Thanks, @coase and @infofo. I had never even heard of early writes until last night, so was a little surprised that some RD offers go out earlier than others.
Also accepted, so maybe see some of you this fall!
I’ve never felt the need to post on these forums, but I was accepted EDII to Swat, and maybe my experience will be helpful for prospective students.
ACCEPTED ED II
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
[ *] ACT (breakdown): Composite 32, English 35, Reading 32, Math 33, Science 26 (lol)
[ *] SAT II: US History 750, Math I 750
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.962, Weighted: 6.562 (I took 5 dual enrollment classes)
[ *] Rank : Top 1% out of almost 700 kids
[ *] AP (place score in parentheses): World History (4) Human Geography (4) Art History (5) Calculus BC (4/5 AB subscore) European History (5) Physics B (4) US History (5) English Language (4) Environmental Science (4)
[ *] IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: AP Statistics, AP Government, AP Biology, AP Macroeconomics, AP Psychology, AP English Literature
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): only some small local or school awards
[ /list][ b]Subjective:**
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Started my own business, President of my schools book club, Track and Field, quizbowl, Officer of Interact, violin etc.
[ *] Job/Work Experience: Intern at State Attorney’s Office, Research at an engineering company, worked as an assistant for a long time when my mom started her Engineering firm
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: taught English for a summer in a Chinese village
[ *] Summer Activities: Summer Program at Barnard
[ *] Essays: Talked about the failures and struggles of my business, Swat essay solid
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: good-great
[ *] Counselor Rec: good- great
[ *] Additional Rec: from my boss at the research institute good- great
[ *] Interview: TERRIBLE, It was with the admissions officer and this was before Swarthmore became my top choice. I wrote down and told him 2 majors that Swat didn’t offer 
luckily Swat has a build your own major option so I think I saved it a bit. So for anyone who has a bad interview, don’t worry you can still get in!
[ *] Supplementary Material: N/A
[ /list][ b]Other**
[ *]Applied for Financial Aid?:yes
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type: Competitive Large Public School
[ *] Ethnicity: Asian
[ *] Gender: Female
[ *] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): 150k +
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope
[ /list][ b]Reflection**
[ *] Strengths: extracurriculars and GPA
[ *] Weaknesses: Asian lol, ACT, and interview
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was surprised I was accepted because I made a big interview mistake. I think I was accepted because I was pretty solid and I had the courage to start my own business.
[ *] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: well I had to withdraw my other applications since I got in ED, I got accepted to the University of Florida before I could withdraw. My only regret is that I paid the fees for those 10 other colleges and I don’t get to hear back :P. My second choices were Dartmouth and Duke.
[ /list][ b]General Comments: ** At the beginning of my high school career, I sorta followed the typical asian formula, GPA, SAT, and instrument, but towards the end I started doing stuff that I wanted, which I guess made me different/ standout.
For the regular decision kids still making a choice:
I picked Swarthmore because I come from a very cut-throat competitive high school, and It’s honestly made me intense, bitter, and competitive, so I really wanted a place that was cooperative, but intelligent at the same time. I felt that if I went to an IVY, I might get wrapped up in trying to be “cool” and “better.” So even though now I feel a little upset that I can’t be like “oh I got into Harvard or whatever” I feel that going to Swarthmore will ultimately make me into a nicer and happier person 
Also, Swarthmore’s campus is BEAUTIFUL, and in my opinion of all the top LACs it has the best location, a 20 min drive to Philly. So even though the school is small, if I need to escape and have the city feel, I can.
I also chose a LAC because I kinda wanted a more close-knit feel. In addition to feeling a sense of camaraderie with Swat students, I feel it with all other kids who chose to attend an LAC (Colgate, Williams, Hamilton etc.) lol
^ Just my thoughts. I would love to meet the rest of you guys at Ride the Tide and hopefully for the rest of college
**Decision: Accepted (early write March 11) **
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):(720R 610M 670W, 10E)
ACT (breakdown): 29
SAT II: 730 Molecular Bio 640: Literature
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/376
AP (place score in parenthesis): Bio: 5 Psych: 5
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load:
AP Chemistry
AP Statistics and Probability
AP Spanish
AP Government and Politics
Honors English
Honors Calculus
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Hispanic Student Recognition Program regional winner in STEM category
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Cross Country 4 years, Track and Field 2 years, GSA member 1 year, NHS 2 years, Book Club 2 years
Job/Work Experience:n/a
Volunteer/Community service: Over 250 hours at local children’s hospital, volunteer during summer for public library, consistent volunteer for various school activities and departments
Summer Activities: Volunteer work
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 8/9
Teacher Rec #1: good
Teacher Rec #2: great, I think
Counselor Rec:average
Additional Rec:none
Interview: really wonderful conversation
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: biochemistry
State (if domestic applicant): DE
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: F
Income Bracket: ~80,000
Hooks (URM, college, etc.): URM, first generation
Reflection
Strengths: Common app essay? Maybe?
