******UC BERKELEY CLASS OF 2019 DECISION STATS ONLY******

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
61

Decision: Accepted College of Letters and Science[/size]

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2290; 770 math, 760 reading, 760 writing
ACT (breakdown): never took
SAT II: 800 math, 710 literature (I’m so depressed by this score)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
UC GPA: Flawless UC GPA I can’t remember I think it was 4.3?
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): My school does not rank but I am in the top 3
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis): 6 in calculus, 6 in computer science
Senior Year Course Load: full IB
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): national merit commended, national honors society, a couple others nothing impressive

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

Practicing Aikido for 11 years, 3 years at the original dojo in Japan, teacher for 2 years
Soccer for 10 years, played at premier level (highest in my state) for 3 years won multiple tournaments
Varsity Soccer for 3 years JV for 1 year
Knowledge Bowl (President) placed 3rd in state
Volunteer at Swedish Hospital on PCU floor for a year
Tutor at my school for struggling students for past year
Played Piano recreationally (no amazing awards) for 8 years, I just play for fun

Overall, around 400 hours of community service from teaching Aikido, tutoring, volunteering at the hospital, etc.

Job/Work Experience: Refereeing youth soccer games for a year
Volunteer/Community service: over 400 hours
Summer Activities: Microsoft high school camp
Essays: Common App: 8.5/10 UC supplement: 9/10
Teacher Recommendation: Did not see either, suspecting they are good probably 8/10
Counselor Rec: Very good 9/10
Additional Rec: Excellent, written by my aikido instructor for the past 7 years 10/10
Other:
I am also doing a research project on cryptography under a mathematics professor who got his B.A. from UPenn and a PhD at University of Washington. It is very intensive and I mentioned it in my Wharton supplemental essay. I think both of my essays are somewhere between good and excellent. I talked about my transformation from when I first started Aikido when I was in 1st grade to how I teach now.

Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope
Intended Major: Finance
State (if domestic applicant): Washington
Country (if international applicant): United States Citizen!
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 400k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection: I am very happy I have been admitted to Berkeley. Tomorrow is the big ivy day for me. I will attend Berkeley if I am not accepted to Harvard, UPenn, or Brown.

Strengths: Strong overall. Solid SAT and GPA, rigorous curriculum, and good ECs. I think my teaching experience in Aikido was unique.
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: I focused heavily on my teaching experience in Aikido and my research project in cryptography.
Weaknesses: My ethnicity.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/deferred/rejected: See Strengths.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: University of Washington, UCLA, SMU
Waitlisted: Northwestern, Washington University in St. Louis
Deferred: UPenn (Wharton)
Waiting: Harvard, UPenn (Wharton), Brown
The most unique thing in your application: I think my Aikido experience coupled with my Japanese international exposure was very unique.

62

Decision: Rejected (EECS)

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 690 CR, 700 M, 690 W
[] ACT: didn’t take
[] SAT II: 760 Math Level 2, 740 Physics
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] UC GPA: 4.7
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 1% lol
[] ELC?: yeah
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (5), Physics B (5), Environmental Science (5), US History (5), English Lang (4), World History (4)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP Statistics, AP English Lit, AP Gov, Drawing and Painting, Calculus 2 (taken at a community college first semester)
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NCWIT Aspirations National Runner-Up and San Diego regional winner, Gordon Scholars Award (top final project in cluster at UCSD COSMOS), AP Scholar with Distinction[/li]
[/ul][ b]Subjective:**[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): FIRST Robotics (co-founder and co-president of my team. competed in world championships as a rookie team), Academic team (varsity starter), piano lessons for 10 years, NHS (secretary), JV Lacrosse. Also participated in COSMOS at UCSD (computer science course) and Academic Connections at UCSD (robotics course)
[] Job/Work Experience: math tutor
[] Volunteer/Community service: meals on wheels volunteer (only 24 hours)
[] Personal Statement: very good. The best personal statements I wrote in my college app process. The second one was all about being inspired to start a FIRST Robotics team at my high school and overcoming challenges such as money and lack of school support.

