Decision: Accepted
Hopefully this helps someone!
Objective
SAT I (breakdown): 2390 (790 CR, 800 WR, 800 M)
ACT (breakdown): Did not take
SAT II: 750 Math II, 760 Chemistry, 760 US History, 770 Chinese w/Listening
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Chemistry: 5, AP US History: 5, AP English Language and Comp: 5, AP Psychology: 5, AP Human Geography: 5, AP Chinese: 5, AP Comparative Government: 4, AP Statistics: 4
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP English Literature, AP Macroeconomics, AP US Government, Japanese
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar, National Merit Finalist, published a paper on Japanese Tokugawa foreign relations during the 17th-19th centuries (I sent in the first page of the journal article as a supplement) in a Stanford Institute of International Studies journal, Chinese-American Semiconductor Professionals Association Scholarship (not that major), various awards from the World Affairs Council for my passion for international relations, a bunch of awards from flute competitions
Subjective
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Director of Foreign Relations for the UN International Youth Council (currently in the midst of creating a youth-run policy journal), Youth Ambassador to Finland (1 of 12 students to receive a scholarship from the Finnish govt), Stanford Reischauer Japanese and Sejong Korean Scholar (competitive program, only 25 students nationally selected), Board Member of the Silicon Valley United Nations Association (10-12), Student Ambassador for local World Affairs Council (10-12), Principal Flutist of a state-level youth symphony and school Wind Ensemble (sent in a flute supplement) (9-12), Undersecretary general for Model UN (9-12), Director of finances for National Honor Society (10-12), Founded my own financial literacy initiative after interning at a microfinance NGO in China (10-12), Business editor for award-winning school newsmagazine (10-12)
Job/Work Experience: Interning at a microfinance NGO? That was only for a summer though.
Volunteer/Community service: Many hours through the UN Association
Summer Activities: 2013 summer was spent touring Central Europe with my youth symphony for 2-3 weeks, Interned at a Microfinance NGO in Central China, 2014 summer: Received a scholarship from the Finnish government to study abroad 7-8 weeks
Essays:
My Common App was a 8.5/10, about my experiences as a student diplomat in Finland- I talked about a Finnish word that could not be translated into English and how eventually understanding the word helped me understand the Finnish spirit
Stanford Supplements were 8/10, well-written, nothing mindblowingly fantastic though. Perhaps a little contrived at points.
Teacher Recommendation: Stellar! From my APUSH and AP English Language teachers. I was a heavy participant in both these classes and they loved me.
Counselor Rec: Should have been pretty good; I visit my counselor a lot and she understands my aspirations
Additional Rec: Did not send. But I did send in a flute supplement.
Interview: Was not offered an interview
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: International Studies/Linguistics/East Asian Studies- I haven’t decided yet
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Competitive Public
Ethnicity: Chinese-American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~$400,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None.
Reflection
Strengths: SAT I score, unique passions and extracurriculars, not a cookie-cutter Asian, international perspective, did research at Stanford (social science research)
Weaknesses: GPA, SAT II scores, bad at math
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: It’s a crapshoot! I was lucky lol
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: STANFORD, UPenn College of Arts and Sciences (likely), Wellesley, Johns Hopkins, Washington University in St. Louis, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis (w/ regents and honors), UC Irvine Honors Program w/Regents
Deferred: Princeton SCEA
Waitlisted: Duke
Rejected: Northwestern
still waiting on a couple more Ivies and privates (though not expecting much)
Good luck!!
