Class of 2017 Decisions Thread (RD)

<p>Seeing how decisions will be posted in less than 48 hours, I think we should get a RD decisions thread going. Let's keep the discussion to a minimum--the results are what we want, after all! </p>

<p>I have provided a template commonly used on CC in results threads for all of you who are new to posting decisions to use. What you want to do is delete the space after each left bracket ([) in order for the forum to register the code.</p>

<p>Best of luck to everyone!</p>

<p>Pick one:
[ size=+2][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted[ /b][ /color][ /size]
[ size=+2][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Deferred[ /b][ /color][ /size]
[ size=+2][ color=red][ b]Decision: Rejected[ /b][ /color][ /size]</p>

<p>[ b]Objective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT I (breakdown):
[ *] ACT:
[ *] SAT II (if submitted):
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis):
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[ *] Senior Year Course Load:
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
[ *] Job/Work Experience:
[ *] Volunteer/Community service:
[ *] Essays:
[ *] Teacher Recommendation:
[ *] Counselor Rec:
[ *] Additional Rec:
[ *] Interview:
[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?:
[ *] Intended Major:
[ *] State (if domestic applicant):
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type:
[ *] Ethnicity:
[ *] Gender:
[ *] Income Bracket:
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.):
[ /list][ b]Reflection[ /b][ list]
[ *] Strengths:
[ *] Weaknesses:
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
[ /list][ b]General Comments:[ /b]</p>

<p>Copy and pasting this might be a little faster than deleting all those spaces :)</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2380–780V,800M,800W (One attempt)
[</em>] ACT: none
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Physics, 800 Math II, 790 US History, 780 Latin, 730 BioM
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.12 [A+ = 4.33]
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a, though I was told I’m somewhere in top 2 or 3 and my counselor unofficially mentioned this in letter.
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Bio, Comp Sci A, US History, Euro History, English Lit, Physics B, Calc AB, Latin Vergil (all 5s)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Hon. Latin 5, AP English Lang, AP Physics C, AP Chem, Hon. Multivariable Calc, AP Stats
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing incredible. NMSF, AP Nat. Scholar, Cum Laude, some pretty good Latin awards, and state science fair awards</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): State Organization w/1700 members (Regional governor 11, VP 12) Student Council (president 10 representative 12) Yearbook (co-editor-in-chief 12), two school clubs (president), two sports (one varsity since 10)
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: science research in lab, summer 12
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Head of community service for the aforementioned state organization this year
[</em>] Summer Activities: Science research in major lab this year, internship at surgery practice last year
[<em>] Essays: I thought they were good. No one can really assess their own essays’ quality, but I will say that I really liked the picture of me they painted and were a pretty accurate expression of who I am.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: I think they were both very good, but who can really say. (didn’t read them)
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Again, I think it was good, but who can say.
[</em>] Additional Rec: Research mentor, a professor at a major research institution. She wrote a very good letter (my counselor told me), as she was very pleased with the quality of the work I completed.
[li] Interview: no</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): OH
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type: Very small, very competitive independent
[<em>] Ethnicity: Indian [did not report, but addressed in an essay.]
[li] Gender: male[/li][</em>] Income Bracket: Did not apply for aid
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): No hook!</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[list]
[<em>] Strengths: test scores, GPA, pretty significant leadership in ECs, very accomplished Latin student, good research w/ very positive LOR
[</em>] Weaknesses: no hook, no incredible awards, and the strength of the applicant pool
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: basic probability
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted Yale SCEA, Rice, OSU, Rejected Harvard Stanford</p>

