Decision: Accepted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1480 (690/770)
ACT: N/A
SAT II: math2 790
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calc AB (3) didn’t submit
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Spanish Lang, Advanced Studies in Paleontology, Advanced Studies in Anatomy and Physiology, Advanced Studies the Cold War era, Advanced Studies Latin America in the 20th Century (My school has this weird advanced studies system, its basically AP level but the classes don’t have corresponding AP tests)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Uhh nothing really
Dartmouth Book Award (school)
Presented Paleo poster at Society of Vertebrae Paleontology (international, but not really an award)
Student government recognition (4 years, school)
Recognition award at the 68th Los Angeles County Science Fair (regional)
Rogers scholar (school, its a scholarship for paleontology students)
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): School’s executive vice president (student government for four years, commissioner for 2 years, class VP for a year, and now I am the school’s VP)
Job/Work Experience: babysitting my teachers’ adorable children haha (3 years, every Sunday)
Volunteer/Community service: Chinese tutor for kids
Summer Activities: Freshman year I went to Spain for 6 weeks for a local summer camp and learned Spanish (didn’t talk about this in my application tho) Junior year summer I went to Wesleyan summer program (with credits)
Essays:
Commonapp one is about my contribution to my school’s LGBTQ+ community, I drafted transgender guidelines with the administration for our student handbook. I talked about my experience of the process and realization of the importance of understanding the LGBTQ+ community
Wellesley one, I talked about sisterhood and the Ruhlman conference. I go to a boarding school, so I shared my stories of living in a girls dorm and advisory (I really like this part of my essay, it is very ME which I am very proud haha). The second paragraph I shared my experience at the paleontology conference and realized that there weren’t many women and the opportunity is so rare. I talked about how at Wellesley that your gender wouldn’t be a factor to share the research project that I am so passionate about (kinda cliche but tbh that was how I felt)
Teacher Recommendation:
(1) My English teacher, who is also my dorm head, my dance teacher, the teacher I trust the most on campus. He really likes me (at least I think so) so I think the rec is pretty good
(2) My science teacher who taught me AdvStu in Biotechnology. TBH she wasn’t my first choice but my first choice (math teacher) already took enough rec letters 
BUT choosing her is a great decision tho! She likes me a lot too! I represented my biotech class last year at the LACSF for my research on salmon so I think the rec is pretty good too? (Can’t be too confident lol)
Counselor Rec: Uh at this point idk I never thought my counselor liked me cuz he thinks I am dumb and when I told him that I am applying ED2 to Wellesley, he straight up told me that I won’t get in because my grades are trash
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview:
We talked a lot! She is very sweet and I told her about my interest in Paleo and STEM in general. She even drove me back to my school aw
Other
Financial aid: No (I can’t because I am not a citizen)
State (if domestic applicant): CA (I was born in Beijing but I go to school in SoCal)
Country (if international applicant): China
Intended major(s): Earth Science/Biochemistry
School Type: Private, boarding
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Paleo I guess? It is a fairly unpopular major or interest but I just love dinosaurs
Reflection
Strengths: Essay! I love my essays! Every time I read them I get excited! ECs! I did a lot for my school, I think I showed to Wellesley that I am a busy person haha
Weaknesses: Grades and SAT ew ew ew
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think I showed to Wellesley that I know what I want. I have my goals and they know that I can achieve them at Wellesley. I think it is important to let them know that you can thrive in this environment! Also be yourself, have your voice in your writing and be genuine. They will love who you are!
General Comments: I honestly don’t know how I got in. When I opened the portal I had no hope. NGL everyone around me has been telling me that I won’t get in. My private counselor said that Wellesley WILL NOT accept an international student from China who has a SAT score lower than 1500 and gpa lower than 4. There is another really good candidate who also ED2 to Wellesley and she has better grades, people said that she will get in instead of me. But look at this now, it is not all about those numbers and rankings! It is a holistic review! Good luck with everyone who got deferred!