Cornell ED Class of 2022 Results

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
41

[asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]

Objective: College of Engineering
SAT I (breakdown): 1550 (790 Math, 760 English) 2 sittings
ACT (breakdown): 34 (35 Reading, 35 English, 33 Math, 34 Science) 1 sitting
SAT II: Chemistry 800, Math II 790, Lit 750
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 96.46/100 weighted (my school’s weird)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): in the top 10% (Cum Laude, other than this my school does no rankings)
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Lit (5), AP Lang (5), AP Spanish (5), AP Chem (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: AP BC Calc, AP Stats, AP Physics, AP Micro/Macro Econ, Honors Biology, Senior English
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist (finalist app submitted), Rensselaer Medal, Cum Laude, National Chemistry Olympiad DC Finalist, some minor regional chem titles, AP Scholar with Honors

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Model UN (President, Secretary General of my own 200+ person meet), Chemathon (selective 6 person team representing my school, we’ve won 2 local titles in 2 years), Varsity Crew and Field Hockey, Clubs Executive Board President (I manage our high school’s clubs system), Holton Athletics Association (doing at least 7 seasons of sports, we promote school spirit), 1st Alto saxophone in both my school’s jazz band and wind ensemble, 3D Printing and Computer Programming Club,
Job/Work Experience: Worked for my dad in freshman year renovating houses when I was too young to get a job, Internship at University of Maryland Aerospace Engineering
Volunteer/Community service: 50 hours I did for a high school requirement (moving furniture, sorting clothes), I tutor middle schoolers during my free periods
Summer Activities: Summer global learning trip to Peru, Georgetown University 1 week forensics institute, lots of hockey camps to prep for the upcoming seasons, online class in Psychology, some traveling etc.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I don’t think they were that good tbh, but when I looked back at them I realized I they were actually pretty Cornell specific and fit the school very very well. I had to rush them tho

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): (I waived my right to see these)

Teacher Rec #1: Probably pretty good, although I doubt it was very personal. I spent a lot of time doing extracurricular stuff for his class, but he’s just not the really personable type.
Teacher Rec #2: Probably one of my best recs. She said that she made it very Cornell specific
Counselor Rec: She said she made me sound interesting (whatever that means lol)
Additional Rec: My MUN moderator wrote a rec about my leadership in the club and the specific activities I’ve organized over the years
Interview: Went really really well! The alum knew my school and was super sweet. We both had a lot to contribute to the conversation.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major and College: Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Virginia (but my school is in Maryland)
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private, All-girls
Ethnicity: White (Caucasian and Middle Eastern)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Girl in engineering, lived in Europe for 9 years before moving to the US, bilingual

Reflection

Strengths: Background, awards, extracurriculars that were outside engineering, SAT scores, pretty good grades
Weaknesses: essay and time management
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Woman in engineering from an all-girls’ school, not asking for financial aid
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments : Fun fact: I actually handed my application in 5 days later because of both a server issue and the fact that I really wanted to be 100% sure before I hit that send button. Luckily Cornell decided to take my application!

Congrats to everyone who got in, and good luck to those still waiting on decisions or applying elsewhere! I’m a firm believer that everything works out in the end.

42

**Decision: Deferred **

Communication/CALS

Objective:
SAT I: 1480; 720 Math, 760 Reading/Writing
ACT: 32 Composite (English 35, Math 28, Reading 30, Science 35)
SAT II: Spanish Reading 640, US History 660, Literature 690
Unweighted GPA: 3.9
AP: World History 4, US History 5, Physics I 4
Senior Year Course Load: AP English, AP Psych, AP Gov
Major Awards: NHS, AP Scholar

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Cross Country (Captain), Student Art Program (Director), Student Council (Committee Chair), Key Club (Committee Chair), Track, Marching Band
Job/Work Experience: Food service job for 2 years
Volunteer/Community service: Couple mission trips, a lot of volunteering through Key Club, Stuco, church
Essays: I guess best guess, Common App 8 was pretty solid, Supplement 6 was alright
Recommendations: Couldn’t read

Teacher Rec 1 and 2: Both really liked me, most likely good stuff
Counselor Rec: Close with counselor, also good
Interview: Went super well!

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid: Yes
Intended Major and College: Comm at CALS
State: PA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Hooks: None

Reflection
Strengths: Essay, GPA, Letters of Rec
Weaknesses: Things related to math, no major awards
Why you think you were deferred: Not enough like clear cut first choice candidate, courses in High School didn’t show my interest in the major enough
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted at Penn State and Fordham

General Comments: Haven’t lost hope yet! Still my first choice-- Going to try my best for RD, submit some more stuff and talk to admissions :slight_smile:

43

MODERATOR’S NOTE: This thread is restricted to results only. Please don’t post comments or questions.

44

Replace the “[a” below with “[” .

