Can more graduated seniors do "actual results" threads?

[ss1921]

Attending: The Ohio State University (EA, Honors Program, Maximus Scholarship)
Accepted: Denison University (RD, half-tuition scholarship), Miami University (EA, full-tuition scholarship)
Waitlisted: Kenyon College (RD)

Weighted GPA: 4.20 (as of most recent calculation mid-senior year; school does not give unweighted)
Class rank: School doesn’t rank, but at least top 10%

SAT I - Did not take.

ACT - 32
35 - English
32 - Reading
32 - Science
30 - Math

SAT II - Did not take.

APs:
English Lang: 5
English Lit: ?
Biology: ?
Environmental Science: ?
Statistics: ?
Almost all others were honors classes.

Extracurricular Info:
Theatre (9 years, various leadership positions, National Honor Thespian, Top Thespian Award for Junior and Senior years, two Director’s Choice awards, Best Staffer Award)
National Honor Society
Cum Laude Society
Freshman Class Treasurer
Sophomore Class VP
Book Club

Volunteering:
With extracurriculars, NHS stuff and serving in leadership positions on younger students’ theatre productions.

Work Experience:
Junior Counselor at a summer camp

Applied for financial aid? Yes
Intended Major: Biology
State: Ohio
School type: Top-ranking public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Religion: Jewish
Income: 100k
Hooks: Theatre stuff? That’s what my essay was based on.

Reflection/Advice:

1. Everything does magically work out by May 1st.
2. Work hard but don’t obsess.
3. The right fit will likely become obvious, it definitely did for me.
4. Sometimes it’s better to be closer to home… (typically) less expensive and you don’t have to throw in living in an entirely unfamiliar place into things to worry about when beginning college.
5. Try to respect your parents’ input, even if it’s something you don’t want to hear.
6. Enjoy high school, time flies.
7. Go Bucks!

[mathplustutornj]

“@ivyhopes12 How do you denied from Hopkins and waitlisted at MIT but you get into Princeton? Props to you and congrats!”

He got turned down by Northwestern too. He went to a poor rural school. I know someone who was a guidance counselor at a blue collar high school, and said no one from there ever got into Hopkins or MIT. Probably it is partly those schools are very intense and want good preparation. I went to Hopkins, and there was pretty much no one from a rural area. Top LACs also may be hard to get into from mediocre schools.

[SFLiger]

Finally get to do this!

Accepted: Emory University, the College of William and Mary, Vanderbilt University (wait-list), Johns Hopkins (wait-list, attending)
Wait-list (have not heard from): UVA, WUSTL, Wake Forest
Denied: HYPS, GTown, Chicago, all of the other Ivies, Duke, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Columbia,

ACT: 34 (34 E, 33 M, 33 R, 36 S, 10 W)
SAT 2: 730 in Math II and 700 Chem

Freshman GPA: 3.8
Sophomore GPA: 3.8
Junior GPA: 3.85
Senior GPA: 4.0
This is all in a 6 point grading scale (94 = A-, 88 = B- etc etc)

Overall probably a 3.85 or so

ECs:
Played varsity basketball for three years, was captain all three years
Played varsity soccer for two years
Was Assistant Coach of junior high football team
Secretary of Math Honors Society for two years
Tutored fellow students 2x a week for two years (in Chemistry and Algebra II)
Was assistant care-taker to family friend/neighbor who had a medical condition (5-7x per week for a year and a half)
Walked dogs for the neighborhood for a year and a half, about 3-6x a week
Founder of Debate club in school (senior year)
Co-founder of “Basketball ABCs” club (club purpose is teaching kids how to play basketball; also senior year)

Other stuff:
Recommendations: All should be great, the teachers I asked love me
Essay: Probably the worst essays to ever be on an accepted application

Applied for financial aid? Yes
Intended Major: Applied Math & Statistics (possibly with a double major in Econ)
State: Virginia
School type: Average private
Ethnicity: South Asian
Gender: Male
Religion: Muslim
Income: >100k
Hooks: Anti-hook being South Asian

Reflections:
I wish I had worked harder on my essays! It didn’t help that I applied to 21+ schools, though. The best advice I could give is to not apply to too many schools, and if you do, make sure to start writing essays really early! Don’t procrastinate; I essentially started writing my first supplements about 2 weeks before the deadline. Not the most pleasant of experiences.

