<p>And this is not a bragging topic by any means. This topic is for future Questbridge applicants. I really thought I had no chance in hell to become a finalist. Here are my stats: </p>
<p>Asian, 1st generation to go to a 4 year college, 35k after tax cuts
3.9 GPA
32 ACT
1990 SAT
Member of National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, Math Honor Society
Did not do any school sports
About 200 hours of community service</p>
<p>Seriously, I had no leadership positions... I have no idea how I became a finalist...</p>
<p>1st generation
Under 20K
4.0 UW / 4.3 W (though hardest possible)
35 ACT
2300 SAT
1570 Subject Tests
Lots of Boy Scouts (Seven Years, Eagle, 46 Merit Badges, lots of involvement in National Honor Society of Boy Scouts - which I wrote essay about, World Conservation Award)
Service Club (four years, President)
Shakespeare Club (founder, three years, President)
Lots of other community service (Red Cross, Library, Eagle Projects)
Just JV Tennis for sports</p>
<p>But I want to go to Stanford So little chance in College Match…</p>
<p>Asian (Vietnamese)
1st Gen
22000 income (sister in college)
National Honor Society, Science Olympiad 4 years (qualified for nationals), Peer tutoring, Tennis + Track and Field 4 years, worked for family business…basically my whole life haha
3.9 GPA / 34 ACT / 2180 SAT
60~ hours of community service
No leadership roles-
Okay essays, probably pretty good letters of rec?</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT:N/A
[</em>]SAT II:660 Physics 680 Physics
[<em>]ACT:31C 33M 33S 29E 27R
[</em>]GPA:3.85UW/4.15W
[<em>]Rank:38/487
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):APUSH(3) I don’t think I reported it, AP Lang(4)[/ul] Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays:Pretty good, probably the best part of my app. Painted a picture of all the aspects of my app.
[</em>]Recs:Both from teachers who liked me but I waived my rights to see them.
[<em>]Supplementary Material:Will send another Rec to MIT
[</em>]Summer Activities:40 Hr/WK Internship at a Global Engineering Firm, Volunteered at an Engineering Camp for Middle Schoolers, Driver’s Education, and Debate Camp
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):URM, 1st Gen, Low Income[/ul] Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location:Kansas
[<em>]High School Type:Public
[</em>]Ethnicity:African who has lived in America for 16 Years, Speak the language and am daily surrounded by Ethiopian culture.
[<em>]Gender:Male[/ul] Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars:FIRST Robotics, TSA, Scholar’s Bowl, Archery, Debate, Church Volunteering, Forensics, and Theater(9th only)
[<em>]Awards:Kansas Scholar(State) and a bunch of school awards.
[</em>]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Pretty well rounded applicant and I really thought my essays did a great job of showing who I was.
[<em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:I don’t really have much to say, sorry to those who didn’t make it and to those who are applying, concentrate on every aspect.
[</em>]Income Range: ~52,000 with 5 man Household and 1 College Student
[/ul]</p>
<p>ACT: 34 SAT: 2150 GPA: 4.0 UW / 4.33 W Rank: 7/435 APs: 5, 5, 5, 5, 4 (taking 5-6 this year too)</p>
<p>Location: Midwest School: Public, sends some grads to top schools Ethnicity: White Gender: Male Income/Family Situation: Divorced parents, rough situation. Both went to a four-year state school. One sibling, a senior in college. Household income between $30k - $40k.</p>
<p>EC’s: Pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but they are decent. Work Experience: Virtually none. I’ve worked unofficial jobs but no formal ones. Awards: Pretty good. NMSF, AP Scholar w/ Distinction (projected National AP Scholar), German Honor Society, etc. Recommendations: Really strong. I used a teacher I’ve known since freshman year and my German teacher who I’ve had since freshman year (I am the strongest German student in the school). Essays: The best part of my application. My biographical essay was very creative and managed to tell several events of my life in detail in little space. My other two essays were pretty well-written and interesting too.</p>
<p>I believe I was accepted largely because of my essays. They really showed who I am as a person, what I wanted out of college / why I would be a good fit for top colleges, and what challenges I’ve faced in life so far. I didn’t expect to make it due to my work experience and the idiosyncrasies of my family’s monetary situation, so the fact that I did tells me my essays must have been strong.</p>
<p>Advice for future applicants would be to start early and to dedicate a lot of time to the essays. Pour your heart into them.</p>
<p>Sorry to those who didn’t make it; I wish you all luck with the rest of the college application process.</p>
<p>Hispanic (Peruvian), 1st generation
3.8 gpa unweighted
4.65 weighted
1950 SAT (took SAT October 9th, I WANT MY SCORES NOW!)
SAT II: Spanish:800 US History: 760 Chemistry:700 BiologyE:750
EC: Treasurer for National Honor Society, Secretary for Key Club, Hispanic Club President, Ambassador’s Club, HOSA, Editor In Chief for school newspaper. Work 15 hours per week.
