Chance Me: Asian Male with Strong Political Hooks

Chance Me / Match Me!
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I feel the need to preface this for the one person who sees this to say that I am not a nepo baby. I am first gen and my family owns a small family business and I’ll be the first in my family to go to college. I have my application hooks solely due to my drive, passion, family support, as well as work ethic and networking abilities. I chose to focus on my passions, enjoy high school, and kill it in the EC department rather than waste my days trying to be valedictorian. I’m trying to live in a delusion that I’ll be able to separate myself from the Super smart Asian Male who’s going into STEM stereotype and impress at least one T20.

Demographics
US citizen
Second Largest Public High School in State
Asian Male

Intended Major(s): Mostly Economics and Political Science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.89/4
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.98/5
  • Class Rank: 14/450 (For the record my gpa is less than .05 away from my valedictorian)
    Test Optional except Georgetown which requires the SAT so I got a 1450 twice with the exact same score breakdown and then a 1480 with a 790 math and 690 ERW

**Coursework: Highest Course Rigor that my school offered with all AP and Honors courses since freshman year and all As and A-s. (My school doesn’t give A+s)

Prior AP’s:
AP Macro: 5
AP Calc: 5
AP Stats: 4
AP AP Physics 1: 4
AP Gov: 4
Not reporting: AP Bio, AP World, AP Psych either because I didn’t get a 4 or 5 or didn’t take it
( I am still taking more APs this year but I am not taking any more exams, Sayonara College Board!!!)

Awards
National Merit SemiFinalist (Wish I could have done so well on the real SAT…)
AP Scholar With Distinction

Extracurriculars

  1. United States Senate Page during school year
  2. National Chair of a Large Political Organization with tens of thousands of members
  3. Youngest member of Democratic National Committee
  4. Student Member of Board of Education in the second largest school district in the state
  5. Youngest Officer of State Democratic Party
  6. Class President
  7. 2 year Varsity Sport Captain
  8. President of National Honor Society
  9. 3 year President of Dems Club

Essays/LORs/Other
Overall I’d say my essays are pretty strong. They convey my personality but also my career goals as an aspiring public servant. I had a pretty good narrative going and I also had a lot of fun writing my essays so hopefully it works out. I’d say 8/10

LORs: Honestly I’d say 9.5/10. My counselor and I are extremely close and I am definitely one of her favorite students and she has gotten to know me very well over the past few years. My other teacher recommenders have gotten to see me grow in and out of the classroom and have seen me overcome struggles in my personal life and come out stronger.
Most Importantly: I have my U.S. Senator who I worked with for an entire semester and an alum at an ivy write me a letter of rec and sent it everywhere. I also had 2 U.S. Representatives who mentor me write letters on my behalf, which were also sent everywhere, and I’ll emphasize their significance in the school list. None of these letters were initially sent to my EA/REA schools.

Cost Constraints / Budget
I am very Very VERY middle class but the net price calculators mostly have me paying everything by myself unless I get a merit scholarship but my family has assured me that tuition costs will not need to have a weight on my decision, which I am grateful for.

EA Schools
UMass Amherst EA (OOS): Accepted with Honors
UNH EA (OOS): Accepted with Honors
UT Austin McCombs EA (OOS): Accepted and admitted into Plan II Honors Program with some AMAZING merit money.
UVA EA (OOS): Rejected (This one hurt)
UPitt: Waitlisted → Rescinded ( I laughed when I got this decision)
Harvard REA: Deferred!!! (After being deferred my congressman who is a Harvard Alum wrote a letter of rec)

RD Schools
Northeastern
Boston University
Boston College
WUSTL
Vanderbilt
Georgetown School of Foreign Service (dream school)
Dartmouth
Yale ← Congressman 2’s Alma mater
UPenn Wharton
Brown ← Senator’s Alma Mater
Harvard (again) ← Congressman 1’s Alma Mater
Stanford ← Congressman 2 represents the district adjacent to Stanford and used to teach there
Cornell

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More than the Reccs, or as important as the Reccs are these ECs I think:

  1. National Chair of a Large Political Organization with tens of thousands of members
  2. Youngest member of Democratic National Committee

I think some of your reaches may happen.

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Yes, agreed. Plus being first-gen is a hook.

@nerdypython, I’m curious - if Georgetown is your dream school, why didn’t you REA there instead of Harvard? You’d very likely have been admitted.

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Congrats on your achievements. I can’t chance you, and the good news is you have some great acceptances so far. If you weren’t accepted anywhere else, where would you go? I assume your acceptances are all affordable?

I’m also concerned about the waitlist at Pitt. What do you mean when you say ‘rescinded’? When did you get that app in? Did you apply TO there ?

It’s ok you chose H SCEA over Gtown EA, as there’s not really a benefit to applying to Gtown early. Why did you miss Northeastern EA though? That’s going to make a difference in your chances there.

Good luck, I know the RD waiting is hard.

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It seems the OP effectively withdrew that application by declining the wait list offer.

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When your decisions arrive, you may want to give extra consideration to those options that offer a major in public policy. This interdisciplinary major strongly overlaps with your interests by relying on the fields of political science and economics, as well as philosophy, for its foundation.

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That’s a good question. These are kind of a stupid reasons but I wasn’t able to figure out what I wanted to write my essays about until close to the deadline and also my SAT score is in Georgetown’s RD middle 50% but not their EA. I didn’t want to rush and mess up my Georgetown application vs. Harvard which in my opinion had an easier application which I was able to complete faster.

