<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Krieger School of Arts and Sciences: Cognitive Science
Regular Decision</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2300 (730 CR / 790 M / 780 W / 9 Essay, one shot)
[</em>] ACT: Did not take
[<em>] SAT II: 750 (Bio M), 800 (Math IIC)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.94 (No weighted at my school)
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 22/345
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (3), Biology (5), Calculus BC (5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): Did not take
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: 4 APs, rest Honors except for Gym and a required enriched Economics course (pretty intense, but not the most intense courseload out there)
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None 
[</em>] Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar, National Merit and National Achievement Scholar, Honor Roll, National Honor Society, Black Scholars Program </p>
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Color Guard and Indoor Guard (3 years, year-round, soloist and member of advanced weapon line, senior leader), Orchestra (2 years in high school, but since 5th grade), French Club (1 year)
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: None
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Teaching Sunday School and Bible Clubs at my church year-round, Women in Science (2 years), Best Buddies (2 years)
[</em>] Summer Activities: Color Guard, Teaching Outdoor Bible Clubs in Philadelphia, Vacation Bible School and Bible Camp Counselor
[<em>] Essays: Terrible… Just. Terrible…
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: I guess they were pretty good (I didn’t see them, but my AP Calculus teacher is the nicest person I’ve ever met and writes kind letters to his students for fun…)
[<em>] Counselor Rec: I guess it was good. Things were tense between me and my counselor<br>
[</em>] Additional Rec: I got another Teacher Rec, my AP Bio teacher, and she liked me too, so I’m guessing it was also good…
[li] Interview: I didn’t have one!</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Pennsylvania
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): –
[<em>] School Type: Public, apparently it’s a good school, but only two other people that I know of got in within the last few years
[</em>] Ethnicity: Black (Jamaican and Belizean)
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Income Bracket: IDK about brackets, but $80k-$90k?
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Academics and test scores fo sho, teacher and counselor recs
[</em>] Weaknesses: Literally everything else
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Uhhh… academics? URM? They messed up my financial aid and thought my family had more money than we did? 
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Rejected: Harvard (Deferred, then rejected, ouch) , Yale, MIT, Brown (I’ll try to not fit the bitter-Ivy-reject mold :D)
Accepted: Boston University, Duke, George Washington University, Northeastern, University of Richmond</p>
<p>[/ul]General Comments: </p>
<p>This college application process was a long, painful road for me, and had I had the chance to do it all over again, I would have done <em>many</em> things differently. My advice:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Don’t shy away from things. Try new ECs or electives! You don’t have to be in a million clubs or have an unmanageable workload, but don’t let nervousness or an inferiority complex stop you. Also, don’t shy away from leadership positions if you are already passionate about or committed to an EC.</p></li>
<li><p>Think about college early. I’m still mad that my high school said nothing about colleges or the application process until my senior year… :mad: CC shouldn’t be flooded with pre-high-schoolers, but little by little, start researching colleges, take a look at some academic areas you’re interested in, and get familiar with the things you will have to do to apply, particularly in your junior and senior years. I feel really dumb about this now, but I didn’t start thinking about college until the summer between my junior and senior years :o. I didn’t know about any other colleges besides Harvard, Yale, Brown, MIT, and JHU because I live in such a Tiger-Mom-Parent kind of household; it’s a good thing I had some people telling me to apply to more schools! </p></li>
<li><p>If you are a super-super-super bad writer like I am, **start those essays early<a href=“earlier%20than%20September%20of%20senior%20year%20like%20I%20did,%20especially%20for%20any%20early%20apps”>/b</a>. They’re about you, but it’s harder than it looks. Do some soul-searching about who you are and why you do things, and research the kinds of essay prompts you’ll be facing early. I didn’t even know that college applications required essays or interviews, which led to a lot of regret later on.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t read this and think, “Wow. This girl must be so much smarter, more talented, more beautiful than me (;))… I’ll never get in…” Even with the things I had going for me, no way in a million years did I think I would get accepted. Don’t be discouraged from applying based on other people’s scenarios, because every case will be unique. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>All that being said, JHU was not my first choice, but in the end, I’m happy with my decision to go here. I think it will teach me a lot, and not just academics. Congrats to my fellow Blue Jays, and good luck to all prospective students!</p>
<em>dance of joy</em> To those who had lackluster ECs like me: Definitely try to do more stuff that excites you - but even if it’s too late, pour your entire energy into the essays. Communicate your passion for those few special ECs - your chances are not shot yet!</p>