<p>General Comments: Congrats to accepted. Yale class of 2017!</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted
Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown):2170 (710CR, 740M, 720W – 10 essay) 2nd sitting, 1st sitting was 2050 (690/640/720 – 12 essay)
[</em>] ACT: n/a
[<em>] SAT II: 690 Lit, 750 Math2 (1st sitting was something like 650 and 540)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): UK applicant, so n/a but GCSE’s were 11A<em>,AS Levels were 4 A’s in Maths, History, Philosophy and Chemistry, then an A</em> in Maths A level (did ‘further maths’ which basically ended up being maths a2 in a year, then running screaming from the actual further maths a level in y13)
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): UK applicant, so n/a but as a general guide, if you have straight A</em>’s at gcse, straight A’s at AS and straight A* predictions, you’re gpa is 4.0 and you’re basically #1 in your year (even though, I understand quite a few people tick two or more of these boxes and don’t necessarily get flooded with ucas offers, don’t let it bother you. In fact, even with the odd A or B, you’re still competitive for HYPSMC, it’s no biggie, they’re not looking for a brain in a jar, they want ‘leaders of the future’ and fulfilling THAT criteria is what you should be focussing on, not collecting meanignless qualifications )
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): n/a
[</em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: Chemistry, History and Philosophy A-Level and then EPQ and Critical Thinking AS level.
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): no national academic prizes except Silver award UK Maths Challenge (Intermediate). School awards: academic awards for gcse results etc, prize for languages after gcse’s, philosophy scholarship for sixth from and subject awards: history, for getting full marks at AS, maths, for getting full marks in S1, M1 and C3 and also full marks in philosophy AS level. But I repeat, in y12, just get your A’s and concentrate on the ‘subjectives.’ they are what will make you stand out.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
elected member of youth parliament for my city,
voted regional debate leader,
made speech at the house of commons at the dispatch box and submitted the YouTube video of my speech as the ‘supplementary material’ thing to all the colleges that accepted extra stuff.
Other youth parliament things include attending council meetings, sitting on boards etc and in particular, negotiating with our bus companies to lower the fares for under 18s.
former member of our city’s youth council ,
founded and led something called ‘freedom of voice’ that I’ll talk about later.
Founder and captain of school debating society,
finalist at various comps eg oxford schools, European youth parl comp, Durham etc also was the first winner of the national chrystall public speaking prize from the north of England,
youth researcher for children in need (only a local project about social issues in highly diverse areas in city).
Did bronze, silver and gold duke of Edinburgh awards,
head of marketing in young enterprise (School business team)
played netball since y4, repped school and county,
got coaching and umpiring qualifications and got nominated for this leadership programme though netball.
Head of 6th form events committee,
house captain, and euphonium
grade 5 practical and theory (ABRSM) but didn’t play for any bands or anything, and yeah, alter served at church for about 10yrs (ish)
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: part time job supervising homework club at school (basically free money to sit there and do your homework)
work shadowed local mp at Westminster and local member of European parliament in Brussels.
Shadowed a number of barristers at Hardwicke chambers in London (absolutely recommend here if you’re struggling to find legal work exp due to the absolute endemic of nepotism in the bar)
got invited to watch this case in Manchester with a truly phenomenal QC at Kings Chambers
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: overlaps with ECs, although I will say, don’t list things that don’t contribute to a focused profile of you. Eg I volunteered at the children hospital in our city on and off, even did quite a bit of medical work exp but cos I later decided I didn’t want to be a doctor, I didn’t put ANY of it onto my comm App
[</em>] Summer Activities: debate academy, young leaders camp (netball), various uni taster courses and stuff with youth parliament
[<em>] Essays: comm. App essay about how my dad’s childhood experience of being a refugee in the Nigerian civil war led me to founding Freedom of voice (UK’s first youth led conversation club [teaches English to asylum seeker/refugee young people in the city]) project got cut by the coalition, but if any English people here can find the funding to pick that up, be my guest (and let me know obvs).
Supplement essay:The thing about your intellectual development was like the first paragraph of my ucas personal statement, i.e. very dull and contrite. what matters to you and why was about girly *</em><strong><em>iness and why retaliation is bad (but not in the overtly simplistic tone i’m using now obvs) and the letter 2 the roomate was just a comedic list of my bad habits ( a very much censored version of my first draft which was riddled with 50 shade of grey jokes). the stanford sup was by FAR my favourtie. i absolutely loved writing them cos there was so much room for *</em></strong>-takes. best thing ever
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: begged my head of year not to send my ucas ones (I’d seen it already and it was insanely generic) but of course he sent it anyway. When I found out (in mid January) I showed him (again) the samples on the Fulbright commission and MIT websites and they revised them. Best bit of recs were probs the maths one where it noted that I didn’t find maths easy and was in a particularly able class of further maths students (my school actually has geniuses there…) but persevered anyway. Always a plus if you can get a good rec from a subject that doesn’t come naturally to you
[</em>] Counselor Rec: same thing, sent generic ones then more personal corrective statement later on. The reason my recs were influential is cos they didn’t just list superlatives (i.e. ucas reference) it DESCRIBED why I was ‘x’ superlative. Far more convincing
[<em>] Additional Rec: I sent one from a youth parliament supervisor (because I suspected my school ones wouldn’t be descriptive enough) and he did awesome. Basically talked about the socio-economic diversity within youth parliament, and how I’m good at getting on with a range of ages, backgrounds etc. talked about me taking initiative, being a leadership figure etc. It’s always important to ONLY send additional recs if they can bring something NEW to your app.
[</em>] Interview: with a nice lady, she was a laugh and the convo was really realxed. even asked her what the party scene was like at stanford. unfortunately, her choice of words was ‘tame…’ but in fairness, she was a transfer student from loughborough so that is fairly hard to beat party wise.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): n/a
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): UK
[<em>] School Type: private girls school, but in the north so on the one hand I wasn’t eligible for ANY support from Sutton trust cos I was a private school kid, but then my school had never sent anyone abroad before and I couldn’t afford an educational consultant (cos private school costs loads - obviously) #</em>**<em>edoff #betterstateschoolsneeded #yorkshire’sdeprived #justdiscoveredtwitter #apologies,iknowthisisannoying
[</em>] Ethnicity: Nigerian born but British citizen and brit school
[<em>] Gender: girl
[</em>] Income Bracket: ineligible for FA
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): dunno, being black british? Northern? </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths:
Comm. App essay told ‘that story only I could tell’ and was written in ‘my voice’ i.e. without silly descriptive words or long sentences. supplement, espesh the roomate letter was just hilarious imo, (but of course, the first draft was better :wink: )
grades were faultless (which I hasten to add is not uncommon among top brit applicants so you’d best take extra subjects if you want to stand out)
ECs were the sorts I could guarantee no-one else had done, i.e. freedom of voice was a national first, and speaking at the House of Comms, is fairly unique
[</em>] Weaknesses: I refuse to put that my SATs were ‘weaknesses.’ once you break the 700/700/700 barrier, they stop mattering. So do NOT stress about them.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: essays. espesh since stanford’s known for having very very slightly lower average sat scores whilst still being comparable to HYP, this is cos, imo, they rate the ability to express yourself especialy highly, hence why the supplement is so long
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Princeton, Yale, Columbia (Kluge Scholar), Brown, Dartmouth and Cornell. Also offers from Durham (PPE), Warwick (PPE) and UCL(Philosophy and Economics). Waitlisted: nowhere thankfully. Rejected: Harvad, LSE, and Oxford (without an interview…the bastards. AND they had the balls to tell me I wasn’t ‘academically suited’ to their oh so rigorous degree programme. Moral of the story? You need a combined average of 65/99 in the TSA or more to have even a glimmer of a shot at PPE at oxford. Bastards. btw i’m not as bitter as i sound. i’m sure oxford is a wonderful university) </p>

