<p>^ OMG, congratulations!! 
Iām always in awe of musically gifted people because it takes so much talent and dedication. Yay for you!</p>
<p>Iām still waiting to hear from Amherstā¦ Megh.</p>
<p>jaykoblives, thanks for the nice comment. </p>
<p>GA2012MOM, thanks as well. I think my child went in October of last year. I am sure there were some who did not make it in but, it more disappointing for them when they get the feeling that they are a āshoe inā only to be denied and all the people they got friendly with and excahnged emails are in. </p>
<p>I am not sure if this is the proper thread but, anyone have advice about my child trying to figure out a strategy to transfer in next year? Or should they accept another school that is good but not at the top? Thanks again.</p>
<p>Decision: Waitlistedā¦ : (</p>
<p>Stats:
[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 2190 (750CR, 680M, 760W, 12E)
[</em>] SAT IIs: 780 French, 750 English Lit, 730 World History (self-studied)
[<em>] ACT: 35 (35R, 32M, 36R, 35S, 35W)
[</em>] GPA: donāt know
[<em>] Rank: donāt know
[</em>] Other stats:
[/ul]
Subjective:
[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Iāve been told that my Common App essay was excellent (compliments from Wesleyan and Trinity College admissions officers). I thought the supplement essay was great, but apparently it wasnāt good enoughā¦
[</em>] Teacher Recs: I thought they were good, but, again, I guess not quite good enough.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: not very personal. she had to write them for ~500 of usā¦
[</em>] Hook (if any): Iām a white male who lives in suburbia. No hooks.
[/ul]
Location/Person:
[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Colorado!
[</em>] School Type: monstrous public behemoth
[<em>] Ethnicity: white
[</em>] Gender: male!
[<em>] Intended Major: history
[</em>] major strength/weakness: ask the admissions officer.
[/ul]
Other Factors: I was really hoping that Iād just get in outright. Ughā¦ All well. Hopefully Ivy decision day will go well! But itās not likely that Iāll get in off the waitlist hereāthey said in the letter that only ~21 kids get in off the waitlist each year.</p>
<p>finally got my letter todayā¦accepted!
too tired to post my stats
ahh back to homework!</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Used a different format because I didnāt like that one, heh. Sorry if that bothers you.</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (800 CR, 740 M, 800 W)
[</em>] SAT II: Literature (800), Math 2 (800), US History (800), Chem (700), World History (610)
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10/550?
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), Environmental Science (5)
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Macro, AP US Gov, AP Eng Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Chem, AP Stats
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NMF?[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate 11-12 (Captain 12, league champion), Academic Decathlon 11-12 (captain 12, top 15 scorer this year, but that didnāt go in until after acceptance), MUN 11-12 (officer), Sci-Fi Club (officer).
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Helped out my dad on a house one summer.
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: A bit of environmentally-oriented stuff.
[<em>] Summer Activities: AcaDec summer school, helped on house, did a lot of reading.
[</em>] Essays: Common App essay outstanding, supplemental okay, but I guess the subject matter was interesting: wrote about reading Finnegans Wake.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: One great, one generic.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Pretty good.
[<em>] Additional Rec: None.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): CA.
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type: Poor public.
[<em>] Ethnicity: Hispanic Jew.
[</em>] Gender: Male.
[<em>] Income Bracket: 100k, probably wonāt receive aid and thus will not see you in the fall.
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM.[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Straight stats, essays, URM.
[</em>] Weaknesses: ECs, also a Jew which may cancel out the URM thing.
