<p>A guy from my school just got accepted. Now, I have nothing against him; he is a very cool person, and right now, he's my hero for beating the odds and getting in. I am VERY happy for him, and I was actually pulling for him to get in. I'm not a hater; heck, I didn't even apply to Harvard. However, I cannot grasp how he could beat out some of the people who were deferred or rejected (namely certain IMO participants from last year) with his stats. Maybe his rec.'s were the most amazing ones anyone had ever seen? Who knows? Please shed some light:</p>
<p>ACT: 35
Rank: between 20 and 25/500? (To put this in perspective, I am #2)
EC's: Football (our team won state championship last year), for which he got recruited as an All-state player, and track, in which he medaled in state as a weightman.
Plus NHS and some minor ones.</p>
<p>From my knowledge, he received a low B or C in a math class (I could be wrong).</p>
<p>Looks like a recruitment to me. I mean, granted, his ACTs are phenomenal and he probably has a great personality. The rank seems like the kind of thing that would probably hurt the typical applicant but with sports, I'm not surprised. Hey, he's apparently got pretty good academics and you say he's got a nice personality. Combine that with the football and he quite probably deserved to get in ;)</p>
<p>Check this one out:
SAT: 2000-ish (and 620 SAT II Spanish, which is the prospective major)
+ GPA: 3.84 weighted
+ ECs: sports captain, but no recruit; expensive travel programs to Europe and DC
+ rank is top 30% or 40%
- legacy, sports recruitment, money, etc.
= Johns Hopkins!??!?!</p>
<p>I think I won't do that essay because it is such a bad question. I have a couple of ideas, but I'd really rather not. So I think I'll do the common app and just answer the Why JHU? question.</p>
<p>Heh, so it's acceptable to just...not write an essay? I mean, that's allowed?? :p</p>
<p>I think that could be the one time I may have to blatantly use my "secret weapon":</p>
<p>"If you had $10 to spend in a day, what would you do with it?</p>
<p>I find this to be an absolutely terrible question. But if I had to answer, I would say I'd blow it away on something little because if I need to buy something big I can use the FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS I WON FOR WINNING THIRD PLACE IN THE NATION IN SIEMENS"</p>
<p>:p:p</p>
<p>All other applications will be much more modest. lol</p>
<p>But they accept the common app plus a supplement, don't they? I haven't started their application yet, but I sort of remember that. It said something along the lines of: "Although you have fulfilled the writing requirement with the common application essay, we encourage you to answer the following," and then they list the "Why JHU?" question and the $10 one. </p>
<p>So, is that money, like, cash? Or scholarship? Or what? I'm not a science kid, so I don't know about these competitions or whatever.</p>