Harvard Class of 2021 Regular Decision Results ONLY

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

Haven’t seen a decisions thread for this with decisions coming out a month from now so here is the official thread for Harvard class of 2021 Regular Decision applicants. Harvard will announce their decisions online on March 31st with likely letters being posted earlier on March 20th. Good luck to Everyone!

Remove spaces when you post:

[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted **[/color][/size]
[ size=4][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Deferred **[/color][/size]
[ size=4][ color=red][ b]Decision: Rejected **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:[/b
]
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown):
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parentheses):
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load:
Number of other EA applicants in your school:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.):

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service:
Summer Experience:

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays:

Teacher Recommendation #1:
Teacher Recommendation #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview:
Art Supplement:

[ b]Other**

Date Submitted App:
U.S. State/Territory or Country:
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket Range:
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
What would you have done differently?:
Where else did you apply?

[ b]Other Factors: **

[ b]General Comments & Advice:**

2

**Decision: Accepted Via Likely Letter **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): Only taken for National Merit so scores weren’t sent but 1510 800M 710R/W
ACT (breakdown): 35 (One Time), 35 (Superscore), 35E, 35M, 35R, 36S, 25W
SAT II: Biology M 800, Math II 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.26
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/226
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Biology, Calculus AB, Chemistry, English Lang, Environmental Science (Self-Study), European History, Human Geography (Self-study), Psychology, US History – All 5s
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Calculus 3 (taken at college), AP Physics 1, AP English Lit, AP Micro, AP US Gov, Spanish 4, Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Natl Spanish Exam state winner sophomore and junior years, All-state violinist, State and National AP Scholar, one of six students in state chosen for Distinguished Student Program, Coca-Cola/JK Cooke semifinalist (not listed), lots of science olympiad state medals.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Orchestra (concertmaster), Key Club (District Lieutenant Governor), Environmental Club (President), Spanish Club (Past President), Varsity Cross-country, Swimming, and Track all four years of high school, Relay for Life (Co-founder of school relay, minor leadership role) Fargo Youth Initiative (Co-chair, co-founder), Science Olympiad (Team captain), Knowledge Bowl.
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Key Club, Relay for Life, HOBY, Presidential Service Award (gold level).
Summer Activities: North Dakota Governor’s School in 2015, MITES (Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science) and Yale Young Global Scholars in 2016.

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays: Personal statement: 9 (very reflective, personality was brought out well) Optional essay: 10 (wrote about MITES and my personal growth)

Teacher Rec #1: 9 (have had her for spanish for 4 years, have a very good relationship with her)
Teacher Rec #2: 8 (wasn’t very long, but teacher said I was one of his best students in 30 years, not much substance though)
Counselor Rec: 9-10 (meet with her very often, worked with her to get into MITES and Yale Global Scholars)
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: 9 (The interviewer asked for a lot of my standardized test scores and didn’t have much of a conversation with me but he seemed to like me and said I had the most outstanding academic record out of the students he had met)

Other

Date Submitted App: 12/31/2016
U.S. State/Territory or Country: North Dakota
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: Lower Middle Class (40-50k)
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): First in family to attend 4 year institution (dad dropped out of college and mom got an associate’s degree after I was born)

Reflection

Strengths: MITES, test scores, Counselor Rec, I’m from ND, slighly low-income and first gen, state AP Scholar.
Weaknesses: Didn’t focus too much on one sport/activity, bad ACT writing score, no work experience.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was a pretty good candidate overall, there weren’t really any “holes” in my application (absence of volunteering, sports, etc.) and I felt I was very genuine in my essays/interview. I also have the geographic hook of being from ND and no one else from my school applied RD to Harvard who was as qualified as me.
What would you have done differently?: Focused in on finding a leadership position for one of my clubs…I really wanted to be student body president.
Where else did you apply? All the other Ivies + MIT, Stanford (Accepted REA), Pomona, UChicago, UMich, Carleton, other area schools.

General Comments & Advice:

It took a lot of effort to become a valid candidate for Harvard and I’m extremely happy with the results. I’ve tried nearly everything to find my passion, make a difference, and help my community during my time in high school. I’ve experience multiple instances of failure (not elected student body president, failed to qualify for the semifinalist round the USABO after making a testing center for our school, not elected state student council president, failed to become good at the sports I’ve been in, etc) but haven’t let those things define me. I didn’t think I would get into Harvard since I didn’t really have anything “magical” about my application, but in the end coming off as a genuine, charismatic person from North Dakota seemed to make all the difference.

3

Decision: Waitisted after Deferral

Objective:
ACT: 34 (33 English, 34 Math, 33 Reading, 34 Science, 36 Writing)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Weighted GPA: 4.3
Rank: Top 5%, 10/300
AP: Psychology (4) World History (3) English Lang (4) US History (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Spanish 4, AP Calculus AB, AP Lit, Leadership, AP Government Politics, AP Environmental Studies
Awards: AP Scholar with Honor, Political Opinion essay published in Washington Times, Department awards in every subject, recognized by national NHS chapter for accrediting a local chapter, National Merit Scholar

Subjective:

  • Eagle Scout
  • Student Body (ASB) President
  • Student Body (ASB) Vice President
  • Class President
  • School School Site Council (SSC) President
  • President of 3 clubs and Founder of 2 (National Honor Society & Youth Democrats)
  • American Legion “Boy’s State” Congressional Delegate
  • YMCA Youth in Government
  • All-county & all-state debate team champions; speech & debate team captain
  • Rotary Leadership Council Alumni with honors in Community Outreach
  • HOBY World Leadership Alumni & Counselor
  • Varsity golf, varsity basketball

Job/Work Experience:

  • Intern at Congresswoman’s office
  • Manage Intern Department at my City Hall
  • Work at San Francisco HQ of the FBI in community development department

Volunteer/Community Service:

  • 700+ Hours of community service through working with Sheriff’s department on community development

Summer Activities:

  • Summer 2015 - Classes at local community college (PoliSci 210), work at Capital Building with Congress
  • Summer 2016 - Classes at local community college (PoliSci 310), Boys State, 2 week Harvard Pre-College Program (Intro to American Law)

Essays:

  • About impact made at Congresswoman’s office through a reflective story of working with her at The Capital in DC.

Teacher Recommendations:

  • Used my History & Math teachers. Have had both for 2 years, and both let me participate in the writing process for the letter.

