UVa Class of 2019 Regular Decision Results Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Virginia
1

Hello everyone! Post your stats here in the hopes that future UVa applicants will learn from our triumphs and tragedies.

Try to keep this thread pretty clean - no extraneous posts about chances, WL questions, etc.

Try to post your decisions in the following format:

Just remove the first ‘a’ in the bold, size and color in your decision.

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

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown):
ACT:
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:
Teacher Recommendation:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

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/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments:

2

Decision: Waitlisted

Prospective Major: Psychology

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (800 CR 690 M 780 W)
ACT: 34 (34E 33M 35R 32S Essay:10)
SAT II: Biology E: 740 US History: 800 Literature: 780
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92 UW/4.46 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Lang Comp: 5, APUSH: 5, Psychology: 5
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP European History, CP Calculus, AP Spanish, AP Lit, Honors Abnormal Psychology, Advanced Creative Writing, AP Enviro
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Ranked in top 20 in nation for marching band

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Marching Band (Color Guard): Many regional level awards, top 20 in nation and winner of Esprit de Corps award
Fencing (4 years)
Gymnastics (3 years)
Stage Crew (4 years) - co-head of lighting
Fencing Club (3 years) (Treasurer and Founding Member)
Ski Club (4 years)
Peer Mediation (4 years)
some other misc. stuff
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: 100-120 hours over the last three summers at a horseback riding camp for children with disabilities
Summer Activities: College class in ASL at Rutgers, Volunteering
Essays: I picked the flash seminar essay, and chose to make my flash seminar about affirmative action at the Kamehemeha Schools in Hawaii. I thought it was a cool topic, and I never asserted my opinion one way or the other, but said that it was important to take everything into account, and everyone I showed it to liked it. Also sent it to Pomona and Emory, so um, yeah, kinda nervous about that now… 8?/10
Work that has challenged you essay - I picked the Milgram obedience experiment and wrote about how it influenced my perception of people and taught me about how even the illusion of power is enough to make people listen to you. A little dark, but I felt that the prompt warranted it. 7/10
Common App Essay: About challenging people’s beliefs by being physically strong. It focused on my ability to do a lot of push-ups even though I’m a petite, nerdy girl. It was kind of humorous, and I spent a long time on it. Everyone who read it liked it. 9/10
Teacher Recommendation: Not sure. I picked this teacher because he saw me help out other students in his class, but it’s impossible for me to say if he wrote a lot about that in his rec.
Counselor Rec: She likes me, but it was probably kind of bland. She has 239 other kids to worry about.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A

Other

State (if domestic applicant): NJ (OOS)
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Very large public
Ethnicity: White, but chose not to respond
Gender: F
Income Bracket: >250k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I wish

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores (except SAT Math), marching band awards, maybe essays?
Weaknesses: Not a resident of VA, course load rigor could be better, only one substantial EC, the other kids who applied from my school were more competitive than me
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Mostly because I’m OOS. I also think that my ECs probably didn’t set me apart, so my app kind of blended in with the pack.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Rutgers and the University of Alabama EA, accepted to WashU RD

General Comments:

I was deferred from EA, and honestly, I was more torn up about that. I think now that I have WashU, I just sort of feel better going forward. I’m not sure if I’ll accept my WL offer, I have to think it over, especially considering I have some other decisions coming in over the next few days. Congrats to everyone who got accepted - UVa is a fantastic school. For the rest of us, I know that we’ll all end up some place that we can thrive, even if that place isn’t UVa.

3

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1990 CR: 690 M: 640 W:660
ACT: 31 R: 36 E: 33 S: 32 M: 27
SAT II: Biology: 680 Spanish: 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Comparative Gov: 5
IB (place score in parenthesis):
IB Psychology SL: 6
Senior Year Course Load:Full IB.
IB Math SL 2
IB Business SL
IB Biology HL 2
IB Psychology HL
IB Spanish HL
IB Geography SL
IB English HL 2
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Uh… no.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Dance - 6 years. I was on the Varsity team. I’ve been asked to be on multiple competition teams. These days I spend about 5 hours a week at the studio.
Photography Club - Vice Pres
National Honors Society
Science Honors Society
Spanish Honors Society
Model UN
Job/Work Experience: I tutored a three kids from a family 6 hours a week for two years.
Shadowed a nurse at the local health department.
Volunteer/Community service: I volunteered with the INOVA Flu Service.
Summer Activities: Mostly traveled to see family and danced.