[*] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I guess strengths outweighed weaknesses?[/ul]General Comments: Also got named a Schupf Scholar. Congrats to everyone who got in, good luck to those waitlisted, and hoping for the best for the rejecteesā¦ youāll end up happy, and thatās what matters.</p>
<p>Decision:Accepted</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 800M 800CR 700W=2300
SAT IIs: 780 US 720 Physics 800 Math II
ACT: 36
GPA: 3.84 unweighted, 7.3 weighted (weird scale)
Rank: 4/~625 weighted
Other stats: 10 APs 5s on Psych, Calc BC, English language, and US so far, taking all the others this year; NMF; presidential scholar semifinalist</p>
<p>Subjective:
Essays: decent I thought
Teacher Recs: didnāt see them
Counselor Rec: enthusiastic
Hook (if any): running- 2x cross country state qualifier, track/cross country captain. Met with the Amherst coach when I visited</p>
<p>Location/Person:
State or Country: IL
School Type: large, above average public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Intended Major:
major strength/weakness: strengths- test scores, athletics weaknesses- grades, not much breadth of ECs
Other Factors:</p>
<p>I know liberal arts and the Ivy League have different ways of admitting applicants, but according to the Princeton Review, most of the applicants also apply to many ivy league schools. I think itās something to be proud of to be wait listed among students who apply to prestigious schools such as the Ivy League. So what are your opinions about my chances of getting admitted (or even waitlisted) into at least 1 Ivy League school, or Stanford, considering my wait list status at Amherst (and admission into Cal)?</p>
<p>I applied to: Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown</p>
<p>ACCEPTED!</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[ *] SAT: 2320 (760 math, 760 reading, 800 writing)
[ *] SAT IIs: 2270 (750 english lit, 740 math II, 780 biology M)
[ *] ACT: didnāt take
[ *] GPA: 3.82 uw
[ *] Rank: 42 out of 599
[ *] Other stats: Iāve played varsity tennis for the last 4 years and I am always one of the top players, I am in Key Club, FCCLA, and Cooking Club (which I helped to found two years ago), I take art lessons and I have won 3rd place in a contest (I think I sent in some pieces to Amherst), I used to play clarinet as 2nd chair in an orchestra, I wasnāt a National Merit Semi-Finalist but I did receive honors, I am a full IB diploma student, I love languages and I plan on pursuing Spanish, Korean, and Chinese in college, I love to write, I volunteer at my local library regularly as well as for Key Club and FCCLA
[/ul] b]Subjective:**[ul]
[ *] Essays: I wrote a very emotional and frank essay about how I have struggled with being both Korean and American. My common app essay was about my hero, Hayao Miyazaki, and how he has inspired me to pursue animation and art
[ *] Teacher Recs: Pretty good, I got one from my bio teacher, who knows that I love bio and plan to major in it, and one from my history teacher, who I donāt know super well but we have talked a lot about college quite a bit. and he is the adviser for one of my clubs
[ *] Counselor Rec: probably good, she was my 11th grade IB history teacher. i was a good student
[ *] Hook (if any): I really donāt know! Iām a pretty average person. My one hook, possibly, was that my Amherst essay was clear cut and to-the-point.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[ *] State or Country: Washington state
[ *] School Type: public school
[ *] Ethnicity: Korean
[ *] Gender: Female
[ *] Intended Major: Biology (probably ecological/environmental)
[ *] major strength/weakness: my greatest weakness was probably my GPA, but my high school is quite competitive, so amherst may have excused me for it. i think my greatest strength was that i do a lot of volunteering! i volunteer at the library every week, i have volunteered in a thrift store, a senior center, and in a gift shop at a hospital, and two of my three clubs are service clubs. iām also going in with a passion for art/science, which is a bit unconventional
[/ul]Other Factors: iām asian?.. but thatās not very remarkable. i come from a low-income family. and iād like to think that iām well-rounded :)</p>
<p>dirtyjeans, my friend from DivOH was waitlistedā¦</p>
<p>Waitlisted (think we already know that)</p>
<p>didnāt submit SAT I or II
ACT: 34
APs: US History, AP English, AP Latin Virgil</p>
<p>Senior Year: Econ CIS, AP Latin Callus, AP Bio, AP Calc AB, Sr English, Psych Comm and Art (Last two required). All accelerated and Adv classes since 9th grade.</p>
<p>EC: football (captain), all conference (12), all conference honorable mention (11) Lacrosse (captain), 1st team (12), 1st team honorable mention (11), Underclassman all state (11), Student Directed Plays, V Basketball (10-11)</p>
<p>Essay: ComApp - not really sure but thought the supp for Amherst was particularly good.