Also, if you are waitlisted at your dream-school, make sure to pursue it. Write letters of continued interest, send them updates, etc etc. Somehow, I got off the waitlist for two of my top choices.

[gettingaclue]

Valedictorian of D’s class was accepted to Brown - accomplishments detailed at graduation last night, including SAT which I thought was strange to reveal, but if she was OK w/ it… I post this info to let those who might have no hooks, fine SAT, but not top score know that even w/ a low-ish SAT you can get in even w/ no hooks. Of course a 4.0 helps, too.

SAT: 2040
Wonderful, kind, hard-working girl, self-studied for several AP’s
Loved by all - so very likely excellent letters of rec.
No hooks, crazy research, published novels, or concerts at Carnegie Hall
Heavy involvement in school clubs and her church

Good luck!

[bsb4389]

Here are my final results! Hope this helps future applicants-- you don’t need perfection, just interesting things! I have no hooks, imperfect test scores and grades, and not many awards/crazy extracurriculars, but I did things I liked (while not putting all my energy into school–my advice: save time for friends!!)

[ul]Accepted to: Yale-NUS (Full-Ride Global Leader Scholarship), Brown University (Engineering), University of California Berkeley (Pre-Applied Mathematics), Swarthmore, Claremont McKenna (Leadership Scholar), University of Southern California (Biomedical Chemical Engineering Honors with Presidential Scholarship), University of California Los Angeles (Pre-Applied Mathematics with Achievement Scholarship), University of Texas Austin (Biomedical Engineering and Plan II Honors), California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Biomedical Engineering with Outreach Scholarship).
Accepted (from Waitlist): Yale University, Columbia University
Waitlisted (Did not accept place on waitlist): Washington University in St. Louis, Vanderbilt, Amherst, Rice
Waitlisted (Have not heard back): University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
Rejected: Duke.[/ul]

Going to: Yale-NUS

Objective:

[ul]ACT: 34 (34 M, 34 E, 35 R, 33 S, First and only take)
SAT II: 740 (Math II, First and only take)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.9 UW
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank, but 1 or 2 in (small) class
IB scores: Diploma Candidate (testing in May), predicted IB scores of 7 in History and English (I’m unsure about the rest because we don’t get to see most predicted grades)
Senior Year Course Load: IB Higher Level Mathematics, IB Higher Level Physics, IB Higher Level History of the Americas, IB Higher Level Literature, IB Standard Level Visual Arts A, IB Standard Level Spanish B, Theory of Knowledge
Major Awards: Scholastic Art & Writing Gold Key (Poetry) and National American Voice Winner, Harvard Book Award, George Eastman’s Young Leaders Award, Published poet in an international writing magazine, best-in-class awards (Humanities, English, Design Technology), some other things too…[/ul]

Subjective:

[ul]Extracurriculars: Orienteering Club (takes up a majority of my time, very committed!), Poetry (Published and nationally recognized), Varsity Soccer, Playing keyboard and singing in 2 bands (Rock and Jazz), classical piano, Academic Decathlon (Founder and/or President of Each Mentioned Club), some other things for fun.
Job/Work Experience: Paid performer with band, Working DJ
Volunteer/Community service: Athletic Leadership at school, Coaching and event volunteering for orienteering, Volunteer Event DJ
Teacher Recommendations: History Teacher (10/10), Mathematics Teacher (~9/10, Didn’t read though)
Counselor Recommendation: ~10/10 (Didn’t read though)[/ul]

Other:

[ul]State (if domestic applicant): Idaho
School Type: Private, International Baccalaureate
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Income Bracket: Upper-Middle
Hooks: None at all![/ul]