[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: no
[li]** Intended Major **: COE EECS[/li][] State (if domestic applicant): California
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket: high
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): female in engineering

[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: GPA, extracurriculars, personal statements, awards
[] Weaknesses: SAT
[] Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to? UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, Stevens Institute of Technology, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Cal Poly SLO (waitlisted)
[] Schools you were rejected from? MIT, Stanford, Berkeley
[li] Schools you are waiting for? None[/li][/ul]General Comments: I thought I had a good chance at getting in, given my sustained interest and success with computer science and engineering and given that I am female. I guess EECS is just really competitive. Sad because Berkeley was by far my top choice. I will be attending UCLA for Computer Science and Engineering.

63

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

[ul]
[] SAT I: 2390 (800M/800CR/790W)
[] SAT II: Chemistry – 780, US History – 790, Math II – 800
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), Chemistry (5)
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Econ, AP Mandarin, AP Spanish, AP Physics C, AP Calc AB, English Elective
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul] National Merit Finalist?[/li]
Subjective:

[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: Piano, Skating, Debate, Racing, Engineering-related internship, Foreign Exchange (Sorry I’m being really vague)
[] Job/Work Experience: Paid internship at a university, Tutoring
[] Volunteer/Community service: Peer tutoring, Counselor for kids, Hospital, NHS
[] Essays: I liked them. I didn’t totally love them, but I thought they were pretty good.

Other

[list]
[] State (if domestic applicant): MA
[] Country (if international applicant): USA
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: Asian/White
[] Gender: F
[] Income Bracket: 200,000+
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul] None[/li]
Reflection

[ul]
[] Strengths: SAT, GPA maybe?
[] Weaknesses: Extracurriculars
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was hardly stunning lol. And I probably shouldn’t have applied for engineering. Oops… lol.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/ul] Accepted: Northeastern, Cornell (likely letter), UW Madison, UNC Chapel Hill, NYU Shanghai. Waitlisted: WashU, Caltech. Rejected: MIT, UChicago, Northwestern, Duke

64

**Decision: Accepted Letters and Science **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2380 (800 CR 800M 780 W)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math II: 800, Lit: 760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.65 UW/4.1 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parentheses): 5 APUSH, 4 Comp Sci, 4 Lang
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Statistics, Advanced Topics for Physics HNS,

Advanced Topics for Comp Sci HNS
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, 3rd place at national Tae Kwon Do
tournament, Presidential Scholars Candidate (didn’t put)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): 2 years Tae Kwon Do, 2 years indoor/outdoor

track and cross country, 1 year chess club
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service: Tzu Chi Humanitarian Foundation
Summer Activities:
Essays: Unique essay about rapping
Teacher Recommendations: Good but probably generic
Counselor Rec: Good but generic
Additional Rec:
Interview: N/A
How much interest did you express? None

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
How much merit aid did you get?
Major you put down: Computer Science in L&S
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Competitive public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: $150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection
Strengths: Essay, SAT
Weaknesses: GPA, lack of interest
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/waitlisted/rejected: Unique essay about rapping
Where else you are applying or have already applied:

Accepted: Rutgers, University of Vermont, University of Oklahoma, UC San Diego, Northeastern University, UC Berkeley (L&S)
Waitlisted: University of Chicago, Case Western, University of Michigan Engineering
Rejected: UCLA (Engineering), University of Southern California (Viterbi), Carnegie Mellon (SCS,
CIT, and Dietrich), Princeton (Deferred then rejected), Yale, UPenn, Cornell

General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: i hope next years applicants with less-than-perfect gpas dont lose hope! if i can do it you guys can too

65

Decision: Accepted (College of Letters and Science)

