@Martin18 @evan10 I was about to ask the same thing… and the highest GPA in school history? wot
My results:
Some statistics:
UC GPA (Weighted): 4.04 (rounded up)
UC GPA (Unweighted): 3.88
Ordinary GPA (Weighted): 3.91
Ordinary GPA (Unweighted): 3.78
SAT Combined: 2240
SAT Writing: 800
SAT Critical Reading: 740
SAT Math: 700
AP Calculus AB: 5
AP Psychology: TBD
AP Statistics: TBD
AP English Language: TBD
Extra-Curricular Programs:
Co-President of the local public library’s Teen Advisory Group (2013-2014)
Homework Helper (I tutor children) (2011-2014)
Marching Band (2010-2013)
Job: Private Tutoring (2013-2014)
Sports: Men’s Varsity Diving (2011-2013)
Results:
CSULB (Film and Electronic Arts): Accepted
CSUN (Film Cinema and Television Arts): Accepted
UCI (Film and Media Studies): Accepted, Honors Program
UCLA (Film and Television (1st Choice), English (2nd Choice)): Denied
UCSB (Film and Media Studies): Accepted, Honors Program
UCSC (Film and Digital Media): Accepted, Honors Program, $2,000 Regents Scholarship
UCLA was my first choice, but as you can see, that didn’t really work out. I find it rather funny that every UC I applied to offered me a place in their honors program. Except UCLA. My first choice school. Which just flat out denied me.
In the end, I’ve decided upon attending UCSB. Looking forward to starting classes this fall!
That’s one adventure just about over and done. Looking forward to the next one.
Applied to Yale (EA), Michigan (EA), Virginia (EA), Tufts, American and Brown
Attending: Brown
Accepted (other than Brown): Tufts (Neubaeur Scholar), American (Presidential Scholarship), UVa (Echols Scholar), and Michigan
Rejected: Yale
GPA:
Weighted GPA: 4.58 (pulled down by freshman year - junior/1st semester senior year was around a 4.72/4.78)
Unweighted GPA: 3.91
Scores:
National Merit Scholar (227 on PSAT)
35 ACT
800 US History Subject Test
760 Math II Subject Test
700 Literature Subject Test
2240 on SAT
Classes this year are AP English Lit, AP Bio, AP European History, AP Statistics and AP Economics and I’ll take 10 APs by the time I graduate (others are Psych, US History, Calc AB, Spanish and English Lang.) - have gotten a 5 on all previous AP tests
All As and A- throughout high school
Extracurriculars:
President of extremely successful Model UN team (2013, member since freshman year) - team won 1st at various competitive conferences, and I’ve won first in all of the committees I’ve competed in
Founder and president of Feminist Club (2013)
Contributor for blogs on media aimed at teen girls run through the SPARK Organization, and Powered By Girl, another blog that aims at targeting sexism in the media and is co-sponsored by Hardy Girls, Healthy Women
President of Young Democrats (2012)
President of Philosophy Club (2013, member since freshman year)
Student Head of Publicity/Communications for FOCUS 2013 (a community-wide arts festival held biannually at the high school) - I coordinated social media campaigns and press releases to local news outlets
Had internship with State Representative this summer/this year
Participated in TABU trip - highly selective exchange trip to Northern Ireland through local Rotary club
Equestrian - not very competitive, but ride 4-5 times a week and own my own horse
Proficient in Spanish (participated in dual language since Kindergarten)
National Spanish Exam: Gold Level Award for Level 3 outside experience in 2012, Silver Level Award for Level 5 outside experience in 2013
Spent summer before Junior year in Spain for Spanish immersion
Member of National Spanish Honors Society
Member of school honors society (cannot apply for national)
Essays were very strong, as were my recommendations
I interviewed at Brown, Yale and Tufts, and all three went well
Reflection:
Strengths: Really strong test scores, very strong leadership in ECs, applicable ECs to what I want to study (politics/gender studies), really strong essays, good interviews, good grades (definitely not perfect though)
Weaknesses: No super impressive awards or anything, plenty of A-s (I don’t really think that’s a weakness, but at some levels that can be the difference, I guess!)