Essays:
Common App was probably an 8/10? I talked about travelling to Colombia and seeing the importance of educating yourself before passing judgement.
My one for something that challenges me was about the book that sparked my interest in infectious disease. Quirky and passionate.
My second supplemental was about a quirk I have. It was probably my favorite out of every essay I wrote. Really funny and unbelievably goofy.
Teacher Recommendation: 9/10 The man who fuled my interest in biology wrote it. He was my teacher for two years and mentioned that my rec letter would be one that “seemed to write itself”.
Counselor Rec: 8/10. HUGE school… But he always tells me I make him look good.

Other

State (if domestic applicant): VA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Massive Public
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~60k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):URM

Reflection

Strengths: Being an in-state student, my essays hands down
Weaknesses: Test scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: UVA loves IB kids from my school and probably my essays.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I’ve been accepted to UNC, UMass Amherst, Santa Clara, and Virginia Tech. Rejected no where so far.

General Comments:
I’m not sure if this is where I’ll end up next year but I’m so honored to have been accepted. Good luck to all! And if you didn’t get in, well that’s okay! You’ll find the place meant for you.

4

Decision: Waitlisted SEAS instate

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2180
ACT:
SAT II: 720 Lit, 730 Physics, 780 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8 UW, 4.3 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 20/79
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 AP Calc AB, 4 APUSH
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Lit, AP Chem, Honors Gov, Adv. Biology DE, mandatory Theology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): STEM Club (treasurer), Spanish Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Chess Club, TONS of music stuff

Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: Online math/physics tutoring
Summer Activities:
Essays: 7/10
Teacher Recommendation: 5/10
Counselor Rec: 7/10
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

State (if domestic applicant): Virginia
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private Catholic
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

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

General Comments: Murdered solely by an usually smart class which killed my rank. Wow. I could have done more ECs but I don’t think that would have swayed anything.

5

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2150 (superscore) 2120 (highest composite)

1st: Math - 680 Reading - 720 Writing - 670
2nd: Math - 720 Reading - 690 Writing - 710

SAT II: Math 2 - 670 US History - 670

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.71
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 14/207
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus AB (3) Statistics (5) Macroeconomics (5) Microeconomics (4) U.S. History (4)

Senior Year Course Load: AP Government, AP Calc BC, AP English, Physics, Spanish 3, band, personal economics and finance, and computer applications

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, but that’s not really major…

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Marching Band 9th-12th (Brass Section Leader 10-12), Symphonic Band 9th-12th (Section leader 10th-12th, placing in district band all three years, 1st chair all county 11th-12th and all-state qualification 11th) JV Soccer 9th, Varsity Cross Country 10th-12th, Beta Club 9th-10th , Varsity Track 10th-12th ( 11th placed in the conference, regionally qualified, and qualified for 3A state track meet for 4x800 m relay team)

Job/Work Experience: Started my own business, was able to raise funding and set to launch very soon. Personally a very big accomplishment but the money raised was nothing crazy. Paid teaching assistant at elementary school, three hours a week senior year only. Volunteer/Community service:

Summer Activities: Research on alternative method of education called SOLE.

Essays: Common app essay was a very personal and emotional background story and explained where my drive came from. Wrote about Calculus being hard for the UVa challenge you faced question and about Bitcoin for the flash seminar one. Thought the flash seminar one was good, not great, and honestly didn’t like the one about Calculus.

Teacher Recommendation: One from my Stats teacher, he and I really got along and he’s a great person so probably wrote a very nice recommendation. Other from my physics teacher, he liked me because I did very well but I slept quite a bit in his class so I’m really not sure how that recommendation was.

Counselor Rec: Probably pretty generic

Additional Rec: Music teacher and I are very close so probably very good.

Other

State (if domestic applicant): VA
School Type: Public, smallish
Ethnicity: White (Middle Eastern)
Gender: M
Income Bracket: <$25,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None, everything I’ve read said being Middle Eastern doesn’t count as URM.

Reflection: Very excited. I believe my test scores are in line with the average at UVa and of course being in state helps a ton. I was very worried about my SAT IIs and GPA pulling me down but it all worked out. UVa is definitely one of my top choices!

Strengths: SAT I and extracurriculars
Weaknesses: SAT IIs and GPA
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Honestly as an OOS applicant I don’t think I would have been admitted, so probably because I was in state.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Only been accepted to UVa and VCU so far, waiting on a bunch of others.