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1460 (total): 750 (math), 710 (reading/writing), 18 (essay)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 730 (US History)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.55
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (4), AP English Language and Composition (4), AP Microeconomics (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: APWH, African-American Literature, Broadcast Journalism, Dance II, AP US Government and Politics, AP Computer Science Principles, Honors Precalculus
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Telluride Association Sophomore Seminar Award, Telluride Association Summer Program Award, Illinois State Scholar, Questbridge College Prep Scholar, Hampton University Book Award, Ron Brown Guided Pathway Support Navigator, AFS Faces of America Scholarship, CIEE Global Navigator Scholarship, AP Scholar, Illinois Leadership Seminar Award, Cornell Preferment Scholarship, etc

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Founder and President of school’s male of color club, co-President of the Black Student Union, founder of service project in the Caribbean, School mascot (for a year),
Job/Work Experience: n/a
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at a local zoo, leader of my church’s tutoring program, service project in Jamaica, research with Northwestern University
Summer Activities: Telluride Association Sophomore Seminar, Telluride Association Summer Program, created my own social entrepreneurship project, etc
Essays (rating 1-10, details): My common app essay was really good. I used it to describe some of the reasons why my grades were crap initially; my supplement was OK. I wrote it the day of the deadline because of an issue I had with a scholarship organization in Chicago, but I stayed home on that Wednesday and just wrote. I know I’m a very good writer, so everything worked out.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 My current English teacher taught me in my sophomore year and we have a really great relationship. She has seen me prosper throughout high school and has helped me with my writing significantly.
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10 My economics teacher and I had a good relationship although I only had her for one year. I had a few formative experiences in class.
Counselor Rec: 9/10 My old counselor left my high school for a job in PA, so I had to get another counselor. However, my current counselor is very well-informed and knew about me beforehand I was one of his students.
Additional Rec: One of the CBOs I’m in sent an endorsement form to Cornell.
Interview: n/a

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major and College: ILR
State (if domestic applicant): Illinois
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Magnet (my school is among the top public schools in the state and country)
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: my writing, leadership positions, extracurriculars, SAT scores, passion
Weaknesses: my GPA
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I had a lot of outside organizations rooting for me to get in. Besides that, when I talked with staff at Cornell, I showed a lot of interest and asked lots of questions. Also, I think I fit well with the typical candidate for ILR.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments :
For anyone applying to the class of 2023 and so on, do not let the stats of others people on CC deter you. If you don’t see anyone on the results thread with your stats, you can still get into a great school. I definitely didn’t see anyone with my GPA on the 2021 thread and I got in, so go for it! Good luck to everyone!

45

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1410
ACT (breakdown): 32
SAT II: 740 US History, 770 Spanish, 690 Math 1
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.82
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 15% of highly competitive private school
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP World History, AP Spanish Language, AP Environmental Science, AP US History, AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP US Government
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature, Honors Philosophy, Honors Calc, AP Comp Gov, AP Macroeconomics, Honors Latin American History, Religious class on JRR Tolkien (obligatory course)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Key Club (Lieutenant Governor) Foreign Exchange to Taiwan, Overseas Study Program x2 (Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan), service coordinator for children tutoring service, nationally recognized Model UN team, Olympic-style Weighlifting (club sport), Speech and Debate

Job/Work Experience: Volunteered for the X Party of Y state

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App Essay - 8.5/10, personal growth essay
Supplement: 9/10, wrote about personal experiences that made me love my passions

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: waived my right to read it, from Math teacher I am really close with
Teacher Rec #2: waived my right to read it, from Art History teacher (was one of the few students in my class that actual paid attention and appreciated the class)
Counselor Rec: She had 80-90 other students so I’m not sure how personal it was
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Interviewer and I connected really well and I think I explained who I was and why I loved Cornell to the best of my ability

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: In the process
Intended Major and College: Government, CAS
State (if domestic applicant): Y state
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private School
Ethnicity: 100% Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Z
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First person in my family born in the US

Reflection

Strengths: My extracurriculars and essays definitely helped me
Weaknesses: I never put in the time to “study” for standardized tests
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think my extracurriculars reflected my interests and my supplement showed why I would be a fit at Cornell / fortunately, they agreed :slight_smile:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Cornell was the only school I applied to

General Comments :
If you don’t have any great leadership in extracurricular activities, I highly suggest running for higher office in Key Club
Try and shape your extracurricular activities to reflect who you are as a person
Study for the SAT and ACT as much as possible!!!

Hope this helps anyone applying RD soon or applying to Cornell in the future :slight_smile:

46

international
Chinese
college of engineering
environmental engineering

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1480 (1490superscore) math 800 english 690 essay 767
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT II: math 2 800, world history 740, physics 750
TOEFL: 114
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): don’t know but weighted is 4.384
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): don’t know
AP (place score in parenthesis): music theory (5) environmental science (5) u.s. government (5) calculus bc (4, ab subscore 4) physics c e&m (4) physics c mechanics (4) world history (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): didn’t take
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats AP Chem AP Lit AP Human Geo AP macro and micro economics AP US History and religion
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP scholar with distinction, U of R George Eastman Young Leaders Award, 2 published poetry, NHS member. and some regional competition awards that basically mean nothing

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Senate (one of the 12 elected Senators), International Mentoring Activities Program (president) Academic WorldQuest Club (president)
Job/Work Experience: n/a
Volunteer/Community service: mission trip to bahamas and 100+ certified service hours
Summer Activities: research at southwest ohio air quality agency
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8-9