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
*Accepted: What I said above
*Declined: It’s Yale (lol). I have no specific thing I can pinpoint, it’s luck at a point and I wasn’t as qualified as a ton of applicants.
APPLIED: Duke, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Olin, NC State, UNC Chapel Hill, Northeastern University, UMass Amherst. ALL Regular Decision except for Northeastern and umass amherst.
ACCEPTED: UMass Amherst (Some money), NC State (Honors, Goodnight Scholar), UNC Chapel Hill (Honors, half tuition), Northeastern University (Honors, Presidential Global Scholar, National Merit Scholar)
Attending Northeastern.
REJECTED: Olin College of Engineering
WAITLISTED: Duke Pratt School of Engineering, Princeton computer engineering, Carnegie Mellon electrical engineering.
OBJECTIVE:
GPA: 5.15/6 Weighted(+1 for honors, +2 for AP), 3.98 UW
Class Rank: 3/561
SAT scores: 2330 (800 writing, 770 math, 760 reading). The 800 W is from a retake.
SAT II: Math 2: 790 Physics: 750 Spanish w/ listening: 790
ACT: 34 composite (34 English, 34 Math, 35 Reading, 31 Science, 10 Writing)
APs: Spanish Language, 5. English Language, 4. Statistics, 4.
Classes this year:
AP Human Geography, AP US History, AP Computer Science, Honors Wind Ensemble, AP English Literature, AP Spanish Literature, AP Calculus AB/BC
SUBJECTIVE
- Tennis team, four years Varsity, Captain 12
- Interact Club- Interclub Council Representative, general contributor. I have helped guide it into becoming the largest one in North America. Interact is affiliated with Rotary; we have kept a battered womens shelter in Peru since my sophomore year.
- I have been in a Spanish Immersion program since kindergarten, so I am fluent.
- National Spanish Honor Society- President
- National Honor Society
- National Math Honor Society
- National Science Honor Society
- National English Honor Society.
- Tri- M Music Honor Society
- Wind Ensemble: Lead tenor saxophone player in the band for four years, and have made at least third every year for All- District band, 9-12
- Tennis practice- 10 hrs/week, 9-11
- Tae Kwon Do- 6 years, Second Dan Black Belt
- National Merit Finalist
- Junior Marshal
- Spanish Civilization and Culture Award
- AP Scholar
- A Honor Rolls and stuff, with 1 A/B Honor Roll.
Employment
- Baker/ busboy, 9
- Catering- infrequent butler, 9-12
- Democratic National Convention hospitality ambassador, 3 weeks
- Paid internship with green engineering firm. 2 months of working in a landfill, 78 hours/week
Essays- teachers and a college professor have raved. Apparently I am an outstanding writer. CA Essay was about a change in outlook on the landfill internship.
Teacher Recs- One fantastic, I read it and its also 3 pages of gushing originality, the other I read and is way above average.
Counselor Rec- Above average
Additional Rec- I submitted an employer one, and I am told that it is short but reveals some positive qualities.
OTHER STUFF
State (if domestic applicant): NC
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 100-150k
Hooks: None
Where I’m applying: all engineering, computer engineering, or computer science.
REFLECTION
I got robbed.
Strengths: Strong leadership, excellent test scores, essays that my grandmother, who worked in admissions at top schools, gave the okay stamp to send off; great interviews, Grades were great and I took the hardest schedule available. Bilingual. Musically talented. Cultured.
Weaknesses: White. Male. Applying for engineering as a white male. My ECs weren’t totally special, but the internship and leadership in Environmental stuff, in addition to my recycling program, should have offset that.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Honestly, I don’t know what happened. I got waitlisted more than is natural. So apparently I’m good enough for Princeton’s class, but not diverse enough, and yet I am also just barely below where I need to be for less competitive schools.
Answering on son’s behalf:
Caucasian Male; NJ resident; attends private boarding school (also in mid-Atlantic region).
School doesn’t rank.
Unweighted GPA: 3.3-3.4; school doesn’t weight.
