I am planning on applying ED2 to Vanderbilt this January. Before I start, thanks for taking the time to do this for me, I greatly appreciate it. Here we go…
Academics:
Act: 34 Composite (Reading: 36, English: 34, Math: 33, Science: 34, Writing: 8)
SAT: N/A
SAT Subject Tests: Took them, but did not turn out well, so I am not submitting them.
Class Rank: 1st quintile (My school ranks in increments of 20%, hence quintiles and I have about 220 kids in my grade)
GPA: Unweighted: 3.85 Weighted: 4.45 (My senior year grades are not included, but if they were, the GPA would be higher)
Course Load: Overall, not the most rigorous path at my high school. However, from freshman to senior, the rigor of my courses has drastically increased (along with my grades), ultimately giving me one of the hardest schedules available for my junior and senior courses. By the end of senior year, I will have taken 6 AP courses with almost all the rest being honors. I am not submitting any AP tests.
Distinctions:
-Honor Roll (All 4 years) and High Honor Roll - (2 years) (School recognition easy to achieve)
-Part of the #1 High School Baseball Team in the entire state of New Jersey
-National Honors Society (Junior and Senior Year)
-Spanish National Honors Society (Senior year)
-Spanish Seal of Biliteracy (Shows my proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking a foreign language)
-Bilingual (Not counting Spanish) - I speak English and Aramaic (Middle Eastern Language similar to Syrian)
Extracurriculars:
-Soccer - 2-year varsity letter recipient
-Baseball - 2-year varsity letter recipient and the team is currently ranked #1 in the state of NJ
-Karate/Martial Arts - Have spent 14 years studying martial arts. Have earned my black belt. Participate in numerous fighting and technique tournaments as well as co-instruct classes. I wrote about this and winning the state championship for baseball as my common app essay
-Soccer Referee - Have been an official for 4 years. I am a center and line ref for travel and recreational soccer.
-Volunteer Camp Counselor - Worked as a camp counselor for multiple camps during the summers of my high school years.
-Head counselor (paid) - Eventually became a head counselor at one of the camps I worked at and I was paid.
-Worked as a Landscape Laborer (Paid)- My Father owns and operates a landscaping business that I have intensely worked for over the last 4 years. I was a part of a 3-man crew that built walkways, installed sprinkler systems, conducted yard work, carried out construction, etc)
-Peer Leader - This is a select group of juniors and seniors that basically help freshman ease into the high school lifestyle. Each leader meets with a group of freshman each week for the entire year and gives them advice, answers questions, and familiarizes them with their surroundings.
-Member of Interact - Club that carries out numerous community service acts like toy drives, food baskets, fundraisers, etc.
-Member of the STEM league - An engineering and math competition team that travels to competitions and faces off against other schools in construction and engineering tasks.
-Volunteer Firefighter for my Town - 2 weeks every month, I go to my towns fire department and basically aid the firefighters. Also responsible for setting up town decorations (For example, for the upcoming holidays, I helped set up the town Christmas tree and lights around town).
Additional Info:
Gender: Male
Race: White/Middle Eastern
Did I visit?: Yes
Letters of Rec: Chem Teacher (Ok) and Computer Science Teacher (Great) and Guidance Counselor (Great)