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): don’t know, my counselor told me they are really good
Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview: happened to be my mom’s colleague lol~

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major and College: CoE
State (if domestic applicant): Ohio (but i think i’m still in the international pool)
Country (if international applicant): China
School Type: Catholic
Ethnicity: asian
Gender: male
Income Bracket: 150000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): n/a

Reflection

Strengths: I think my leadership and the holistic academics are pluses. Didn’t only focus on one particular subject. Many ap courses.
Weaknesses: sat scores sat scores sat scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
My SAT score is not very high and my science ap scores are not very strong either. Seems to be more like a humanity student rather than a math student. and the fact that i applied to engineering college.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments :

IF YOU WANT TO MAJOR IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, APPLY TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING MAJOR UNDER CALS!!! they are the same thing
CoE is impossible…

47

Replace the “[a” below with “[” .

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1430, (690 CR, 740 Math)
ACT (breakdown): did not take
SAT II: 750 Math II, 660 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school does not rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): school does not offer AP
IB (place score in parenthesis): school does not offer IB
Senior Year Course Load: Dual Enrollment: Calculus 3, Differential Equations, Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Computer Science, High School: Honors English
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NHS, MVP in Tennis, some swim awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): First Singles Tennis Player (Captain), Swimming 4 year varsity, HOSA (Treasurer), Yearbook, Math League
Job/Work Experience: Paid internship at pharmaceutical company, worked in Japanese restaurant
Volunteer/Community service: over 200 hours, medical records at local hospital, volunteer at daycare, physical therapy intern
Summer Activities: N/A
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8/10 for personal essay, well written and sincere, CoE supplemental 6/10, somewhat cliche, talked about teamwork
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:10/10, amazing recommendation by my chemistry teacher, he loved me
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10, didn’t get to read, but i participated a lot in English class, she liked me
Counselor Rec: 7/10, not too well written but sincere and talked about my personality and obstacles
Additional Rec: 9/10, tennis coach, he really liked me, offered to write me one, but I never read it
Interview: did not get one

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: YES
Intended Major and College: put down Chemical Engineering, but not sure
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, but somewhat like a magnet/technical school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: <50,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first generation college, female in engineering, ED

Reflection

Strengths: my personal essay, hooks, extracurriculars
Weaknesses: SAT scores, leadership positions, supplemental essay

48

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1540 - one test, not superscored (770 reading and 760 math)
ACT (breakdown): never took
SAT II: never took
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10/397 (whole class), #9 in IB program
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP English Language and Composition (3), AP Calculus AB (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): no scores yet, but an IB Diploma candidate
Senior Year Course Load: all IB (SL math, SL english, SL chem, HL psych, HL bio, HL spanish)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, school department awards, NHS

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Habitat for Humanity Club (President), Science National Honor Society (Vice President), Devilettes Dance Team (Senior Officer), English National Honor Society (Historian), Spanish National Honor Society (Parliamentarian), Mu Alpha Theta, Yoga Club, Dance Marathon (Event Planner), Rojans of Interact, Bayside Sports Academy Competitive Trampoline, Bayside Sports Academy Bright Stars Program (special needs gymnastics program)
Job/Work Experience: Bayside Sports Academy Summer Camp Coach
Volunteer/Community service: see extracurriculars
Summer Activities: see work
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app & cornell supplement 8 or 9 out 10; had my English teacher read, very very tied to my major and why I was so passionate about it.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10, math teacher with whom I have very close relationship
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10, chemistry teacher with whom I completed my extended essay, and with whom I also have a very close relationship
Counselor Rec: 7 or 8 out of 10, not a very personal relationship, but I’m sure it didn’t hurt in any way
Additional Rec: 10/10, esteemed alumnus
Interview: 10/10, really good conversation with interviewer

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major and College: College of Human Ecology, Nutritional Sciences
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: <50,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: SAT score, essays, recommendations
Weaknesses: no service activity or extracurricular that was extravagant (i.e. service trips overseas, etc.)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: see strengths
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: nowhere

General Comments :
GO BIG RED!

49

Replace the “[a” below with “[” .

[**[[Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): 33
SAT II: Didn’t take
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chinese (5), Chemistry (4), World History (4), US History (4), English Language (4), Biology (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: Orchestra, AP Macroeconomics, AP US Government & Politics, AP Human Geography, AP Art History, AP English Literature, AP Physics 1, AP Statistics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Orchestra (Section leader)
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: Key Club, HOSA Health Professionals, National Honor Society
Summer Activities: Volunteered at local hospital, interned at a research lab
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I guess an 8 or 9? I’m not really great at writing amazing essays with elaborate words, but I think my essays were meaningful and showed who I am outside of the scores and the things they saw on my resume.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10, My pre-cal teacher, who I frequently keep in touch with and truly understood me as a person, so she wrote a personal recommendation with lots of anecdotes.
Teacher Rec #2: 9, My APUSH teacher was really nice and really liked me, but I wasn’t super close to him.
Counselor Rec: 7, super generic because she didn’t know who I was out of the masses.
Additional Rec:
Interview: None

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major and College: Nutritional Sciences, Human Ecology
State (if domestic applicant): Texas
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: My essays were extremely well-thought out, especially the supplement essay to HE.
Weaknesses: My ACT score is considered not as high as others I’m pretty sure, also I haven’t done much extracurriculars other than orchestra…
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think I got accepted because of my essays. They weren’t fancifully crafted, but I think that I showed that I would fit into the college well through my essay.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: I was accepted to UT Austin as well.

