<p>Decision:Deferred</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): Did not take
[</em>] ACT: 33 Comp, 35E, 31M, 31R, 34S, 11W (one and only sitting)
[<em>] SAT II: 730 M1, 790 Chem
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/327
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP English Lang. (5), APUSH (5), AP World (5)…I took every advanced class offered, but many are through SUNY (State University of NY)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): None
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Physics, SUNY Wind Ensemble, AP Calc BC, Engineering, AP English Lit., SUNY Science Research
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Silver Medalist at the International Sustainable World (Engineering, Energy, Environment) Project Olympiad, Presidential Service Award (Silver), AP Scholar, District Student of Distinction for Higher Level Science, 1st Place Engineering and 3rd place overall at a regional science fair (JSHS)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Mechanical Engineering Intern (did this over two summers and during the school year, Columbia University and City College of New York), Newspaper (Editor-in-Chief), United Synagogue Youth (Chapter President), Swimming (Varsity, 4yrs), Ski Club (Founder), School Athletics Dept. (built and launched their new site), town booster club (again, managed website), Federal Reserve Challenge (captain and participant on a specially selected team), Jazz Band (2nd Alto Sax), National Honor Society…I had too many to list on my common app, but I stuck to these because these are what I cared about most. I figured I’d rather keep it short and sweet than attach a lengthy, obnoxious resume.
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Lifeguarded
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Nothing huge…mostly through my synagogue (that’s how I got the presidential service award). I didn’t make this come across as much in my application because I was much more passionate about my other activities.
[<em>] Summer Activities: Lab researcher, lifeguarded on weekends
[</em>] Essays: Great. Made two readers cry, and my English teacher pleaded with me not to change it because she thought it was so good.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Great. It was from my science research teacher who I work for over the summer, and who I went to this international competition with (so we’re very close). Spoke about how I was in his top 2% of students in 27 years of teaching, and that I was extremely mature, dedicated, and dependable.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Didn’t get to read, but she personally told me how proud of it she was
[<em>] Additional Rec: Same as with the counselor rec. We’re also very close, as she’s the advisor for newspaper. She was angry when I didn’t get in.
[</em>] Interview: Great! We spoke for two hours for what was supposed to be a 45 minute interview about much more than just school. In further correspondence with her, she mentioned how much she enjoyed it and when I told her I got deferred she told me to be sure to keep her posted on any awards so she could advocate for me.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): NY
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): USA
[<em>] School Type: Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: M
[</em>] Income Bracket: 200-250k
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Essays, interview, recs, ECs, transcript
[<em>] Weaknesses: didn’t play up volunteerism enough, lack of job experience, scores
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Bright, white and Jewish well-rounded kid from Westchester County. This is NOT an argument against affirmative action. In fact I’m for it when I know a bunch of kids who hate it. Also, the scores. My school has a reputation of getting kids into Harvard (with lower than average scores, too), and I’m on the upper end of the chances, but for SCEA, my scores just aren’t there…although I think they’re good, with the exception of M1. Also, no one has gotten in from my school without winning Intel STS…I’m crossing my fingers on that one! Otherwise, I’m hoping I can get into another STEM program. My grades and qualifications in math and science from my research should give enough of a boost somewhere…and one’s all I need!
[li] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Nowhere yet! Thank god I had my other supplements done though.[/li][/ul]General Comments:
Congrats to all accepted! I was going to do UPenn ED until I got a letter from H over the summer, so this was never the top of the top for choices for me…although it would’ve been cool to be accepted. Really, really hoping to get into Penn, Cornell, Dartmouth, or Northwestern–any would be wonderful!! Only regret is that I didn’t apply to SUNY Binghamton EA…at least I would’ve known something. Still, maybe my school’s magic will work in the RD round if I win Intel STS!! I think that could put me over the top, knowing the way my school has worked in the past. Last year, a girl who applied SCEA was deferred pending STS and, after not winning, was rejected. A girl who applied RD and won STS was accepted. And that story continues. Anyhow, I was prepared for deferral so what can ya do? Only disappointment was my English teacher and science teacher…they were pretty upset I didn’t get in.</p>
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