Weighted: unsure, but anywhere between 3.7-4.0, depending on colleges’ internal calculations - his UC weighted GPA was around 4.0
SAT (best seating): 2060 (730 Math/710 CR/620 Writing)
ACT (best seating): 31 (I can’t remember the breakdown offhand, but one of the verbal scores was 35, and the other was 33; Math was 29, and Science was 27)
Four years on Student Council, two as officer (Secretary as Junior, VP as Senior)
Co-President of Model UN (been participating since Middle School) as Senior
Co-President of Debating/Junior States, Junior and Senior years (involved all four years)
JV Football team manager, Sophomore & Junior years
Mentor for incoming students at Academic Summer Program
School newspaper, Senior year
Student Representative to school’s Committee on Environmental Sustainability
Summer service projects on Navajo Reservation in Arizona, and at Boys & Girls Club in Newark
Various short-term volunteer service projects, and political campaign work
Paid work at local Pool/Gym during summers for four years
Stellar recommendations
Applied: UNC-Chapel Hill, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Davis, University of Washington (Seattle),Claremont-McKenna, Pitzer, Occidental, Reed, Whitman, Willamette, Guilford, Eckerd, New College of Florida, Tulane
Accepted: Eckerd ($19k), Willamette ($19k), Guilford ($15k), New College of FL ($15k), Occidental ($12.5k), Whitman ($7.5k), UCSD, UC Davis, Pitzer, Tulane;
Waitlisted: Reed, UW
Rejected: UNC, UCB, Claremont-McKenna
Attending: New College of Florida - the financial package was too good to refuse.
Explanations/Reasons/Presumptions: UNC, UCB, and CMC were always reaches, and he knew it. His numbers weren’t quite good enough, but he wanted to try. We suspect that Reed wasn’t going to offer any financial aid, and the waiting list spot showed that they liked him, but not enough to provide scholarship funds for a white, suburban, preppy kid. Pitzer accepted him, but without a nickel. We tried to appeal, because they would have been his top choice among his options, but he didn’t love them enough to justify the $65k price-tag. Ditto for Tulane. Even the UCs would cost us more than $50k. Oxy and Whitman barely met our EFC, but New College will cost under $30k. My son wants to go to law school, and would like a chance to explore some unpaid internships and foreign study opportunities. We couldn’t possibly afford all that at a more expensive school. He flew out to OR to visit Willamette for Accepted Students’ Day, and determined that he preferred NCF.
Accepted:
Indiana University
Syracuse University (into Arts and Sciences, declined from Newhouse)
U of Wisconsin
Tulane ($80k scholarship)
U of Miami (College of Comm)
Boston University (College of Comm)
Waitlisted:
U of Michigan
UCSB
Declined:
USC* (Offered Trojan Transfer Plan, I’m still not sure if I’m going to pursue it. May consider transferring junior so I can begin my career in entertainment)
Cornell** (This was a big surprise, but I was also offered a transfer for Cornell. If I get all As and Bs and maintain an interest in majoring in Communications they have a spot for me fall 2015. I’m not sure if I will pursue this at all, but its nice to know I have this option)
UCD/UCLA/UCB
UT Austin
NYU
Attending: U of Wisconsin!
SAT I (breakdown): 2000 (640 reading, 600 math, 760 writing)
SAT II: US History 680
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.66
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUS (5),
Senior Year Course Load: AP Geo, AP Lit, Spanish 5, Anatomy, Filmmaking, Calculus
Awards: None
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Community Service Board (Co-President), Film Festival (Chair), Varsity Tennis Team, Peer Advisory Leadership, AIDS Awareness Club, Founder of my own small business
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at community center for underprivileged kids for 3 summers
Summer Activities: Two internships- one at TV Production Company and one at local newspaper
Essays: I think they were fine, not very moving but I think I came across as passionate.
Other:
State (if domestic applicant): California
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 150k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Reflection:
Strengths: Extracurriculars (?)
Weaknesses: Grades/Testing…Could have done better! Also should have taken more SAT IIs because I limited the schools I could apply to because I didn’t have two. I also didn’t really submit my one to many schools because I thought the score wasn’t good enough.
