To be honest, I’m surprised I got into any of the schools beyond Berkeley … even Northwestern was a reach since it’s music school is selective and I didn’t have much of a gauge of my musical ability. I’m just very thankful everything worked out 
I don’t think Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, or MIT would’ve changed things anyway. My favorite West Coast school was Stanford. East Coast? Yale. Midwest? Northwestern. I guess I just got lucky!
hahaha, I guess, or you worked your butt off and it all payed off!
Attending: UC Berkeley
Accepted: UCLA, UCSD, UC Irvine
Waitlisted: none
Rejected: none
School Type: Public
Location: California
Race: Asian
Gender: male
Major: mechanical engineering
Weighted GPA: 4.4
Class rank: Top 4% (qualified for UC’s Eligibility in Local Context)
SAT I Scores
SAT I Math: 800
SAT I Critical Reading: 680
SAT I Writing: 710
(all scores approximate-it’s been awhile)
SAT II Scores
SAT II Physics: 790
SAT II Math IIC: 790
SAT II Chemistry: 760
(all scores approximate-it’s been awhile)
Long-form Info
Extracurricular Info
*10 Years of piano
*3 years of Science Olympiad (2 in high school, 1 in junior high)
Awards
*First place in regionals for Physics Lab (event at Science Olympiad)
*First place in state for Five Star Science (event at Science Olympiad)
Essays:
Short UC essay that they ask for
Recs
*One from math teacher (for a scholarship)
Note:
Graduated high school in 2007
Currently UC Berkeley Class of 2011
I’ve always wanted to post on CC, but never got around to it haha
The Good:
-Composite Score of 30 on ACT (Superscore of 32)
-SAT II 670 on US History and 660 on Literature
-Heavily active and competitive in Mixed Martial Arts all throughout high school
-Successful in debate competitions during Junior and Senior year
-My essays
The Bad:
-Ranked in the top 40% of my class
-Little to no participation in school-sponsored events beyond debate
**
The Ugly**:
-Weighted GPA of 3.7 (Just above 3.0 UW
-UC GPA of 3.5
-3 C’s during my Sophomore year
Attending: UC Berkeley
**
Accepted**: UCSC, UCD, Reed College, Lewis & Clark College, Drexel University, Seattle University, Boston University, Skidmore College, Fordhman University, Northeastern University
Weight-listed: American University, Tulane University
Rejected: Pitzer College, George Washington University, UCSB, UCSD, NYU
bump******
Public school in PA - school sends 10-20 each year to ivies (turned out to be 5 for my graduating class)
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Major: Economics
SAT: 2220 (800 math, 720 writing, 700 reading)
SAT 2: Math II = 800
Chemistry = 740
Rank: 4/1020
GPA: 4.0 UW
APs: 3 (calc AB-5, statistics-5, chemistry-4) by the end of junior year, 7 (economics, french, psychology, calc BC) by the end of senior year
Rigor: Pretty hard but my school offers several APs and I have not taken some (history & english)
Awards:
National merit semifinalist (turned out to be finalist)
AIME qualifier (114 AMC 12 score if that matters)
Distinguished honor roll
AP scholar
Various tennis awards
ECs:
JV Tennis 9-10, Varsity tennis 11
Interning at a local place that provides food/housing assistance for the needy. I do data entry, statistical analysis, grant management, and an assortment of other things here.
Volunteered at physical therapy institute/retirement home ~ 50 hrs
Student government representative in 10th grade, senator in 11th and 12th
NJHS VP in 9th grade, NHS in 11th and 12th (induction cabinet member)
Worked at grocery store as a cashier from july 2009 - feb 2010
i was in a couple other clubs but decided not to include any of them on my commonapp
Accepted:
Cornell University ED - Attending
University of Michigan
University of Alabama - Full Ride (National Merit Finalist)
Penn State University Park
good luck to class of 2011!!!
hey thanks, and best of luck to you at Cornell!
cant we get some posters on here that dont have 3.9+, 800s on the SAT and other things where we know your obviously getting into great schools? your hitting like 1% of the population we need some people with 3.0 and other just average students, dont be embaressed atleast your going to a college.
