Hey guys! I am a High School senior, taking a gap year and reapplying to colleges that are more personally, quantitatively, and intellectually suited to me. I have learned a lot from this process on the first go, and am looking forward to giving it another try.
Curricular:
GPA: somewhere around a 3.1 unweighted, Class Rank: 25th percentile in a class of 525
SAT: 2170 Composite, 730 CR, 750 W, 690 M
SAT 2: 800 U.S History, 750 Literature, I also might be taking Biology at the end of this year.
Projected Majors: Philosophy, Computer Science, Economics, English, International Relations
Non-Curricular:
Ethnicity: Indian
Region: Southern U.S
Income: 150,000
School: As public schools tend to be, my school is diverse in personalities and life paths but we have kids this year going to Yale, MIT, Stanford, Cal Tech, Georgetown, Northwestern, UNC, UMich, etc. So when you get into the top 10% of the class, it gets super competitive.
Speech and Debate Captain: regional champion. I’ve done really well on the national level as well.
Violinist: classically trained since age of four in Suzuki Method
Pianist: self-taught, jazz
Composer: mix of synthesizers/electronic elements and orchestral instruments
Engagement with community/world: intern with Congressperson, fundraising for refugees, member of Gay Straight Alliance, youth leader at temple
Other stuff:
I was accepted to an IOS coding program in San Fran with a 10% acceptance rate and will be attending over the summer
I was also accepted to and attended a music program at the Berklee School of Music with a scholarship
While I lack severely in quantitative subjects like Calculus and Chemistry, I would say my greatest strength lies in my writing ability. As a testament to this, I was wait-listed to both the University of Chicago and Dartmouth, that with an amalgam of C’s on my transcript. I was also wait-listed at Reed College, and accepted to my state flagship.
Things I seek in a college: really good advising/mentorship services, small class sizes, personal engagement with professors, active student body, solid policy/parliamentary debate team.
I know it’s hard to give me good advise with nothing but a vague outline of who I am and what I do. But, operating on that same premise, don’t be brash. Yes, my GPA is pretty horrendous, but schools that consistently reject kids with 3.9’s wait listed me. And I think that says more about this process than it does about me.