Where are you going, HS Class of 2021?

[ttb1263]

COMMITTED TO: University of Maryland.

SHORT SUMMARY OF STATS:

• 4.0(UW)/4.79(W).
• 36 ACT, 1540 SAT.
• Moderate ECs.

ALSO APPLIED TO, SHARE THE DECISION (A/D/WL) :

• Pitt: Accepted w/ Honors and scholarship.
• Temple: Accepted w/ Honors and scholarship.
• Fordham: Accepted w/ Honors and scholarship.
• UofSC: Accepted w/ Honors and scholarship.
• Ursinus: Accepted scholarship.
• Stony Brook: Accepted w/ scholarship.
• Case: Withdrew after deferred.
• Georgetown: Waitlisted.
• JHU: Rejected.
• Harvard: Rejected.

REASON(S) FOR YOUR CHOICE:
We started out looking for school that FIT, close to home and affordable (around in-state cost). Most schools, our daughter applied for gave merits but still higher than UMD (in-state) school.

She got into some merit from UMD and also got into Integrated Life Sciences Honors program, which she is so excited to join resulting her choosing UMD over other schools.

[mm5678]

COMMITTED TO: University of Central Florida (Honors college, National Merit full ride)
Major: started as Biology/premed/Environmental Science but considering art/animation

SHORT SUMMARY OF STATS:

• 3.9 (UW)/4.65 (W)
• 36 ACT
• ECs with a few leadership positions, “pointy” with single strong EC tangentially related to possible career goals
• National Merit Finalist

ALSO APPLIED TO, SHARE THE DECISION (A/D/WL) :
University of San Francisco: accepted with merit
University of Arizona: accepted with Honors, National Merit scholarship (full tuition)
University of Texas Dallas: accepted with Honors, National Merit scholarship (full tuition plus)
University of Houston: accepted with Honors, National Merit Scholarship (full tuition plus)
Trinity University: accepted with merit
University of South Florida: accepted with Honors, National Merit scholarship (full ride)
University of Massachusetts Amherst: accepted with merit
Mount Holyoke College: accepted with merit

University of Southern California: rejected
University of Texas Austin: CAP program (guaranteed transfer after 1 year)

REASON(S) FOR YOUR CHOICE:
As a full pay student, D21 needed to look for schools that offered merit or would come in <$50K/year. She wanted a large diverse campus, and there had to be direct flights from where we live. Given her diverse interests, liberal arts colleges and smaller universities dropped off the list. UCF has one of the top character animation programs in the country and the price cannot be beat particularly since she’s probably looking at grad school or med school. She will be in the Honors college and LLC and UCF really treats their NMF students well. We had a great campus visit and she met some students and felt at home.

[AlenaD]

Impressive stats! I am wondering if UCF guaranteed in writing or in any other way keeping full ride status in case FL legislation changes funding of Benacquisto? Thank you!

[MommaLue]

COMMITTED TO: Brown (Deferred in ED round), Bio Sciences

SHORT SUMMARY OF STATS:

• 3.88(UW)/4.41W), 12 APs, honors, STEM academy
• 36 ACT, National Merit Commended
• Strong ECs, 200+ volunteer hours, 4 year varsity and club sports, internships

ALSO APPLIED TO, SHARE THE DECISION (A/D/WL) :

• Berkeley, UC Irvine, UCSD, UCDavis, UC Santa Barbar (accepted)
• UCLA (waitlisted, alum scholarship invite), Cal Poly (waitlisted)
• Harvard, Yale, UPenn, USC, Vanderbilt (Rejected)

REASON(S) FOR YOUR CHOICE:
Number one choice. Open curriculum, liberal campus, focus on undergrads, collaborative culture, no GEs, far away from home, safe city, nice college town—all confirmed with recent campus visit.

