Decision: Accepted
**Objective:
[] SAT I (breakdown): 790M 750E - 1540
[] ACT:
[] SAT II: Physics (800) - Chemistry (800) - Math 2 (750)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0, our school weights on a 0-100 scale, weighted GPA is 103
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/317
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry (5) - Calc AB (5) - English Lang. (5) - US History (5) - Physics (4) 
- World History (4)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[] Senior Year Course Load: All AP - English Lit, Amer. Gov, Statistics, Physics 2, Physics C, DE Art, DE Psychology, DE Calc 2/BC
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): National Hispanic Scholar, NM Commended, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, School departmental Spanish award, High Honor Roll w/ Distinction all four years
[/list]
Subjective:
[li] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): [/li]Varsity Soccer (captain JV for two years)
Varsity Volleyball (captain JV for one year)
Debate Team
NJ Boys State
Habitat for Humanity
NHS
Science League (Captain)
Science Olympiad (club in the process of being started, founder) - what I put on common app
Spanish Honors Society
[li] Job/Work Experience:[/li]
[li] Volunteer/Community service:[/li]Month long service trip to Peru
Habitat for Humanity
[li] Summer Activities:[/li]Neuro-physics Research assistant at TCNJ for a summer
Month-long service trip to Peru for a summer
[li] Essays:[/li]Common App (8/10) - Wrote it the night before it was due, not even kidding. Felt a lot of pressure because I changed the topic of my essay last second due to it being kind of cheesy, went for a more realistic and down to earth feel. Turned out pretty well imo.
JHU Supplement (9/10) - Really liked this essay, talked about the team dynamic I learned to enjoy from my time on a research team at TCNJ
[] Teacher Recommendations:
Physics 1 (9/10) - One of my teacher’s favorites, had him for two years, known him for three, helped inspire me to pursue physics, coached some of my sports and sponsored my clubs, fooled around a bit during class senior year so that’s why I put 9/10 and not 10/10 lol.
English Lang (7/10) - Was very involved in class and she liked my writing style, knew my focus was on STEM and not the humanities, but still one of her favorite students with a very friendly relationship
[] Counselor Rec:
(7/10) - Got to read this one, was pretty formulaic, but did include some bits about my personality that seemed unique and genuine
[] Additional Rec:
Research mentor and professor from TCNJ (9/10) - Read this one, spoke highly of my knack for science and ability to pick up new skills quickly, talked a bit about my personality and how I would perform well in research settings in the future.
[] Interview:
Didn’t sign up for one in time 
[/list]
Other
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: yep but received a whopping zero dollars
[] Intended Major: Physics
[] State (if domestic applicant): NJ
[] School Type: Suburban Public
[] Ethnicity (Hispanic Y/N/not reported): Hispanic
[] Race(s) (AI/AN, Asian, AA, NH/PI, White, not reported): White
[] Gender: M
[] Income Bracket: High
[li] Hooks/tips (URM, athlete, legacy, 1st gen, etc.): URM, legacy, but apparently legacy doesn’t get factored in during the RD round[/li][/list]
Reflection
[] Strengths: Test scores, GPA, supplemental essay, research experience, URM
[] Weaknesses: 4 on the AP exam of my intended major (completely forgot how to do an entire FRQ), EC’s and leadership positions somewhat lacking, most applicants to top schools for STEM usually are involved in Olympiad and have medals which I wasn’t involved in, lack of major awards
[] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Honestly URM and they might have factored in my legacy, but I like to think it was because I worked really hard and made sacrifices in high school to perform well and seek out opportunities to get involved in Physics, always stayed serious about grades, studied ridiculously hard for my single sitting SAT score
[] Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: Rutgers New Brunswick Honors College, Washington University in St. Louis
Deferred: Yale
No rejections yet
[li] Where else are you applying for RD:[/li]Duke, Cornell, Brown, Penn, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, UC Berkeley, Princeton (played it safe XD)
[/list]
General Comments:
For younger kids in HS, the biggest thing is to get involved in your passion as early as possible. Colleges don’t want well rounded students, but rather a well rounded class. The most attracive candidates are ones that are exceptional at their passion of choice, whether it be a scientific field, an instrument, a sport, writing, etc. I wish I could have gotten involved in my passion of research earlier and maybe entered into some Intel and Siemens science fair competitions to set myself apart more. It’s a little unfair that students are expected to make up their minds so early, but that’s what they look for. For older kids, the college process is sporadic, and chances are if you’re still reading, you will go far not based on what college you end up at, but rather your character and desire to succeed. This site helped to reshape my perspective about the application process, so I hope I can give back a little. I remember staying up late at night reading through countless results threads like this one, and I’d reccomend not to do that; these threads aren’t healthy for someone’s state of mind. If anyone has any questions, feel free to message me. Good luck to all, and congrats to everyone who was accepted.