Objective:
SAT : 1930
ACT: n/a
SAT II: Biology M 680, Biology E 710
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
UC GPA:4.43
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):top 5%
ELC?:
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History(5), Psychology(5), Biology(3), United States History(4), Language and Composition(4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Physics 1, AP Calculus, AP Studio Art, AP Government, AVID, Journalism
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, Cross Country Leadership Award, School Pride Award (nothing major really) Academic Honor Rolls (eh…)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): City’s youth council (Chairman 11th grade, Vice-Chair 12th), Interact Club (Secretary 11th, President 12th), Varsity Cross Country 4 years (captain 12th), Varsity Track 3 years (captain 12th) CSF (treasurer 11th), NHS
Job/Work Experience: Babysitting haha, tutoring elementary kids in math
Volunteer/Community service: 300+ hours, public library, Boys&Girls Club, volunteered at a Historical Society Park, city events
Personal Statement: Spent a great deal of time revising, made sure to talk about family/personal struggles

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: undeclared biological sciences
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: mexican/white
Gender: F
Income Bracket: less than 30,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): single parent household

Reflection
Strengths: well rounded? well written personal statements, background
Weaknesses: test scores, I stood out somehow
Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to? UCSD, UCSB, San Francisco State, Vassar College
Schools you were rejected from? Stanford, UCLA, Cornell
Schools you are waiting for? none
General Comments: I AM SO LUCKY AND SOOOO EXCITED TO ATTEND THIS FALL!!! It has been my dream school since freshman year. I have my entire first year paid for without having to take out any loans through grants and scholarships too. :smiley:

66

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2070 (CR 630, M 770, W 670 w/ 10 Essay)
ACT: 34 C (31 E, 35 M, 33 R, 35 S, 12 W)
SAT II: Math II 730, USH 670
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97, WGPA: 4.67
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/415
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (3), Calc AB (5), Psych (4), Eng Lang (4), World (4), Human Geography (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Physics 1, AP Calculus BC, APES, AP US Gov/Reg Econ, Journalism II
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholarship with Distinction, Key Club Gold Member Award, nothing else much

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Key Club (Club President 13-14, Club Fundraising Chair 14-15, and Communications Chair 14-15), Physics Club (Secretary 13-14), Journalism (Staff Writer (13-15), Senior Editor (14-15)
Job/Work Experience: Worked around 300+ hours at Kumon, where I work(ed) as a grader and teaching assistant for numerous students. Also worked in private tutoring with the program for a student in Precalc, and also helped the kiddo pass his CSU placement test in Math.
Volunteer/Community service: Other than club experience, I worked with a homeless feeding community for at least 40+ hours, and worked as a campaign volunteer for the local Congressman.
Personal Statement: I actually felt that my statements were kind of weak in reflecting my background, but stronger for reflecting my writing style. The first one about a world I live in was about the math world and how I utilize it to further my future and intellectual curiosity. The second one about a quality was about rambling and how it allows me to really gauge analysis of events or ideas internally; the personification on this one was honestly immense.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?:Yes
ntended Major: Applied Mathematics
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public (2000+ students)
Ethnicity: Pacific Islander
Gender: M
Income Bracket: Very Low Income
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): If PI is considered a URM then I guess, lol. Otherwise, I’m not quite sure what else.

Reflection
Strengths: I feel like my application reflected the fact that I put in a lot of dedication into Key Club and Journalism. My ACT and GPA obviously gave me a boost, but I think that combined with these activities show that I do have a genuine interest in community service and writing. It’s not much to show, but it’s the dedication that counts.
Weaknesses: I think my essays could have been a bit more reflective of my background, but I felt uncomfortable during that month in talking about my family background or financial struggles, which aren’t necessarily important anyways.
Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to? Accepted: Stanford, Columbia, Boston, UCLA, UCSD, etc. Waitlisted: Harvard, NYU
Schools you were rejected from? None

67

Wasn’t planning on making a post due to privacy reasons, but CC has been helpful (as well as a hindrance) for the past four years, so here goes!