General Comments: Congrats to all of those who got in! UVa is a great school and the campus is beautiful, in all likely hood I’ll see you all there next fall! To those who had less than favorable decisions, things always happen for a reason. Situations become what you make of them and if you give it your all at whatever school you end up at you will succeed!

6

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2240 (700 m, 760 cr, 780 w)
ACT:
SAT II: 760 lit 740 ush
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.45
AP (place score in parenthesis): Gov (freshman year, 4) US history (soph. 5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Enviro (5)
Senior Year Course Load: Full IB
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Club year round sailing, Varsity hockey, guitarist, idk pretty good
Job/Work Experience: summer job for 3 years, started new job this year
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays: Good
Teacher Recommendation: no idea
Counselor Rec: idk
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

State (if domestic applicant): Maryland
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity: White
Gender: male
Income Bracket: >$250,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: SAT score, schedule, essays, unique classes like arabic
Weaknesses: Grades, out of state
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Out of state and grades weren’t good enough to make up for it
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: In: Hobart, expecting UMD Out: BC

7

Decision: Waitlisted
Planned major: Computer Engineering

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown out of 2400: 790 M, 750 R, 730 W = 2270
SAT II: Math 2 800, Biology Molecular 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.753
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calculus AB (5), AP Calculus BC (5), AP English 11 (5) AP Computer Science (5), AP Biology (4)
Senior Year Course Load: Advanced Choir, AP Physics C, AP English 12, College Sociology, College Multivariable Calculus
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National merit finalist? AP Scholar? All state chorus? (major in my heart, minor to anybody else)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): school publications club, school musical, chorus (all county, all state, solo and ensemble), used to run track and cross country and played basketball, attended the University of Maryland Computer Science Competition
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: Not much service; I volunteered for a couple hours at a dog shelter, an elementary fun and fitness day, and some music events, but never had much time or energy to volunteer many hours.
Summer Activities: Summer internship
Essays: I wrote an essay on how I worked out all summer to play basketball and then sprained my ankle at tryouts, rendering me ineligible, and how it gave me a changed mindset on approaching failure and hard work. I answered a short response "to tweet or not to tweet" and wrote some BS about how tweed jackets are pretty cool clothing articles. 

Teacher Recommendation: My AP English teacher recommended me. I assume she wrote a good recommendation because I was always doing extra in her class ,like making videos for projects that just asked you to write some dialogue on paper. My Calculus AB teacher that I had a year before the typical STEM schedule also wrote me one. She seemed to respect my work ethic and motivation to excel. Plus, she's head math teacher.
Counselor Rec: I have a very close connection with my counselor. 
Additional Rec:
Interview: none

Other

State (if domestic applicant): Maryland
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Poor
Ethnicity: Chinaman
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Would you consider Asian males under represented minorities in college?

Reflection

Strengths: Standardized testing, personality, social
Weaknesses: GPA, Volunteer Hours, BS high risk essay about tweeting tweed jackets
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: out of state regular decision application with subpar effort put into the application
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: deferred from Cornell ED, accepted to UMD Honors EA
8

Decision: Accepted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2210 (single sitting)
ACT (breakdown): 32 (E 35, M 32, R 33, S 29, W 10)
SAT II: Math I 740, US History 770
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.25 (unweighted unknown)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 9/295
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calc AB Subscore (5), BC (4), Eng Lang (4), Human Geography (5), US (5), World (5), AP Physics B and Chem did not report
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Statistics, AP Environmental Science, AP Comparative Government, AP English Lit, AP US Government, Health&PE, ITE 119 dual enrolled, AP French, and AP Euro self-study
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Eagle Scout, Congressional Award Silver Medalist, Military Child of the Year 2014 Top-5 Finalist, Rock the Statue Green American-French Embassy Semi-Finalist, Gold Level Presidential Volunteer Service Award, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Scholarship Commended, West Point Leadership Award, VA Boys State Lt. Governor Party Nomination Runner-Up, National Honor Society (Sec.), 2015 US Senate Youth Program Virginia Delegate

