<p>My daughter is now happily part of the class of 2012 at her dream college (H), and I am thinking that perhaps information about her experiences might be useful to others. Perhaps not, but I am offering. She was accepted at every college to which she applied (H, P, MIT, others). In light of the extremely competitive nature of the admissions process, we were of course stunned by her good fortune, although she certainly deserved it. In addition to her excellent stats, she worked hard throughout her school years, and maintained several long-term areas of passion. She never took a test-prep course, and took ACT and SAT once each. I am not sure if I can be of assistance, but am willing to try.</p>
<p>congratulations!</p>
<p>I only took the ACT once, but I used prep books.</p>
<p>Thank you for sharing and wanting to help!!! What do you think helped her gain admissions to all the colleges mentioned other than her good stats? What are her stats if you don't mind sharing?</p>
<p>No problem. Aced SAT, ACT, and 3 SAT IIs. Also 11 AP tests - 5's. Class rank 1. These stats surely helped, but they are only numbers. I think her essay was terrific. And she also included examples of some of her original work with her application.</p>
<p>What was her original work? Sample work from her class? Thanks again.</p>
<p>She included abstracts of her scientific research, and some excerpts from her poetry and short stories.</p>
<p>Upon reflection, I suppose I would advise high school freshmen and sophomores to focus on PSAT. That was the only test she took multiple times. She was relaxed taking it as a freshman and sophomore since she knew it didn't count and would not be reported. By the time it counted, she felt confident and aced it. That seemed to open many doors for her that we never expected. She took advantage of those opportunities, and that may have been a key to her success. I know her stats are also great, but she has an amazing friend from a different high school with nearly identical stats, who did not get into any of his top choice colleges. We are still trying to determine what made the difference. I will continue to reflect on her high school experiences, and will happily answer questions. (Not too specifically, of course, to protect her privacy.)</p>
<p>Thanks for helping. Did she win any special state or national awards? if so, what are they?</p>
<p>Yes. She won multiple significant state and national awards. (I hesitate to specify them to protect her privacy.) She listed them on a resume that she sent as a separate attachment. However, if I recall correctly, she had bemoaned the fact that there was not much room to list them on the actual application. They probably helped her case, but I doubt they made all the difference.</p>