GPA UW: 3.94
GPA W: 4.22
ACT: 32 (34 SS)
SAT Subject Test: 760 AHS
AP: 11 classes
1st Semester Senior Year Grades: 4.0 W/5.0 UW
State: CA
Ethnicity: White
Income Bracket: $150k+
Extracurriculars: Club Soccer and Medical Research Internship
Tulane University - Accepted; Honors; $30k Scholarship
University of California, Berkeley - Rejected
University of California, Davis - Accepted
University of California, Santa Barbara - Accepted; Honors
University of California, Santa Cruz - Accepted
University of California, San Diego - Accepted
University of California, Los Angeles - Waitlisted
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor - Accepted
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities - Accepted; Honors; $10k Scholarship
University of Oregon - Accepted; Honors; $9k Scholarship
University of Pittsburgh - Accepted; Honors; $11k Scholarship
University of Southern California - Accepted; $20k Scholarship
University of Texas, Austin - Accepted
University of Washington - Accepted
University of Wisconsin - Accepted
Vanderbilt University - Rejected
Washington University in St. Louis - Accepted
When I first started the college admissions process, I had no idea what type of university I wanted to attend nor what I wanted to study. My criteria for college was:
- social
- spirited
- sports-minded
- vibrant city
- major flexibility
- small class sizes
- excellent academics
As you can tell, I was all over the place. After receiving my results, I narrowed down my list to Tulane, Michigan, USC, Texas, Washington, and WUSTL.
After visiting many of the campuses over the past 1.5 years, I slowly came to the realization that my ideal schools needed to be social, in a vibrant city, and have small class sizes. Also, major flexibility was a huge attribute since I still have no idea what I want to study. These are what worked best for me.
I took that list of 5 universities and whittled it down to 2: USC and Tulane. Both are social, in vibrant cities, have small class sizes, and have excellent academics. USC is more sports-minded and has amazing school spirt, while Tulane has more flexibility with majors.
At the end of the day and after much deliberation, I chose Tulane. Tulane seemed to want me more than USC and it provided me with the opportunity to see what life is like outside of California as well as to not worry about what my course of study would be.
My advice is to visit colleges of different types. Find out what works best for you. Realize that it is rare to have a college hit all your “wants and needs”. Pick the college that wants you as much as you want them.