***** University of Pennsylvania RD Class of 2020 Results Thread *****

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

I can’t seem to find a thread dedicated to RD results. So here we go.

Once again, congratulations to those who were accepted! For those who weren’t accepted, although it sounds cliche, you will definitely be happy no matter where you go!

Also, the thread is for RESULTS ONLY. Please feel free to join the discussions on other threads!

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred [/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments :

2

ACCEPTED!!! (NHCM)

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2310 (740 CR, 770 W, 800 M) (one sitting, second sitting)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
TOEFL: 117 (30 L, 30 R, 28 S, 29 W)
SAT II: 770 M2, 760 BIO M, 750 CHEM
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Micro 4, AP Macro 5, AP Psychology 5 (self-studied)
IB (place score in parenthesis): English A Lit SL 6, Chinese A Lit 7, Maths SL 7, Chem HL 7, Bio HL 7, Eco HL 7.
Senior Year Course Load: English A Lit SL, Chinese A Lit SL, Maths SL, Chem HL, Bio HL, Eco HL; also, self-studying APUSH, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): (ICAS) Mathematics Distinction Award, New Zealand Economics Competition Distinction Award (2 years in a row), Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award – Silver Award, Bio Olympics National Entrance Examination – Bronze Award, MUN Diplomacy Competition – Second Place.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Charity that promotes more communications between younger and older generation (founder, chairperson); student Council Officer; first violin in local orchestra for two years, concertmaster for one program; Chamber music club that present concert series at rest homes (founder and president); recreational tennis.
Job/Work Experience: Student researcher in university - calculate costs to implement a certain model of aged care.
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at rest home for three years; student instructor at music school for the less privileged kids.
Summer Activities: N/A
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
CommonApp: 8.5/10, talked about my experience with dementia patients. Ok to read, but quite cheesy. Shows my patience, resilience, and my caring nature, which are all essential characteristics for nurses.
PENN Essay: 9/10, I was alright, I explored in a lot of details the opportunities that come with PENN nursing. If anything could be improved, I would mention more about the interdisciplinary opportunities at PENN.
NHCM Essay: 9.5/10, my experiences with the charity kicks in, and I thought I explained the relationship between nursing and business pretty comprehensively.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: (FERPA) Chem teacher; I ask a lot of questions in his class, he should write a pretty solid rec. 9/10
Teacher Rec #2: (FERPA) Eco teacher; solid. 9/10
Counselor Rec: Don’t know, but probably 9/10.
Additional Rec: Volunteer coordinator at the rest home I volunteer at. She knows everything I have done in terms of aged care. She wrote a very good rec, talking about my leadership and dedication in nursing. 10/10.

Interview: went really really well. This person graduated from Wharton some time ago. We clicked really well. She said that I was a perfect fit for the NHCM program.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No.
Intended Major: NHCM (Nursing and Healthcare Management).
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): New Zealand.
School Type: Small private.
Ethnicity: Asian.
Gender: Female.
Income Bracket: N/A.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None.

Reflection

Strengths: My focus in both nursing and business linked very well to the NHCM; SAT 1 and TOEFL scores; essays.
Weaknesses: Lack of major awards, SAT 2, also, I have taken SL maths rather than HL maths for IB.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My strength :slight_smile:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: PENN, Brown, Cornell, Rice (Distinguished Scholars), Emory College, UMich (Ross), BC, UCB, UCLA, UCSB, UCD (Provost’s Scholar), Carnegie Mellon.
Waitlisted: WUSL, Northwestern, Oxford College (Emory), Duke
Rejected: Columbia (ED), JHU, Harvard, Yale

General Comments:

I should genuinely say that I made a wrong decision applying for Columbia ED, and I am now so happy that I was rejected. It was only after the rejection that I realised that PENN has everything that I wanted :smiley: Everything happens for a reason, and I am now very very excited to be part of PENN’s class of 2020. I will withdraw all other acceptances for PENN! It has been amazing to be part of the CC community. It is truly an honour to get to know all of you! See you all in America :smiley:

3

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2360 (800 CR/770 M/790 W)
ACT: n/a
SAT II: 800 USH, 740 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (4.0 scale): 4.00
Weighted GPA (4.0 scale): 5.68
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5% of 378
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geography, World History, US History, Chemistry, Comparative Government (all 5’s)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Literature, AP Gov, AP Econ, AP Statistics, AP Physics 1, Spanish IV H, Juvenile Law H/Homicide H,
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, NHRP, AP Scholar with Distinction

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Four year Varsity and Club soccer (1 year as captain) - top nationally ranked teams, Spanish Honor Society (President), Pre Law Society (electives every semester and internship), NHS (Treasurer), Rho Kappa
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: Sailing Instuctor every summer (~400 hours)
Summer Activities: sailing, soccer. Did an 8 day program on IR at GU.
Essays: Common App about teaching sailing
Teacher Recommendation: great
Counselor Rec: 10/10 great relationship

