Good advice. Too often kids over apply. So many essays, so much $$, and many will get just where they want to go by narrowing their search by focusing in on major and fit. These days it is alot of work and time applying; kids get very discouraged.
Accepted:
UCSB, Creighton University ($18k merit), Franklin & Marshall College, The George Washington University (10k merit), Miami University, Oxford ($6k merit, honors program), Saint Michael’s College ($17k merit, honors program), Seattle University ($18k merit, core honors program), Syracuse University ($12k merit)
Waitlisted: UCSD, American University
Rejected: UCLA, Haverford College, Pomona College, Swarthmore College, Vassar College
Attending: UCSB! Go Gauchos!!
Objective:
GPA: 3.8 (unweighted), 4.13 (weighted)
SAT I: 2080 COMBINED, 580 M, 800 CR, 700 W
SAT II: Math 2: 560, US History: 620, Bio E: 690
Rank: My school doesn’t rank
AP: US Government (5); Biology (4); English Lang (pending), Psychology (pending), Macroeconomics (pending)
Senior Yr.: seven classes, three APs, one honors
Subjective:
ECs: Club Lacrosse, 400+ hours of community service, community club officer, Medical Explorers President, leader in my community service placement (at hospital), multiple leadership projects, extra Math and Science research class
Jobs/ Work Experience: Ronald McDonald House Camp Counselor (volunteer), Lacrosse Coach
Essays: I’m biased, but pretty good.
Recommendations: I never saw them, but I had good relationships with the teachers I asked.
Counselor Rec:
Interview: with F&M, Haverford, Swarthmore, Pomona
Other:
State: CA
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
$ Bracket: $200,000+
Hooks: None
Reflection:
Strengths: ECs, Critical Reading Score, some of my supplemental essays were amazing, others, not so much
Weaknesses: GPA, Math Score
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
For American University, I expressed absolutely no interest and even sent in my scores late (I would not recommend that). For the other liberal arts schools, I always knew they were a long shot with my GPA and scores, but I don’t regret applying. I was shocked and incredibly happy to be accepted at GWU and F&M. This was largely due to fit and my essays, but ultimately I could not attend either due to financial considerations for graduate school.
ADVICE: Try and figure out if the schools you are applying to and really want to go to (your top choices) give merit aid for students like me who don’t qualify for need based aid. This will save you a lot of pain when making the choice to go to your dream school with 80k in debt or go you a lesser school with no debt. Also, I applied to 15 schools. I know this is a lot, but if I were to do it all again, I would apply to more.
Finally, be open to change. I never pictured myself at UCSB, but when I stepped on campus at their admitted students day, I knew it was the challenge I am looking for.
@EE- no, stop. Many, many US kids with the same stats as your son’s get rejected from the schools your son got rejected from. No one should ‘except’ an acceptance from Caltech, MIT, Berkeley, and UM.
@EE At the end of the day, you’re simply making excuses and blaming the economy as the reason your son didn’t get in. You simply sound bitter rather than making a valid point.
Applied: Drexel University, Santa Clara University, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Los Angeles, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Northridge, St. Olaf College
Accepted: Drexel, Santa Clara University, UCI, UCSB, CSULB, CSUN, St. Olaf
Denied: UCLA & UCSD
Attending: Santa Clara University
Objective:
GPA: 3.83 unweighted (idk what weighted is)
SAT I: 1900 (670 M 630 CR 600 W)
SAT II: Math II: 660 Lit: 700
Rank: 16/147
AP’s: AP English Lang: 3
Senior Year Courseload: AP Calc. AB, AP Physics B, AP Gov, AP Lit, Video Production, Concert Choir II, World Religions/Christian Lifestyle, Economics
Subjective:
EC’s: Baseball, Cross Country, school musicals, school choir, poetry club, debate club, 100+ hours of community service, Family Homeroom Leader, spiritual retreat leader
Jobs/Work Experience: Junior Camp Counselor for 4 consecutive summers and gained experience working with kids that have special needs
Essays: I thought they were pretty good.
Recommendations: I’m pretty sure they were great.
