Please chance me for my dream school. I’ve poured my heart and soul into this application and done all I can. Thank you so much.
ACT: 34C (36E. 32M, 36R, 31S)
SAT II: 800 Spanish, 730 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.65 (Should be 3.73 in 2 weeks).
Weighted GPA (out of ??): 4.52 (Should be 4.68 in 2 weeks).
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 18/732 (Top 1-2%)
AP (place score in parenthesis): English Lang (5), Spanish Lang (5), APUSH (5)
Senior Year Course Load: Ceramics 1, AP European History, AP English Lit, Band, AP Biology, Peer Counseling (some mandatory online class), AP Calculus AB, AP US Gov/ AP Macroeconomics (semesters)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Jon Kersten Memorial Award, given to 5 marching band kids in Florida, Nominated for National Hispanic Recognition Program, AP Scholar, Harvard Prize Book at my high school, selection for New World Symphony Side by Side with a Grammy Winning conductor (highly selective).
Big upward trend in grades. From Only 1 AP in 9th and 10th to 6 AP’s now. GPA (uw/w) for junior year is 4.0/5.0 and 4.0/5.3 for first semester of senior year.
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Most centered around music.
-Marching Band (9-12, Librarian in 11 and Band Captain in 12), our band is state finalist every year, being top 3 in the last 2 years, has a strong leadership curriculum and is very well known in our area.
-Student Conductor for Wind Ensemble, which achieved district, state, and national Superiors, awarded Best Brass award in US at Nationals 2017, went to nationals in 2016.
-Greater Miami Youth Symphony (4 years), Section Leader this year.
-March for Babies ensemble (once per year) in grades 9 and 11.
-National Honor Society Chapter at my school, (11 and president in 12)
-Mu Alpha Theta (Secretary in 12)
-English Honor Society in 12
-Speech and Debate Club (11 and Historian in 12)
-Model UN (12)
Essays:
-Common App (8.5/10): Sent it to essay editing companies, college counselors, and teachers, and they all said they had nothing to correct. It was about the way music has shaped me as a person, which is a cliche topic, but I made it personal to me. Mentioned how the elements of the music alphabet are present in literature, where dynamics and tonal shifts are present, and talked about Seamus Heaney. Then talked about leadership and compared myself to a metronome. Overall, solid.
-Lists (9/10): I was really honest with my lists, the books ranged from Haruki Murakami to Random Facts books to Seamus Heaney to books in Catalan (my third language). Ideal college community list was good too, specific but broad at the same time. Mentioned classical music comments I’ve seen and a wide range of movies, from history to Star Wars.
-Why Columbia (9.5/10): I refuse to give myself a 10 but this is as close as I got. Mentioned my memories of a pizza restaurant in NYC and compared Columbia to a Hawaiian Pizza. I included how, resembling the blend of pineapple, ham and cheese, students embody different backgrounds yet come together through a common dough: The Core. Really creative, funny, and specific to Columbia, I showed I was really informed and passionate about Columbia. I truly think it’s original and hope it stands out.
-Why Major (9/10): Talked about my grandmother’s experience as a dissident in Cuba, which has inspired me to study history in hopes of becoming a political journalist. When my grandmother sustained injuries marching with Las Mujeres de Blanco (the largest dissident group in Cuba), talked about how I now see my passion reflected in her bruises. It was quite personal, but connected my experiences to my passion pretty well.
-Submitting and Arts Supplement as well, orchestral instrument.
Teacher Recommendations:
-From my AP English Language teacher: Should be solid, he’s very fond of me and we’ve grown close even when I don’t have him as a teacher anymore. Should be good I’m hoping.
-From my PreCalc and AP Calc teacher: I think this one won’t be as good, the teacher is very good but doesn’t have so much experience in this whole thing. Probably will be generic.
-From my AP Literature teacher: Should be very good, he is very experienced in this and is a very compelling writer. Has a marvelous opinion of me since the year started, we’ve become close in a short time. Was teacher of the year at my school.
Counselor Rec: Has a really good opinion of me after my PSAT Junior year, I always go see him in his office for any scholarships, we have a good relationship. I filled out a big sheet with my stats for him, should be alright, nothing too special.
Extra Info: I am a Hispanic male, lived in the U.S. for 8 years. I speak English, Spanish, and Catalan, which is the provincial language of Barcelona. That’s all I have for hooks. My Hispanic heritage came across in the Why Major and Why Columbia essays, as well as my lists.
