Decision: Waitlisted
Objective:
[list]
[] ACT: 33
[] SAT II: 730 (math 2)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.8 I think (IB student)
[] IB scores: Predicted: 37/45 Math HL 6, English HL 6, History HL 6, Business SL 6, Spanish SL 6, Biology SL 5, TOK/EE 2
[] School Type: Private USA (IB international school)
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[*] Gender: F
Decision: Accepted
Objective:
-ACT: 33
-SAT II: 690 M2, 680 Bio M.
-Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92
-Rank: top 5%
-AP: German (5)
-IB student!
Predicted scores: 43/45
Biology HL 7, Chemistry HL 6, Psychology HL 6, Math SL 6, English SL 7, French SL 7, TOK/EE 3
-School Type: IB international school in England
-Ethnicity: White
-Nationality: German/American
-Gender: F
Awards:
-Wellesley Book Award
-Cum Laude
-Princess Diana Service award
-DofE Bronze award
Extracurricular:
-Worked in a hospital for a year, went to Tanzania in the summer to volunteer
-Started my own club to raise awareness of cancer, raised over 15,000 dollars
-In many musicals, merit in piano Grade 5 (play for leisure now), sing
-Captain of JV Tennis, JV Basketball
-Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award and currently doing Gold
Recommendations:
Think they are very good, did not get to see them!
Hook: None
Other schools: (Do not know any without parentheses) - Harvard (deferred), Brown, UPenn, Cornell, Stanford, JHU, Princeton, Vanderbilt (Waitlisted), Bucknell (waitlisted - was a safety…), GW
@ihihihi Yes, I did (sorry for the late reply)
Decision: Accepted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2330 (CR - 790, M - 740, W - 800) (one sitting)
ACT: N/A
SAT II: Math II - 750, Chemistry - 760, US History - 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.809 (Weighted: 4.409)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 20/649 (Top 3%)
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP World History (3), AP Calculus AB (3), AP Physics (3), AP European History (4), AP Calculus BC (4), AP Calculus BC - AB subscore (4), AP Chemistry (4), AP US History (5), AP Psychology (5), AP English Language (5), AP Human Geography (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP English Literature, AP US Government and Politics, AP Macroeconomics, AP Computer Science, AP French
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Presidential Volunteer Service Award, National Merit Finalist
Subjective:
Extracurriculars: A Youth Ambassador for my city, a board member of my community’s council, founder of a volunteer organization for foster care children, President of my school’s American Cancer Society chapter, Youth Chair of my region’s Relay for Life, Captain of my school’s Mock Trial team, Captain of my school’s tennis team, California Youth Ambassador.
Job/Work Experience: Waitress at my parent’s restaurant.
Volunteer/Community service: Interned for a congressman and a legal non-profit for children’s rights, tennis coach for the Special Olympics, Obama 2012 campaign volunteer, Garcetti 2012 campaign volunteer.
Summer Activities: Global Scholar program at American University, E12 Excellence in Public Service program, Fourth Estate Leadership Summit, Model United Nations, Costa Rica service trip, Junior Counselor at a day camp.
Essays: My Common App essay was pretty unique, talking about how my life unfolded with audio books. I would give it an 8 at worst. My Wellesley supp was very focused on what specific things of Wellesley I wanted to experience, using the Wellesley 100 as a platform to talk about other things. I chose #100 and #37, the pluralistic, polyphonic, unclassifiable mass of humanity that is the student body of Wellesley and Hillary Rodham Clinton, respectively. I also used these to talk about my own endeavors accomplishments, but only those not thoroughly explained through my application. I’m not exactly sure how to rank this one, but it’s maybe around 8 or 9.
Teacher Recommendation: I asked my English/Psychology teacher and my Science/Stat teacher for recommendations. English teacher - 7/10. I saw her rec, and it did a good job describing me in her classroom and had some nice tidbits about my personality. Science teacher - 10/10. His rec was gold. He really went into depth about my participation in class, the effort I put into my studies, and my overall genuine personality. It was great.
