<p>So I just finished up my final apps last night, and was curious if I should be getting my hopes up for acceptances. I applied to all of these schools as a possible Physics major, with Cognitive Science, Bio, or Romance Languages as backups. I'm interested in veterinary medicine, as well as languages, but I figured that Physics (something that I really enjoy, too) would set me apart from the bio crowd, and I ended up writing pretty passionately about my love of physics and my awesome physics teacher.</p>
<p>I applied to: University of Maryland (College Park Priority, and Honors hopeful,) Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, Middlebury, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins. I applied and was accepted EA to Georgetown, so I'm pretty much set already, but I decided that sending in some more apps wouldn't hurt!</p>
<p>Me:
Gender/Ethnicity -- Male/White</p>
<p>School -- Competitive, private Episcopal school in Potomac, MD.</p>
<p>9th/10th/11th GPA -- 3.9 Unweighted, 4.1 Weighted.
((My Freshman year wasn't my best (A mix of As and A-s, with one B+), but that was due in part to the death of my father halfway through the year.))</p>
<p>Ranking-- No rankings at our school, but I'm in the top 5%, or number 1-3/70.</p>
<p>Junior year schedule/grades -- AP English Lit. (A), AP US History (A), Physics (A), Precalculus (A), and Spanish III (A)</p>
<p>Senior year schedule/first trimester grades -- AP Biology (A+), AP Spanish Language (A), AP Calculus AB (A+), AP English Language (A), and Physics II (A)</p>
<p>APs taken -- AP US History (5) and AP English Lit (5).
((Our school only offers 2 APs before Senior year (US and Lit, obviously) and in Senior year we only have access to 4 (the ones that I'm taking).))</p>
<p>ACT -- 33 Composite. 34 Math, 34 English (10 Essay), 34 Reading, 29 Science. *One sitting<a href="(I%20don't%20even%20know%20what%20to%20say%20about%20that%20science%20score...)">/I</a></p>
<p>SAT -- 2200: 760 CR, 680M, 760 W (10 Essay). *One sitting<a href="(strange,%20since%20math%20has%20always%20been%20my%20best%20subject,%20but%20oh%20well.)">/I</a></p>
<p>SAT IIs -- 720 Mathematics Level 2, 690 Spanish, 770 U.S. History.
((The Spanish test is a little bit embarrassing, as I'm near-fluent. I realized after the test that I had not turned to the last page, thinking that I already finished...))</p>
<p>ECs:
-- Martial arts all through middle school and high school, began Tai Chi in high school.
-- "Little Dragon" martial arts instructor to kids 7 and under, Tai Chi forms and weapons instructor to adults (both since junior year.)
-- Executive tutor (paid) with P2P Tutors, around 4 hours per week
-- Tutor at the National Center for Children and Families, mostly helping teens from abused and broken homes who dropped out of high school to get their GEDs, 1-2 times per week
--Tutor at the National Center for Children and Families' Greentree Shelter (tutoring math, reading, science, etc to high schoolers living at the shelter) 1-2 times per week.
-- Volunteering every Sunday with an ASPCA vet, for a total of well over 100 hours
-- Not sure how good this will look, but I ran track in Freshman year, participated in my school's musical Sophomore and Senior year, and played the violin in our Symphonic Rock Orchestra Junior year
--Peer Leader (I work with incoming freshmen and help them adjust to high school life -- a leadership role at our school)</p>
<p>Awards, etc:
--Inducted into the Cum Laude Society in my Junior year (top 5% of my class)
--Black belt in martial arts and Tai Chi
--Finalist as well as 3rd place in the US Capitol Classics Chinese Open (Martial arts)
--Tutor of the Month at my tutoring company
--I went on a community service/language immersion/homestay trip to Honduras for one month this summer. I came back with an additional 40+ hours of community service, teaching in a rural kindergarten (an INCREDIBLE experience), and near-fluent in Spanish.
--Maryland Distinguished Scholar nominee for Junior year
--High Honor Roll member every trimester since the 2nd of Freshman year.</p>
<p>Recs and Essay: Great teacher recs from my APUSH, Spanish, and Precal teachers. All three volunteered to write for me without me asking, which I took as a good sign, and my Spanish teacher went on the trip to Honduras with me, so she'll be speaking to my out-of-school life.</p>
<p>My common app essay is pretty deep and creative (my college counselor seemed to like it), and I am a strong writer.</p>
<p>Also, my father and half-sister were Cornell alumni, if that changes anything. Weird question, but would his death change anything, since he's (obviously) not an active member of any alumni boards??</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
