I’m OOS for all except Bucknell
Private Catholic Prep School in PA
White Male
ACT: 34
New SAT: 1490 (not reported)
Not reporting any AP scores or SAT II as of now
Weighted GPA: 4.08 (my school has a weird scale that’s about A-/A average)
Freshmen year - 4.14 GPA (all honors classes)
Sophomore year - 3.99 GPA (all honors classes)
Junior year - 4.08 GPA (4 AP classes)
Senior year - 4.09 GPA currently (3 AP classes)
No Class Rank
Applying to CoE with specific interest in Biomedical Engineering
Commended National Scholar for 2016
Member of NHS and SNHS
Extracurricular: Robotics (Head Electrical), Spanish Club, Academic Competition Team, Crew (1 year), Freshmen Football, JV Lacrosse (1 year), Stock Market Club, many hours of service in local Philadelphia area and even took a trip with Rustic Pathways to Costa Rica (made that a huge focal point on my apps), worked as a pool lifeguard past 3 years
Conducted research with Sports medicine team on campus dealing with concussions in Lacrosse + wrestling
7 APs done by the end of this year (Chem, AB + BC Calc, Bio, Lang and Comp, US History, Econ)
Essays are very good according to what I have heard from counselors
Recommendations should be very good (Chem and AB teacher)
Weakness: Grades aren’t that spectacular and not that many extracurricular activities (I have put a lot of time into robotics though)
I’d love some feedback of what you guys think! Michigan is definitely the top choice for me, but if I were to get into Northwestern or North Carolina it would be a tough decision.
i definitely think you have a really great chance at michigan, just a tad less so for northwestern. I hear UNC admissions for OOS can be weird, so it’s hard to tell for that.
I wouldn’t make a missionary trip you’re headline unless you did something extraordinary during your visit. This is quite cliche among the “elite” class and it will just show AO that your family is relatively well off. IMO, make something else more unique about yourself a focal point.
Thanks for the feedback! My family actually isn’t really that well of I’m at my high school on scholarship and the trip was paid for by the school. I used it for certain supplemental essays, but my Common App essay had to do with me speaking out against my former friends in middle school for bullying and how that shaped my character. Do you think that is a better topic to convey what I want rather than the boring trip topic? @ninjakiwi
I agree^. Tell your story about what makes you unique and special and a wonderful person. Don’t write what I tell you to write, I just wanted to let you know that for top schools, a missionary trip can convey a message you’re not trying to convey. Sounds like a good common app essay topic.
Best of luck!!
I’m not sure I totally agree with the just “whatever makes you unique” sentiment for essays. While obviously you want to write about something that makes you stand out, all of your essays should come to a point somehow. If you’re strong across a bunch of topics, or have a long history of going way above and beyond for things, then write about something that can align with that. Don;t just write about an arbitrary topic because you think it’s “who you are,” write about something truthful that you’ve done, that clicks with the rest of your profile, but also broadens it a little. It’s hard to find a medium for this, but don’t just throw in in topics that you think might kind of reflect you. Write to an end.
@waswaswasnt I think I get what youre saying. I feel like I tried to make a point of that in my essay and made sure it was actually all the true facts of the story and it was something that truely reflects who I am.
@ninjakiwi Thanks a lot! I totally get what you’re saying and agree.