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Varsity Swim Team 10-12 (Captain, VHSL 3rd Place Boys Team)
Varsity Forensics 9-12 (Captain, VHSL 3rd Place Prose Interp)
Student Council Association 9-12 (9-Class Treasurer, 10-Class Rep, 11 School VP, 12- School Pres)
Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society 11-12 (Special Events Coordinator)
Boy Scouts 1-12 (Senior Patrol Leader among other things)
Model United Nations 10-12 (Research Chair, Best Delegate at Maggie Walker and William&Mary conferences)
Student2Student (transfer student group) 9-12 (Founder at new high school and President 10-12, Frances Hesselbein Student Leadership Program Participant)
EqualizeOurEarth Humanitarian Club 10-12
Société Honoraire de Français and French Club 9-12 (VP-12)
Freshmen Orientation Crew (freshmen mentoring) 11-12 (Captain-12)
VA Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar 10-12 (Ambassador-10, Junior Staff and Leadership4Service Keynote Speaker-11, Team Alumni-12, Alumni Association Public Relations and Recruitment Team Board Member 11,12)

Job/Work Experience:
Lifeguard at an indoor retirement community’s health club and spa’s pool year-round 10-12 (15-19 hrs/wk)
AidData Research Assistant at the College of William&Mary, mapping aid to developing countries, its implantation and effectiveness
School Division Honors Project, an oral history project of my town

Volunteer/Community service:
Probably near the thousands if I add up all four years. I did 350 hours junior year.
KidZone, elementary afterschool program 9
Missouri Special Olympics 9
Eagle Scout Service Project 9/10
Chemical Corps Regimental Association 9 (Volunteer of the Year 2012)
Freshmen O-Crew 11-12 (Captain)
Therapeutic Horseback Riding Center Weekly Volunteer 10-12
French, English and History Honor Society Tutor
National History Day Projects middle school mentor 11-12
Capernaum Special Needs Club Volunteer 10-12
Summer League Swim Team Volunteer Assistant Coach 11-12
Honors Project Community Service Element, introducing technology to the lives of aging adults 11-12
VA HOBY Alumni Association, VA HOBY Seminar Junior Staff

Summer Activities:
Lifeguarding Job
Virginia Boys State
Volunteering
Nicaraguan Mission Relief Trip
Stanford Online’s International Women’s Health and Human Rights for no credit

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App- 8/10 about growing up in a military family and overcoming my fear of the doorbell as a child.
UVA Sup- 6/10 Honestly did them in like an hour…

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: AP Human/APUSH teacher, swim coach, rho kappa and EqualizeOurEarth sponsor, Yale alumna- didn’t read, but assume 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: Student2Student sponsor and librarian who mentors my online classes (AP Environ, Comp Gov and World last year), knows me very well and was a military brat- didn’t read but assume 10/10
Counselor Rec: Knows me very well, work with him often, told me he spent over an hour writing and editing (which at a public school like mine is incredible)- didn’t read but assume it was also 10/10.
Additional Rec: Did not submit
Interview: Not happened yet

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Don’t remember… But I think I’ll study public policy and economics
State (if domestic applicant): VA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M
Income Bracket: ~115,000… maybe more.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Not much, I just love people. Is that a hook?

Reflection:
Yale rejected me SCEA.
I was sincerely disappointed.
Honestly, I was upset and surprised I wasn’t deferred. But I respect Yale’s decision, and I’m beginning to feel comfortable with knowing it’s for the best. I fell in love with Yale when I visited. The incredible, humble and passionate student body propelled me to apply early action.
Four girls were admitted to Princeton early from my school (two below my rank and two above), which is really unprecedented. I’m so proud to be part of such an amazing class of high school graduates! And their decisions opened my eyes to the amazing school Princeton is.

Strengths: ECs, Service, Awards, Recs, INSTATE
Weaknesses: Test Scores, Test Scores, Test Scores (taking the ACT again in Feb), essays and Bs in AP Physics B/Physics Lab and AB Calculus.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I felt confident throughout the process and am a Jeff Scholar Alternate
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Rejected Yale SCEA

General Comments:
Good luck everyone!

9

Decision: Accepted

SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT: 28
SAT II: USHIS-620, Lit-590
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank.
AP (place score in parenthesis): Euro - 3; Lang and Comp - 3; USHIS - 4; PSYCH - 4
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: 4 APs, 4 DEs (on college campus), Econ and Personal Finance
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar Award with Honors
Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Marching Band (Drum Major); BETA Club, NHS, Interact, Superintendent’s Board of Students, Communities Helping Improve Local Lives (Board Member), RELATE (Peer Coach), Band Advisory Committee, Indoor Percussion
Job/Work Experience: Fast food restuarant for about 8 months
Volunteer/Community service: All the hours I’ve done for NHS, BETA, and Interact (aroudn 200)
Summer Activities: School work, Europe Trip
Essays: Favorite word essay - very concise and clean; work of art/literature - pretty good; failure essay - very nice
Teacher Recommendation: Three fantastic recommendations by some of the most distinguished teachers in my school.
Counselor Rec: Pretty good.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A

Other

State (if domestic applicant): Virginia
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 100,000-110,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation

Reflection

Strengths: GPA, activities, leadership in my school and community
Weaknesses: Test scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I was most likely accepted due to being competitive for an instate applicant.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was accepted to VCU.