Reflection/Advice:
-Don’t apply to schools that you are not genuinely interested in, especially if they are match/reach schools. They won’t be interested back; trust me! I could have cut out so many schools because I wasn’t that interested in them (Rice, Wash U), and it showed by the waitlist offers I received.
-Essays are everything!! I think that was my biggest saving grace and “differentiating” factor.
-Don’t put all your focus into test scores; do something you love, are preferably good at, and put your energy into that too! It’ll pay off to have a strong interest in the end, no matter what it is.
-Have fun, it’s high school! Don’t stress about it to much, but also don’t slack off.
-Feel free to PM me with any more questions. Good luck guys!

[collegestressin]

Been waiting a long time to comment on this thread!

Accepted: University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (deferred EA, EDIT: accepted late February), Michigan State University, lots of safeties
Wait-list: none
Denied: none

Attending: University of Michigan

ACT: 30 (34 E, 27 M, 33 R, 26 S, 10 W)
SAT: did not take

GPA: 4.038 W, don’t know UW

ECs:
Lots of choir and voice stuff, participated in state level events
Theatre for 12 years
Orchestra for 7 years, taught private lessons over the summer
Paid internship for 2 years
JV tennis for 2 years, Varsity junior year
NHS member and treasurer
Key Club for one year
Leadership organizations and conferences

Other stuff:
Recommendations: didn’t read but my teachers liked me a lot lol
Essay: Common App was average, U of M specific were really good, did a lot of research on programs I wanted to be involved in
4 APs at the end of senior year, school doesn’t offer IB
Sent in 1st semester grades, no letter of continued interest

Applied for financial aid? No
Intended Major: LSA - Residential College (Undeclared)
State: Michigan
School type: Public rural
Ethnicity: Mayonnaise
Gender: Female
Income: middle class
Hooks: literally none

Reflections:

1. Send in your 1st semester grades! I had my best semester ever, sent in my grades and was accepted 2 weeks later.
2. Ask for recommendation letters as early as you can, I asked for them the end of my junior year and had them all before I started applying.
3. I wish I applied to one more reach school

The biggest thing I want to stress is that you don’t have to have a 36 ACT or dozens of APs/IBs to get into the school you want. If you’re like me on this website with decent stats and not applying to all of the Ivies or dozens of schools, you can still get into your school of choice with plenty of hard work and determination. There’s so many people on here with much better stats that were rejected/waitlisted to U of M, but admissions saw something in my application that pushed me into admittance and I’m beyond thankful for that. Remember to have fun your senior year and not get too caught up in the future.

GO BLUE

[235423]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2290 ( 700CR / 800M / 790W / 10E )
ACT: 35 ( 35E / 36M /32R / 36S /33W+E )
SAT II: 800 Molecular Biology / 800 Math II / 790 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97 when applying, 3.98 at end of senior year
Weighted GPA: Not applicable (no weighted GPAs at my school)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10% (if ranked, would be valedictorian of my class)
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), Biology (5), Physics C Mechanics, Calculus BC, Spanish Lang
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Calc BC, English (highest level offered), History (highest level offered), Spanish (AP equivalent/highest level offered), Band, Teaching Assistant for Biology class.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none

Subjective:

Extracurriculars:
Speech captain for Speech and Debate Team. I won 5th in state for debate while applying, 1st during wait list period
Leadership Council for Model UN. At New York convention, I spoke in front of several thousand people.
President/founder of a tutoring program. I started this during sophomore year, expanded it to all elementary and middle schools in my town during senior year. Services 500 students with 70 HS students.
News editor for my school’s newspaper
Governor appointed representative for at-risk Massachusetts youth, did a summer internship with this.
Member of my school’s student government board, directly elected by students.
4 year member of my school’s Concert Band (I play trumpet)

Awards: Winner of the Harvard Book award, Citizenship award, lots of service awards (school-wide), Alternate in US Semate Youth Program (state-wide), National Merit Finalist (nation-wide)

Personal Statement: Very strong, talked about my moving around during my childhood