Comments: I can’t say I am surprised by the results. A few schools that I had always thought I may get into I didn’t which was annoying, but not the end of the world. It was really hard for me to choose between Tulane and Wisconsin, but I finally decided that I wanted the large school mentality and the perks of having such a big and active alumni network. I am still really interested in U of Michigan but I highly doubt I’ll get off the waitlist. I thought I may have a chance at Newhouse because I’ve had internships and demonstrated interest but apparently it wasn’t the right place for me. Lastly, I’m sort of relieved I didn’t get into schools like USC or NYU because they are amazing yet too urban and I would be compromising all the traditional ideals I would have hoped for in a college experience. Also surprised I didn’t get into any UCs, seeing as I’m in state and they try to accept in state people to at least one. I’m really excited to be a badger next year! Best of luck to the class of 2015!
Accepted by: UCSB, UCSC, UCR
Waitlisted by: UCD, UCI
Rejected by: UCB, UCLA, UCSD, Cal Poly SLO
Major: UCD (civil engineering), everything else (computer science)
Objective:
[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2300; CR (720), M (800), W (780), essay (8)
[</em>] SAT II: Math II (800), Physics (740)
[<em>] UWGPA: 3.66
[</em>] WGPA: 4.29
[<em>] UCGPA: 4.00
[</em>] Rank: 20%
[<em>] AP: Calculus AB (5), Calculus BC (5)
[</em>] IB: Economics SL (5), Physics SL (5)
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: IB English HL, IB Math HL, IB Biology HL, French SL, TOK
[</em>] Major Awards: a few small math competitions, but nothing major[/ul]Subjective:
[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars: music, sports, clubs, etc.
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: 200+ hours[/ul]Other
[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): California
[</em>] Ethnicity: East Asian
[<em>] Gender: Male[/ul]Reflection
[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: SAT I and AP scores
[<em>] Weaknesses: GPA, SAT II Physics, not enough AP tests, IB scores, non IB diploma, not a lot of leadership, no major awards before college applications are due
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: At first, I was very surprised by my waitlists and rejections and my lack of regents/honors in my acceptances. I had previously believed that UCD, UCI, and UCSB are low matches. Then, I discovered this website called Parchment. This website showed me that I was unqualified for the schools that waitlisted and rejected me. I am not talking about Parchment’s predictions. Its predictions are actually useless. For example, it gave me a prediction of 81% for UCD. What I am talking about are the website’s scatterplots. Parchment is useful because it lets you edit the x-axis and y-axis of their graphs. For example, go to UCD’s scatterplot. Set the x-axis to “SAT Combined.” Set the y-axis to “Selectivity Index” (Parchment calculates this for you when you make an account and enter your stats; I am not sure what factors affect it, but a high selectivity index is a good thing). Click “UPDATE THE GRAPH.” Imagine a line of best division (I made that up) that separates the red dots from the green dots and blue dots. Now find the red dot that represents me (Mangiafuoco is my username). It is really crazy, but I fall below that imaginary line. Now, “See Profile” of a bunch of other red dots below that imaginary line and near the right of the graph. Do you know what they all have in common? They all have a low UWGPA. Now, set the x-axis to “Unweighted GPA.” “UPDATE THE GRAPH.” What do you notice about the line of best division? It is almost vertical. Now try this for UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCI, UCSB. What do you notice? You should notice that UCSB’s graph is an exception. When the x-axis is set to “SAT Combined,” dots with “Average SAT Section Score” above 700 are rarely rejected. When its x-axis is set to “Unweighted GPA,” the imaginary line that divides the accepted from the rejected is almost horizontal. Do you know what this means? It means that UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCD, and UCI do not care about your SAT scores at all. Only UCSB cares about SAT scores. I understand that the data on Parchment is self-reported and may be unreliable, but I believe that Parchment’s scatterplots can still be a very useful method to estimate your chances.[/ul]
Accepted: Harvard (attending), Princeton, UC Berkeley, USC, UCLA
Waitlisted: Caltech, UChicago
Rejected: MIT, Stanford
Stats stuff:
Scores: SAT: 2400,
SATII: Math II 800, Chem 800, Spanish 790
GPA: 4.4-ish
APs: Several, will not list.