10

Decision: Rejected

SAT I (breakdown): 2110, M: 770, R: 730, W: 610
ACT: 34, E: 32, M: 32, R: 36, S: 34
SAT II: Physics: 800, Math II: 750
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.67
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 13/56
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chem: 3, English: 4
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Most challenging courses available
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Honor Society secretary
Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity soccer 4 years, Varsity track, 2 years, Youth Court (Peer to peer judging)
Job/Work Experience: Shoe store for 3 months, Coffee shop for 1 year (presently employed)
Volunteer/Community service: Not sure how to answer
Summer Activities: Nada
Essays: Favorite word essay - Thought I did a good job, but I can understand why they may have found it poor. Thought I had a clever little thing for engineering supplement
Teacher Recommendation: Great Recs
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A

Other

State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White (Persian)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, community service is interesting and shows community devotion
Weaknesses: GPA
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Most likely GPA too low.

11

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2360 - CR 800 M 770 W 790 (single sitting)
ACT: n/a
SAT II: Math 2 800, Bio 780
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/493
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5’s Art Hist, Calc BC, Eng Lit, Phys C, US Hist, Psych, Wrld Hist 4 - Bio
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Env Sci, AP Chem, AP Span, AP Econ/Gov, AP Stat, AP Lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nat’l Mer, Nat’l AP Scholar, Carson Scholar

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 4 yr Var Comp Cheer, Concertmaster in school orch
Job/Work Experience: no
Volunteer/Community service: special needs cheer coach, mission trips, tutoring
Summer Activities: GA Aquarium
Essays: 9/10
Teacher Recommendation: 10/10
Counselor Rec:10/10
Additional Rec: Nominated for Jefferson, Regional Semifinalist
Interview:

Other

State (if domestic applicant): GA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: > $200K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, GPA, class rank
Weaknesses: potentially no single thing that jumps off the page
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: strengths
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at UGA Honors, Likely letters from ND & Dartmouth, Deferred by Princeton SCEA

12

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2280 (740/780/760 CR/M/W)
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank, but ~5/180
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (5), US History(5), Chem(5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: 5 AP’s
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing too out of the ordinary

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity tennis 4 Years (captain), NHS, science NHS, science league, computer league, freshman mentoring, tutoring, won some piano awards on the side as well
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Tutored underprivileged kids, soup kitchen experience, helped at church with CCD program (~100 or so total hours)
Summer Activities: Nothing spectacular
Essays: Thought this was one of my better essays
Teacher Recommendation: Didn’t get to read
Counselor Rec: Didn’t get to read
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A

Other

State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 200k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Reflection

Strengths: Scores and grades established me as qualified, and essays probably got me the rest of the way
Weaknesses: Didn’t have an astounding number of EC’s, but I also feel that mine mattered more to me than others’ EC’s mattered to them
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: See above
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Deferred Yale SCEA, Waitlisted Wash U, Accepted to Rutgers and Villanova, waiting on rest

General Comments: Good luck everyone!

13

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): did not send
ACT: 34 (E 35, M 34, R 33, S 35; W 31)
SAT II: Chemistry 800), Math II (750)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 96.9/100
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): does not rank, top 5% though
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry (5), Statistics (5), World History (5), US History (5), Chinese (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics 1 & C, AP Latin, AP Calc BC, AP English Lit, SUPA (dual-enrollment) Public Affairs, SUPA Economics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): US Rowing National Scholastic Honor Roll Recipient (lol does this count?), silver and bronze medals at State Rowing Championships, AP Scholar with Distinction

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): varsity coxswain, Science Honor Society (Volunteer Coordinator), Junior Classical League (Treasurer), Youth Orchestra (Personnel Manager), Science Olympiad, Math League, MUN
Job/Work Experience: cashier at local grocery store
Volunteer/Community service: hospital volunteer, library cafe volunteer
Summer Activities: ^ volunteering at said hospital