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major : History of Science or thereabouts
State (if domestic applicant): MA
School Type: Public, highly competitive with average SAT score ~1800
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M
Income Bracket: $500,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): No

Reflection (tl;dr-Really unique process)
SPEND MORE TIME ON SUPPLEMENTS! I did them over winter break, which wasn’t fun. Overall, it had always been my dream to go to Harvard, so I applied SCEA. Then, fate had it do it wouldn’t be so after I got a truly nasty interviewer. My admissions officer offered to reinterview me, and I accepted, but I truly believe the damage was already done. While my admissions officer still really wanted me (we had an excellent interview together), I think the rest of the committee did not, and my chances of getting in at that point were near zero. I was then deferred SCEA, wait listed RD, and very promptly released from the wait list. A good interview doesn’t really help that much, but a bad one can sabotage your entire application.

After the whole Harvard fiasco, my situation got a little stranger. In February, I got a likely letter from UPenn (totally unexpected), which led me to believe that I was an incredibly strong candidate (as most people who receive these letters are). Penn had been lower on my list, just because I didn’t really like the location and super competitive atmosphere/pre professional feel. However, it was the only reach school I got into off the bat, as I was rejected from Yale, Columbia, Princeton, MIT (mistake applying there, my mom wanted me to but I’m not interested in engineering), and Duke, and I was wait listed by Amherst, Brown, and Harvard (see above).

I sent update letters to Amherst, Brown, and Harvard. I was removed from Harvard’s wait list in mid-May (by this point, I had gotten over Harvard after hearing about the insanely competive student body and “old money wealth” like finals clubs- it, in the end, wasn’t a good fit for me.) I cleared Amherst college’s wait list in the latter half of May, and removed my deposit from Penn and enrolled. Still, I had been pulling for Brown, as it had been my number one choice for quite some time.

At the very beginning of June, it finally happened. I cleared Brown’s wait list, which I had been aiming to do since the end of March, and which was one of my very top choices all along, and number one after I heard how warm the student body was as compared to other Ivies. This process was so incredibly agonizing, with many things [like that bad interviewer] out of my control, but at the end of the day, it all ended like it should have! I am so thrilled to have gotten in where I have, and feel fortunate it turned out the way it did.

BROWN UNIVERSITY CLASS OF 2019!!!

Schools you were accepted to: UPenn, Tufts, Wesleyan, Brandeis, Amherst, Brown
Schools you were waitlisted at: Harvard (deferred->waitlisted), Brown, Amherst
Schools you were rejected from: Duke, MIT, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia

[Here2b]

Intended Major: applied as biochemistry

Accepted: Stanford (attending), UC Berkeley (Regents), UC Davis (Regents, Honors), UCSB (Regents)
Waitlisted: Harvard (forgot to send SAT scores) (did not accept waitlist place)

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2370 single sitting (800CR; 800M; 770W)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Math2 750; Lit 770; Spanish 730
Unweighted GPA: 3.99
Weighted GPA: 4.65
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
APs: AP Calculus BC (5), AP Spanish (5), AP English Lang. (5), AP English Lit. (N/A), AP Chemistry (unknown)

Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Chemistry, French IV Honors, Independent Spanish Study, Physics Honors, Art History Honors, Multivariable Calculus

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nationally ranked debater, AP Scholar, National Merit Scholar

Subjective:

Extracurriculars:
-Debate (captain), 4 years
-School paper (editor), 4 years
-Girls Learn International (chapter co-leader), 4 years
-Theater/Music, 8 years
-Dance (tap, jazz, modern, ballet), 4 years

Job/Work Experience:
-Tutoring

Volunteer/Community service:
-Volunteer at local kids’ summer program
-Fire crew at music festival
-Library volunteer

Summer Activities:
-Volunteering
-Community college classes
-Backpacking

Essays:
Common App: 10/10. Pretty good.
Supplements: Really worked hard on Stanford essays… made sure they carried through a single message. 10/10
UC App was a watered-down version of Stanford essays, as was the Harvard app.

