@kleo11 according to their Twitter page they are just having portal issues, not releasing decisions…which, yes, I do find a bit suspicious lol
The portal has been down since 1:30 this afternoon.
Just logged in successfully for the first time after trying all day yesterday. No decision is posted.
Might be up now
Got D’s decision…it’s a yes!
Accepted!! Did anyone applied for IBE program? If you did, do you where you can check whether you got in?
Decisions are up on portal - S accepted CSB program!
kleo11 (ed applicant here) I found out i got into the IBE program through the letter 
I applied IBE, but sadly I got waitlisted overall, which probably means I was rejected from IBE. I don’t really understand why I was waitlisted, it was one of my top schools but still a safety for me and definitely not a reach, although the IBE program was. Here are my stats and info:
Decision: Waitlisted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2350 - Math: 800, CR - 800, W - 750
ACT (breakdown): 34 - English: 34, Math: 36, Science: 36, Reading: 31.
SAT II: Biology M: 780, Chemistry: 740, World History: 720, Math1: 770, US History: 770, Math2: 800.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (96% unweighted), (101% weighted)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank available but definitely top 5 out of 150. Probably 4 or 3.
AP (place score in parenthesis): European History (5), Statistics (5), Chemistry (5), US History (5), Language and Comp. (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A (not taught)
Senior Year Course Load: College Italian, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics 1 & 2, Science Research (through Univ. Albany), AP US Government and Politics/Econ., AP Literature and Comp., AP Computer Science.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Commended Student, Highest AMC 10 & AMC 12 scores in school, County Science Fair 2nd Place (Biology), Air Force Award WESEF Science Competition (Medicine & Health). Excellence Degree (Along with Honors and Merit) in Speech and Debate National Honors Society.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
- Speech and Debate - Debate Team Captain - (Grade 10 - 12)
- National Honor Society - Vice President (Organize Service Projects, so also community service) - (Grade 11, 12)
- Science National Honor Society - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- National Italian Honor Society - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- Link Crew Leadership Program - Two time Link-Leader - (Grade 11, 12) - We help assimilate the freshman into high school life and conduct the orientation and other social events for them.
- Cross Country (JV & Varsity) - Panther Award, 2 Varsity Letters - (Grade 9, 10, 12) Clarified out with knee injury 11th grade.
- STEM Strategic Action Planning Committee - N/A - (Grade 11) - Planning the future of STEM at my high school by 2025.
- Kapatid Martial Arts - Junior Black Belt and Sayoc Kali member - (From 1st Grade)
- Century Road Cycling Association (CRCA) - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- Track and Field (JV & Varsity) - (Grade 9, 11, 12) Clarified out with knee injury 10th grade.
- Winter Track and Field (JV) - (Grade 12)
Job/Work Experience:
- Pleasantville Farmers’ Market - Employee at JA Bialas Farm Stand
- My dad’s company - Travel and Gathering Research, creative administrative brainstorming.
Volunteer/Community service: - GRBA summer intern (not paid) Grade 9,10. NHS activities.
Summer Activities: Science Research at Pace University. Over 230 hours of research over the past 2 summers. Conducted my own research last summer.
Essays:
Common App - Describing my creativity from a young age (central to life prompt). 8/10
Why Lehigh - Great Essay on Mountaintop Program, IBE program, and how they fit my learning style and goals. - 9/10
Choice (What makes a successful person) - Happiness, impact on society, helpfulness, and two more answers. I thought it was well written and showed my side in regards to helping others over having lucrative positions. 7.5-8/10
Teacher Rec #1: AP US Hist. Teacher. Known for great recommendations, know her pretty well. - 8.5/10
Teacher Rec #2: Honors Chem and AP Chem Teacher. Had her 10th and 11th grade and I work with her now as the VP of NHS, so she has seen me grow. I collaborate with her a lot and we are very friendly to each other. She even lets me call her by a nickname (most people who do get written up). - 9.5/10
Counselor Rec: Known her for all 4 years, but not really well. She is known for writing good recommendations and being really on top of things though. 7/10.