Other:
State: CA
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $60,000
Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted:
I knew going in that UCLA and UCSD were kinda long shots for someone with my GPA SAT scores, so I don’t feel bad about those. On top of that I did apply for engineering, so that was basically asking for rejection from both of those schools, but hey, can’t say I didn’t try.
ADVICE: Research schools beforehand and have a serious discussion with your parents about how much they are able or willing to contribute to college per year. Also, if you’re in a lower income bracket like me, make sure you look for those schools that will give out quite a bit of $$$ to you. It helps a ton.
Reflection:
Strengths: EC’s, essays
Weaknesses: GPA & SAT scores
Major: Finance
Attending: Univeristy of Michigan - Ross Preferred Admit
Accepted: UMich (Ross), UCLA, UIUC, Indiana (Kelley)
Waitlisted: NYU, Virginia, BC
Rejected: Northwestern, Cal Berkeley
Objective:
GPA: 3.9 UW / 4.6 W
SAT I: Did not take
SAT II: Math II: 800, Physics: 770
ACT: 31
Rank: 9/510
AP: Lang (5), Calc BC (5),
Senior Yr.: All AP: Physics, stats, macroecon, gov’t/politics, literature, Calc 3
Major Awards: AP Scholar
Subjective:
ECs: Varsity Football, Varsity Track, BPA National Qualifier (3 years), with several top 10 and top 20 awards nationally, DECA National Qualifier (1 year), with one top 20 national award, Math Team State Qualifier, Captain, (4 years), etc etc
Jobs/ Work Experience: none
Essays: Solid but not extraordinary
Recommendations: solid but not extraordinary
Counselor Rec: see above
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: None
Other:
State: IL
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Hooks: none
Reflection:
Strengths: GPA, ECs, SAT IIs
Weaknesses: ACT
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Bit surprised by waitlist from BC. The rest were not a huge surprise. Legacy and strong essay helped for Ross - it was clearly my first choice. Still surprised that I got Ross Pre-Admit but not Boston College! Lol!
Objective:
2040 SAT (660, 670, 710)
Subjects: 710, 720
3.7 Unweighted Academic GPA
4.2 Weighted Academic GPA
Most rigorous schedule
EC’s:
Office Assistant Job
Science Hon Society Treasurer
Campaigned & volunteered for Mayor
Volunteered at animal shelter
Free math tutor
All the honor societies
First-gen white male from Florida
Decisions:
- Florida State University- Accepted
- Georgia Tech- Accepted
- UF- Rejected
- Vanderbilt- Rejected
- Columbia- Rejected
- NYU- Accepted
Attending: Florida State
Comments: To all of you underclassmen; make sure you really spend a good amount of time this summer choosing which colleges you’ll apply to. I applied to most on a whim, and really wished I’d have planned better.
maybe this will help someone…
Objectives:
GPA: 3.95/4.5 (UW/W)
SAT I (not superscored): 2320 (800M, 740CR, 780W)
SAT II: 800MII 790Chem
APs: AP Physics (9th grade): 5 AP Euro (10th grade): 5 AP Calc AB (10th): 5 AP USH (11th): 5 AP Calc BC (11th): 5/5 AP Chem (11th): 5
Senior Schedule: AP Comp Sci, AP Eng Lang, AP Art History, AP Bio, Linear Alg/Multivariable Calc, Research for credit
ECs (as appears on the common app, not in order):
-co-founder & VP of Economics club and lecture series
-Attourney Mock Trial team
-co-Senior Editor of Plaid literary magazine
-Volunteer at church’s vaccation bible school - director of photography
-Varsity Golf (3 letters)
-Math Teams (captain of NYCIML team, ARML, AIME, Mandebrot, School Math League)
-Photography teacher during the summer (paid and volunteering)
-Paid Lab assistant (this summer)
Awards:
National Latin/National Spanish Recognition
3rd Nationally for Literary magazine cover design
Best in school on AIME 2011
Photo Contests (too many to list)
Results:
UVA - Accepted + Attending
UPenn M+T - Accepted
Caltech - Accepted
Vanderbilt - Accepted
WashU - Accepted
Rice - Accepted
CaseWester - Accepted
URochester - Accepted
Stanford - Rejected
Harvey Mudd - Waitlisted
Stats:
GPA: 4.33 W 3.86 UW
Class Rank: 30-40/580~ so almost top 5%?