Teacher Recommendation: 10/10

Counselor Rec: 10/10

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Private non-denominational
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): girl interested in science, debate

Reflection:
Follow your passions and don’t do things just to get into college. It isn’t worth it, and won’t help you. If you do follow your passions, and apply to schools that genuinely fit who you are, you’ll have a much better chance at ending up somewhere you like!

[cug2019]

Objective:
ACT: 32 ( 35E / 27M /34R / 31S /32W+E )
Weighted GPA: 4.33
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 25%
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Waiting on all scores (full IB diploma candidate)
Senior Year Course Load: IB Biology HL, IB 20th Century History HL, IB Advanced Literature HL, IB Chemistry SL, IB Spanish B SL, IB Math SL
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Placed very highly at an international competition (not going to get more specific since it’s pretty well-known)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars: President of my school’s largest business club, Student Body VP, Junior Class VP, Sophomore Class President, FBLA, Political Club, editor for school yearbook, lots of leadership volunteer positions

Awards: Received 3 Student of the Year Awards at my school (for activities, social studies, and business), lots of department awards over the years, international business award I mentioned before, state competition awards for various extracurriculars

Personal Statement: Unique, I was told it was strong

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major : Finance
State (if domestic applicant): CO
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: F
Income Bracket: $500,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): None

REFLECTION:
I started with very idealistic expectations, as many kids do. I quickly learned that rejection was going to be an inevitable fate, especially at a lot of the more selective schools. I am, however, glad that I applied to a variety of colleges and had the experience of college admissions. With my stats, I was offered over $300,000 in merit aid (across all of the schools I applied to). Even though I was rejected from a lot of highly selected schools, the merit aid made all of the hard work worth it!

Also, make sure you apply to independent scholarships! Look at your extracurriculars, see if they offer any individual scholarships. I received a couple of $2,000 scholarships, and they are definitely going to help. Even the really small ones are beneficial.

Schools you were accepted to: Cal Poly SLO, CU Boulder, NYU, University of Denver, Tulane, Santa Clara, lots of state schools
Schools you were rejected from: Cornell, UVA, UNC Chapel Hill, UC Berkeley

[ezraspineapple]

Background info: I’m an asian american male and I go to a public high school in California.

1. GPA

Weighted GPA (when applying to colleges): 3.94

Unweighted GPA: 3.44

10-12 WGPA: 4.3
10-12 UWGPA: 3.5

1. Course Load

Freshman Year: Chem Honors, Trig/Precalc Honors, Spanish 2, English Honors, Health/World-Geography

Sophomore Year: AP Calc AB (5), AP Bio (3), AP Stats (3), AP Euro (3), Spanish 3 Honors, English Honors

Junior Year: AP Calc BC (5), AP English Language (5), AP Environmental Science (5), AP Physics B(4), APUSH (3), AP Spanish Language (2)

Senior Year: AP Chemistry(3-4), AP Literature(5), AP Psychology(4-5), Economics Honors. Predicted scores in parentheses

1. Test Scores SAT: 2210 Single Sitting (740 CR, 750 Math, 720 Writing), 2270 Superscore (740 CR, 770 Math, 760 Writing) ACT: 34 Single Sitting (33 English, 35 Math, 34 Reading, 32 Science) SAT 2: 800 Math, 710 US History, 690 Biology E, 660 Physics PSAT: 199
2. EC's

Varsity Swim (2 Years)
Varsity Tennis (2 Years)
Treasurer of a local charity
Treasurer of a cultural club
Vice President of a Religious Club
Environmental Engineer for a Robotics Club
Intern for a Fortune 500 Company at the MD&M West Expo
Shadowed 3 different doctors
Worked at a local tutoring business
Volunteered 200 hours at a local hospital

1. Awards

AP Distinguished Scholar
Top Scholar Award twice (Top 1% for the semester (Had a high GPA during my 10th and 11th grade)

1. Other

I consider myself a strong writer as I’d earned a 5 on the AP English exam and I receive praise for my writing often.