Counselor Rec:

  • God mother, counselor since 6th grade, peer, it was a hands down 10/10 and nearly brought me to tears

Additional Rec:

  • An evaluation by the Harvard Professor who taught me over the summer (very well-written evaluation letter) and my Congresswoman that I work closely with.

Other:

My application definitely stresses my passion for government, what i have learned through it, and what I plan to do with it.

Financial Aid: Yes
Projected Concentration: Political Science
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White (Middle Eastern)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 250k+

General Comments & Advice:

Yale 2021!

4

[ size=4][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Waitlisted after Deferral **[/color][/size]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2360
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Biology E, 780 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.9
Weighted GPA: 4.65
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Salutatorian
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calculus BC (5), AP Physics 1 (5), AP Biology (5), AP US History (5), AP Statistics (5), AP Lang (5), AP Physics 2 (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Economics, AP US Gov, AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Spanish

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

*Octofinalist (Top 16) at NCFL Nationals in PF Debate
*2 time Tournament of Champions qualifier for PF Debate
*NSDA Nationals Qualifier for PF Debate
*Scholastic Gold Medal
*Top score in state on AMC10
*2nd Place in event at FBLA Nationals
*Placed at PUMaC
*International Public Policy Forum Debate Top 32 in World
*2 time AIME qualifier

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Speech and Debate Team (2 year debate captain), Math Honor Society (President), FBLA (Vice President), Science National Honor Society (Project Director), National Honor Society (Warden of Leadership)
Job/Work Experience: Tutoring?
Volunteer/Community service: Key Club (~70 hrs)
Summer Activities: Boys State (served as State Senator), FBLA Nationals, attended debate camps, founded my own debate camp for middle schoolers
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app was about cooking and how it’s benefited my life. Thought it was an 8/10 but apparently not? Harvard Supp was about starting and failing at an entrepreneurial venture and my lessons from it. Thought it was an 8.5
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 8/10 (My AP Lang teacher, was active in her class and one of her best students that year. Should’ve been decent)
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 6/10 (My AP Physics 2 teacher, did not stand out too much)
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 6/10 (I go to a large public school, so it was probably generic, but my counselor interacted with me a lot because I was a top student so it should be better than average)
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details):
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 7/10 (Thought it went decent, talked a lot about politics and entrepreneurship with my interview. I stumbled on some of his questions about business though, so maybe that screwed me)

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Economics
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 150K+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Heh

Reflections:
Strengths: Test scores, awards, and I thought essays, but maybe not
Weaknesses: GPA wasn’t insane, teacher recommendations weren’t outstanding, maybe interview went awry
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My narrative wasn’t super compelling compared to some of those of the other kids applying. Also possible the interview turned out a lot worse than I had expected. The anti-hook doesn’t help either.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

Accepted: Brown, UC Berkeley, Rutgers, UNC Chapel Hill
Waitlisted: Yale, UPenn Wharton, Cornell, UChicago, Duke, Northwestern
Denied: Princeton, Dartmouth, Columbia

General Comments (if any): Hella waitlists. Glad to have gotten into Brown though!

5

**Decision: Accepted after Deferral! **

Cornell Engineering

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown): 32: 35 Math 35 Science 28 English 29 Reading
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math I 800 Math II 790 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Idk probably 3.8
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parentheses): 3 On APUSH, 5 on everything else: Physics 1, Physics 2, CompSci A, Statistics
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP CompSci Principles, Honors English, AP Physics C, AP Macro/Micro Economics, AP Calc BC, Multivariable Calc, Independent Study CompSci
Number of other EA applicants in your school:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): 1st place at programming competition, AP Scholar with Distinction, High Honor role every quarter

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Robotics (Senior Director of Engineering/Drive team), ACSL, Jazz Band, Wind Ensemble, Computer Club, etc
Job/Work Experience: Counselor at summer computer camp, industry job working with Node.js
Volunteer/Community Service: Built 3d prosthetic hands for children in need in 3rd world countries
Summer Experience:

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays: Common App and Supplement 10/10. Spent an eternity making sure that they were perfect

Teacher Recommendation #1: 10/10 Loved me and did very well in his class
Teacher Recommendation #2: 9.5/10 Probably really good but never had an “official” class with him
Counselor Rec: 9/10 really liked me and really organized
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview: Went well
Art Supplement:

Other

Date Submitted App: November (deferred initially)
U.S. State/Territory or Country: NY
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: <100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):
Sibling went to cornell

Reflection

Strengths: Extracurriculars essays and recs
Weaknesses: Scores and GPA
Why you think you were accepted: Essays and Recs
What would you have done differently?: idk lol
Where else did you apply?

6

**Decision: Waitlisted **
White Male
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 800/800/710 on old, 800/800 on new
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): only took once each
ACT (breakdown): 35S/35E/35R/36M/22W (didn’t send)
ACT superscore (breakdown): only took once
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math 2, 730 US History, 710 Physics (didn’t send physics)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.85 by my own calculation, my school only reports my weighted
Weighted GPA: 4.56 as of end of junior year, higher now
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
AP (place score in parentheses): Calc BC (5), Stats (5), USHist (5), Eng Lang (5), Physics 1 (5) World Hist (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): no
Senior Year Course Load: 7 classes, the max at my school, 5 APs, one fine art, 1 post-AP
Number of other applicants in your school: 1 that I know of, he got rejected
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): none
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Won some state-wide and local academic contests, NMSF

Extracurriculars: Lots with plenty of leadership but nothing THAT exceptional - I don’t feel like going into detail.
Essays: Good I think, definitely no typos or grammar errors since I proofread well and pretty good content.
Letter of Recommendation: One from my Physics teacher and one from an english teacher, should be super great.
Other apps: Princeton SCEA (D->R), Georgia Tech EA (A), Case Western RD (A), MIT RD ®, Harvard RD (W), UChicago RD (W) and Carnegie Mellon (W).

7

Waitlisted. Though I applied without graduating high school, so I kind of expected it.

SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 780/760/19
ACT: C:35 ; E:33; M:35; S:34; R:36
SAT II (subject, score): Physics (800), Math 2 (800), World History (790)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.55
Rank: 1/400, though I’m a junior right now, and they’re supposed to remove class ranking next year.
AP: Self-Studied five of them, taken 9. All 5’s.
Freshman: Stats, Calc BC (SS), Computer Science (SS), Human Geography
Sophomore: Physics C: Mech, Physics C: E+M (SS); Psychology (SS); World History, Macroeconomics (SS)

(Junior) Year Course Load: APUSH; AP Lang; AP Chemistry; Mandarin 3; Stanford Online Modern Physics Course (Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics)

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): USA Computing Olympiad Gold; USA Physics Olympiad Semifinalist; First place in state C-Stem Robotics contest;
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): President of school programming club; President of school Chess club; District Chess Champion; Will qualify for National Merit Finalist next year…

I’ve taken some courses at UCI as well. My UC GPA is a 3.9.

Multivariable Calculus; Linear Algebra; Differential Equations; Abstract Algebra; Physics: Optics/Waves/Fluids;

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Varsity Sailing team (team is first in state); Non-profit; First Robotics Team;
Job/Work Experience: None besides my non-profit
Volunteer/Community Service: Started a non-profit foundation (501c3) with my friend to establish after school coding classes at local elementary schools. We’ve expanded to over 5 schools so far, and have set up clubs at other high schools nearby where they go out and do the same.

8

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

[ul]
[] SAT I: 2220 (790cr 730w 700m 9e) 1500 (770e 730m 19e) Took 3 times in total.
[] ACT: 34 (36R 35E 34M 32S 8E) Took once.
[] SAT II: Bio E 650 Lit 740
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
[] Weighted GPA: 4.2
[] Rank: 1/221
[] AP: English Lang, Lit, and APUSH (4) Spanish Lang (5)
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov, AP Span Lit, AVID, French 3, Leadership, AP Calc AB, Game Design
[] Number of other applicants in your school: none
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): none
[li] Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Ap Scholar with Honor, National Hispanic Scholar, Honor Roll, Departanmental Awards, Questbridge College Prep Scholar, CSF[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

  • [] Extracurriculars:
    -AVID 4 years
    -FBLA 4 years leadership
    -Scholarship/Mentoring Program 6 years
    -National Spanish Honor Society 1 year
    -Drama Club 2 years leadership
    -Folkloric Dance 1 year leadership
    -Speech and Debate 2 years
    -Mock Trial 1 year
    [    ] Job/Work Experience: Kindergarten TA (summer school and after school program) Office TA
    [] Volunteer/Community Service: Not much.
    [    ] Summer Experience: Had a job (before Junior year) Took summer classes at community college and did homestay in Japan (before senior year)

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

  • [] CA Essay: About living as child of immigrants and how it affected my development and how I overcame my own insecurities 8/10
    [    ] Supplement Essay: Mainly about how I think and use art as a means of escape and learning method. 7/10

    [] Teacher Recommendation #1: AP Lang Teacher. I’m sure it was great. She really wants good things for me and has always supported me. Has a great way with words 10/10
    [    ] Teacher Recommendation #2: Math teacher of 3 years. She likes me and I’ve always done well in her class. ?/10
    [] Counselor Rec: I’m sure it was nice. We don’t know eachother personally but I’ve always been well behaved and she’s always been helpful ?/10
    [    ] Additional Info/Rec: My Mock Trial coach. Technically a teacher but not MY teacher. Don’t know continents, but she’s a good writer. ?/10
    [] Interview: It went well, I think ?/10
    [    ] Art Supplement: Nope

Other

[ul]
[] Date Submitted App: 01/01/2017
[] U.S. State/Territory or Country: CA
[] School Type: Small Rural Public School
[] Ethnicity: Hispanic
[] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket Range: upper 30 thousand
[li] Hooks: URM, first-gen, low-income[/li][/ul]

Reflection

[ul]
[] Strengths: A cohesive effort as a whole. Good recs and essays.
[] Weaknesses: EC’s, lack of major awards, done last minute
[] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I got lucky. Im from a very undereoresented area and had good app.
[] What would you have done differently?: I dont know. I got good results
[li] Where else did you apply?: A lot of places. Currently considering Berkeley (with Regents)[/li][/ul]

**Other Factors: ** none i think

9

Waitlisted: Physics & Math
Equally impressive resume, except I also 36 all parts of ACT, and am graduating at 16.
well, at least it’s not a no–YET

10

Decision: Deferred then Waitlisted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2400 (first attempt)
ACT (breakdown): 34, did not send
SAT II: 800/800/800 Math2/Chem/Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 2%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Seven 5s, one 4
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Pretty rigorous
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing THAT major. National Merit Finalist, AIME, National AP Scholar, nothing else really worth mentioning.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity tennis, piano, quiz bowl (captain), science bowl (captain) orchestra. Placed at state in tennis, a couple of major piano accomplishments, made nationals for science bowl.
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: About 250 hours at hospital.
Summer Activities: Mostly relaxing. Playing a lot of tennis and video games. Also got most of my volunteering done over the summers.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I wouldn’t call myself a terrific writer, but I can get the job done… Common App was maybe a 7-8/10. The Princeton supplement was probably my best one of all. Give myself a 9/10. Might be the reason Princeton was the only Ivy I was accepted to hahaha. My other essays were relatively mediocre.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: History teacher, didn’t read. He thought really highly about me though, so I’d guess 9-10/10.
Teacher Rec #2: Physics teacher, also didn’t read. He’s had many more students far smarter than me, but I think I still stood out in my class. Plus he has a reputation for writing awesome recs. 8/10 probably.
Counselor Rec: Didn’t know her that well personally. Probably a 7/10?
Additional Rec:
Interview: Pretty average. He said I was a good candidate, but I don’t think the interview carries much weight.
Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes.
Intended Major: I put physics, but probably going to change.
State (if domestic applicant): One in the Midwest
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity: Asian (Chinese)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Less than $100k.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope.

Reflection

Strengths: Stats and being well rounded I guess.
Weaknesses: No major strengths or extraordinary achievements.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Stats and being well rounded I guess.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

Accepted: Duke, Vanderbilt, Princeton
Rejected: MIT, UPenn, Yale
Waitlisted: Harvard, WashU

General Comments: Hope my results will help future applicants out! I think what I can take away from my results is that the top schools really are kind of a crapshoot once you have the stats. However, something encouraging I’ve noticed from observing other people’s results is that, in general if you’re a top notch candidate, you should get into AT LEAST one top 20 school. Still no guarantees though.

11

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35C (36E 35M 35R 35S) 8/12 Essay
SAT II: Math II (800) Bio-E (760)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/529
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Bio (4) AP World History (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Most rigorous, but I dropped hard classes to take choir and theatre lol
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Boys Nation Senator, Questbridge Finalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Chess Club (founder, President)
NHS (Officer)
Book Club (Officer)
SkillsUSA (Officer)
FBLA (Officer)
Concert Choir (Unofficial section leader, I helped restart the club and grow it from 7 members to 100 in 6 months.)
Choir also has sung at district banquets, and we went on tour in LA.
Lead role in school musical

Job/Work Experience: I work 20 hours a week with my Dad.
Volunteer/Community service: 10 hours a week at church, with various events.
Summer Activities: FBLA National Conference
Mission trip to Nicaragua
Boys State and Boys Nation

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

Questbridge Essays -
8/10 - It compared my life to a wooden desk I’ve owned since I was little. I scribbled on it and wrote down my thoughts when I was going through bad times, and the desk became an extension of my personality.
6/10 - I wrote about how chess was an underappreciated art form. I went on to say I found people at school to create a club with.

Common App Essay - 7/10, it was about how I visited my Grandma before she passed from terminal breast cancer. She was playful and humorous even in her last moments, so I wrote about how she didn’t let her condition stop her from having fun with her grandchild for the last time.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: English teacher, pushed me to pursue politics. 8/10
Teacher Rec #2: Bio teacher, I was funny and over-excited in her class. I wasn’t the best student, but I got close to her as a person. 8/10
Counselor Rec: Generic, I got a new counselor starting junior year. 4/10
Additional Rec: None.
Interview: None.

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Political Science
State (if domestic applicant): AZ
School Type: Large public, 2500 students total.
Ethnicity: Asian-American (South Korean Immigrant)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 35k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First gen, poor (?)

Reflections:

Strengths: Test scores, ECs
Weaknesses: Dat GPA, holy balls I should’ve tried harder for all 4 years.
Why you think you were accepted/rejected/deferred? I just got lucky. Plain and simple, don’t read too much into your decisions because it can seemingly be random at times and they do not determine your worth as a person.

General Comments: I didn’t care at all about school in my freshman year, so my GPA took a beating. I started to wake up and realize that I didn’t want to go to my state school (no offense ASU!) and end up with a desk job, working 9 to 5 and not accomplishing more. I was entitled - I thought I was such a smart kid, and that I was destined to rule the world, cure cancer, marry Emma Watson. So I involved myself in a bunch of clubs that I didn’t care about, started studying for tests that I hated studying for, all in an attempt to pad my application. In my senior year, I took a look at myself and I didn’t know who I was. I was a phony, a hack, who did what he had to do to get to a place that he thought he had to get to. I embraced my quirks and my love for music during this past year, but I regret that it was too late. When I look back on my high school life, I realize that I wasted my time doing things that I didn’t like doing. I can’t think of more than 5 memorable experiences I had in my high school years. I just wish I had accepted myself earlier. Then I could say, “Oh I don’t regret high school. I had a ton of fun!”

Anyways, remember that admissions to top colleges are basically like drawing the lottery. I’m blessed to be accepted to these institutions. I just feel weird, knowing that they didn’t accept me, per se - they accepted a bluffed-up version of me.

Other College Decisions: Harvard (Accepted), Princeton (Accepted), Amherst (Accepted), Wesleyan (Accepted), USC (Accepted), Vanderbilt (Accepted), UChicago (WL), Dartmouth (WL), Northwestern (WL), Pomona (WL), University of Virginia (WL), MIT (Rejected), Columbia ED (Rejected), Brown (Rejected), Yale (Rejected), UPenn (Rejected)

12

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): One sitting 1500/1600 - 740/760
SAT II (subject, score): Math 2 770, German 720
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Very high Polish but can’t convert, spent a year in the US and got a 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.3 during a year in the US
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10% of super competetive Polish High School with many Oxford Cambridge people each year, 75% of my class has UCL offers.
AP (place score in parentheses): None
IB (place score in parentheses): Predicted 43/45
Senior Year Course Load: 6 IB Classes including Math HL + TOK
Number of other RD applicants in your school: 9
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Scholarship of the President of Warsaw for Outstanding Academic Achievement, National geography contest winner, awarded in the American Chamber of Commerce in Warsaw Essay Contest.
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Scholarship of my high school for outstanding academic achievement, each semester of HS.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):

Year abroad in the US - best year of my life.
Player on the international stock market, using virtual money but being serious about it.
Member of a political party youth organization - many events organized
Tennis - Varsity 1st singles MVP of the league while in the US. In Poland plethora of amateur tournaments won. Practice 5h a week.
Meteorology - Own meteorological station, making forecasts, did research on a topic that was never previously researched and got valid and statistically significant results, turned down help from Polish Meteorological Institute as they don’t know what they are doing.

Job/Work Experience: Chairman of referendum and election commissions in Poland
Volunteer/Community Service: Local tennis club, helped grow a new political force that got into parliament few months after establishment
Summer Experience: Super lazy bum award[kidding, I was very lazy though]

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
Common App - wrote about being the chairman of the election commission and how I helped a disabled man vote, while being on the border of violating the law with my actions, how I found a loophole and how I know this doesn’t sound good but was just trying to let him exercise his constitutional right 9/10
Harvard - Wrote about how the year in the US significantly altered the way I see the world, with examples, anecdotes and powerful reflections 9/10

Teacher Recommendation #1: Economics teacher, he loves me and says he has never taught a brighter student than I am, I actually partied with this guy, also call him by his first name[very uncommon in Poland] 8/10
Teacher Recommendation #2:Amazing English Teacher from the US, she loved me and her letter was a gem 10/10
Counselor Rec: Don’t know, probably basic, her English is poor 5/10
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview: Amazing, strongest part of the app. Internationals have selective interviews that mean a lot. I was on the same wavelength, it lasted over 2 hours, he just invited me for coffee and was so excited to hear he helped me get in.
Art Supplement: Nope

Other

Date Submitted App: 24.12.16
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Poland [only Pole admitted]
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender:Male
Income Bracket Range: $100k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): nope

Reflection

Strengths: Essays - very well written, each word had a meaning. Interview - simply the best
Weaknesses: Extracurriculars are poor, no job experience, I really am not to par with most of the people accepted to Harvard, making me even more proud of my accomplishment
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Interview helped a lot, also I guess it must have been a lot of luck,
What would you have done differently?: Nothing, I never did anything I thought will be looking nice for the college app, all I ever did was because I was passionate about.
Where else did you apply? All Ivys - rejected from all, Georgetown Duke Amherst Williams Berkeley - rejected, UCLA, Bowdoin, Brandeis, BC, Northeastern, Wesleyan - accepted Colby, Bates - waitlisted

**Other Factors: **

General Comments & Advice:

Be yourself! You can get in just by doing what you love!

13

**Decision: Rejected **

but Harvard was my second choice so no big deal as I’m heading off to my first choice in the Fall, UChicago!

SAT I (breakdown): NA
ACT (breakdown): 34C, 35E/31M/35R/34S
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.28 currently
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 8/323
AP (place score in parentheses): APUSH 5; Lang & Comp 5,Euro 5. Chem 3
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc, AP Bio, Dif EQ, AP Psych, AP
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 0
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NA
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Cheerleader, Golf, NHS
Job/Work Experience: Babysitting
Volunteer/Community service: Tutoring, library volunteer, many others
Essays (Include Subjects):
Common App Main: wrote about influential book in my life
EC Short Answer:
Extended essay(which topic):
Optional Essay
Other:[/list][ ] Teacher Recommendation #1: Great
Teacher Recommendation #2: Great
Counselor Rec: Average
Additional Rec: Great
Interview: Interview wasn’t great vs my UChicago interview which was
Art Supplement:[/list] [ b]Other*[ list]
Date Submitted App: Oct 2016
State (if domestic applicant): Colorado
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 150K+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Strengths: essays I think I made them laugh and there originality
Weaknesses: ECs were not robust

Since I wasn’t a superstar and not many of us are (I didn’t clerk on the Supreme Court at 16) I had to stand out on my essays and maybe my interview. I think visiting helped but really it came down to the essays. From an admissions officer POV, they get 1000’s of apps with great stats and just a few words that give them an idea if your a good fit. EA/visit/essays were unusual and showed who I am so they stood out. JMHO. If I learned anything from this process it’s that being a good writer is extremely important.

What would you have done differently?: Nothing, if you get into one of your top 3 schools you have done really well!

14

**Decision:Rejected **

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 34C (35S, 35E, 34M, 33R)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: school doesn’t weight
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/412
AP (place score in parentheses): Physics 1, Gov (both self-studies, didn’t report scores)
Senior Year Course Load: I had a funky schedule due to issues w my science credits so I’ll break it down by semester!
Semester 1: Sociology, AP German, AP Macro, DE English, Business Management 2, AP Calc AB, Internship
Semester 2: Organic Chemistry, DE Biology, American Gov, AP Macro, DE English, Business Management 2, AP Calc AB, Internship
Number of other applicants in your school: a kid applied REA (Rejected)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): in order of importance
DECA - State President for WY, former chapter president, won 11 first-places in three years at the state level, 7th at internationals twice.
WAC (Quiz Bowl) - Top-scoring student in state. Reigning state champion, state all-star, won every meet I’ve competed in.
Community Service - 100+ hours between three projects I care about.
Politics - Managed a candidate for the state legislature’s campaign (got a 21 year-old 25% of the vote against an incumbent, beat a candidate with 5x the funding), volunteered with a Congressional campaign, & Boys State
Job/Work Experience: Work 25 hours/week at local internship to pay expenses/gain experience, work another 10 hrs/week at restaurant during weekends to make extra money (35 at restaurant in the summer)
Summer Experience: Working!

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
Common App: 8/10. Talked about maturing in a single parent household in a very upbeat way. Showed to former AO’s and they liked it.
Optional Essay: 6/10. Discussed an ethical dilemma I faced and how I found out that I like tutoring my classmates. Very upbeat too, I felt confident. However, it wasn’t necessarily mind-blowing. Pretty run-of-the-mill.

Teacher Recommendation #1: 10/10. Physics teacher from junior year. He talked about my leadership in the class, how intellectually curious I was, my character, etc. Best one I’ve seen!
Teacher Recommendation #2: 8/10. English teacher from last year. Knew me more personally and discussed my background, and my qualities as a person, as well as in the classroom.
Counselor Rec: 3/10. Provided no value to my app. I’m very self-read and taught with applications and plans, kids from my school typically don’t do much w/ elite schools so I ended up helping her more than she helped me.
Additional Info/Rec: Didn’t add one. Should’ve added my DECA advisor but hindsight is 20/20.
Interview: Didn’t get one!

Other

Date Submitted App: 12/23/2016
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Wyoming!
School Type: largest public school in the state
Ethnicity: White (reported)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: $45k/year
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): being from WY, basically first-gen.

Reflection

Strengths: EC’s (in terms of depth), rank
Weaknesses: Not the most rigorous schedule, EC’s (in terms of breadth)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: It’s Harvard! I didn’t expect to get in.
What would you have done differently?: Taking harder classes as a sophomore, taken the SAT 2’s, maybe started a company
Where else did you apply? Yale (accepted), Princeton (accepted), Notre Dame (accepted), Michigan (accepted), GA Tech (accepted), Williams (waitlisted)

General Comments & Advice:
To fellow rejectees: this isn’t a knock on you. The “we can’t offer you a place in the class of 2021” is a reflection of how strong the applicant pool is. Never feel like you’re worthless. Your “no” was the product of a subjective process and you’ll go on to do great things in this country!

15

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2390/2400 first take (800M 800CR 790W 8/12 essay)
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): Same as above
ACT (breakdown): 36 (36E 36M 35R 36S)
ACT superscore (breakdown): Same as above
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math II and Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 100): 99.5? We have a weird GPA system
Weighted GPA: 102.5
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/400+
AP (place score in parentheses): AP Bio (5), AP Cal AB (5), AP Chem (5), AP Lang (4)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP Lit, AP Physics 1, Economics/US Gov, upperclassman genetics course at local university
Number of other EA+RD applicants in your school: 1 other
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): 3 time AIME qualifier, 3 time ISEF finalist, 2 time Biology Olympiad Semifinalist
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Honor, National Merit Finalist, Presidential Scholar nomination, State Science Bowl champion.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Research at local university about the central dogma of biology (4 years), Science Olympiad (3 years, Founder/President), Science Bowl (2 years, Founder/Captain), Mu Alpha Theta (4 years, President), piano for 10+ years
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteer at nursing home over the summers and tutor students every morning.
Summer Experience: Nursing home (see above), interned at a Duke cancer biology lab, National Beta Convention

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
Common App 10/10 - Spent months on it, probably the best essay I’ve ever written. Wrote about my longstanding love for science and the many ways I have explored it through the years.

Supplemental: 6/10 - Pretty sure it was a very often used topic (tutoring) but I attempted to take a unique approach. Looking back, it lacked a personal feel reflected by the rest of the application.

Teacher Recommendation #1: 9/10 - my Organic/AP Chem teacher. I was one of her best students in her class and she loved me. Was also the Bio Olympiad Sponsor which was kinda strange.
Teacher Recommendation #2: 6/10 - my math teacher last year. I had one of the highest grades she ever had but I’m not sure if she knew me that well outside of grades and awards. I really didn’t talk to her that much so she never got to know my humor or my experiences. Likely generic
Counselor Rec: 9/10 - regularly got into touch with him and we talked a lot about college and everything I’ve done. Great guy who really thinks highly of me.
Additional Info/Rec: None
Interview: Average, we talked for about 40 minutes, but every time I brought up my passions I thought I was just digging myself further into the hole of Asian male in STEM rip
Art Supplement: None

Other

Date Submitted App: 11/26/16
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Southern part of US
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket Range: $60000-80000
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): I wish I could be a fish

Reflection

Strengths: Stats, some reasonably impressive accomplishments, supposedly underrepresented region.
Weaknesses: Stereotypical Asian with STEM/piano accomplishments, no publications to show for them
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Potentially bland recs and essays
What would you have done differently?: Focused more on an essay that embodied the true me rather than trying to take a somewhat detached point-of-view
Where else did you apply? Stanford (accepted REA), Duke (accepted), MIT (waitlisted), UC Hicago (waitlisted), Princeton (rejected)

General Comments & Advice:

For people who haven’t applied yet, you still have time to get your stats up. This is also pretty cliché, but don’t do things just to look impressive to colleges. They’ll know if you truly love what you do. Outside of class, my advice would be to follow your passions and develop good relationships with your teachers. You don’t have be the best well-rounded student to get in.

During the admissions process, the essays are super important, making you not just competitive but COMPELLING. Demonstrate your interests and show them what drives you to get out of bed in the morning.

To everyone who did not get into the Class of 2021, best of luck for the future. No matter what your result, you are still the same person you were a day ago. It is what it is. Remember that in the end, it is you, not some admissions committee, who will ultimately determine your own worth. Wake up. Live your life. Show Harvard how much they missed out on.

16

[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]
[ b]Objective:[/b
]
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): n/a
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): n/a
ACT (breakdown): 34 Composite, 33 Math, 33 Writing, 33 Reading, 36 Science (took it once)
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math II, 760 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): don’t know don’t care
Weighted GPA: 4.02
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/160
AP (place score in parentheses): European History (5), Physics II (5), US History (5), Calculus AB (5), Chemistry (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
Senior Year Course Load:
AP Literature, AP Biology, AP Physics I, AP Government, Advanced Computer Graphics, Science Research (through UAlbany), College Prep Writing, Calculus II and Calculus III (through SUNY Ulster)
Number of other RD applicants in your school: 1
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): nothing lol
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): National merit commendation, Coca Cola semifinalist, RPI Medalist, AP Scholar with distinction, Professor Emeritus Walter Eppenstein Physics Award, scholar athlete, bla bla…
[ b]Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Cross Country and Track (5 years, state qualifier 4 times, team captain senior year), Isshin Ryu Karate (8 years, 1st degree black belt, several trophies for local tournaments, volunteered for them a bit too), Board of Education (1 year, student board member, on a committee to reform the guidance program), Human Rights Club (2 years, founder/president), Computer/programming Club (3 years, president), School paper (3 years, writer and co-editor for science column), Newcomers Uplifted (4 years, it’s a program where student leaders help freshmen integrate into the high school smoothly), National Honor Society (2 years, executive officer and in charge of the school’s tutoring system), Stage Crew (3 years, sound, lights, and stage management)…and a bunch of other small things that didn’t matter.
Job/Work Experience: I deliver pizza, nothing special…
Volunteer/Community Service: Lots of little things through NHS and karate
Summer Experience: AP summer work, research with a faculty member from Harvard involving quantum optics and lens applications (this actually lasted 3 summers)
[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**
Essays:
Common App essay: 9 or 10 idk - I wrote about how I got to know my brother really well when we bonded over horror movies one summer after drifting apart for a long time. I spent a TON of time writing and editing it with my English teacher, and I enjoyed writing it a lot. Probably one of the best things I’ve written in a while.
Supplemental: 8 or 9 - I wrote about how science research helped me realize what path I wanted to take. I really went into detail about all the work I had to do, which included learning calculus III and quantum mechanics on my own. My teacher didn’t like this essay because he thought it was too arrogant but I think it captured my willingness to take the initiative pretty well. I rewrote the entire essay a few times because I wasn’t satisfied with how it looked.
Teacher Recommendation #1: 10/10 - Came from my English teacher. We’ve always had a really good relationship so he was a natural choice for this.
Teacher Recommendation #2: probably 9 or 10 - Came from my chem teacher. I did a lot of independent work with him so it seemed like a good choice. He was also familiar with my science research project.
Counselor Rec: I honestly have no clue, but probably pretty good
Additional Info/Rec:
District Superintendent: 9 or 10 - seemed like a good choice since I’m on the board and did work with him in the past.
My science research mentor: definitely 10/10 - We worked for over 3 years together on our project, and we found some significant new results regarding the development of superlenses.
Interview: Went extremely well. We talked for almost 90 minutes, and I showed her some of the computer games I made in Computer Club as well as several articles I wrote for the school paper.
Art Supplement: nope lol
[ b]Other**
Date Submitted App: the absolute last minute possible
U.S. State/Territory or Country: New York
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: 60k - 80k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): none
[ b]Reflection**
Strengths: test scores were on par, essays and rec letters were probably really good, science research, lots of leadership
Weaknesses: lack of a “huge spike” in any particular topic, no major awards
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My essays and rec letters expressed a genuine interest in attending Harvard
What would you have done differently?: I should’ve applied early lol. 3.8% acceptance for RD is brutal. Also I didn’t waive my FERPA because I’m a moron.
Where else did you apply?
ACCEPTED: Harvard, Brown, SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Binghamton
WAITLISTED: Cornell, Dartmouth, UPenn, Duke
REJECTED: Yale, Princeton, Columbia, MIT (deferred from EA), Stanford, Caltech
[ b]General Comments & Advice:**
I am honestly just so stoked to go to Harvard. I convinced myself 1000 times that I wouldn’t get in, so it was a shock when I read the letter. I am living proof that you don’t need to be a god to get into Harvard.
My English teacher told me that a Harvard admissions officer called him up to ask for more info on me. I’m not sure if this is what got me in or not, but the point is that recommenders are SO important. Make sure to make super good friends with all your teachers so that they say great things about you.
Your essays can NOT just be written like a chore that needs completion. You can’t just write “I want to go to Harvard because X.” You need put more effort into those essays than anything you’ve ever written before, otherwise it’ll show and you’ll be disappointed. Case in point: I was waitlisted at Cornell but accepted to Harvard, probably because I wrote my Cornell essay to get it over with and I wrote my Harvard essay over and over until I loved it.

17

**Decision: Accepted **

I typed it all out nice and neat and then the site somehow lost all my progress. I’m not rewriting it all, so instead here’s a link to my Chance Me thread: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1960776-what-are-my-chances.html#latest

18

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): didn’t send
ACT (breakdown): 34 composite (35 math, 34 for other three multiple choice sections, 32 writing)
ACT superscore (breakdown): only took once
SAT II (subject, score): 780 E bio, 740 math I
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.83
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): my school doesn’t report this
AP (place score in parentheses): Biology (5), US history (5), US government (5), Spanish language (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): none
Senior Year Course Load: First semester I did dual enrollment physics, calculus, English, and psychology; I graduated in December and am working as an outdoor educator for the spring semester
Number of other EA applicants in your school: I don’t know
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): National Merit Commended Scholar
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Honors, multiple school awards, Dean’s list at the college I did dual enrollment at

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Spanish National Honors Society (junior year), speech and debate (freshman and sophomore year, public forum debate), track (sophomore and junior year, JV sprinter)
Job/Work Experience: camp counselor and outdoor educator at a YMCA camp
Volunteer/Community Service: volunteering at camp before I got hired, Sister to Sister mentor for New Moon Girls (a website for young girls)
Summer Experience: going to camp and then becoming a counselor

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays: One was about the impact camp has had on me and then how I now get to influence kids by working there. I would say it was an 8. The other was about my interest in politics and how I have held that interest since I was in 3rd grade. I would give it a 7 or 8.
Teacher Recommendation #1: AP Gov teacher. I participated a lot in class and got a really good grade, so I would assume hers was really good and it was probably a 9.
Teacher Recommendation #2: AP Bio teacher. I did well in the class but was pretty quiet until the end of the year. I didn’t really have a connection like I did with my gov teacher, so hers was probably a 6 or 7.
Counselor Rec: 10
Additional Info/Rec: none
Interview: I didn’t have one.
Art Supplement: none

Other

Date Submitted App: Sometime in October
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Ohio
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: Upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): Nothing really

Reflection

Strengths: I am devoted to one thing (camp) which I think reflects well. I also had good scores and grades.
Weaknesses: I don’t think I am very well rounded in my extracurriculars.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I was never really a leader in any clubs or anything at school, and I feel like the lack of that might be why I was rejected.
What would you have done differently?: Nothing, I didn’t really expect to get in anyways
Where else did you apply? Cornell, Vermont, Oberlin, Pitt, Ohio University, CU Boulder, Lewis & Clark (accepted to all of them)

General Comments & Advice: I didn’t expect to get in so I’m not upset! I just applied for the heck of it to see what happened. I am perfectly content going to my first choice school, University of Vermont. :slight_smile:

19

Decision: Accepted after Deferral

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1520 (760M, 760CR/W, 7/5/7 Essay)
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): only took once
ACT (breakdown): 34 (36 English, 34 Reading, 34 Math, 33 Science)
ACT superscore (breakdown): 35 (36 English, 34 Reading, 34 Math, 36 Science)
SAT II (subject, score): 780 Chemistry, 790 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.10
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/530
AP (place score in parentheses): Chemistry-4, US Government-5, English Language-5, Calculus BC-5 (AB subscore-5), US History-5, Physics 1-3, Physics C Mechanics-2 (old school I attended as a freshman didn’t offer AP classes)
IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: Dual Enrollment Patient Care Fundamentals, Honors British Literature (couldn’t fit AP into schedule), AP Psychology, AP Microeconomics, AP Statistics, Honors Biology II, AP Biology, AP Human Geography
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): n/a
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): 1st place in FBLA Publication Design at State, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, Bausch and Lomb Honorary Science Award, 1st Place in Geometry at TMTA Mathematics Competition at Region

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Connections Club (10-12, VP-11, President-12), FBLA (11, Historian-11), HOSA (12, Events Coordinator-12, charter member), NHS (11-12, President-12), Senior Beta (10-12, Secretary-11, VP-12), NHHS (11-12), Science Bowl (11-12)
Job/Work Experience: n/a
Volunteer/Community Service: Normal community festival stuff, hospital er volunteer
Summer Experience: hospital volunteering

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
Common App: 10- Spent months working to perfect this, wrote about my experience with racism and eating disorders, very personal, teachers said it was the best they’ve read in years
Supplement: 6/7- wrote this the night before submitting after scrapping my original, rediscovering my love of painting. I didn’t feel like this was a very good essay, but it was personal and authentic.
Extracurricular: 7- Wrote about Connections Club, which is a club for welcoming new students to the school (we get a lot since we are in a military town) and tied it in with my experience moving to this school

Teacher Recommendation #1: 10- Calculus teacher; amazing, well-written recommendation
Teacher Recommendation #2: 9- Chemistry teacher; not as well written but genuine, best in 20 plus years career
Teacher Recommendation #3: ?- Language teacher; I did not see this one and have no idea what it was like, but it must’ve been good.
Counselor Rec: 6- I’m not very close to my counselor, so it was a bit cliche.
Additional Info/Rec: n/a
Interview: My interviewer was extremely nice, and it went pretty well. After I was deferred, I met with him again just to chat. He recommended writing a letter of interest to the admissions office, but I had already given up.
Art Supplement: n/a