50

[asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected [/color][/size]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1240 (690 RW 550 M)
SAT subject test: US History (710)
weighted GPA: 3.4
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Biology (3), AP US History (4), AP Environmental Science (currently in)
Senior Year Course Load: APES, Physics (regents level), Foreign Affairs, Economics, Ethics & Existence, Symphonic Band, Trig & Topics in Precalculus, History Through Film, American Independence (English class)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Girl Scouts Gold Award, county 4-H honoree (through the Cornell Cooperative Extension)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Girl Scout, 10 years, ambassador rank (Gold Award: Animal-Assisted Therapy/Animal Science Program for teens with autism & Agricultural Advocacy [legalizing backyard chickens in my town])
-Teatown Lake Reservation and Education Center volunteer, 4 years, ~150 hours (assistant in Nature Girls after-school program that’s run through Teatown)
-4-H, 3 years (President of Hooves, Beaks, and Bills 4-H club)
-Cooking for a Cause, 4 years, club member
-History Club, 2 years, (assistant leader)
-Trumpet, 8 years
-Begineer french horn

Job/Work Experience:
-Summer camp counselor at Teatown Lake Res. (a natural sciences/hiking camp), 2 years
-Block babysitter, 5 years

Volunteer/Community service:
-Girl Scouts
-Cooking for a Cause club

Summer Activities:
-Bronx Zoo internships, 3 years
-Summer camp counselor at Teatown Lake Res. (a natural sciences/hiking camp), 2 years
-4-H fair season
-Attended Cornell Summer College and took Animal Science: Sustainable Animal Husbandry course (3 cred)

Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8, wrote about how the quest for perfect grades was the death of meaningful extracurricular activities that help establish a passion

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): overall 8
Teacher Rec #1: Living Environment, APES (known for 4 years) (Cornell Alum) 9
Teacher Rec #2: AP Bio teacher (loves my work in 4-H and how detailed my course work is) 7
Counselor Rec: 5 (not my biggest fan)
Additional Rec: Mother of a kid I babysit, Cornell Alum 10
Additional Rec: Prof of Cornell Summer College Course (Got a 100% on the final exam, A in the course, the prof loved my enthusiasm throughout the course) 8
Interview: -

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major and College: CALS Undeclared (possible biological sciences and/or animal science major)
State (if domestic applicant): NY
School Type: Public (but very competitive)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: F
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Extracurricular activities.
Weaknesses: Grades and SAT score
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
I definitely think that my grades and SAT score held me back. Last year I had some health problems and a close family member was dying/died. I’ve never really been good at math but last year was the worst I’ve ever been and it really brought down my GPA. I didn’t get a tutor for SAT studying/never signed up for a tutoring course (I didn’t see how learning how to take a test was worth my time/sacrifice for volunteering, I still don’t)

General Comments :
Honestly, only the Cornell applicants from my school who got in were summa and magna cum laudes. I didn’t really expect to get in with my SAT and GPA but I was still hopeful. No senior at my school (or even county) is in 4-H and the fact that I put so much time into it, I honestly thought that that would set me apart.

51

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1480 (690 RW 790 Math)
ACT (breakdown): 34 (Eng 35 Reading 30 Math 36 Science 36)
SAT II: Physics 730 Math 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): school doesn’t provide GPA, but total predicted IB score 40
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus AB (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Eng A SL (5) Geo SL (6) French B SL (6) Math HL (7) Physics HL (6) Chem HL (7)
Senior Year Course Load: full IB
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Canadian Mathematics and Computing Contests, regional science challenges

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • A student-found, community based non-profit organization (President)
  • Taekwondo black belt 1st Dan (leadership team)
  • SPCA volunteer for two years
  • School engineering club (executive)
    Job/Work Experience:
  • internship at a software company
    Volunteer/Community service:
  • SPCA volunteer
  • non-profit organization fundrasing
  • community library volunteer
    Summer Activities:
  • internship as software tester
    Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8, wrote about baking and showed my creativity and how it also relates to science
    Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10 IB Physics teacher (known for writing very strong rec letters)
Teacher Rec #2: 8 IB Math teacher (focused on my personality, didn’t even look at my resume)
Counselor Rec: 7 IB coordinator general rec
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: n/a

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: NO
Intended Major and College: Mechanical Engineering, CoE
State (if domestic applicant): n/a
Country (if international applicant): Canada
School Type: Public, IB program
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): female in engineering

Reflection

Strengths: fairly strong rec letters and essays, okay test scores, full IB student
Weaknesses: lacking significant awards
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
I think being a girl who wants to study engineering definitely put me at an advantage. My application also reflected a very consistent personality and my interest in engineering. I focused on very specific points when writing the supplement essay, as if I was totally ready and prepared to study at Cornell. Considering my activities, essays, gpa and testing, I don’t think any one of those factors really made me stand out; but none of them is really weak either.