Suck at sports
About 350 community service hours
Income: 25k
During summer worked full time.</p>
<p>Advice: Nail the essays. I honestly think that my essays were truly what got me to finals. Get your English teacherSSSS to review them.</p>
<p>:( tough competition… I’m just glad I didn’t choose the most prestigious schools. I’ll be ecstatic if any of those colleges take me.</p>
<p>ACT: 35
SAT: 2150
SAT Subjects: 710 US History
700 Math I
650 Math II
AP: 5 APUSH (only one our school offers Juniors)
Rank: 1/182
GPA: (unweighted out of 100) 97.17</p>
<p>Location: Northeast
School: Public, not known for producing many good students
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income/Family Situation: $34,000 4-person household, parents both attended but dropped out of 2 year colleges. 1st gen college student</p>
<p>ECs: Band, Jazz Band, Math Team, Student Council, Debate Team (probably the only ones that found their way into my application, though I’m involved in many other things)
Work Experience: Tutoring all four years of high school, paid job as a blogger for an anti-tobacco website for teens (one year), cleaning after bingo at local school (two years)
Recommendations: I chose one teacher I really liked, and another who I didn’t like quite as much. I waived my right to see them, so no clue if they were good
Essays: I wrote about how reading and writing has affected my life (biographical), about debate team and my interest in civil rights (stemming from 2004 MA Gay Marriage ruling), and about my interest in studying the brain
Awards: Essay Contest (1st place) in 9th grade, Lamp of Learning (highest ranking sophomore), Harvard Book Award
Community Service: volunteering at local library (~40 hours/year since 7th grade), student council (~20 hours/year since 10th grade), various other service groups as well</p>
<p>Location: South
School: Charter, first graduating class
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income/Family Situation: Rough financial situation. Both parents are unemployed. Income was >$30 for 2009. Sibling in college.</p>
<p>EC’s: Great. I showed a love for Speech and Debate. I started my own business. I think that helped too.
Work Experience: None.
Awards: AP Scholar with Honor. Lots of finalist awards for Speech. Ventures Scholar. Honor Society.
Recommendations: I hope they were amazing! I waved my rights. The teachers I asked really liked me and I know they wrote awesome ones.
Essays: What probably got me in. I wrote my heart out, and I think the committee saw that.</p>
<p>I’m so grateful. My stats aren’t amazing and they overlooked them because I really explained my situation. I know the myriad of benefits will start rolling in. :)</p>
<p>I was surprised as well, considering that I live in New England (which constitutes only 3% of all Finalists). Anyways:</p>
<p>White immigrant, ~35k, not UVM
3.7 UW/4.2 W GPA
2070 SAT (760 math… English isn’t my first language)
4 in AP Lang/Comp (school offers very few APs before senior year)
Really into Music and Math/Science/Programming (lots of experience, leadership, etc.)</p>
<p>I procrastinated on my essays but I think I did really well nonetheless.</p>
<p>ACT: 28, 27 (I just noticed that I misplaced my math and reading score… and reversed them…)
SAT: N/A
SAT II: N/A
Rank: 6/615 (I just noticed that I forgot to update my ranking from last year when I applied for the summer thing and it was listed as 6/736)
GPA: 3.8/4.8</p>
<p>AP: Did Not List: 1 on Chemistry – did not list (i serious don’t know ****… since I didn’t read the book)
2 British Lit-- did not list (No preparation, the school just told every IB Lit student to take it… I though I did good but got a 2 -.-)
3 AP US (My essays screwed me up)
4 AP Euro (The free response essays screwed my 5 up… we were preparing to have them on Russia, WWII, etc. and they became those on subjects we only spent 1 day to talk about…)
Full IB Student.
First Generation.
Asian: Chinese (Non Citizen nor permanent resident – temporary resident)
Gender: Male
Income: Low, ~20k
Single Parent with 2 siblings (elementary school) ever since 2008, father in detention center.
House: still financing with around 230k left to go
EC: Chess (freshmen) ESL Tutor (sophmore, junior, and planning to do it again), National Honor Society, Senior Class Treasurer, Yearbook Editor (senior)
Service Hours: 116, have around 50 that didn’t turn in on time… (did not list this)
Awards: None (might have but never paid attention nor bothered to take)
Recommendation: Unknown but should be good, I asked my APUS teacher and APEuro teacher for teacher recommendation. Wouldve ask my Precalc and Calc teacher but he write very short recommendation… For counselor recommendation, asked my postsecondary education coach.
Bio Essay – about how I come to US, school life, and a bit about my personality.
Essay 1 – about a man feeding geese. Have grammar mistakes.
Essay 2 – satire about my experience as a local school council election judge. </p>
<p>I was expecting a rejection… This is a great encouragement for my ACT test tomorrow (though I didn’t study one bit). Will have to drive and pick up mother from airport in 40 mins.</p>
<p>School: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income: < 20,000</p>
<p>EC’s: 10 EC’s since Freshman. State Officer for Technology Student Association. President of four. Founder and Captain of two. Vice-President of 1.
