<p>Tell us what you guys did so we can get an example of what it takes.</p>
<p>Passion in leadership. Having leadership as a reminder to admissions officers is the best positive I think. It should be evident in your EC's, your recs, and your essays. SAT is not everything!</p>
<p>Stand out in your context. I was a top performing academic but wasn't the typical "smart Asian kid". I was a school leader in a predominantly African American school district. My essays showed my level of deep engagement with the people around me. Looking back (now that I recruit HS students), I can really see how unusual I really was.</p>
<p>"I was a school leader in a predominantly African American school district. My essays showed my level of deep engagement with the people around me. L"</p>
<p>Interesting. A few years ago, I met an Asian American student in LA who was an African American studies major at Harvard.</p>
<p>My essays were honest-- dealing with my heritage. I didn't do anything examplary. A few local and school awards. I was a 4 year varsity athlete, but definitely not recruitable, and most of the activities I did, I stuck with for 3 or more years. I was also actively involved in the Relay for Life (American Cancer Society), but just as a team member. </p>
<p>Really, considering my Asian background, my average SAT (for top schools) and my lack of anything really stellar, I shouldn't have gotten in. BUt I just put myself out there, the way I saw who I was, and the person I wanted them to accept. I let myself come through in my essays, activities samples and other writing, as cliched as it sounds. Do not try to force yourself into some applicant mold. </p>
<p>-M</p>
<p>It would be helpful if responders said what schools they were accepted to.</p>
<p>With every school, I tried to make one of my essays really memorable/creative because my stats would probably just sink in with the rest of the others.</p>
<p>For Stanford, I wrote my Why Stanford essay in a wild west style. Basically, I was a pioneer looking for some place to settle (after my high school days), and I that storyline to describe my campus visit at Stanford and how that made me want Stanford's woods to be my new home.</p>
<p>My stats were as good as they're going to get, so they were out of my control. That's why I concentrated on making the essays very good because those were still in my hands. Lucky it worked Cardinal magic!</p>
<p>Good Job, but it helps if you put the school you were accepted too, like northstarmom said.</p>
<p>I was accepted to Yale, Brown, UMich and some others. Matriculated at Yale. I was the Chinese guy who grew up in a middle class black background. LOL</p>
<p>what were your stats?</p>
<p>I got into Duke, i think mainly cuz of leadership passion</p>
<p>My application essay was about my passion for music despite my hearing loss that I've had since birth and several other difficulties I've encountered in my life (trying to start a debate club with mixed reactions from administration), and how I let my passion get me through the bumps. My recommendations were very good, the two I saw were very personal with little anecdotes, one focused on how much I matured my junior year of high school, and another was more complimentary (tended to focus more on my strengths and not really touch on my weaknesses), but also had several very personal touches to it.</p>
<p>So far, I've been accepted to UNC, Emory, and Notre Dame.</p>
<p>I have not heard from Duke or Columbia yet.</p>
<p> accepted EA to Caltech and MIT: :)</p>
<p>** My application included **</p>
<p>** 1 ** SAT scores: 2340 (CR 740), IIC:800, USH:790 BIO/M: 760 CHEM: 760
** 2 *AP scores: 5s in CALC BC, CHEM, ENG LANG, PHY C MECH, USH
* 3 **APs (Senior): BIO, PHY C E&M, FRENCH LANG, STAT, G&P, ENG LITT</p>
<p>** 4 **Essays: Humorous tone, 550-625 words, followed Harry Bauld's advice
in his book, used Geraldine Woods college essays book points as a rubric;</p>
<p>** 5 **Supplementary material: DVD featuring dance performance; Audio CD
featuring instrument performance; </p>
<p>* For Caltech alone: research paper pdf *
* For both: my EPGY transcript (CS, Math, Physics coursework) *</p>
<p>** 6 ** Key Awards: Siemens, Intel ISEF + Numerous SF, AMC 12 school top scorer, other national level awards: chess, french language</p>
<p>** 7 **Athletics: 5K cross country 6:30 avg mile pace....</p>
<p>** 8 **Author: Science puzzle book</p>
<p>** 9 **Reccs: Guessing here--one nice one, one somewhat critical, decent GC recc</p>
<p>Georgetown SFS: Overall, I think I was just very "me": I showed my passion for international affairs and language in a lot fo my activities (Reischauer Scholars Program from Stanford big plus), but also did some odd stuff here and there like 2 different math tutoring programs... and my SAT math was terrible! A teacher called my one essay "beautiful," about visiting Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, and the other "very articulate" about a world issue. Plus I come from a very unimpressive school district. Great interview as well.</p>
<p>ED to Columbia:</p>
<p>My stats may be slightly different than others because i am a recruited athlete. that is not to say that i didn't work my ass off for admission. </p>
<p>1) Grades: All A's since freshman year in most challenging courses, school doesn't rank
2) SAT: 2200, SAT IIs: Latin 710, Lit 740
3) A few academic awards from the school
4) Athletics: swimming all four years, 25+ hours a week, many awards
5) recommendations i would expect to be quite good...my school is private and so it's much easier to develop close relationships with the teachers
6) Essay: wrote many, many drafts and had both my parents and college counselor read it
7) Extracurriculars: 11 years of classical piano, 2 years at a Music and Arts Conservatory, worked at theater camp, photography
8) Supplementary material: recording of my Beethoven piano concerto, poetry portfolio</p>
<p>I think my profile speaks a lot for the kids without the 2400 SAT scores. Don't get me wrong, I studied extremely hard for my tests...but they're by no means perfect. The top tier schools are looking for well-roundedness in prospective students...solely great academics arent going to cut it anymore.</p>
<p>EA to Georgetown's College</p>
<p>My SAT and SAT @s were definitely not amazing for the top schools--they might even be considered less than average. I do have a very strong GPA/rank, very heavy course loads over the years, and a hand-full of respectable extracurriculars as well as leadership positions, but I have nothing really unique.
My essays were very bland topics (a "Why Georgetown?" essay, a "Why this major?" essay for a free response, and a short essay about an EC, in my case band). My essays jived very well with the school's main tenets and showed not one, but many diff't facets of who I am and what I've become. I was also able to highlight a passion for language--a field most Asians at this level don't pursue I'm guessing. I also wrote my essays as if I was speaking--it seemed rudimentary, but genuine. And although I'm not a godly write, I was able to through in a line or two that made me worth learning about.</p>
<p>My interview was another bonus I'm guessing. I used to be a stereotypically shy Asian guy with strangers, but I surprised even myself with how outgoing I was--I felt like I was with a years-long friend. (I attribute this shell-breaking change to a summer pre-college program.) I was able to eloquently and thoroughly answer all the question without any hesitation to the point where I hope he didn't this that I managed to see his questions and rehearse answers.</p>
<p>Another boost I'm sure that didn't hurt was my teacher/guidance recs. My guidance counselor and teachers I chose love me, but I don't really know how good the recs were. My teachers probably don't REALLY know me, but my school-self is very "Asian" as far as stereotypes go. I also thought hard about who I chose to write my recs based on English skills.</p>