Decision: Accepted (College of Chemistry)

Objective:
SAT : 2290
ACT: n/a
SAT II: Math 770, Physics 730, US History 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
UC GPA: 4.5
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 2%
ELC?: Yes
AP (place score in parenthesis): European History (5), Calculus AB (5), US History (5), English Lang (5), Statistics (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Psych, AP Chem
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Literally just NM Commended, AP Scholar, National Honor Society, and School Awards lol

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Big Service Club at our school (VP), Tutoring Program (Founder, Chair), School Senate, Research, did a summer program, Assistant Robotics Coach to a bunch of munchkins
Job/Work Experience: Job at district office, related to communication
Volunteer/Community service: Little things here and there, Soup Kitchen Assistant and Museum Volunteer
Personal Statement: Spent a lot of time, but thought they were super cliche and cheesy afterwards. Apparently, it was okay enough.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Chemical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): nah man
School Type: Public (2000 students)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F
Income Bracket: TOO MUCH FOR FA APPARENTLY
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): literally none…unless girl in engineering?

Reflection
Strengths: I guess I’m proud of my AP Scores, but not sure if that counts for anything.
Weaknesses: SAT II (maybe GPA for CoC?), standard but meaningful extracurriculars
Schools were you accepted to? UCB, UCLA (engineering likely), UCSD, UCD, UCI, SJ State, Sac State
Schools you were rejected from? The school that now shall not be named
Schools you are waiting for? none
General Comments: So incredibly blessed to join one of the most amazing legacies in the world!

68

College Confidential is truly the epitome of evil however it would be hypocritical of me to not post since I have spent more hours than I care to admit on this website. Hopefully this provides someone out there with some comfort and ease…or not.

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

• SAT I: N/A
• ACT: 31/32 superscore
• SAT II: 740 Bio M/ 780 MII/ 800 French

• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.89
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): no idea
• AP scores: Bio-4 French-5
• IB scores: N/A
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Chemistry, AP Government, AP Literature, AP Calc BC
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): some French and speech and debate awards

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars: Competitive soccer for basically my whole life (lots of traveling, played ECNL for those that know what it means), Varsity soccer 4 years, Co-Founder and VP of speech and debate club at my school (literally my baby), NHS/CSF, HOP leader (helping freshman), Ambassador Mentor (helping international students), did a research internship at a private research lab over my junior summer and did a surgical skills internship at Stanford my sophomore summer.
• Job/Work Experience: I worked as a cashier at Five Guys during my sophomore and junior year. It was literally THE worst.
• Volunteer/Community service: Volunteering at local hospital for two years, then some random NHS/CSF events and tutoring that actually, in the end, added up to quite a bit of hours (300+ hours)
• Essays: spent a lot of time on them, I think they captured my personality well

• Teacher Recommendations: AP Bio Teacher- I honestly have no idea how this one turned out. She wrote me a letter of rec for a research internship over the summer and my mentor said that she spoke highly of me???
English Teacher- yea same situation, no idea.

• Counselor Rec: HA! I think she had to write like 100 of these so…haha
• Additional Rec: N/A
• Interview:… you could interview?

Other:

• State (if domestic applicant): CA
• Country (if international applicant): USA
• School Type: Large Public
• Ethnicity: African American
• Gender: F
• Income Bracket: 0-100 (sadly no financial aid)
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I have a lot of them in my closet?

Reflection:

• Strengths: you tell me
• Weaknesses: I know for a fact my ACT scores
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I don’t read minds

• Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Tulane, UCSB, Washington University in St. Louis, UCSD, Williams College, Boston University, Johns Hopkins,
Waitlisted: UC Davis, MIT, Columbia, Dartmouth
Rejected: UCLA, UC Berkeley *sigh, UCs do not like me very much

General Comments:

