<p>Pick one:
Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2310 (CR - 730; M - 800; W - 780)
[</em>] SAT I superscore (breakdown): Only took the SAT once
[<em>] ACT (breakdown): N/A
[</em>] ACT superscore (breakdown): N/A
[<em>] SAT II: Math - 770; Physics - 800
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
[<em>] Weighted GPA: N/A
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Unranked
[<em>] AP (place score in parentheses): AP Calculus BC (5), AP Music Theory (5), (and a few others, but tests have not been taken yet)
[</em>] IB (place score in parentheses): N/A (taking IB courses, but tests have not been taken yet)
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C: Mechanics & Electricity & Magnetism, AP Computer Science A, Multivariable Calculus, IB World Literature II HL, IB French V HL, IB History of the Americas II HL
[</em>] Number of other EA applicants in your school: 6
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Not many to speak of, but here’s what I listed on my common app under “honors” and “activities”: French Honor Society, High Honor Roll, National Merit Semi-Finalist, National French Exam - Honorable Mention, Various “Best Speaker” Awards in JSA, USACO Silver-Ranked Competitor[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Junior State of America <a href=“Director%20of%20Debate,%20Webmaster”>debate society</a>, Concert Choir, Jazz Band, Pit Orchestra, Guitar & Mandolin Orchestra, 11 years of Piano/6 years of Bass Guitar outside of school.
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: At my high school, seniors are afforded one day each week free of classes to pursue an internship. I listed mine - music cognition research at NYU-Steinhardt School of Music.
[li] Volunteer/Community service: None listed.[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best): [I find it impossible to self-rank essays because I haven’t read many other essays so I have no basis of comparison. Instead, I’ll provide some qualitative judgments]
[ul]
[<em>] Essays (Include Subjects): [list]
[li] Common App Main: “Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.” I wrote about this painting: <a href=“http://artgalleryabc.com/images/stories/D/DE_CHIRICO/NOSTLGIA.JPG[/url]”>http://artgalleryabc.com/images/stories/D/DE_CHIRICO/NOSTLGIA.JPG</a>. “The Nostalgia of the Infinite” by Giorgio de Chirico, my favorite painting. I liked this essay a lot, although there was definite room for improvement.[/li][</em>] EC Short Answer: I wrote about how writing debates for my school’s debate society taught me the virtue of giving equal value to all opinions on a given subject, even those that I might initially find contemptible. Pretty average in every way.
[<em>] Extended essay(which topic): I chose the Heisenberg topic and wrote about the inherent contradictions between quantum mechanics and classical mechanics. I really liked this essay - I thought it displayed my academic passion while also just being an interesting read.
[</em>] Optional Essay: I referenced “The Nostalgia of the Infinite” again and talked about other artistic interests of mine that fit the same theme. I spent most of the essay talking about Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. This essay was well-written but not spectacular by any means.
[<em>] Why Chicago: I talked about some of my idols who attended uchicago (Philip Glass, Carl Sagan, Kurt Vonnegut) and my fondness for Scav.
[</em>] Other: N/A[/ul]</p>
<p>[<em>] Teacher Recommendation #1: My literature teacher during my sophomore/junior years. He liked me and probably said some nice things. I tended to contribute a lot to discussion in his class, so that was probably mentioned.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation #2: My calculus teacher during my junior/senior years. Fairly straightforward - I performed well in her class and I assume she wrote a letter to that effect.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: I didn’t know my counselor at all. My school kept switching my counselor due to some administrative mishaps - I had a different guidance counselor for each year of high school.
[</em>] Additional Rec: N/A
[<em>] Interview: Went pretty well. He started by asking me a few questions about my academic and extracurricular interests. I mentioned that I enjoyed jazz, it turned out he was a member of a jazz ensemble at uchicago, so we talked about jazz for 10-15 minutes. Then I mentioned my interest in Scav, it turned out he was a team captain, and he spent the rest of the interview telling me about how awesome it was. I think I made a good impression.
[</em>] Art Supplement: N/A[/list] Other[ul]
[<em>] Date Submitted App: October 31
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): New Jersey
[<em>] Country (if international applicant): United States
[</em>] School Type: Magnet School
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: Prefer not to say
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None[/ul]</p>
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Course rigor, essays and raw stats.
[</em>] Weaknesses: Definitely extracurriculars. Few leadership positions to speak of, and I joined most of the extracurriculars listed (choir, jazz band, pit orchestra, and guitar & mandolin orchestra) in my junior year so I only had one year of demonstrated commitment.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: No idea. I was really ready for any response. I think I was just a pretty well-rounded candidate. Diverse interests, solid essays, good stats and good teacher recommendations. I didn’t have any real “hook,” nor was I a particularly outstanding candidate, but my application was certainly strong.
[</em>] What would you have done differently?: Nothing, really. I’m pretty happy. I probably should have done more extracurriculars, but I wouldn’t want to do them just for the sake of padding out my college app.[/ul]
Other Factors:</p>
<p>General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc: None to speak of. I’m pretty happy, but I spent so long obsessing over the waiting period that by the time the decision came I was pretty neutral about it.</p>
Long time lurker and felt like posting since it is a good day today.</p>
[/ul]</p>[/li]![http://artgalleryabc.com/images/stories/D/DE_CHIRICO/NOSTLGIA.JPG[/url]](http://artgalleryabc.com/images/stories/D/DE_CHIRICO/NOSTLGIA.JPG%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