I’m curious, do you think I still have a chance of being admitted into any of my reach schools? I know my stats are average/below average but I’d like to think it’s possible.

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Thank you so much, I will definitely look more into these schools!

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Thank you so much! Just curious, why can’t you chance me? I’m assuming it’s because of my average academic stats with a “unique” hook but I’m unsure. Do you have any inclination that I have a chance of being accepted into any of my remains reach schools?

To answer your question, I would definitely choose UT Austin. Their great academics, weather, and top notch school spirit make it a top choice regardless what other schools I get into.

I wouldn’t be too concerned about Pitt. I messed up my application by not sending in my official SAT score report, I messed up the financial aid process, and I accidentally sent them a supplement for another school. I ended up by declining the wait list offer, sorry for the confusion.

The reason why I didn’t EA Northeastern was because Harvard REA doesn’t allow me to EA to private schools. I do understand that it hurts my chances but if it is what it is.

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Thank you for the reassurance, I really appreciate it!

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You got into UT with Honors. You don’t need reassurance.

You’re already set. Everything else is gravy and not necessarily as prestigious as MCombs with plan II.

Good luck with the rest.

Ps explain Pitt far easier to get into than UT. Not a hard in. Define rescinded or do you mean you didn’t stay on the WL ??

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Congratulations on some fantastic acceptances! I learned something… I did not realize UT-Austin offered big merit to OOS kids… good to know it is possible.

I think you stand a reasonable chance at receiving more good news. Make sure to update the thread as you get more decisions. :grinning: :grinning: Best of luck!

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I will comment on a few.

  1. How do you know you are the youngest member in the DNC. And simply being a member is no big deal. Anyone can join.

  2. National Chair of a Large Political Organization? Again…what do you do? How did you get elected?

What you DO is more important than a list of things you belong to…in my opinion.

For the people with whom you have directly worked, these are great. How did these two house reps “mentor you”…? Simply having alums with whom you don’t have a significant relationship write you letters probably isn’t going to do more than get admissions to read your application.

You already have some acceptances. IF they are affordable, that is terrific. Regarding the rest of your list…you have a chance to be accepted…but no guarantees. Just be patient. I will say…UT Austin sounds like a terrific acceptance!!

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I chose to not stay on the waitlist. I didn’t really want to go there and it would’ve been more expensive than my current options so there was no point.

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To be honest I didn’t think they gave any merit aid but I got a call from an admissions officer informing me of the update. I most certainly will keep the thread updated with any news, thank you for the reassuring words!

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If NPCs at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. say no financial aid, you may want to readjust your definition of “very Very VERY middle class”. More likely, you are “very Very VERY upper Upper UPPER middle class”.

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Let me break this down so I can respond point by point.

  1. The DNC has a Youth Council consisting of all members under 30. It is a very small group to say the least. I know all of the members in that council and I have been informed by the DNC Secretary who has all membership information, so I am pretty confident that I am currently the youngest member. I would disagree with your statement that anyone can just join the DNC. One would have to either be appointed by the Chairman, handpicked by the current president, or run and win against party insiders for the one spot which may state is allocated.

  2. I completely agree with you. For the sake of College Confidential, I just listed the titles similar to common app, I didn’t include a description of what I have done. I promise that I conveyed the significance of my responsibilities which came with the position as well as what I have done with my position throughout my application.

  3. Regarding mentors, I interned under one of them for a summer and now work with him on a weekly basis through my position as a State Party Officer. The other one who is farther away took me under his wing during my time as a Senate Page. Since then he’s given me guidance, career input, and we communicate on a daily basis, which I suppose is less meaningful since I’ve never worked under him.

Thank you for the comments and I will keep you posted!

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I totally agree with what you are saying and if I come across as elitist in any way, I apologize. It’s hard to convey one’s financial situation without getting too personal and I don’t feel the need to elaborate on my own situation on this forum. The Net Price Calculator doesn’t take healthcare expenses and most special circumstances into consideration as well as some other factors. After being accepted, financial aid offices have been giving me more aid than calculators have predicted.

I find it odd that some calculators such as Harvard and Yale have me paying nearly full tuition but I qualify for full tuition coverage at Stanford under their pledge to families who make under $150k a year. Perhaps some schools are stingier than others or perhaps we messed up our inputs on the many visits to each school’s net price calculator! Whatever the case is, as long as I don’t go into a mountain of debt to fund my education, I will be satisfied!

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OP, you may not like to hear this, but no one here can predict anything at this stage. You are just days away from hearing your various results, right? That may be the best thing to do is just wait for the results. A Chance Me thread now is pretty pointless.

That being said, you have great credentials. One thing I would wonder, though, is whether schools want to get away from US politics, given the extreme partisanship in this country. I would think schools would find peacemakers very appealing in this day and age.

But, still, what you’ve accomplished is quite amazing. My understanding is that the DNC itself is only made up of 300 or so Committee members in total, with each state’s D party being represented by its party chair and vice-chair, along with 200 additional members. Am I wrong in that?

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck. You already have things under your belt, so you will be fine no matter what.

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Thank you!!! I really needed the honesty and the clarity. I’ve done what I can and whatever happens happens.

I would not be surprised if schools start avoiding political kids, today’s partisanship is horrible.

You are correct about the breakdown of the DNC. The 200 members are consisted of lifetime members which are selected through at-large appointments usually by the recommendation from the president, nomination of the chairman, and vote of the committee. And the remaining are elected by state parties.

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