies are overrated. Plus, if you are conservative, don’t let them know. Telling my Dartmouth interviewer that I intended to work on The Dartmouth Review certainly didn’t help my cause, nor did my activism impress my Yale interviewer - a clerk for a Dem. appointed judge.
Look beyond the name brand schools and you will find a true fit. And, if your stats are good enough for an Ivy, etc., then find scholarships. Undergrad isn’t worth going into debt.
I’m going to W&L for free. I would have turned down the Ivies for this anyway.
Accepted: City University of New York at Hunter College, Fordham University, Hofstra University (with scholarship), Seton Hall University (with scholarship), St. John’s University (with scholarship)
Waitlisted, and eventually rejected: University of Michigan
School Type: Highly Competitive Private
Location: New York
Race/Gender: Caucasian
Prospective Major: Business Administration
Unweighted GPA: 3.3
Weighted GPA: N/A (My high school did not give weighted GPA’s)
Class rank: Don’t remember
SAT I Scores
SAT I Math: 630
SAT I Critical Reading: 750
SAT I Writing: 780
Didn’t take any SAT II’s.
Didn’t do any non-sports related EC’s.
Outstanding essay’s and rec’s.
Jeez louise, how hard IS it to get into Dartmouth!? It seems like most got rejected!
1 Like
accepted: all UCs
rejected: Stanford
scholarships: los angeles clippers community scholarship, cv town council scholarship, joseph. e masters scholarship, gates millenium finalist (didnt get it because i dont qualify for pell grant…arg)
i was going to write more but i have suddenly become lazy due to the abnormally high temperature in my room (its like 100 degrees and im too lazy to go turn on the ac).
“Jeez louise, how hard IS it to get into Dartmouth!? It seems like most got rejected!”
and they still call dartmouth one of the “lower ivies” … hmmph
(rejected from dartmouth XD)
“and they still call dartmouth one of the “lower ivies” … hmmph”
Ouch. I’m wounded. 
Funny that I would skip to the end of this topic to post my stats and find people discussing the very school I’m about to start at.
Accepted: Dartmouth (matriculating), Tufts, Emory, Bryn Mawr (small scholarship), University of Richmond (huge scholarship)
WL: William & Mary
Rejected: Brown (ED Deferred/rejected), Swarthmore
SATs:
Verbal 760
Math 690
Writing 790
SAT IIs:
French (reading) 760
Lit 720
Math IC 590
GPA: 3.95
ECs:
President of Debate Team
4 years on Mock Trial team
French Honors Society
Volunteer work at local theater
yay! you’ve given me hope libertylives!
Graduated 2006
Attending: Carnegie Mellon, engineering
Accepted: Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Univ. of Michigan.
Rejected: MIT, Caltech, Stanford
White Male. Large public high school. Chicago Suburbs.
SAT: 800 math, 750 crit. reading, 710 writing
SAT 2: 800 math II-C, 770 physics, 730 (?) US history
ACT: 36
ranked 31/~850
~3.7 unweighted/ 4.9 weighted GPA (basically, 2 B’s per semester, 5 A’s)
APs:
French Lang. - 3
US History - 4
English Lit. - 4
Calc BC - 5
Microecon - 4
Macroecon - 5
Physics C (both parts) - 5
Psychology - 5
4 years of Math Team state competitions
Eagle Scout
2 years of Soccer (frosh-soph)
4 years of Ice Hockey
National Merit Finalist (BTW, National Merit is such a waste - I was a finalist and still managed to get $0 because I’m not going to a school that gives National Merit money)
A short research job at a University of Illinois at Chicago Bio-engineering lab
2 amazing recommendation letters from my math and english teachers (that I know/knew very well) and 1 average recommendation letter from the researcher I worked under.
I wrote individual, personalized essays for each school. Only Carnegie and Cornell did Common App. I made up a story about how I stopped a group member from cheating on a project and took the lower grade instead; it was based on real people and a real project, just spiced up a bit 
But all of my “tell us why you want to study that” essays were written from scratch for each school, so I was able to mention research projects that were ongoing at the school and personalize it to the school’s flair. Unfortunately, I didn’t start this approach until AFTER I wrote my MIT essay…
Class: 2006
Accepted: UC Berkeley (attending for Architecture), UCI (Honors Program), UCSD, Cal Poly Pomona (Honors Program)
Rejected: UCLA
School Type: Small public high school, not very competitive
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Race/Gender: Asian/Female
Prospective Major: Architecture
GPA: (weighted with honors and AP classes) ~4.2
Class rank: 16/~230
SAT I total score: 2170
Math: 640
Critical Reading: 790
Writing: 740
SAT II scores:
Biology M: 680
U.S. History: 670
Literature: 710
Mathematics Level 2: 670
AP scores:
Biology: 5
US History: 3
Physics B: 3
English Lit/Comp: 5
Extracurriculars:
Chorale 1 year
Yearbook 1 year
Key Club 3 years (Historian 1 year)
Mattel Internship 1 semester
Awards:
Reflections Literature Contest (1st Place, locally)
English Speaking Union of Los Angeles Shakespeare Contest (2nd place)
Essays:
I wrote about my impractical love for writing, and about how my deceased grandfather’s alcoholism influenced my morals (which have taken precedence over all my life decisions, despite temptation and peer pressure and all that junk).
