<p>[ size=+2][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted**[/color][/size]</p>
<p>[ b]Objective:[ list]
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 2310 (800 M/CR 710 W Essay: 10/11) one-sitting
[ *] SAT I superscore (breakdown):
[ *] ACT (breakdown):
[ *] ACT superscore (breakdown):
[ *] SAT II: 800 M II, 780 Bio M, 780 US History
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
[ *] Weighted GPA:
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/300
[ *] AP (place score in parentheses): 5 in 6 APs, 4 in 4 APs (pretty standard APs)
[ *] IB (place score in parentheses):
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: 6-7 IB Classes
[ *] Number of other EA applicants in your school: 5
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/list] [ b]Subjective:[ list] AP National Scholar, US Biology Olympiad Semifinalist, a few school volunteering stuff
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Key Club (president), Economics Challenge, a few others
[ *] Job/Work Experience: none
[ *] Volunteer/Community service:[/list] volunteering at library for three years [ b]Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[ list]
[ *] Essays (Include Subjects):[ list]
[ *] Common App Main: 9/10, humorous and personal essay
[ *] EC Short Answer:
[ *] Extended essay(which topic): 10/10 very creative, a spin-off of 1984 with the mantis shrimp essay
[ *] Optional Essay:
[ *] Why Chicago: 9/10
[ *] Other:[/list][ *] Teacher Recommendation #1: 9/10 good about leadership, economics teacher
[ *] Teacher Recommendation #2: 8/10
[ *] Counselor Rec: 9/10 a bunch of different stuff I contribute to the school
[ *] Additional Rec:
[ ] Interview: 7/10 decent
[ ] Art Supplement:[/list] [ b]Other[ list]
[ *] Date Submitted App: last date possible Jan 1
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): South Carolina
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type: public
[ *] Ethnicity: Asian
[ *] Gender: M
[ ] Income Bracket:
[ ] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/list] [ b]Reflection[ list]
[ *] Strengths: Essays! The essays are a huge part of the application, especially for University of Chicago!
[ *] Weaknesses: Probably too many applicants with statistics like mine.
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Essays!
[ *] What would you have done differently?:[/list][/list][ b]Other Factors:</p>
<p>Rejected: almost of the ivies HYPMSC
Accepted: Cornell, Brown
So many rejections! It is a hard decision to make but I am glad to be accepted!</p>
<p>[ b]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc:** Acceptances are haywire! I got rejected from what supposedly was my “back-up” school (Northwestern) and I am still devastated about all the rejects. Do not give up hope! Do something brilliant and be happy! </p>
<p>Decision: Deferred → Rejected</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
[</em>] SAT I superscore (breakdown): N/A
[<em>] ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 E, 36 M, 33 R, 36 S)
[</em>] ACT superscore (breakdown): same
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chem
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
[<em>] Weighted GPA: School doesn’t provide
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
[<em>] AP (place score in parentheses): AP Music Theory (5), APUSH (5), AP Micro (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Stats (4), AP Lang (4), AP CS (5), AP Comp Gov (5), AP Chem (5)
[</em>] IB (place score in parentheses): none
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calc, AP Lit, AP Bio, Spanish 5, AP Physics, AP Gov, AP Macro, Psychology
[</em>] Number of other EA applicants in your school: one or two
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar (if that can even be considered a “major” award)[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): 4 years on the boys’ high school swim and dive team, senior year NHS
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Kumon over the last summer, recreational soccer referee since freshman year
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: volunteer at local library since sophomore year[/ul]
Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[ul]
[<em>] Essays (Include Subjects):[list]
[li] Common App Main: How some random old guy influenced me to enjoy math and how I influenced my peers to enjoy computer science (9/10)[/li][</em>] EC Short Answer: Eat cakes in one bite for swim team pasta dinners (10/10)
[<em>] Extended essay(which topic): My passion for exploring beyond what’s in the curriculum (9/10, Topic #2: “Yo soy yo y mi microbioma.”)
[</em>] Optional Essay: Brief Explanation – Played piano from 2003-2011, and hosted my own website (append [dot] com after my username to visit it)
[<em>] Why Chicago: Relate Course Offerings at Computer Science Department to my CS interests (6/10)
[</em>] Other:[/ul]
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation #1: Calc teacher, haven’t seen it
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation #2: AP Lit teacher, haven’t seen it
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Haven’t seen it
[</em>] Additional Rec:
[<em>] Interview: Went OK. Interviewer was nice, but expressed some concerns that UChicago wasn’t the best fit academically for me (5/10)
[</em>] Art Supplement: none[/list]
Other[ul]
[<em>] Date Submitted App: October 25
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): MN
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type: Public school that graduates ~800 per year
[<em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: ~200K
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None[/ul]
Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Objective stats
[</em>] Weaknesses: Lack of leadership positions
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted to U Minnesota, U Wisconsin, U Illinois, UCLA, USC; Waitlisted at CMU (SCS); Rejected from Duke, Harvard, MIT (deferred EA), Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, (deferred EA), UPenn
[</em>] What would you have done differently?: Gotten involved from the beginning of high school. I should’ve joined speech and debate and worked hard to get elected to student council instead of hiding in my introverted shell.[/ul]
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc: After the EA deferral, I figured that UChicago might not be a good fit for me because its curriculum seemed more theoretical than I would like. I guess the admissions committee made that decision for me. Congrats to those who were admitted!</p>
<p>Decision: Waitlisted</p>
<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): M 710 CR 770 W 730, superscore: 2210
ACT (breakdown): 30 (didn’t submit)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math I (750) Chemistry (770)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 94
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 8/104
AP (place score in parentheses): AP US (5) AP Bio (4) AP World (4) AP Spanish (4)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc AB, AP Physics B, AP English, AP US Gov, AP Stats
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Hispanic Scholar, American Chemical Society Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry, New York State Department of Education Scholarship (highest regent examination scores)
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Co-Captain of Varsity Hockey (4 years), Chess Team, Math Team, Soccer Team goalie, Robotics Team,
Job/Work Experience: Paid Tutor
Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteered Hospital
Summer Activities: 2 summers at Harvard taking General Chemistry (b+) and Organic Chemistry (B+)
Essays: Amazng – Spoke about my love for science and how I view the world in a quirky way.