SAT I: 800 Math, 800 Reading, 710 Writing (I retook twice solely for writing and still couldn’t get past 710)
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 700 Spanish Lang, 780 Chemistry, 730 Bio
APs: Calc AB-5 Calc BC-5 Chem-5 Bio-5 Psych-5 Spanish-4 APUSH-4 APEH-4 PhysC Mech- 3 PhsyC E+M- 3 (Don’t take Physics C if you have no physics background and plan on sleeping all class, I was lucky to get 3s) Comp Sci and Gov this year (total 12, 10 taken)
Senior schedule: does this matter? I’m taking two classes this semester, Gov and Comp Sci
EC: President of Quizbowl for one year- Basically built it up from the ground senior year and won second at State Champs (Cali QBers here?)
VP of Academic League/Varsity player- I also coach frosh and have played all 4 years
Science Olympiad Coach of two events for two years- we eat chips and read powerpoints
Youth Group Leader- I actually show up unlike most of the people -.-
General Tutor for four years- I tutor in all subjects basically every day after school
Humanities Tutor- I teach people how to write essays, it’s actually the most rigorous activity I have to do
(Doesn’t sound like I do much but I spend like 3 hours each day doing my ECs if not more and every weekend is spent on quizbowl, YG, and SciOly)
Awards: AP Scholar with Distinction?? Idk I took APs
National AP Scholar lol
(so no actual awards heehee)
Results:
Berkeley: Accept to L+S, I wasn’t really surprised, our school feeds like 20-30 ppl to Cal each year with 50+ getting in
UCI: Accept, got into Honors Program, I was seriously considering going since they were the first school to accept me lol (but then other schools came out)
UCSD: Accept
UCLA: Accept
Stanford: Reject ('twas a pipe dream)
Columbia: Reject (did ED, was sad but then I realized I’m a bum)
Brown: Reject
Dartmouth: Reject (get someone good to write your peer evaluation, my friend was really lazy and put no effort)
WashU: Waitlist (One of my top schools)
UChicago: Waitlist (also one of my top schools)
NYU: Accept (I honestly thought it was a crappy school for my standards and I only applied because the essays were easy to copy and paste but after being the only private to accept me I did some research and it’s actually pretty cool)
Going to NYU because 62k scholarship which means I pay around 2k a year to attend supposedly one of the least affordable colleges woopee
also I’d like to talk about my essays, I had a private college counselor who helped me with my essays and I’d just like to say, don’t do it. They’re not you and they can’t help you write heartfelt essays. Just go to them for wording and grammar but the ideas should be your own, that was my bad when I applied to Columbia ED but I realized afterwards (still got wrecked but wev). Also the why? essays shouldn’t be you saying like “omg I listen to podcasts of professor x and I love the palm trees next to the jamba juice stand next to tammany hall” or stuff like that. Be honest but not honest to the point where you just say it has a good reputation. Do some research on their curriculum, requirements and education. Ex. Brown you can talk about how the lack of strict requirements allows you to take whatever classes you want and shape your own education (I didn’t write about that since I barely wrote the essay at all) or for UChicago where you have to take a lot of required classes you can talk about how you like being a well-rounded person or some crap. 
General Background Info:
Gender: Male
Race: Hispanic/Caucasian
Stats/Scores:
GPA (cumulative, unweighted): 3.51
GPA (cumulative, weighted): 3.81
Class Rank: Top 20% in class of ~150 (I go to a very competitive high school in Florida)
NOTE: Commas separate different times taken.
