Decision:
Accepted
Decision:
Waitlisted
Decision:
Rejected
[ b]College and Program:[ /b]
Objective:[ list]
[* ] SAT I (breakdown):
[* ] ACT:
[* ] SAT II:
[* ] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
[* ] Rank (percentile if rank is
unavailable):
[* ] AP (place score in parenthesis):
[* ] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[* ] Senior Year Course Load:
[* ] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
[ /list][ b]Subjective:**
Extracurriculars (place leadership in
parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays:
Teacher Recommendation:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:
Supplementary Material(if any):
[ /list][ b]Other**
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket(specify if applied for
FA):
Hooks (URM, first generation college,
etc.):
[ /list][ b]Reflection**
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/
waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/
waitlisted/rejected:
[ /list][ b]General Comments:**
Remember, DELETE THE SPACES.
I’ll go for it …
Decision: Accepted
Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): N/A (didn’t submit)
[] ACT (breakdown): english: 35, reading: 36, math: 26, science: 27, total: 31
[] SAT II: 760 English
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.84
[] Rank: 1 (but didn’t know this at the time of application, so I indicated I was in the top 10% out of a 30-person class)
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP US (5)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP English (Lit/Comp combined), AP Biology, AP Art (1st semester), French 1 (already completed through Spanish 4), Current World Issues/Government, Business w/ Finance
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Just NHS membership, if that counts [/li]
[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
Extracurriculars (place leadership in
parenthesis): (Editor-in-chief of school paper), (Debate club), (Key Club VP), 2 wk Japanese study trip, part-time internship at local paper, (class secretary and treasurer 2 years), NHS member
Job/Work Experience: Cashier @ consignment store senior year
Volunteer/Community service: 150+ hours — various locations — spotlight at local theater, film festival
Summer Activities: Creative camp in the backwoods 3x
Essay: Detailing of changing perspectives on journalism over the yrs
Teacher Recommendation: 3 from favorite teachers. All 10/10 — I’ve seen them after they were sent in, and because I come from a 130-person school, they’re personal and detailed
Counselor Rec: Also personal/detailed, said my main weakness was my tendency to over-philosophize
Additional Rec: See above
Interview: N/A
Supplementary Material (if any): Sent in a 15-pg academic essay I’m proud of (on admittedly quirky philosophical subject)
[/ul]Other
State (if domestic applicant): WA
School Type: Small, rural, public, average quality. 6 or so AP classes offered. 130 people.
Ethnicity: White/Jewish
Gender: Female
Income Bracket (specify if applied for
FA): <$80,000. Applied for FA. Received generous package
Hooks (URM, first generation college,
etc.):
Reflection[ul]
Strengths: Definitely my scores/grades in English. Interest in philosophy and grasp on critical discourse.
Weaknesses: Less-than-stellar math/science scores. My grades generally reflect this (note I’m taking Finance Math.)
Why you think you were accepted: I’m surprised I got in — the 18% acceptance rate is daunting. Probably the editor-in-chief bit.
Where else were you accepted/
waitlisted/rejected: Waitlisted @ Reed and CC, accepted at UW/Bard/some others. Rejected from Northeastern.
[/ul]
General Comments: Hope this helps in SOME WAY
Decision: Accepted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): Superscore 33, English 35 Math 35 Reading 29 Science 34
SAT II:Math II 800 Physics 710
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4
Weighted GPA: none
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/77
AP (place score in parentheses): Calc AB, Calc C (Both online, none offered at school)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: Human Anatomy and Physiology, Genocide and Holocaust, AP Calc C, Cultures 1 and 2, band, orchestra,
Number of other EA applicants in your school:0
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): State finalist (math)WYSE academic challenge competition (advanced again this year with 1st overall at sectionals)
T-2nd physics regionals
IHSA solo and ensemble best of the day award tuba solo
semper fidelis award for musical excellence
other smaller things
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):Band: all grade levels, Tuba section leader
Orchestra:all 4, Cello section leader
Jazz band: all 4 years, Trombone section leader
Scholastic bowl: Captain 2 years
Politics club founder: 2 years
other more minor things
Job/Work Experience:Parents restaurant 6 hours a week since 2011 (not paid)
Volunteer/Community Service: tutoring after school ~3 hours/wk
Summer Experience: nothing major enough to type
Common App Essay: about weight loss, going from 267 pounds to 196 pounds, how I’ve inspired others to do the same, larger overarching theme of the selfishness of allowing myself to be very unhealthy while acting as a role model to my little sister and many others
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Recommendation #1:Can’t really rate it but I liked it a lot
Teacher Recommendation #2:not as good but still great (keep in mind i don’t really know how to rate these)
Counselor Rec:excellent
Additional Info/Rec:teacher from 6th grade, thought it would provide some different context, didn’t see though
Art Supplement: I really should have submitted a music supplement, it would have helped my app
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?:YES
Intended Major:Mathematics
State (if domestic applicant):IL
Country (if international applicant):USA
School Type:Small rural public, 370 students, no AP classes offered
Ethnicity:Middle eastern
Gender:Male
Income Bracket:30-35k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):First generation college student, rigor initiative in poor school, low opportunities in general and I’ve done well
[/list]Reflection
Strengths:Rigor initiative, limited opportunities but good accomplishments in context,
Weaknesses:I see no large weaknesses, if any they lie in weaker activities and awards; however, I think these areas are good in context, but it can be hard to judge and sometimes very biased from a first person perspective
Why you think you were accepted/
waitlisted/rejected:They saw a student that they wanted on campus, a student that had the characteristics that they value and a student that they thought could contribute to the college
Where else were you accepted/
waitlisted/rejected:Accepted: Grinnell, URochester, UIUC
Waitlist: UChicago (so sad) Case Western (surprising to me) Carleton,
Reject: MIT (was top choice, same…) WashU (really tough to get in)
Soon to come: Brown and Princeton
Comments: I’m really happy with this, but was hoping for acceptances from case and carleton for more comparison opportunities. Grinnell is great and it will be a very compelling option for my attendence if Brown and Princeton decide my application should go to the reject pile. (or maybe even more waitlists…)
I’m very willing to answer any questions as I appreciated the help others gave me prior, so it only seems fair to return that at least to some degree.