Teacher Recommendations: Both amazing
Counselor Rec: I think it was good
Additional Rec: Recommendation from my Professor in Gen Chem who also is the head of the chem department at Harvard
Interview: Went pretty good
Other
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 70,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):Urm, Organic Chemistry at Harvard, and Letter of rec from head of chem department at harvard
Reflection
Strengths: Strong focus in chemistry, very good essays and subject test scores
Weaknesses: Gpa and rank could have been higher (9th grade)
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My essays, my letters of rec, and my summer classes (organic chem as a high schooler)
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Duke, Northwestern, Cornell, NYU (full tuition), Macaulay Honors College, Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education. Wait listed: Yale, Princeton, Amherst College, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, University of Chicago, Washu, Rice, Vanderbilt. Rejected: Harvard (deferred EA), Dartmouth
General Comments: Apply to as many schools as possible. Each year, acceptance rates keep going down. As you can tell, had I only applied to 11 schools, there could have been a chance of getting in nowhere. Make sure you work on those essays since everyone starts to look the same with the same stats. Also regardless of where you get in, know that what you do in college counts much more than where you go to college.</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted from wait list</p>
<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2120
SAT I superscore (breakdown): M 700 CR 740 W 710
SAT II: 800 World History, 760 US History (self study)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.48 (oof)
AP (place score in parentheses): AP World History - 5, AP US Government - 5, AP Comparative Politics - 5, AP European History - 5
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP US History, AP Biology, AP Macro/Micro, English Journalism, Drama Production I and III, World Religions (requirement)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Best Debate Speaker Award at the Southeast Asia Forensics Speaking Tournament 2014 and numerous relatively minor MUN and Forensics competition awards
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): (Forensics Speaking & Debate), Model UN, (Political Union), Student Government Exec. Committee, Humanities Tutoring Centre, (Opera Society). Outside of school I have had various speaking engagements and a newspaper and radio interview as an advocate for autism awareness (I was diagnosed by UCLA, Yale Med, and Kennedy Krieger Institute as having high-functioning autism at age 3 and have since grown out of its most debilitating symptoms through a lot of effort on the part of both myself and my parents, therapists, and teachers).
Job/Work Experience: Volunteer at Autism Partnership HK for two summers
Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):
Essays (Include Subjects):
Common App Main: Overcoming autism as a boy and my advocacy to raise awareness and understanding on the issue
Extended essay (the one about history): Bias and slant in historical accounts, even of modern-day historians documenting the past, can teach us many useful things. It’s not all that bad.
Optional Essay: A list of everything intellectual that I like to do. (all of them relating somehow to history and politics)
Why Chicago: Quite generic, actually. Talked about the campus, mentioned a few specific courses.
Teacher Recommendation #1: AP European History teacher, I was a top student in her class and we had a very good relationship to the point where we could swear and talk about the more inappropriate aspects of history with each other. According to my counsellor, it was excellent.
Teacher Recommendation #2: AP US Gov/Comp Pol teacher, ditto the description. He also when on an MUN trip with me in freshman year, led my interim group in my sophomore year (annual trip made by students at my school - different groups go to different places).
Counselor Rec: Very close relationship (only approx. 30 seniors per counsellor), he told me it was great.
Interview: On campus interview was my first ever college interview - quite bland IMHO, not very conversational. Not my best performance. Local alumni interview was very good, the interviewer (a civil rights lawyer) said that he would write a fantastic recommendation for me.
/list] Other
Date Submitted App: On the night it was due hahahahahahahha
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): Hong Kong
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Upper-middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Reflection
Strengths: Great recommendations, solid essays, unique autism factor
Weaknesses: Poor GPA and SAT I scores are flashing red lights. Especially from an overrepresented minority (relatively affluent Asian kid).
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My counselor and I both agreed that I would be a black horse applicant, with very polarizing and inconsistent grades (excellent in the Humanities, not so much in math/science). I guess the admissions officers liked the other components of my app and were intrigued enough by the autism part that they pulled me off the waitlist.
What would you have done differently?: Higher GPA.
Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc: Relief.</p>