52

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): n/a
ACT (breakdown): 35 composite (35 English, 34 math, 35 reading, 34 science)
SAT II: 800 Chinese, 800 math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis):

  • Chinese (5),
  • Calculus BC (5),
  • Eng Lang (4)
    IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
    Senior Year Course Load: (5 out of 8)
  • AP Statistics
  • AP Art History
  • Philosophy
  • Religion
  • Microbiology
    Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
  • AP Scholar with Distinction (took 5 but only sent 3)
  • French Grand Concours level 2, silver medal

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • arts council (instrumental rep)
  • diversity council (senior leader)
  • Chinese club (co-founder)
  • orchestra
  • writing center & STEM center tutor
  • help bridge relations with middle school kids with high school issues
    Job/Work Experience: n/a
    Volunteer/Community service:
  • 5Ks
  • mentoring low-income, URM children, who will be the first in their families to go to college
  • assisting those with disabilities at summer camps and sport competitions
    Summer Activities:
  • summer programs, taking psychology courses
  • service trips abroad
    Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8, edited thoroughly, making sure to incorporate main objectives and stayed true to myself. However, not as outstanding as others’
    Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9, I love my teachers, and hopefully they put in a good word for me.

Teacher Rec #1: calculus BC teacher, attended STEM and diversity conferences with her, love her very much
Teacher Rec #2: art history teacher, both sophomore and senior years, wonderfully kind human being who has the best lectures, as if storytelling
Counselor Rec: senior advisor, full orchestra director, knows me pretty well
Additional Rec: professor from a summer social psychology course, didn’t know me super well because of the large class size
Interview: went amazingly! Talked for 1.5 hours and delved into topics such as race, conformity, and social experiments. Also talked about different customs on the east coast compared to the south.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major and College: Psychology, CAS
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: small private
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: female
Income Bracket: upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): legacy

Reflection

Strengths: decent ACT, pursuing a major that not many other Asians pursue
Weaknesses: not that many APs because my school limits 3 AP classes per year, a low subject test score that I didn’t post here that I was required to send, not that many awards, didn’t do any groundbreaking research with college professors, no summer internships, extracurriculars don’t pertain to my intended major that much, GPA could be higher
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I’m a pretty basic Asian with average stats for my demographic. CAS is a competitive school. If it weren’t for the fact that I’m a legacy, I’d probably get rejected. No one else at my school has applied yet, so they have no one to compare me with. There’s no “wow” factor.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: University of Texas at Austin w/ Plan II honors (accepted on the day that Cornell results came out)

General Comments : To all of my fellow deferred people: do not despair! We are still in the running, even if the sea of applicants will have expanded exponentially by the time of RD. From the years past, lots of deferred applicants get in. Good things are worth waiting.

53

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1570; 800 Math, 770 English

ACT (breakdown): 35C, 36E, 35M, 36R, 34S

SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Physics, 800 Chemistry, 710 Bio-E, 610 German

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): idk, it’s a 4.04 on a 4.3 scale and a 4.49 on a weighted scale where honors is +0.5 and AP is +1.0

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): no rank

AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry (5), Physics C Mechanics (5), Physics C E&M (5), Computer Science A (5), English Language & Comp (5), Calculus BC (5), AP Subscore (5)

IB (place score in parenthesis):

Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit & Comp, AP Micro, AP Macro, AP German, AP Stats, AP Psychology, Honors Biotech & Forensics

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 4-Year National Army ROTC Scholarship Winner to Cornell University, FRC Robotics Mid-Atlantic Regionals 2nd place and World Champion Qualifiers… then just a few small piano honors

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): President of Environmental Club (build up from member to secretary to VP to Prez), 2 years on a world-class FRC Robotics team, Varsity XC 1 season, Varsity Track 3 seasons, Marching Band 4 seasons + Section Leader senior year

Job/Work Experience: Intern at an international drone service retailer. I also got FAA-Licensed as a Commercial Drone Pilot

Volunteer/Community service: About 140 or so hours working at local gardens, soup kitchen, Special Olympics Bowling, setting up community events. Also, 24 hours as a volunteer music camp counselor for elementary schoolers teaching saxophone and rhythm

Summer Activities: Running, volunteering, interning. Nothing too special I guess.

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App: 9/10. This essay wowed my teachers. Super personal and powerful. Risky subject matter which I thought may put my whole application at risk but it paid off I guess.

CoE Supplement: 7.8/10 It was meh. I talked about things that are probably quite generic for an aspiring engineer, and talked about how Cornell offers this super unique major (Engineering Physics is pretty darn rare) and the breadth of options available. Honestly nothing standing out, other than some humor about Cornell’s ice cream and Andy Bernard on The Office lol.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I didn’t read them

Teacher Rec #1: My English teacher thought I was bold and found that likeable

Teacher Rec #2: I am probably the one of the best students my Chemistry teacher has ever had and she still talks to me after 2 years.