Decision:
Waitlisted
Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 1520 (770 M/ 750 EBRW)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.5
[] Rank (percentile if rank is
unavailable): top 30% (I think? My school doesn’t provide detailed info)
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Euro(3), Lang(5)
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP calc, AP physics, AP comp-sci, and an English elective that I thought would be interesting (I was right, it’s awesome)
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Gold Award (from Girl Scouts? Idk, it’s the only award I have and it’s kinda major?)
[/ul]Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in
parenthesis): Girl Scouts- camp counselor, troop stuff, state level positions, Town youth board (president), School service oriented club (Vice President)
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: lots with the youth board, and with Girl Scouts, I was also a fifth grade camp counselor
Summer Activities:9th/10th grade- took art courses through a local college, did freelance graphic design, Girl Scout camp counselor
Essays: did Grinnell have an essay?
Teacher Recommendation: at my school you DO NOT ask teachers to read their letters. People often assume that if my teachers actually wrote good letters, they’d offer to let me see them, but that just isn’t the culture at my school. So, I’m guessing based on relationship and perception of opinion.
- physics teacher: 9- I really enjoy the class, and he thinks highly of me, enjoys my enthusiasm.
- English teacher: 6- I know her pretty well, other people think she likes me, I’m pretty sure she respects my work ethic at least, and I know she turns people down if she can’t write good ones.
Counselor Rec: didn’t know him very well, but we filled in forms and he was really impressed with mine. He told me his letter was amazing. 7 (how much can a counselor letter really mean?)
Additional Rec: a person from my local Girl Scout counsel I’ve worked with for around five years
Interview: Didn’t do one
Supplementary Material(if any):
[/list]Other
State (if domestic applicant): Oregon
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: girl
Income Bracket(specify if applied for
FA): 200,000+ (didn’t apply)
Hooks (URM, first generation college,
etc.):
[/list]Reflection
Strengths: SAT score, teacher recs
Weaknesses: GPA
Why you think you were accepted/
waitlisted/rejected: I have no idea, I applied on a whim because the app was free, I didn’t interview or do that ‘why grinnell’ essay, I was expecting a no. My GPA is pretty low
Where else were you accepted/
waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Reed, UW, University of Portland, Beloit, WPI, CU Boulder, McGill, USC, BU, Umich
Waitlisted: Purdue (I shouldn’t have applied, and I wouldn’t have if their admissions policies were more transparent, but I got my hopes up and I’m still bummed out tbh), and now Grinnell
Rejected: MIT
[/list]General Comments: college admissions doesn’t make sense, just apply a bunch of places and assume some of the decisions will suck and will feel (and might actually be) unfair.
**Decision: Accepted **
Objective:
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1550 C, 760M/790CRW
SAT II (subject, score): 750 Math II, 750 English Lit, 720 M Bio
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.85
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parentheses): 4 English Lit
Senior Year Course Load: Calc BC, Chem, English, 2 Histories
Number of other applicants in your school: 0
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): nada
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): NM commended
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Captain of two varsity sports, All-state in one and all conference in both. Editor of school paper, play jazz, spend a lot of time playing online chess lol.
Job/Work Experience: Worked informally landscaping in the summers.
Volunteer/Community Service: Mentored young children at a local elementary school, experiences there prompted my CA essay.
Summer Experience:
Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):
Essays:
CA: pretty good, about community service was shorter than normal 8/10.
