***Official Stanford Class of 2019 RD Results Only Thread***

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
21

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2180 (Critical Reading:730 /Math:800/Writing:650)
ACT (breakdown): Not taken
SAT II: 800 Math II / 710 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 17.77/20 (by converting to US grading system it is like 4.7/4)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/252 (Most competitive school in the country)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Not available in Tunisia
IB (place score in parenthesis): Not available in Tunisia
Senior Year Course Load: Arabic/French/English/Spanish/Philosophy/Computer Science/Math/Physics/Biology/Chemistry/Physical Education
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None except Top of the high school a lot of times

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Winner of an international educational program organized by ENI and MIT about Energy (My major). Interacted with Professors at MIT and had a test after every lecture (16 lectures). Had the highest scores.

  • Kung Fu Trainee for 4 years (1056 hours): Vice-Champion of the state in heavyweights.
  • Participated at the second edition of the theatre festival at our high school attended by more than 300 persons and had the major role in the main play. Nomination for the best actor award.
    – Taking part in an international written-debate contest (the Public Policy International Contest) Organized by New York University. Received a certificate of excellence.
    – Received the national certificate of First Aid after taking part in a training.
    Job/Work Experience: Working in a factory during two summers. 30 Hours per week for 6 weeks every summer. (360 hours)
    Volunteer/Community service: Different activities (10) with the Red Cross More than 650 hours
    Essays (rating 1-10, details): Personal Statement 10/10 Read by more than 10 people including education USA advisors and teachers that rated it extremely Good. Wrote about getting knocked out at the kung-fu state championship.
    Supplements: Intellectual Vitality: It was about meditation and I’m sure that this was the one that got me in (10/10)
    Roommate: Wrote about everything. It was a list. It was good but not as awesome as the previous one (7/10)
    What matters to you: Small Details and how they might create an abyss between us and the other. It was great (9/10)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 from Physics Teacher. He wrote outstanding things about me like the best student ever
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10 from French Teacher and mentor during the theater festival. It was awesome. wrote like one of the best students ever, talked about my french/acting skills and my mastery of 4 different languages.
Counselor Rec: 10/10: The best student in the history of the high school. He talked aout my record grades and my unique extracurriculars.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: NA

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, a lot
Intended Major: Energy Resources Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): NA
Country (if international applicant): Tunisia
School Type: Small Public (very selective based on a national exam)
Ethnicity: Arab/African
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $25000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM/Speaks 4 languages

Reflection

Strengths: Recommendations/Essays/Uniqueness and originality/ GPA and class rank/origins/ first Tunisian in Stanford for more than 10 years/Well-Rounded ECs
Weaknesses: Scores/Massive Fiancial need
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: They saw in me someone unique willing to take the risk. I wrote my essays 10 hours before the deadline and I took the risk because I wasn’t suppose to meet the deadline.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: UChicago/Duke/Upenn/Grinnell/UMiami/Trinity(Texas)/Fordham
Wailisted: Vanderbilt/WUSTL/Udenver/Rhodes/Trinity College
Rejected:MIT/Notre Dame
Waiting for: Cornell/Columbia/Harvard
** General Comments: It’s gonna be a piece of advice for the next generation: Take the risk/ Do well at School/Make your teachers love you to write amazing recs/ Do well rounded ECs **

22

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): NA
ACT (breakdown): 35 C Superscored and not superscored: (33 E, 35 M, 36 R, 36 S)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 760 M2 720 Bio M
Unweighted/Weighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98/4.64 I go to a highly selective magnet school that chooses around 2% of students that apply out of 9 high schools. So out of around 3100 applicants, 75 or so get in.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 3% 10/310
AP (place score in parentheses):
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calculus, Orgo Chem, Bio Chem, Biomedical Science, IB History of the Americas, IB Spanish, Orchestra
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 3rd Place Best Midwestern High School Writing Competition twice in a row. 9th Place ACSL International Coding Competition

[ b]Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): NHS, Research Team (at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Varsity Tennis for 3 years, 1st Violin in the Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Debate
Job/Work Experience: NA
Volunteer/Community Service: Over 200 hours at a local hospital, at summer science camps, a school for the mentally disabled, friends and I started charity that feeds elementary schools children on the weekends (they live in a bad part of town), I founded an interscholastic math competition for 5th graders, MATHCOUNTS coach for a local middle school.
Summer Activities: Gave talks at local hospitals to raise money for the charity I run, and why feeding poverty stricken children in elementary school is important.
Essays: Pretty strong all around. My English teacher said they were great.
Teacher Recommendations: Idk, but should have been good. One of the teachers asked me if he could write me a rec, and told me he would say I was outstanding.
Counselor Rec: She said there’s no doubt I’m one of the top kids at my school, so definitely should have been good.
Additional Rec: From the director of Lee Honors College at WMU. I worked with her to establish the math competition.
Interview: NA

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Admissions is hella random.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/list] Accepted: Johns Hopkins, Wash U St. Louis, U Mich, U Miami, K College (full tuition)
Waitlisted: Case Western Reserve, Northwestern
Rejected: UChicago, Stanford
Still Waiting For: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, UPenn
General Comments: Stanford has a history of rejecting all kids from my magnet school. We haven’t had a student get into Stanford in the past 5 years now. Princeton, Yale, Harvard, UPenn: My dream school has turned me down, but with this rejection I turn to you in hope. Please…I’m begging.

[ b]Other**
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Pre-med
State (if domestic applicant): MI
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public Magnet
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $150,000 +
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None…

23

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2370 (800 CR, 770 M, 800 W)
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math II, 800 Latin, 800 US History, 790 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA (I’m homeschooled)
AP (place score in parentheses): US Gov (5), US History (5), European History (5), Macro (5), Micro (5), English Lit (5), English Lang (5), Chemistry (5), Calc BC (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): didn’t take
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP Comp Sci, Discrete Math, Asian History, Asian Literature, Front-End Web Development, Machine Learning, Personal Finance
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): two semi-major writing awards (not naming to protect identity), National Merit, National AP Scholar, an award for girls in computing, Stanford Sejong Korean Scholar.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Lots of leadership (founded and taught economics class, mentor at Coder Dojo, teaching assistant for several AP classes), paid job at library, various computer science extracurriculars (Google Code-In, volunteering with CS competition for girls, volunteering at startup, etc.), music (piano, choir).
Job/Work Experience: Library page
Volunteer/Community Service: See ECs, plus 400 hours volunteering at the library from ages 12-16.
Summer Activities: Economics seminar, government/business camp, taking care of grandparents, working
Essays (rating 1-10, details):: good Common App essay (9/10), unique short-answer questions. I thought my roommate essay was unoriginal (I wrote it last-minute), but the other two seemed pretty good.
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: 10, 6 or 7 (I’m not as close to this teacher)
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: 10/10 (written by my parents, since I’m homeschooled)
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details):: 7/10 (complimentary rec from my boss)
Interview: none

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
State (if domestic applicant): Michigan
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Homeschool
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $70-80k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): maybe being a female in computer science? But this probably isn’t so rare among Stanford applicants.