<p>[/ul]General Comments:
This forum, as well as giving me literally the most invaluable pointers during this unfamiliar application process, mostly made an impact by filling me with misery, anxiety and immense feelings of inferiority. The amount of bragging that goes on in this forum is just horrendous and at times I really did want to give up on applying cos, judging by what certain people said to others about their ‘stats’ etc, I thought I didn’t have a chance. The only reason why I’m posting on the decision thread is because these are by far the most helpful and I don’t think there is nearly enough free help for british applicants. I know it’s only a minority who use cc to brag and belittle others but it really really hurts. And as for those who’ve been helpful, hopefully this has been as helpful as you’ve been to me. Any further questions from British applicants, feel free to message me somehow (I’ve not quite got round to seeing how that works, so I may take a while replying).</p>

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2140 (750 CR, 680 M, 710 W)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank: 1/640
[</em>] AP: World History (3), US History (3), Composition (4)
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: 2 AP courses, mostly core classes
[</em>] Major Awards: State finalist in Speech (Oratory)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars: Forensics (Varsity), Drama (stage managed student-run play), swing choir, a capella, Brain Bowl, Academic Challenge
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Some babysitting
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: >200 hours
[</em>] Summer Activities: Library volunteer
[<em>] Essays: Common app essay on gender roles & identity (9/10). Supplements addressed Speech & some other things (6/10).
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: One great one, one generic.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[</em>] Intended Major: Undecided
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Oregon
[</em>] School Type: Rural, poor public school
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Non-binary (checked the “Female” box, explained in an essay)
[<em>] Income Bracket: Low-income
[</em>] Hooks: First generation student
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Strong academics & extracurriculars given my mediocre high school.
[</em>] Weaknesses: I rushed the supplements. Common app essay was strong but… risky.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I didn’t have a really clear hook. Also, it’s Stanford!
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to UC Berkeley & Reed College[/ul]
General Comments: Stanford was my big reach school, so I’m not too concerned. :~)</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 700 reading, 670 math, 640 writing
[</em>] ACT: 33
[<em>] SAT II: 700 math 2, 680 physics
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.81
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 11
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP world history (5), AP art history (5), AP english language (5), AP physics (4)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP env. Sci, AP gov, AP calc ab
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul] yeah, right
Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): varsity cross country 2 years and captain second year, varsity track and field, best buddies club (coordinator), NHS
[<em>] Job/Work Experience:
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: volunteer at california science center
[<em>] Summer Activities: video games,running cross country,listening to radiohead
[</em>] Essays (rating 1-10, details): dude, i dont even know… I guess a 9. I spent time on them but i was celebrating my UChicago acceptance so i dont quite remember.
[<em>] Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):[list]
[li] Teacher Rec #1: 9[/li][</em>] Teacher Rec #2:8
[<em>] Counselor Rec:8
[</em>] Additional Rec:[/ul]
[li] Interview:[/list]none</p>[/li]
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Crappy public school LAUSD
[</em>] Ethnicity: salvadoran and mexican
[<em>] Gender:M
[</em>] Income Bracket:100,000
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul] i dont even know… First generation college student maybe?</p>[/li]
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: essays maybe?
[</em>] Weaknesses: SATs, no awards or honors
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: i dont know, man… Look at my stats! I shouldnt have gotten in!
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted: uchicago, a couple of csus, ucsb, ucsd, ucla and rejected from berkeley. Haha[/ul]</p>

<p>General Comments: guys, just know that it doesnt take perfect stats to get in anywhere… Everyone on this board is hypercritical but in the end, its 30% determination and 70% luck…give or take a few percentage points.</p>