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: PPE
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: top ranked private school
Ethnicity: Hispanic (Spain, Mexico)
Gender: M
Income Bracket: high
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection
Strengths: test scores, grades, URM
Weaknesses: course load could have been more challenging. Never took AP Calc, AP Lang, AP Physics C, or a few of the other more difficult courses at my school.
Where accepted: Yale, Penn, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, BC, UVa, WUSTL, USC
Waitlisted: Brown
Rejected: Harvard

4

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:[ul]

[]SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown): 2260 (800 CR, 760 M, 700 W)
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): 2400 (chem, math 2, bio e)
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): NA
[]Rank/Percentile: NA
[]AP (place score in parentheses): NA
[]IB (place score in parentheses): NA
[]Senior Year Course Load: NA
[]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NA

[/ul]Subjective:[ul]

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
[]Job/Work Experience: Summer internship with doctor )
[]Volunteer/Community Service: a couple of hundred hours (hospital volunteer + rotary)
[]Summer Activities: 150+ hours shadowing a doc (he even gave me a rec which I used for CA)
[]Essays: CA was good 8/10. Supplement was really good 9/10 (had help from a penn grad)
[]Teacher Recommendations: average to good prolly 7/10, 8/10
[]Counselor Rec: didn’t know her, so probably very generic
[li]Interview: NA[/li]
[/ul]Other:[ul]
[]Applied for Financial Aid? Nope
[]Projected Concentration: Bio Engineering
[]State/Country: International, but US citizen
[]School Type: Private
[]Ethnicity: B
[]Gender: M
[]Income Bracket: NA
[]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

[/ul]Reflection:[list]
[]Strengths: Def SAT scores, transcripts and ECs
[]Weaknesses: My mid terms were really bad (2Cs) and my ECs were not that unique compared to some other applicants. (plus no sports)
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Average SAT 1, luck
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: Some ivies and random colleges.
Already got into Tulane 32k/y merit, UCSD, UCLA, Case Western 31k/yr merit, Cal, UNC Chapel Hill
Rejected: Johns Hopkins, Grinnell, Northwestern, Brown, Yale, Cornell, Tufts
[*]Advice: College admissions are a crapshoot. Good luck to everyone else!

5

Decision: Accepted

Date decision postmarked/received: 03/31/16

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2130: 700/710/720 (CR/M/W)
ACT (breakdown): Did not take
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 540 USH, 690 Math II, 660 Literature
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 Unweighted, 4.22 Weighted
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 of 22
AP (place score in parentheses): Psychology (5), English Lang and Comp (4)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: Government and Contemporary Issues, AP US Government, Calculus, AP Lit and Comp, Physics, AP Calculus
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NMS Letter of Commendation, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), various in-school academic awards, Louis Armstrong Jazz Award

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): National Honor Society (President), Student Government (SB President), Symphonic (Carnegie Hall performance), Wind, Jazz, Marching, Pep Band (section leader), Science Olympiad, Maui District Student Council Organization (MDSCO) (Vice Chairperson), Varsity Air Riflery
Job/Work Experience: U.S. Senate Intern
Volunteer/Community Service: Action Team (team captain), Rotary/Interact Club, Science Olympiad Elementary Competition Judge, Track and Field Official
Summer Activities: Nothing, really.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9/10 for all
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: 10/10 for both! Knew each of them for 4+ years and have a good relationship with both.
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: 10/10. Considering that I’ve only known her for two years, I’m confident that the letter was detailed and impactful.
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details):: 10/10, from employer
Interview: Very well, at least I thought (10/10)

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
State (if domestic applicant): Hawaii
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private (< 150 students)
Ethnicity: Asian and Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $100K-200K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation college student

Reflection:
Strengths: Recommendations, obvious ambition for such a small school with limited opportunity, essays
Weaknesses: SAT and subject test scores, course load
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I’m definitely suprised by my result. I think my recs and essays really helped my chances. My Senate internship also played a big role.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: UH Manoa (accepted), UCLA (waitlisted), UCI (accepted), Harvard (rejected), GW (accepted), Georgetown (accepted), AU (waitlisted), CUA (accepted)
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: After looking at the stats on the CC page from last year, I totally did not expect my result. The big takeaway from this is that SAT and subject test scores matter and you need to make sure that you put a lot of effort into them, but so does other things that colleges look for in a student as shown through essays and letters of rec.

6

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2010 (650 CR, 710 M. 650 W)
ACT (breakdown): 34
SAT II: 710 World History, 720 Biology E, 720 Math 1
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.45
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/300ish
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 for Computer Science and Calculus BC/AB Subscore, 4 for World and European History, 3 for English Language (no studying/class)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP English Language/Lit, H Physics, Government/Econ, Basketball/Volleyball
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Questbridge National College Match Finalist if that counts

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): President of Key Club 12th grade, Co-President and Co-Founder of Armenian Club 11th-12th grade, Co-Captain for Basketball and Volleyball 12th grade, Treasurer of National Honor Society 12th
Job/Work Experience: Helping my dad since middle school
Volunteer/Community service: Senior Housing Volunteer for around 200 hours over 3 years
Summer Activities: Basketball summer league, helping my dad