Essays:
Common App (9/10) - background prompt, about how I gained confidence and leadership capabilities through being a coxswain
Arts & Sciences prompts (8/10) - wrote about HONY and how the photographs expanded my understanding of pain and suffering
Quirks (10/10) - talked about how I follow elite gymnastics; I had a really hard time writing this one and also super nervous about the topic (I wasn’t really sure if that it was quirky enough) but I’m really happy with the way it turned out

Teacher Recommendation:
AP World teacher - loved the teacher and heard he writes great recommendations but he also writes recommendations for about 40 other kids in my grade
Latin teacher - I don’t know why I asked her I don’t think she liked me that much and I never did the homework for her class so yeah but she was a really nice person so I’m sure she wrote pretty good things about me
Counselor Rec: okayish, my counselor is nice but I’m not sure how well she knows me (plus she probably thought I was applying to too many reach schools)
Additional Rec: didn’t send
Interview: didn’t have one

Other
State (if domestic applicant): New York
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public, typically sends a handful of students to Ivies/top universities
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $150K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nope

Reflection: really excited because I honestly did not think I would get in (its so easy to compare yourself to other people and think, well if they got a 35 on the ACT and I got a 34, I’m not getting in), but I’m not sure if I’ll end up being able to attend because of aid, and I’ve also never visited before.
Strengths: test scores, AP scores, extracurricular, ESSAYS
Weaknesses: recommendations, Asian
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: probably my essays tbh
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
accepted - Fordham, Stony Brook, likely letter recipient from Cornell
waitlisted - WashU
waiting on 7 more; deferred from Penn ED

General Comments: Hope this is somewhat helpful for future applicants! But remember, college admissions are such a crapshoot and there really is no way to compare yourself to everyone here, don’t drive yourself insane on this website. That’s what I did in during the early decision round and it was awful. I ended up cutting CC from my life until the last week and even then ONLY going on the discussion forums until I got my decision. Congratulations to all other admits! Maybe I’ll see you in the fall!

14

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): -
ACT: 33 (35 Reading, 35 English, 33 Math, 28 Science)
SAT II: -
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): My school doesn’t calculate GPA, but I’m doing IBDP, and my score is 36/45.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): -
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis): HLs: English Literature (6), Biology (6), Business Management (6)
Senior Year Course Load: The full IBDP + CAS, TOK and Extended Essay
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Gold in the Commonwealth Essay Writing Competition 2014

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

A Capella club for 4 years (Founder, co-leader)
Piano (played in large venues numerous times, am currently a grade 6 practical and grade 4 theory, Won a few competitions)
Regular columnist at an online magazine, editor
Singing, both choir and solo (won a bunch of competitions)
Songwriting and composing music
Executive Board Member of Faunus 2014 (like an MUN but for the environment)- Assistant Director

Job/Work Experience: -

Volunteer/Community service:

Unpaid tutor for English and mathematics

Summer Activities:
Interned at a preschool as a kind of TA? Basically helped out there, taught some kids

Essays:
Common App: It was about how two of my friends and I built a refrigerator out of clay for a Google Science Fair Competition, and went through a bunch of crap just to fail miserably. I think it was pretty amusing, and the theme of the essay tied in pretty well with the prompt without being really preachy and generic. 9/10

UVa Essay #1: I chose the favorite word prompt, and I used the word sillage (which is used to describe the scent of perfume left behind by the wearer as they walked past) to talk about how people leave parts of themselves behind as they walk through the world, and how they lead to infinitely small connections between everyone in this world. Didn’t describe it very well here, but I’d give it an 8/10

UVa Essay #2: Here I talked about Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and how the pressure the Vicario brothers faced to redeem their familial honor was similar to what students face in society today. 8/10

Teacher Recommendation:
English Teacher: I think it was really good. She’s written me a letter of recommendation before for a summer camp, and it was really good so I’m figuring this one will be similar. 9/10

Spanish Teacher: I’ve improved a lot in Spanish during the entire time I was in her class, and I’m hoping that will reflect in her letter. I’m pretty sure it was really well written and personal. 9/10

Counselor Rec: Amazing. the counselor’s known me since 7th grade and he’s also my biology teacher. I’m pretty sure I have an advantage over the rest of the people in my grade. 10/10
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): India, but I’m a US citizen so i qualify for OOS.
School Type: International, Private?
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >180,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: ACT scores (barring science), Essays, Letters of Recommendation, Depth in extracurrics

Weaknesses: Not in-state, science ACT score, GPA

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: There are people with much better stats who got rejected, so I’m trying not to take it too hard. UVa wasn’t my TOP choice, but I was still seriously considering it and I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t get in.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

Accepted: UMass Amherst, UIUC, Macaulay Honors College at CUNY Baruch, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Most of the CUNY campuses, Purdue.