I applied mostly Biophysics, Bioengineering, Molecular Biology, and Physics to all these schools.

College Results:
Johns Hopkins: Rejected
Stanford: Rejected
UChicago (EA): Deferred -> Waitlisted -> Accepted
Vanderbilt: Rejected
USC : Rejected
NYU: Waitlisted -> Accepted -> ??Given Half-Ride Merit Scholarship??
University of Redlands: Accepted with 30K Merit Scholarship
Virginia Commonwealth University: Accepted with 16K Merit Scholarship
UC Berkeley: Rejected
UCLA: Rejected
UCSD: Accepted
UC Irvine: Accepted with some Merit Based Scholarship for 3000$
UC Davis: Rejected
UC Riverside: Accepted with Chancellor’s Scholarship (5000$)

I chose to attend UC San Diego as they let me into one of the most impacted majors (Bioengineering) in the 5 year BS/MS program. I’m extremely excited to attend in the fall (Hopefully).

I felt bitter when I was rejected to so many places, but you know, college is what you make of it

BEST OF LUCK TO ALL YOU YOUNG GRASSHOPPERS.

[dadof1]

For my D:

30 ACT
3.5 UW
4.0 W
Rank: top 25% (based upon UW GPA)
Rigorous college prep courseload
ECs: yes, but nothing special
No hooks
Good essays
Showed interest at most colleges

URichmond: Waitlisted
Wofford: Accepted with merit
Rollins: Accepted with merit (will attend)
Stetson: Accepted with merit
UTampa: Accepted with merit
Sewanee: Accepted with merit
Centre: Accepted with merit
Birmingham Southern: Accepted with merit
Rhodes: Accepted (no merit but generous grant award)
Southwestern U: Accepted with merit

Birmingham-Southern had the lowest CoA. Sewanee the highest.

Rollins was always D’s first choice college. She applied to other LACs searching for merit aid. Other colleges were less expensive but not enough to change her mind.

[jgs107]

I’m looking through this and thinking, damn no one is getting into Duke. It’s one of my top schools and I don’t have stats nearly as impressive as these. I’m still going to apply but I really need to reconsider my options & work on improving my current scores. Really helpful thread, thanks everyone for posting!

[anonymous26]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2050 (690 reading/650 math/710 writing)
ACT: 32
SAT II: not submitted
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.85
Weighted GPA: 4.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 32/410
AP (place score in parenthesis): English Lit (5) US History (4); English Lang, Psych, Stats - pending
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP Psych, AP English Language, Honors Spanish, Sociology (on-line community college course)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Class Secretary, National Honor Society, JV soccer
Job/Work Experience: Worked 10-20 hours per week
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer childcare at YMCA x 4 years
Summer Activities: Work and volunteering at Y
Essays: Common App - What I learned about myself when I stopped playing competitive soccer
UNC App - What I learned from my friend’s recovery from a life-threatening injury
Teacher Recommendation: Strong (I think)
Counselor Rec: Strong (I think)

Additional Rec:
State: North Carolina
School Type: Public with strong reputation
Applied for financial aid: No
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Female
Income: >$250k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Mother is an Air Force veteran. Father is a clinical professor at UNC

Accepted: UNC-CH (attending), Georgia, Ohio State (scholars), Tennessee* (* given scholarship so cost = in-state)
Rejected: Northwestern, Cornell

Reflection:
Strengths: In state. ACT score. Volunteer work
Weaknesses: SAT, did not "play the game"with outrageous EC
Why you think you were accepted: In-state with solid academics

[kakipants]

UC= University of California

[GinGin000]

I guess yes

[thumper1]

@GinGin000

What are you talking about?

[imthereal]

I just realized that I should’ve posted stats/acceptances in an overall thread haha. Applied as a ChemE major.