Reflection
Strengths: high stats, leadership, good essays and recs, difficult courseload.
Weaknesses: I still feel like my ECs and awards were slightly weak. (It was harder to participate in extracurriculars since I’m homeschooled.)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think I had a unique combination of interests (comp sci + economics and other humanities) that may have appealed to Stanford (after all, this is the school with the CS+X program). I also think that being homeschooled may have helped me stand out. But I’m totally shocked and ecstatic!
Where else you are applying or have already applied: likely letter + Science Research Fellows from Columbia; accepted to Rice, University of Michigan, Alabama (with full-tuition+), Maryland (with 48k scholarship), George Mason (with 40k scholarship), Rochester (with 19k scholarship); deferred from Princeton; waitlisted from WashU and UChicago. Still waiting to hear from Princeton, Harvard, and Penn.

SO HAPPY!

24

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2210 superscore (800CR/680M/730W)
ACT (breakdown): 34
SAT II: 710 Chem, 780 Lit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): don’t remember exactly, but top 2%
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), Chem (5), Bio (5), Lit/comp (4), Lang/comp (5), Human Geo (5), Govt/politics (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): nope
Senior Year Course Load: Latin II, upper-level Medieval Lit, Physics 1, and Voice, all at major public university as part of dual-enrollment program offered by my state (I’ve taken all my classes at the university since junior year)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2x National History Day National Qualifier (won state one year, second place one year) in Website category, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, University Dean’s List

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Classical Ballet (train 17 hrs/week, multiple professional productions, lots of summers spent at selective dance programs - generally just a huge part of my life that I wrote about in my Common App essay), President of University student group that plans events/resources for dual-enrollment high schoolers on campus, Young Scholars Program at UC Davis (selective summer bio research program) summer before senior year
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at Science Museum and volunteer teaching young dancers (both weekly)
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Intellectual Vitality (8.5): talked about how my experience with the amazing academic community at YSP inspired me to apply to Stanford
Roommate (8): wrote about my love of snacks and revealed a few of my interests; funny and light
What Matters (10): this essay meant a lot to me and I think it showed. I wrote about how I integrate my past and my future through collections of objects in a ‘memory box,’ and it pretty much captured what drives me as a person.
Common App (9): put a lot of work into it.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 7.5/10. Written by both the TA and the professor of my pre-calc II class at the university; I got the highest score on the final exam out of a class of a few hundred college kids, so I hoped the letter would help make up for my crap SAT math score. Probably pretty generic though.
Teacher Rec #2: 7.5/10. Written by my anthropology professor whom I loved, don’t know how well he knew me though
Counselor Rec: 8/10. She likes me. Mostly.
Additional Rec: none, but I did submit an ok arts supplement for dance.
Interview: 8/10. We had a very nice conversation and he told me I would be a good fit for Stanford.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Human Biology
State (if domestic applicant): MN
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: mid-sized public that has not sent very many students to top schools (but I attended a gifted K-12 program that was situated within it, and I don’t live in the district)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: High
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): maybe the college classes or the ballet? nothing really though

Reflection

Strengths: Essays. I’m pretty sure that’s what got me in. A lot of self-reflection and emotion went into them, and I was genuine and personal in everything I presented. I wrote the essays thinking more about the challenge of capturing myself in a few hundred words on paper rather than thinking about what Stanford would like.
Weaknesses: that fricken math score
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Wellesley, Rice, UC Berkeley, Bryn Mawr w/merit, W&M w/Monroe Scholarship, UC Davis w/Regents and Provost, Case Western w/merit, Tulane w/merit, U of Mn w/merit
Waitlisted: Barnard
Rejected: Pomona
Waiting on: Harvard, Yale

General Comments: Total crapshoot. From reading posts on cc before I applied up until the moment I got my acceptance letter, I thought I had no chance. I still can’t believe this! For future applicants: you’ve heard it a million times, but if you present yourself honestly, things might work out in your favor :slight_smile:

25

[color=red]Decision: Rejected[/color=red]

SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t Submit
ACT (breakdown): 27
SAT II: Didn’t take
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.90
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/501
AP (place score in parenthesis): 3 APUSH, 3 AP Language Comp, 3 AP English Lit, 4 AP US Government
IB (place score in parenthesis): 6 IB Business and Management SL (Junior Year)
Senior Year Course Load: IB Diploma - IB Math Studies, IB English, IB French AB Initio, IB Biology, IB History of Americas, IB Theory of Knowledge (first semester), 2 Free period second semester.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): IB Biology Award of Excellence, Science National Honor Award, French National Honor Award, Presidential Superlative Award, AP Scholar Award, English National Honor Award

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Key Club (Vice President - 2 Years), French National Honors Society (Projects Committee Head), IB Student Union (Historian), Seventh-Day Adventist Youth Society (Director & President - 6 Years), Seacrest Seventh-Day Adventist Choir (Secretary & Event Coordinator), C12A Distributions LLC. local start up company (Vice President),
Job/Work Experience:
Babysitter (2011 June, July, August)
Volunteer/Community service:
Patrick Murphy Campaign (Non-Paid Intern), Seacrest Seventh-Day Adventist Church (Assistant Treasurer), Habitat For Humanity (Volunteer)
Summer Activities:
Internship at Patrick Murphy (June, July, August, September, November)
Essays: 10/10 - Wrote a seven stanza autobiographical poem about my perfect place, then did a literary analysis on it. I thought it was good, but my English teacher raved about it.
Teacher Recommendation: 10/10 - My dual enrollment Statistics professor and my IB History teacher, and my IB French teacher. It really looked good that I had a college professor write about me.
Counselor Rec: 10/10 - She loves me and I knew she’d write an amazing letter of rec.
Additional Rec: 10/10 - IB Business & Management Teacher and my Key Club Advisor

