Follow My Ongoing College Admissions Journey!

Applying to College
1

Hello CC! I am a junior who attends a small, non-competitive school in a suburb off the edge of SF. I have always been declared a shoo-in to elite schools, as I am an “overachiever” by the standards of my immigrant parents and friends. (Though I never believed I was a shoo-in, “4% acceptance rate” never really occurred to me until recently.) When I found CC last month and started lurking around, I realized that my stats paled in comparison to many applicants.

In addition, I figured out the path I wanted to go in life very recently, which means my extracurriculars from the past few years are all over the place. I’m hoping to tailor my application within the next few months and in summer, as I’d like to focus on my courses in senior year instead of cramming in application essays.

Female, Chinese-American, First gen (I think. Immigrant parents, but Dad has AA degree @community college)
<30,000k income, EFC 0, no assets

Courseload- most rigorous, with the exception of either Math or Spanish.
I will be taking AP Calc senior year, but am not sure if I should take AP Stats or AP Spanish. I know that four years of language looks better on an application than five of math, but Spanish is not taught well at my school, so I’m not sure if it’s worth it.
Class rank- Unranked, unsure if we do percentile but probably top 10%
GPA- 4.0 UW first two years, all A+s. Final grades are only released at the end of the year, and AP courses are only offered starting junior year, so I’m not sure what my junior year GPA would be.
SAT- 1510 (770RW, 740M), planning to retake in May.
ACT- 29 on practice exam, will not take

SAT II- will take Math II and Lit
AP- will take Lang, USH, and Chinese
I’m confident in Lit and Lang as writing is my best and favorite subject, but fairly anxious because my teachers really don’t teach much and I am basically self-studying. Doing badly would also result in an inflated-looking GPA.

From afar, I probably look like a cookie-cutter Asian, but I love writing and am an artsy/geeky type.
I am thinking about writing my Common App essay on

  1. juxtaposition between rich SF and Chinatown
  2. my experience living paycheck to paycheck, while not even realizing I was below the poverty line because I had always had everything I thought I needed, and
  3. how I want to go into education / political science / communications to put myself in a position where I can help people trapped in a cycle of poverty.

I’m 75% sure my counselor dislikes me (and most students, honestly) so I’m pretty :confused: about how my letters of rec will turn out. I know my teachers will give me glowing letters of rec though.

College List, still editing
Reach: Yale, Brown, Princeton, Stanford (considering Dartmouth and Middlebury)
Target-ish: Bowdoin, Hamilton, Colby, Bates
Safety: SF State, maybe CSULB if I can afford housing. Will check NPCs later.
Check my “Should I sabotage my Ivy+S supplements” thread for more background info.

Am currently in the process of applying to College Prep Scholars.
Will apply to Questbridge. If I make it, my College Match list will be somewhere along the lines of

  1. Bowdoin
  2. Brown
  3. Yale
  4. Dartmouth, at which point I may stop because I really want to apply to Hamilton and Bates.

Because I cannot afford visits, I will be doing interviews to demonstrating interest. I’m pretty socially awkward though, so I’m hoping this will not have an adverse effect on my admissions.

See my awards and ECs in a comment below!

2

Awards

Math Student of the Year, freshman year
Presidential Volunteer Award, Gold
Probably National Merit Semifinalist, maybe Finalist (221, but in California)
Ranked first place in Chinese School pretty much every semester, except twice. First time was in kinder, and the second time was right after I skipped a grade and was placed into a more competitive class.

Will probably leave off application:
I usually place in calligraphy contests in Chinese school, but don’t consider this to be extremely significant.
Won a few art contests for nonprofits before high school, but that’s a while back.

ECs

Chinese School Summer Camp, 600+ hours (mostly volunteering, I worked in the office for a couple dozen hours last summer)

Piano
Played since I was 6. Passed Grade 8 Certificate of Merit last year, which was quite a feat considering my teacher had no formal training and I had only started taking private lessons a few years ago. No awards or competitions entered, but I’ve performed in yearly recitals and school talent shows, and am now composing a song for my friend’s video game.

Swimming
Swam for two teams, won a few ribbons and would’ve been in varsity my freshman year if I had gone to another high school. However, I wasn’t very dedicated and ended up having to quit due to money constraits. Considering leaving off EC list.

Clubs

Leadership Club (Student Government), class president sophomore-junior year
The thing about my school is that it’s small and underfunded. It lacks campus (we’re in portables), a steady staff (high turnover rate) and school spirit (no gym + no PA system = no one goes to games). It’s also very new- this year is the first year where we’ve had a full class of 400 students. Because of this, our clubs are very unstructured and often somewhat inactive. In my freshman year, I was the only active freshman in Leadership, Service, and Yearbook. Our teacher advisors don’t really do much for us, so club leaders and members have to go through a lot of trial and error to make things happen at all. It has been an extreme challenge with Leadership. When our school separated Leadership by grade in sophomore year, I had to lead the planning of the spring dance with a budget of less than $300. It ended up very successful, with ticket prices of only $5. We provided food, which was unprecedented in the short history of our school’s dances, and had money left over. Our goal this year is to be able to afford a nice senior prom (this year’s seniors will be short on funds), and create some actual school spirit by way of better promotion.

