<p>So after a long 8 months, I am so glad the admissions process is done. I wanted to share some thoughts and give advice to some of the junior hispanic students that will be applying next year. First and foremost, never let anybody tell you where you can or can't get into. Don't feel scared to send that application to Harvard or whatever your dream school may be, you never know. I sent a total of 8 apps, accepted at 5, waitlisted at 1, and rejected at 2. Make sure you have 2 safeties, 3 targets, and at least 1 reach. Don't make the same mistake as me and overlook the financial aspect. I did not have a financial safety on my list and its coming back to haunt me. The cheapest college so far (and i say so far because two packages are under review) will be my state college UGA (which will still end up costing me around 5000 in loans/year). Try to get on a personal level with your counselor, the rec he or she sends in is just as important (if not more) than a teacher rec. Work as early as you can on your essays and don't try to write to impress the admission office. Instead, try to express yourself as a real and genuine person. Don't blow off essays (or else you'll have a miserable last two weeks from my personal experience) as they are one of the only ways the adcoms can see who you really are. Challenge yourself your senior year and take as many AP's as you can. Get involved in activities you really like and can devote significant time to(don't just pad your resume with various clubs). But most importantly, don't stress!! College is what you make of it, don't obsess about a school just because of its prestige. If you are motivated, you will be sucessful wherever you go. With that said, I want to thank the various posters on this forum that have helped me tremendously in the past year, especially Entomom. I certaintly could not have done it without you guys. Here are my stats and my admission decisions, just so you guys can kind of compare and see.</p>
<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2070 (660CR 700M 710W)
ACT: Didnt take
SAT II: 700 USH 760 Spanish
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7 Weighted: 3.92
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 40/495 (Top 10%)
AP (place score in parenthesis): World (4) USH (4) Biology (4) Calc AB (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, AP Spanish, AP Stat, Physics, AP US GOV, AP Comparative Gov, AP Lit (7 AP total senior year)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar, AP Scholar
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Club Soccer (6 years, 3 yrs captain)
Track and Field (JV 10 and 11 grade, V 12th) XC (jv 2 yrs) Anchor Club (Co founder/treasurer 11th and 12th grade) Beta Club (Volunteer 10-12th grade) Tutor (4 yrs)
Job/Work Experience: Worked at my uncle's company for experience on how to deal with finances and other manners dealing with money (Aspiring econ major)
Volunteer/Community service: about 100 hrs of volunteer work total
Summer Activities: Club Soccer
Essays: Pretty good, everybody who read them thought they were really good
Teacher Recommendation: glowing
Counselor Rec: glowing
Additional Rec:
Interview:didnt have one
Other
State (if domestic applicant):GA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:Public, extremely competitive, typically sends 10 kids to Ivies, many more to great schools
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender:Male
Income Bracket: 100000>
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, 1st gen
Reflection
Strengths:essays, recs
Weaknesses:gpa, test scores</p>
<p>ACCEPTED:
UGA
GA TECH
EMORY
USC
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA</p>
<p>WAITLISTED:
VANDERBILT</p>
<p>REJECTED:
HARVARD
STANFORD</p>
<p>Likely will attend:
Penn (depending on financial aid review) or UGA</p>
<p>Best of luck to you rising seniors and to the Class of 2016 :)</p>