Hey guys! So these last couple of days have been kind of crazy because I have been waitlisted by some very elite schools! Tuesday I was notified that I was waitlisted at Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth. I was wondering what you guys think my chances of being admitted off of the waitlists are? I know they are very low and unpredictable, but I am trying to get a little bit of context on if I am competitive or not.
I am going to submit a letter of intent to all three schools (describing why I want to go there, what I have been up to, and why I think I am a good fit there), an additional letter of recommendation from my counselor (who wrote my original rec too but this one would reiterate how badly she thinks I should be admitted), and an additional essay I wrote for school that is really unique and interesting. I feel like I should submit this essay because I think it will help them better understand my personality and because it might give me an extra boost. Do you guys recommend me doing anything else in addition to these three things? Thanks so much for your opinions!
Anyway, here is the info from my original chance thread! Thanks again!
Original chance thread info:
I think (not exactly sure though, correct me if I am wrong) what separates me from a lot of my peers is my story and everything I have been through and all the adversity I have had to overcome to get to this point. For a little bit of context, when I was 5 my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and when I was 11 she passed away. Shortly after that my dad lost his job and struggled to find another one in his field for several years and during this time my sister was frequently using drugs and alcohol and dropped out of high school. We had a lot of family issues and after my mom’s passing everything got increasingly worse but we have slowly recovered from all of our problems.
Anyways, I have filled out the typical CC application profile below and I would like to have your honest opinions on where I am strong/weak and what I can do to improve. I would really appreciate to have some of your guy’s feedback! And please be honest! Thanks!
Objective: •SAT I (breakdown): Superscore- 770 M, 730 W, 580 CR (not submitting unless necessary)
•ACT: 32 C- 34 E, 35 M, 29 R, 29 S (thinking about taking again in December)
•SAT II: 770 Math 2, 760 Physics
•Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88, W 4.68
•Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/639
•AP (place score in parenthesis):
10th grade: Calc AB (4), AP World History (3).
11th grade: Calc BC (4), AB subscore (5), Physics B (4), AP Language and Comp (5), APUSH (4).
12th grade: AP Spanish, AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, AP Literature and Composition
•IB (place score in parenthesis): NA
•Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calculus III, University Physics I: Mechanics, AP Spanish, AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, AP Literature and Composition, US History 4 Honors (Internship).
•Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
2014 QuestBridge National College Match Finalist
2014 QuestBridge College Prep Scholar
Fein Fellow (Only 48 in the country selected)
AP Scholar w/ Distinction
NHD (Physics Project) Regional Champion
NHD (Physics Project) State Finalist- 4th place
Eagle Pride Award
2013 Swim MVP
2014 Swim MVP
National Honor Society
Society of Male Scholars
Subjective:
•Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Swimming 6 years (Varsity 4 years) 2014 Varsity Captain
TSA Club- Auto CAD (Co-Founder, Vice President)
Water Polo (2 years)
Intern for Computer Software Company (12)
Everyone Can Swim Program (teaching persons with disabilities how to swim and be safe around water), soon to be foundation once registered through IRS (Founder, Coordinator and Instructor)
Academy of American Studies (9,10,11,12)
NHS (10,11,12)
Society of Male Scholars (11,12)
•Job/Work Experience: Intern for a computer software company. Also, personal physics tutor for summer school students this summer.
•Volunteer/Community service:
Relay For Life (9,10,11,12)
Feed My Starving Children (10,11,12)
Swimming (Timing, running meets, etc. 6 years). I am very involved in the swimming community and have participated in numerous events such as “Swim from Alcatraz” and “Golden Gate Swim” for the F.A.S.T. Foundation.
•Summer Activities: Organizing and running the Everyone Can Swim Program at SpoFit Center for Persons with Disabilities, 3 hours, 3 days a week for 6 weeks, training and competing for swimming, water polo and triathlons, and this summer I attended the QuestBridge National Admissions Conference at Stanford.
•Essays (rating 1-10, details): My essays are pretty compelling. Everyone that has read them so far has really liked them. My common app focuses on my mom’s death and all of my family’s struggles and the others are really quirky, focus on my interests and have a lot of voice. (For a little bit of context, when I was 5 my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and when I was 11 she died. Shortly after that my dad lost his job and my sister went through a drug and alcohol stage and dropped out of HS)
•Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
•Teacher Rec #1: Calc Teacher- 8. Probably pretty good but I haven’t read it so idk.
•Teacher Rec #2: 9-10. AP Lang teacher. She loved me so I am sure it is really good.
•Counselor Rec: 9-10 My counselor is in love with me so I am sure this one is great as well.
•Additional Rec: 9-10 My high school swim coach. This one is probably very good too.
Other
•State (if domestic applicant): Arizona
•Country (if international applicant): USA
•School Type: Public (2500+)
•Ethnicity:Caucasian
•Gender: Male
•Income Bracket: $32,000 without retirement distributions, $72,000 with (will not be available next year so expecting income drop)
•Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation.