Hi, everyone! I just joined recently and wanted to throw myself out there in the sea of stressed/excited students waiting for their college decisions!!
I applied to my dream school, Columbia University as well as Harvard, and like many others, they are my reach schools. I realize how hard it is to get into these school, but I wanted to know how you’d think I’d fair. Would I get in based on your perspective of my application? I’d love to know! After decisions, I will be coming back to this post to see if your predictions match the results!!
SO here’s a summary of my app:
Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 31C- 35E , 29M, 28S, 31R Writing: 11/12
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 98.9
Weighted GPA: 104.99 (from the last I’ve heard)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): #3 out of 250
AP (place score in parenthesis):
Ap World-3 (Sophmore)
Ap US History-4 (Junior)
Ap Lang-5 (Junior)
(Senior Year Aps vvv)
Ap Physics 1
Ap Calc AB
Ap Lit
Ap Gov
Major Awards:
*Winner of National Event called Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month)/ 9-12. Wrote a 100k novel in a month and received a contract to publish my first book at 14.
*Competed in NYSSMA (New York State Music Association), ranked Outstanding in all solos/ 9-12
*First chair at my band as well as leading conducting Drum Major// Conducted band in Newsday Parade /11-12
*Public Speaking Award at NY Seminar for Female Minority Authors/ 9
*Winner of Long Island Youth Summit Competition
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Key Club
NHS
Debate Club
Math Club
Tri-M (Music Honor Society) President
GSA Club
Tutoring- I tutor kids at my local library weekly whenever I can to build connections with my community
I regularly attend events in support of minorities and those in the LGBT community.
Job/Work Experience:
Worked at Taco Bell for the past year
I had the opportunity to be an intern at both a technology company called Infinite Media as well as a laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor.
My tech internship was during the summer, and I created the basis for websites and blogs, while I am still currently at cold spring conducting an experiment based on the decision making processes of rodents. My neuroscience internships takes up the bulk of my time, as I travel 40 minutes from school 4 times a week, but it’s extremely filling. I’m extremely honored to be around such renowned scientists, no matter the distance it takes to get there.
Personal Statement: I think my essay was a 10/10. I decided to take a risk and steer away from the contemporary ways of writing and wrote a story about the time I jumped into a puddle as a child. Yup, lol. I wrote about how I was a shy kid growing up and used to be ashamed of my background. English wasn’t my first language and many people taunted me for that, and I one day I told myself "If I can do something crazy like shamelessly jumping into a puddle with people around me, that’ll be the first step I take to branch out and be more confident. So, I took my own dare and after diving into that crater-sized puddle, nothing was ever the same.
My supplementary essay for Harvard was even sillier. I wrote about my shoes. Hahah, yes, my old torn up running shoes that I constantly wore as a middle schooler. You’d be amazed how much I could pull out about my treasured shoes. They’ve not only carried my feet, they’ve walked many roads filled with despair, excitement, and hope. I’d give it a 9/10/
Letter of Recommendations: I was so surprised after receiving copies of my LORs after submitting my common app. They were better than I could ever imagine. My Ap Physics teacher, Band teacher, Lang teacher, and my Professor at the lab I’m interning wrote my letters. Each showed different angles of me and portrayed how I was seen in different lens throughout various departments. But what intrigued me was that all of these different teachers had a single thread that made each letter unique to only me. And I loved that!!
Interview:
I only had an interview for Harvard, and it was THE BEST!!
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yup
Intended Major: Psychology
State (if domestic applicant): New York
School Type: Average
Ethnicity: Black
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 125,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.):
I guess I would say some hooks would be being a published author, my activism and identity in the LGBT community, and being a minority with my childhood setbacks.
If you actually read this whole thing I would be surprised lol. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you for your insight in advance!!!