Work Experience: Real Estate Firm
Awards: So and So. Mostly TSA State and National Competitions rankings.
Recommendations: My Math Team Sponsor and my Science Olympiad Sponsor. I have known both since freshman year.
Community Service: 500+ hours since 2007-08.
Essays: Pretty decent.</p>
<p>Nice to meet you all? I just made account a few minutes ago. </p>
<p>Finalist</p>
<p>ACT: N/A
SAT: 2120
GPA: 3.8 UW
Rank: N/A
APs: 4, 4, (taking 2 more this year)</p>
<p>Location: Mid Atlantic
School: Public, one of the top public schools in the country
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income/Family Situation: Household income under 20K, one brother in college</p>
<p>EC’s: president of the Japanese culture club (4 years), participant in an after-school chess program (3 years), math and Japanese tutor (2 years), national honor society (3 years)
Work Experience: four jobs (senior center, hospital, health clinic, environmental/consumer health advocacy work)
Awards: Japanese Honor Society…not much here
Recommendations: my Japanese teacher who i had for four years, and my biology electives teacher b/c i’m focusing on pre-med.
Essays: they were pretty okay i suppose…can’t really assume what i think Questbridge essay readers think.</p>
<p>Location: South
School: Public, one of the top public schools in the country
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income/Family Situation: 33K, 6 person household. Permanent resident, immigrated from Switzerland.</p>
<p>EC’s: lots of soccer, with leadership…NHS, recycling club, political science club, chess club…two jobs through HS…other smaller stuff.
Awards: two state ones for playwrighting, local art gallery recognition, honor roll 4.0+ GPA 4 years, other decent ones…
Recommendations: APUSH and Spanish, both should have been good.
Essays: Average-Good</p>
<p>Location: East coast
School: Highly competitive public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income/Family Situation: <20k. </p>
<p>EC’s: Language/Culture Editor of Newsletter(In Other Words), K-Loved(culture club), a cappella, school orchestra, cultural performer for 2 years. Also was on rowing crew and tech (theater) crew </p>
<p>Work Experience: Summer Youth Employment Program - Lilac Steamship Preservation Project; Teacher’s assistant for Learning Center, Internship at Roe Development Corporation (Real Estate Firm)</p>
<p>Volunteer: Teacher’s assistant for Learning Center for 210 hours</p>
<p>Recommendations: Pretty good I assume. 1 from Calc teacher (I am sure he liked me). Another from Spanish teacher (she liked me as well)
Essays: I think they were decent. Bio (My family and assimilation when I immigrated to America). Intellectual ( Economics class). Experience (a cappella)</p>
<p>North Carolina
3.92/5.13 GPA
Rank: 2/400
33 ACT
2130 SAT
AP exams: 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5 (7 exams total… 9 more this year…)
Average/below average Public High School
Run of the mill ECs
Some work experience Sophomore Year.
No major awards
Ethnicity: Did not report
Recommendations were… Meh? AP Chem, and Calc BC teachers… they kind of liked me, and I did quite well in their classes, but I don’t think I really impressed them too much, there was usually another student in the spotlight. Had them both last year for one class each.
Income: Just slightly under 40,000/yr
Essays: Biographical and 3-choice were mediocre. But I tried. The other one (I think it was about diversity… or something) was absolutely attrocious. I wrote it in exactly 4 minutes (I submitted the application a minute before the EXTENDED deadline of midnight Pacific time), I wrote 300/500 words, I just started spewing cliches and other crap. I really was annoyed at myself for pulling such a stupid stunt as to submit such a crappy essay.</p>
<p>No idea why they chose me.</p>
<p>Oh, right, I also participated in TASS (Telluride Association Summer Seminars) and SSP (Summer Science Program) summer programs in the summer before Junior and Senior years respectively. I think that may have helped me.</p>
<p>Yay everyone who got it! Strikeb4ck – don’t worry, you’ll still get into awesome colleges </p>
<p>Finalist - I’m so ecstatic right now!! </p>
<p>SAT: 1500/2250
GPA: ~4.3 W
Rank: 15/300+
APs: 5, 4, 2 (Chem, ugh, didn’t report) – took hardest courses possible last year, currently taking 7 APs (the max)</p>
<p>EC’s: Language club (4yrs), NHS (2 yrs) + tutoring, Teen Court (1yr), Service club (4yrs), youth group (4yrs). I don’t have as much as others, but I think I showed commitment…
Work Experience: State House of Reps Page for 1 wk during summer; currently assistant at a learning center for 10 hrs/wk
Awards: Just High Honors for school
Recommendations: My Latin teacher since freshman year, who knows me pretty well. Junior year English teacher I totally adore. I know both were at least decent. My counselor’s recommendation was likely amazing – she and I have had great conversations.
Essays: I procrastinated a little with editing, but they were pretty good. I wrote about my struggle with two different cultures for my personal essay, and my other two were fairly decent, too.</p>
So little chance in College Match…</p>
</p>