Other

Date Submitted App: November (deferred)
U.S. State/Territory or Country: GA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: >100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): n/a

Reflection

Strengths: GPA, Common App Essay
Weaknesses: Lack of major awards, major extracurriculars, jobs
Why you think you were accepted: Essay, miracle
What would you have done differently?: idk
Where else did you apply?
Rejected- Yale, Princeton
Waitlisted- Duke, Vanderbilt, Davidson, Emory
Accepted- UGA (Ramsey Scholar), UNC- Chapel Hill

General Comments & Advice

I told myself I’d make an account and post if I got into my dream school, so here it is! It still doesn’t feel real, and I kept checking my email for a “sorry, there’s been a mistake.” Like I said above, after I was deferred, I gave up any hope of getting accepted by Harvard. After getting waitlisted by Emory, I was sure I would be rejected. I was also a bit cocky and rushed on my supplemental essays for Emory and Davidson. Don’t do that for any school lol. I also changed my supplemental and extracurricular essay after I was deferred, which may not have been the best idea. I guess they weren’t as bad as I thought they were. My common app essay was very personal and a bit sad, so I made my supplement more cheerful and slightly humorous. Use the supplement as a way to showcase another aspect of you that they haven’t seen. And don’t write about how hard you worked in AP/IB classes. I heard too many classmates doing that. Basically everyone applying has worked hard in their classes. Your grades will show your hard work. They want to see your personality. My scores are average for Harvard, and my extracurriculars aren’t anything extraordinary, so it just goes to show how important the essays are. I was only accepted to three schools (lots of waitlists lol), so I consider myself to be extremely lucky, and I will be attending Harvard. I tell myself that perhaps God knew I was too indecisive and didn’t want to see me try to make a decision, so he made it for me

20

Decision: Rejected

My only rejection, can’t complain.

Objective:

  • SAT I (breakdown): 770 M, 750 CR+W, 20 Essay
  • ACT (breakdown): 36 Composite, 35 English, 36 Math, 36 Reading, 36 Science,
  • SAT II: 800 Math II, 760 Chem, 760 Physics
  • Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98 UW, 4.61 W (scaling is subjective per school so don’t take this too seriously)
  • Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4th out of 230
  • AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Chem (5), AP Physics 1 (4), AP World (5), AP US History (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Calc AB Subscore (5)
  • IB (place score in parenthesis): None
  • Senior Year Course Load: AP US Government, AP Literature and Composition, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, AP Psychology, AP Statistics, AP Physics 2, AP Biology, Multivariate Calculus, Linear Algebra
  • Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
    • Academic awards: AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Scholarship Program Letter of Commendation, Excellence in Mathematics and the Natural Sciences from the Society of Women Engineers (CT Section), Presidential Scholars Semifinalist.
    • Dance awards: Dance Teachers Club of CT Scholarship Winner (2010, 2012, 2013, 2015), DMA National Jr. Mr. Dance Most Talented Non-Finalist (2012), DMA Jr. Mr. Dance of CT (2012), Sophisticated Production’s Highest Scoring Solo (age 15 and under) (2013), DMA Teen Mr. Dance of CT (2014), DMA Tap Class Audition Scholarship 1st Place Recipient (2016), Numerous First Overall Solo and Group Awards (2010 – Present).

Subjective:

  • Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
    • Competitive Dancer (Senior Competition Captain) Tap: 10 Years, Ballet: 9 Years, Jazz: 9 Years, Hip-Hop: 7 Years, Contemporary/Modern: 7 Years
    • Nutcracker Ballet (I've played the role of Prince and Cavalier these past 3 years) (9, 10, 11, 12)
    • National Honor Society (Tutoring coordinator/tutor) (11, 12)
    • French Honor Society (Executive Officer) (10, 11, 12)
    • Seaperch (11, 12)
    • Math League (9, 10, 11, 12)
    • Varsity Tennis (4 singles, 3 doubles) (10, 11, 12)
    • Offered to produce music for small fashion lines
  • Job/Work Experience: None
  • Volunteer/Community service:
    • Assistant Dance Teacher Ages 9-14
    • Nutcracker Ballet Student Rehearsal Assistant
    • NHS Tutor, all subjects
    • Writing Center Tutor
    • Math Center Tutor
  • Summer Activities:
    • 4 Weeks of Dance Intensives/National Competitions
    • Helped build a dance studio/gym in my basement
    • Dance training
    • College Tours
    • Tennis
  • Essays (rating 1-10, details):
    • Common Application Essay Rating: 9?? I had my AP Lit teacher read it over, as well as a few friends. They all said it sounded really personal and unique while being memorable, but I couldn't judge myself accurately.
    • Harvard Supplement: eh
  • Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
    • Teacher Rec #1: AP Calc/Multivariate/Linear Teacher, Math Team Coach
  • I assume it would be very good as he knows my intense schedule in and out of school, my work ethic, my sense of humor, and my sociability.
    • Teacher Rec #2: AP Chem Teacher Same as Rec 1, with the addition of my love and curiosity of the natural sciences plus my drive and independence in the classroom.
    • Counselor Rec: Unknown, but she used to attend my dance studio? So maybe that helped. This was also her first year, so personal details may have been rough.
  • Additional Rec: None.
  • Interview: My first interview, kind of shaky but she seemed to like me a lot

Other:

  • Applied for Financial Aid?: None.
  • Intended Major: Physics
  • State (if domestic applicant): Connecticut
  • Country (if international applicant): NA
  • School Type: Public
  • Ethnicity: White
  • Gender: Male
  • Income Bracket: Upper middle class
  • Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Male dancer?
  • Strengths: Test scores, extracurriculars, strong commitment to dance, national dance awards, rigorous course schedule, 3 independent studies in physics (shows initiative),
  • Weaknesses: interview, deferred Early Action
  • Why you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted: It's Harvard

General Comments: I applied to 19 schools, and this was the only one that rejected me. I’m baffled as to how I got into/waitlisted at all these schools, and find it even more unusual that Harvard was the only one to flat out reject me… Probably going to end up at YPC.

Other schools you applied to and their decisions:
Accepted: Williams, Swarthmore, Middlebury, Muhlenburg, William and Mary, Duke (likely letter), Columbia (likely letter), Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Cornell, NYU, Wesleyan, Amherst

Waitlisted: Tufts, Brown, Dartmouth, Stanford

Rejected: Harvard