Like I said before, this website is absolute evil. It makes you compare yourself to others, lowers your self-esteem and honestly makes life a little bit (A LOT) crappier. But hey, I spent wayyyyyy to much time on this website so I would feel guilty if didn’t post. So because I am compromising my principles by posting on this website, I feel like I should share the immense amount of wisdom I have gained over the past couple of months. Instead of trying to analyze my stats and figure out how the hell I got in (or didn’t get in), here are some things to take away from this is: 1) Do not compare yourself or try to copy others. It is human nature but try to remember that everyone is unique 2) please don’t try to look for some pattern on these stat threads. Trust me. I tried, I failed, don’t waste your time. 3) You may think that some people on this website who are rejected/accepted are gods who can walk on water but…dramatic pause… it is all an illusion (GASP). What you see on these stats are people in their best light with all their flaws excluded. I mean looking now at my stats, I am quite impressed but if you met me in person, haha, that would be a different story 4) You probably won’t believe me now but no matter how good the acceptance feels or how shitty that rejection feels, you won’t remember it a couple months down the road. For those who were rejected, just remember this, you can’t mourn a fate that isn’t yours. You WILL end up in a place that is right for you, a place that will make you happy. So even though you may think I am just spouting out a bunch of bullshit, all I ask for is to give me the benefit of the doubt.

Wow that was a lot. If you made it to the end, AWESOME! I hope I was able to enlighten you. So, in summation, be yourself, like the number pi there is no pattern, unlike what you may see on this website none of us are perfect, give me the benefit of the doubt and in the words of Stanley Fich, have fun, be safe, and party hard.

69

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2200; Reading 760; Math 750; Writing 690
ACT: 34; English 31; Math 33; Reading 36; Science 36; Writing 29
SAT II: Math II 780; Physics 700
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.82
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Does not rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): (Did not send scores) Calculus BC, AP Gov, Prob and Stats, APUSH, Physics C Mechanics
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: English Lang and Comp AP, APES, Computer Science AP, World History AP, Macro Economics AP
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science Olympiad (co-president), Mu Alpha Theta
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: Math tutoring 1 hour per week for 2 years, Vacation Bible School at local church
Summer Activities: Shell Energy Camp one summer
Essays (rating 1-10, details): All 8/10,
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Signed waiver, but both teachers really liked me

Teacher Rec #1: Physics teacher
Teacher Rec #2: French teacher
Counselor Rec: I talked to her a lot so she knew me better than others
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid: Yes
Intended Major: Computer Science at L&S
State (if domestic applicant): Louisiana
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public Magnet
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 90K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: Competitive high school? I really don’t know
Weaknesses: extracurriculars
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: No idea, I’m shocked. It was the only reach school I applied to.
Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to?: Accepted: Tulane, UMich, Georgia Tech, University of Rochester; Waitlisted: UCLA, UIUC
Schools you were rejected from?: UT-Austin, USC

70

size=+2][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted[ /b][ /color][ /size]

[ b]Objective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): Took it 2 times
1st Sitting: 2030 (580/M,760/W,690/CR)
2nd Sitting:2040(590/M,730/W,720/CR) The math section is what lowered my score so much!
[ *] ACT: Not taken
[ *] SAT II: 610 (Literature), 650(Spanish), 630(USH), Gaaahhh!Pretty bad --
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[ *] UC GPA: 4.67
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 8/904
[ *] ELC?: Yes
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (3), US History (5), English Language (4), Spanish Language (5)
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis): School doesn’t offer
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus AB, AP Environmental Science, AP English Lit, AP Macroeconomics, AP US Government & Politics, Culinary Arts(lol, I wanted to have SOME fun senior yr) & Dance (UC Fine Arts Requirement :neutralface: )
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar w/ Honor
North Coast Section Scholar Athlete
Cheer Squad Junior Varsity Co-Captain
Superintendent’s Honor Roll all 4 yrs

[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Cheer Squad for 9th, 10th, 12th (Co-Captain)
UCPD Police Explorer for 11th
Math Mentor for 10th, 11th
Link Crew Mentor for 11th,12th
[ *] Job/Work Experience:
Mcdonald’s Employee for 11th, and 12th :neutral_face:
[ *] Volunteer/Community service:
Link Crew
Some volunteer time at elementary schools, Nothing too special
To be honest, I hardly had community service hours !!
[ *] Personal Statement: 1. My mixed heritage and how it has shaped my perseverance in school and helped me to succeed , no matter how much people doubted me.
2. My time on the cheer team and how my passion for the sport (and yes, cheer is a sport!) influenced my growth as an individual and leader, along with preparing me for the real world.

