Hi!
I already made a post in the transfer student section, but I wanted to formalize my stats and really zone in on one school in particular, Swarthmore, which I have fallen in love with. I applied early to Vanderbilt, thinking it fit me really well, and, well, the first semester was a hellish experience for me, but at least it informed me of what I want from college and life by dragging me through one extreme (namely, what I do NOT want). Here are my stats:
Objective:
Current Freshman Engineer
High School:
SAT I (breakdown): 1550/1600 (I took it only once w/o studying so whatever, not the best I know)
SAT II: Math II 800, Physics 770 (again, I was…not in an entirely present state during the exam)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.85
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank, as we consistently send kids to top schools
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB: 5, Calc BC: 5, Physics C E&M:5, Physics C: Mechanics: 5, Spanish: 5, English Lit, 4, Biology, 5, + I got macroecon credit from a local college
HS Senior Year courses: Physics C, Theology, English, Calc BC/MVC calc, abstract algebra, intro to topology & cryptography, Spanish 4 and probably something else I’m not recalling haha
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Various awards for speech and debate including state champion of debate, 6th speaker at a national invitational tournament. I was captain of a team which advanced to the top 18% for the Moody’s Mega Math Challenge (in our first year of competing), I was on dean’s list, national merit commended scholar, etc.
College:
GPA: 3.84
Quantum Mechanics - A
Proof based multivariable calculus and linear algebra - A
Intro to Engineering - A
Gen Chem - B+ (rip)
Second semester: (mid-term grades in parentheses)
Complex Analysis: n/a
Proof based multivariable calc and lin alg part 2: A
Circuits I: B- (I wrote a note explaining how badly I want to transfer and this anxiety forced an anxious mistake on a heavily weighted portion of hte exam which I only realized as time was elapsing so I didn’t have time to correct the mistake. I intend to send an updated grade after the second midterm) .
Materials Science and Engineering A
Intro Computer Science A
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Varsity Soccer
Club Soccer
Debate
captain of an intramural team at Vanderbilt
member of a senior design team for engineering
engineering mentor in our school’s design studio
vice president of my residential hall (~230 people live in it and I won majority vote)
Research:
I’ve done research, but it’s ongoing so I didn’t note it on my college app
Lots of required community service because I attended a Catholic school in the city
I also volunteered for ~150 hours at the New York Aquarium as a docent one summer
Employment:
worked as a frozen yogurt employee b/w junior and senior year
worked as an engineering instructor after senior year
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Projections, but probably accurate
Teacher Rec #1: (proof based multi and lin alg) 8
Teacher Rec #2: (quantum mechanics prof) 8 he really likes me, so I’m hoping it’s good
Employer Rec: I had my employer write me a rec from last summer, so I’m keen
Interview: I think it went really well
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M
Income Bracket: ~120k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.) none
Also, any feedback on other colleges I’m applying to would be really appreciated (MIT, Haverford, Brown, Penn, Cornell, Williams, Amherst)