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2400
[</em>] ACT:
[<em>] SAT II:math 2 800, us history 800, chemistry 800
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):1
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis):us history (5), chemistry (5), BC calc (5), spanish language (5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load:ap physics, ap spanish lit, calc 3 and linear algebra, drama intensive, CAD
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):improv club (founder), quiz bowl (captain), drama, math team, science league
[<em>] Job/Work Experience:none
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service:tutoring
[<em>] Summer Activities:drama camp
[</em>] Essays (rating 1-10, details):
[<em>] Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):[list]
[li] Teacher Rec #1:[/li][</em>] Teacher Rec #2:
[<em>] Counselor Rec:
[</em>] Additional Rec:[/ul]
[li] Interview:[/list]</p>[/li]
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant):NJ
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type:public HS
[</em>] Ethnicity:white
[<em>] Gender:F
[</em>] Income Bracket:250,000
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths:
[</em>] Weaknesses:
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: noidea
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/ul] accepted: Yale, Oxford, Harvey Mudd, UCSD, Rutgers; rejected: Harvard, Stanford</p>

<p>General Comments:</p>

<p>Decision: Deferred → Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2160 (780 R, 610 M, 770 Wr, 10 essay)
[</em>] ACT: 32 (34 reading/writing, 26 math, 35 science, 10 essay)
[<em>] SAT II: Spanish (740), US history (690 - didn’t send)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (4)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): Spanish (6)
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Full IB Diploma
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Honor Roll/4 years, School Subject Awards, NHS, National Hispanic Scholar[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Tae Kwon Do 10+ years (assistant instructor), tech crew at high school (sound manager), Knowledge Bowl Club (co leader), Green Club, Martial Arts Club (founder, leader)
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Spanish Tutor, after school library supervisor
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Relay for Life 5+ years
[</em>] Summer Activities: Mostly babysitting younger brothers, taught myself Javascript, went to a Microsoft tech camp for girls
[<em>] Essays (rating 1-10, details): Great! I worked so incredibly hard on them.
[</em>] Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):[list]
[<em>] Teacher Rec #1: 8
[</em>] Teacher Rec #2: 8
[<em>] Counselor Rec: 9
[</em>] Additional Rec:[/ul] 7
[li] Interview:[/list] Didn’t have</p>[/li]
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): WA
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Small private
[</em>] Ethnicity:Hispanic
[<em>] Gender: F
[</em>] Income Bracket:
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul] URM, Female in STEM</p>[/li]
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Dedication to my major, passionate essays
[</em>] Weaknesses: Low math for my major (CS)
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Defer - Accept, NO CLUE. SO HAPPY
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/ul]
Accepted: UW Seattle, Santa Clara, Seattle U, George Washington. Waitlisted at UVA (lol)
General Comments: CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS REALITY.</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2240 (720 CR, 750 Math, 770 Writing, 11 Essay)
[</em>] ACT: N/A
[<em>] SAT II: 730 Math II, 740 Lit
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 20%
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Calc, Physics, English (Romanticism first semester, Taboo Lit second semester), Spanish, International Film - all honors.
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul] National Merit quarterfinalist.</p>[/li]
<p>Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Theatre Conservatory, Piano (played since I was four, Certificate of Merit level 8), School Admissions Ambassador (co-chair)
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Intern on a film set summer before senior year
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Honors Society for Community Service (175+ hours), done through theatre and required classes at school
[</em>] Summer Activities: Do plays at school, take classes, went to an NYU screenwriting program summer before 12th grade.
[<em>] Essays (rating 1-10, details): I was really proud of them.
[</em>] Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I honestly have no idea. I got one from my film teacher and another from a favorite English teacher. I assume they were good, haha.
[li] Interview:[/ul] Didn’t have one.</p>[/li]
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): CA.
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): USA.
[<em>] School Type: Small private.
[</em>] Ethnicity: Caucasian.
[<em>] Gender: Male.
[</em>] Income Bracket:
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Hmm… I’m a double legacy? Also I applied as a prospective English major, so I dunno if that helped.[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Probably my essays. I did some of the best writing on any of my applications on these essays (and my counselor agreed).
[</em>] Weaknesses: I didn’t realize until after I sent in my app that one of my essays was cut off on the print preview portion of the Common App. ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK THAT.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I am a prospective English major with good grades in every class who wants to be a Hollywood screenwriter. Not sure they get a lot of those.
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/ul] Accepted to USC School of Cinematic Arts, NYU Tisch, Northwestern, Emerson, Chapman, and Wash U St. Louis. Rejected at Yale.</p>

<p>General Comments: I have literally no idea how I’m going to make this decision. Oh my god.</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2310 (800w, 800r, 710m)
[</em>] ACT:
[<em>] SAT II (if submitted): 780 world history, 750 lit, 750 math I, 740 math II
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 96%
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 macro, 5 micro, 5 comp gov
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP psych, AP stats, AP calc bc, AP lit, AP lang, japanese
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): mostly big debate awards, AP scholar
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): debate, model UN, cross country, track, soccer, student council
[</em>] Essays: I think my common app was pretty stellar, but I wasn’t super confident about my Stanford essays
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: only saw one of them, but the other teacher told me it was aweseome
[</em>] Counselor Rec: good and very specific. she even tracked down some of my teachers and quoted them in the rec
[<em>] Additional Rec: An English teacher who has taught me since grade 8. It was awesome!
[</em>] Interview: never offered one
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
[</em>] Intended Major: IR/ econ
[<em>] Country (if international applicant): Canada, but I count as domestic
[</em>] School Type: private
[<em>] Ethnicity: caucasian
[</em>] Gender: female
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): none?
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: ECs, essays, my scores are decent, I’m a pretty enthusiastically intellectual person and I think it came across in my applications
[<em>] Weaknesses: math skills, no major hooks, in my opinion I’m pretty unexceptional…
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I really don’t know.
[li] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/li]Accepted: Princeton SCEA, Harvard, Yale, University of Chicago, Georgetown SFS, safety schools
Waitlisted/rejected: none! accepted everywhere </p>