Comic Club-, founder and leader, junior year
I founded this club in junior year after getting into webcomics. Our school has quite a few talented artists and writers and I wanted us to have a space where we could develop our passions into something marketable to the internet community. We are writing a collection of fairy tale parodies that we hope to publish and distribute around the school / sell in a comic book store. I am a self-taught artist and currently writing a comic with a concept that has the potential to combine every single issue that is important to me while not being preachy. I am very excited, and planning to release the first chapter of this comic in May. With every chapter of my comic, I will have a link to the donation box of a nonprofit organization related to the subject matter. I will link this webcomic in the Additional Information section of my app.

Yearbook Club
No positions yet, but I have enjoyed it immensely and the founder has talked to me about leading the club when he graduates.

Anime Club, secretary since junior year (when the club formed)
Somewhat active club. We are planning on going to a convention soon. I really do think anime is just another art form and definitely on a different level than most cartoons. However, “weeaboos” (anime fans) get a lot of hate for supposed yellow fever and nerdiness, so I’m not sure if this is worth including in my application.

Red Cross Club, secretary since freshman year (when the club formed)
Not a very active club; I am considering leaving this off my EC list, especially because I have not done much outside volunteer work for it either.

Acapella Club since sophomore year (when the club formed)
Slightly active club. I really love singing (took Choir elective for two years) and play piano for warm ups. I am also considering leaving this off my EC list.

3

Calligraphy is actually cool, I’d keep it.
Anime also.

All in all you’re very competitive.

Dartmouth is a very very different ‘fit’ from your bother three QB picks.

Your safeties should probably be UCSC and UCI, hoping for Honors program. You’d also get into honors at SDSU but UC’s would include housing costs as part of financial aid whereas CSU’s typically don’t. Honors program students get perks (including housing and extra scholarships) so apply to those.
See if Pomona, Carleton , Davidson, Vassar are of interest.
You’d be URM at Grinnell, Macalester, StOlaf.

Right now you should probably spend more time finding a few more matches that ‘meet need’ and looking at honors programs at UC’s to make them 'feel smaller ’ and more personal.

Are You NMSF?

4

Glad you are applying through QuestBridge.

There are many schools that will have Fly-In programs next fall; you might be able to get a free trip or two to see some of the schools you are considering. Start searching the internet for “college fly in programs 2017” later this spring/early summer to see what’s available and their application deadlines.

5

Seconding investigating fly-ins. Check out collegegreenlight, a website for first generation students.

6

For perspective on getting into top colleges, please have a look at these two posts:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1878059-truthful-advice-about-getting-into-top-colleges-for-your-average-excellent-student-p1.html

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1876770-what-did-i-do-wrong-p1.html

These are not meant to depress you, but to give you a good idea of the reality of how difficult it is to get into top colleges.

I commented on your other post. You said above you really want to apply to Hamilton and Bates. So why don’t you apply to Hamilton and Bates? I think Yale is the odd man out in your list. What appeals about it? You are a strong applicant, but I think you should trim your ECs a little and focus more on the ones you are really into. Senior year is very busy with applications and you want to keep the grades strong. I agree that calligraphy is cool and you should feature it in your app. You can’t really list anything you did before high school though, not sure how calligraphy features in your timeline.

Don’t worry about your counselor rec, the colleges are more concerned about the information they have about you and your school academically. I personally am not crazy about your essay topics. You sound very creative and the topics you mention above seem pretty run ofthe mill to me. The essay is so colleges can see what kind of person you are. You are Asian, do they need to know what you think about Chinatown? So many kids were or are poor. Not interesting, sorry. Your areas of intended study will be noted, and won’t matter that much. Why use the essay to tell them what you want to do when you grow up? Of course, if you are a skillful writer, I am sure you can find a way to make those topics interesting.

I have helped many students with essays. IMO,the most effective essays are not about your life goals or your troubled childhood. Some great essays I have seen include: a former pizza delivery guy and how he learned about human nature from his job, a girl who conquered her fear of the dark with her nightlight, a boy who chose to do something practical with a large sum of money, rather than have an expesnive party, and a girl who colored her hair and experienced some unexpected pleasant surprises. Yale will read 37,000 applications, or something crazy like that. Don’t write a predictable essay.