Counselor Rec: 6/10. It wasn’t bad, per se, but it was very generic. It did include some of my accomplishments, however, so I give it a 6.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A
Other
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public Magnet
Ethnicity: Asian-American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~$60K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation
Reflection
Strengths: Essays, extracurriculars, and objective scores. Focus on political science/government, but with a personal touch of activities such as children’s rights organizations and cancer advocacy. I also had other awards/honors that weren’t necessarily “major,” such as AP Scholar with Distinction, George Eastman Young Leaders Award, City of LA Special Recognition Award.
Weaknesses: Possibly my counselor rec. And although I really loved my Wellesley supp, it was a bit generic sometimes.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Stats and solid subjective app.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Tufts, Wesleyan University, Boston College. Waitlisted to Swarthmore, Barnard. Rejected from Duke, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Stanford, Amherst.
General Comments: I hope that this helps someone! The college process was definitely stressful, but all you need is strength and focus (and maybe sometimes some magic).
Waitlisted. I know this is really late but I’m just very frustrated at this entire process. Wellesley is my top choice and just praying for the best! I’ve been obsessing over this way too much, but they say they expect to go to their waitlist. What criteria are they looking at during the waitlist decisions?
Ultimately, make your decision for you but honestly give me your spot if you got in other places you like because I didn’t 
Decision: Waitlisted
Major: Art History
Objective:[ul]
[]SAT I (breakdown): 2240 (didn’t submit)
[]ACT (breakdown): 34 (English 34, Math 34, Reading 35, Science 33)
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): Chinese w/ Listening (800), US History (710), Biology-E (720)
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.76
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
[]AP (place score in parentheses): Chinese (5), Psychology (4), Biology (4), APUSH (5), French (5)
[]IB (place score in parentheses):
[]Senior Year Course Load: AP Art History, AP Macroeconomics, AP Calculus AB, AP English Lit & Comp, Physics H, & Living Skills (LOL.)
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul] AP Scholar w/ Distinction, National merit scholar, President’s award for community service, some art awards…[/li]
Subjective:
[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): my school’s magazine (Editor-in-chief), foreign affairs publication (Creative Director), MUN (member).
[]Job/Work Experience: Paid internship @ Condé Nast International, the publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, etc.
[]Volunteer/Community Service: Microfinance rural poverty alleviation program in Ningxia, China.
[]Summer Activities: Internship (unpaid) at National Geographic Traveler magazine, French immersion program in Montpellier.
[]Essays: Bomb!
[]Teacher Recommendations: Recs from APUSH teacher and head of English department probably both 10/10.
[]Counselor Rec: Probably really good.
[]Additional Rec: Got a rec from my journalism advisor, who happens to be quite famous.
[li]Interview:[/ul] Didn’t get one nor did I do demonstrated interest, but it didn’t affect me.[/li]
Other
[ul]
[]State (if domestic applicant): CA
[]Country (if international applicant): USA
[]School Type: competitive public in Silicon Valley
[]Ethnicity: Asian
[]Gender: Female
[]Income Bracket: well off & definitely do not qualify for financial aid or anything
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul] none [/li]
Reflection
[list]
[]Strengths: Internships & intense focus on a single interest (journalism in this case).
[]Weaknesses: GPA for sure, and the fact that I’m an overrepresented minority from an overrepresented area of an overrepresented state.
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My internships & essays were pretty bomb.
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied:[ /list] Accepted to Carnegie Mellon, USC, NYU, Bryn Mawr, Smith, & Rice! Waitlisted at Notre Dame, Wellesley, Barnard, & Boston College (huh?!). Rejected by Penn, Brown ED, Georgetown, Northwestern, WUSTL, Vanderbilt, & Johns Hopkins.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:[/noparse] When one door closes, another opens. That’s the case for me this year during this application process; I was in despair after Brown straight-up rejected me in the ED round since pretty much everyone is usually deferred rather than rejected, but I’m very excited to join Rice in this fall! More than happy to be an Owl 