<p>[/ul]General Comments:
Accepted to all 10 of my schools (including all of HYPS), and I still don’t understand how that happened! All I know is I’m incredibly excited and I have no idea how to make a decision!</p>

<p>[ size=+2][ color=red][ b]Decision: Rejected**[/color][/size]</p>

<p>[ b]Objective:**[ list]
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 2200 (750 M, 740 CR, 710 W)
[ *] ACT: 34
[ *] SAT II: 750 Math II, 670 Biology M, 640 Literature
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/406
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): European History (3), Biology (4), English Language (5)
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus AB, AP Statistics, AP Literature, Anatomy/Physiology, Spanish IV, Theology
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar
[ /list]Subjective:[list]
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 3 years of musical theater, 2 years of varsity mathletes, 2 years of NHS, 1 year of National Spanish Honor Society, 4 years of minimal community service, 4 years of scholarship essay competitions (placed first 3/4 years)
[ *] Job/Work Experience: n/a
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: minimal, through my school’s Community Service Corps
[ *] Summer Activities: nothing of note
[ *] Essays: decent
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: excellent
[ *] Counselor Rec: n/a
[ *] Additional Rec: n/a
[ *] Interview: pretty good</p>

<p>[ /list][ b]Other**[list]
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): PA
[ *] Country (if international applicant): n/a
[ *] School Type: Catholic
[ *] Ethnicity: white
[ *] Gender:male
[ *] Income Bracket: $0-$60,000
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): n/a</p>

<p>[ /list][ b]Reflection**[list]
[ <em>] Strengths: nothing in particular, my grades and scores were pretty typical
[ *] Weaknesses: activities showed no leadership
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: lack of leadership
[ *] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at UPenn, Drexel, LaSalle and Syracuse. Rejected at Brown, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, Stanford, and *drum roll</em> Penn State Main</p>

<p>[ /list][ b]General Comments: bad EC’s are bad**</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] ACT: 32 (Highest: E 33 M 33 S 33 R 32)
[</em>] SAT II: Chem 790 Bio 760 Math II 750
[<em>] Weighted GPA: 4.54
[</em>] Unweighted GPA: 3.93 (4 Bs. 1 2nd sem Junior yr, 3 senior yr 1st sem) I think my horrible senior year first sem grade is one of the reasons that broke my application.
[<em>] Rank: 1/270
[</em>] AP: 9 in total. All 5s and 4s.
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: Super rigorous. ap calc bc, linear algebra, , ap physics, ap us gov’t, ap macroecon, scientific research class, and ap lit, ap japanese, college speech, college biotechnology. I know, overloaded myself.
[</em>] Major Awards: None</p>

<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Midwest
[</em>] School Type: Selective magnet
[<em>] Ethnicity: Southeast Asian
[</em>] Gender: Female
[<em>] Income Bracket: <30,000
[</em>] Hooks: First Generation
[li] Intended Major: Biology, Comp Sci, or Engineering</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: My personal story.
[</em>] Weaknesses: Senior year first semester grade. Not so great ACT score.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted: God’s blessings.
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Early action: accepted to MIT & Notre Dame
Regular action: accepted to Harvard, rejected at Yale</p>

<p>[/ul]General Comments: This is a tough choice.</p>

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): very low didn’t send
[</em>] ACT: 27
[<em>] SAT II:
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 out of 45
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis):
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: A-Level Phy, Chem, Maths
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul] Student of the Year
Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Head Boy, Prefect, Maths and Science Competitions (President),
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Peer Teaching
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Peer Teaching
[<em>] Summer Activities:
[</em>] Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8
[<em>] Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):[list]
[li] Teacher Rec #1: 8[/li][</em>] Teacher Rec #2:7
[<em>] Counselor Rec:9
[</em>] Additional Rec:[/ul]
[li] Interview:[/list]</p>[/li]
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant):
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): Pakistan
[<em>] School Type: Private
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: $2500 per year
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: GPA and Essay
[</em>] Weaknesses: Low ACT score and didn’t submit SAT subject score
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My low ACT scores
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/ul]
Accepted: Drexel, Hofstra, and Carroll University
Rejected: Trinity, Macalester, Colby, Skidmore and many more about 16
Wait-list: Gettysburg </p>