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

Essay #1: 10/10, went through at least 10 edits, had probably 5 different people look at it including an admissions officer, and wrote about my life story, heritage, family, etc.
Essay #2: 9/10, thought I wrote a really good essay about why I wanted to go, cited nontraditional reasons too…

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 7/10, from my AP Comp Sci teacher, more like a brag sheet turned into an essay with some nice commentary thrown in.
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10, from my Math Analysis teacher, much more heartfelt with great commentary but less sophisticated language (other teacher had a Ph.D. In linguistics lol)
Counselor Rec: 5/10, at the time didn’t really know the counselor well but she did go to Harvard… Not even sure if she wrote a rec. actually now that I think of it
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: 9/10 Started off just a little awkward but ended up great. Had a cool guy that only wanted the best for me in the application process.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Technically White but 100% Armenian and emphasized my heritage
Gender: M
Income Bracket: <65k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Possibly URM? and am a twin

Reflection

Strengths: Good essay topics, rounded extracurriculars, 2 sport athlete?
Weaknesses: Test scores, although I was basically a legend at my school for getting a 34 on the ACT (gives you some perspective of the expectations here), didn’t publish any scientific articles, build any schools in third world countries, or represent any country as a youth ambassador.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Admissions is a crapshoot.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at Yale, UCLA, Berkeley (Regents candidate), UCSB, UCSD. Rejected at Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia, and Harvard

General Comments : Been a long time lurker on cc like most everyone who applies to Ivy leagues. Before I heard of this website I really thought I had like a 85% chance of getting into an Ivy League. All my college apps were turned in (and many cc threads were read) and by Ivy Day I thought I had a 1% chance of getting into any. Although this is cliché, you should really try to apply to these schools, you never know what could happen (6 rejections but accepted to the one school that I actually truly wanted to go to). I would have to note though that I worked really hard throughout high school to maintain my GPA and get my subpar (for these schools) test scores, and even harder on the applications just to muster a competitive one. Lastly, don’t be upset if you get rejected from most or all your top choices; it’s not the end of the world.

7

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2180 720/770/690 (CR/M/W)
ACT (breakdown): 35
SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 Chem, 750 Spanish
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5’s on APUSH, BC Calc, Stats, Spanish Lang, Govt
IB (place score in parenthesis): 7 on Spanish SL
Senior Year Course Load: IB Chem HL, IB Math HL, IB Philosophy, IB Economics, IB English HL, IB Physics, TOK
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, Silver in National Spanish Examination, school awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): National Honor Society (Fundraising Coordinator), Math Honor Society (Vice-Pres), Badminton (Co-Captain), Student Govt. Elections Coordinator
Job/Work Experience: Internship at international bank, Tutor with a company
Volunteer/Community service: Clothing Center Lead Coordinator, Public Library Teen Advisory Committee, etc.
Summer Activities: Internship, volunteer
Essays (rating 1-10, details): modest 7.5-8/10 for all
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 8.5/10 Stat teacher. Pretty friendly guy and I was the hardest-working student in his class
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10 English teacher. Pretty amazing teacher and she seemed to appreciate my hard work
Counselor Rec: 7.5/10 Public school counselor so we rarely talked to each other. However, I maintained good grades so she thought well of me.
Additional Rec: 9/10 Adviser at the internship really liked my work ethic and inquiries about the field of econometrics
Interview: 9/10 Went really well since the woman also had an IB education experience and I talked about how the program expanded my understanding of the international impact of different economic and social issues.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Networked and Social System Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): MD
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender:Male
Income Bracket: <$100K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation

Reflection

Strengths: Pretty good essays, good grades, good ACT
Weaknesses: Asian Male lmao, counselor rec maybe
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don’t know really. It’s just the luck of the draw.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, University of Maryland (Full Ride), Rice, Emory, NYU Stern, Georgia Tech
Waitlisted: UChicago, Duke, Vanderbilt, WashU
Rejected: Cornell, Princeton
General Comments: It was a fun 4 years. Just know that wherever you go, it’s you who will determine your success, not the Ivy brand name!

8

Decision: Accepted for CS (Rejected M&T)

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2340 superscore #1 (800 M, 800 WR, 690 CR) #2 (800 M, 730 WR, 740 CR)
ACT (breakdown): 33 one timeme (Verbal: 31 Math: 34 Sci: 36 Reading: 32 Composite: 33 Writing: 32)
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Chemistry, 800 World History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 human geo, 5 world hist, 5 compsci, 4 spanish, 4 bio, 5 apush, 5 eng, 5 chem, 5 stats
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Hard as it gets
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Siemens National Semifinalist, Published compsci research in IPCV '15, GHTC and other journals for CS, FBLA Network Design National Qualifier 2nd at State, FBLA State Business Math Finalist, National Merit Semifinalist, National AP Scholar, Science Olympiad State Finalist - Ranked very high out of 300+ teams statewide (many SO awards at district, regional, and state), 4th Place Computer Science Team regionals, Number Sense UIL Regional Finalist x3, Lots of NS and CompSci UIL Invitational Awards, Presidential Service Award Gold x2, Several Piano Regional Championships, Volunteer of the Year at my Chinese School, Hugh O’Brain Leadership Award Winner