Additional Rec: Cross Country Coach. He watched me grow but also saw me persevere through my knee injury (I biked to each xc meet junior year). He always speaks of me in the highest regards, saying all young runners on the team should look up to me and never give up simply due to roadblocks. Really good recommendation. - 10/10
Interview: Great. Was a skype interview from NY (uncommon) because my sister has disabilities and it would have been difficult to make another trip down to Lehigh. On Christmas Eve. Explained situation and admissions staff was very helpful and supportive so I got a skype interview. The interview itself was awesome and was the whole reason I applied IBE (admissions officer recommended I a pply to it based on my responses and interests) 9/10
Additional material (abstracts/papers/other): Research abstract from my Science Research over the Summer: Testing the Use of Zebrafish as a Model Organism for Contamination Experiments through Ethanol and Nicotine. 7.5-8/10
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): New York
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Suburban Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $200,000 +
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nothing, white male with money…
Reflection:
Strengths: Scores and Grades. Activities and Leadership, CommonApp Essay. Recommendations.
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Overcame knee problem? Creativity, Definitely.
Weaknesses: Not an ethnic person or any special hook.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I honestly have no idea… 
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: University of Rochester (Safety)
Rejected: MIT Waitlisted: Harvey Mudd
Waiting: Tufts, Duke, Stanford, Yale, and Cornell.
Any ideas on why I am on the waitlist?
I applied IBE, but sadly I got waitlisted overall, which probably means I was rejected from IBE. I don’t really understand why I was waitlisted, it was one of my top schools but still a safety for me and definitely not a reach, although the IBE program was. Here are my stats and info:
Decision: Waitlisted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2350 - Math: 800, CR - 800, W - 750
ACT (breakdown): 34 - English: 34, Math: 36, Science: 36, Reading: 31.
SAT II: Biology M: 780, Chemistry: 740, World History: 720, Math1: 770, US History: 770, Math2: 800.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (96% unweighted), (101% weighted)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank available but definitely top 5 out of 150. Probably 4 or 3.
AP (place score in parenthesis): European History (5), Statistics (5), Chemistry (5), US History (5), Language and Comp. (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A (not taught)
Senior Year Course Load: College Italian, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics 1 & 2, Science Research (through Univ. Albany), AP US Government and Politics/Econ., AP Literature and Comp., AP Computer Science.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Commended Student, Highest AMC 10 & AMC 12 scores in school, County Science Fair 2nd Place (Biology), Air Force Award WESEF Science Competition (Medicine & Health). Excellence Degree (Along with Honors and Merit) in Speech and Debate National Honors Society.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
- Speech and Debate - Debate Team Captain - (Grade 10 - 12)
- National Honor Society - Vice President (Organize Service Projects, so also community service) - (Grade 11, 12)
- Science National Honor Society - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- National Italian Honor Society - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- Link Crew Leadership Program - Two time Link-Leader - (Grade 11, 12) - We help assimilate the freshman into high school life and conduct the orientation and other social events for them.
- Cross Country (JV & Varsity) - Panther Award, 2 Varsity Letters - (Grade 9, 10, 12) Clarified out with knee injury 11th grade.
- STEM Strategic Action Planning Committee - N/A - (Grade 11) - Planning the future of STEM at my high school by 2025.
- Kapatid Martial Arts - Junior Black Belt and Sayoc Kali member - (From 1st Grade)
- Century Road Cycling Association (CRCA) - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- Track and Field (JV & Varsity) - (Grade 9, 11, 12) Clarified out with knee injury 10th grade.
- Winter Track and Field (JV) - (Grade 12)
Job/Work Experience:
- Pleasantville Farmers’ Market - Employee at JA Bialas Farm Stand
- My dad’s company - Travel and Gathering Research, creative administrative brainstorming.
Volunteer/Community service: - GRBA summer intern (not paid) Grade 9,10. NHS activities.
Summer Activities: Science Research at Pace University. Over 230 hours of research over the past 2 summers. Conducted my own research last summer.
Essays:
Common App - Describing my creativity from a young age (central to life prompt). 8/10
Why Lehigh - Great Essay on Mountaintop Program, IBE program, and how they fit my learning style and goals. - 9/10
Choice (What makes a successful person) - Happiness, impact on society, helpfulness, and two more answers. I thought it was well written and showed my side in regards to helping others over having lucrative positions. 7.5-8/10
Teacher Rec #1: AP US Hist. Teacher. Known for great recommendations, know her pretty well. - 8.5/10
Teacher Rec #2: Honors Chem and AP Chem Teacher. Had her 10th and 11th grade and I work with her now as the VP of NHS, so she has seen me grow. I collaborate with her a lot and we are very friendly to each other. She even lets me call her by a nickname (most people who do get written up). - 9.5/10
Counselor Rec: Known her for all 4 years, but not really well. She is known for writing good recommendations and being really on top of things though. 7/10.