7

There are many, many terrific schools where you would find amazing students and amazing professors. Pick any number between 20 and 200 and then go to a college rating website and find the school with that number. I guarantee that if you went there, worked hard, engaged with people, and were authentic and kind, you would be well on your way to a wonderful life. You don’t really strike me as someone who would particularly enjoy a Yale or Harvard where the real benefit is not in the classroom but in networking with fellow students and members of the community.

It seems like a key will be to find a school where you can get aid. That would be much more important than if the school is ranked #4 or #11. For example, I think you would be in line for large grants from schools like Alabama and Miami of Ohio. I’m not recommending those schools but just using them as examples because I know more about merit aid at both schools. I like to point out the merit aid page at Miami of Ohio’s admissions website. It shows in one easy chart the range of merit aid a student can expect to receive. What if you could find similar info for some schools where you might be interested?

Just a thought: what about Smith College in Northampton, MA? Great women’s college, fun/funky town, diverse. It’s part of a consortium where students can also take classes at Amherst, U Mass Amherst, Hampshire, and Mt. Holyoke. I’m not sure about your chances of aid there. Good luck!

8

@MYOS1634 Thank you!
Yes, that really does seem to be the case. I liked the fact that Dartmouth was pretty much a liberal arts college, but may leave it off the list.

Thank you for the safety recommendations! I really do need some that I am enthusiastic about.
I’ve looked at the first four and liked Carleton/Vassar, but ultimately left Carleton off my list because of the location (I’d like to be around New England). Macalester and St. Olaf seem to be slightly easier to get into, so I might add those to the list as well. I’m not clear on what honors programs actually do right now, so I’ll look into those too.

My PSAT report said that I was in the 99th percentile, so I will most likely be a Semifinalist. However, I missed Class of 2017’s California Finalist cutoff by 10 points, so I will probably miss Finalist again this year.

@Lindagaf Thanks for the links! Seeing those rejections and the ones in the chance me forums definitely gave me a better idea of the competition out there.

If I am not matched to a college through Questbridge, I will definitely apply to Hamilton and Bates. The only thing preventing me from applying to them directly is Questbridge, which they are not affliated with. I’d like a chance at Questbridge because it allows me to apply early to several schools with the chance for a full ride.

Yale is definitely an odd man out in the list. I like the liberal arts education and undergraduate focus, along with the housing system. Other than that, it’s there because my mom wanted me to apply to more Ivies.

Alright, then I’ll drop some of the clubs I don’t do as much for. I have another calligraphy competition coming up, so I have a chance to put that in my application.

I’m glad I don’t have to worry about my counselor. But now that I think about it, poverty+etc. was probably the most cliche topic I could’ve thought of haha. Thank you for the examples! I will read more sample essays (already went through most of Hamilton’s) and scour my brain for some memorable stories.

@TTG Yes, Yale is honestly not my first choice and I didn’t consider Harvard for more than half an hour (read student reviews about the vibe and it was definitely not for me). I have mostly looked at LACs and while neglecting public universities, so I will look into the latter as well!

I actually really liked Smith, but I don’t think I could stand being at an all-girl’s school for very long. I prefer an environment where people have different opinions/perspectives, and co-ed seems to help diversify a bit. Also, I kinda feel like I wouldn’t know how to talk to males after graduation LOL.

9

You should broaden your horizons away from the East coast. I think I gave you a ton of suggestions of good LACs on your other thread. Some of the Midwest ones are top notch. I think Macalester might be a great fit for an artsy and creative person who is also socially aware. It is not a safety at all though. Oberlin is also good for creative theater types, but quite politically active. Carleton is fantastic, one of the top LACs in the country, but it’s a reach and perhaps not as artsy as you might like. I also think you should research Whitman a little more. Lewis and Clark might be a good safety for you. It’s in Portland, OR, supposed to be very laid back. Lots of great choices of LACs out there.

10

@Lindagaf Alright, I’ll look into those! I saw the 35% acceptance rate and that’s a bit higher than the 20%s I’ve been seeing around, but I do agree that it’s not by much. I’m happy with being around a little bit of everything. Thank you so much for all the suggestions!

11

A 35% acceptance rate is in no way is a safety. Macalester attracts a certain kind of student.

A safety means your stats are above the 75th percentile and the acceptance rate is probably 50%+. I would say Macalester is a solid match. Plenty of Macalester students will have stats like yours. Be careful of assuming what a safety school is. Safety schools like demonstrated interest. They do not like to be treated as safeties and will routinely deny students who think they are treating them as such. Tulane, (not a safety for anyone), is notorious for denying high stats students.

12

@Lindagaf I see. I’ll work harder on my supplement then. What are some ways to demonstrate interest besides visits?

13

^ fill out a 'request info’form on their website. :slight_smile:

14

After you apply, request interviews.