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
• Boys Nation Senator (12)
• Computer Science Research at local university (10,11, 12)
• Key Club (Class Officer, Webmaster , VP, won several major state awards and leader in 10+ very major service projects)
• Science Olympiad (9-12, Team Captain)
• Computer Science (10-12 President)
• FBLA (9-12, Co-founder of charter and treasurer x2)
• Math UIL (9-12, President Math UIL Captain)
• Chinese School Regional Head Director of one of the largest Chinese Immersion Programs in the State)
• Piano (13 years)

Job/Work Experience:N/A
Volunteer/Community service: See ec’s
Summer Activities: research, competitions, volunteering at community center, chilling
Essays (rating 1-10, details):

  • Common App Essay 9 : Definitely the most controversial thing about my app. Talked about my socialistic views and how they have taught me compromise. Guess it worked lol
  • Why Penn10: Very, very unique
  • Why M&T 9
  • Other Short supplements 8 - Kindof alright. Just wrote them like short stories
    Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: CS Teacher (9)
Teacher Rec #2: Chem Teacher (9)
Counselor Rec: 8. not really sure
Additional Rec: 9. Research mentor. really talked about my technicalities as a researcher. very good
Interview: 8 it wasn’t too spectacular

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Computer science
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Large Public
Ethnicity: Asian (Chinese)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 130-140k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: SAT scores, deep involvment in cs, stem, and politics.
Weaknesses:ACT score, “chinese male in cs”
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Combo of cs and other pursuits
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

Accepted: Princeton and Penn
Waitlisted: CMU and Caltech
Rejected: Stanford and MIT

General Comments: thank you so much cc! Will be attending Princeton next fall!

9

Rejected to CAS

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 720 cr, 800 m, 720 w
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 720 m2, 730 Chinese, 770 us, 670 wh
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 25/650
AP (place score in parenthesis): did not send but 2 2s ( I know, I know), 3 3s, and 5 4s
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: all AP and 1 honors
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Math VP, German Treasurer, 4 year varsity swimming, Spanish, nhs
Job/Work Experience: lifeguard
Volunteer/Community service: 133 hours
Summer Activities: work, community service, travel, homework, chill
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app was decent I think. Why penn was mediocre
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: idk
Teacher Rec #2: idk
Counselor Rec: 7
Additional Rec: 6
Interview: very weird. when I picked the time I could interview, he didn’t even confirm that he got it unlike my other interviewers. Also he was kinda awkward and at some moments we were just staring at each other for like 10 seconds.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: International Relations
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: upper middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): my dad’s cousin went to Penn, but I didn’t put that on my app hahaha

Reflection

Strengths: nothing in context to Penn tbh
Weaknesses: everything lol
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: too competitive. I saw this one coming a looong time ago
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: Rice, USC(Deferred then accepted), UF, UVa, UNC-CH, UCF
Waitlisted: Cornell, JHU, NYU Stern, Notre Dame
Rejected: Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Dartmouth, Brown, Duke, Vanderbilt

General Comments : College admissions is insane. It has gotten exponentially difficult in just the past 10 years. Its unfortunate that I am Asian and that I applied at this time lol. Oh well can’t do anything about it. Looks like I’m going to Rice unless I miraculously get off the Cornell waiting list.

10

ACCEPTED

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 32
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.05/4 UW
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10% (no ranking)
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Comp Sci, Stat, AP Eng, AP World History, Italian, Spanish AP
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Scholastic Awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Lit Mag Editor, Yearbook Editor, Class President, Model UN VP, Student Action Team President, Admissions Ambassador, 400 hours community service, Varsity Field Hockey, Spanish Club, Peer Tutor, Job at Catering Company
Summer Activities: Language Classes, Service
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9/10 both
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9/10 both

Teacher Rec #1: English teacher 9/10
Teacher Rec #2: Language teacher 9/10
Counselor Rec: 8/10
Additional Rec:
Interview: 10/10

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: PPE
Country (if international applicant): Mid Atlantic USA
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: essays
Weaknesses: scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I put together a strong app. Test scores are not everything.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

Accepted: University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Wellesley College (likely), Kenyon (10k/yr merit), Macalester (18k/yr merit), Mount Holyoke (full merit 4 years)

Waitlisted: Harvard, Pomona, Swarthmore

Rejected: Amherst, Yale (deferred SCEA), Dartmouth, Princeton

General Comments : I am proud of myself. I did not let any of the people who said I wouldn’t get in get to me. And, my results show how random this is. Don’t let people put you down!!!

Brown or Wellesley 2020!!!