Counselor Rec: I’m in a big public school so it was probably generic

Additional Rec: had my employer, marching band and jazz band director (I’m a pretty stand out kid in band, just because I’m unafraid to be confident (and loud) even when it’s completely wrong lol), and Computer Science teacher (who thought I was a pretty memey dude)

Interview: none

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes (but this is need-blind so it shouldn’t matter)

Intended Major and College: College of Engineering (CoE); Engineering Physics

State (if domestic applicant): NJ

Country (if international applicant): N/A

School Type: Large Public

Ethnicity: Asian

Gender: M

Income Bracket: like 90k-110k I think, although it doesn’t matter

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): ROTC Scholarship Winner? Not all schools take this as a serious boost to admission, but some do. I know Princeton for sure loves seeing an ROTC Winner who accepted Princeton as a top 3 choice.

Reflection

Strengths: Academics, Common App essay, being an active student and discussion participant who never cheated and teachers know it (as was probably reflected in Letters of Rec).

Weaknesses: Extracurriculars that weren’t really Engineering or Science related (except for Drones). I just did what I wanted to do I guess.

Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:

Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Accepted on full ride to NJIT. Letter of Assurance to United States Military Academy at West Point. Rejected from Caltech

Gonna try to withdraw the rest of my applications

General Comments :

54

[asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1580 one sitting - 790R/790M
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 790 Math II, 770 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9 UW, 4.6 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): English Lang(5), Chem(4), Physics A(5), Psych(5), Music Theory(5 on both)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics Cs, AP Calc AB, band, AP lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing big, national merit semifinalist, AP scholar with distinction

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Tennis 9-12 (captain), 12 years piano - submitted recording and recommendation, 2 years varsity track, a couple tutoring clubs
Job/Work Experience: summer job junior year at a doctors office
Volunteer/Community service: tutoring and some tennis coaching
Summer Activities: summer job, tennis camp, summer courses in financial lit and com sci
Essays (rating 1-10, details): CA - 8/10, I rewrote it entirely 1.5 days before submitting, obviously not my best writing but it had a lot of heart I guess
Cornell - 9/10? my guidance counselor said it was flawless, it was definitely creative but I thought a little impersonal

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 8/10 Lang teacher, nicest person you’ll ever meet, said she could write me a “glowing” rec even though I didn’t do much except write well
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10 physics teacher, had junior and senior year for physics and he’s the jv coach for tennis
Counselor Rec: She likes me a lot and is supposed to be good, but I saw her writing someone else’s rec and it looked rather fake and generic so idk
Additional Rec: 9/10 piano teacher, he likes me and I think he’s pretty famous so he has some clout or whatever
Interview: nope

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yep, prob won’t get any
Intended Major and College: MechE
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Mixed Asian/White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): girl in engineering??

Reflection

Strengths: Number stuff, essays, recs
Weaknesses: Unimpressive extracurriculars and no STEM at all, you’d think I was going Arts and Sciences
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: No idea, applied UMich, Rutgers, Northeastern and GaTech EA, would’ve reach applied Princeton, CMU, and Dartmouth if not accepted to Cornell

General Comments: My scores probably balanced out the extracurriculars, but honestly the only reason I can think of to be accepted was the essays and my music submission, showed character and creativity I guess. I’m really not sure how I got in, and seeing many qualified people not be accepted is pretty mystifying, luck of the draw I guess. I hope that everyone who was disappointed finds a place they’re happy to be at. Go Big Red!!

55

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1580/790R/790M
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 790 Math 2, 770 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9, 4.6 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 on English Lang, Psych, Physics A, Music Theory aural and non aural, 4 in Chem
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP lit, calc ab, and physics Cs
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): national merit semi, ap scholar w distinction

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 4 years varsity tennis(captain), 12 years piano, 2 years track
Job/Work Experience: summer doctors office job
Volunteer/Community service: bunch of tutoring clubs and some tennis coaching
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details): CA 8/10 - decided to write a completely new one 1.5 days before due, obviously not the best writing but lots of heart
Cornell 9/10? - guidance counselor said it was flawless, was very creative but a little impersonal
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 8/10 lang teacher, love her, said she would write a “glowing rec” even though all I did was write well
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10 physics teacher, had me last year and this year and he’s the jv tennis coach
Counselor Rec: good
Additional Rec: piano teacher, took a shine to me and he’s pretty famous I think
Interview:

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yep, won’t get it
Intended Major and College: MechE
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Mixed Asian/White
Gender: F
Income Bracket: 200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): girl in engineering?

Reflection:

Strengths: numbers, essays
Weaknesses: small time extracurriculars, no STEM at all you’d think I was arts and sciences
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: numbers and course choice balanced out extras I think, but I tried to be honest and show a lot of character and creativity in my essays. also submitted a piano recording to show more of the same
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Applied rutgers, northeastern, umich, gatech, gotta go withdraw those now :slight_smile:

General Comments: no idea why I was accepted honestly, seeing so many amazing applicants get decisions they don’t deserve. I hope everyone who was disappointed this round finds a place they love. Go Big Red!!

