Hi! I’m getting to the point in applications and follow ups that I am genuinely desperate for any honest feedback that I haven’t already heard sugarcoated before, so anyone who can chance me/provide answers for the questions I’ll have at the end, I would appreciate it so much.
Schools in order of choice, reach schools are capitalized
- PRINCETON (legacy) (applied SCEA - deferred to RD)
- UPENN
- HARVARD
- YALE
- Georgetown
- Johns Hopkins
- CORNELL
- Carnegie Mellon
9… Northwestern (legacy) - Lehigh
(I know that at least 9/10 of these schools are extremely hard to get into so I’m using reach vs non-reach VERY loosely)
Prospective Major: Psychology, double with Biochemistry for schools where that’s possible
Language Minors: Russian and/or German
GENERAL:
-white female, 17
-parents both have PhDs, family income very low <40,000, military income
-Senior at private, small Catholic school; not terribly competitive, few AP classes/extracurriculars (I’m in basically them all)
-ranked 1st/ approx. 150 in class
-4.0 UWGPA, 4.72 WGPA
-native English speaker, self taught near fluency in German and French, working knowledge of 3 other languages
TEST SCORES:
-SAT I: 2240 (single sitting) W: 740 CR: 780 M: 720
-SAT II: Math 1: 710 Biology M: 730 Literature: 750
retaking SAT in January; since first sitting was with no prep and this will be with full prep expected >2300
signed up for ACT December, couldn’t take due to extenuating circumstances (see below), will take in February
-AP: APUSH: 4 APLANG: 5
(I know this is a major weakness in my application, I will have 4 more scores at the end of this year but not now; for the record I’ve taken/am taking every AP offered by my school)
ALSO have college credits totally about 30 for local community college courses, taken both in and out of school.
SENIOR COURSE-LOAD:
- AP Biology
- AP Calculus
- AP Literature
- AP Microeconomics
- Calculus III (online college course, considered AP in school weighting)
- Honors Physics
- Forensic Science
- Religion IV (required by school)
Taking German, French, Spanish 101 courses this spring at local community college.
AWARDS:
-National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist
-New Jersey Scholars Program Nominee
-Lancer Scholars Program (college dual-enrollment classes- school level)
-Honors with Distinction (all classes, all years)
-10 Underclassmen Awards (top in individual classes)
-10 Academic Society Awards (listed individually by name on resume but in all subjects)
-National Honor Society
-Willingboro Youth Police Academy Director’s Leadership Award
-West Point Society of New Jersey Dwight D Eisenhower Leadership Award
-Celeste Arties Scholarship Nominee (leadership, women’s interests)
EXTRACURRICULARS:
Academic:
-NHS Member - Treasurer
-Mock Trial ( soph year)
-Co-Captain Math Tutoring
-Math Competition Committee
Community Service:
-NHS
-Special Olympics (lots of activity with)
-Key Club
-Habitat for Humanity
-Alternate Activities Club (drug awareness, service with the homeless)
Athletic:
-Co-Captain Varsity Cross Country
-Co-Captain Varsity Indoor Track
-Co-Captain Track and Field
Arts:
-Drama Club- Fall Plays (all years)
-Spring Musicals (all years)
-Stage Crew, Fall and Spring
-Marching Band at local regional school (my school doesn’t have one) (frosh year)
Other:
-Spanish Club (junior year)
-French Club
-Ski Club
Community:
-local Youth Police Academy (summer- all years) (leadership, civic service, etc.)
-dogsitting/landscaping jobs
Community Service (200+ hours)
-Special Olympics (100+ hours, weekly sports clinics; state competitions; all access playground fundraisers)
-Special needs outreach at hospital
-Adopt- A - Grandparent (lead - NHS)
-Cancer Society Relay for Life
-Homeless outreach: soup kitchen, volunteer at food bank, food drives, community benefit, etc.
-Local nature center
-Led school blood drive; routine donor
-Peer math tutoring (daily)
-A bunch of races I’ve run for charity: Ovarian Cancer Run, Cancer Society Half Marathon, community 5 ks, Blue Cross 10 miler, etc.
SO aside from all of the basic credentials, which I recognize are mediocre at best (the test scores are pretty much absolutely in the middle for the schools I’m applying to), I have writing to kind of redeem myself.
My recommendations are very strong: two academic ones (English and math) that I’ve read and are VERY positive, one from an old French teacher about my passion for foreign language, and one from a police officer I do the summer program with talking about leadership, character, and dedication, etc.
I’ve done alumni interviews with 4 schools so far (Princeton, Yale, Georgetown, Cornell), and have been assured top recommendations by all the interviewers.
My essay for every school that allows a personal essay concerns my family. I grew up with a disabled veteran father who was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I’ve spent most of my life, but especially my senior year, care-taking for him, my mentally ill mother, and my younger brother. He’s currently institutionalized and nearing his death bed, and it’s been an extremely emotionally rough year in my family life. Obviously I didn’t write the essays from the “my life sucks” perspective, but I wrote it about learning to grow up and take responsibility and still achieve even with all this happening at home, and everyone whose given me opinions on the writing has said they’re very good. Realistically I know I am strong writer, so I’m very confident about those. My other school essays generally have focused on a few important, passionate aspects (my work with Special Olympics, my love of languages, my running, or my community police academy).
So basically with all of this considered, what are my chances at my schools right now, and considering I’ve already applied to them all, and what else can I submit to make my chances stronger, other than the obvious (retake/take more standardized testing)? I know they’re all the kind of schools there’s never any kind of certainty for, even if I was 10x the applicant I already am, but just generally speaking.
Specifically, considering I already applied SCEA to Princeton and got deferred to regular, is there anything else to do? I emailed my alumni interviewer for advice, and she sent me a bunch of information, but nothing I haven’t heard before. I’ve been drafting a letter of intention or whatever else you want to call it to send about how its still my first choice and how devoted I am. I already sent like two supplemental recommendation letters. I have a resume of all my activities and service, leadership, etc. that wouldn’t fit on the common app, as well as a personal essay much stronger than the one I submitted at first (I hadn’t written an actually good essay by the time SCEA was due). I don’t want to harass the admissions board - how much is too much to send, to the point its detrimental not helpful?
Any advice on how to help any of my applications, ESPECIALLY Princeton would be so, so helpful. I don’t have much family advice to fall back on for help and with fairly useless school counseling, this is sort of a last chance. Thank you so much, and sorry for the long post.