Rejected: UCLA

General Comments: I’m disappointed, but UVa wasn’t my first choice. I’m still waiting on BU, UMich and NYU.

15

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2180 (790M, 730CR, 660W)
ACT:
SAT II: Bio- 690, Math I- 710
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): my school doesn’t give unweighted GPA but it should probably be around 3.95
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/325
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Psych (5), AP Bio (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: most rigorous for my school (3 APs and all other classes in honors)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended, National Achievement Finalist

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): NHS (chairman), interact club, world language club, church group
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: hospital volunteer (300+ hours), library volunteer (20 hrs), food pantry (5 hrs)
Summer Activities: nothing special
Essays: 8/10 i’m not the best writer but i think they all turned out well
Teacher Recommendation: 9/10
Counselor Rec: 8/10
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other
State (if domestic applicant): New Jersey
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: black
Gender: female
Income Bracket: 200K+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection
Strengths: GPA, class rank, volunteering
Weaknesses: subject tests
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: probably my essays and recommendations
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted- duke (likely), UMass amherst, Rensselaer, Temple, SUNY Stony Brook deferred- harvard SCEA waiting for- upenn, columbia, yale, princeton

General Comments: Good luck :slight_smile:

16

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2230 (790M 760W 700CR)
ACT: 34 composite
SAT II: 790 Math II 760 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.85
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Graduating class is too small for this to make sense
AP (place score in parenthesis): Didn’t send
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP Literature, AP Physics, random other required classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nope

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student council president, MUN president, varsity track
Job/Work Experience: Fixing computers
Volunteer/Community service: Literally zero
Summer Activities: Two month research program with grad students at UCLA
Essays: Common app essay was good, 8/10. To be totally honestly I half-assed the UVa essays on the day before they were due, so they were pretty mediocre and on the short side
Teacher Recommendation: Science teacher 8/10
Counselor Rec: Not too personal 6/10
Additional Rec: UCLA professor from summer, 10/10
Interview: Nope

Other:
State (if domestic applicant): International but US citizen
Country (if international applicant): Rather not say, but obscure
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >$200k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope. White male, wealthy-ish parents, both college educated. I’m not getting any affirmative action bonuses.

Reflection

Strengths: Standardized test scores, STEM focus
Weaknesses: Community service and awards. Transcript it weak but it’s a small school so nothing to be done.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Waitlisted at Caltech, UCSB. Accepted at UCSD, Georgia Tech, U of Washington. Rejected from UCLA, Olin College, Harvey Mudd

General Comments: I decided to apply last-minute and I didn’t think I had a lot going for me, but it worked out nonetheless. I guess they liked my research program. Either way, it’ll be a tough choice on where to go in May.

17

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I: 790M 700CR 780W 2270 total (single sitting)
SAT II: 780 Chem, 770 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.82 (school uses core courses only for GPA; all Honors and AP, with upward trend.)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school does not rank, assume top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC (5), Physics CM (5), Eng. Lang. (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C-ME, AP Psych, AP US Gov., Math Honors senior seminar, Reading/Writing Nonfiction Honors; self-studying for AP CompSci test.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science Olympiads, Technology Students’ Association
Job/Work Experience: Tutoring
Summer Activities: Young Scholars Discrete Math program at Rutgers U
Teacher Recommendation: did not read, assume good
Counselor Rec: did not read, assume good

State (if domestic applicant):VA residency, but living in PA
School Type: public, large
Ethnicity: cauc
Gender: F
Income Bracket: $150k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): female STEM student?

Reflection

Strengths: Grades, difficult courseload, test scores, IS status (through father)
Weaknesses: no leadership positions, only a few ECs
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Grades/test scores/major/residency
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: SMCMd, WPI, VT, SUNY-Stony Brook; Denied: Harvey Mudd