56

[acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected [/color]
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):1560 760R+W 800M
ACT (breakdown):N/A
SAT II:2400 Math lvl 2, Chem, Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis):Physics BC E&M(5), Physics BC Mechanics(5), Chemistry(5), Calculus BC(5), Statistics(5), CS(5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):N/A
Senior Year Course Load:APUSH&French, both after school classes though
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):sadly, none

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): will update later, but believe me it’s quite limited.
Summer Activities: Cornell Summer college
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
I would say it’s about 6-7/10. It’s generally about my experience as a virtual air traffic controller at VATSIM(Google it if you don’t know what that is, which most people don’t…), and how I value human interactions more than technology itself. I know these two sounds a bit far off but…that’s what I did. I also talked about how I utilize my ability in computer science to help me pursue my interest in aviation, and ended the essay with my philosophy in studying sciences, which is “exploring the intersection between humanities and technologies.” I think the greatest problem is that it lacks a real “focus.” I wanted to fill as much information as I could into the essay and ended up with a central idea that’s really far off from the content.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
7/10
Teacher Rec #1:AP Chem teacher, I guess it’s a very generic looking RL? Mostly about how I perform academically both in and out of class.
Teacher Rec #2:AP Calculus teacher, a very generic and yet detailed one.
Counselor Rec:Again a pretty generic one.
Interview:N/A in my city

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:no
Intended Major:CS
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):China
School Type:Public
Ethnicity:Asian
Gender:Male
Income Bracket:$100,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):none

Reflection

Strengths: Yes…test scores. (it really turned out to be not a strength when ur applying for Cornell)
Weaknesses: extracurriculars are a little plain I guess…(or it’s just I didn’t make them sound unique in my essays), terrible scores at Cornell Summer college (B and , zero awards and honors,
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:Awaiting decision for Umich and 3 UCs(LA/Berkeley/SD), will apply for NWU/Emory/RIce/NYU/GT/USC in RD

General Comments:
Bye Cornell I guess? It’s time to move on : )

57

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1400: 720 M 680 W 7,7,6 Essay
ACT (breakdown): 30: 29 E 30 W 30 M 31 S
SAT II: 660 Math 1 720 Bio E
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5 out of 271
AP (place score in parenthesis): Psych (5), Human Geo (4), Stats (4), Comp Gov (4), English Lang (4), Euro (3), World (3), US History (3), Bio (3), Chem (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: SUPA Psych, SUPA English, College Speech, AP Calc AB, AP Physics 1, AP Gov, AP Macro/Micro, AP Enviro
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar w/ Honor, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, Black Achievement Award

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Academic League (President/ Captain), Science Olympiad (Co-Captain), (Social Studies Honor Society (President), Drama Club (Treasurer), NHS (Parliamentarian), Science Honor Society, English Honor Society.
Job/Work Experience: Shift Leader at Ben & Jerrys
Volunteer/Community service: Jawonio, a local service provider for disabled people; Meals on Wheels, Rotary International
Summer Activities: RYLA conference both Summer 2016 and 2017
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10. Very deep personal narrative about how the fact my mom died when I was so young and how not knowing her drove me to want to know everything else, hence made me such a great student.
Supplement was also strong but it was hard to balance narrative with answering the question.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9. Both Teachers were from junior year and love me. I have a 246 day snapstreak with one of them now.

Teacher Rec #1: English Lang Teacher: Is known for writing really good letters of rec.
Teacher Rec #2:Stats Teacher: Really funny, interviewed me in the process just to tell me he already finished
Counselor Rec: Practically lived in his office this year with all this college stuff. Cried over my personal essay. Probably really good
Additional Rec: Bio/ Science Research Teacher. Actually let me read it. Really nice analogies.
Interview: didn’t do

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major and College: Psychology A&S
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Black
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $120,000 - $140,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Being the exact opposite of the stereotypical black student, if you consider that a hook.

Reflection

Strengths: GPA, Personal essay,recs
Weaknesses: Scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I still don’t know. Either my personal essay or supplement got them.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments : small red

58

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1520, 730 reading, 790 math
ACT (breakdown): didn’t send, but i got a 32. was insanely sick
SAT II: 710 bio, 710 chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): we don’t do this, but my unweighted gpa was a 94 (which i’ve heard is around 3.7-3.8)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 47/600
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 - gov, psych 4 - econ, bio 3 - chem, world history
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: All AP classes, the highest possible
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none? ap with distinction?

Subjective: these are going to sound pretty generic, but I don’t want to say specifically what the names of any programs are the protect my identity

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Key club officer
debate captain
various selective med programs in my area
indian classical dance
honor societies
Job/Work Experience:
kumon
club coach
interned at a foreign affairs organization

Volunteer/Community service:
hospital, other places in my area. amounted to about 200 hours.