Rank: 4/200ish
Major Awards: USA(J)MO, Scholastic A&W National award, National Merit Scholar, a couple of piano competitions
Subjective:
Clubs:
Science Bowl Team Captain/Coach (essay topic)
Salsa Dance Club President (main essay topic)
Volunteer Work in China (some few hundred hours, essay topic)
Genetics: Male, East Asian
Strengths: Good scores, pretty good essays. My interviews for most schools went really well.
Weaknesses: I failed my MIT interview really badly. Possible the most awkward hour of my entire life. Also, I lack hands-on stuff (like science fair, INTEL, SIEMENS, that kind of thing). I have little to no (paid) work experience, and I definitely should have tried harder to win Science Bowl.
Reflection: Try lots of things, and stick with the ones that really mean something to you. Don’t get bogged down in activities you don’t feel strongly about. Study hard for your tests, have fun with your clubs, work for those As, be patient with people around you. Anything is possible 
General Info:
White Male, small town in PA
Very small public HS (498 students across 4 grades)
Both parents hold bachelor’s degrees
Financial bracket: Top 2%
Accepted: George Washington University, American University (20k scholarship + honors), Lehigh University, Penn State University-Main Campus, University of Pittsburgh (honors)
Waitlisted: None
Rejected: UPenn (Early Decision), Johns Hopkins
Attending: American University
Stats and Test stuff:
SAT I: 2180 (760 M, 640R, 780W)
ACT: 34 Composite
SAT II US History: 710
SAT II Chemistry: 750
GPA; 95% UW
APs: 5s on US History and Euro History, 4s on Chem and Stat (small school, so not many are available)
Rank: Not reported (school doesn’t rank)
Senior Classes worth noting: 3 Honors, 2 APs (Physics C and Calculus BC)
Clubs:
Co-captain of debate team, 3 years total on team, 2nd year having qualified to regional semi-finals
Member of National Honor Society
Peer Leader-elite group of students selected to help students assimilate into HS, assist with tutoring, etc.
Varsity Tennis
Other Important Stuff:
Church Lector (4 years) and regular volunteer (also 4 years)
Worked at local water ice store (Rita’s if you know it), worked for 2.5 years, eventually made manager, but employer chose to not renew the lease 
Summer camp focused on Intelligence and National Security, visited CIA, reflected on in my CA essay
Strengths:
Good recs from teachers and guidance counselor, good ACT I guess, work experience is probably nice, CA essay was pretty good.
Weaknesses:
That damn reading section on the SAT, could have taken a few more APs, perhaps could have taken one more SAT II
Accepted: Iowa State (half tuition), Purdue University (Engineering), Georgia Tech, UW-Madison, UIUC (Electrical Engineering), UW-Seattle (4k scholarship), Ohio State (half tuition), RPI (15k scholarship), Rose-Hulman (15k scholarship)
Waitlisted: UMN-Twin Cities (wth?), Case Western
Rejected: WashU
Attending: Georgia Tech
GPA: 3.5 uw, 3.7 w at time of application, strong upward trend (3.2 -> 4.0)
ACT: 33
8 AP’s, all 4’s except 5 on AP Calc
EC’s: nothing too special: swim team, speech, volunteering, summer engineering camp, etc
<ul>
<li>A few local regional/state awards</li>
<li>Solid Essays</li>
</ul>
Strengths: Test scores, upward trend, hard schedule, essays, geographic diversity (from ND), …luck?
Weaknesses: GPA, EC’s, white male from suburbia
APPLIED: Caltech, Cornell, Ga Tech (EA), Harvard, Johns Hopkins (BME), Princeton, Stanford (REA), UPenn, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD
ACCEPTED; Ga Tech, Johns Hopkins (BME), UC Davis (Regents), UC Berkeley (Regents), UCSD
WAITLISTED: Caltech, UPenn
REJECTED: Everywhere else
GPA: 3.81 unweighted, 4.51 weighted
ACT: 35
SAT 2: Math 2 (800) Bio M (740)
IB Diploma Candidate: Bio HL, English HL, History HL, Spanish B SL (5), Econ SL (7), Math SL
AP: Calc AB (5) Physics B (4)
ECs: Couple of research things, lots of volunteering, club president
Strengths: Personal Statement, ECs, GPA/SAT
Weaknesses: Supplement essays were rushed, race (asian indian male) couldn’t have helped, interviews didn’t go as well as I would’ve liked (though that really doesn’t matter that much)
Personal Info:
Asian Male from CA
Competitive school with lotsa asians
Reported annual income: ~200k
College Decisions:
Major: Computer Science
Accepted: UMich, UC Davis, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley
Rejected: WashU, UCLA HSSEAS, Penn Engineering, Stanford
Waitlisted: N/A
<em>Attending</em>: UC Berkeley '18
Stats:
GPA (UW/UC): 3.8/4.1
SAT (Single-sitting/Superscore): 2350/2370
SAT 2: Math 2 (800), USH (710)
Awards: AP Scholar w/ honor, various debate awards, induction to NHS
ECs: Debate captain, CSF, NHS, Varsity Football
Strengths: SAT scores, essays, took the maximum number of APs offered
Weaknesses: nothing extraordinary, GPA, being asian
Reflection: Really happy with how this turned out; Berkeley was my top choice going into the admissions process. If I could’ve offered some advice to myself freshman year, I’d tell myself to study that extra hour to get that A on tomorrow’s test. Discover things that you’re passionate about early on in high school (didn’t get really involved in debate until junior year), and the passion will reflect in your awards and leadership positions.
Best of luck to everyone reading this!
Accepted: Northwestern (attending), Tufts, University of Michigan, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Brown
Waitlisted: Vandy
Rejected: Duke, Penn, Columbia (ED)
Objective:
SAT: 2260,
SATII: Lit, US history, Math II 680/720/740
GPA: ~3.5 UW
Awards: just school stuff
Subjective:
ECs:
Community Service stuff mostly with some leadership
Job at a department store and camp counselor in the summer
Genetics: Female, white
Strengths: SAT I, my school is well known by these schools, essays and recs were good.
Weaknesses: ECs.
Reflection: Don’t get caught up in prestige. The more I thought about it, I realized I was only applying to a lot of these schools for the prestige, rather than for the school itself. Northwestern was my favorite from the beginning but I applied to Columbia anyway and regretted it. Everything worked out, but go with your heart.
Accepted: Lycoming College (attending!), Drexel University, Penn State - Harrisburg, University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown, West Chester, Saint Joseph’s University, Rosemont College, Duquesne University, Temple University (was first waitlisted).
Waitlisted: University of Scranton (could have sent them more info but chose not to), Ithaca College
Rejected: Albright College (same issue w/ Scranton), Goucher College (Never sent SATs because they’re test optional)
• SAT I: 1520
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): …2.96 eek!
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
• AP (place score in parenthesis): None
• IB (place score in parenthesis): None
• Senior Year Course Load: Honors History, English, Spanish 4, Senior Seminar, Statistics, and 4 electives (Philosophy H, Psychology H, Foundations of Business, and Advanced Business Principles)
• Awards: International Thespian Society, Distinguished Honor Roll, National Honor Society
Subjective:
• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Youth Advisory Council, Players (Assistant Sound Designer, Assistant Program Designer, and Assistant Lighting Designer), Students Against Destructive Decisions (President and Secretary)
• Job/Work Experience: Special needs child care provider, political social media marketer, online business owner
• Volunteer/Community service: buildOn, breast cancer, vacation bible school at church
• Summer Activities: Enriching programs like summer school or PFEW
• Essays: Average
• Teacher Recommendations: Great
• Counselor Rec: Good
• Additional Rec: Great
Other
• State (if domestic applicant): Pennsylvania
• School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: African-American
• Gender: Female
• Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): $10,000 (FA candidate obv)
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, First generation immigrant and college student
Reflection
• Strengths: EC’s, leadership roles, recommendations
• Weaknesses: GPA for sure
• Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I was so surprised that I got into Drexel but grateful
General Comments: Good luck everyone, apply to that reach school, you might be pleasantly surprised! At the end of the day, chase that money! Lycoming is basically free for me.
General Info:
White girl, Large Midwest city
Small, nationally renowned, hyper competitive private high school
Parents have 6 degrees between them, mom’s a lawyer, dad has MBA
Accepted: Cornell ILR (ED, attending), University of Minnesota, Twin Cites (full scholarship), University of North Dakota (half scholarship), University of Wisconsin (full scholarship), University of Illinois, Urbana (half scholarship ish)
Waitlisted: None
Rejected: None
I had essays done for Boston College, Northwestern, Swarthmore, Skidmore, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Amherst and Williams. I didn’t need any of them…
Attending: Cornell
Stats and Test stuff:
SAT I: 2240 (don’t remember break down, didn’t submit to Cornell)
ACT: 35 composite; 36 English, 34 Math, 34 Reading, 36 Science
Did not submit SAT II
GPA: 3.63
APs: 5 on English Lit/Lang and US History; 4 on European History, Latin; Taking Calc AB and Physics B this year, but not trying hard because I won’t get credit/not even taking a math class in college…
Activities:
Varsity Ice Hockey: Goalie, Starter 10-12, State Champs 2 years, spent 30hr/50wks on it. Wrote common app essay on it. I think this is what sold me.
Chamber Orchestra: Concert Master 9-12. 16hr/52wks on it. Conductor wrote an additional rec letter for me.
Church Leader: Youth Leader/Sunday School teacher. 5hr/38wks on this.
I never had a job in high school aside from babysitting occasionally. Hockey did not give a whole lot of time for anything else besides violin.
Strengths:
My common app essay made my reader cry. My advisor/homeroom teacher is the head of our school and she wrote a rec for me. My other recs were not great, but not awful. I scored really high on tests, and I had decent extra curriculars.
Weaknesses:
Lack of community service. My frigging GPA. I got all B-'s freshman year, B+/A- sophomore year and got all A’s junior year and first semester senior year, showing improvement. My essay was about hockey and explained in a roundabout way why my freshman year GPA was so low.
UPDATED:
Accepted: Alabama, Baylor, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tulane, Drexel, South Carolina, Miami, Rhodes, F&M, Richmond, Bucknell, Vanderbilt (was initially waitlisted)
Waitlisted: Davidson (didn’t pursue waitlist)
Rejected: Penn, Duke (early decision)
ATTENDING: Either Alabama or Vanderbilt (I have until Wednesday to decide)
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2310 (730 CR, 800 M, 780 W) (taken twice)
ACT: Not taken
SAT II: 790 Spanish, 750 Math 2, 650 Latin (only sent to Penn)
GPA (out of 4.0): 3.52 UW/ 4.46 W at top 25 high school nationally (by average SAT score)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Around the 90th percentile, but we don’t officially rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): We don’t have AP classes, but I will take the Spanish Language & Culture and Calculus BC ones tomorrow and Wednesday.
Senior Year Course Load: Spanish V Honors, Econ Honors, Latin V Honors, English 12 Honors, Calculus BC Honors
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Latin Exam Maxima Cum Laude 2012, National Merit Finalist
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Trips that I will talk about below, Mitt Romney presidential campaign, tennis, basketball manager, debate, student government, a few other things
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: I have been trips to Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Peru and have volunteered for the Special Olympics
Summer Activities: I went on language/cultural immersion and/or community service trips to Costa Rica, Spain, the Dominican Republic, and Peru
Essays: 8/10, about my hospitalization in Peru
Teacher Recommendation: I would say that both were great. One was from my history and American Studies teacher who is also my advisor. The other was from my Spanish teacher.
Counselor Rec: We are a small private school, so she knows me well, at least
Interview: Duke’s went great, Vanderbilt’s went well, and Penn’s was OK
Supplementary Material: Nothing
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Pennsylvania
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): ~2 million
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Was double legacy at Duke, but my family does not donate, despite a 7-figure income
Reflection
Strengths: SAT scores, recommendations, course rigor and possibly the interview at Duke
Weaknesses: Low UW GPA, though that still does put me high in my class at an elite school
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I predicted each decision right the day it came out except for one- ED at Duke. I am still a little confused by that one. I was a reasonably qualified double legacy and did not even get a deferral early decision (when nearly half of applicants were at least deferred). What I think happened was that our valedictorian also applied ED to Duke, giving them that comparison (he also had family connections there). I will stay on the Vanderbilt wait list and hope that it works out. After getting into Vandy off the waitlist, I am even more confused about Duke. Maybe I should just stop thinking about it- it was five months ago!
General Comments:
I applied to a ton of safety schools, but did not really get anything that wasn’t safe (Bucknell and Richmond were perhaps low matches or matches) until Vanderbilt waitlist came through. See my thread in the Hindsight forum for my thoughts.
Thought I’d post for my daughter even though it was 2011.
Applied: Yale, Cal, UCLA, UCD (already accepted through ELC), Mills, St. Mary’s, UCSD, and University of Wash.
Accepted: everywhere except Yale, huge scholarships to the privates
Rejected: Yale
GPA: 4.47, 4.0
SAT 1: under 1500/2400
SAT 2: both were under 650
Student government: 4 yrs
Started Key Club at her school
Lots of community service, other EC
Low-income
Took all AP classes except calculus at her school, but took no AP tests
Stellar essays with a compelling story
She is half-Persian, half-American and I think the diversity helped. She also used the extra essay/comment portion to explain that she has a serious test phobia.
^^^ are you a californian resident and do you have other ECs cause thats just wow.
for the class of 2019 and later, i know i spent my fair share of time on this site:
sat: 650 math 650 reading 760 writing
act w/ writing: 33 10 on essay
rank: 2/143
gpa: 3.92 uw
average extra curriculars, a few leadership positions, no hook, no legacy, white female
accepted: cornell, university of notre dame (attending), boston college, brandeis, university of virginia (OOS-NJ), northeastern, boston university, villanova, University of Maryland
waitlisted: Vanderbilt
rejected: dartmouth
Accepted: University of Chicago, Northwestern University (Integrated Science Program), SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Stony Brook, Macaulay Honors at the City College of New York
Waitlisted: Columbia
Rejected: Yale, Princeton, MIT
Gender: Male
Race: White
Location: New York City area
Prospective Major: Physics and Math
SAT: 2150 (2180 Superscored)
Math: 800
Reading: 690
Writing: 660 (690)
SAT II:
Math 2: 800
Physics: 800
Chemistry: 780
ACT: 35
English: 34
Math: 36
Reading: 32
Science: 36
Essay: 8
English + Writing: 31
AP Courses:
Sophomore Year: AP European History (4)
Junior Year: AP Calc BC (5), AP US History (5)
Senior Year Courses:
-AP Statistics
-AP Microeconomics
-AP Macroeconomics
-AP Physics C
-Linear Algebra
-Multivariable Calculus
-Journalism
Weighted Average: 97.97
Honors and Awards:
-Silver Medalist at the Greater NYC Math fair in 2013
-AP Scholar
-National Merit Letter of Commendation
Extracurriculars:
Member of Jewish Culture Club (9-12), board member (10-12), president(12)
Math Team (11,12), captain (12)
Volunteer work delivering food packages
Summer after Freshman year I worked in a photonics/laser laboratory
Summer after Sophomore year I did some consulting work for two small engineering firms
Summer after Junior year I was part of an international science program for high school students where I won first place in the math/physics division for my presentation.
A WORD OF ADVICE TO ALL READING THIS: As someone who just completed the college process, and observed their friends go through it, I have this to say. Your stats do not define you. This site is somewhat toxic. The colleges that you are accepted to and rejected to do not define you. No matter what college you attend, you will gain whatever it is that you put in. My suggestion while reading this page is take note of how erratic the college decisions are. Don’t be deterred by people with “better” stats than you who were rejected by a college that you’re applying to. Have fun with the process, and remember that no matter where you wind up, you will have the opportunity to succeed.