11

**Decision: Accepted to CAS! **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 680 CR, 670 M, 680 W
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II: 760 USH, 650 Bio
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/122
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (5), Lit (4), Calc AB (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stat, Physics, Computer Science, AP Gov, and British Literature (I leave one period early since I fulfilled my math credits last year)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
AP Scholar with Honor

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Founder of Debate Club, Communications Director for Model UN, Community Service Club, Chess Club, NHS, Chief editor for the Newspaper Club, Weightlifting Club, took three courses at the University of Pennsylvania through the Young Scholars Program
Job/Work Experience:Interned for 3 months at a local startup
Volunteer/Community service: Not much
Summer Activities: Did my internship during this time

Essays (rating 1-10, details): 7/10 for my Common App & 8/10 for my Penn Supplement

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Calculus teacher 9/10
Teacher Rec #2: APUSH teacher 7/10, felt that it was too generic.
Counselor Rec: Didn’t read, but I suspect that it was pretty standard, so 7/10
Additional Rec: I got deferred so I was able to submit an additional letter from my AP Gov teacher, it was fantastic. 9/10
Interview:
7/10, it lasted for a while but I can’t say that it was smooth.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: International Relations
State (if domestic applicant): PA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public Charter School
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $50-60k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: I definitely think that being an in-state applicant drastically helped my chances of getting in. I live in Philly too, so the admissions officers know the area really well. Also, for any other applicants residing in the city Philadelphia that are also interested in UPenn, I would make sure to apply for the Young Scholars Program! Showing that you can handle the rigor of Penn courses sends a pretty clear message. Another perk is that the courses are completely free if you attend a public school in the city, so PLEASE take do this ASAP!
Weaknesses: I go to a school with very few resources, so I had to largely look outside of school to search for extracurriculars. For anyone in a similar situation, I’d heavily recommend starting your own club; it really shows your potential and initiative. Also, my school’s academic performance is very poor for its location, so I’m sure my scores and extracurriculars stood out for that reason. To put it into perspective, the average SAT score was around 1330 (CR+M+W) for the class of 2014.

Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Again, being in the same city and taking courses at UPenn was a huge advantage.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: University of Pennsylvania (was deferred originally), Tufts University, University of Denver, Drexel University
Waitlisted: American University, Cornell University
Rejected: Georgetown University, UC Berkeley, Middlebury College, University of Chicago, JHU, Dartmouth College

General Comments: I wish all of you the best of luck! This has been a very stressful journey, and I cannot thank the CC community enough for providing me with so much information on all of the universities that I applied to! Feel free to message me with any questions. GO QUAKERS!

12

**Decision: Accepted at The Wharton School **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 32 Composite, 31 English, 33 Math, 30 Reading, 33 Science
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/53
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP Literature, Honors Spanish IV, Honors Government, Chemistry II, Agricultural Business, Independent Digital Communications Study
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:

Extracurriculars/Work Experiece/Community Service (place leadership in parenthesis):

  1. Secretary of FFA Chapter (11,12) 2 hrs/wk 32 wk/yr
  2. Spanish Club Member (9,10,11,12) 1 hr/wk 32 wk/yr
  3. Academic Bowl Member (11,12) 1 hr/wk 16 wk/yr
  4. Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering Member (10,11,12) 1 hr/wk 8wk/yr
  5. Varsity Soccer/Basketball/Baseball (Captain for Soccer and Baseball) (9,10,11,12) 12 hrs/wk 14 wk/yr
  6. Bookkeeper for my Dad’s Restaurant (11,12) 5 hrs/wk 52 wk/yr
  7. Farm Hand for Local Farmer (9,10) 12 hrs/wk 8 wk/yr
  8. NHS Member (11,12) 2 hrs/wk 16 wk/yr (Also included all my volunteer events and hours)
  9. Class Vice President (11,12)
    Summer Activities: Traveling Baseball
    Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App (9/10) Why Penn? (6.5/10)…weakest part of my application. I did not have the greatest knowledge about the school at the time of essay…visited two weeks ago and I was scared that I was not specific enough.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: U.S. History Teacher. (10/10) Talked about my leadership and ability to take on multiple perspectives.
Teacher Rec #2: Calculus Teacher. She put it off until a few nights before, despite asking her months in advance. (7/10)?
Counselor Rec: New Counselor. It was probably very generic. (7/10)
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: I stumbled on two questions, otherwise the interview was quite nice. She thought I would fit in socially despite coming from a farm town LMAO.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Finance & Actuarial Science
State (if domestic applicant): IL
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Rural Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Recommendation from U.S. History Teacher, GPA, Work Experience
Weaknesses: Why Penn? Essay. Possibly some recommendations. ACT Score.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted: UIUC, University of Wisconsin, Penn State
Waitlisted: Notre Dame, University of Michigan Rejected: Nowhere

General Comments:
This was a gift from god.

13

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2040 (750 CR, 670 M, 620 Writing)
ACT (breakdown): 34 (34E, 33M, 34R, 35 S, 8 writing)
SAT II: 690 Chem, 670 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88-3.92
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/288
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History(5), USH(4), Eng Lang and Comp (5), Chem(4), Phys I (3).
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Eng Lit and comp AP, Bio AP, Calc BC AP, Phys C AP, Micro-Macro Econ AP, Spanish AP.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): An Ap scholar here, State scholar there.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Theater Technicians 4 years
Scioly 2 years
Forensics 2 years
History Club 1 year

Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteering through my old Church and school.
Summer Activities: Volunteering.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Cannot tell.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Cannot tell.