[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[ *][ b] Intended Major [ /b]: Well, I may possibly double major in Political Science and Legal Studies, with some minors but I’m not sure yet!
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): Cali :wink:
[ *] Country (if international applicant): Amuuurica
[ *] School Type: Huge Public School
[ *] Ethnicity: Hispanic/Japanese/Hawaiian
[ *] Gender: F
[ *] Income Bracket: Prefer Not To Answer
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): First Generation, URM

[ /list][ b]Reflection[ /b][ list]
[ *] Strengths: Essays, GPA, Unusual EC’s
[ *] Weaknesses: SAT Scores!
[ *] Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to?
Accepted: UCI, UCSC, USC, UoP, USF, Cal !
Waitlisted: UCLA (eye roll, I guess the phenomenon of only getting accepted to either Cal or LA was true in my case!)
[ *] Schools you were rejected from? Stanford ( :neutral_face:
[ *] Schools you are waiting for? None !
[ /list][ b]General Comments:[ /b] Good Luck!!
My advice? Just show them that you have a passion for something and run with it! Don’t believe people who tell you that your SAT scores alone will single you out!( I am obvious proof of that, though I had a very high GPA as a support.) A test score doesn’t even begin to describe who you are as an individual and Cal can see that! Take AP courses and the exams, and just do your best! Don’t do activities or millions of hours of community service simply because “it looks good” for college. Be you ! Do what interest you and remain focused on your academics, do your best on the SAT, and you’ll be fine!

71

[ size=+2][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted EECS [ /b][ /color][ /size]

[ b]Objective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 790 (M) 760 (W) 690 (CR) 2240 total
[ *] ACT: Did not report
[ *] SAT II: 800 Math2 800 Physics 800 Chemistry
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Equivalent to 3.9 out of 4.0 (Highest grade in all math and science courses across high school)
[ *] UC GPA: Don’t know how to compute
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank (top 10%)
[ *] ELC?: What is this?
[ *] AP: Self studied - Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism (5), Physics C: Mechanics (5), Calculus BC (5), Chemistry (4)
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: School offers advanced science and math program across high school attracting top students via a nationwide entrance test
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Talent Search Scholar, Indian National Physics Olympiad top 1% (11th and 12th grades), Participated in World Robot Olympiad after winning the Indian Robot Olympiad in middle school

[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Indian classical Music from 3rd grade, won a few interschool quiz events, Basketball, Table Tennis school teams, debate and speech events at school
[ *] Job/Work Experience: None
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: None
[ *] Personal Statement: About how the first 10 years were spent in the US and the last 7 years in India - adapting and succeeding in the Indian context including learning multiple languages. Another statement was about deep interest in CS including doing well in Robotics and Computing Olympiads.

[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[ *][ b] Intended Major [ /b]:EECS
[ *] State (if domestic applicant):
[ *] Country (if international applicant): US citizen applying from India
[ *] School Type: School follows CBSE board in India
[ *] Ethnicity: Indian American
[ *] Gender: Male
[ *] Income Bracket: Too high for good financial aid
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): Cross cultural experiences - US and India

[ /list][ b]Reflection[ /b][ list]
[ *] Strengths: Good stats, consistently good performance in Math and Science throughout high school
[ *] Weaknesses: ECs
[ *] Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to? UCB, UIUC CS (James Scholar), UCLA CS, UT Austin CS, Purdue CS(Presidential Scholarship, Honors college), Priority waitlist at Carnegie Mellon (engineering other than ECE), waitlist at UMich
[ *] Schools you were rejected from? MIT, Caltech, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia
[ *] Schools you are waiting for? None
[ /list][ b]General Comments: Different schools seem to give more importance to different parts of the application. There are schools that like good stats and there are schools that are really looking for good essays and ECs.