SAT Overall: 1750, 1740
SAT Math: 620, 600
SAT Writing: 590, 620
SAT Reading: 540, 520
SAT w/ Essay: 8, 8
ACT Composite: 26, 28
ACT Math: 30, 30
ACT English: 28, 28
ACT Science: 24, 30
ACT Reading: 20, 24
ACT w/ Essay: 10, 9
Course Rigor:
Freshman Year:
English 1
Spanish 1
Global Studies
Biology
Algebra 1 Honors
(1 Honors class out of a possible 2 Honors classes taken)
Sophomore Year:
Chemistry Honors
English 2
Spanish 2
World History Honors
Geometry Honors
(3 Honors classes out of a possible 3 Honors and 1 AP class taken)
Junior Year:
Physics Honors
English 3 Honors
Spanish 3 Honors
US History Honors
Algebra 2/Trig Honors
(5 Honors classes out of a possible 3 Honors and 2 AP classes taken [assuming you know if AP is offered, the Honors level of that same course offered])
Senior Year:
AP Chemistry
Honors Anatomy (AP Chemistry and Honors Anatomy are my two required elective choices I chose out of AP Chem, Honors Anatomy, Marine Bio, AP Physics, Honors European History, and AP Spanish 4)
English 4 Honors
American Econ/Gov Honors
Calculus Honors
(4 Honors classes and 1 AP class out of a possible 5 Honors classes (2 of which are electives, and only 2 electives can be chosen Senior year) and 6 AP classes (3 of which are electives, and only 2 electives can be chosen Senior year).
Extracurriculars:
-National Honor Society for 2 years
-Lacrosse for 4 years
-Mu Alpha Theta for 1 year
-Key Club for 2 years
-210 hours of community service (mainly working with children with learning disabilities or poor education and feeding the homeless/hungry in and around my community)
-Taught myself two programming languages (Python and VB.net, both a little bit short of intermediate levels [currently in the process of trying to learn Obj-C for development of iOS applications])
Results (listed in order of best academics):
Emory University-----------------------Denied
UNC Chapel Hill-------------------------Denied
University of Florida--------------------Accepted + Attending
Oxford College of Emory University—Accepted
University of Colorado Boulder--------Accepted
UNC Asheville---------------------------Accepted
University of South Florida-------------Accepted
UNC Charlotte---------------------------Accepted
If you have any questions regarding the college process – any part of it whatsoever – feel free to PM me. I might not respond immediately but I can assure you my answers will be of great help to you.
Stats:
GPA: 4.16 W
Rank: technically school doesn’t rank until graduation, but I’m 1 out of 150ish
SAT I: 800 CR 800 M 770 W (superstore from two sittings)
SAT II: 800 MII 750 Bio-E
AP: US History (5), Biology and Calculus AB (will receive scores in July)
ECs:
Quizbowl 4 years (won regional championship this year! Wooo!)
Scholarship Committee 4 years
Community Round Up Volunteer 4 years
Marine Corps Food Drive Volunteer 4 years
School Newspaper 3 years
Read and Lead 3 years
French Honor Society 3 years (co-president this year)
Eco Club 2 years
National Honor Society 2 years
Graduation Committee 1 year
Cashier 2 years
Daycare counselor 1 year
Summer intern at Yale Medical Center (going back this year, got about 300 hours of research done last year)
That’s all I can remember…
Essays: Okay, I put some humor in my experience at Yale
Recommendations: Excellent, chose teachers I felt really comfortable with and really like
Schools:
Yale (why not apply)-Rejected
Brown (also why not)-Waitlisted, chose not to keep my spot on waitlist
UMass Amherst-Accepted into Honors Program with $12k scholarship (OOS)
UConn: Accepted into Honors Program with full tuition and $2500 grant as well as their 8 year Special Program in Medicine
Final Decision: UConn as a Physiology and Neurobiology major:
Thoughts: for juniors, I suggest finding a school you know you can get into and feel comfortable attending. For me, I’ve known that I would be attending UConn since 8th grade because my family couldn’t afford to send me to a private school. But I didn’t care, because I found a good school for a great price. Try not to fixate on Ivies or near Ivies. I may have applied to Yale and Brown, but that was because my parents and I thought that I should have more than just two schools on my list. In any case, I’m pumped to become a UConn Husky!