Objective:

ACT (breakdown): 34 composite, 34 E, 33 R, 33 E/W, 35 S, 32 M (oops)
SAT I (breakdown): 2160 (2220 super)- 770M, 720 CR, 670 W
SAT II: 750 Math 2 and Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.91 I think
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 8/122
AP (place score in parenthesis): English Lang (5), Calc AB (4), Chem (4), CS, Physics C (self-study), English Lit, US Gov, Calc BC
Senior Year Course Load: Spanish 3H, AP English Lit, AP Calc BC, Econ/AP US Gov, AP Physics 1, APCS
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): n/a unless NM commended or AP scholar counts lol
Teacher Recommendation: Strong
Counselor Rec: Strong (I think she talked about some personal problems I had during HS)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): STEM Club (President/Co-Founder), FIRST Robotics, Varsity Swim, Club Volleyball, NHS, SNHS, Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, CSF, Mu Alpha Theta
Job/Work Experience: Receptionist, Social Media Marketing/Promotional Material Designer
Volunteer/Community service: Peer tutor, Service clubs, Random volunteering
Summer Activities: sleeping and playing on the computer lmao
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App about overextending myself to be like my parents, UC about my daily commute lol. I’m actually a pretty decent writer, so I think my essays saved me.

Other:

State (if domestic applicant): California
School Type: Private, Religious
Ethnicity: Asian/White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: lol too high to qualify for anything
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Female in engineering? Parents both went to UCs so that didn’t really help me.

Reflection:

Strengths: nothing in particular
Weaknesses: nothing in particular.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My essays and recs probably helped a lot.

Accepted: UT Austin (top choice and attending!), UCB, UCSD, UCSB, UCD, UCI, UIUC w/merit+honors, USC w/merit, UMich, UMinnTC w/merit, UofArizona w/merit+honors, WVU-Tech (don’t know why I applied here lmao) w/merit, SJSU, CSUEB, Cal Poly SLO
Waitlisted: UCLA
Rejected: Rice

Good luck to future applicants

[DaedricSaiyan]

Accepted: Cornell University, Georgia Institute of Tech, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology

Deferred EA/Rejected RD: MIT, Caltech

Waitlisted: UPenn (denied the waitlist because I already decided), Carnegie Mellon CIT (later rejected)

Rejected RD: Stanford, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon,

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2300 (730 R/770 M/800 W/ 11 E) single sitting
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: Chem 750, Math 1 750, Math 2 760
Unweighted GPA: 99.2/100
Weighted GPA: 101
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/~250
APs:

Sophomore year: 4 (World History), 5 (Chemistry)
Junior year: 5 (AP Lang), 5 (US History)
Senior Year: 5 (Calc BC), 5 (Psych), 5 (AP Literature), 2 (AP Physics 2 lol)

Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature, AP Calc BC, Anatomy, AP Physics 2, Independent Study Project (did mine on quantum mechanics), College Psychology

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Honor, Rensselaer Medalist, various excellence awards in various subjects and extracurriculars (2nd place in a golf tournament 2012, music awards)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars:
Jazz Band
Guitar
Golf
Track (11th grade)
Pi contests
Origami
Rubik’s Cubing

Job/Work Experience:
Internship at WTC

Volunteer/Community service:
Hospital

Summer Activities:
All my extracurriculars and job/volunteer work

Essays:
Common App: 8.5/10. Thought it was really good.
Supplements: Worked hard on all my essays, rewrote my Cornell essay a day before the due date (whoops). Didn’t get into all my schools, but I guess I was kind of dumb in applying to alot of reach schools (my school never emphasizes the rule 3 safeties/3 targets/ 3 reaches)

Teacher Recommendation: 10/10 for my Math teacher, 11/10 for my US teacher

Counselor Rec: Didn’t read, I assume a 6-7/10

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private, catholic
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): My high school usually sends at minimum 1-2 kids to Cornell each year, so I guess that could be a hook.

