Decision: Possible
Objective:
•SAT I (breakdown): did not report
•ACT (breakdown):
33 English
28 Math
35 Reading
30 Science
writing 10
composite 32
•Unweighted GPA: 3.9
•Weighted GPA: weighting is weird at my school but I’d say like around 4.1; most rigorous courseload
•Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 9/66
•AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (3), AP Global (4), AP Lit (taking Now) P.S. There are only four AP classes at my school
•IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
•Senior Year Course Load:
Photography 101
College Macroeconomics
AP English Lit
College Academic Writing
College Microeconomics
Physics
•Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): I was most improved in chorus (10), Chorus Leader (11), Area All-State Choir (11,12)
Subjective: •Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): NYS Envirothon Team Member (10-12), Drama Club Member (9, 12), Yearbook (Treasurer and Editor 10 and 11 respectively), Alto in Chorus (9-12), Clarinet 2 in Band (9-12), Violin 1 in Orchestra (9-12), NYSSMA Soloist in Voice (10-12), All-County Chorus General (9-12), All-County Chorus Select (10-12), Area All-State Chorus (11, 12), Community Theater (9, 10), Youth Group Student Leader (9-12), YES! Leads Students against drugs and alcohol (11, 12 Secretary), Class Officer (10-12 Secretary), Soccer (9), Tennis (12), Marching Band (9-12), Pep Band (11, 12), Commencement Band (10), Prom Committee (11)
•Job/Work Experience: McDonald’s (12)
•Volunteer/Community service: Theater Concessions Worker (9-11), Church Nursery Worker (9-12)
•Summer Activities: Student At Cornell University Summer International Debate Camp (10), Summer Camps (9, 10, 11, 12), Camp CIT (Councilor in Training)(12), Domestic Missions Trips (9 and 12)
•Essays: common app essay talked about my experience rock climbing and how it taught me to approach issues methodically with a calm, thoughtful mind. You can see all of my essays for all of my colleges on my **** profile (RachelJoy1999). https://www.****.com/profile-detail/84661
Wellesley 100 talked about The Little Drummer Boy and Nancy Drew…could have been better. I waited until the night Early Evaluation was due to do them. For the little drummer boy, I wrote about how my mother loves music, but was poor when she was younger, so she couldn’t learn piano. She worked really hard to make sure my sisters and I had access to that and that’s what generations off Wellesley women have been doing for women everywhere. I wrote about wanting to be that for someone else someday. For Nancy Drew, I just wrote about how she inspired me to look beyond the surface, think intuitively, and pay attention to the details.
•Teacher Recommendation: AP Global History…knows me really well. I once taught his class, I help grade papers with him, and I was class officer while he was class advisor.
English teacher…was my soccer coach, had me for two years, and was class advisor while I was a class officer. It was really good!!! woohoo
•Counselor Rec: counselor knows me very well since we talk a lot. She is also my Macro and Microeconomics teacher, so I asked her to include that prospective in my letter. It’s probably not AMAZING because we’ve had our moments when we disagreed, but it’s probably decent.
•Additional Rec: n/a
•Interview: Went REALLY WELL. It’s probably the best interview I’ve ever done.
•Supplementary Material (portfolio, etc.): n/a
Other
•Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
•State (if domestic applicant): NY
•School Type: Public
•Ethnicity: Caucasian as they get folks
•Gender: Female
•Income Bracket: $85,000 ish for the year I filed
•Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I didn’t really have one at all. I’m white and from rural America, so I’m a dime-a-dozen. I wrote my essay about something I loved (rockclimbing) which is an experience most can’t describe and I wrote in the present first person, so it felt like the reader was the one climbing. So, I guess my hook was my writing. In my interview, I tried to spin a “behind the scenes leader” for myself; I said that as the Secretary of my class, I’m actually the one organizing things and talking to potential venues etc. so I think I showed that I was trying to make a difference. Also, I’m as far from first-generation as you could get. My mother’s currently working on her PHD at SUNY Binghamton, my father has his bachelor’s from Cornell University, my older sisters (twins!) both got their bachelors, and one of them got her masters. I think Wellesley’s decision on me really shows that they may be willing to take the average Josephine who just has a lot to contribute in life experience.
Reflection
•Strengths: My Common App Essay was AMAZING. I’m a really good writer and I spent my time on it. I actually ended up tutoring most of my grade on how to write an effective college app essay. (We live in rural upstate NY where there is little access to resources)
•Weaknesses: AP Scores, GPA (I took Calc and didn’t take the AP because I was sure to fail), possibly the supplemental essays weren’t as polished as my common app essay.
•Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I honestly think that I’m pretty average when you look at my scores for Wellesley and my GPA kinda lagged my junior year. I think I didn’t get a straight up “Probably not” because I visited twice, my college mentor went to Wellesley, I interviewed SUPER well, and I think I did a good job of showing that Wellesley is where I want to be. I will be in Boston in April and am planning to appeal in person if I get waitlisted. If I get in, I’ll just visit again.
•Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted to Niagara University RD, Allegheny College EA, Fordham University EA, Suffolk University EA, Nazareth College EA, SUNY Binghamton RD
All of these I knew I was going to get in to. I applied to 17 schools and have been accepted at 6. I am waiting on the other 10, so I haven’t been denied yet. The other 10 are Grinnell, Colby, Carleton, Hamilton, Cornell, Brown, Boston College, Kenyon, SUNY Geneseo, Williams, and (of course) Wellesley. My top choices are probably Wellesley, Kenyon, Williams, and Brown. If I had to choose today, I would go to Nazareth because they gave me the most financial aid.
General Comments:
I love Wellesley and, if they accept me, I am 90% sure I’ll accept (I still have to go somewhere affordable). I’m kinda regretting not being ED for Wellesley. life is hard.