15

Not quite sure what you are hoping for in this post. Is it literally just discussing your experience on CC as a way to help future students or a diary of sorts? Your post at #7 suggests that you are also seeking advice/help/opinions. Assuming that’s so, and you want more information and perhaps personal guidance, have you contacted matriculate.org? You seem to hit all of their marks for the kind of assistance they provide.

You say you also “love writing”. Bravo. Have you submitted any short stories/poems to online journals? Have you considered working for one? Do you know about Scholastic’s Art and Writing competitions? Do you know about Penn’s Kelly Writers House? I may be assuming too much of an interest in writing tbh, but I like to encourage it when I see it :).

16

@ChartresBlue Sorry if that was unclear! It’s more like a diary to me. I feel like my school is a bit too weird for other people to relate to, but if it has the possibility of helping someone, I might as well make it public :).

Advice/help/opinions are definitely welcome as I don’t have much accessible guidance outside of the internet, but I don’t want to ask too much of the people here and don’t know where a thread like that would fit.

I didn’t know about matriculate.org, so I will definitely check that out!

Unfortunately, I haven’t heard of any journals or writing competitions, or done much research on them either.
If this counts as demonstrating interest in writing, I have been involved in the poetry community on deviantArt since middle school, having published way over a hundred poems on my account and developed a small but loyal following (500-1000). I also been featured many times by other writers / deviantArt’s popular pages + daily featured works.

Sadly, most of my poetry was written when I was extremely unstable, leading to somewhat of an alter ego on that account (my default state is cheerful jokester, and I wrote a lot about PTSD and such). My mental state has since taken a positive turn, and I am almost fully recovered. Though I am not ashamed of my circumstances, and I am proud of the development of my writing style over the past few years, I’d like to refrain from giving admissions officers a way to find my account or any hint of my mental health history, in the case that they assume things no longer as relevant to me as they used to be.

Nowadays, I read much more than I write, so entering more legitimate competitions will definitely help me develop my writing skills! Thank you for the suggestions; I will definitely look into them and attempt to enter/participate within the next few months!

17

If you are interested in picking up writing again, there are literally hundreds of free writing competitions to enter. Just google and many will come up. The bulk of writing competitions seem to run from Sept-to about now though, so youmay find there isn’t that much happening, but have a look anyway. You can submit anything for publication in Teen Ink and it is not competitive. Scholastic Awards are fantastic, but it’s over for this year. Submissions have to be done via school. Ask your English teachers about it. It’s a national competition and is prestigious if you get higher awards.

18

I would move Bowdoin to your reach list. Target if you apply ED, but then you would never knowing if you would have gotten into your other reaches so you’d have to be really sure. Bowdoin is a tad statistically harder to get into than Middlebury which is already on your reach list. If you don’t do ED, the RD admission rate is 12%.

Middlebury and Bowdoin have a ton in common. Middlebury is a little bigger (student population; much bigger physical campus), more rural, gets colder, more renowned language program. Middlebury also has an awesome leadership program, independent of your major/studies. Both are great for outdoorsy stuff – Middlebury has it’s own private ski resort and Bowdoin has it’s own private island and possibly the best student-run outdoors club of any college. But there are plenty at both who could care less about all that and do fine. Despite the fact that both have a very high percentage of student athletes, Middlebury has more of an overtly athletic culture than Bowdoin. Bowdoin is closer to major cities and transportation options than Middlebury but Middlebury’s rural surroundings are gorgeous.

Good luck.

19

Competitions are one thing that can help you stand out or help show objectively that you have talent beyond simply stuff in your high school. Don’t discount trying to publish your writing either. There are journals that encourage teen submissions (like the Adroit Journal, Blueshift, Inklette, and so many others, just run an internet search for them). Also, if you would like to be more active, also don’t discount applying and trying to get a job or volunteer at such a journal/publication, especially those that cater to teens. Doing so can help show passion/interest, again beyond what is normally available at your high school. It’s also a way to get more insight/help from similarly motivated people. For that matter, does your HS have a creative writing or literary publication? If it does, you can try to get involved there. If it doesn’t, you can try to found one.

20

Not sure if you need merit aid - if you do here is a suggestion: if you are in the top 50% of a school’s top quartile (ACT / SAT), you will be likely to receive substantial merit aid.

Noticed your interest in math and music. If that continues, check out St Olaf. Arguably the best music of any non-conservatory school (and better than many of those), and an extraordinary math department - they are one of the very top for students who go on to get doctoral degrees. It is unusual to find both at national levels in one place.

They offer great music and piano camps every summer - super way to see if you like the place.

Good luck on your pursuit!

P.S. be sure you build a relationship with admissions wherever you are interested. From on site or afar you want them to know you and your interest before they open that admissions file.