Weaknesses: Test scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Not sure, but I was very surprised
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted: Boston College, Wesleyan University, Brandeis University, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, University of Connecticut. Deferred: Yale
General Comments:
Honestly surprised to have been accepted to Swat…really excited to visit again.
Anyone got their results yet?.. Today?
Decision: Accepted!
Objective:
[ul]
[] ACT: 34 (34 M, 34 E, 35 R, 33 S)
[] SAT II: 740 (Math II)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.9 UW
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank, but 1 or 2 in (small) class
[] IB scores: Diploma Candidate (Testing in May), predicted IB scores of 7 in History and English (I’m unsure about the rest because we don’t get to see most predicted grades)
[] Senior Year Course Load: IB Higher Level Mathematics, IB Higher Level Physics, IB Higher Level History of the Americas, IB Higher Level Literature, IB Standard Level Visual Arts A, IB Standard Level Spanish B, Theory of Knowledge
[li] Major Awards: Scholastic Art & Writing Gold Key (Poetry) and National American Voice Winner, Harvard Book Award, George Eastman’s Young Leaders Award, Published poet in an international writing magazine, best-in-class awards (Humanities, English, Design Technology), some other things too![/ul][/li]
Subjective:
[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: Orienteering Club (takes up a majority of my time, very committed!), Poetry (Published and nationally recognized), Varsity Soccer, Playing keyboard and singing in 2 bands (Rock and Jazz), classical piano, Academic Decathlon (Founder and/or President of Each Mentioned Club), some other things for fun.
[] Job/Work Experience: Paid performer with band, Working DJ
[] Volunteer/Community service: Athletic Leadership at school, Coaching and event volunteering for orienteering, Volunteer Event DJ
[] Essays: I personally loved my Common App essay personally; wrote about my world defined by film (for the first prompt about “important background”). My supplement was heartfelt; I absolutely love Swarthmore and showed that. I also submitted my published poem as a Creative Writing Supplement.
[] Teacher Recommendations: History Teacher (10/10, Said I was his best student in all his 13+ years of teaching), Mathematics Teacher (9/10, I did extremely well in Math, and was one of 3 students in his entire class so we were pretty close. He also had me for physics so it was like 2 recommendations in one!)
[] Counselor Rec: 10/10 (Also my English teacher, so had dual benefits in terms of the recommendation. Very small school, and she’s given me class awards and we hang out and talk a lot, so we’re pretty close. The principal of my school said it was the best recommendation he’s ever read, which was very humbling to hear!)
[li] Interview: I think my interview went pretty well, I didn’t connect too well with the interviewer and I was nervous because it was my first interview, but overall fine.[/ul][/li]
Other:
[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): Idaho
[] School Type: Private International Baccalaureate
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] Income Bracket: Upper-Middle
[li] Hooks: None![/ul][/li]
Reflection:
[ul]
[] Strengths: Essays, academics (almost all A’s—besides some B’s in 9th grade—in extremely rigorous IB course load with 4 Higher Levels), excellent recommendations, dedication to extracurriculars (orienteering, poetry, and band), and interviewing!
[] Weaknesses: No major awards, not a lot of research pertaining to major, imperfect test scores (especially the ones I took in junior year with no practice or prep…), didn’t fill out Common Application Activity section very well (wish I would have spent more time on it!), and perhaps specific interests in the school (didn’t get to visit much because of extreme time restraints).
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Academics and passion!
[] Where else did you apply?:[/ul]
Accepted to: Swarthmore (Engineering with Pre-Medical Emphasis), Claremont McKenna (Mathematics), University of Southern California (Biomedical Chemical Engineering Honors with Presidential Scholarship), University of California Los Angeles (Pre-Applied Mathematics with Achievement Scholarship), University of Texas Austin (Biomedical Engineering and Plan II Honors), California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Biomedical Engineering with Outreach Scholarship).
Deferred: Yale-NUS.
Waitlisted: Washington University in St. Louis, Vanderbilt.
Rejected: None yet.
Waiting for: Yale, Columbia, Brown, University of Pennsylvania, Amherst, Duke, University of California Berkeley, Rice
General Comments:
Currently freaking out. This is one of my dream schools.