Additional Rec: Cross Country Coach. He watched me grow but also saw me persevere through my knee injury (I biked to each xc meet junior year). He always speaks of me in the highest regards, saying all young runners on the team should look up to me and never give up simply due to roadblocks. Really good recommendation. - 10/10
Interview: Great. Was a skype interview from NY (uncommon) because my sister has disabilities and it would have been difficult to make another trip down to Lehigh. On Christmas Eve. Explained situation and admissions staff was very helpful and supportive so I got a skype interview. The interview itself was awesome and was the whole reason I applied IBE (admissions officer recommended I a pply to it based on my responses and interests) 9/10
Additional material (abstracts/papers/other): Research abstract from my Science Research over the Summer: Testing the Use of Zebrafish as a Model Organism for Contamination Experiments through Ethanol and Nicotine. 7.5-8/10
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): New York
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Suburban Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $200,000 +
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nothing, white male with money…
Reflection:
Strengths: Scores and Grades. Activities and Leadership, CommonApp Essay. Recommendations.
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Overcame knee problem? Creativity, Definitely.
Weaknesses: Not an ethnic person or any special hook.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I honestly have no idea…
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: University of Rochester (Safety)
Rejected: MIT Waitlisted: Harvey Mudd
Waiting: Tufts, Duke, Stanford, Yale, and Cornell.
Any ideas on why I am on the waitlist?
I applied IBE, but sadly I got waitlisted overall, which probably means I was rejected from IBE. I don’t really understand why I was waitlisted, it was one of my top schools but still a safety for me and definitely not a reach, although the IBE program was. Here are my stats and info:
Decision: Waitlisted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2350 - Math: 800, CR - 800, W - 750
ACT (breakdown): 34 - English: 34, Math: 36, Science: 36, Reading: 31.
SAT II: Biology M: 780, Chemistry: 740, World History: 720, Math1: 770, US History: 770, Math2: 800.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (96% unweighted), (101% weighted)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank available but definitely top 5 out of 150. Probably 4 or 3.
AP (place score in parenthesis): European History (5), Statistics (5), Chemistry (5), US History (5), Language and Comp. (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A (not taught)
Senior Year Course Load: College Italian, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics 1 & 2, Science Research (through Univ. Albany), AP US Government and Politics/Econ., AP Literature and Comp., AP Computer Science.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Commended Student, Highest AMC 10 & AMC 12 scores in school, County Science Fair 2nd Place (Biology), Air Force Award WESEF Science Competition (Medicine & Health). Excellence Degree (Along with Honors and Merit) in Speech and Debate National Honors Society.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
- Speech and Debate - Debate Team Captain - (Grade 10 - 12)
- National Honor Society - Vice President (Organize Service Projects, so also community service) - (Grade 11, 12)
- Science National Honor Society - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- National Italian Honor Society - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- Link Crew Leadership Program - Two time Link-Leader - (Grade 11, 12) - We help assimilate the freshman into high school life and conduct the orientation and other social events for them.
- Cross Country (JV & Varsity) - Panther Award, 2 Varsity Letters - (Grade 9, 10, 12) Clarified out with knee injury 11th grade.
- STEM Strategic Action Planning Committee - N/A - (Grade 11) - Planning the future of STEM at my high school by 2025.
- Kapatid Martial Arts - Junior Black Belt and Sayoc Kali member - (From 1st Grade)
- Century Road Cycling Association (CRCA) - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- Track and Field (JV & Varsity) - (Grade 9, 11, 12) Clarified out with knee injury 10th grade.
- Winter Track and Field (JV) - (Grade 12)
Job/Work Experience:
- Pleasantville Farmers’ Market - Employee at JA Bialas Farm Stand
- My dad’s company - Travel and Gathering Research, creative administrative brainstorming.
Volunteer/Community service: - GRBA summer intern (not paid) Grade 9,10. NHS activities.
Summer Activities: Science Research at Pace University. Over 230 hours of research over the past 2 summers. Conducted my own research last summer.
Essays:
Common App - Describing my creativity from a young age (central to life prompt). 8/10
Why Lehigh - Great Essay on Mountaintop Program, IBE program, and how they fit my learning style and goals. - 9/10
Choice (What makes a successful person) - Happiness, impact on society, helpfulness, and two more answers. I thought it was well written and showed my side in regards to helping others over having lucrative positions. 7.5-8/10
Teacher Rec #1: AP US Hist. Teacher. Known for great recommendations, know her pretty well. - 8.5/10
Teacher Rec #2: Honors Chem and AP Chem Teacher. Had her 10th and 11th grade and I work with her now as the VP of NHS, so she has seen me grow. I collaborate with her a lot and we are very friendly to each other. She even lets me call her by a nickname (most people who do get written up). - 9.5/10
Counselor Rec: Known her for all 4 years, but not really well. She is known for writing good recommendations and being really on top of things though. 7/10.
