I’m also really curious how you combined CS and policy if you feel comfortable sharing. Thanks!
Congratulations !
Will you be accepting any of your waitlist offers ? (CalTech, Columbia, Northwestern, Dartmouth College)
Do you agree that MIT, Cornell & Penn are the most difficult schools with respect to admissions ?
You applied to 23 schools including all 8 Ivies, yet did not apply to Stanford or to Williams College. Any reason why you did not apply to those two schools ?
Impressive stats !
Ranked #1 in a large high school class of 450.
Perfect 4.0 GPA.
35 ACT score.
4 internships that match your educational interest in technology.
In light of your stats (perfect GPA, #1 class rank & superb ACT score), what advice can you offer to those with less impressive stats as even you saw the need to apply to a very large number (23) of schools ?
Let’s face reality, few applicants enjoy being ranked #1 / 450 in a large high school class with a perfect GPA & a stellar ACT score.
P.S. When I read your resume, it appears that your interests are quite focused. Depth rather than breadth.
My child is very similar to you…(Class of 2023) had very similar stats, perfect scores and outstanding volunteering, state and national awards (also small public middle class high school, was valedictorian) however he was waitlisted until late summer at those big Ivy’s and accepted into very prestigious private schools. But in the end it was the public school for the win with an amazing MERIT scholarship. (no financial aid here) and even invited to apply for the university’s medical school as a freshman. (it’s a top 10 medical school, btw, ahead of many of the Ivy’s)
It’s been the best year ever and looking back I don’t think he would have even applied to the Ivy’s as he will now leave medical/grad school with zero debt as he’s not using any of the money we saved for him for undergrad.
My advice, pick the undergrad school that leaves you with the least amount of debt or the one that doesn’t use all your parents money they’ve saved for you. This will serve you well with future plans. You, like my son, will shine anywhere you go!
Love the idea of combining your interest and making it your own. People don’t get that and why it’s important. Both my kids did that and it just makes for a more interesting applicant. Then add on your honors etc and I can see clearly why you had success.
Did you have family connections to get the internships?
Business Admin Major (looking to transfer fall 2020)
GPA: 3.13
Hello!
So I’ve also been wondering about acceptance release dates and I need some advice or different perspectives because I don’t know what to think at this point.
Basically, I got accepted into UC Davis TAG and you have to do the usual 3.2 GPA and C or better in remaining classes. About 2 quarters ago I received a NP in a math class (all that is required is stats but I finished so this is one class higher) and got a D in Accounting 1 sequence (required for my major). At this point, I expected to receive an email regarding them rescinding my TAG since I’d already basically broken the contract.
I retook my accounting class last quarter and received a B so I am continuing the sequence which is all that is required for transfer on my major listed on assist.
They emailed me a couple of weeks after asking me about those grades and why I received them. I had a really personal situation that occurred during this time and replied to the linked forum with about a page and a half (the shortest I could summarize the situation in) saying that I’m not usually one to use my personal circumstances to try and justify my grades but that is what really affected me.
I’ve yet to receive anything back so I don’t know what to think in regards to being accepted.
Basically my questions are:
- If you're TAG gets rescinded do they notify you or do you just fall into the regular admissions pool and find out along with everyone else?
- Do you think I still have a chance at admission? I appreciate honesty. I've had this school as my goal since I was in high school and now I feel like I messed up my only chance.
Thank you for reading if you did!!
Hey!
I’m currently a sophomore who goes to a very competitive public high school in the Bay Area.
In my high school, there are a very limited number of AP subjects that are usually reserved for juniors and seniors (and an increasing number of sophomores who like to skip classes). This year, I actually did skip a class to take an AP, but considering my personal limits, it seems I can only do up to 12 AP subjects before the end of senior year at the most, which includes self-studying.
Can you please share how you were able to fit 17 AP subjects by senior year, and how/why you decided specific subjects to take the exams for? I’m not sure if it’s worth it taking so many AP classes to compete with the rest of the school…
Thank you so much for doing this! Your feedback really helps :)) Congratulations btw
@lilianvox These are all great questions Lilian, thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, I am still figuring out how to narrow down my college selection. I will be sure to get back to you when I make more progress, however.
@Marall Hey Marall, I don’t know much about financial aid for international students. Sorry about that, I’d be happy to lend you feedback if I did. Good luck!