[mototriu]

Accepted: Occidental College, LMU, CPP, CSULB, SDSU, UCR, UCSC, UCI, UCSB
Waitlisted: None
Rejected: Santa Clara University, Cal Poly SLO (applied for CS), UCD, UCLA, UCB

Intended major: Biochemistry

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1870 (570M, 630CR, 670W)
SAT II: None
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.3
UC GPA: 3.75
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank.
AP (place score in parentheses): Lit (4), Lang (4),Gov (4)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Subjective
Extracurriculars: Varsity Track and XC for 3 years. Captain senior year.
Job/Work Experience: None
Essays: 7.5/10
Teacher Recommendation: Should’ve been good. 8.5/10
Counselor Rec: Average. Generic.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 50,000
Hooks : URM, First generation american, First in family to go to college.

Reflection
Strengths: Positive Trend (2.5, 3.3, 3.9, 4.1). Good letters of rec.
Weaknesses: Pretty much everything else.

Pretty satisfied with the colleges I got into. UCSB was my third choice behind UCLA (1) and UCB (2) so I’ll be going there next year.

[LBad96]

Background/Profile
African-American male from New Jersey. Medium-sized public high school is top ranked, nationally known.

Stats/Course Rigor
2.8 W GPA
2.7 UW
2000 SAT (660 CR, 550 M, 790 W)
Took a rigorous college prep curriculum, but only took an AP course (AP Euro) in senior year.

EC’s/Hooks
Founder of a FB memorial page in honor of a late schoolmate, also organized his candlelight vigil. The page has since been handed over to the family.
Founder of a mentoring program for underclassmen
Young Democrats Club
Support Our Troops Club
Other local clubs that give to the needy or elderly
Hooks: URM, unfortunate family situation (explained directly below), learning disabled

Essays
My common application essay talked about my family losing our home during my sophomore year, which caused my grades to slip. The pain was pretty unbearable. However, I decided not to let that ruin me, and was determined to turn it around in junior year. As a result, I showed an upward trend in my GPA and killed the SAT on my first try. Strangely, my senior year was my best year.

Schools I applied to
November
Rider University (safety) - Accepted EA w/ Dean’s Scholarship of $16k
Stetson University (safety) - Accepted w/ Dean’s Scholarship of $23k

December
Clark University (match) - Denied EA
Fordham University (reach) - Denied EA
Northeastern University (reach) - Denied EA
Quinnipiac University (match) - Accepted w/ $13k merit

January
University of North Carolina Wilmington (high match) - Accepted EA
University of Massachusetts Amherst (match) - Denied EA

February
Hofstra University (low match) - Accepted after EA deferral w/ DS of $12.5k
University of Pittsburgh main campus (reach) - Denied
University of Pittsburgh Johnstown campus (safety) - Accepted

March
Bentley University (reach) - Denied after EA deferral
Syracuse University (reach) - Denied RD
Binghamton University (reach) - Denied after EA deferral

Reflection
I came into the application season determined to do as well as I possibly could. UMass Amherst was my undisputed top choice at the start, and it was one of four MA schools that I applied to. I also applied to four schools in NY, two in PA (yes, I’m counting Pitt’s branch campus), and one each in NC, FL, CT, and my home state of NJ. I started with two early acceptances in November, to both Rider and Stetson. Then, I had a dismal December, getting three straight denials before getting into Quinnipiac. For about a month, I was really anxious about hearing back from UMass (they took too long for EA), and felt that there was a decent chance that I’d attend QU.

Then, mid-January came around, and so did the turning point. To my surprise, UNC Wilmington accepted me. I didn’t know what to expect, as there’s usually an 18% cap on OOS students. I would be denied by UMass eleven days later, but I didn’t care. I knew where I wanted to go. This past terrible winter and the laid-back style of my future classmates also helped me make my decision a LOT easier.

Looking back on it, I do kinda wish that I would have applied to more schools in NC and FL. I would have switched out Clark for either Appalachian State University or University of South Florida, and I would have switched out Binghamton with University of Tampa. However, I’m sure I would have picked the same school anyways. I’m VERY proud of my results, and to be attending my school.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA WILMINGTON CLASS OF 2019!!! GO SEAHAWKS!!!