<p>I know that I’ve already posted my decision but, for some reason, I left out some stuff and feel that it is necessary to fill out my information completely.</p>
<p>Decision: Deferred –> Rejected</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 690 CR, 760 M, 770 W E:10
[</em>] ACT: n/a
[<em>] SAT II (if submitted): 720 Math 1, 710 US History, 670 Chemistry
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.75 (4.0 Midyear Report and
[<em>] Grades in AP/IB classes: 4 A’s, 1 B, 1 C (reported as an 82.8%)
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): If they recalculated my GPA I would be in the top half of the top decile, but without recalculation, right outside top 10%. However, my school doesn’t rank anyways.
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Physics, Econ (Micro/Macro), U.S. Gvt, World History, Calculus AB, Statistics
[</em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: Physics Honors, Physics AP, Econ AP, US Gvt AP, English Honors, Art, Gym
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): School awards, MUN, FBLA, Econ competitions - nothing major
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership and number of years participated in a certain activity in parenthesis): Model UN (odd leadership position, 4), Econ Club (Co-President, 4), Student Government (Speaker of Freshmen Class, 2), Rec Soccer/Basketball (4), Tech. Student Association (2), Track (1), School Paper (2), School Arts Magazine - Poetry (1), Philosophy Papers that I sent in (1 - used a thought experiment to argue against hedonism - I kinda sort begged the question though because I had to cut most of the argument due to page constraints, 2 - showed how the libertarian thesis of self-ownership was contradictory to the negative view of liberty many libertarians uphold, 3 - a resolution of the paradox of voting by showing how voting, though not individually rational, was collectively rational, 4 - Showed how the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics could be used to resolve the apparent contradiction between the existence of an omniscient deity and the free will of humanity, 5 - Showed the contradiction apparent in Rawls’ principles of justice and how material equality, not the difference principle, arises from the original position, 6 - explained how the idea of a ‘time machine’ brings about intriguing consequences of theories of personal identity, 7 - showed the ‘catch-22’ apparent when a utilitarian attempts to decide what to do with finite resources)
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Basketball ref, since 7th grade
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: 180 hours as a camp counselor, 24 as a campaign volunteer, 1 semester-worth of work in my school during lunch
[</em>] EC short answer (subject and personal opinions on it): About the decision-making skills refereeing has helped me develop, well-written but I wasn’t a huge fan
[<em>] Common App Essay (subject and personal opinions on it): About how I was a “Hegelian synthesis” of fantasy (fictional characters) and reality (myself), it was extremely complicated and subtle and they might not have liked that, I personally loved it
[</em>] Optional Favorite Things Essay (subject and personal opinions on it): Wrote about coldplay, rawls, and hayek, I thought it was okay
[<em>] Why Chicago (details in the essay and personal opinions on it): Compared the University of Chicago to my glasses and showed how the parts of the glasses represented UChicago, I laughed when I re-read it and I liked it
[</em>] Extended Chicago Essay (subject - if you want, include essay prompt if you did #5 - and personal opinions on it): I wrote a dialogue between Marx and Stirner - described Rousseau’s concept of the general will in terms of the properties of an orange, I loved this essay
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation (only if you saw it): didn’t see
[</em>] Counselor Rec (only if you saw it): didn’t see
[<em>] Additional Rec (only if you saw it): didn’t see
[</em>] Interview: It was mediocre
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Three Areas of Interest Listed: Econ, Philosophy, Poli Sci
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): PA
[<em>] Country (if international applicant): n/a
[</em>] School Type: Competitive Public (1700 average SAT)
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): None
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: I thought my EC’s were kinda strong-ish and I loved some of my essays though obviously they aren’t loved that much
[<em>] Weaknesses: GPA/Class rank, Schedule Strength, The fact that my regional AO thought I was an idiot
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My low GPA and my bad relations with my regional admissions rep. Also, I might have sent a bit too many supplemental papers and some of them may have had flaws even though I clearly stated that my purpose of writing them was not for correctness but rather for intellectual exploration and that I thought that they adequately represented my rational capabilities. Also, my EA application was so weakly constructed relative to my RD applications so that may have been a contributing factor.
[/ul]General Comments: Well, I guess I just have to wait for Harvard, Yale, and Duke and pray that I have some good luck with them…Though I have a feeling that I’m going to go to Pitt regardless. Anyways, congrats to those accepted. And, life goes on.</p>
No, but really, I think that this proves that there is hope for people without an amazing hook to get into a tough college in a tough year. I also applied to Columbia ED, Yale, UPenn, NYU, Barnard, Reed, University of Michigan and University of Iowa. I’m officially accepted at Iowa and I got the ‘make plans for events for accepted students at NYU’ email. I was deferred from Columbia, and I’m still waiting to hear form everywhere else. Barring acceptance to Columbia, I’m attending Chicago - though if by some stroke of insanity I do get into Yale I know my parents will pressure me to go there. Anyways, congrats to all the other accepted people and even if you didn’t get in, there is an awesome school waiting out there for you.</p>