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Business Administration (Entrepreneurship)
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Black
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: <25,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, First Generation American

Reflection
I was definitely not expecting much from Stanford. I knew there were much more qualified students out there who would probably overshadow me and that’s okay! I took the shot and I don’t regret it at all! Actually, If I didn’t put my heart and soul into my Stanford essays, I probably wouldn’t have been so inspired to write such amazing essays that got me into some of the best universities in the nation! I’m pretty happy with how everything has turned out and I’m definitely grateful for all the opportunities - so not feeling bummed or heartbroken. Good luck to all future applicants and Congratulations to those who were accepted!

Strengths:
Essays, Extracurriculars (but not amazing!), GPA, hooks.
Weaknesses: ACT scores, didn’t take or submit any SATs or SAT II.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don’t know really. It was up in the air from the beginning.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: University of Florida, University of California- San Diego, Cornell University (Probably going), Emory University, University of Notre Dame, Northwestern University, UNC, University of California - Berkeley, USC
Waiting on Acceptance notification: None
Rejected: University of Texas - Austin, UCLA, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Rice, NYU
Your “Big Red” factor - the most unique thing in your application: Not really sure. Maybe the essay!

26

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35 Composite (36E 34M 33R 36S 10W) single-sitting, first try
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Physics (770) Math I (730) single-sitting, first try
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parentheses): N/A
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: A-level Physics, A-level Maths, A-level Further Maths, A-level Japanese, A-level Economics
GCSE’s (UK qualification): 6A* 5A
AS-level (UK qualification): 5A 1B
A2-level (UK qualification): 3A* 2A
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Mathematics Olympiad (national), but nothing out of the ordinary.

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Captain & Coach of Basketball team, starter of soccer team, charity (founded charity following the 2011 Japanese tsunami, raising over £3000), Astronomy society (president), economics society (co-president), violin for 10 years, school orchestra (first violin), website blog, write for school magazine, some other minor things
Job/Work Experience: 2 weeks at Santander Bank, 1 week at Pearson plc. Never had a job.
Volunteer/Community Service: Started charity (see ECs), local animal shelter, feed the homeless in South London, clean-up & restructure after tsunami in Japan
Summer Activities: Volunteered in Japan, work experience
Essays: 7/10 maybe?
Teacher Recommendations: No idea
Counselor Rec: No idea
Additional Rec:
Interview: Decent

Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Physics
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): UK
School Type: State grammar
Ethnicity: Japanese
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $150000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Strengths: Scores, some good ECs…
Weaknesses: but no spectacular ECs. Essays, recommendations perhaps.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: See weaknesses.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Cambridge, LSE, UCL, Birmingham (accepted). Waiting for Ivy Decision Day.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: You won’t get in if you don’t try. I didn’t get the desired result, nor did I expect to really. It certainly wasn’t a fruitless application, although a rejection is of course disappointing. Congrats to all who were accepted!

27

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT: 35 C 35 E 36 R 35 M 34 S
SAT II: 790 Math II 740 USH
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.89
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): upper 2%
AP (place score in parenthesis):
AP World: 4
APUSH: 5
AP Calc AB: 5
AP Language: 5
AP Chem: 4

IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load:
AP Lit
AP Calc BC
AP Bio
AP Gov
AP Micro
AP Stats
AP Comp Gov (Self Study)
AP Macro (Self Study)
Academic Decathlon

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Around 40 medals for Academic Decathlon (national, state, and regional level), highest scorer on team at 2014 nationals and at Regionals competition 2015, currently the highest scoring student in the state (AZ) and in history of my region

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Academic Decathlon (Team captain 10,11,12) [First time any school in our district has placed 1st at regionals and state, qualified for nationals and placed 6th in the nation, had lots of media coverage since our team really came out of nowhere. I’ve spent hundreds of hours studying for it, also see awards]
Physics Club (Founder/President, 12)
Chemistry Club (11, President 12)
Calculus Club (VP, 11,12)

Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Tutor and helped organized fundraisers and competitions for academic decathlon
Summer Activities: Boys State (mayor and senator elect)
Essays: I’d say 7-8/10. I thought my Stanford supplements were for the most part pretty good, with the roommate letter being my worst.
Teacher Recommendation: 9.5/10; From my AcaDec coach, we’re incredibly close and I’ve had 4 classes with her, I consider her a close friend rather than a teacher so it’s very good I believe
Counselor Rec: 5.5/10; Average, she knows my name and that’s a big deal at a large public school that hasn’t ever sent a student to an ivy
Additional Rec: 6/10; From my calc teacher who I’ve had for two years. We’re close, but not as close as acadec coach
Interview: N/A

Other

State (if domestic applicant): AZ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large public; 2600 kids
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 130k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

Strengths: Scores, URM, heavy involvement in EC
Weaknesses: Maybe essays a bit, semi-low GPA, lack of volunteer work
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: California has the biggest and most competitive academic decathlon program in the nation. My ECs, based around Decathlon, pale in comparison to what Stanford has probably seen. Also, I wasn’t able to send in an update when I placed first in the state after my regionals competition, so I felt like my awards were not as solid as I could have made them. Stanford also has a huge applicant pool.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Penn (likely), Cornell (likely), NYU (full tuition), Northeastern (honors), ASU. Waiting on: Yale, Columbia (deferred), and Harvard
General Comments: I expected it! I mean, you have to expect a rejection from every school like this. So I’m not upset at all, and I already have gotten fantastic offers. Congratulations to all of those who were accepted!! You guys are truly admirable. And to those rejected, you just got rejected from the most selective school in the country. It isn’t the end of the world!

