I’ve been stressing about this a lot and I was just wanted to hear some anecdotes from people that have gotten accepted/denied/caped. Here it goes -
I’m applying for a psychology BS major, and I am in-state. My high school is very competitive. Last year I believe 50 out of 90 applicants got accepted from our school.
Rank: 50/542 (9th percent of my class)
SAT: 1330/1600 (620 math, 710 english) 21/24 on the essay
GPA: Unweighted - 5.17/5.0. Weighted 3.85/4.0 (not sure how these come into play during admissions)
AP scores -
us history - 5
psychology - 5
english language and composition - 5
world history - 4
physics 1 - 3
I’ve taken 10 AP classes total (5 this year so no scores yet)
Extracurriculars -
I focused heavily on debate. I was in it all 4 years, dedicated no fewer than 30 hours a week. Traveled every weekend to compete in tournaments. State qualified sophomore, junior, and senior year. Earned the highest distinction the national debate league offers, among many other things. Historian sophomore year and vice president senior year. I competed in UIL region for 3 years, meaning i was top 3 out of my district.
Co-founded a UNICEF club at my school and set up fundraising/volunteer events to raise awareness of impoverished children. Vice president of the club
Drawing club for 3 years.
Essays -
I’ve always considered myself a good writer. I’m better at english than math as you can see my by sat score, so I believe my essays were well written and unique. I would say they are really good, maybe not excellent.
Letters of rec - got one from my debate coach, and my psychology teacher. they’re not generic so thats good.