***Official Williams Class of 2019 RD Discussion Thread***

Colleges and Universities A-Z Williams College
161

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2150 M 750 CR 630 W 770 ( I can’t critically read…)
ACT: 33 (36 M, 31 W, 28 CR, 32 S, 8 Essay)
SAT II: 750 Math Level 2, 570 Lit, 650 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.9
UC GPA: 4.07
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 4%
ELC: I don’t know what this is
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB(4); Chem(3); Chinese(5); Lit(2); Psych(3); US History(3); World History(4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): School doesn’t have IB
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP Gov, AP Physicsi, AP Lang, Advanced Orchestra, AP Calc BC
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, Presidential Volunteer Award, Hugh O Brian 2013 Seminar Ambassador

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Piano
Varsity tennis (Singles/doubles; co-captain)
District symphonic orchestra (Concertmistress)
District summer musical pit orchestra
American Red Cross Club (Co-president)
Project Outreach (Co-founder/Co-president)
Hospital volunteer
Animal rescue foster parent

Job/Work Experience: Privately tutored individuals in my community for math and piano
Volunteer/Community service: ~1,100 hours
Personal Statement: The idea sounded better in my head haha but I wrote about biking

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major : Neuroscience
State (if domestic applicant): So-Cal REPRESENT
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: <20k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): First-generation college student

Reflection
Strengths: I have no idea honestly.
Weaknesses: Still have no idea.

College decisions are so arbitrary to me haha
Congratulations to everyone who got into the #1 LAC!!
Anyone on the waitlist, GOOD LUCK!
To anyone who didn’t, you are my friend :’) Annnnd one less difficult choice to juggle in your mind.

Have a lovely day, everyone~

162

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t submit
ACT: 31 composite
SAT II: 780 spanish, 660 Biology
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/524
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 spanish, 3 biology, 3 Euro, 2 Physics
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Psychology, Economics, Government, English, Spanish Literature, Statistics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Secretary of NEHS
Job/Work Experience: One internship
Volunteer/Community service: 300+ hours at local hospital
Summer Activities: Community college classes
Essays: 9/10 i thought they were really good
Teacher Recommendation: didnt read
Counselor Rec:didnt read
Additional Rec:
Interview: nope

Other

State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: < 30K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first-gen, Questbridge finalist

Reflection

Strengths: class rank, essay
Weaknesses: AP Scores, ACT score, SAT II scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My scores were low for the applicant pool
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted: UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, Cal Poly SLO, Scripps, Wellesley Waitlisted: Willilams, Bowdoin Rejected: Pomona and CMC

General Comments: Congratulations to all those accepted!

163

Rejected :cry:
GPA: 3.8/4.28
ACT: 34
SAT II’s: 710 Chem 720 Lit
Rank: 19/500
AP: Comp (5), WH (5), APUSH (4), Bio (4), Chem (4), Psych (4)
Senior year: AP Gov, French 3, AP Lit, APES, Ap Calc Bc, AP Econ

EC’s: Award-winning attorney in mock trial, nationally ranked soccer team, PR Director and captain of strategy for FIRST robotics, state medalist in science olympiad

Volunteering: 150 at children’s hospital, 100 with Key Club-service coordinator for 500 students, 75 with special ed department
Work: Referee for four years, promoted every year
Cleaned sweat off of gym equipment over the Summer so I could use the gym after closing hours so I could train to make the aforementioned nationally ranked soccer team.
Recs: 10/10, kinda generic but had a nice paragraph at the end so 7/10, didn’t read, didn’t read, 9/10 might be a little biased lol
Essays: 9/10 and 10/10 but who can really evaluate their own writing.

No hooks except dual-citizen maybe?
Income: 40k
School: Large fairly competitive public
California

164

Rejected. Whatever. Will be joining @IM410S‌ in south bend

165

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2370 M 800 CR 800 W 770
SAT II: 800 Lit, 790 WH, 790 French w/Listening
GPA: IB predicted 45
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/350 (but not officially reported at my school)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Macro (5) Micro (5) Human Geo (5) French (5)
Major Awards - first ranked GPA in grades 9 and 10 (I was at a different school then), top 0.5% in Canada for a national math contest, AP Scholar with Honor, Duke of Ed Program Bronze and Silver awards

Subjective:
Extracurriculars
Debate - coached school since grade 10, coached the national team of a different country, ran a tournament to fundraise for a mental health organization, won a few national/international tournament awards
Model UN - executive member for 2 conferences, staffed at 2 conferences
Field Hockey - playing since grade 8, provincial umpiring certification
Work experience - interned at a sustainability consulting firm since June 2015, coaches debate at a private academy
Community Service - museum volunteer

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major : Political Economy
Country (if international applicant): Canada
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~100 000k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): None…

Reflection
Strengths: Grades/test scores
Weaknesses: I’m not sure what in particular - maybe my essays? Common ECs?