Summer Activities:
volunteering, working, also did a Cornell course and got an A

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Commonapp: 10/10. most beautiful thing I’ve ever written it was my baby.
Cornell: 9/10 less artsy than my commonapp but i still conveyed the “I LOVE CORNELL” theme pretty well I think

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 8/10 chem teacher. this guy was a tough teacher but he pretty much loved all of us and was known for writing tough recommendations
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10
Counselor Rec: 8/10 she knew me well and seems to like me
Additional Rec: none (went wrong here)
Interview: i had one on friday, and they were releasing decisions on monday so i don’t really know how this worked out but they really liked me

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yep
Intended Major and College: Human Development at Human Ecology
State (if domestic applicant): still freaked about my identity, so I’ll just say northeastern america. not new york tho.
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Kind of huge, considering that I live in the middle of nowhere. 2700 kids
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: female
Income Bracket: 200K +
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): not sure? I think maybe that I’m asian and applying as an HD major instead of biochem or chem but I don’t think that’s much of a hook tbh

Reflection

Strengths: essays, really big upward trend in GPA
Weaknesses: ECs ECs ECs (I had to drive 40 mins to get to some of my activities) and no big “spike”
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think they want to wait to see if I continue improving my GPA
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted to big state schools
applying to: swarthmore, haverford, johns hopkins, dartmouth, penn, and harvard
General Comments :

I’m pretty upset, but I look forward to March. I really really hope they see how much I love the school, because I truly can’t imagine spending the next four years anywhere else. Whoever is reading this - I was like you. Don’t pay attention to the numbers, just do your own thing and look at your own grades/ECs and let them carry you through. See you again in March!!

59

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1580 (780 English/Reading, 800 Math, 7-6-7 Essay)
Three sittings, but the 1580 score comes from a single sitting
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 800 Math Level 2, 760 Biology M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.81
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus AB (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
AT Senior English
Psychology - FALL
Anthropology - SPRING
Spanish 4 Honors
Greek (7:30 AM class)
Statistics - FALL
AT Statistics 2 - SPRING
AT Discrete Math - FALL
Environmental Science
(AT = Advanced Topics – college-level course)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Paper on material science accepted at three international conferences

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Head of two clubs (Beta – math, Amnesty International – human rights)
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at school library all through high school
Summer Activities: Service project in Tanzania
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 8
Teacher Rec #2: 7
Counselor Rec: 8
Additional Rec: 10
Interview: 8

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major and College: CoE, Material Science and Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): PA (I go to private high school in the US)
Country (if international applicant): China
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >10,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Female in engineering, first-generation college student

Reflection

Strengths: SAT, research
Weaknesses: GPA, recs, awards
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I have very narrow but dedicated interests and high SAT scores
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: N/A

60

Well this is a bit late, but here we go! : D

Decision: Accepted into College of Engineering!

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35 single sitting (eng-35 read-36 math- 33 sci-34)
SAT II: Math 2- 770 Chem-780
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 8/269
AP (place score in parenthesis): European History (5) Chinese Language and Culture (4) Calculus AB (4) Spanish Language and Culture (4) Art Studio: Drawing (4) United States History (4) English Language and Composition (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP Biology, AP Macroeconomics, AP United States Government, AP English Literature, Advanced Chemical Research, Model United Nations
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, Best Delegate at NCRCMUN, Honorable Mention at Boston University, 1st in Color it Orange (an art competition)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: 140 hours at public library
Summer Activities: summer research camp at Smith Summer Science and Engineering Program
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App: 10, I thought it was pretty funny (see strengths section), Supplement: 8, not as much freedom for me to put my voice in my writing
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10, from my art teacher who is basically a fun aunt to me
Teacher Rec #2: 8, from my math teacher
Counselor Rec: 9, she knows me pretty well
Additional Rec: Principal: 9, I worked with him to start the first STEM club on campus; Professor from Smith: 9, I helped him conduct research
Interview: I had an informal one with an Alumni; and the day after he interviewed me, he saw the article on our local newspaper about me and my art teacher’s public mural about sea-level rise. crazy timing!

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: nope
Intended Major and College: Undecided engineering in College of Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Califronia
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public (though smallish)
Ethnicity: Chinese American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: average
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Female.

Reflection
Strengths: I believe that I had 3 main ones:

  1. female applying into STEM field
  2. Unique extracurriculars for Asians. Sure I volunteered at the library, but I took it a bit further and started a program there to teach young children origami. I also made my interest in the fine arts a large focus for my application and talked more about interdisciplinary engineering involving both art and science.
  3. I wrote a very unorthodox essay about dragons for my Common App. The unique topic would make my essay stand out to the Admission officers, though at the same time my essay talked a lot about my personality.
    Weaknesses: My extracurriculars didn’t connect to the whole “STEM” theme I needed since I was applying to the college of engineering, but I managed to play it off as “interdisciplinary”. My SAT Math 2 and Chem test scores could have been a litle higher.
    Why you think you were accepted: test scores, interdisciplinary nature. Also I wrote an essay about dragons because I liked dragons and it was in my personality to write an essay about dragons.
    Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: N/A

General Comments:
A big thing I noticed about me and all the other kids in my school who applied ED to Ivies was that the most “real” kids got accepted. I mean “real” as in doing things for the sake of doing them, not doing them to get into college. Everything I talked about in my application were things I wanted to do because I was passionate about them and had fun. I started an origami program at the library not to demonstrate my leadership to the colleges, but because I loved working with kids at the library and wanted to make their lives a bit more colorful. I designed and painted a public mural because I wanted to raise awareness about sea level rise. Not once did I think 'oh hey this would get me into college!"

Anyway I hope this helps whoever is reading this! Good luck on your college applications!!!