Decision: Waitlisted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2400 (and 10 on essay, but idk if they see that)
ACT (breakdown): 36 composite (36 reading + english, 35 math + science, 8 on essay 
didn’t send though)
SAT II: Math 2 - 800, Chemistry - 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 20% (school only reports quintiles. From a class of 412 I know I’m not in the top 15 though)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus BC (5), US History (5), Biology (5), Chemistry (5), Statistics (5), English Language (5), Government (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Economics, AP Physics 2, AP French, AP Computer Science, AP English Lit, Linear Algebra (1st semester), Personal Finance (2nd semester)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, AP Scholar with Distinction (nothing big besides that but won a regional science fair and the Wellesley College Book Award along with other school awards)
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science Olympiad (Public Relations Officer), Model UN, Future Problem Solvers, Music for Society (VP), Astronomy Club (founder)
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Science summer camp counselor (143 hrs), Math+Science Tutor (50+ hours), Key Club (9th + 10th grade), NHS, Summer Leadership Institute (60 service hours)
Summer Activities: science camp counselor, summer leadership institute (above), Physics of Atomic Nuclei (selective nuclear physics summer camp), University of Toledo Youth Nations Global Leadership Institute. Don’t remember how many actually showed up on my application besides summer camp counselor and physics summer camp.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 7 (8 on Common App, which was about my experience at the physics summer camp. It was at the University of Notre Dame, and I talked about how I loved what was basically a college-like experience. I thought it was really “me” and one of my best, most honest and revealing pieces of writing. However, my “Why Swarthmore” essay could’ve been better. I tried to have a “day in the life” intro before talking about why I wanted to attend.)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 7 (my physics teacher thinks pretty decently of me, but I saw a past rec letter of his and he did mention a few social faults, so idk if he included stuff like that in the college rec)
Teacher Rec #2: 9 (would give a 10 if I had more things for him to brag about. But my government teacher adored me. I always participated in that class, and he really appreciated that.)
Counselor Rec: 8? Our class has 412 students, and there are students more brilliant than me in many ways, but I always asked her a lot of questions and would seek out opportunities and strive to do as much as possible, so maybe she spoke to that?
Additional Rec: 9 My online astrophysics teacher (and later research mentor) also submitted a recommendation letter (I wanna go into astrophysics).
Interview: Didn’t request one.
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Physics
State (if domestic applicant): Ohio (but I didn’t have my green card until the beginning of March, so I was considered international until then. I emailed my green card to them, and they said they updated it, but not sure how many decisions were made by then).
Country (if international applicant): For the time they considered me international, I was an Indian citizen (still am, for that matter).
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $120,000-130,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Female interested in physics/astronomy?
Reflection
Strengths: Common App essay, grades + test scores, commitment to extracurriculars
Weaknesses: “Why Swarthmore” essay?
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Well, I got waitlisted, so I suppose they could still consider me. I guess I didn’t convince them enough that Swarthmore was the right college for me.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Ohio State University, University of Michigan, Boston University, Case Western Reserve University, Amherst College, California Institute of Technology
Waitlisted: University of Chicago
Rejected: MIT
Still waiting for: Yale, Harvard (deferred EA), Columbia, Princeton, Stanford
General Comments: I’ll take it. I was sort of surprised, since I got accepted to Amherst (another liberal arts college), and Swarthmore has a higher acceptance rate, but I’m not disappointed. I got into my dream school (Caltech, which has a REALLY strong astro vibe and STEM vibe in general), so I’ll admit I wasn’t too stressed about this decision. Congratulations to all who got in! And to those who didn’t, college admissions is really a random process. I’ve been quite surprised, and I hope the rest of you are pleasantly surprised as well Good luck to all!
Decision: WAIT LISTED
SAT I (breakdown): 730 CR, 800 Math, 800 Writing
[] ACT (breakdown): Composite 35: English 35, Science 36, Reading 34, Math 35
[] SAT II: Math II 800, Spanish with Listening 790, Biology E 730
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank : School doesn’t rank
[] AP (place score in parentheses): World History (4), Calc AB (5), English Language (5), Biology (4), Spanish (5), Microeconomic (4)
[] IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature, AP Calc BC, AP Physics 1
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, National Honor Society
[/list]Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Math team (3 years), Forensics (3 years), Drama (4 years), Spanish Club (2 years, President), Choir #1 (4 years), Choir #2 (2 years), HOSA (1 year)
[] Job/Work Experience: Sailing instructor in the summer
[] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer sailing instructor for 2 years, about 300 hours (before I started getting paid)
[] Summer Activities: Teaching sailing
[] Essays: About a 7/10. Not the best thing I’ve ever written but also not awful
[] Teacher Recommendation: 1 great, 1 pretty good I think
[] Counselor Rec: Great!