28

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2300 (790 CR, 720 M, 790 W)
[] ACT (breakdown): 34
[] SAT II: 800 Biology M, 790 Math II
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
[] AP (place score in parentheses): 5 on Biology, World, Euro, Psych, Chemistry, Statistics, AB Calculus, Literature, Language, 4 on Latin
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, AP US History, Honors Acting, Organic Chemistry 1&2, Differential Equations, Calculus 3
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar, National Merit Commended

Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Student Body President, Paid worker on Election campaign, boys state senator, varsity track/cc (not recruited)
[] Job/Work Experience: math tutor at a tutoring center, election campaign
[] Volunteer/Community service: hospital stuff
[] Summer Activities: boys state, courses at local university
[] Essays: I think they were very strong. My roommate letter I think was especially well written.
[] Teacher Recommendation: excellent from both
[] Counselor Rec: excellent
[] Interview: went incredibly well
[li] Supplementary Material: N/A[/li]
Other
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: nada
[] State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: small private
[] Ethnicity: white (middle eastern), Asian (Pakistani)
[] Gender: male
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): super high
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nothing[/li]
Reflection
[] Strengths: test scores, very strong extracurriculars and leadership
[] Weaknesses: ethnicity
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: see strengths? Honestly so many extraordinary candidates were wait listed and rejected
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: full ride to UF, Accepted WashU, Vanderbilt, Northwestern wait listed UChicago, Duke, rejected MIT

General Comments:

Best news of my life. Will be attending the most selective college in the country next fall!

29

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1930 (620 R, 670 M, 640 W)
ACT (breakdown): 30 C, 31 E, 29 M, 32 R, 26 S
SAT II: none
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8 (I have a 4.0 at the college level.)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/127
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: University-level Calculus II and Calculus III, English IV, Anatomy and Physiology I and II, Choir, Aerobics, Academic Decathlon
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar (does having an associate’s degree count?)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Business Professionals of America member for four years (secretary for senior year), National Technical Honor Society member for two years (secretary for senior year), High Q team member for one year (founder and captain), National Honor Society for one year, Science National Honor Society for two years, Youth for Christ, Volleyball intramurals, Math and Engineering Club for two years – along with MAES and SHPE, University Interscholastic League member since 2007, Science Fair
Job/Work Experience: Summer Internship with Sustainability Department in my city’s government
Volunteer/Community service: all the work I did with the honor societies and library volunteer for two years
Summer Activities: well the internship……I also had college classes in the summer
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 3/10? (I can admit I didn’t work hard on my essays.)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I didn’t read them, but all the teachers I asked think very highly of me. (I’ll just assume they were good.)

Teacher Rec #1: English III (Junior Year English) teacher
Teacher Rec #2: Geometry and Algebra II teacher
Counselor Rec: haven’t read the rec…we’re pretty close though, so it’s probably pretty good
Additional Rec: none
Interview: Went very well. The lady was a few minutes late and we had a pleasant conversation and she even said the interview went well. She was very nice.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Industrial Engineering/Operations Research
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public (low income/at risk) (it’s an early college high school funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation….students simultaneously attend both college and high school)
Ethnicity: Latina, Asian, and White (I’m a mutt.)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: as low as you can go….maybe 13K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first generation college, tragic backstory (single parent household, poor, mother had a stroke, job loss, evicted from house, divorce….I should write a book. jk)

Reflection

Strengths: I’m the poor, minority female every college wants to diversify their campus. I’m also the valedictorian of my class as of now and am attending college while at high school (dual credit). Lots and lots of extracurricular activities, too.
Weaknesses: I suck at writing, especially about myself. I also don’t have amazing SAT and ACT scores. And IB and AP wasn’t offered at my school.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My SAT/ACT weren’t up to par and I didn’t proofread my essays (oops).
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I have a scholarship (almost full ride) to a college in my hometown and at Houston Baptist University. Waiting on Columbia and USC. I also was selected as a finalist for the Gates Millennium Scholarship (but I didn’t know that at the time of the application) and am waiting for that decision.

General Comments:
-I’m shocked that I was even waitlisted tbh. (like I’m not even sad – just happy that they think I was good enough to be considered. lol)
-Congrats to all who made it! You have worked very hard and it’s about time schools are starting to see that.
-And don’t be too down if you didn’t. Stanford is super picky and it does not mean you aren’t a wonderful candidate. Good luck for any other colleges and scholarships you are applying for!

30

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2240 (680 R, 770 M, 790 W)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 770 Math II, 680 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 22/383
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chinese (5), World History (4), Physics B (4), Statistics (4), English Language & Composition (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Computer Science, AP US Government (first semester) and Comparative Government (second semester), AP Calculus AB, AP Physics C, Senior English (haha), CCNP Cisco (computer networking classes)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, NCWIT National Runner-Up and State Winner, QuestBridge finalist, Google Code-in Finalist, some hackathon stuff

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Robotics, Computer Club (President), Girls Who Code at Amazon, working as a web dev in several organizations
Job/Work Experience: Summer internship in software engineering for a Seattle tech startup
Volunteer/Community service: Web development for multiple organizations
Summer Activities: GWC + internship
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Dang, I worked my ass off on these essays. Disappointed they didn’t stand out enough.

  • Roommate: Had a lot of fun with this one. I talked about Once Upon a Time (my fav show–it’s so good!! Go watch it!), and then wrote “confessions” of quirky things about me (10/10)
  • Vitality: I compared computer science with cooking turkey, one of my fav essays. I reused this one on multiple apps (10/10)
  • What matters: Family. I know, it’s cliche but it’s the truth. I wrote an anecdote of eating dim-sum with my parents when I was a kid, and there was a special moment when my dad told me he expected me to treat him and my mom to dim-sum when I become an adult. Idk, but it’s an important memory for me. (9/10)
  • Extracurricular was about Computer Club and my excitement/pride for it (8/10)
  • My short answers were absolutely truthful and honest and I was myself. Lmao for example all of my fav events involved the Seahawks (2013 Super Bowl, Seahawks parade, fav Seahawks games)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t read any but probably decent
Teacher Rec #1: physics teach.
Teacher Rec #2: US history teach.
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec: GWC teach.
Interview: My interview was chill but it ended short because he scheduled another interview right after mine. I saw the next interviewee walk in LOL awk.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Definitely
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): WA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, competitive
Ethnicity: 100% Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~$25,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first generation college

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, first gen, high SAT score for a low income student, pretty decent extra currics, showing a lot of interest in one thing, unique story (lived out of the house and without dad since four years ago)
Weaknesses: my race, physics SAT subject score, AP scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: It’s extremely competitive, of course Stanford attracts all the best of the best, and there are a lot of factors you can’t control in this process. I think for Stanford they don’t pick you whether you’re “good enough” but they pick you based on “is there already another student here with the same identity?”
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Lots of rejections haha. Accepted: University of Washington, USC (Presidential scholarship), Vassar, University of Virginia. Waitlisted: Harvey Mudd. Rejected: Pomona, Berkeley, MIT. Waiting on Ivies (not going to get into any so likely USC if financial situation plays out well)

General Comments:
It’s a bummer since Stanford was my dream school but really there’s no point sulking about something you can’t change. And hey the competition is real. Congrats to those admitted, WOOT WOOT, PARTY IN DA HOUSE!