Additional Rec: Cross Country Coach. He watched me grow but also saw me persevere through my knee injury (I biked to each xc meet junior year). He always speaks of me in the highest regards, saying all young runners on the team should look up to me and never give up simply due to roadblocks. Really good recommendation. - 10/10
Interview: Great. Was a skype interview from NY (uncommon) because my sister has disabilities and it would have been difficult to make another trip down to Lehigh. On Christmas Eve. Explained situation and admissions staff was very helpful and supportive so I got a skype interview. The interview itself was awesome and was the whole reason I applied IBE (admissions officer recommended I a pply to it based on my responses and interests) 9/10
Additional material (abstracts/papers/other): Research abstract from my Science Research over the Summer: Testing the Use of Zebrafish as a Model Organism for Contamination Experiments through Ethanol and Nicotine. 7.5-8/10
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): New York
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Suburban Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $200,000 +
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nothing, white male with money…
Reflection:
Strengths: Scores and Grades. Activities and Leadership, CommonApp Essay. Recommendations.
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Overcame knee problem? Creativity, Definitely.
Weaknesses: Not an ethnic person or any special hook.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I honestly have no idea…
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: University of Rochester (Safety)
Rejected: MIT Waitlisted: Harvey Mudd
Waiting: Tufts, Duke, Stanford, Yale, and Cornell.
Any ideas on why I am on the waitlist?
I applied IBE, but sadly I got waitlisted overall, which probably means I was rejected from IBE. I don’t really understand why I was waitlisted, it was one of my top schools but still a safety for me and definitely not a reach, although the IBE program was. Here are my stats and info:
Decision: Waitlisted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2350 - Math: 800, CR - 800, W - 750
ACT (breakdown): 34 - English: 34, Math: 36, Science: 36, Reading: 31.
SAT II: Biology M: 780, Chemistry: 740, World History: 720, Math1: 770, US History: 770, Math2: 800.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (96% unweighted), (101% weighted)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank available but definitely top 5 out of 150. Probably 4 or 3.
AP (place score in parenthesis): European History (5), Statistics (5), Chemistry (5), US History (5), Language and Comp. (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A (not taught)
Senior Year Course Load: College Italian, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics 1 & 2, Science Research (through Univ. Albany), AP US Government and Politics/Econ., AP Literature and Comp., AP Computer Science.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Commended Student, Highest AMC 10 & AMC 12 scores in school, County Science Fair 2nd Place (Biology), Air Force Award WESEF Science Competition (Medicine & Health). Excellence Degree (Along with Honors and Merit) in Speech and Debate National Honors Society.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
- Speech and Debate - Debate Team Captain - (Grade 10 - 12)
- National Honor Society - Vice President (Organize Service Projects, so also community service) - (Grade 11, 12)
- Science National Honor Society - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- National Italian Honor Society - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- Link Crew Leadership Program - Two time Link-Leader - (Grade 11, 12) - We help assimilate the freshman into high school life and conduct the orientation and other social events for them.
- Cross Country (JV & Varsity) - Panther Award, 2 Varsity Letters - (Grade 9, 10, 12) Clarified out with knee injury 11th grade.
- STEM Strategic Action Planning Committee - N/A - (Grade 11) - Planning the future of STEM at my high school by 2025.
- Kapatid Martial Arts - Junior Black Belt and Sayoc Kali member - (From 1st Grade)
- Century Road Cycling Association (CRCA) - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- Track and Field (JV & Varsity) - (Grade 9, 11, 12) Clarified out with knee injury 10th grade.
- Winter Track and Field (JV) - (Grade 12)
Job/Work Experience:
- Pleasantville Farmers’ Market - Employee at JA Bialas Farm Stand
- My dad’s company - Travel and Gathering Research, creative administrative brainstorming.
Volunteer/Community service: - GRBA summer intern (not paid) Grade 9,10. NHS activities.
Summer Activities: Science Research at Pace University. Over 230 hours of research over the past 2 summers. Conducted my own research last summer.