Supplements:
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):
Teacher Recommendation #1: Headmaster, English teacher, brilliant guy 9/10
Teacher Recommendation #2: Math teacher, kinda had a rocky relationship with him 5/10
Counselor Rec: Probably was alright, 6/10
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview:
Art Supplement:
Other
Date Submitted App:
U.S. State/Territory or Country: South
School Type: Private
Ethnicity:White
Gender:M
Income Bracket Range: Too much for aid, not enough to pay
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athlete, development): none
Reflection
Strengths: good scores, significant upward trend in gpa, committed to athletics and showed leadership. Common App essay was pretty strong.
Weaknesses: Other recs were bad to mediocre, white, ECs weren’t special, gpa trended upward but was still somewhat low
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Good overall applicant, although nothing super unique.
What would you have done differently?: Asked someone else to write my STEM rec.
Where else did you apply? Dartmouth, some CTCL schools, UA, W&l, Macalester, a Canadian school, Princeton.
Accepted everywhere minus the ivies, still waiting on those
General Comments & Advice:
Got some token merit aid but this school is still insanely expensive. Happy to get in but definitely won’t consider it further
** Decision: Accepted **
** Objective:** [ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2270 composite (750CR/770M/750W)
[] ACT: N/A
[] SAT II: 740 Lit, 750 USH, 760 Spanish
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.85-3.9, not sure
[] Rank (percentile if rank is
unavailable): N/A
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Lang (5), USH (5), Stats, Calc AB, Lit, Spanish
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP: Stats, Calc AB, Lit, Spanish, non-AP: Physics, US History Honors
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): A bunch of writing awards, National Spanish Exam Gold (x2), accepted to selective summer program
[/ul]
Subjective:
-
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in
parenthesis): Lots & lots of theater (actor/techie/director), GSA (president), peer mentorship groups, environmental science project
[] Job/Work Experience: Worked as an unpaid lab assistant one summer, if that counts
[] Volunteer/Community service: Not much, just some tutoring
[] Summer Activities: CTY, state-sponsored academic program, avoiding summer homework
[] Essays: The people who read it liked it, not sure how to quantify
[] Teacher Recommendation: One likely stronger than the other–didn’t read
[] Counselor Rec: No clue–didn’t read
[] Additional Rec: Grinnell wouldn’t let me send that one in
[] Interview: I interviewed on campus and I thought it went really well! The interviewer spent a lot of time afterward dealing with my mom’s nerves about sending me to Iowa, which I thought was sweet of her. I loved the school by the time the interview rolled around and I think it was apparent.
[] Supplementary Material(if any): N/A
Other
-
[] State (if domestic applicant): NJ
[] Country (if international applicant): N/A
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender:
[] Income Bracket(specify if applied for
FA): Did not apply for FA
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college,
etc.): N/A
Reflection [ul]
[] Strengths: Interest in the school, writing awards(?), Why Grinnell? essay probably helped
[] Weaknesses: Not particularly remarkable as an applicant
[] Why you think you were accepted/
waitlisted/rejected: I think they recognized I’d be a really good fit for Grinnell!
[] Where else were you accepted/
waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Rutgers (Honors College), TCNJ, SUNY Geneseo, Clark, Case Western, Kenyon, Emory, Wesleyan
Rejected: Hopkins
Waiting on: George Washington
[/ul]
General Comments: !!!
Decision: Accepted
Objective:
SAT I: 1960 composite; 640 reading, 630 math, 690 writing
ACT: I’ve taken it twice. My highest and my superscore is 33. 35 English, 31 math, 35 reading, 29 science, and 10 writing (I think that test date was out of 12?)
SAT II: Oh boi. 660 lit, 610 math 2, 670 us history, 590 bio e, 510 math 1, 700 world history (I hate sat tests)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8-3.9 (it was 3.8 when I originally submitted, 3.9 after my mid year report)
Rank: Top 7% of a class of just under 200
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP World (5), APUSH (5), AP Physics 1 (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: PE, Music Appreciation, CGI (semester), Gov (semester), AP Physics 2, AP Calc AB, AP Lit, and Yearbook
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): um CPS scholar? I applied to Grinnell through Questbridge (QB) so…
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in
parenthesis): Moot Court, editor in yearbook (this is also my third year in yearbook)
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: have volunteered for 3 years at a local no-kill animal shelter
Summer Activities: none
Essay: Having applied through QB, they got my QB essays. My QB essays were about my social anxiety and overcoming it as well as another essay about becoming my own person after living with abusive parents. The former essay was also my common app one. I also had short answer questions on physics, Oedipus, and a few small two sentence answers on the QB app (like what I’d change about my high school, how I spent a weekend, etc).
Teacher Recommendation:Two on my QB app from my AP Physics and APUSH teachers then another two on the common app from my AP Lit/English 11 teacher and my PreCal/Calc teacher. I believe they were all very personalized though I didn’t see them since all but my APUSH teacher I’ve had for two years and am very close to.