<p>General Comments: Even though I have a ridiculously low ACT scores and very few EC’s but I wanted to give it a try so that in future I would not regret that I could have had applied and gotten in. Congratulations to all those accepted you guys are very lucky.</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2400/10 essay (single sitting, second try)
[</em>] ACT: 33, 35, 35
[<em>] SAT II: 800s on Math II and US History; 780 on Physics
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0<br>
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/430ish
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s on BC Calculus (and AB subscore), Physics B, APUSH, English Lang, Stats, and Psych.
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP Physics C, AP Lit, AP Compsci (independent study), AP US Gov/AP Macro, Math Team, and required computer class.
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None, except I guess 5-time AIME qualifier? [/ul] </p>[/li]
<p>Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Math team (captain), academic team (captain), mu alpha theta (president)
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Barista last summer, lawn care worker (just for neighbors) the year before that.
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Peer tutoring and volunteering at church.
[</em>] Summer Activities: working, reading, socializing, traveling (mostly for math team)
[<em>] Essays (rating 1-10, details): Main common app – maybe an 8? About how being gay in Alabama shaped me. Secondary common app – about running math team competitions, I guess maybe a 6-7. Supplementary essays – I did these in about an hour right before the deadline, but looking back on them they’re pretty good (at least, they’re very reflective of me – be honest!), maybe a 7
[</em>] Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):[list]
[<em>] Teacher Rec #1: didn’t read
[</em>] Teacher Rec #2: didn’t read
[<em>] Counselor Rec: didn’t read
[</em>] Additional Rec: N/A [/ul]
[li] Interview: N/A [/list]</p>[/li]
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): AL
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Large public
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: middle class
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Gay? From Alabama? Not sure. [/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: SAT score, rank?
[</em>] Weaknesses: essays were rushed, I think recs may have been pretty standard.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I dunno. I don’t have anything amazing but I think I may have stood out for some reason. I think they probably just liked me.
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at MIT, Dartmouth, Vandy (Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship) and safeties; Waitlisted at Harvard, Columbia, Caltech, and WashU. [/ul]</p>

<p>**General Comments: Congrats to all others accepted and best wishes to everyone. Make what happens to you work out! Hopefully aid from Stanford or MIT will be good but otherwise it’s probably Vandy for me. **</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2120
[</em>] ACT: 34
[<em>] SAT II: 800 US history, 800 World history
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Euro H (5) World H (5) English Language (5) USH (5) Stats (4)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Latin, AP Lit, AP Calc AB, AP US Govt, AP Envi Sci, AP Physics C
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):silver medal national latin exam, ap scholar w/ distinction (nothing super)[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: none
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: volunteered for Obama campaign
[<em>] Summer Activities: foreign exchange student 1 yr
[</em>] Essays (rating 1-10, details):
[<em>] Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):[list]
[li] Teacher Rec #1: 10 GC said it was spectacular[/li][</em>] Teacher Rec #2: 7 GC said it was good
[/ul]
[li] Interview:N/A[/list] </p>[/li]
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): OH
[</em>] School Type: small, highly ranked public
[<em>] Ethnicity: white + asian
[</em>] Gender: M
[<em>] Income Bracket: <50,000
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none[/ul]</p>

<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: essays and letter of recommendation
[</em>] Weaknesses: over represented minority, nothing very special about me
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I have absolutely and unequivocally no idea :smiley:
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/ul]</p>

<p>Accepted - OSU, Notre Dame, University of Cincinnati, Miami University OH
Waitlisted - UChicago, University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins
Rejected - Yale, Brown, Princeton, Harvard, Amherst Northwestern</p>

<p>General Comments: This was my last admissions decision, and I about died of shock when I read “Congratulations” after being rejected by all the Ivies and WL at UChicago. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha there must have been a mistake. I’m still looking for an “oops” email from Stanford.</p>

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown):
[</em>] ACT: 35
[<em>] SAT II: 680 US History
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.75
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): HS does not rank
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (4), Calc BC, Calc AC, Comparative Gov’t., Biology II, Spanish IV
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Comp Gov, Anatomy & Physiology Honors, English 4, Spanish 5 AP, AP Calc BC, Comparative Religions, Christian Ethics, Biology 2 AP<br>
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): co-ed rec soccer, drama club, over 800 hours of service, NHS, SNHS
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: assistant for a photographer
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: 800 + hrs total, with medically-fragile children in hospital, trip working with migrant workers, also lots of volunteer hours at my church and youth group
[<em>] Summer Activities:
[</em>] Essays (rating 1-10, details):
[<em>] Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):[list]
[li] Teacher Rec #1: didn’t read[/li][</em>] Teacher Rec #2: didn’t read
[<em>] Counselor Rec: didn’t read
[</em>] Additional Rec:[/ul] didn’t read
[li] Interview:[/list] interviewed with: Dartmouth, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Duke</p>[/li]
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): OR
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Private, Catholic, highly challenging
[</em>] Ethnicity: Hispanic/Caucasian
[<em>] Gender: F
[</em>] Income Bracket: 100k
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths:
[</em>] Weaknesses:
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/ul] Accepted: UW, Creighton, Villanova, OSU, Boston College </p>

<p>Rejected: ND, Duke, Dartmouth, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford</p>

<p>General Comments: Kind of surprised, really thought I had more of a chance at the higher-reach schools. Stanford was my dream.</p>