72

** Decision: Accepted into EECS **

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2130 (670 Reading, 790 Math, 690 Writing NOT submitted)
[] ACT: 35 (34 Reading, 34 Math, 35 English, 36 Science, 8 Essay, 31 English+Essay)
[] SAT II: 800s in Math II and Chemistry
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] UC GPA: ? Didn’t calculate, but school unweighted is ~4.5
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/~540
[] ELC?: No, out-of-state
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB and BC, Stats, Physics B, Chemistry, Psychology, APUSH, Micro and Macro Econ (5s); Spanish Lang and English Lang (4s)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): None
[] Senior Year Course Load: APES, AP US Gov, AP Eng Lit, AP Bio, AP Physics C (Mech and E&M), AP Euro, Graphic Design
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None, but National Merit, 7th nationally in Radio Commentary (S&D), Nat. AP Scholar,[/li]
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: FIRST Robotics FRC (LabVIEW, Programming lead for 2 years, made worlds freshman year), Speech and Debate (Parli, Congress, and Radio Commentary lead + state awards and distinction rank), CEE Econ Challenge (2nd in Wild Card), Science Olympiad (1st in state), DECA Business Competition (qual’d for nats in business management, high place at state in finance and ENI plan), History Bowl and Bee (3rd at regional, qual’d for nats in both), and Model UN (committee chair for 2 years), participation in many math and science competitions/olympiads. Also learned basic text-based programming during summer via EdX/Coursera.
[] Job/Work Experience: None
[] Volunteer/Community service: NHS (head tutor + over 150 hrs of in-school tutoring)
[] Personal Statement: Good, focused on the development of my interest in computers and experiences with moving and what success means to me. Personal contribution: teaching programming on my robotics team and rebuilding it after seniors argued with coach and left in my freshman year.

[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, but didn’t expect or get any
[li]** Intended Major **: EECS (CS concentration) + Haas idk how it’ll play out[/li][] State (if domestic applicant): OR
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: High + Only-child
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): None, most were anti-hooks[/li]
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: Grades, Test Scores, and EC involvement. Essays indirectly showing interest and passion for major???
[] Weaknesses: No major national awards, research, or extraordinary CS-related abilities
[] Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to? Accepted (All for CS): GTech, UIUC, UT Austin, UCLA, UCSD + safeties. Waitlisted: CMU (priority CS), Cornell, UW (in pre-science, for CS), UMich (CS), Purdue (CE)
[] Schools you were rejected from? MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Cambridge, ICL, Harvard, Penn, and Princeton
[li] Schools you are waiting for? None[/li][/ul]General Comments: Hustle I guess. With high test scores and applying to good universities where Aff.Action is against you, it’s the passion and what you can contribute to the campus that they care about. It’s sketch but yeah, different schools give more importance to different parts of the application. Excel or try to excel at one subject/activity that interests you, but explore other things and if they interest you, spend time on those too. Doing things just for college never hurts :wink: but, in my experience, colleges prefer the “king of the trade”, rather than the “jack of all trades” encouraged by the “well-rounded” notion. Yet some evidence of other interests and expressing diversity in some form is necessary. From my results, it’s pretty obvious that each college is different.