I’m fairly lazy compared to most of the people here. I didn’t apply to any schools that required recommendation letters, I didn’t file a FAFSA, I didn’t continue with my ECs because I got tired of them, I didn’t take any SAT prep courses, and, as an underclasswoman, I didn’t even aspire to go to college. I thought, well, I’m going to be a writer, and writers don’t need to go to college. I also thought I wanted to go to Brooks or FIDM for fashion design. It’s funny how things turn out.
Anyway, I hope my laughable stats give you guys some hope. If you’re wondering how I got into Berkeley for Architecture, it’s fine, because I’ve been wondering ever since I got the letter.
HS Class of 2006.
Accepted: Emory (ED); Tulane (EA), BC (EA)… Withdrew from UMich
Attending: Emory
Small Private HS in MA.
GPA = unweighted 92.3%
Top 10% of class.
SAT I = 2020 (800M, 600V, 620W)… 1400/1600
SAT II = Chemistry (750) and Math IIC (740)
ACT = 29
AP = U.S. History- 4; AP Bio- 5; AP Spanish- 3; AP Calc. A/B- 5
Honor Roll Grades 9, 10, 11, 12.
- Various awards, nothing substantial.
Academic Activities:
Stock Club Involved Grades 11 and 12. Founded Club in Grade 11. Club President for Grades 11 and 12.
Science Team Involved Grades 10, 11, and 12. Team Captain for Grade 12.
Model United Nations Involved Grade 11 (First year school participated in conference) and Grade 12.
Debate Team. Involved Grade 11 (First year team was founded) and 12.
Multi-Cultural Club Involved Grades 9 and 10.
I’ll bite.
HS Class of 2006
Accepted: MIT (attending), Cornell, JHU biomed, Dartmouth, Emory, GA Tech (full tuition), Case Western (half tuition), Lehigh
Rejected: Duke ( I really screwed up on my application…I accidentally put the same essay down twice…oopsies).
White Female. Prospective Major: Biological/Biomedical Engineering and Spanish
GPA: 4.4something W
Class Rank: 6 of 380(based on unweighted GPA).
SAT: 740M, 730V, 760CR
SAT II: US: 770, Chem: 760, Math IIC: 780, Literature: 790
APs: 5s on Calc AB, US, and Language. 4s on Lit, Euro, Stat, Chem, Spanish Lang. At time of application: AP Scholar with Honor
Extracurriculars: Violin for since forever. First violin with Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra for two years. Did the whole Collective Soul concert thing/DVD recording with them.
Science Olympiad: 4th and 3rd in Life Sciences at Nationals. all first in two events at State several years in a row. Multiple firsts at regional level in a bunch of events. Team won National Championship in 9th grade.
Academic team captain in junior and senior year.
Junior Officer and then President of Beta Club.
Flying: soloed and did solo cross country. Had about 60 hours and 250+ landings at time of application.
Varisty swimming for two years.
Varsity Honor Roll for four years. Received three deparmental awards for the best student in AP Chem, AP US, and AP Statistics.
I’m sure there’s other stuff that I’m totally forgetting…but that’s the big idea.
Accepted: Northwestern (attending), Emory, Tulane (1/2 scholarship), UT-Austin (Honors), and George Washington (honors & 1/2 scholarship)
Waitlisted: UVA & Johns Hopkins (did not get off either)
Rejected: Duke & Georgetown (applied EA, deferred, rejected)
Competitive magnet program in NJ
Rank: 7/425
SAT: 2150
Reading: 680
Math: 720
Writing: 750
SAT 2:
Math 1: 750
Math 2: 800
US History: 750
AP:
US Hist: 5
Calc AB: 5
Junior State of America: multi-state position, 2-time treasurer for my school
Math Club: 4 years, co-captain
Forensics: president of my team, 3-time state finalist (top 6), 4th at the Tournament of Champions, 5th in the country
Essays: my essay on forensics was excellent. it showed drive, initiative, determination, and ability.
Recs:
Guidance - good, i assume
teachers - one was good and the other two were great
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