Decision: Accepted
Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2260 (780W, 760M, 720CR)
[] SAT I superscore (breakdown): same (one sitting)
[] ACT (breakdown): didn’t submit
[] ACT superscore (breakdown):
[] SAT II: 770 Lit, 730 Bio-E
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.90
[] Weighted GPA: 4.43
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/550
[] AP (place score in parentheses): APUSH (5), Eng Lang (5), Psych (5), Calc BC: AB Subscore (5), Bio (4), Studio Art (4), World History (4), Env. Science (4), Calc BC (3)
[] IB (place score in parentheses):
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP gov, AP lit, AP art hist, AP stats, journalism, H physio
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): no major awards but like a state/national certificate of recognition for achievement in korean (i only have one korean parent), AP Scholar w distinction, and California Scholarship Federation (which is like honor roll… so it’s not a major award)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[li] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):[/li]IM INCLUDING THE JOB/WORK EXP & THE VOLUNTEER STUFF HERE 2 OK
school paper (sr. managing editor)
literary and art magazine (editor)
LA Times high school news section (just a representative from my school)
art classes for 84 years, sold 1-2 paintings
unofficial teacher’s assistant for middle school teacher
private tutor 4 neighbor, algebra
tutor/mentor for underclassmen/disabled kids, program in school
club that raises awareness for Type 1 Diabetes and fundraises/donates to JDRF (president)
tour guide for prospective parents/students coming 2 my hs
volunteer at public library (i put books on shelves and it’s riveting)
[/ul]Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[list]
[] Common App Main: 7.39
[] JHU essay: 8.8
[] Other: 7.8-8.1, additional thing about some stuff i was dealing with in hs + having diabetes
[] Teacher Recommendation #1: 9, based on what he told me, how thorough he is, and how close we are
[] Teacher Recommendation #2: 6.7
[] Counselor Rec: maybe a 7.5 or 8 based on what i know of her, but i actually have no idea, it could be a 4 or a 10
[] Additional Rec: jhu doesn’t let you submit additional recs silly
[] Interview: not sure if jhu offers interviews (so clearly i didn’t have one)
[] Art Supplement: ??? jhu doesn’t have an option for this, although i submitted it to other schools
[] Date Submitted App: jan 1st with the rest of em, but i think jhu was due a few days later
[] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: public
[] Ethnicity: white (jewish) father/korean mother
[] Gender: F
[] Income Bracket: (not low income)
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): idk, none???/////!!
[] Strengths: maybe gpa and rank (relatively), my supplement, uhhh… being a lib arts/humanities/supposed anthropology major applying to a school for which i understand the majority of applicants are not
[] Weaknesses: not a standout applicant, essays could have been so much better, no major awards/i haven’t won anything, like ever
[] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: as i said, maybe because i was a lib arts/humanities/supposed anthropology major applying to a school for which i understand the majority of applicants are not, and maybe my supplement helped
[] Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: acceptances: berkeley, ucla, usc, nyu, ucsd; waitlist: upenn, dartmouth, vanderbilt, cornell; rejected: columbia, brown, yale, princeton, northwestern, duke, amherst
[] What would you have done differently?: mainlY NOT PROCRASTINA3WRDED, taken the time to write better essays that reflect my personality more clearly
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc:
I SPENT SEVERal years of my life totally and utterly consumed by college admissions and, looking back, i genuinely believed that my self-worth was reliant on the level of prestige the name of my college held. college confidential definitely contributed to my anxiety, and at times it was poison. and i admit that part of the reason i’m here doing this now is to finally be the one on the other side, to claim that satisfaction of being one of the “Accepted” posts that i looked upon with envy for so many years. and it’s great. i feel great rn. but mostly the reason i’m here is this: i want to say the things that i needed to hear years ago.
with a mindset like the one i had, it’s so easy to be unhappy still. l’m upset that i didn’t get into princeton or brown or columbia, and although i’m honestly overflowing with gratitude at being accepted to Johns Hopkins, it feels like there’s no escaping the desire for more. and this is what i’m working on: finding confidence and faith elsewhere, being so grateful that i don’t have time to wish for more than what life can give me right now, and, above all else, not taking myself or life too seriously.
the reality is that even if i didn’t get into JHU, i’d be okay. because when it comes down to it, we never truly know what’s going to happen. i could stumble upon a life-changing opportunity at jhu that wouldn’t have been available had i been accepted to columbia. i never know what’s going to happen, and i can only hope for the best while pursuing what i can. and i hope that–if anyone reading this is doing so with dread or fear or anxiety buzzing around in their minds–i can help in easing that pain at least 0.0001%. thERE IS MORE TO LIVE FOR AND THERE IS MORE TO LIFE