73

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (790 Reading, 700 Math, 800 Writing)
SAT II: 800 in Lit, 780 Math I, 750 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
UC GPA: ? Didn’t calculate
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/35
ELC?: No, out-of-state
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP US History(5), AP Eng Lit (5), AP Chemisty (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: Calculus AB, AP Physics 1, AP Lang, Religion, Philosophy
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None, but National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar,
Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Cross Country (4yrs): MVP and captain (Soph- Senior), Debate Team (4yrs), captain (jr &sr), Philosophy club (jr &sr), Science Olympiad (Soph.-Senior), College Courses in summer including Psychology and Spanish 1 & 2 (4.0 GPA)
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: Taught Sunday School weekly (4), Summer 6 week mission trip (Soph), Weekly Girls on the Run Mentor, Virtue Training Program weekly (4),
Personal Statement:
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, but fruitless
Intended Major : College of Letters and Science: English
State (if domestic applicant): MD
School Type: Private Christian
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Too high for assistance
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): Legacy (doesn’t matter apparently)
Reflection: Everyone told us that OOS was nearly impossible, but with honors nods from UMD and UVA as well as having a legacy link, we didn’t expect outright rejection.
Strengths: Grades, Test Scores (besides math), and EC involvement, essays
Weaknesses: Small high school with limited course choice, math scores
Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to? UMD Honors, UVA Echols, Washington and Lee, University of Richmond, William and Mary, Notre Dame, Boston College Honors, Waitlisted: Stanford & Columbia
Schools you were rejected from? Berkeley, Harvard & Dartmouth
Schools you are waiting for? None
General Comments: This was a bit of a surprise for my daughter. Decided to post to help OOS applicants keep realistic expectations.

74

Decision: Accepted College of Letters and Sciences

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (M800 R750 W720)
[] ACT: N/A
[] SAT II: Math 2 800, Spanish 790, Bio 790, Physics 750
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.85
[] UC GPA: 3.83
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10% school does not rank specifically
[] ELC?:
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (5), Spanish (5), Comp Sci (5), Psych (5), Physics B (4), Bio (4), APUSH (4) - five APs in progress
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: Calc BC, AP Japanese, AP English Lit, AP Chem, AP Gov/Econ, Theater Tech
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A[/li]
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: Varsity Soccer, Varsity Badminton
[] Job/Work Experience: Soccer referee
[] Volunteer/Community service: AYSO referee
[] Personal Statement: Very good - wrote about things I’m excited about.

[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[li]** Intended Major **: Computer Science[/li][] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[] Country (if international applicant): US
[] School Type: Public HS
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket:
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.):

[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: SAT scores and AP load and results
[] Weaknesses: GPA was a little light
[] Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to? Accepted UCSD, UCD, UCI, GA Tech. Priority Wait List Carnegie Mellon SCS
[] Schools you were rejected from? MIT, Rice, Stanford, UCLA
[li] Schools you are waiting for? CMU[/li][/ul]General Comments: Admitted off the wait list for January 2016 start. To gap or not to gap, that is the question.

75

Good luck!

76

Decision: Accepted to College of Letters &Sciences

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2220 M:700 CR:750 W:750
[] ACT: NA
[] SAT II: US History: 780 English Literature: 720
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.91
[] UC GPA: 4.3
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/45
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5) Chemistry (3) Literature (5)
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc AB, AP Language, AP Psychology, AP European History, AP Government
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 5 Academic awards from my school, Regional essay contest, Wednesday Club scholarship winner, acceptance to summer ballet intensives from Joffrey, ABT, Kirov, etc. [/li]
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): MUN (president and founder), Piano (rcm level 10), Ballet, Cross Country
[] Job/Work Experience: Bed and Breakfast maid, Ballet teacher
[] Volunteer/Community service: Community Helpline Crisis Hotline (Board of Advisers),
[] Personal Statement: Talked about my alcoholic single mom in the first one, and then the second one was about trying to assimilate to the US after my adoption and learning to love english. Both were well written and carefully reviewed.

[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[li]** Intended Major **: US History[/li][] State (if domestic applicant): California
[] School Type: Small private
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket: 40,00
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.):Hardship growing up (if that counts)[/li]
[/ul]Reflection[list]
[] Strengths: Essays, best in a small school.
[] Weaknesses: Extracurriculars and about everything else.
[] Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to? Oberlin, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside
[] Schools you were rejected from? Brown, Tufts
[*] Schools you are waiting for? None