Essays:
Common App - Describing my creativity from a young age (central to life prompt). 8/10
Why Lehigh - Great Essay on Mountaintop Program, IBE program, and how they fit my learning style and goals. - 9/10
Choice (What makes a successful person) - Happiness, impact on society, helpfulness, and two more answers. I thought it was well written and showed my side in regards to helping others over having lucrative positions. 7.5-8/10
Teacher Rec #1: AP US Hist. Teacher. Known for great recommendations, know her pretty well. - 8.5/10
Teacher Rec #2: Honors Chem and AP Chem Teacher. Had her 10th and 11th grade and I work with her now as the VP of NHS, so she has seen me grow. I collaborate with her a lot and we are very friendly to each other. She even lets me call her by a nickname (most people who do get written up). - 9.5/10
Counselor Rec: Known her for all 4 years, but not really well. She is known for writing good recommendations and being really on top of things though. 7/10.
Additional Rec: Cross Country Coach. He watched me grow but also saw me persevere through my knee injury (I biked to each xc meet junior year). He always speaks of me in the highest regards, saying all young runners on the team should look up to me and never give up simply due to roadblocks. Really good recommendation. - 10/10
Interview: Great. Was a skype interview from NY (uncommon) because my sister has disabilities and it would have been difficult to make another trip down to Lehigh. On Christmas Eve. Explained situation and admissions staff was very helpful and supportive so I got a skype interview. The interview itself was awesome and was the whole reason I applied IBE (admissions officer recommended I a pply to it based on my responses and interests) 9/10
Additional material (abstracts/papers/other): Research abstract from my Science Research over the Summer: Testing the Use of Zebrafish as a Model Organism for Contamination Experiments through Ethanol and Nicotine. 7.5-8/10
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): New York
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Suburban Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $200,000 +
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nothing, white male with money…
Reflection:
Strengths: Scores and Grades. Activities and Leadership, CommonApp Essay. Recommendations.
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Overcame knee problem? Creativity, Definitely.
Weaknesses: Not an ethnic person or any special hook.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I honestly have no idea…
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: University of Rochester (Safety)
Rejected: MIT Waitlisted: Harvey Mudd
Waiting: Tufts, Duke, Stanford, Yale, and Cornell.
Any ideas on why I am on the waitlist?
I applied IBE, but sadly I got waitlisted overall, which probably means I was rejected from IBE. I don’t really understand why I was waitlisted, it was one of my top schools but still a safety for me and definitely not a reach, although the IBE program was. Here are my stats and info:
Decision: Waitlisted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2350 - Math: 800, CR - 800, W - 750
ACT (breakdown): 34 - English: 34, Math: 36, Science: 36, Reading: 31.
SAT II: Biology M: 780, Chemistry: 740, World History: 720, Math1: 770, US History: 770, Math2: 800.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (96% unweighted), (101% weighted)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank available but definitely top 5 out of 150. Probably 4 or 3.
AP (place score in parenthesis): European History (5), Statistics (5), Chemistry (5), US History (5), Language and Comp. (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A (not taught)
Senior Year Course Load: College Italian, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics 1 & 2, Science Research (through Univ. Albany), AP US Government and Politics/Econ., AP Literature and Comp., AP Computer Science.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Commended Student, Highest AMC 10 & AMC 12 scores in school, County Science Fair 2nd Place (Biology), Air Force Award WESEF Science Competition (Medicine & Health). Excellence Degree (Along with Honors and Merit) in Speech and Debate National Honors Society.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
- Speech and Debate - Debate Team Captain - (Grade 10 - 12)
- National Honor Society - Vice President (Organize Service Projects, so also community service) - (Grade 11, 12)
- Science National Honor Society - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- National Italian Honor Society - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- Link Crew Leadership Program - Two time Link-Leader - (Grade 11, 12) - We help assimilate the freshman into high school life and conduct the orientation and other social events for them.
- Cross Country (JV & Varsity) - Panther Award, 2 Varsity Letters - (Grade 9, 10, 12) Clarified out with knee injury 11th grade.
- STEM Strategic Action Planning Committee - N/A - (Grade 11) - Planning the future of STEM at my high school by 2025.
- Kapatid Martial Arts - Junior Black Belt and Sayoc Kali member - (From 1st Grade)
- Century Road Cycling Association (CRCA) - N/A - (Grade 11, 12)
- Track and Field (JV & Varsity) - (Grade 9, 11, 12) Clarified out with knee injury 10th grade.
