**Decision: Accepted (Stern Scholar - student loans replaced with scholarship) **
Objective:
[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2310 ( 750 CR 800 M 760 W)
[] ACT (breakdown): didn’t send
[] SAT II: 770 Math 2, 760 physics, 580 Latin (I know Latin was bad!)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 20/646
[] AP (place score in parentheses): Physics B (5), English Language (5), Psychology (5)
[] IB (place score in parentheses): NA
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Physics C, IB Latin SL (AP not offered), AP US Govt, AP Macro, AP Calc BC, Engineering 4, AP Comp Sci
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Magna cum Laude (Latin I) Summa cum Laude (Latin II) on NLE, National Merit Finalist, US Presidential Scholar Candidate[/li][/ul]
Subjective:
[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
100 Member all girls volunteer club (12-Pres, 11-VP, 10-Treas): I updated everything this year, adding an online application and VolunteerSpot
Belles: about 30/300 girls selected to be official hostesses of city. Wear antebellum dress and greet people at events, also do volunteering in casual wear. [Less frilly version of Azalea Trail Maids-Google image it!]
Engineering Outreach: go to local elementary and middle schools, get kids excited about STEM
Latin Convention: attended, school hosted one year [decorated, planned games, led people around]
Latin club: host Saturnalia party for ~100 kids each year (12-rerum scriptores)
Alabama leadership program: my HS representative, three day event
Inner City Art Camp volunteer: about 20 hours one week in summer, my cousin’s church brings in underprivileged inner city kids and does art activities (main assistant in visual arts room)
[] Job/Work Experience: none
[] Volunteer/Community service: in extracurriculars. I don’t count hours, but probably at least 300
[] Summer Activities: only ones on app were Alabama leadership program and Inner City Art Camp volunteer
[] Essays:
Common App: about criticism by classmates on engineering group project. We were creative, but everyone else did the same thing. Shows my quick thinking, response to criticism, determination, creativity, etc.
Why Tufts: talked about interest in fashion, Latin, and physics and that most engineering schools make you set aside the first two (but not Tufts!)
Describe environment: nerdy family. Grandfather NASA engineer, gives me vintage slide rules, engineering books, and NASA T-shirts as presents. Ends with sense of pride in being smart
Way hope to make difference: talked about senior engineering project (working with first grade class, making physics game), engaging girls in STEM
[] Teacher Recommendation:
AP Physics and Engineering Teacher: didn’t read, should be excellent. Told my parents I was crazy smart one time [he’s taught several kids that have gone to Stanford, MIT, JHU, Duke, etc. for reference]. Known for three years.
Latin teacher: didn’t read but would have been glowing. I participate a lot in class, she likes me. Known for three years.
[] Counselor Rec:
Should have been decent. Had to fill out forms about my interests, awards, parent brag sheet, etc.
[] Additional Rec: none
[li] Interview: none[/li][/ul]
Other
- []Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
[] State (if domestic applicant): Alabama
Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: public school, competitive for top 20 or so kids [to be really highly ranked you have to do IB; I am the highest AP kid. Top ten take 8 IB classes with 3 HLs]
[li] Ethnicity: White[/li][] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): 100k
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nothing major
Reflection
- [] Strengths: engineering electives [one every year. I know SolidWorks (with FEA), MATLAB, LabVIEW, Multisim, LaTeX]. Female Alabama native interested in engineering (by native I mean that my parents were born here, went to state schools, dad grew up on a farm…). Showed interest (visited, read all Jumbo magazines)
[] Weaknesses: SAT II’s, no major awards, class rank
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: strengths listed above I guess
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
All for electrical engineering
Accepted: Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, Case Western (likely letter, 30k/yr merit), UIUC (James Scholar, 6k/yr merit)
Waitlisted: WUSTL, Cornell, Rice, Northwestern
Rejected: None
**General Comments: **
I wouldn’t rely on people’s essay ratings; it really is so subjective. For me the best way to write was to open with an anecdote and weave in my thoughts. I usually opened with dialogue out of context to create a hook. I wrote a lot for fun in middle school and early high school, so I’ve developed a strong writing style. Practice until you find a rhythm you’re comfortable with. Make sure it is your voice. I only got feedback from my mom, and I only sometimes took her suggestions.
Don’t pick your extracurriculars because you think they will look good on your resume. I didn’t do scholars bowl, debate, sports, or music like most driven kids at my school do. I did what I wanted, and I am very happy with my college results. Good luck!