I’m going to work hard to be successful and this setback won’t matter anymore :slight_smile:

31

Decision: Waitlisted

I really didn’t want to write this, but reading these in the past helped me, so hopefully this will help a future student.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1920 (M: 700, W: 630, R: 590) lol, took it once 3 years ago
ACT (breakdown): 34 (M: 35, S: 35, W: 34, R: 33)
SAT II: None
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 56/332
AP (place score in parenthesis): Statistics (5), Environmental Science (4), World History (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Lit, AP Computer Science, Physics, US History, and Journalism.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Computer Science Club (VP), DECA (VP), Student Government (Treasurer), Violin, Taekwondo (Black Belt), NHS, Software developer for various companies, made some programs on my own as well. Created a small tech company (& sold part of it) < That’s probably what got me on the waitlist instead of rejected.
Job/Work Experience: Worked at a local university doing some technical/programming work.

Volunteer/Community service: Not much, volunteered at Teen Court
Summer Activities: Just various free programs that I applied for.

Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9/10. I don’t want to go into too much detail on them. I’m not the best writer, but I spent a lot of time on them. Some were just about my extracurriculars, but most were about who I am as a person. The prompts really allow you to open up, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing these essays.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Overall excellent
Teacher Rec #1: Math Teacher for two years, probably a 9/10
Teacher Rec #2: English Teacher, excellent writer, probably a 9/10
Counselor Rec: Likely generic, but she knew me better than most students, so maybe an 8/10
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: It went incredibly well.

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): South-Atlantic Area
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection:
Strengths: Essays, Extracurriculars, Recommendations
Weaknesses: SAT, SAT Subject Tests, Course Rigor
Why you think you were waitlisted: I think I had great extracurriculars, but I didn’t really take challenging classes, and because of that I didn’t take any SAT Subject Tests either. Also I mean it’s Stanford so…
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Georgia Tech. Rejected: UC Berkeley.

General Comments: I’m actually happy I even got on the waitlist. Years ago, I never thought I’d even be applying to a school like Stanford. There are so many people who are much academically stronger than I am who got rejected. Even though they rarely take anyone off the waitlist, I’m just happy I made it this far, and that they actually cared about my application. Congrats to all those who got in. I’m sure we’ll all do well no matter where we go.

To future applicants: Don’t stress so much over every test and taking every AP class. Yes, they’ll help you get into college and if you enjoy them, that’s great, but if you spend time doing things that make you smile, things that you really care about, you’ll enjoy high school so much more. In my opinion (although I’m sure not everyone agrees with me), that is so much more important than an acceptance letter. A name like Stanford will definitely help you, but it doesn’t mean you can’t find your own success elsewhere.

32

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 E, 36 M, 35 S, 35 R)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math 2 (710) Chemistry (700)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/~425
AP (place score in parentheses): Human (5), Environmental (5), Chemistry (4), Lang (3)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus Ab, AP Calculus Bc, Business Economics, Government, AP Literature, AP French, Student Ambassadors (S. Government), AP Physics 1
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended Scholar, AP Scholar

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Student Ambassadors (President), Sexual Assault Resource Team, National Honor Society (Secretary), Varsity Track, Varsity Baseball, Link Crew (President/Founder), Math/Science/French Honor Society, Counselor Advisory Board
Job/Work Experience: Busser since summer before Junior year
Volunteer/Community Service: Community Advocate with Sexual Assault Victim Advocacy Center
Summer Activities: Yale Summer Session, Baseball, Job
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I thought they were good obviously, but who knows how the admissions felt about it. I wrote about my position as a Sexual Assault Victim Advocate and my dedication towards ending the acceptance of sexual violence in our culture in the Common App essay. In the Additional Info, I wrote about being from Hawai’i and my cultural sense of 'ohana.
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Never read them. AP Chem teacher (knew him for a year), French teacher (knew him for 2 years)
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t read it, but I think it was good because I’ve known her for 4 years and she is the advisor of Student Ambassadors (my leadership group)
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details): N/A
Interview: Thought it went well. Interviewer was cool.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
State (if domestic applicant): Colorado
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Pacific Islander (Hawaiian)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Not sure, but I think that my parents do pretty well.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Pacific Islander, Sexual Assault Victim Advocacy work

Reflection
Strengths: I think my strengths are that I am a URM, and I am very passionate about advocacy work that not many high school kids are involved in.
Weaknesses: I indicated that I was interested in a science major, and I don’t have the original research/impressive scientific course-load that many have (aside from AP Environmental, AP Chem, AP Physics 1, and Biochem/Biophysics at Yale Summer Session).
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Don’t do something simply because people say “colleges like to see it”. Find something you are passionate about, and commit yourself to it. Chances are, you will end up doing some pretty awesome things because your passion will naturally lead you to pursue opportunities. Plus, you will be happy and enthusiastic as well.

33

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I: 2140 M(770) R(720) W(650)
ACT 34 M(36) S(36) E(31) R(34) Essay(8)
SAT II: Math 2 (740) Bio (740)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):24/773
AP (place score in parenthesis):Bio(5) Chem(3) HG(5) Chinese(5) USHistory(4) English Lang/Comp(4) CalcBC(3)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Differential Equations/Multivariable Calculus, AP English, AP Gov, AP Macroeconomics, AP Computer Science, Chinese 5 Self Study
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):Nothing really major, does National Merit count?