<p>Posting for D:</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2360 (780M, 780CR, 800W) (single sitting, one try)
[</em>] ACT:
[<em>] SAT II: 780 Math II, 800 Chem, 800 Bio
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5%
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): WorldHist(5), Chem(5), Bio(5), USHist(5), Calc AB(5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP CompSci, AP USGov, AP Stats, AP Psych
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Intel STS semifinalist, USABO semifinalist [/ul]<br>
Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Tennis (Captain), NHS (President), Piano Level 10
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: none
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: 100+ hours in hospital nursery ward
[<em>] Summer Activities: internship in medical laboratory
[</em>] Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10
[<em>] Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):[list]
[li] Teacher Rec #1: 10[/li][</em>] Teacher Rec #2: 10
[<em>] Counselor Rec: 10
[</em>] Additional Rec:[/ul]
[li] Interview:[/list]</p>[/li]
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: private
[</em>] Ethnicity: East Asian
[<em>] Gender: F
[</em>] Income Bracket: > 200,000
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none[/ul] </p>[/li]
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: GPA, SAT scores, essays, varsity sport, national awards
[</em>] Weaknesses: over-represented minority, no hook
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted: Non-typical athletic achievement for a typical Asian girl. Intel semifinalist award also helped seal the deal.
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Princeton, UCBerkeley, Cornell, Duke, WashingtonUSL; Rejected: Harvard, BrownPLME; Waitlisted: UChicago, Northwestern[/ul] </p>

<p>General Comments: It’s a very tough year, most schools have lower acceptance rate. Our hearts go out to those who haven’t got what they want. Wish you all good luck!</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2110 (M 740, R 680, W 690) [one-sitting]
[li] ACT: 30[/li][</em>] SAT II (if submitted): Chemistry (710), World History (720), Math II (760), Math I (730)
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/558
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geography (5), World History (5), US History (5), English Lang (5), Chemistry (5), Art History (4)
[</em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Microeconomics, AP Government, AP Spanish V, AP Biology, AP Physics B, AP Calculus AB, AP English Literature
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Had some school-related awards, won Josten’s Photojournalism Camp Award, AP Scholar with Distinction, 4th place Ready Writing District UIL, literally nothing amazing. Just local awards, mostly.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Cross Country (JV Captain 11th grade), Newspaper (Photo Editor & Head Photographer), Yearbook, Key Club, Red Jackets (elite group at school), Spanish Honor Society (Public Relations Officer), National Honor Society, Library Council, Model UN, Red Cross Club, Mascot
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: None
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Some volunteer work with Key Club, Red Cross, local relief shelter, and Red Jackets. Nothing major.
[</em>] Essays: Had them read over by my super cool librarian. I mentioned in my roommate essay about how I was a transgender lesbian, though; that essay was NOT proofread. Had a strong essay about photography and its meaning to me, since I’ve practiced it for the last 4 years. Forgot what the other essay was about.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Calculus teacher and Physics teacher. Physics one was cute and never read the Calculus one.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: I think it was good. My counselor at least knew my name out of the 200 kids that she had jurisdiction over.
[<em>] Additional Rec: None.
[</em>] Interview: None.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[</em>] Intended Major: Biochemistry
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Texas
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Vietnamese
[<em>] Gender: Biologically female, but I identify as FTM transgender.
[</em>] Income Bracket: $170,000 combined parents
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): Transgender lesbian mentioned in roommate essay. Huge risk but IMO I thought it was something my roommate needed to know!
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Salutatorian of my school. Strong passion for photography in my essays showed great interest in the fine arts, I guess. Cross Country all four years of HS.
[<em>] Weaknesses: I have done absolutely nothing mindblowingly amazing, like all the other applicants. I have done great things locally as a photographer but it was never something that qualified as a “stand-out” kind of thing.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I guess I was accepted because of being FTM and passion in photography; I suppose that made me stand out a little? And I did a sport too for four years?
[li]Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: REJECTED: Rice, Duke, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth. ACCEPTED: UT Austin, UT Dallas[/li][/ul]General Comments: Congratulations to all who got in.</p>

