Please chance for Early Decision! I love this school

Colleges and Universities A-Z Claremont McKenna College
1

<p>Objective:
• SAT I (breakdown): 2110, 650CR, 710 M, 750 W
• ACT: /
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.77 Grades were terrible in freshman and sophomore year, but rose to a near 4.0 in my junior year, estimated to be more in senior year (Probably would apply ED2 to send my senior grades for a final boost)
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 30%
• AP (place score in parenthesis): Don’t know score yet, but took English Literature, Psych, and Chinese
• Senior Year Course Load: AP US History, US Government, and English Language, all honors
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Outstanding achievement by BluBlocker company, National certificate for sketching, Taekwondo black belt</p>

<p>Subjective:
• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
• Business related:
• Helped a US sunglasses company (BluBlocker) enter the Chinese market by selling their sunglasses in the biggest mall in Shanghai. In return, we used the revenue to do cataract surgeries for the poor. (Leader, lead sales team, promotion, and did strategic plan) Did like 300+ hours one summer and changed the lives of 80 people
• Worked with a friend in developing and marketing a high tech lock for a company (Did full marketing and strategic plan)
• Helped furnish business plans using knowledge of the Chinese market and culture for entrepreneur friends
• Took Organizational Behavior at Summer@Brown, while impressing the professor with a full fledged business plan of a company (It actually could work)
• Psychology and miscellaneous:
• Class made a psychology website on which we post psychology articles (Editor in chief)
• Volunteered at the biggest psychiatrist hospital in Shanghai and joined in a project to help adolescents fight depression and negative emotions
• Arranged juniors to tutor and help the sophomores choose AP courses (Leader)
• School Media Department (Director and Anchor) Increased popularity for the media department
• Debate Club (We don’t lose)
• Varsity swimming (Intramural champion)
• (Class President)
• Prom Committee
• Internship at a college counseling company (Lol)
• Etc, etc.</p>

<p>• Essays: Deciding between a few drafts, should be great.
• Teacher Recommendation: Should be great.
• Counselor Rec: Should be great, she explained why there was a dip in my grades and how I improved.
• Additional Rec: Should be great.
• Interview: Great. Already had two, one from a senior during campus visit, and one with the Admissions Officer.</p>

<p>Other
• Applied for Financial Aid?: Maybe.
• Intended Major: Duel major in Economics and Psychology with the Leadership Sequence. I specify in micro econ and social psych=marketing stuff.
• State (if domestic applicant): Residency New York
• Country (if international applicant): But I live in Shanghai
• School Type: Public, one of the best in China
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: I honestly do not know. Pretty high.
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): Bi-cultural, had a campus visit, strong fit, well prepared for career, and did LOTS of research.</p>

<p>Reflection
• Strengths: ECs, essays, interviews, fit
• Weaknesses: GPA
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I don’t know what will happen.</p>

<p>General Comments: I toured 12 schools this summer and CMC totally outshined the others with its uniqueness. I love this school and would welcome any suggestions, comments, or opinions. Thanks guys!</p>

<p>P.S. Please point out what are my strengths and weaknesses if possible :-)</p>

2

<p>Edit: Will apply ED1.
GPA: 3.72 calculated it wrong sorry
Additions:
EC: Also doing promotion, website managing, and marketing for a college consulting company.
Raised over $13,000 for BluBlocker China.
Please comment!!!
I know there are no cut offs, but would my GPA be a death statement relatively?? I’m hoping my ECs and upward trend will make it up.</p>

3

<p>Your GPA is your main foible, but CMC bases it’s decisions on “do you fit this school?” so pretty much “are you a rich, driven, Caucasian who will make millions of dollars some day?” </p>

<p>This is truly an amazing institute. Better than any ivy league, and being less popular just makes it a dark horse. Never underestimate the power of CMC.</p>

<p>The fact that you realize it’s such a good school means you’re doing a good job in your college search.</p>

4

<p>That’s some praise, marshallmeyer12, mind justifying it? I’m attending CMC next fall and I’m curious why (mind you, I do love the school).</p>

5

<p>Most Liberal Arts Colleges base their admissions tactics more on personality/interview than raw materials such as GPA, Rank, and Test Scores (although don’t get me wrong, they are EXTREMELY important, GPA along with rigor of curriculum USUALLY being the most powerful.)</p>

<p>I like CMC because they are students who are ready for the real world before they even get there. I know that the Claremont area is perfect for almost everybody, but make sure you’re positive that CMC is better for you than Scripps, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, or even the mighty Pomona.</p>

<p>Good luck to all of you in your search.</p>

6

<p>Thanks marshallmeyer! I will cross my fingers and hope they notice my extreme upward trend. I am definitely positive that CMC is the right choice and best of luck to your college application process as well!</p>

7

<p>Bump! More chances please!</p>

8

<p>Chancing for a school like CMC based on numbers only is nearly impossible when they care so much about “fit.” I had a friend who applied and I thought he was in for sure (35 act, captain of two sports teams, High Gpa, NMF, etc) and he didn’t, so you never know.</p>

9

<p>Thanks Jared. I am aware of that, so according to your knowledge of CMC, am i a good fit for the school? What qualities do you think this school appreciates except for the obvious leadership and pragmaticism? I loved this school on my point of view.</p>

10

<p>Did you end up applying ED1? I just visited CMC today (I’m only a junior in high school) and it was love at first sight (I even liked Pitzer more than Pomona. Weird, huh?) Anyway, I hope you get in, and I’ll be applying next year. Good luck!</p>

<p>-The most important thing to CMC is effective, ethical leadership.</p>