Recs: all good I imagine because both Colgate and Trinity mentioned them specifically.
Hook: No Hook.</p>
<p>Think thatās it. Son is saying he probably wonāt stay on waitlist and is pretty sure heās going to head to Middlebury in the fall. Accepted: Colgate, Trinity, Hamilton, Middlebury. Rejected: Dartmouth (ED), GTown, JHU. Outstanding still: Tufts</p>
<p>**Decision: Rejected **</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT Verbal: 760
[</em>] SAT Math: 710
[<em>] SAT Writing: 770
[</em>] SAT Total: 740
[<em>] SAT II: U.S History (730), Math 1 (680), Literature (780)
[</em>] ACT: Didnāt take.
[<em>] AP/IB taken/scores: U.S. History (5), European History (5), English Literature (5), English Language (5).
[</em>] GPA weighted: We donāt weigh GPAs at my school.
[<em>] GPA unweighted: 3.79.
[</em>] Rank or % estimate: Definitely in the top ten percent.</p>
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: I wrote about how I was in the process of writing a book when the floppy disc I had saved it on died, erasing 80 single-spaced pages. I ended up starting all over, and now the story totals over 2,000 pages. It was the best essay I ever wrote for a college. =/
[</em>] Teacher Recs: I would be shocked if they were anything less than excellent.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: My counselor seems proud of me, so I can imagine they were good.
[</em>] Hook (if any): My last name is Hispanic? Lol.</p>
<p>[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: USA.
[</em>] School Type: Public.
[<em>] Ethnicity: Didnāt specify.
[</em>] Gender: Female.
[<em>] Legacy Yes/No: No.
[</em>] Recruited Yes/No: No.
[<em>] Important ECs: Gymnastics for ten years, karate for six years (black belt).
[</em>] Likely Letter Yes/No: Huh?</p>
<p>[/ul]Other Factors: As I mentioned earlier, my writing is above average, so that may have helped with some of the essays.</p>
<p>General Comments/Congratulations/etc: I really wanted to go to Amherst, so I was kind of bummed when I got this in the mailā¦ oh well. =/</p>
<p>The good thing about people posting their stats like this is, I hope, that all of you can see that not getting accepted has little to do with your strengths as a student or as a person. Good heavensā¦ this is a thread of extraordinary students whoāve done extraordinarily well, accepted to Amherst or not. The college has such talented students applying, and itās not so much a matter of separating the wheat from the chaff as it is trying to build an incoming freshman class to suit their objectives and having a limited number of admissions offers to be able to do it with. But you all are SO impressive, itās staggering really. Iām sure you will end up at a wonderful college and, once there, feel like things turned out just as they should have!</p>
<p>Modadunn, congratulations on Middlebury. Thatās really great! Itās a wonderful place and itās really exciting for your son to have that on his list of optionsā¦ and the other schools on that list are also fabulous.</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted
ā¢ SAT I: 2180, M800, W690, R690
ā¢ SAT II: U.S History (760), Math 2 (800), Chemistry (800)
ā¢ ACT: 34
ā¢ AP/IB taken/scores: U.S. (5), World History (5), Chem (5),
ā¢ *GPA weighted: 5.17/5.0
ā¢ GPA unweighted: ?
ā¢ Rank or % estimate: ~5% out of 400
ā¢ Essays: Wrote about a fictional character in a Chinese novel that has had a significant influence on me. Pretty generic. I mean, since everyoneās essay is so damn good, I donāt know what to say.
ā¢ *Rec letters: Didnāt see them.
ā¢ *Extracurricular: Swimming, NHS, Cum Laude, ect.
ā¢ State or Country: Illinois.
ā¢ School Type: Public.
ā¢ *Ethnicity: Asian.
ā¢ Gender: Male.
ā¢ Legacy? No.
ā¢ Recruited? Yes.
