<p>Accepted!</p>
<p>SAT I: 2320 (Reading: 770, Math: 800, Writing: 750 - But I didn’t even submit this b/c I took it for National Merit and didn’t get the results. Plus, I didn’t care.)**
ACT**: 36 (English: 35 Math: 36 Science: 36 Reading: 35)
SAT II: I think I submitted 2? Math II: 800, AP U.S: 750 or something. I forget. I don’t think these matter much.
Unweighted GPA out of 4: 3.97
Rank in percent: top 2%
AP: Would take more effort than I want to give. I got like 5 5s and a 4 in AP U.S.
IB: MURICA. Kidding. But no IB
Senior Year Course Load: Gym, AP Physics C, Computer Science Topics H (after AP Comp Sci), AP Psych, AP Spanish Lang, AP Micro/Macroeconomics, AP English Lit&Comp. No math this year b/c I took multivariable calc honors last year and AP Calc BC two yrs ago
Major Awards: National Merit? NHS?</p>
<p>Extracurriculars: Four years of mock trial (captain this year) - we’ve gotten 9th and 5th nationally and 2nd in state last year, Three years of Model UN (Treasurer last year, President this year) - I’ve won two Outstanding delegate awards, Four years of Church Youth Group (student leader last year), Competitive Cycling for three years, about 12 hrs per week from March to September-December. Plus a bunch of smaller clubs that don’t take up much time + personal photography and photography for school newspaper and yearbook.
Job/Work experience: I worked at a bike shop part-time (20 hrs) over the summer. Tutoring experience.
Volunteer/Community service: Hella week. Probably an hour or two each month all high school.
Summer Activities: Nothing of note. I went to Europe over the summer, that was fun.
Essays: I thought they were good. Everyone always says “Oh I had fantastic essays!” anyways, I don’t know how unbiased people really are. I feel like I’m generally a better writer than most of my peers although about on par with the type of person I’d expect to apply to CMC. For the Why CMC? question, I knew CMC was my first choice, so it was easy to do. I’m a firm believer in not just “BSing” your essays. If you’re not genuine, I think it’s easy to see.
Recommendations: Same as essays, everyone always says they’re really good. Although I think both mine were really good, too. I had both my teachers for two years and one teacher I had really struggled in his class (pulled out all As but it was hard, spent a lot of time together, etc). The other I just really liked her and she liked me and it was really nice of her to write the letter; she retired and only wrote letters for 3 or 4 people.</p>
<p>Teacher Rec 1: English; English 2h (2xAs) and AP Lang (2xAs); Soph/Jr year
Teacher Rec 2: Math; AP Calc BC (2xAs) and Math Topics H/Multivariable Calc (2xAs); Soph/Jr year
Counselor Rec: Throughout high school, I’ve made a point to see her at least once a semester. I highly recommend doing that. Like seriously, it’s the least you can do. Anyways, I figure it was good. She seems to like me, unless she’s actually really, really good at being passive aggressive.
Additional Rec: I’ve shown a ton of leadership in Model UN, so I got him to write a rec. That meant a lot to me, good guy that sponsor.
Interview: On-campus in September. Good stuff. Was fun, although weird b/c the guy watching (a student who was being trained) was soooo bored but perked up when I mentioned Model UN b/c he did Model UN @ CMC. Was so damn hot that day, though, I wore a suit in like 110 degree weather.</p>
<p>Applied for financial aid? No.
Intended Major: I put international relations. I like the PPE program.
State: Illinois
Country: The US of A.
School Type: Top-100 nationally Newsweek public school (private and national included). B/c those rankings are soooo consistent and meaningful.
Ethnicity: Asian. Did you know there are less Asians than Hispanics at CMC? Crazy. Although it is Southern California, I guess.
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Highest
Hooks: I know how to fish? No, but seriously, I think my cycling was a hook. Like seriously, how many kids do you know who dress up in tight shorts, sit on a bike for 40+ miles per day, and hang out with older men every Saturday and morning of the summer? Not many. I race, I don’t know anyone else who does.</p>
<p>Strengths: Academics. Testing. Cycling. Extracurriculars. Essays and Recs? Interview (going in real relaxed helps a lot). Expressed a LOT of interest, stayed in contact with interviewer, etc.
Weaknesses: What’s a hook? Also, no community service, really. I didn’t know I should do summer activities. Also, it’s the summer, what the hell? I didn’t do any missions trips in Africa that I subsequently focused my essays on. No close relative died.
Why I think I was accepted: Academics. Extracurriculars. Essays/Recs. Interview & interest.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: ED1. Just CMC. Thank goodness, too, b/c I would have been screwed if I had been rejected.</p>
<p>General comments: I probably sound like such a douchebag from that post. Sorry. You’ll have to take my word that I’m not, or at least I try not to be.</p>
<p>Anyways, there’s something inherently wrong with all of these threads and all of this speculation and all of these forums. None of us are college admissions counselors at Claremont McKenna/Stanford/Princeton/Harvard/etc. So in the end, it’s just the blind leading the blind. We can all try to look for patterns about if X gets you in or Y gets you in, but we all have stories of how Perfect ACT/GPA/Extracurriculars didn’t get into the State school. So who the hell knows.</p>
<p>Of course, we can draw generalizations. I.e. I’m sure my perfect GPA (one B in Sophomore year) in a max-rigor schedule played a significant part in acceptance, as did my 36 ACT.</p>
<p>If I had to give advice, it’d be this. It’s now December 22nd of my senior year, and I’m talking about my high school experience. I’m an ‘overachiever,’ a lot of people would say. I mean, I’m naturally smart, but I’ve definitely worked super hard for grades/not really the tests/extracurriculars/etc. But still, I’ve done significant damage to my body in high school, just from sleep (I don’t do drugs or drink or other shit like that). And it’s paid off. I got into my dream school that I chose, and that’s awesome. But here’s the point: If I hadn’t enjoyed everything I did in high school, then I wouldn’t be happy right now. It’d be a big, fat waste of four years. I’m happy to say that I enjoyed and enjoy the 15hr/week of mock trial that I do. I thoroughly enjoy Model UN. I feel a sense of fulfillment and pride from my academic achievements and I feel like I’ve greatly benefited from all of my schooling. So there’s that. I know it’s probably too late for a lot of you, and good luck with all of your apps and stuff. Try to be Native American or African American. That’s my advice. Good luck.</p>