[] Additional Rec: from my tennis coach-- good.
[] Interview: Didn’t interview
[] Supplementary Material: N/A
[/list]Other
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
[] State (if domestic applicant): WI
[] School Type: Public, 1900 students
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): 300k+
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope[/li]
[/list]Reflection
[] Strengths: GPA, test scores
[] Weaknesses: Essays, not much leadership
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think they think I’m not proactive or whatever because I’ve never started a club or business or anything and I don’t have much leadership experience
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Carleton. Waitlisted: Wash U, Bowdoin. Rejected: Pomona, Northwestern
Decision: Rejected
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2150 (690CR, 690M, 770W)
ACT (breakdown): didn’t send
SAT II:Math L1 (760), French (800), German (790), Literature (790)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/94
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A - International
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: A-Level in Literature, History, Sociology, Art, French & German + public school courses
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Finalist in National German Competition
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Ballet, acting & film course, Russian Club, French courses, Student Government etc.
Job/Work Experience: Paid tutoring in English, French and German
Volunteer/Community service: I volunteered at MigHelp, an organization helping refugees integrate, and was a volunteer tutor at school.
Summer Activities: Group leader at acting camp for kids, film courses and teaching.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10/10, all of them. Writing is my strength & I felt they were really strong.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 9/10
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10
Counselor Rec: 10/10
Additional Rec: 8/10
Interview:N/A
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Film & Media Studies
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Hungary
School Type: Public, but part-time student at independent school as well.
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Very low.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None…maybe underrepresented country?
Reflection
Strengths: Common App essay, Recs, GPA, I went to two schools at the same time, I speak 5 languages
Weaknesses: SAT scores, financial aid
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Probably financial aid. Maybe SAT scores.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted: Kenyon, University of Southern California (with full-tuition scholarship); Waitlisted: Occidental, Vassar; Rejected: Vanderbilt, Oberlin, Duke, Swarthmore Waiting: Amherst, JHU, Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell
General Comments: Honestly, Swarthmore was a last minute addition for me, but I’m still a bit surprised that I got straight-out rejected. I’ll be going to USC, which was my first choice anyway & is the best place to study Film.
Decision: Rejected
Objective:
[ul]
[] SAT I: Didn’t send
[] ACT: 34C
[] SAT II: Math II 780, Biology E 740
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98 (W 4.182 - 4.25 Max at school)
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):6/330
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): ESS (6), Math SL (6)
[] Senior Year Course Load: HL 2 English, HL2 History, SL Spanish 5, AP Chem, AP Calc BC, HL2 Art, TOK
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Global Visionaries Travel Scholarship to Berlin (I doubt this is major, but it was a national applicant pool), NSLI-Y Scholarship Semifinalist (Now a finalist - going to China for 6 weeks this summer!) [/ul]
Subjective:
[ul]
[] Extracurriculars:Ambassadors (District Representative and Trainer), Global Visionaries-service and travel group (Executive Board Member and Communications Director), NHS-comparitively active in my school (President), Founded tutoring program at nearby K-12 school) Service Club (Service Coordinator), Investment Club (Founder and President), bunch of other minor stuff
[] Job/Work Experience: 2 years at fast food place
[] Volunteer/Community service: Probably a total of 1200ish hours or more
[] Essays: Commonapp Essay was really good (9-10) My other essay was good I think (7-8?)
[] Teacher Recommendations:Teacher Rec #1: English teacher (10 - was incredible); Teacher Rec #2: Bio and ESS teacher (8-9)
[] Counselor Rec: I don’t know. Somewhat generic I’m sure, but I know my counselor well (7?)
[] Additional Rec:Chem teacher (8-9) - All the teachers let me read them
[] Interview:Really good, she was very nice and we had a lot in common [/ul]
Other
[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): Colorado
[] Country (if international applicant): US
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: Middle Class
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope [/ul]
Reflection
[ul]
[] Strengths: My general essay and maybe community service
[] Weaknesses: ACT score, it’s not as great as others’. SAT II’s were also comparatively weak. No national awards, Not really recognized ECs
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I don’t know, but they had their reasons! I understand!