166

Rejected international 35 ACT, 800 Math 2, German 790 and 3.8 GPA

167

Decision: Waitlisteddd

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1580 (780 CR, 800 Math), 2250 with Writing

ACT: 34

SAT II: 720 Chem 700 Lit 780 Math II

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, Multiple Quiz Bowl State Championships, NSLI-Y Russian Summer Finalist

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Quiz Bowl (A Team Co-Captain), Junior Statesmen of America (Midwest Expansion Director), Chicago Council on Global Affairs (Member), Environmental Economics Research Assistant at the University of Chicago & Additional Pharmaceutical Economics Research with School Faculty, FELLAS Male Embetterment Group (Co-President), Tutoring

Job/Work Experience: Tutor for ACT/SAT
Volunteer/Community service: 150+ hours, mainly from tutoring
Summer Activities: Georgetown Summer IR 2013, NSLI-Y Russian Summer Finalist 2014
Essays: Pretty sure it was good?
Teacher Recommendation: Knew me and my interests well
Counselor Rec: Should be good
Additional Rec: None
Interview: None
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: International Studies
State (if domestic applicant): IL
School Type: Residential Public Magnet
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Lower/Middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nah

Reflection
Strengths: Good test scores, good ec’s
Weaknesses: Maybe the rec’s weren’t great? No legacy. Also got a suspension recently

168

@Frenholfer: I’m a legacy to Williams and I was rejected. While my stats were by no means amazing, they were within range. I’ve been accepted to several other top 25 LACs so far (admittedly not as hard to get in to as Williams, but with sub 25% acceptance rates) and I didn’t get into Williams. So don’t think that just being a legacy would have made a big difference. It may have been a tip to get you in, but a lot of qualified legacies don’t get in there.

169

Accepted- International Student. I’m too happy to post my stats right now, accepted. Congratulations everyone else who made it. Waitlisted and rejected peeps, do hold on, better opportunities await :slight_smile:

170

Accepted. International student asking for nearly 96% aid. Overloaded!

171

International. Waitlisted. Accepted at Columbia (likely letter), UChicago, and Pomona though so doesn’t really matter anymore. Congrats to all admits!

172

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Did not report
ACT (breakdown): 33 (CR:31 M:33 E:34 S:34)
SAT II: 730 Math II, 750 APUSH
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1
AP (place score in parenthesis): USH:5 EH:4 Bio:4 English & Comp:5
IB (place score in parenthesis): -
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc, Physics C Mech/E&M, AP Macro/Micro, Chinese, English Lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Tennis, Quiz Bowl, Dramatics
Job/Work Experience: Not Much
Volunteer/Community service: Open Source Software Contributor, Database Manager for Charity Warehouse
Summer Activities: See volunteer/community service
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I won’t rate these due to the subjective nature of a 1-10 rating system.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I won’t rate these.

Teacher Rec #1: Physics Teacher, talked about quantitative aptitude; important due to test scores being on the weak side and no Calc AB.
Teacher Rec #2: Economics Teacher,Standard “Favorite teacher” fare.
Counselor Rec: Pretty Good
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Computer Science/Economics
State (if domestic applicant):WA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian (SEA)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, ECs, Grades
Weaknesses: Testing
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Unique academic niche combined with decent test scores.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Deferred UPenn, Waitlisted Claremont Mckenna, Accepted UPortland, Willamette, Swarthmore (Probly gonna go here), UC Davis (Full Ride), Fordham.

General Comments:
I’m sorry this thing isn’t very detailed; I find that attempts to describe one’s application in detail become highly subjective (see: the thousands of these, both accepts and rejects, that list their essays as “the best they’ve ever written”).

For underclassmen: Find something that is both impactful and interesting to you. Doing computer work for a charity warehouse was a way for me to help my community while improving my programming skills. Something like this will boost your application on two fronts without seeming disingenuous,

For seniors: Sorry if you got rejected, it’s a crapshoot (see: me getting in).

173

Decision: Accepted early writes

Objective:

[] SAT I (breakdown): 2290 one sitting (740 CR, 770 Math, 780 Writing)
[] ACT (breakdown): N/A
[] SAT II: 800 US History, 770 Math II
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 1%
[] AP (place score in parentheses): 5 Human Geo, 5 Euro, 5 Gov, 5 Macro, 5 Eng Lang, 5 Lit, 5 APUSH, 5 Macro, 4 World
[] IB (place score in parentheses): 7 Math SL, 7 Psych SL
[] Senior Year Course Load: IB Chem HL, IB Eng HL, IB Contemporary History HL, IB Spanish SL, AP Calc BC, IB TOK, Mandarin 1 Honors
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist[/li]
Subjective:

[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Founded and lead an international education nonprofit, founded and lead a local middle-school debate league, president of local HOBY chapter, president of school’s debate team, president and founder of school’s social studies honor society, VP of school’s FBLA.
[] Job/Work Experience: Worked over the summer at a law firm as a legal assistant
[] Volunteer/Community service: ECs above
[] Summer Activities: Used to go to a performing arts sleepaway camp, dual enrollment, prestigious summer program, intern at a representative’s office, and aforementioned job.
[] Essays: I took a really personal spin on my Common App essay and wrote about my situation at home. Also, my Williams-specific essay was just about a dinner conversation with my grandpa.
[] Teacher Recommendation: Amazing recommendations from teachers I respect immensely.
[] Counselor Rec: Never read
[] Additional Rec: N/A
[] Interview: N/A
[] Supplementary Material: N/A

Other

[]Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[] State (if domestic applicant): Florida
[] School Type: Large public magnet
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

[] Strengths: Academics, Extracurriculars, and Essays
[] Weaknesses: No hook, lack of real focus in activities.
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My academics, extracurriculars, and essays showed that I would be a good fit within the community at the school
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Vanderbilt, Yale-NUS College, Wash U, GW, American, UF Rejected: Northwestern

General Comments: Congratulations to the Williams Class of 2019! To everyone who wasn’t accepted don’t give up hope. This process truly is one of the biggest crapshoots you will ever take. The best is yet to come.

174

So blessed to be accepted. I’m 90% sure I’ll be attending. After going to Previews, hopefully I’ll be 100% sure

175

Thawsitt here. See you all at the Previews!