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Red Cross (Historian), UNICEF(Historian), NHS, Speech and Debate
Job/Work Experience: I founded my own company that helps bring 3D printed models into the hands of blind students.
Volunteer/Community service: Definitely, can’t place a number on how many hours from the top of my head.

Summer Activities: Intern at company that is creating assistive technology.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):CommonApp Essay (9) Roomate (9) Vitality(8) What Matters(8) Extracurricular (10)
Short Answers (10)- those took me a LONG time.

This is my 2 cents… don’t try to force what you think Stanford wants (quirky) just write about what you really love! I even wrote about Porsche winning LeMans. Although it’s cliche I can’t help but stress that you need to be yourself. And, if the adcons like who you are, than awesome! If they don’t, than you might not be the perfect fit that they are looking for. Long 2 cents, but in summary: don’t force a perfect application, no one’s perfect! GOOD LUCK class of 2020!!

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: (10) I always went in after class to talk to this said teacher regarding project ideas I had. We got pretty close, to where we could joke around and it was obvious in class he liked me.
Teacher Rec #2: (8) I think that this said teacher wrote me a good rec. But, I have no real way to tell. We really weren’t that close.
Counselor Rec: (10) I’ve gotten really close to my councilor over the years, so I have good reason to believe that this Rec was really good.
Additional Rec: I sent in two additional rec letters by snail mail. I don’t think that Stanford really wants additional info, but I truly believed the two letters gave the adcon a deeper understanding of me.
Interview: NA

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): AZ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian (Chinese)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Barely 125<
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Founding a company to help blind students with 3D models- kinda a hook I think.

Reflection: I would never had though I would get into Stanford!! But, I am so excited to have. For the class of 2020 here are some tips that I felt helped me through the application process: Read your essays over and over. Don’t be afraid if you think an essay is bad to completely throw it out and start anew (I did this a couple of times). Please don’t write about anything cliche- you can find cliche topics easily with Google (AVOID THESE).

Strengths: GPA, ACT, Essays
Weaknesses: SAT 2, wasn’t the best at any school extracurricular.

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I threw my towel in and got lucky that it was chosen!! Just make the best “towel” you can and hope for the best I guess.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: LL to Duke, Berkeley, UCSD, Waitlist: UCLA, Carnegie, Cornell, Columbia, Deferred than Reject: Harvard

General Comments: Like I said before don’t be cliche and don’t force anything. Good Luck!! Everyone. And for everyone who made it in this year, I can’t wait to meet you all! GO STANFORD

34

[/size=4][color=green]Decision: Accepted[/color=green][/size]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2140 (690 R, 700 M, 750 M) 2220 SS (770 R, 700 M, 750 W)
ACT (breakdown): 33 (35 E, 30 M, 35 R, 31 S)
SAT II: Nope
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Idk, UW is 4.52
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/72
AP (place score in parenthesis): I’ll graduate with 66 dual credit hours
Senior Year Course Load: 4 dual credit classes and one regular mandatory class
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None really; some school and UIL awards!

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Senior Class Council (President), Flute, Dance/Choreography, Junior Class Council (Adviser), UIL Spelling & Vocabulary (Co-Captain), NHS (Vice President), Student Ambassadors (Senior Officer)
Job/Work Experience: Old Navy (Merchandising/Sales/Training Coach), Fusion Communications Corp. (Journalism Intern)
Volunteer/Community service: Didn’t really report
Summer Activities: Work, internship, and 2 dual credit classes this last summer
Essays (rating 1-10, details): pretty gr9 tbh
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Also amazing, 10s

Teacher Rec #1: 10
Teacher Rec #2: 8
Counselor Rec: 8
Additional Rec:8
Interview: A bit awkward but it went well!

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: English
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public charter
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Gen

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, rank, GPA, leadership!! My essays are probably what got me in.
Weaknesses: Testing, and i’m pretty average imo!
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Essays maybe? Also my deferral update and letter of continued interest probably helped.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at STANFORD, Rice, UPenn, UT Austin and USC; waitlisted at UChicago and Brown; rejected at Columbia

General Comments: Don’t fret over college admissions, guys. Give your applications everything you have and just hope for the best. My first decisions were literally all waitlists and a deferral from Stanford; then, I got into 4 amazing schools! You will end up where you belong. FEAR THE TREE, NOT COLLEGE ADMISSIONS!!! :slight_smile:

35

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (790 CR, 770 M, 780 W)
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 770 USH, 760 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/117
AP (place score in parenthesis): USH (5), English Language (5), Physics B (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature, AP Calc AB, AP Physics C, AP Euro, honors gov, other random classes (hardest course load available)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Connecticut Governor’s Scholar, Harvard Book Award?

Subjective:
•Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate Team (captain), Political Science Club (founder and president), School Newspaper (editor)
•Job/Work Experience: Worked for the past four years at a local library
•Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer as a tech volunteer at a different local library, I ran a program over the summer that teaches middle school students debate techniques
•Personal Statement: I spent more time on the Stanford essays than any other essay, I thought that they were excellent
Other
•Applied for Financial Aid?: Yep
• Intended Major : I don’t remember what I put on the application, something techy but not CS
•State (if domestic applicant): CT
•Country (if international applicant):
•School Type: Small parochial
•Ethnicity: Whiter than Casper the Friendly Ghost
•Gender: Female
•Income Bracket: Don’t worry bout it
•Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): As many hooks as Stanford has snow days

Reflection
•Strengths: SAT, GPA, essays (I thought)
•Weaknesses: No hooks, few major awards
•Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to?
Accepted: Dartmouth, Duke, UVA, UNC-CH, Cornell, Georgetown, UConn
Waitlisted: Yale, Northwestern, Amherst
Rejected: Harvard, Princeton, Brown
•Schools you are waiting for?
General Comments: Well I wasn’t really expecting to get into Stanford and I’m actually kind of relieved that I will be staying on the east coast (definitely better than the west coast). Congratulations to everyone who got in!!

