**Decision: Rejected **
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): n/a
ACT (breakdown): 34C (can’t remember the individual scores tbh)
SAT II: 800 MII, 770 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): My school doesn’t do GPA (or weighted grades/traditional “Honors” classes), but my raw grades were probably A- average (with B+'s and flat A’s peppered throughout)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): neither
AP (place score in parenthesis): Comp Sci (5). our school doesn’t do AP courses either tbh; it is up to the student to self-register and self-study for the tests (but our college officers have supposedly sorted this out with the colleges themselves; hence, I don’t consider this a total weakness). Planning to take English Lit, BC Calc, and Chemistry.
IB (place score in parenthesis): nope.
Senior Year Course Load: independent study in Algorithms, the equivalent of BC Calc, Advanced Chemistry, Multivariable Calc (our school staggers the curricula of the two Calc classes so math nuts can take both concurrently), English, US History
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nope.
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): nah.
[ b]Subjective:[ /b]
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Varsity Parlimentary Debate (4 yrs), Jazz Sax (4 yrs), Op-ed writer (4 yrs), Theatre (2 yrs), Math Club (3 yrs), and about 3-4 other things that I’m a bit too lazy to list
Job/Work Experience: Android App Dev Intern at a small tech startup (11/12th summer), IT Intern at a relatively big-name video game company (10th/11th summer). Both were unpaid tbh.
Volunteer/Community service: nada.
Summer Activities: internships. other than that, i just fucked around and read lit.
Essays: Common App essay was about how I turned my rather boring summer internship in 10th grade into a learning experience, Supp 1 was a straightforward “Why” essay, Supp 2 was about an invention or something (can’t remember tbh). Although I cannot objectively rank my essays, I thought I did very well on the Common App and “Why Mudd” essays; the other one was pretty shit tbh.
Teacher Rec #1: Haven’t read, though I’d imagine it’s unique. My English teacher from last year thought I was exceptionally bright but very, very lazy.
Teacher Rec #2: Haven’t read, though I’d imagine it’s flattering. I’m really close to my CS teacher, so I bet he put in a good word for me (though he’s not as strong of a writer as is the writer of rec 1).
Counselor Rec: Haven’t read, but I’d imagine it’s rather generic.
Additional Rec: nope.
Interview: nah.
Additional material (abstracts/papers/other): nope. probably should’ve sent them code or something tbh.
[ b]Other:[ /b]
Applied for Financial Aid?: no.
Intended Major: Computer Science (though I listed CS/Philosophy at every other school I applied to tbh; mudd obviously doesn’t offer Humanities majors/minors.)
State (if domestic applicant): Massachusetts
School Type: Prep/Boarding (not gonna reveal where I go, but it’s one of those Andover/Exeter tier schools)
Ethnicity: Indian (yep…)
Gender: M
Income Bracket: high tier
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I wish.
[ b]Reflection:[ /b]
Strengths: According to teachers, I’m supposedly a strong writer, even for a prep school grad. EC’s are varied, job experiences are specialized.
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: dunno. I think I tried to show how I have a considerable amount of hands-on technical knowledge in CS, in addition to the expected high-level theoretical knowledge (as evidenced by my independent study). Additionally, My “Why” essay was kinda focused on my interests outside of CS, to which my EC’s lend credence.
Weaknesses: My second essay was trash, my grades are pretty mediocre, I’m another goddamn Indian applying for CS, and I may have come across as someone who is more interested in a school with more Liberal Arts opportunities, which perhaps gave Mudd admissions people the idea that I belong at a more traditional Liberal Arts college, not a hardcore Engineering school.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: See Above.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Waitlisted at UChicago, Bowdoin, Case Western (didn’t show interest, but that’s another story tbh.)
Rejected at Columbia ED.
I’m waiting on: Northwestern, NYU, JHU, the entire Ivy League (sans Princeton), UMich, Williams, UMass Amherst
[ b]General Comments & Advice:[ /b]
I fell out of interest with this school after applying, as I really don’t see myself doing hardcore engineering stuff throughout my undergrad. The rejection itself doesn’t mean much, but I’m really, really worried about the bloodbath coming next week. I’m doubting everything now; it’s going to be rough, I can tell.