Teacher Rec #1: See above
Teacher Rec #2: See aforementioned
Counselor Rec: See the prior line
Additional Rec: Catch the line on top of this
Interview: None

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yea
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): IL
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private Catholic
Ethnicity: Black as the night
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200K when I applied, dropped by half since then.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

Strengths: APs, test scores, URM status
Weaknesses: APs, test scores, C in one semester of Algebra II
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Most competitive year in history, qualified applicants (in my school, state, and country), and I was weak in more than one area. Not too cut up about it, because I still have great acceptances and a “chance”. Best of luck to those in the future, and congratulations to those accepted!
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: UIC, SLU, Howard, UMich, UIUC, Northwestern, Emory-Oxford, Columbia.
Waitlisted: UChicago, Yale, UPenn
Rejected: Harvard, Princeton

14

**Decision: Accepted: CAS **

Objective:

[ul]
[] SAT I: 2300 (800M, 770W, 730 CR)
[] ACT: N/A
[] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Physics
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School doesn’t do GPA, but around a 92/100 cumulative
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank, but probably top 10%
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Physics C: Mechanics (5), Physics C: E&M (5), Calc BC (5), Chemistry (5), Eng Lang and Comp (5), Microeconomics (5)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: English, Comp Sci, World History, Philosophy, Economics, Statistics
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul] This is where I thought I really stood out: International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) bronze medallist, International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) bronze medallist, AAPT PhysicsBowl Canadian winner, a few other national/international physics competition awards that I won’t list for the sake of the reader (lol)
Subjective:

[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: Debate Club (President), Physics Club (President), physics olympiad training (this one was huge), astrophysics research and biochemical research at 2 local universities, JV basketball

[] Job/Work Experience: Taught science at a local tutoring hub
[] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered at local science centre
[] Essays: Essays were above average at best. Nothing spectacular and I don’t think I got in because of my essays.
[] Teacher Recommendations: English Teacher (who is also my debate club coach): 9/10 and Physics Teacher (who is also my physics club mentor): didn’t see but probably 8-9/10
[] Counselor Rec: Didn’t see, probably pretty good though (8/10)
[] Additional Rec: N/A
[] Interview:[/ul] N/A
Other

[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant):
[] Country (if international applicant): CANADA BABY
[] School Type: Semi-competitive public
[] Ethnicity: Ashun
[] Gender: Mael
[] Income Bracket: ~ High enough to not qualify for Fin. Aid
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul] International awards? Not sure if this counts as a hook
Reflection

[ul]
[] Strengths: Awards, ECs, recommendations, test scores (I guess)
[] Weaknesses: ESSAYS, grades
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: AWARDS
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/ul] Accepted: JHU, Columbia, Duke; waitlisted: UChicago, Stanford, Dartmouth; rejected: HYPM (I cry)
General Comments: Well its been a long ride and I’m extremely lucky to be in such a good position. I’ll refrain from being all sentimental and stuff, but for future applicants I would recommend developing a spike (focus alot on something), like I did with physics. I think that was the reason I was accepted, and this way, its easier for you to stand out.

Cheers and good luck to everyone!!! :slight_smile:

15

**Decision: Accepted to CAS **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2370 (800 CR / 770 M / 800 W)
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II: 790 Lit, 790 USH, 700 Bio-E, 670 World History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.7 UW / ~4.2 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Around Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s in AP Lang and APUSH, 4 in AP Calc AB
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: 6 AP classes, including Spanish, Environmental Science, Psych, Statistics, Lit, and Econ
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar, lots of regional/national writing and speech awards and publications

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Editor-in-Chief of School Literary Magazine, Principal Violist of School Orchestra, All-State Orchestra, Vice President of Volunteer Chamber Orchestra Group, Speech/Debate (VP of membership for one year)
Job/Work Experience: Tutoring in English/History/Math
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer Chamber Orchestra Group
Summer Activities: Internship at NJSO, music therapy volunteering at an NYC hospital, CTY, prestigious writing camp
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App was pretty good, it was very “me,” I talked about my passion for writing and why it gives me an identity/sets me apart
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10, my AP Lang teacher loves me and I run the school literary mag with her!
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10, my APUSH teacher and I have a solid relationship
Counselor Rec: 8/10, she likes me and we have good conversations but probably generic
Additional Rec: 10/10, written by an alumnus of Penn and advocated for me strongly
Interview: 10/10, she was adorable and we had a pretty great conversation, I think! We definitely bonded over our similarities.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope
Intended Major: Undecided, leaning towards humanities
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Medium Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: High
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I was lucky enough to have the Kelly Writers House supporting me and writing a letter of recommendation for me. I was kind of “recruited” by them and I’m super excited to be joining them in the fall! (So potential writers out there, look into this!)