Objectives:
GPA : 3.8/4.36 (UW/W)
SAT : 2260 (750M, 730CR, 780W)
ACT : 32 (superscored: 34E, 31M, 30R, 31S)
RANK : 25/454 ~top 5.5% (school is tied for first in Alabama based off of AP scores/academics)
AP Courses: AP World History (3 - freshmen year), AP US History (5), AP English Language & Composition (5), AP Chemistry (3). Total of 9. Total of 6 honors courses. 1 dual enrollment.
Senior Schedule: ; AP English Language & Composition, AP German Language & Culture, AP Calculus AB, AP Microeconomics, AP US Government & Politics, We The People: The Citizen and the Constitution (national debate program), Human Anatomy & Physiology
ECS:
Athletic
-Varsity Cross Country 4 Years
-Varsity Indoor Track & Field 2 Years (out of 2 available)
-Varsity Outdoor Track & Field 3 Years
…
-State Cross Country Champions in 6A division (contributed as 4 scoring runner)
-XC Team Won Sectionals twice
-Senior Team Captain for XC, Indoor, and Outdoor
-Won ‘Most Improved’ for 2012 XC Season
-Thomas Reynolds Scholar-Athlete Award for XC, Indoor, and Outdoor
-Ranked top 20 in state for 3200 and 5k for respective seasons
Academic
-We The People: The Citizen and the Constitution (national civics speech/debate program)
…
-Team won District Competition, qualifying for State
-Team won State Competition, qualifying for Nationals
-Team placed fourth at Nationals (my Unit scored 2nd highest out of all teams)
Leadership
-Boy Scouts (member for over 5 years)
-Key Club
-Fellowship of Christian Athletes; Team leader on church missions trips
…
-Eagle Scout; Eagle Scout project=200 hours+; NESA member
-Leadership positions: Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader, Quartermaster, Scribe
-Key Club Secretary (club was over 80 members and won awards for improvement)
Other Awards:
-Birmingham Scholar-Athlete (as selected by Birmingham News)
-AP Scholar with Honor
-President’s Volunteer Service Award - Silver (175 hours of service in 1 yr)
-Mu Alpha Theta; National Honor Society; National German Honor Society
-Service: 500+ service hours accumulated from Church missions trips (to Cherokee, NC…etc.), Scouts…etc.
-Received congressional nomination and 2 senatorial nominations
Other:
-Candidate Fitness Assessment score (for West Point): 5:25 run, max in pushups, 61 situps, max pull ups, 9.1 sec shuttle run
-I’ve played the piano for about 11 years; good talking point in interviews
Hook (possible):
Lived in London, England for 6 years; and been fortunate to travel throughout much of Europe (Norway to the Canary Islands……from Portugal to Cyprus)
Essays:
Poured my soul into each one. Didn’t have too many to writer overall so I focus on writing quality essays.
Recs:
Overall quite good.
Results:
The United States Military Academy at West Point … Accepted/Attending
The University of Alabama - University Fellows Experience … Accepted - Accepted $$$
Wake Forest … Accepted
Message me for USMA details. The process was extremely grueling as I started a little less than a year ago–but worth it! Also, the Fellows Program, though very difficult to get into (accepts 30/800 applicants) is superb!
Final Words of Advice: Shoot for the stars, pray a lot (Proverbs 3:5-6), work really really really hard to reach your potential. I’ve utilized this forum and it has helped me. Contribute to it to keep it awesome.
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
― Winston Churchill
My Profile:
SAT I (breakdown): 2310 (800 Math, 760 CR, 750 W)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 770 Chem, 790 USH
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): 7 fives so far
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs+ 1 Dual Enrollment
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP w/ Distinction, NM Finalist
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Eagle Scout, Nice Assortment of Scouting Awards and Honors, Backpacking, Trumpet (big time), Varsity Cross Country
Job/Work Experience: finance internships in the summer
Volunteer/Community service: a ton
Summer Activities: camping and stuff…
Essays: good, thoughtful, my voice came through, showed my hiking/camping/scouting passions in common app essays (and trumpet passions for supplements)
Teacher Recommendation: 8/10 and 10+/10
Counselor Rec: 9.5/10
Additional Rec: 10/10 (scoutmaster)
Interview: 8.5/10 (nailed the Princeton interview, but still got waitlisted…
)
Other
State (if domestic applicant):GA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender:M
Accepted: UChicago, Dartmouth, Duke, NYU Stern, Vandy, UMich Ross, UT Austin, UVA, UGA
Waitlisted: Princeton, Wharton-Penn, Columbia, Northwestern
Rejected: Harvard, Yale
Got some legit scholarships from UT Austin, UVA, Vandy, and UGA as well. The Princeton waitlist and eventual rejection was heartbreaking since it had been my dream school since 7th grade. Overall, I think I got what I deserved in admissions.
UChicago 2017!
Good luck future applicants!
Objectives:
GPA: ~3.9/4.55 (UW/W)
SAT I (not superscored): 2250 (780M, 740CR, 730W)
SAT II: 800MII, 770Bio M
APs: Calc BC (5), Bio (5), Eng Lang (5), APUSH (5), Physics C: Mech (pending), Physics C: E&M (pending), Chem (pending), Eng Lit (pending)
Senior Schedule: AP Physics C online, AP Chem, AP Lit, band, chorus (select), TA for multivariable calc, tutoring Calc BC, Chinese I & II at local university
ECs:
- Band (4 years, sax section leader; jazz band, symphonic band, pit band, and marching band)
- Chorus (2 years, audition only)
- Musical (2 years pit, 2 years stage crew)
- 2 part time jobs (both 2 years, simultaneously, avg. 10 hrs/wk in school and 40-45 hrs/wk summer)
- Literary arts mag (4 years, 3 years editor, 2 years editor-in-chief)
- Nat’l Art Honors
- Tri-M Music Honors (public relations officer)
Awards:
Nothing big.
Results:
MIT – Accepted + attending
UConn – Accepted
University of Pittsburgh – Accepted, full tuition
Carnegie Mellon – Accepted
Yale – Waitlisted, didn’t take spot
Caltech – Rejected
WashU – Waitlisted, didn’t take spot
Smith – Accepted, 20k scholarship
Wesleyan – Accepted
Williams – Accepted
Olin College – Accepted
Objective:
<pre><code>SAT: 2150, 750 math, 690 cr, 710 writing
ACT: 30, did not submit though
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top quarter
AP (place score in parenthesis): calc ab, calc bc, english, psychology, and statistics…no ap tests though
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: ap calc ab, ap calc bc, ap english, ap statistics, + 5 community college classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none
</code></pre>
Subjective:
<pre><code>Job/Work Experience: 30 hrs/week job
Volunteer/Community service: minimal, did not cite in application
Summer Activities: job
Essays: really awful…written the night before
Teacher Recommendation: great recommendation from calculus teacher, okay from english teacher
Counselor Rec: no idea
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: did not interview
</code></pre>
Other
<pre><code>Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: economics
State (if domestic applicant): nc
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: small public
Ethnicity: caucasian
Gender: female
Income Bracket: <$10,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
</code></pre>
Results:
Scripps College - REJECTED
Whitman College - REJECTED
Smith College - REJECTED
UNC Chapel Hill - ACCEPTED
Willamette University - ACCEPTED
SAT: 2070, 690 math, 690 cr, 690 writing
SAT II: Math2 730, Physics 730
ACT: 32
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): World Hist (4), English Lang (4), Stats (4), US Hist (5), Physics B (5), Enviro Sci (5), Calc BC, Physics C: EM, Physics C: Mech, Microecon
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: Calc AB+BC, Microecon, US Gov, English Lit, Physics C: EM