36

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (M: 770, CR: 730, W: 750)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: English: 700 Maths II: 760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parentheses):
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: 5 A Levels
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Gold Senior Maths Challenge, a couple of national awards in academics

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Own Business, Debating, Environmental Activism, Music, TV Show
Job/Work Experience: Business, Teaching Piano
Volunteer/Community service: Activism Work
Summer Activities: Hiking, Internship at Bank
Essays: Common App was okay, Supplements were great
Teacher Recommendation: Didn’t see them but were probably okay.
Counselor Rec: No idea.
Additional Rec:
Interview: Really good. Probably what helped me get waitlisted rather than rejected.
Supplementary Material:

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): UK
School Type: State School
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: M
Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): Enough to qualify for near full-ride
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection
Strengths:
Weaknesses: International needing near full aid
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: No bloody idea!!!
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Stanford, UChicago, Duke (Karsh International Scholarship), Yale-NUS
Waitlisted: Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth
Rejected: Harvard, Cornell, Brown

**General Comments: **
BLOWN AWAY. WHAT THE HELL. Stanford was the one school that I thought I had absolutely NO CHANCE at. I had a small hope for Harvard or Yale but Stanford was a no-no as far as I was concerned. The chips have fallen in a way I totally did not expect.

37

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2240 composite (720 CR, 720 M, 800 W, Essay: 10)
ACT (breakdown): 35 composite (36 E, 33 M, 36 R, 35 S, 31 E+W, Essay: 7 (eeeeek))
SAT II: Chemistry - 720; Math Lvl 2 - 770
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10% (my school doesn’t rank, only does deciles)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry(4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: Honors Physics, AP French 4, AP Calc AB, AP Computer Science (rest of classes just standard)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended Student, National Achievement Finalist, French National Contest Medal Winner (Bronze for two years, Silver for one)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Track and Field (captain of jump team, 2 years); helped found a club, CSF (inactive member though)
Job/Work Experience: n/a
Volunteer/Community service: serve as a leader at a local soup kitchen
Summer Activities: attended a computer science program between my sophomore and junior year
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App Essay describing failure - This essay talked about my experiences with computer science and how I overcame challenges that I faced in it. I reread this essay so many times that I started to hate it, but I’ll give it an 8.
*Describe extracurriculars and work experience * - In this, I talked more about my service at the soup kitchen
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Reflect on an idea or experience that was important to intellectual development - talked about love for reading, specifically Harry Potter and the role models I found in it
*Write a note to your roommate * - I used a condensed version of my UChicago essay that described my personality with pH
*What matters to you and why? * - Here, I talked about my parents’ journey to America and how that inspired me to reach my goals and try my best in everything I do
Teacher Rec #1: Got it from my chemistry teacher who I absolutely loved. Didn’t read it, but I’ll say an 8.
Teacher Rec #2: This one was from my English teacher freshman and junior year who I hit it off with. She told me herself that she wrote an awesome letter of rec so I’ll go with 10.
Counselor Rec: Don’t know her super well, but I saw her lots towards the end of junior year and the beginning of senior so she got to know me better than most. Let’s go with a 7.
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: n/a

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yup
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: All Girls Private
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: F
Income Bracket: ~175,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM (first generation American citizen)

Reflection

Strengths: background, test scores, GPA, transcript, essays, ecs and awards
Weaknesses:ACT essay, no work experience
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Maybe I didn’t stand out enough from the other amazing applicants?
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to all my other schools - UC Davis, UCLA, Harvard, Saint Mary’s College of California, Yale, Santa Clara, Cal Poly SLO, Harvey Mudd, San Jose State, Rice, UChicago

General Comments: This was my number one and I was accepted to all of my other schools so it’s a little frustrating. Everyone told me I was a shoe-in and it turns out that wasn’t true. I guess my suggestions would be to apply early action to the school you truly want to go to because that is the mistake I made.

sigh And now we wait.

38

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (800R, 690M, 780W)
ACT: 34 (34E 33M 35R 32S Essay:10)
SAT II: 800 US History, 780 Lit, 740 Bio E
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92 UW/4.46 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Lang Comp: 5, APUSH: 5, Psychology: 5
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP European History, CP Calculus, AP Spanish, AP Lit, Honors Abnormal Psychology, Advanced Creative Writing, AP Enviro
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Ranked in top 20 in nation for marching band

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Marching Band (Color Guard): Many regional level awards, top 20 in nation and winner of Esprit de Corps award
Fencing (4 years)
Gymnastics (3 years)
Stage Crew (4 years) - co-head of lighting
Fencing Club (3 years) (Treasurer and Founding Member)
Ski Club (4 years)
Peer Mediation (4 years)
some other misc. stuff
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: 100-120 hours over the last three summers at a horseback riding camp for children with disabilities
Summer Activities: College class in ASL at Rutgers, Volunteering
Essays:
Common App: About how I challenged people’s beliefs about me because as a petite, nerdy girl, I can do lots of push-ups. It was kind of funny, and everyone who read it liked it. I spent a long time on it. 9/10
Intellectual Vitality Essay: About how I realized that inspiration doesn’t need to come from intellectual sources, that even something as simple as a balance beam can inspire me. 8/10
Letter to Roommate: Rewrote and rewrote this one. I apologized for a conversation that I said we were going to have in which I was fascinated with a stupidly obscure topic and I neglected my duties as a roommate. It sounds bad, but I thought it was very funny, and multiple other people read it and they all liked it. 9/10
What matters to you and why?: Probably my best essay of this admissions season. Talked about how being adventurous was important to me, and how going to someplace faraway like Stanford was the adventure that I craved. It included my favorite line of all my college essays: “I love the sound of planes flying overhead. It reminds me that we are not stuck anywhere in this world.” DANG IT STANFORD HOW DID YOU NOT SEE MY GENIUS :stuck_out_tongue: 10/10
Teacher Recommendation #1: Not sure. I picked this teacher because he saw me help out other students in his class, but it’s impossible for me to say if he wrote a lot about that in his rec.
Teacher Recommendation #2: I think this one was good. This teacher and I were kind of on the same wavelength, and I gave him a ton of supplemental information to pull from.
Counselor Rec: She likes me, but it was probably kind of bland. She has 239 other kids to worry about.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: I did have one, but it was kind of weird. My interviewer just talked about himself the whole time, and told me irrelevant anecdotes. I don’t think it was bad, but I didn’t really come away knowing anything more about Stanford.

Other

State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Very large public
Ethnicity: White, but chose not to respond
Gender: F
Income Bracket: >250k (did not apply for FA)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I wish

Reflection

Strengths: My deep and undying love for Stanford?
Weaknesses: Course load rigor could be better, very little leadership, bad SAT math score, only one substantial EC, did not discover a new 8th color in the rainbow
Why you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: The acceptance rate this year was 3.87%, and while I think my app was good, I don’t think it was truly outstanding.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Rutgers and the University of Alabama EA, accepted to WashU, Oxford College at Emory, Tufts, BU, and William and Mary RD; Rejected at Pomona, CMC, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, USC, and Middlebury; Waitlisted at American, UVa, and Kenyon

General Comments:

Not going to lie, this one really upset me. Can’t say I didn’t see it coming, but Stanford’s been the dream for like two years now. I threw my all into this app, I even delayed sending for REA to make sure it was perfect, and I came up short. I don’t think there was anything more I could have done. We’ll see, maybe I’ll send out a transfer app for kicks, but I’ll probably try again for grad school. You can’t get rid of me that easily, Stanford. :wink:

39

[ color=orange][ b]Decision: Waitlisted **[/color]

Objective:

[] SAT I (breakdown): 2400 (800 R, 800 M, 800 W)
[] ACT (breakdown): N/A
[] SAT II: 800 M2, 800 Physics, 800 Chemistry, 800 Biology (E)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96 UW
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5% of class, 700+ Class Size
[] AP (place score in parentheses): Chemistry, Physics B, Physics C Mech, Physics C Emag, US History, World History, Lang, Latin, Calc BC, Comp Sci A (All 5’s)
[] IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Econ, AP Stat, AP Bio, AP Gov, AP Human Geo, AP Psych
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): USAMO Qualifier for 2 years, ISEF Qualifier, Siemens Semifinalist, ISTS Semifinalist, National Junior Classical League Awards, won science and math competitions at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc.[/li]
[/list][ b]Subjective:**
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Cross Country (Captain), Fencing (Captain), Track, Swimming, Math Team (President), Science Olympiad (President), Mu Alpha Theta (Founder and President), Key Club (President), Latin Club (President), FBLA (President), National Honor Society (Vice President), Boy Scouts of America (Eagle Scout and Junior Assistant Scoutmaster)
[] Job/Work Experience: Tutoring Business for 3+ years, Lifeguard, Research Internship in which I helped publish two papers with postdocs and graduates
[] Volunteer/Community service: Founded a free tutoring business at multiple locations, community service through Boy Scouts, volunteers at local retirement homes weekly, etc.
[] Summer Activities: Summer camp in 9th grade year, research at universities during 10th and 11th grade years
[] Essays: Common App (8/10), Supplement (8/10)
[] Teacher Recommendation: Both recs were very strong, (9/10)
[] Counselor Rec: Counselor doesn’t care much about recs, so probably mediocre
[] Additional Rec: XC Coach rec, very strong
[] Interview: N/A
[] Supplementary Material: N/A

[ /list][ b]Other**
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: Male
[] Gender: Asian
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): < 100K
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A[/li]
[/list][ b]Reflection**
[] Strengths: Overall well-rounded, strength in math and science
[] Weaknesses: Being too stereotypically Asian I guess
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: To be honest, the fact that I’m Asian may have been the factor. Literally cried when rejected/waitlisted from all of the Ivies and compared stats to everyone else.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

Accepted: Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley, Case Western, UNC Chapel Hill
Waitlisted: Stanford, Duke, Harvard, Caltech, UChicago, WashU

Rejected: Northwestern, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, MIT, Brown

[/list]General Comments: Honestly, I’ve been more confused than saddened over past few days after decisions came out. I know that I wasn’t going to be guaranteed to get into any Ivies or highly ranked schools, but getting rejected by most of them and then seeing the people that got in… makes it seem like my four years of high school were all wasted and thrown down the drain. Been trying to find flaws in my application, and except a few minor ones, I can’t come up with a valid reason why other than the fact I’m an Asian male. If any part of my gender and ethnicity had been different, pretty sure I would be in a more fortunate situation than now. Anyway, congratulations to the rest of you that got in, enjoy your next four years of college.

40

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2210 (didn’t submit)
ACT (breakdown): 35 (English 35, math 34, reading/science 36)
SAT II: 760 math II, 790 biology M, 720 chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96, weighted 4.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 13/610
AP (place score in parenthesis): human geography, euro, us history, world history, english language, english lit, biology, calculus ab (all 5s). us government & comparative government (both 4).
IB (place score in parenthesis): music sl (5), math sl (6).
Senior Year Course Load: french 4 hl, biology hl2, ap physics b, english 4 hl2, history of the americas hl2, ap calculus bc, jazz ensemble
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): ap scholar with honor, ap scholar with distinction, national ap scholar, berklee college of music 5 week program full scholarship

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): first trumpet/jazz chair in OC honor orchestra, SCSBOA jazz all star orchestra, school jazz band, symphony orchestra, wind ensemble, pit orchestra, marching band

Job/Work Experience: tutoring for 2 yrs
Volunteer/Community service: playing for free at various community events–farmers markets, art galleries, etc
Summer Activities: Berklee 5 week program, online classes, college jazz camp, travel to costa rica
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app: 8; about my intense love for reading & books, and my desire to contact extraterrestrial civilizations. A little weird, in hindsight, but it stood out from the crowd & had impeccable grammar.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: probably meh, 7/10 at best. I never paid attention in her class & she knew, but she’s not a bad person & she wanted me to get into stanford
Teacher Rec #2: 7/10 at best, very pretentious english teacher. I used my phone all the time in his class & he always got mad at me about it, but he also wanted me to get into stanford.
Counselor Rec: 5/10; inexperienced guy who didn’t really know me & didn’t care about his job.
Additional Rec: 9/10; from my trumpet instructor, who really liked me.
Interview: none

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: mathematics
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: 200,000 +
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: impeccable grammar on the essays. Regardless of what you write, it’s VERY VERY important that your essays have good grammar.
Weaknesses: teacher recs, not enough academic extracurricular activities
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think the one thing that got me in was 1 really heartfelt essay about my sister.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
accepted to Columbia, UCB, UCLA, UCI, rejected to Harvard, yale, princeton
General Comments:
They probably accepted me because they thought I was a good fit for their school. They have a good jazz program, so they probably thought I’d fit in there.