- Winter Track and Field (JV) - (Grade 12)
Job/Work Experience:
- Pleasantville Farmers’ Market - Employee at JA Bialas Farm Stand
- My dad’s company - Travel and Gathering Research, creative administrative brainstorming.
Volunteer/Community service: - GRBA summer intern (not paid) Grade 9,10. NHS activities.
Summer Activities: Science Research at Pace University. Over 230 hours of research over the past 2 summers. Conducted my own research last summer.
Essays:
Common App - Describing my creativity from a young age (central to life prompt). 8/10
Why Lehigh - Great Essay on Mountaintop Program, IBE program, and how they fit my learning style and goals. - 9/10
Choice (What makes a successful person) - Happiness, impact on society, helpfulness, and two more answers. I thought it was well written and showed my side in regards to helping others over having lucrative positions. 7.5-8/10
Teacher Rec #1: AP US Hist. Teacher. Known for great recommendations, know her pretty well. - 8.5/10
Teacher Rec #2: Honors Chem and AP Chem Teacher. Had her 10th and 11th grade and I work with her now as the VP of NHS, so she has seen me grow. I collaborate with her a lot and we are very friendly to each other. She even lets me call her by a nickname (most people who do get written up). - 9.5/10
Counselor Rec: Known her for all 4 years, but not really well. She is known for writing good recommendations and being really on top of things though. 7/10.
Additional Rec: Cross Country Coach. He watched me grow but also saw me persevere through my knee injury (I biked to each xc meet junior year). He always speaks of me in the highest regards, saying all young runners on the team should look up to me and never give up simply due to roadblocks. Really good recommendation. - 10/10
Interview: Great. Was a skype interview from NY (uncommon) because my sister has disabilities and it would have been difficult to make another trip down to Lehigh. On Christmas Eve. Explained situation and admissions staff was very helpful and supportive so I got a skype interview. The interview itself was awesome and was the whole reason I applied IBE (admissions officer recommended I a pply to it based on my responses and interests) 9/10
Additional material (abstracts/papers/other): Research abstract from my Science Research over the Summer: Testing the Use of Zebrafish as a Model Organism for Contamination Experiments through Ethanol and Nicotine. 7.5-8/10
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): New York
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Suburban Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $200,000 +
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nothing, white male with money…
Reflection:
Strengths: Scores and Grades. Activities and Leadership, CommonApp Essay. Recommendations.
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Overcame knee problem? Creativity, Definitely.
Weaknesses: Not an ethnic person or any special hook.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I honestly have no idea…
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: University of Rochester (Safety)
Rejected: MIT Waitlisted: Harvey Mudd
Waiting: Tufts, Duke, Stanford, Yale, and Cornell.
Any ideas on why I am on the waitlist?
Sorry, for some reason this just posted like 6 times, I am on a school computer and they suck.
did you visit/ show interest. I know that you may think Lehigh is a safety stats wise… and numerically it may be. But when I was there the one thing they reiterated again and again was you couldn’t treat them like a safety. They want people who want to go there, if they don’t think you want to go there you wont get in. Im sorry but that’s the way this school is. I was in a similar position to you, I was afraid they wouldn’t accept me because my stats were very high. (I could have applied to Cornell and stuff and that wouldn’t have been much of a reach). I wanted Lehigh and wanted it over all other schools, so I applied ED to show that I wasn’t treating it like a safety, I also emailed a bunch and visited campus.
GOOD LUCK WITH THE REST OF IT! If you change your mind and decide Lehigh is what you want, I would contact your admissions counselor and make that clear good luck
this may be of interest— http://articles.philly.com/2013-04-01/news/38165511_1_admissions-placement-courses-high-school-students
I agree with poetrymusiclover, they probably thought that they were your safety because your grades are really good. But it does seem like you showed a lot of interest so I’m not sure.
And I applied to Cornell too, good luck!
@tccbay @poetrymusiclover I did show a lot of interest, I emailed many times with the admissions counselor from my area and I had my skype interview with him. And I visited Lehigh and went on a tour while there. And I loved it, it was one of my top choices, and would have been my top if I had gotten into IBE. I am remaining on the waitlist but I think it may be time for me to move on from this one, I don’t know if I would get in off the waitlist even if I showed more interest now.
My senior grades haven’t been as high as I would like, especially in AP Physics 1 & 2, but I still have like a 96 overall unweighted, so they aren’t awful.
Well then I am sorry Im not sure if this is a good idea but i would have called, I am sorry, you could say I noticed I got wait-listed was there a particular reason? maybe it was a mistake, good luck with everything