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, ECs, essays, passion for the school, demonstrated interest, recommendations
Weaknesses: GPA!
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Strong support from KWH and recommenders, passion for writing and Penn
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted at NYU, Waitlisted at WashU and Barnard, Rejected by UChicago, Cornell, JHU, Columbia

General Comments : I know the college admissions process is so so hard, but don’t give up!! After I was deferred from Penn, I felt pretty hopeless about my prospects. Everyone says that being deferred is the same thing as a soft rejection, but this is SO not true. After I was deferred, I continued to write letters to Penn, send them updates about my accomplishments, and hold hope that I’d be accepted. I think this continued interest definitely paid off and is a big reason why I’ve been admitted. So future Penn applicants out there, don’t lose hope! Anything is possible in this game of chance.

GO QUAKERS! :slight_smile:

16

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted with MLS [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 36 (36 math+science, 35 Reading+writing or whatever)
SAT II: 780 Bio, 730 Chem, 800 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/423
AP (place score in parenthesis): Too many to list but mostly 5s
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics 2, AP Gov/AP Macro, AP Lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, Presidential Scholar

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Mu Alpha Theta, Brain Bowl( COmpetition Captain), Key Club (Webmaster)
Job/Work Experience:none
Volunteer/Community service: Over 800+ hours at a research institution, have presented results several times
Summer Activities: Young Scholars Program, visits to india
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: 8/10, was really unique and captured my interests sorta repetitive though
Why Penn: 9/10, Probably my strangest essay, played off of long history with science and touched on legacy
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 Physics teacher loves me
Teacher Rec #2: IDK Prob 8/10, english teacher for some diversity, do well in his class though
Counselor Rec: 10/10, Really positively impacted high school career
Additional Rec: 10/10, From mentor at research institution
Interview: 10/10 Went amazing, over an hour long, basically told me I was perfect for Penn

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Y
Intended Major: Biology/Biochem
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Large Public
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 200+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none really

Reflection

Strengths: ACT, rank, awards, GPA, and recs.
Weaknesses: extracurriculars
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Legacy? Maybe
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Oh boy:
Brown- Wtlst
Darthouth - Wtlst
Accepted Cornell and Penn
Rejected other Ivies and Stanford

General Comments : IDK college is hard, like a previous post said, focus on one thing and develop, otherwise make sure you keep in contact with the institution you wish to attend.

17

Decision: Accepted!

M&T Program

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (800CR, 740M, 800W), took only once
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math, 780 Lit, 770 Spanish reading, 760 US Hist, 760 World Hist, 720 Physics, 710 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): officially N/A (school doesn’t rank), unofficially top 10%
AP (place score in parentheses): Calc AB (5), English Lit (5), APUSH (5), Spanish Lang (5), World History (5), Psych (self-studied, 5)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Econ (combined Micro/Macro), AP American Gov, AP Physics C, AP English Lang, AP Calc BC, Leadership
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Top-ranked in USA for debate, several debate tournament awards, national scholarship winner for debate, AP Scholar with Distinction

Subjective
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Debate captain, ASB position in Leadership, CyberPatriot founder/captain, varsity volleyball, math tutor
Job/Work Experience: Internship at national laboratory as software programmer and TA for cybersecurity classes
Volunteer/Community Service: On planning committee for large American Cancer Society fundraiser for the past 2 years
Summer Activities: Study abroad after sophomore year
Essays (rating 1-10, details):: Personal statement was decent, probably a 7.
Teacher Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):: Probably 8’s or 9’s. My AP Calc AB teacher and APUSH teacher, both like me and I did well in their classes, but I know my APUSH teacher wrote hers last minute so idk how strong it was
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):: 8, my counselor likes me but I go to a large public school and she writes hundreds of recs, so probably not too original
Additional Rec (rating 1-10, details):: 9, internship mentor, very professional, talked about work I did for the lab
Interview: Best interview ever. The alum said he’d give me his top recommendation but advised me that it was still a crapshoot and said I should have applied Early Decision. He was super cool.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? No
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large, public, competitive atmosphere
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 200k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Girl in STEM

Reflection
Strengths: Essays, grades, debate accomplishments
Weaknesses: Not many STEM accomplishments, no outstanding community service
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Definitely my essays, which I thought were pretty unique and creative, and very interesting to read.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Princeton (accepted), Yale (accepted), Harvard (rejected), Brown (accepted), NYU (accepted), UCLA (accepted), Carnegie Mellon (accepted), Columbia (likely —> accepted, C.P. Davis Scholar), UC Berkeley (accepted, Regent’s), Michigan (accepted), MIT (waitlisted), USC (Accepted, Trustee Scholar & Viterbi Fellow) Caltech (rejected), Stanford (rejected), UChicago (accepted, Dean’s Scholar), UVA (accepted, Honors), Maryland (accepted, ACES, Honors), Duke (rejected)
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I can’t believe I got in…Just be really genuinely yourself. I believe that my essays were successful because I wrote about what I WANTED to write about, and in doing so I let them see my adventurous and goofy side. Every effort to change who you are makes your essay weaker and more basic. Just capture a raw, original slice of yourself and be unique.