ā¢ Likely Letter Yes/No: Yes</p>
<ul>
<li>My freshmen grades were pretty bad. I had a 4.8/5.0 weighted GPA coming out of my first semester Sophomore year. Then my parents went Asian on me and I started getting 5.4s and 5.5. Colleges definitely like to see improvement.
*Although I didnāt see my recs. My chem teacher said I was the āsmartest kidā he knew because I was the only kid heās ever known to take Chemistry AP without prior Chemistry (Chem Ap is a 2 year course at our school) and do as well as I did in the class. I got an A in the class, set the curve on the final exam, ace the SAT II, and get a 5 on the AP test.
*I got in for swimming foshizzle. Iām not super fast, but Iām pretty good for DIII colleges. All American (3x) [btw, swimming is a completely objective sport, i.e. if you have the times, youāre fast.]
*I was born in China and lived there for six years. Iām what sociologists term ā1.5 generation Asian American,ā if that means anything to themā¦</li>
</ul>
<p>Accepted! </p>
<p>Stats:
ACT: 32
GPA: 3.87
Rank: n/a
Other stats: National History Fair Finalist, Governorās Green Youth Award, Environmental Club, Junior Statesmen of America, Class Club Treasurer, Model UN, Student Conservation Association Volunteer, Habitat for Humanity Volunteer. Independent Research in Environmental Politics </p>
<p>Subjective:
Essays: Very Good. I got an email from another college complimenting my common app essay. I wrote about my parents and my unconventional childhood. Amherst essay was solid too.
Teacher Recs: Very Good (One teacher had taught me for two years, I completed student research with him, and I was a participant in his pilot senior thesis program)
Counselor Rec: Very Good (She really liked me and seemed to really pay attention to who I was other than just my stats)
Hook (if any): Iām extremely passionate about the environment and demonstrated this clearly through my essays, activities, and recs. (I want to go into environmental policy as a career) </p>
<p>]Location/Person:
State or Country: Illinois
School Type: Public, selective, boarding school
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Intended Major: Political Science, Chemistry/Environmental Studies
major strength/weakness: Test scores were average and I could have more fully utilized the course list at my high school. Also I did not take an APsā¦ (my school doesnāt offer AP courses)</p>
<p>Other Factors:
I think I did a good job of showing that I would be a unique contribution to the college.</p>
<p>for S:</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 800cr, 740m, 760w = 2300 total
[</em>] SAT II: Math 2: 800
World: 800
Physics: 800
Chem: 790
US History: 790
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 98.32
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school does not rank; anecdotally #1 out of 63
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC: 5
Chem: 5
Eng Lang.: 5 (self-studied)
World: 5 (self-studied)
USH: 5 (self-studied)
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Hardest available: Multivariable Calc, AP Physics C, etc ā¦
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Intel Semi-Finalist, Stockholm Junior Water Prize ā State Champ, #7 in nation, Moodyās Mega Math Challenge winner, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Commended
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Model UN (Secretary General), Investment Club (co-founder), Academic Team (Captain), NHS (President)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Congressional internship, quantum computing mentorship
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: USY (co-president)
[<em>] Summer Activities: CTY 4 years, Harvard SSP (Edward Fein Fellowship)
[</em>] Essays: doesnāt everyone think their essays are great?
