<p>Stats:
ACT: 31
Rank: 13/498 at a decent public school
Extra Curriculars: President of Science club, President of the Gay Straight Alliance, Secretary of French Club, National Honor Society
Work experience: I volunteer about 100 hours a year at the CT Renaissance Faire, and I’m a preschool teaching assistant
Awards: I’m a National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar and and AP Scholar
Teacher recs: I read one of them and it was amazing, my English teacher wrote about how we were like friends and how she wished she had my courage
Essay: I really liked it. It was about puzzles, if anyone wants to read it, you can message me.</p>
<p>SAT: 690 M; 740 R; 800 W
Rank: my school doesn’t do rank
Extra Curriculars: Editor-in-Chief of literary magazine, French club, Gay-straight alliance, piano lessons, I taught myself to play guitar
Work experience: I’ve been babysitting for the same family for 5 years; I volunteered at a day care center for a year; I interned with a middle school teacher for a year
Awards: National Merit Commended Student, AP Scholar, Gold and Silver awards in magazine layout from Empire State Scholastic Press Association
Essay: I wrote about why my favorite food is olives.</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 660 M 730 R 770 W (2160)
Rank 3/235 decent but not amazing public school
9 AP’s, the rest of my classes were honors when available. Math to Calculus, Both AP English classes, French up to level 5. Bio, Chem, and Physics (3 years of science.) Almost all of the AP Social studies available to me at my school. (World/US History, American gov, micro/macro econ, psych)
EC’s: French Club president, Math Team captain, Drama productions, philanthropic fundraising initiatives
community: State rep campaign, mentoring program w/ town elementary school
2 jobs, work 15-20 hours a week
Other: National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar w/ Distinction
I also felt I had an excellent interview over the summer, excellent recs, and good essays.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s warm wishes, congrats to those who have heard already, and again good luck to those still waiting!</p>
<p>Wait wait wait I just got in too!!! I FLIPPED OUT. The handwritten note at the bottom says “Congratulations on your success with Othello!”—a reference to my common app essay, in which I wrote about my experience directing a performance of Othello in my tenth grade English class. </p>
<p>Stats:
GPA: 5:00/5:00 weighted (at the time I applied at least)
ACT: 34 highest composite, 35 with score selection or whatever (not sure how that works)
AP scores: 4 Physics C Mechanics, 5 English Language, 5 US History
1st semester sr year classes: AP Lit, AP Latin, AP US Gov, AP Calc BC, orchestra, philosophy
ECs: theater (lots of leadership), ultimate frisbee (president), orchestra, A/V club, some synagogue volunteering, a little school newspaper writing</p>
<p>I just got my letter today, too! I was majorly psyched – and surprised that the Director of Admission had personally read my essay. My essay! I still can’t get over it. Guess the “they really care about you” atmosphere that Smithies talk about rings true even before matriculation!</p>
<p>SAT: 2400
Rank: 19/445
Extracurriculars: Piano lessons, school newspaper, debate team, National Honor Society, German club
Work experience: Some babysitting, four years of volunteering at public library, worked summers at my uncle’s restaurant.
Awards: AP Scholar w/ Distinction, National Merit Finalist, nominated for Presidential Scholars (ongoing), a couple local academic awards
Essay: I wrote about dealing w/ my father’s debilitating mental illness, and ended on hopeful note. (“What a lovely essay about your father!”)</p>
<p>Now, just waiting to see if financial aid is enough to actually attend…</p>
<p>I got a letter today, too! I am so excited right now. It is such a relief to have an acceptance already. I loved the personal note too, “Your research with Dr. Fleming sounds fascinating- come do research at Smith!”</p>
<p>hmmm well if Oregon already got it I miiiight get one tomorrow but I doubt it. </p>
<p>Ah well - a nice personalized early acceptance would certainly be exciting but I got in EE to Wellesley yesterday so it has already been a good college week :)</p>
<p>Hope I get one too! I’m international though so it’ll probably take long if I am lucky enough to get one. Ahhhh! Why didn’t they send these through email?! It would have made the next few days of my life much easier.
Congrats to those who got one btw!</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 2370 (800 CR, 770 M, 800 W)
Rank: 2/54
Extra Curriculars: Gay-Straight Alliance (head), Math Club, Literary Magazine, Peer Tutor, Writing Center tutor, Varsity crew (captain)
Work experience: Website design, babysitting.
Volunteer work: Library work, neighborhood cleanup, office work in a doctor’s office
Awards: AP Scholar, National Merit Finalist, Cum Laude Society
Teacher recs: I didn’t read either, but I imagine they were both very good. One was probably very academic, and the other was probably more personal.</p>
<p>At the bottom she wrote “Well done and provocative essay! You’re a wonderful writer.”</p>
<p>I wasn’t expecting this at all. I got a likely letter from Wellesley on Wednesday, so this has been a pretty good week. (:</p>
<p>Yeah. For years we had a Wellesley magnet on our refrigerator until the printed part peeled off, a minor homage to that “Likely” letter that was D’s first indication of an acceptance. “Oh, good, I don’t have to go to <name of=”" safety=“”>" was her response.</name></p>
<p>My D did not get a letter (yet, still hoping) and I am wondering if those who did --A. did an interview and B. applied to Wellesley or MHC or other competitive women’s college?</p>
<p>My D has great stats but did not do an interview or apply to any of those women’s colleges (although she did apply to other top schools and I do think I remember Smith asking which schools she applied to [or maybe another school asked). I have read in other threads about colleges kind of wanting to know who the competition is so as to know how to parlay admissions, etc.</p>
<p>I didn’t do an interview but I did apply to a few other women’s colleges. I did put in my “why Smith” essay that several people I knew graduated from MHC. So I would assume they would know I would apply there. </p>
<p>I think that everyone’s essays sound so great. Now that apps have closed and I’ve talked to a lot of people on their essays and apps, I think my applications were too focused on losing my dad (my only blood relative who had sole custody of me) to cancer. But it impacted every single thing in my life since he was diagnosed (summer after Freshman year and he died at the beginning of Junior year) and he was a really unique and wonderful dad and I was a happy kid until he got sick (I really didn’t know much adversity before that, he took such good care of me and was kind person and was so involved in my life). But he did influence me in a very positive way so I wrote about it. But as I went through my transcripts to fill out my common app, all I could see was a lower grade in this subject than expected and I would remember “oh yeah the final was during that week dad was rushed to the hospital” or dropping an EC because I had to be home for dad or something connected to his care. So when I reviewed my hs grades and ECs, how it affected me was really foremost in my mind (not that it normally isn’t). And when they asked if there was something to explain anything in the record, I also wrote that I would have done more ECs if he wasn’t sick and maybe my grades would have been better (I did take a lot of Honors and AP but my avg is only 3.7 weighted).</p>
<p>My counselor told me not to write about it because it would seem like I was looking for sympathy, but I thought she was wrong because I wasn’t. Maybe she was right. I just don’t know that I could have written about anything else (believe me I thought long and hard about it). Maybe it was too obvious or they thought I was trying for sympathy (I wasn’t, my dad showed me what courage and grace under pressure looked like). But maybe it was too personal. I don’t know. I’m really second guessing on this.</p>
<p>My D interviewed and applied to MHC and Wellesley as well as the other co-ed schools. I think her interviewer asked where else she was looking, but I can’t imagine that makes a big difference at this stage in the game.</p>