18

Decision: Accepted to SEAS

Objective:

SAT I: N/A
ACT: 35: M36 E35 S34 R34
SAT II: 770 Math Level II, 740 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
Weighted GPA: 4.34
Rank: 3/186
AP): European History (4), Calculus BC (5), AB subscore (5), Physics 2 (5) Statistics (5)
IB: N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Senior English, Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations for Engineers, Art survey, AP US Government, Advanced Spanish Writing
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing major, AP Scholar with Honor, National Merit Commended

Subjective:

Extracurriculars: High School soccer in the fall, club soccer the rest of the year, very time consuming.
NHS President, some voluntary math tutoring, really involved in community/high school environmental clubs
Job/Work Experience: Work in a restaurant 5-15 hrs/week
Volunteer/Community service: see ECs, also some voluntary yard work for senior citizen neighbors
Summer Activities: Work, soccer 20+ hrs/week, casual reading
Essays:
Common App: 9/10, very unique, could either be really good or really bad
Additional CA: Just went into a lot more detail about ECs
Penn Essay: maybe 8/10, wasn’t spectacular but very specific to Penn
Teacher Rec #1: Really good
Teacher Rec #2: Really good
Counselor Rec: Probably average
Additional Rec: Really good
Interview: No interview

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Undecided Engineering, also second major in Spanish
State: Ohio
School Type: Public in an affluent Cleveland suburb. ~800 students total
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >200k

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, grades, course rigor (senior course load), recommendations, some unique ECs, unique CA essay
Weaknesses: No scientific research, lack of major awards, maybe too much time spent with soccer as I wasn’t recruited
Why you think you were accepted: Test scores and courses show promise in engineering. Essays and recommendations showed passion and work ethic. Little bit of luck, too
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: Ohio State, University of Virginia, Carnegie Mellon, WashU, Penn
Rejected: MIT, Yale, Harvard

General Comments:

Admissions at sub 10% acceptance rate schools is extremely unpredictable
It’ll come down to Penn or WashU for me

19

**Decision: Rejected Wharton **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT: 35 Composite, 36 Math, 36 Science, 34 English, 34 Reading
(36 Superscore)
SAT II: 800 Math II , 740 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geo 5, World History 5, Chemistry 4, Calc BC 5, Bio 4, Physics 1 4 (self “study”), English Lang & Comp 5, US History 4
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP CS, AP Lit, AP Econ, AP Physics C, AP Seminar, Honors Adv Math II, Academic Decathlon, WOOT
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National and state medals for academic decathlon, but really nothing, probs why I got rejected, National merit scholar, National ap scholar, city and state medals for math team, invite to nationals for science bowl

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Math Team 9-12
Physics Olympiad, 10-12, Captain
Science Bowl 11-12, Co-Captain
Table Tennis 9-12, Co-Captain
Academic Decathlon 11-12
Piano, 1-12

Job/Work Experience:

Volunteer/Community service: 100+ service hours

Summer Activities:
Math camp at UChicago after 7th, 8th, 9th
Particle Physics Research at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory after 10th
Summer Math Program at MIT after 11th
Astrophysics Research at UChicago after 11th

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App 7/10, I thought my roommate essay was funny and showed my personality. I tried to show how much I liked Stanford in my essays and thought they were good. 8/10 for short essays.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: idk
Teacher Rec #2: idk
Counselor Rec: idk
Additional Rec: none
Interview: none

Other
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public Magnet
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 120k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):none

Reflection
Strengths: none
Weaknesses: GPA, lack of significant awards. Tried to do stuff like math and physics olympiads but never got to the point I should’ve for the amount of work I put in. I sacrificed my grades to try to become good at them in the same way an athlete or musician might, but ultimately it didn’t pay off. no regrets though, still learned a lot. Now that all of my decisions are out, I’m guessing it was also my essays.

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: See above and also lack of anything Wharton-y in my app

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Rejected Caltech, WashU, Northwestern, UChicago, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Brown, UPenn
Waitlisted MIT, University of Michigan
Accepted Carnegie Mellon, University of Illinois

20

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2380
ACT (breakdown): 35
SAT II: chem 760 bio 750 lit 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.89
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank, 1st percentile
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s on chem, apush, psych, bio, phys c. 4 on bc calc, English language
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: ap eng 4, ap stat, ap environmental science, gov/Econ, choir, off period
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Spanish club (pres), student council (vp of student body), a few other random clubs that pertain to my interests
Job/Work Experience: done a couple summer jobs, nothing impressive
Volunteer/Community service: habitat for humanity, nhs
Summer Activities: did some research w prof at local university, went to a summer camp
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app was maybe a 9, supplement a 8? I did a lot of name dropping with the supplement, tried to show I did my research

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: a 10 or 9 maybe, my chem teacher loved me
Teacher Rec #2: likely a 7 or so from my English teacher
Counselor Rec: absolutely no clue
Additional Rec:
Interview: talked to a recent grad for half an hour… was alright. 7.5/10?

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: undecided
State (if domestic applicant): tx
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 130k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: just kind of a solid applicant all around, even if nothing special. I worked pretty hard on those essays though
Weaknesses: … no major awards/hooks
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: no clue man but I’m grateful
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
rejected: brown, Columbia, Harvard. wait listed: duke. accepted: ut austin, rice, johns hopkins.
General Comments : psyched to join the class next year!!