@sdtkd03 Hmm I know it looks different for everybody, but I would say my internships can be lumped into two categories: summer programs and formal employment. For the first, I used Google Search and word-of-mouth to find out where to apply. For the second, I reached out to companies’ HR departments over email and asked if they were accepting high school interns. Hopefully this is helpful, let me know if you have other questions!
@snsh17 For sure, I think the best way to find awards is to look up programs on Google. The competitions I entered varied a little bit in what they challenged students to do. The first type is in the category of “entrepreneurship”, in which students create a business plan for a potential innovation. The next I would put under the label of “app design”, which involves creating an interactive prototype. And then the final type is related to “research”, in which posters/papers can be submitted to be judged. Thanks for your question!
@socaldad2002 No problem at all, I’m happy to help out by sharing my story. I know the process looks different for everybody, and that I’m really far from an expert on any of this, but hearing from older students when I was an underclassmen was always refreshing.
I didn’t have the chance to read my recommendation letters, but my teachers mentioned that they included statements to that effect. I think it is definitely important to develop good relationships with them to validate the rest of the application like you mentioned.
@amazmango Definitely, I struggled a lot with this problem when I was first applying for internships. It felt like because I didn’t have past experience or technical skills it was hard to make a case for why an employer should hire me. And I totally get that perspective, it’s a sacrifice for them to bring high schoolers under their wing for mentorship.
What I ended up doing instead is fleshing out some technical skills through competition entries. FBLA and TSA both had contests that I entered, which provided a great way to learn more about coding. I would recommend looking into those to gain exposure to technical skills. Hopefully that answers your question!
@Publisher Thank you for your kind words Publisher, I do not plan on accepting the waitlist offers at the moment but am still working through the college decision process. I honestly have no idea how to assess the difficulty of different schools’ admissions. I am grateful for the offers I received, but there’s no hard feelings for the other schools whatsoever because it’s such a competitive process, and they have really attractive programs in their own right. I chose not to apply to Stanford and Williams because I ran out of time with their supplements, but both look like fantastic schools.
@caz0743 This is great feedback, thanks for sharing your kid’s story caz0743! I think the financial piece is a super important factor to consider, especially for students planning on going to graduate school. Your advice is really helpful.
Congratulations, Ethan! Just want to ask about your essays. How do you show your intellectual curiosity in the essays? If it is possible, can you share with me your main essays?
( You have high stats and stellar ECs. Why do you think did MIT reject you? was it because you did not participate in maths/science competitions?)
Thanks for your time.
@Fay123123 Thank you Fay, I’m not comfortable sharing my essays, but what I would recommend when it comes to intellectual curiosity is to show a light-hearted side of your self. The idea of “learning for the sake of enjoyment” is something I tried to communicate in my essays. When it comes to MIT, I wouldn’t worry about not having math/science competitions. I think they really stress the importance of good essays, which I may have been lacking. I have no idea how they evaluate applications though. I think there’s a blog with a lot of helpful information run by current students there. Good luck!
First of all, congratulations to Ethan.
Just want to make sure that everyone is using hook the same way. Hooks are usually defined to mean one of the following: ADLC or URM. URM means under-represented minority. ADLC means Athlete, Development (big donor), Legacy, and Child of faculty or staff. It’s certainly true that a hooked candidate has an easier path to admission.
While many (perhaps most) students who get into multiple elite colleges are hooked, there are also many who are unhooked as well. I am familiar with the elite math and science competitions, and the unhooked kids at the top routinely get into multiple HYPSM colleges. And I am sure there are many other paths besides math and science to distinguish oneself without being hooked. But it’s more than grades and GPA.
Yeah…and some people win the lottery too. No one doubts that this young man is exceptional…but so is every other applicant with perfect grades, stats, and a killer essay. Being “picked” over another applicant with similar accomplishments is not an accomplishment. It’s statistical probability. And if what @hopedaisy says is true, then it has almost nothing to do with the application. The vast majority of these accomplished kids have parents who paid top dollar for private tutors. Many homeschool programs have a curriculum where average kids can graduate high school at 13. If you’re curriculum is that advanced, OF COURSE they’re going to win awards against kids their age. They’re cheating. That, folks is how the rich successfully game the system to get into elite colleges.
Can you share the names of the many homeschool programs where average kids graduate at 13?