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: alleged to be very good
[</em>] Counselor Rec: see above
[<em>] Additional Rec: Harvard TA
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: Y
[<em>] Intended Major: International Relations
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): NJ
[<em>] School Type: public magnet (top 10 in the country)
[</em>] Ethnicity: white
[<em>] Gender: M
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none of the āclassicsā
[/ul]Reflection</p>
<p>Strengths: typical hard-working, well-rounded kid</p>
<p>What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Challenge of coming from a pre-engineering academy strong in math and science, yet personally having great interest in the social sciences</p>
<p>Weaknesses: not an athlete, not a musician, would not be recruited for any such niches</p>
<p>Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Just a strong overall app</p>
<p>Rent of 2ā¦ We are hugely happy with sonās choices, but as he told people (his friends) he was leaning towards Midd, they were like I canāt see you there. But his teachers? Think itās perfect for him. He also was accepted to Tufts and for how much he was sure yesterday, today he is waffling. Midd, Colgate, Tufts. And I keep playing the devilās advocate to every single one to the point that I am sure to become the devil! :)</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 770 CR, 720 W, 720 M
[</em>] SAT II: 740 French, 750 Literature, 760 World History
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/180 (class rank)
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): None
[</em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): One non-exclusive, national-level award for academics; Gold Award in national concert band competition, three times.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): School concert band, pit band, and jazz ensemble; community wind symphony; volunteering at a foster home; tutoring; tennis
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: 25-30 hours/week at a communications company
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: More than 1500 hours
[<em>] Summer Activities: Work, independent study, reading, road trips, pick-up tennis and basketball, one leadership conference in the United States.
[</em>] Essays: Very passionate and personal, a story of my upbringing.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Best they have ever written.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Very good.
[<em>] Additional Rec: from a Ph.D. student at American University
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): Canada
[<em>] School Type: Public; performs slightly below provincial average.
[</em>] Ethnicity: African
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Intended Major: Political Science; Economics; and/or Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought.
[<em>] Income Bracket: Lowest
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first-generation college student, low-income, interesting story.
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Grades, volunteer work, music ECs, great essay and teacher recs
[</em>] Weaknesses: Not a lot of traditional āleadershipā positions
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted: You tell me.
[</em>] Where else were you accepted: Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Georgetown SFS
[/ul]General Comments:
Iām genuinely happy for everyone who got accepted. Be proud! Thank God! And I canāt feel sorry those of you who didnāt get accepted, because you all have great opportunities lined up!</p>
<p>[ size=+1][ color=#228B22][ b]Decision: <em>Accepted</em>_________[ /b][ /color][ /size]</p>
<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT:1890 (reading 800,writing 630, math 460)
[ *] SAT IIs: Bio 680, Lit 800 US History 700
[ *] ACT: N/A
[ *] GPA: 3.68
[ *] Rank: 9/549
[ *] Other stats: President of NHS, Mock Trial, AP Club, French Club,Band,Orchestra,Captain of Flagline, Serve on Mayors Youth Commission which works closely with Mayor to start programs for the advancement of youth in our city, Concert Master of Orchestra, All-District/Region/State violinist and cellist, Tennis Captain (varsity all four years)Varsity Badminton and Soccer, Speech and Debate VP and State finalist two years in a row, internship with Attorney general of State, Superior Violinist at State, Choir, Dance, Lead in plays and principal violinist, Youth Ambassador to Middle East for AFS ECT
[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Essays: Great, my strong point
[ *] Teacher Recs: Really good
[ *] Counselor Rec: Good, guy worships me
[ *] Hook (if any): URM, Violin, speak three languages, essays
[ /list][ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list]
[ *] State or Country: US
[ *] School Type: Hmm we send kids to top schools every year so i guess competitive
[ *] Ethnicity: African American
[ *] Gender: F
[ *] Intended Major: International Relations
[ *] major strength/weakness: SAT math scores and GPA
Also got into Bryn Mawr, Wesleyan,MT Holyoke, Vassar, Swarthmore, Haverford and Sarah Lawrence.Was Waitlisted at Harvard! but so okay with that
[ /list][ b]Other Factors:[ /b]</p>
<p>So, this just goes to tell that you do not have to be super high SAT and GPA to get into a top school (the TOP lac in the nation/world in regards to Amherst)Just have fun in high school do well and go with your strengths!</p>
<p>Modadunnā¦ the devil, ha ha! Middlebury, Colgate, Tufts. LOL. What an abundance of riches to choose from. It must be a real relief to be at this stage of the process now.</p>
<p>S waitlisted at Amherst, Yale, Stanford, admitted to Dartmouth, Northwestern, others, and of course rejected at a few (including Georgetown). Weāre happy as can be ā but am I alone in thinking that this process ultimately concludes with what seem like rather random results?</p>