Alright, well. I never thought I would get the chance to brag about myself and have it help other people. But if it gives high school students peace of mind, I will =)
Accepted: Cal Poly Slo, Humboldt, RIT, Carnegie Mellon, UCSC, UCI,
Waitlisted: Boston University
Rejected: MIT, Northwestern, NYU, UCLA, NYU
High School Type: Public
Location: Southern California
Race/Gender: Caucasian
Prospective Major: Computer Science
Unweighted GPA: 3.8
Weighted GPA: 4.125
Class rank: 52 out of approx 750
(Fun fact: We sent one student this year to MIT from my graduating class. I have heard of people who have gone to Yale and Princeton)
SAT I Scores
SAT I Math: 590
SAT I Critical Reading: 550
SAT I Writing: 640
SAT II Scores
SAT II Chemistry: 710
SAT II Math II: 590
AP Scores (at time of application)
AP Chem- 3
AP Computer Science- 4
AP Lang- 3
Long-form Info
Extracurricular Info
AYSO Soccer 11 years
HS Soccer 2 years
Math Tutor 2 years
Computer Science club secretary
National Ocean Sciences Bowl team member
Comedy Sportz team member
Work Experience
Babysitter 3 years
Awards:
AP Scholar Award
Superintendent’s Honor Roll
Academic Achievement while participating in an Athletic Sport
Dolphin Achievement Award
Most Improved Player on Frosh/Soph Soccer
AYSO Sportsmanship Award
<strong>More Info</strong>
I basically had two separate applications. Cal Poly’s and Humboldt’s I don’t count in this one because it was basically just grade reporting. I’m really proud that I got accepted into Cal Poly though.
Anyhoozle!
CommonApp
In my CommonApp essay, I wrote about the hardships I endured while watching my family fall apart right before my eyes and trying to deal with my family’s problem with alcoholism. I wrote about how it made me a better person and someone who strived to improve themselves against overwhelming odds of being the first person in my family to go to college.
UC Campuses
My University of California application was pretty much the same, with some minor tweaks. In one essay I wrote about how my father and I had spent so much time together with computers and that had influenced what I wanted to major in because I was so passionate about it. Also mentioned how I hadn’t had contact with him in two years and that helped me remain close to him.
The other essay pertained to something that had influenced who I was. Again, I used my father as an example and how he exposed me to satire in things like SNL influenced the fact that I enjoyed comedy shows that allowed me to laugh and help me through the difficult times.
Today–
Freshman at UC Irvine
Major in Computer Science
CA High School Merit Diploma
Valedictorian
I hope this helps someone! Please feel free to contact me if you have questions
^that’s pretty impressive. Best of luck.
I’m a rising Junior, I just wanted to know how i’m doing so far…
Gender: F
African American/Black [Born in Nigeria]
W GPA: 4.32
UNW GPA: 3.something
Soph. PSAT: 177
Rank: 7/753
No SAT scores yet
No AP Classes Yet, Honors/CP
Junior Year Schedule:
Advanced Human Anatomy/Physiology [Dual Enrollment]
French III [skipped French II]
Ap US History
AA Junior English [My school does not offer AP till senior year]
Pre Calculus [Dual Enrollment]
Academic Decathalon [First year]
Senior Year Schedule:
Calculus AB/BC
AP English
French IV AP [hopefully, my school does not offer currently]
AP Physics [Dual Enrollment]
AP Govt./Econ.
Academic Decathalon
EC’s:
Key Club 10-12, Treasurer 11
Coyote Connection Leaders [Amabassador club] Officer 11
National Honors Society 11-12
National Society of High School Scholars 11-12
**Chartering French Club this year
Mayor’s youth Committe [city wide] 11-12, new member
Governor’s Youth Commission [State wide, super competitive] 11-12, new member
Volunteered this summer at lib, 30 something hours
Teen Advisory Board Member, Library
Mesa Historical Museum Volunteer
AWARDS:
not much BUT:
2010 Anthem Essay Contest Semi-finalist
*working on this…
What do u guys think…
i’m thinking of ivy league[HYPS], but i’m not sure
^ This is not a chance thread.
Thank you silver.
