Sorry, I know I have too many chance threads and that decisions are right around the corner but I’m hella anxious.
I’ve heard back from a few UC’s but I’m not sure how well I’ll do at the CommonApp schools because I’ve heard no good news so far–no likely letters (although I know not many get them) and didn’t get merit scholarships from USC.
I applied as a biology major at USC and HYPSC but nursing for Penn.
GPA AND BACKGROUND
3.94 UW, 4.74 W
4.4 UC Capped and Weighted, 4.0 UC GPA
Chinese female, California
~75k income per year
COLLEGE DECISIONS SO FAR (applied as a biology major to all except where noted)
Deferred from Yale EA
UCI CHP and Regents
UCSB Regents
UC Davis Regents
Accepted at UCSD
Accepted at Berkeley early but no Regents
Accepted to Fullerton Nursing
CLASS RANK
<1%, 4th of 529 students
SAT
2240 (2400 scale), 720 CR, 740 Math, 780 Writing,
SAT II’s
750 Chemistry, 750 US History, 800 Math Level II, 750 Spanish Reading
AP CLASSES
AP World History (4), AP US History (4), AP Chem (5), AP Lang (5), Calc AB (5)
SENIOR YEAR CLASSES
AP Literature, AP Calc BC, AP Physics, AP Spanish, AP Psychology, Photography 150 (community college class offered at my high school)
MID YEAR REPORT: All A’s first semester of senior year
EXTRACURRICULARS
Mu Alpha Theta (12)
Key Club (9-12)
CSF (9-12)
Academic Decathlon (9-11)
Math Club (9-10)
Tutorial Club (11-12)
Piano (4-12)
Sync or Swim (9-11)
Toastmasters (11-12)
Your Vote Matters—Advancing Justice (11-12)—Asian American Voting Campaign
Homework Helper at local libraries (11-12)
Theater Usher (11-12)
TeenInk Advisory Board (10-12)
LEADERSHIP
TeenInk Advisory Board (10-12)
Your Vote Matters—Advancing Justice (11-12)—Asian American Voting Campaign
Counselor at Tech Trek, STEM camp for pre-teen girls–2 summers
SUMMER INVOLVEMENT
Empowerment Program—program that encouraged Asian-American youth in political engagement (12)
Doctor Shadower at private gastroenterology clinic (12)
Research project that culminated in a research paper (see below)
AWARDS (no really high profile awards, just some generic stuff)
• AP Scholar with Distinction, 12th Grade
Handful of Acadec medals–3 silvers, 4 bronzes
• Published a personal narrative in TeenInk
• TeenInk Editor’s Choice Award, 10th grade
• CM Level 10 Piano, 9th grade
ATTEMPTS AT STANDING OUT
Worked on an astrophysics research project for 3 summers with PHD and grad students and work got published in a physics journal—I was a co-author
Sent the abstract of that to Columbia, Penn and USC and sent in whole paper to HYP and S
Published a personal narrative in TeenInk, a national magazine
ESSAYS
CommonApp essay was about my involvement in Asian-American affairs
Harvard/Princeton supplement was about health policy and my volunteering efforts towards helping the poor who needed medical care
I feel most of mine were a 7.5-8, and I tried to “stand out” with my Stanford essays but they weren’t beautiful and flowy.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Physics teacher gave a solid recc–he’s a published author and a quirky guy; we have a good relationship and he likes me
English teacher gave maybe a 7/10–he thinks I’m “talented” but he’s also very honest in his reccs
Doctor/Supplementary Recc–sent a good recc, wrote about my healthcare aspirations and my “talents”