[Ynotgo]

COMMITTED TO: Son will attend Humboldt State University (a CalState)

INTENDED MAJOR: double major in Biology (w/ Ecology concentration) & Botany

ADMISSIONS STATS: 4.68 W, 3.96 UW, 33 ACT, 11 AP & 3 college classes

ECs: 4-year museum program with research/job/service, outdoor & plant-related ECs and jobs (beekeeping, stream testing, nursery worker), art academy

ALSO APPLIED TO: Accepted to all applications. Reed, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, CU Boulder, UMontana (honors, $), UOregon (honors, $), Lewis & Clark ($), Willamette ($), Western Colorado ($), Evergreen State ($).

REASONS FOR CHOICE: Strong biology/ecology/botany/wildlife options. HSU has the largest undergrad botany program in the US and is likely to become the 3rd CalPoly campus. Small class sizes, easy to get undergrad research, fairly easy to get classes/housing compared to UCs. Generous AP credit policy gives him credit for most GEs, but campus is not impacted, so no pressure to graduate early. Liberal campus is trans-friendly. The campus setting is beautiful (if you are OK with stairs). Wanted forests, small town, rain. Proximity to ocean, river, and occasional snow a plus.

[AlmostThere2018]

COMMITTED TO: Duke

INTENDED MAJOR: Engineering (undecided0

ADMISSIONS STATS: 4.0 UW, 11 APs at a top public HS. Did not submit a score to Duke.

ECs: FIRST Robotics w/ statewide awards, rocket club, co-founded social justice club, leadership team for international development club, camp counselor & wilderness skills, 4 years of sports. I think his LORs and essays were very strong.

ALSO APPLIED TO:

Accepted to: UNC, Wisconsin, Case Western ($$$), Virginia Tech ($), WPI ($$), NC State, Pitt, Colorado Mines ($$)

Denied from: Rice (ED deferred then denied), Columbia, UPenn

REASONS FOR CHOICE: Duke allows him more flexibility to take classes outside of engineering than many schools – he’d like to minor in a social science. Small classes and it seems like the engineering students are close-knit. They have an amazing new engineering building. Lots of student opportunities paid for by the university and generous financial aid. He loves the campus and big sports too.

[Johnny523]

COMMITTED TO: Montana State

SHORT SUMMARY OF STATS: 3.9 UW / 1340

ALSO APPLIED TO, SHARE THE DECISION (A/D/WL) : Accepted at Colorado School of Mines, Oregon State, Utah State, Northern Arizona

REASON(S) FOR YOUR CHOICE: She liked MSU the best

[Suave123]

Committed to : Boston University (Questrom school of business)

Stats : 3.97 uw gpa, 4.3 wgpa, 6 APs, 1560 SAT, 800 Math 2, NMF, soccer varsity, club soccer, part time job, and a couple club participants.

Also accepted at : Purdue honors (10k), uiuc, umd honors (5k), UCSB, UCD, UCSC, umass Amherst (16k)

Waitlisted at : UCB, UCLA, northeastern university, unc-ch

Reason : At BU, he received a 25k presidential scholarship due to his NMF status, also the flexibility to switch to any school within BU, research opportunities for business major, doable double major, nice students’ vibe due to many colleges.

[havenoidea]

D21 Committed to: Barnard College

Stats: 3.99/4.53, 9 APs, 34 ACT, Cum Laude 11th grade inauguration, EIC school paper, Student senate, Mock Trial/MUN (awards), started 2 school clubs, brought anti-bullying program to school, regional essay winner, film/art/writing awards, state program for young women leaders; international ICC participant, varsity tennis

Also accepted at: Smith, BMC, Mt Holyoke, Scripps, Occidental, Oberlin, AU all with merit aid; Wesleyan, Vassar, Cornell (ILR)

WL: NU Medill, Pomona

Rejected: Brown after ED deferral

Reasons for choice: She’s loved this school all along, HWC (historic women’s college) with larger class selection, ECs, speakers, etc. at Columbia, Athena Center for Leadership studies, Barnard Center for Research on Women, NYC internship opportunities

[NJWrestlingmom]

D21 committed to James Madison University with Honors College

Stats: 3.88 weighted, top public school. Average ECs- 2 year competitive cheerleader, president of a club, PT job.

Also applied:
Accepted - ECU; WVU (honors); Appalachian State (Watagua Residential College; waitlisted for honors); Rowan U (honors); Susquehanna with max merit; Miami University Oh; CoC (honors); UConn; Syracuse (merit)

Rejected - UGA

Why: JMU was an early favorite do to their psych program, beautiful campus and school spirit. Honors was a bonus, then late money sealed the deal. It was a tough breakup with Miami, but she’ll be a Duke!

[inthegarden]

D21 committed to William & Mary (ED1, OOS)

Stats: 4.0 UW/4.56 W, average small-town public HS, 11 APs, 1470 superscore. President NHS, Mock trial and (pre-Covid) first chair all-county band, section leader in a highly competitive marching band, concert and jazz bands, some dance and JV tennis, volunteered at a library after-school program for younger students.

Undecided major, but likes history, English, linguistics, psychology with a smattering of environmental science policy thrown in (in short, a true liberal arts candidate). She does have a strong pragmatic streak, though, and is thinking about graduate school in Speech and Language Pathology. This may change

Planned to apply (if rejected ED): Lafayette College, Franklin & Marshall, University of Richmond, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Denison, College of Wooster and possibly (geographic outlier) Bates. Also applied/withdrew EA honors college to our state flagship.

Reasons: She thought she wanted a large LAC (between 2000-3000 students) within a half-day drive of home. She liked all of the above schools but none 100% (which would have been perfectly fine). W&M is a little farther and larger than these but I had a gut feeling about the school for her (after my hours and hours spent on this forum). She had always enjoyed visiting Williamsburg as a child but W&M had not been seriously on her radar until I took her to visit last September. Even without an official tour it all clicked, and followup study of the W&M website, zoom sessions, and correspondence with the AO all confirmed her desire to attend. She has never regretted her ED choice and is very excited!

[Momma2boyz]

Congratulations! My son had a tough time deciding between W&M and the school he ultimately committed to. I love W&M but I think my son is going where he should be!

[ganseliesel]

SON COMMITTED TO: UChicago (RD)

MAJOR: Econ/Stats/History

STATS: 4.0UW/4.66W - 35ACT (one sitting), didn’t take SAT. 14 AP classes/16 tests (of the ones taken, all 5’s, three 4’s). SAT World History - 800. Submitted all scores. Cum Laude. School awards/state awards/qualified for int’l competitions (covid ruined it)/NHS/Pres. Société Honoraire/Vice-pres. SS Hon.Soc./4 years French/4 years Varsity swimming (been swimming pretty much for 17 years)/tutoring, etc.

ACCEPTED: Boston College/Carnegie/Emory/SCU/Duke (LL)/UF Honors/UChicago
DENIED: NU/G-Town/Stanford/UPenn/Columbia
WL: Rice

REASON: S’s #1 choice/urban campus/academics/Econ at UChicago-> Doesn’t get any better than that!

[inthegarden]

Keep ‘em coming, folks! I know there are new decisions today!

[parentkeith]

SON COMMITTED TO: UT Austin, Turing Scholar (RD)

MAJOR: CS

STATS: 4.0UW/4.4W - No tests taken. Small rural charter school. No AP tests offered or taken before senior year. CC classes, Calc 1/2, Data Structures, ASL, Differential Equations, HMC summer course. Eagle Scout. Most other EC’s focused on CS activities and projects. Taught virtual coding class during Covid. Excellent GitHub profile and projects.

ACCEPTED: UC Davis CS, USCB CCS Computing
DENIED: Stanford, MIT and Cal Poly SLO
WL: UIUC, UCSD, UCLA, Cornell, CMU

Was hoping for better results, but tough year across the board. Both reach acceptances had applications reviewed by department Professors.

REASON: S’s #1 choice for perfect sized cohort of honors students. The Open House along with current and admitted student enthusiasm really came through with Turing compared to CCS.

[liveonboca]

COMMITTED TO: UCLA
INTENDED MAJOR: Communications or Public Affairs
SHORT SUMMARY OF STATS: 3.79 UW, 4.17 UC; Varsity Tennis, Leadership, Dual Enrollment classes, no APs.
ALSO APPLIED TO, SHARE THE DECISION (A/D/WL) : Only applied to UCs:
A: Berkeley, Irvine, Davis, Santa Barbara; D: None; W/L: San Diego
REASON(S) FOR YOUR CHOICE: Right fit, major (have to apply though), location, food, feel, price.

[NateandAllisMom]

S Committed to : Colgate University (RD)

Major: Applied CS, Bio minor or double major possible.

Stats: 3.96UW/4.5W, 33 ACT (single sitting), good rigor, small Catholic high school

EC: Aquarist Assistant at Sea Center, NH Museum youth science camp CIT, varsity tennis, jv football, 400+ hours community service, weird botany hobby, 6 APs plus CC, DE, food assistance during Covid, independent coding (limited), not much leadership

Applied: “too many” schools but this was due to very late Fall ACT, travel limitations, and difficulty finding competitive CS program in a smaller private school in the areas of the country desired, a few senior year preference developments. In the end, going to one of the last RD schools added to the list in fall.

Accepted: UCSD (bio), UCSC (CS), Santa Clara U merit, CU Boulder merit, U Mass merit, WPI merit, Seattle U big merit, Mines merit, U Vermont Honors big merit, Gonzaga merit, Montana State merit. Most of these early action round.

Waitlisted RD: UCLA, UW, Notre Dame, Boston College, UC Davis. Accepted all spots but Davis.

Denied RD: UCSB, Tufts, Dartmouth, Cal Poly, Williams, Middlebury.

Reasons for choice: Extremely difficult choice. Strong undergraduate teaching a must. Wanted cool weather, natural setting, small classes with professor access, time and curriculum freedom to explore majors and minors, social campus with outdoor activities. Preferred a neutral political culture on campus. Hoping for interdisciplinary opportunities at this small school. Colgate has a 3,000 square foot greenhouse. A bit of concern about SCU’s last minute campus closure last year.

[Rivet2000]

Turing Scholar - very nice. You must be very proud of that accomplishment.

[Curiosa2]

S committed to Vassar (RD).

Major: Biochem but has wide interests, so that could change.

Stats: GPA 4.51 W, 1550 SAT (single sitting), 12 APs. National Hispanic Scholar.

EC: Ballet, ballet, ballet. Moved OOS to train when his high school went virtual because of the pandemic.

Accepted to Case Western, Fordham, Oberlin, Skidmore, U of AZ. Denied at USC/Viterbi but offered the Trojan Transfer Plan.

Reasons for choice: Vassar checks almost all the boxes - strong science, high-level dance, liberal campus, diverse student body (for an LAC, anyway), open curriculum, small classes, excellent teachers. We had a great visit pre-Covid with a tour guide who just happened to be in their dance company. S liked the feel of Skidmore, too, and I think he could have been happy there as well (and their FA offer was much better). But the open curriculum and academic support at Vassar tipped the scales.

[nucities]

S21 committed to: University of Arizona

Major: Biochemistry (interest in medicine, research, physical therapy)

Stats & Honors : 4.45 WGPA, 3.70 UWGPA, 1460 SAT, 32 semesters of AP/Honors, CSF, AP Scholar

EC: Extensive community service and volunteer work, job in recreation for 2 years, 4 years cross country, 2 years track, 3 years lacrosse

Accepted: UC Santa Cruz (from waitlist), University of Oregon, Arizona State, Loyola Chicago, University of Arizona, UC Merced

Waitlisted: University of Washington (opted out), Cal Poly (1st Choice)

Rejected: UCB, UCLA, UCD, UCSB

Reason for Choice: looking for student life and recreation, loves college sports, biochemistry program at Arizona is well funded with research opportunities, UA has a medical school, cost was same as UC after scholarship, Tucson is a really fun town (food, recreation etc.) Out of state but close to home (5.5 hour drive from San Diego). Housing is inexpensive and available. Still on waitlist at Cal Poly and might still attend there if offered primarily because of cost and hands on approach to learning. Will attend grad school regardless.