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist
Subjective:
Job/Work Experience: Only small-ish summer job
Volunteer/Community service: Minor, cited as ~4 hours a month
Summer Activities: job
Essays: Not outstanding but decent (written the week before without too much revision)
Teacher Recommendation: None
Counselor Rec: Good, but none of the schools asked for it
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: None
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Medium Public (~400 graduating class)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~$90,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Single mother? Not much really
Results:
Applied at all with regular decision app, usually for mechanical engineering but some variation at some of the UC’s
UC San Diego: Accepted
UC Santa Barbara: Accepted
UC Berkeley: Rejected
UC Los Angeles: Conditionally Accepted(?): (Applied for engineering, was rejected from CoE but offered any major in CLS)
UC Davis: Conditional Accept? (applied engineering, offered CLS)
Cal Poly SLO: Rejected
U of Illinois, Ubana-Champaign: Accepted,
Georgia Tech: Accepted w/ $7k scholarship
Ended up going to Georgia Tech for Mechanical Engineering
SAT: 2150, 730 Math, 720 CR, 700 Writing
SAT II: 740 Literature, 760 Math II
ACT: 33
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5% (14/~300)
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (5), US Gov (3) Comparative Politics (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP English Lit, AP Physics B, AP Euro History, Indept. Study,
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2 time National NFL Debate Qualifier (if that counts)
Subjective:
Job/Work Experience: 3 years of science intern at Top 15 University, 3 year golf caddy
Volunteer/Community service: Service trip, summers at library
Summer Activities: see above
Essays: Common app was extremely strong, most other supplementals were strong as well
Teacher Recommendation: 2-didn’t read but I assumed they were good
Counselor Rec: Good, didn’t read
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: Interviewed for nearly all my schools (2.5 hr Middlebury interview-paid off!)
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: Gov/IR
State (if domestic applicant): Missouri
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Medium Public (~300 graduating class)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~$200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
Results:
Applied to Dartmouth College ED, got deferred then rejected
Applied to all else RD (in order of preference):
Bowdoin College: Accepted and attending (Faculty Scholar)
Middlebury College: Accepted
Cornell University CHE: Accepted
WUSTL CAS: Accepted
Vanderbilt University CAS: Waitlisted, then Accepted
Boston College CAS: Accepted
Colgate University: Accepted
Amherst College: Rejected
Wake Forest University: Accepted
Colby College: Accepted (Adams Presidential Scholar)
College of William and Mary: Accepted (Monroe Scholar)
Case Western Reserve: Accepted
Northwestern University: Rejected
Most of the people in this thread are smart as all sin though. It’s been like 3 Harvard guys and most are Ivy’s. Really doesn’t help out someone like me. Of course you need wits and a high GPA to get into good University’s. >.<
UW GPA: 3.74 when I applied; 3.71 after first semester
W GPA: 4.41 when I applied; 4.48 after first semester
ACT: 34 twice (35 E; 36 M; 32 R; 31 S; 10 W and then 35 E; 34 M; 32 R; 35 S; no W)
SAT: 2230 (710 M; 740 CR; 780 W)
SAT IIs: 730 (Math I); 780 (Math II); 730 (Lit); 620 (Japanese - ouch)
Completed APs: Psych (5); Lang (4)
Senior Schedule: AP Lit; AP Comp Sci; AP U.S. Gov; AP Calc BC; gym (required); lunch; AP Physics C; Acting (wanted to student-teach a different class but it got cancelled at the last minute); Honors Japanese 4
ECs: Video Game Development Club (founder and president); Psychology Club (helped out a lot but had no official position); Physics Club (co-founder - entered a rocket-building competition but didn’t win); published a video game under my own company; Cross-Country (2 years - not varsity); was in 3 bands
Awards: National Merit Finalist; State Scholar; Japanese National Honor Society; some Japanese-related award localized to my town and a few surrounding ones
Race: Not specified
Religion: Not specified
State: IL
Financial Aid Applicant: Yes
Hooks: None