Counselor Rec: Probably the worst part since my counselor barely knows me but he knew my family issues so it’s possible he wrote me a good letter of rec
Additional Rec: none
Interview: none
Supplementary Material (if any): none
Other
State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type: Public magnet school known for our academics. There’s around 200 people per class and 13 AP classes offered.
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Born female but identify as nonbinary
Income Bracket: $12,000 per year income for 4 people
Hooks: Female going into STEM, low-income and in guardianship, first gen according to Grinnell (parents went to college but neither got a Bachelor’s or 4 year degree, they both dropped out)
Reflection
Strengths: My essays definitely, since they showed a lot of determination to overcome my situation. My recs also probably really helped and outside of AP World and AP Physics for 1 semester (and AP Calc for the midyear report), I’ve had all A’s which can’t hurt.
Weaknesses: Test scores. While my English and reading scores for the ACT are high, my math/science scores on every test are terrible and since I applied as a physics major those (and that one B in AP Physics) would be what hurt me the most.
Why you think you were accepted: I think my essays and recs. My grades aren’t anything special compared to most people who apply to Grinnell so the main difference would be me taking advantage of all the options for essays and recs.
Where else were you accepted/
waitlisted/rejected: accepted @ Mt Holyoke, St John’s in Santa Fe, Washington College, Amherst, Hamilton, Trinity, UCSB, UCSC, UCD, Denison; waitlisted @ UCB, Cal Poly SLO; rejected @ UChicago, Haverford
General Comments: I really recommend applying to Grinnell through QB. You can send them your QB and Common apps which gives you more opportunities to really show yourself off. Even if you don’t get matched, there’s so much extra stuff you can send to admissions on top of your QB app that it works out really nicely.
Decision: Accepted
College and Program: English and Economics
Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 670 and 670
[] ACT: 31 or 32 SS
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
[] Rank (percentile if rank is
unavailable): 8/72
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Lit+Comp (4), World History (4), and US History (3)
[] Senior Year Course Load: College Macroeconomics, College Microeconomics, Online Anthropology, Spanish 5, AP Literature and Composition, Regents Physics, Intro to Photography
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Not much. I was Most Improved in Chorus one year and I went to sub-states (we call it Area All-States) for singing.[/li]
[/ul]Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Government (Class Secretary), Yearbook (Treasurer and Editor), NYS Envirothon (Aquatic Expert), Chorus (Section Leader), Community Theater, Drama Club, YES! Leads aka students against drugs organization (Secretary), National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, Investment Club (Founding Member), Church Youth Group (Student Leader)
Job/Work Experience: McDonald’s Worker, Babysitter
Volunteer/Community service: Soup Kitchen, Church Nursery worker
Summer Activities: I attended summer camps every summer and church missions trips for two summers
Essays: My essay was about my love of rock climbing and how learning to rock climb at camp taught me to trust myself, set goals, and reach higher. If you want to read it, feel free to message me.
Teacher Recommendation: I had two and they both were phenomenal. They both let me see them and they both wrote two pages on what a great, kind, hardworking student I was.
Counselor Rec: I’m sure this one was also great. She was also my economics teacher and my investment club advisor.
Additional Rec: See teacher rec
Interview: n/a
Supplementary Material(if any): I jokingly sent in some black and white photography I took in intro to photography and let my best friend name them ridiculous names in the portal. Some examples are “Yes Lawd” and “Reclamation and Reconnaissance”.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: F
Income Bracket(specify if applied for
FA): about $90,000 for a family of three
Hooks (URM, first generation college,
etc.): none whatsoever
Reflection
Strengths: My essay was kickass if I do say so myself. Also, my recommendations spoke to my love of people who are different and I think that really fits in with the typical Grinnell Student.
Weaknesses: I took AP Calc AB and barely passed. I didn’t even bother wasting money on the AP.
Why you think you were accepted/
waitlisted/rejected: To this day, I have no idea. I’m super grateful, but all the other top LACs I applied to (Kenyon, Williams, Hamilton to name a few) denied me. Carleton and Wellesley saw enough in me to waitlist me, but only Grinnell took the leap to acceptance.
Where else were you accepted/
waitlisted/rejected: Accepted- Nazareth College, Fordham University, Niagara University, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Binghamton, Suffolk University and Allegheny College. Waitlisted- Wellesley and Carleton. Rejected- Cornell University, Brown University, Boston College, Colby College, Hamilton College, Kenyon College, Williams College
General Comments: Super proud to be attending Grinnell next year. Although Wellesley was my top choice, I don’t think I’d choose to go there over Grinnell if they accepted me even now. I love the people at Grinnell, my roommate is super cool, and I’m ready to take advantage of all the offered opportunities. 