<p>**Decision: Accepted!!! **</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2340: 800 CR, 740 M, 800 W (10 Essay)
[</em>] ACT: didn’t take
[<em>] SAT II: 770 Math II, 710 US History
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Psychology (5) [taking 4/4 APs offered]
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: University Physics I, University Physics II, Economics/Government, AP Calculus BC, AP English Literature, University Statistics, AP Spanish Language
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Achievement Scholar, National Merit Commended Student, National Honor Society, Robotics Entrepreneurship Award
[</em>] Minor Awards: Varsity Soccer Sectional Finalists & League Champions, random Mock Trial awards, History Day Award for a Research Paper, NAACP Award for an Original Essay
[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[li] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Mock Trial (President), Varsity Soccer (Captain), Yearbook (Copy Editor), Black Student Association (Vice President), Robotics (Build & Admin), California Scholarship Federation (Chapter Founder, President), Private Tutor</p>[/li]
<p>[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Summer Internship at BP (Communications Dept. ~ Graphic Designing)
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Tutoring, Mentoring at Robotics Summer Camp
[<em>] Summer Activities: university classes, mentor at Robotics camp, summer internship at BP
[</em>] Essays (rating 1-10, details):[list]
[<em>] Common App: (8-9) ~ Talked about how my passion for reading and debating developed through spending Saturday mornings with my father
[</em>] Intellectual Vitality: (7-8) ~ Talked about my experience walking through a museum and how that represented the way I thought and demonstrated my passion for social sciences (government structure, sociocultural influences, economics, etc.)
[<em>] Letter to Roommate: (8-9) ~ Talked about myself and all of my quirks and hobbies and everything. Had the most fun writing this one and tried to show them my personality
[</em>] What Matters: (7-8) ~ Talked about my family. I heard this was cliche, but hey, you have to stay true to yourself! And regardless, I tried to take a unique approach to the subject.[/ul]
[<em>] Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):[ul]
[li] Teacher Rec #1: (9-10) ~ Spanish Teacher: had me as a student for all four years and loved me, so I’m assuming it was good[/li][</em>] Teacher Rec #2: (6-7) ~ English/Psych Teacher: had me for three different classes and worked with me on this huge project. It was okay.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: (5) ~ Spent the first half of the rec explaining to the colleges how little he knew any of us LOL. But he didn’t say anything bad about me!
[</em>] Additional Rec: Nope![/ul]
[<em>] Interview: Not Applicable![/list]
Other[ul]
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): California
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type: public magnet math & science high school
[<em>] Ethnicity: African American
[</em>] Gender: female
[<em>] Income Bracket: applied for financial aid
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM[/ul]</p>

<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: SAT I, GPA, URM
[</em>] Weaknesses: Essays? SAT IIs? Extracurriculars? Nothing really sticks out about me as an applicant, especially compared to everyone else applying to Stanford.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: God!!! <3
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[list]
[<em>] Accepted: Princeton SCEA, Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Irvine
[</em>] Waitlisted: Nowhere!
[li] Rejected: Nowhere! So blessed. [/ul][/li][/list]
General Comments:</p>

<p>Looking back, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished in high school. Yet I’ve also been inspired by the absolutely amazing accomplishments of many other high school students that I know and have read about on College Confidential. I’ve learned a lot from the whole college admissions process. But all I really have to say is stay confident and true to yourself and do things you care about, and not just things that will make your Common App look that much cooler. Just being a part of the elite group of students who have the slightest chance at Stanford or Ivies or other top universities should be something that you’re proud of. :smiley: Good luck younger students and congratulations everyone!!!</p>

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2120 (620CR, 700M, 800W)
[</em>] ACT: 34 (34E, 34M, 33R, 36S)
[<em>] SAT II: 720Bio-E, 710Math2, 760Bio-M, 800Math2 (retake)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Weighted GPA: 105.321
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/515
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Human Geography (4), AP World History (4), APUSH (5), AP Biology (5), AP English Lang (5), six more this year.
[</em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: Band, AP Music Theory, AP Environmental Science, AP English Lit/Comp, AP Calculus AB, AP USGoPo, AP Microecon, Honors Physics.
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science Olympiad (several state medals; 1st in one event for two years), Marching Band (Drum Major, two years), Symphonic Band (1st chair, three years; 1st chair in all-state, two years), Pep Band, Student Council (Secretary, PR Rep., District President), National Honor Society (Executive Board Member), summer volunteer job for a month at a church camp in Texas, Pit Orchestra for school musicals, a few years of church youth band.
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: As aforementioned, a month-long volunteer job in the middle of Texas, seven hours from where I live. I lived on-camp for a month while volunteering.
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: The aforementioned summer job (288 hours), as well as various projects through Student Council and National Honor Society.
[</em>] Summer Activities: church camp, music workshops, camp volunteering, drum major camp, summer marching band.
[<em>] Essays: My Common App essays were, in my opinion, strong but not stellar. I loved my Stanford essays! I thought they were all witty, clever, and well-written. Evidently, Stanford did not think so.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendations: First was from my APUSH teacher, said I was the best student she’s ever had. The second was from my two-year AP Biology teacher, who gave similarly kind and personal sentiments about me. For both of these teachers, I was the second student in their entire teaching career to score a 5 on their AP exam.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: I did not see it, though I would guess it was average or better.
[</em>] Additional Rec: N/A
[li] Interview: None was offered to me.</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): NM
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): N/A
[<em>] School Type: Large, non-competitive public (~2000 students)
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: High income.
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None.</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Maybe geographic diversity, ACT score, and state band accomplishments.
[</em>] Weaknesses: SAT (and Subject Test) scores, lack of national awards/summer programs or research.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My scores could have been better, and my record just wasn’t as strong as those of other applicants.
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Notre Dame, UCBerkeley. Waitlisted: Brown, Cornell, Vanderbilt. Rejected: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, UPenn, Dartmouth, Stanford.</p>

<p>[/ul]General Comments: Was really hoping for an acceptance, desperately actually. Currently working to get off the waitlists at Brown and Cornell, though I’m pushing stronger for Brown. Otherwise, I’ll be attending UCBerkeley… oh, such irony.</p>