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Duke, Johns Hopkins, NYU, UC Berkeley, BU with Presidential Scholarship and Kilachand Honors College, Northeastern with Deans Scholarship, URochester with IB Scholarship; Rejected: UChicago, Columbia ED, Stanford, Swarthmore; Waitlisted: Northwestern[/ul]
General Comments:Swarthmore is an amazing school and those who got in must be amazing students! I was able to take the news because I’m absolutely ecstatic about getting into Duke (which I NEVER expected) so I’m sure everything will work out! Congratulations to everyone who was accepted!!! I’m sure you have earned it! And for those in the Swarthmore rejection boat with me, I wish you all the best!
Decision: Accepted (early write)
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): above 2000? idk I only took it once
ACT (breakdown): comp 33
SAT II: icky didn’t send
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.94
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10% maybe
AP (place score in parenthesis): World Hist (5), Calc AB (5), Bio (4), English Lang (4), Micro (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Chinese, AP Chemistry, AP Physics 1, Psychology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Questbridge Finalist, AP Scholar w/Distinction
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Forensics (it’s speech and debate, not dead bodies)
Stage Crew/Tech
Volunteer club
NHS (we don’t do anything though)
Job/Work Experience: a few internships I got through a local program
Volunteer/Community service: through that one club about 30hrs pieced together
Summer Activities: those internships and a trip to China
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Questbridge essays/Common app: 8/10, pretty strong and concise summary of my background
Why Swarthmore: 7/10, I wrote this quickly and wasn’t too sure of the quality since I applied on a whim
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 9.25/10, I’ve known the teacher for a while and am one of their favorite students
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10, this one has more students but also is the advisor to some of my clubs
Counselor Rec: 7/10, don’t think they know me as well as my teachers, but they like me
Additional Rec: nope
Interview: what there were interviews?
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes, Questbridge
Intended Major: brains
State (if domestic applicant): the land of cheese and beer
School Type: public
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: XX
Income Bracket: <40,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first-gen URM
Reflection
Strengths: Questbridge app, recs
Weaknesses: lack of sports/solid volunteer hours and leadership
Why you think you were accepted: Swarthmore kinda reached out to me first
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Brown and two others, rejected from a bunch
General Comments:
At first I didn’t know anything about Swarthmore and only applied because they sent me a conversion form, but I’m so glad I did. To everyone rejected, you all are very talented people and I wish you well. To everyone accepted, congrats! We may be future classmates.
So sorry for the late reply. I’ve been very busy lately, but here it goes:
Decision: Accepted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1730 (Did not submit)
ACT (breakdown): 29 (E36, M29, S28, R27)
SAT II: Math II (750), French (680)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.91
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): n/a
IB (place score in parenthesis): Arabic HL (7), Economics HL (7), Psychology (7), English Lit SL (6), Maths SL (7), Physics SL (7)
Senior Year Course Load: The full IB Diploma Program
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2 national merit scholarships
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Body President, MUN, swimming (varsity), cross-country running (varsity), tennis (intramural), school newspaper, diving, wedding orchestra (flautist), lead role in school musical
Job/Work Experience: LOL none
Volunteer/Community service: Building huts in Cambodia, participating in community development projects in Thailand, conducting research for a social development authority, event planning at school, etc.
Summer Activities: Lots of water sports (started training for the Olympics), backpacking around Western Europe
Essays (rating 1-10, details): CommonApp (8, probably the best part of my application and what got me in. I tried making it very personal, but now as I look back at it, there is some room for improvement.) Swarthmore Supplement (9, very nice and concise).
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t get to see them
Teacher Rec #1: IB Psychology Teacher, she taught me during junior year and she liked me
Teacher Rec #2: IB Physics Teacher, taught me for the last 3 years, so we’re close
Counselor Rec: Just came this year, but we managed to meet up every once in a while
Additional Rec: Counselor from last year
Interview: Didn’t have one
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Economics/Pre-Law
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): United Arab Emirates
School Type: Private, IB, day school, secular, coed
Ethnicity: Middle Eastern
Gender: M
Income Bracket: $500,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM (diverse background), athlete, fluent in many languages
Reflection
Strengths: Essays for sure, IB grades, volunteer work
Weaknesses: Standardized test scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: In my essays, I expressed a genuine interest in the liberal arts and social responsibility. So that may have helped.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: Duke, UCLA, UC-Berkeley, Notre Dame, London School of Economics, Northeastern
Waitlisted: UPenn and Brown
Rejected: Dartmouth, Yale, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Columbia
General Comments: Swarthmore was one of my top choices and I was so happy when I got accepted. To be honest, I did not expect it, since I got rejected by Middlebury and Bowdoin. However, in the end, I did some research and decided to go for Duke. Best of luck to everyone! If any of you need help with the supplemental essay, I am more than happy to share mine (just send me a message).