Intended Major: Computer Science
Intended Career: Video game designer
Brown: Rejected
Cornell: Rejected
Dartmouth: Rejected
UIUC: Accepted
Johns Hopkins: Rejected
Kentucky: Accepted
Miami of Ohio: Accepted
Michigan: Deferred, then waitlisted, then rejected
UPenn: Rejected
Rice: Rejected
USC: Rejected
SAT: 2200, Math 800, Reading 670, Writing 730
ACT: Composite 33, Math 35, English 33, Reading 30, Science 34, Writing 10
SAT II: Math II 800, Chem 690, Japanese 670(November, so not sent in)
AP/IB: Euro 3, US Gov’t 3, US Hist 4, Lang 5, Calc AB 5, Comp Sci 5, Stats 5, IB Anthro 5(out of 7)
GPA: UW 4.00 W 5.625
Class rank : 1/550
Freshman year schedule: English I Honors, Japanese I Honors, Japanese II Honors, Algebra II Honors, IndivDual Sports/Inquiry Skills Honors, Music I Honors, Biology I Honors, AP Euro
Sophomore year schedule: APUSH, English II Honors, Japanese III Honors, IB Japanese IV, IB Pre-Calc, AP Stats, Physics I Honors, Chem I Honors, Comp Programming III Honors
Junior year schedule: IB Theory of Knowledge, IB English III, IB History of the Americas, IB Chem II, AP Calc AB, IB Japanese V, IB Social Anthropology SL, AP Comp Sci, AP US Gov’t
Senior year schedule: IB Theory of Knowledge, IB English IV HL, IB Contemporary History HL, AP Chem(for IB HL), AP Calc BC(for IB HL), AP Japanese(for IB SL), AP Psych
Essays: I’m not good at judging my own essays, but my counselors said they were good, and so did my friends I showed them to. I wrote about Mu Alpha Theta for my club, and about the Order of the Arrow for a significant experience in the essays portion on Common App. I applied to MIT through QuestBridge, so they only have the Order essay and one on my love of math. For Princeton, I responded to the Wilson quote and talked about Scouting’s influence on me with regards to community service. For Yale, I reused the love of math essay, though my Why Yale essay was really bad. For Stanford, I wrote something about MAO for intellectual development and meeting goals and helping others for what matters to me. My roommate essay was without a doubt my best essay and included some comedy, flowed well. For Harvard, I should have just used the roommate essay, but I was dumb and responded to almost all of the possible prompts.
Letters of Rec: I didn’t read any of them, but I had my chem teacher of three years write one and my Japanese teacher of four years write the other. Both of them are good writers and I have faith they were good letters. My counselor knows me pretty well, and I think she did a good job on it, too.
Interviews: My MIT interview was pretty good, lasted over an hour. My memory’s hazy on it nowadays, but I thought it went well. My Yale interview was the first interview I had. I was overly nervous and overall, I think it was pretty mediocre. My Princeton interview was my shortest, but it seemed the guy had certain questions he was planning on asking and once those were asked he wasn’t gonna ask anything else. My Harvard interview was my longest and definitely my best. The interviewer really liked me and I think I answered him very well. Was not nervous at all.
EC:
Order of the Arrow(Scouting’s National Honor Society) : Vigil Honor(Highest award), Lodge Service Chairman(9, 10, 11, 12), obtaining the National Service Award for our lodge the past two years
Mu Alpha Theta(Math Honor Society) : Treasurer(11), Instructor of Geometry/Pre-Calc(10, 11, 12), ranked in Geometry, Pre-Calc, Stats at the regional level, Stats at the state level, ranked in the Log1 competition(national competition), and came in 1st in the Rocket City Math League(international competition)
Civil Air Patrol : Cadet Squadron Commander(9, 10), staff at state events. I obtained the Amelia Earhart Award, designating me as Cadet Captain
Japan Club/National Japan Bowl : I was the Vice-Captain for our National Japan Bowl team, where we came in 12th(10) and 11th(11)
National Honor Society : Brain Brawl Captain(12)
Scouting : Eagle Scout(Highest Award), won and ranked in various regional sea scouting competitions
Bowling
Awards: Harvard Book Prize for my school, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar, Gates Millennium Scholarship(obtained post-application)
Race: White Hispanic
Income: < 45,000, single parent income
State: Florida
Intended major: Chemistry/Math
Harvard: Rejected
Yale: Rejected
Princeton: Waitlisted(did not take spot)
Stanford: Accepted(Matched through QuestBridge)
MIT: Accepted, Attending