Applied and accepted: Northeastern (attending, honors, full tuition scholarship), U of Minnesota (honors, almost full ride), Carthage College (honors, some scholarship)
Rejected: none
Major: behavioral neuroscience
I didn’t bother applying to Ivies and such because there isn’t much in the way of merit scholarships for those schools. I went for schools that gave me IB credit, good scholarships, and my major. I pretty much knew I was going to get into the schools I applied to.
White female
Wants-to-be-competitive public school in the middle of Wisconsin
GPA: 4.0 (school doesn’t weight GPA)
ACT: 34
SAT: 2150 (highest in my school because out here in the midwest no one really takes/cares about SAT)
AP: Calc AB (5), Chem (5)
IB: Math Studies SL (6), German SL (7), Psych HL (5), Physics HL (6), English HL (6), History HL (5).
My course schedule was as rigorous as possible at my school and I took Calc II at the local U senior year. Still often bored, though sleep-deprived.
Honors: National Merit, National Honor Society, IB Diploma, etc.
Extracurriculars: tech crew, band, church, Girls Nation, German club, curling, etc.
I’m too lazy to list all everything, but those are some major ones.
Recs: quite good; all my teachers and counselors loved me because I was their poster child of the year. (4.0 full-IB is rare here)
Essays: I’m a good writer, but they were nothing special in terms of topic. I didn’t spend much of any time on them because I wasn’t very concerned about getting accepted. But when it asked me to write about an extracurricular activity, I had a pretty wicked one about being a ninja techie, along with a decent one with an extended shoe metaphor.
My tips to prospective students: Don’t over-apply. Narrow down your selections somewhat before you apply. It’s cheaper and and you can spend more time focusing on the applications you do fill out. Also look ahead of time at chances for scholarships at specific schools (the only reason I applied to Carthage), keep a rigorous course schedule, and all that crap your teachers and counselors tell you.
i think a 4.0 full-IB is rare anywhere! And i would agree about the part about limiting what schools you apply to.
Congrats on the full scholarship to Northeastern!
Alright guys this is my cousin’s ( I have 3 will post the others’ info later) info:
Male, Indian, from Florida
Major: Economics
School: Reasonably competitive Catholic high school
Standardized Testing: SAT: (800,800,790) 2390
AP Classes: Calculus BC, Macro and Micro Economics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics C Elec., Computer Science A, Eng. Lang, English Lit, Psychology, AP Physics B, AP Calculus AB subscore, United States History. 5 on all exams except APUSH, which he made a 4 on. He also took up to Calculus III at a local community college.
Essays: Looked great, I read them
Recommendations: Awesome one from counselor, good ones from English and math teachers.
GPA: 4.0 school did not weight
Rank: 1/200 (Valedictorian-school had only 1 valedictorian.
Honors/Awards:
AP Scholar
AP Scholar with distinction
National AP Scholar
Something about Siemens
Principal’s Honor Roll
National Merit Semifinalist
EC: Teen Court (Attorney, Camp Counselor 1000 hrs, Hospital volunteer, Mentor, Tennis, Soccer (both non-varsity), Research.
Hooks: None at all.
Applied: Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Stanford, FSU (as a safety), Rice, Cornell, CalTech, Johns Hopkins.
Rejected: Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, CalTech
Waitlisted: Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Rice
Accepted: Yale, FSU,
Attending: Yale
When applying to HYPS, at some point I think it’s just the luck of the draw. My friend who is now a sophomore at Princeton was 3rd in a class of 500, student repesentarive for the school board, editor in chief of the newspaper, mock trial for four years, cross country for four years, excellent test scores and was rejected by Yale and waitlisted by Stanford, her dream school. Similar to other posts on this thread with excellent qualifications but got into one ivy and not the others.
Back from my chance thread last year
Applied:
Stanford (EA), Cornell, Rice (Rice/Baylor), WashU, USC (BacMD), Northwestern, JHU BME, Duke, Case Western (Combined Medical), University of Rochester (REMS)
Accepted: Stanford (EA), Cornell, Rice (Rice/Baylor Combined Medical Program), WashU, USC, Northwestern, JHU Biomedical Engineering, Duke, Case Western, University of Rochester (REMS)
Rejected: BacMD program of USC, Case Western PPSP (Combined medical program)
Attending: Stanford
Is there anyone here who got less than 2000 on the SAT!?! Over acheiving people!
Not really^