18

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2180 (780 M, 680 CR, 720 W)
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 800 US History, 760 Math I
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/155
AP (place score in parenthesis): School only offers 3, and only 1 is available before senior year, but 5 in APUSH, AP English and A Bio pending
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English, AP Bio, College Calc, state Req’d courses in Health and Econ, Chorus, Select Chorus, Band, Jazz Band, Photography
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NM commended, All State/ All Eastern Chorus, State Football Scholar/Athlete of the Year, Odyssey of the Mind Worlds 6th Place
Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 4 years starter on varsity football (3 years both sides, Tri-Captain Senior year), 3 years varsity track, 4 years school musical (3 years lead), 3 years Odyssey of the Mind (3 Ranatra Fuscas including one at States, 6th at Worlds), multiple school bands and honors musical groups, Key Club, youth group, church worship team
Job/Work Experience: Maintaining several lawns each summer
Volunteer/Community service: 150+ hours of church volunteering, plus Key Club
Summer Activities: Mostly summer camp and car camping with the fam, but build a nuclear fusor in the garage last year
Essays: Good
Teacher Recommendation: Probably Excellent
Counselor Rec: Probably Excellent
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

State (if domestic applicant): New York
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public Rural
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <40,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: GPA, Extracurriculars
Weaknesses: For an engineering major, extracurriculars weren’t STEM (but our school doesn’t have any STEM ECs so maybe they took that into consideration)
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Rejected MIT, Accepted University of Buffalo, University of Binghamton, RPI, waiting on Cornell

General Comments:

19

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2120 (CR: 720 M: 650 W: 750)
ACT:–
SAT II: Literature: 710 Biology E: 670
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): school only reported weighted, 4.21
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10/423
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (4), AP Stats, all other APs during senior year
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus AB, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Government, AP Lit, AP Psychology, French 3
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none, besides a couple of local awards

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Founder and President of high school’s UNICEF Club–TONS of work put into this, lots of leadership experience gained through this club
-Ambassador for local underprivileged children’s organization–huge commitment–became close to the founder, she’s sending an additional letter of recommendation
-Mentor to foster kids in an educational program at the children’s organization just mentioned
-Volunteer swim coach to mentally disabled elementary students
-NHS–tons of hours involved in this, on several committees
-PKOM (mentor to incoming freshmen)–elected position
-High School Student Committee (works with school board members and superintendent to discuss student issues)
-Founder of tutoring program for school district
-volunteer at local library
-Club Med
Job/Work Experience: some babysitting
Volunteer/Community service: already mentioned above
Summer Activities: some volunteering
Essays: Common App: it was really personally and I worked for hours on it, so it showed my best writing abilities 9/10 ; Favorite Novel: I wrote about the powerful impact of The Kite Runner and how it’s affected my views 8/10 ; favorite word: this was kind of interesting, I wrote about a story and kind of worked the word in there,very lighthearted 7/10
Teacher Recommendation: one was from a teacher who also is my mentor for a major extracurricular (10/10), another was from a teacher I’ve had two year who knows I’m a very serious student (9/10)
Counselor Rec: she knows that I’m really involved in the school and we talked about my goals before she wrote my rec, so it can’t be too bad!
Additional Rec: from the president of a non-profit I’m heavily involved in and I have a great relationship with her (10/10)
Interview: none

Other

State (if domestic applicant): Ohio
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Medium-sized public
Ethnicity: white
Gender:female
Income Bracket: 70,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first gen

Reflection

Strengths:my extracurriculars for sure! I was very busy about things I was really passionate about during high school, and I think that really paid off.
Weaknesses: test scores. As an out of state applicant, they’re pretty average.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: honestly, I’m so shocked! It had to have been my essays and extracurriculars. I think they saw my personality through my application, and that’s clearly important to them.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted to Ohio University Honors Tutorial College, University of Washington, Wellesley College (Early Evaluation:Likely). Rejected from UChicago. Still waiting to hear back from 6 schools.
General Comments:

20

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (800R, 750M, 790W)
ACT:
SAT II: 800 Biology M, 790 Chemistry, 760 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (5), English Lang (5), Biology (5), Euro (5), English Lit (5), Latin (4), Chemistry (5), Calc AB (5), Microecon (5), APUSH (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Physics C (independent study), Orchestra, AP US Gov, Philosophy (independent study), Dual Credit Microbiology, Dual Credit Statistics, UVA BIOL 3120, UVA BIOL 4320, Internship in UVA lab
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout, Vigil Honor OA member)
Job/Work Experience: Summer QA lab job
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities: Governor’s School (Medicine and Health Sciences)
Essays: Not thrilled with them in retrospect
Teacher Recommendation: Haven’t read, but I’ve been told they’re good
Counselor Rec: Counselor just started this year… probably generic
Additional Rec: Fantastic
Interview:

Other

State (if domestic applicant): VA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 100K-110K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, GPA, course load, being able to work and take classes at UVA (I live in Charlottesville)
Weaknesses: Essays? No significant community service or awards. No special hooks.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments: