<p>Hey all, I'm applying SCEA to Yale this fall. A little bit about me:</p>
<p>School: competitive public school in New Jersey that top schools know well. We sent about 10 kids to HYP alone last year... although none of them went to Yale, heh
GPA: 3.9
WGPA: 4.7
Courseload: I've taken the typical honors/AP courses in english, history, french, etc. In math, though, I've skipped two levels so far so I'll be taking multivariable senior year, and in science, I skipped a level sophomore year and doubled up junior year so next year I get to take bio and chem classes at Princeton U!</p>
<p>SAT: 800 math, 720 critical reading, 720 writing
SAT II: 800 biology, 800 math level 2, 780 chemistry
ACT: 36 english composite (36/12), 36 science, 34 math, 33 reading
AP: 5 biology, 5 calc ab, 5 chem, 5 comp sci a, 4 enviro, 5 lang, 5 humgeo, 4 stats</p>
<p>EC's by category w/officer positions in reverse chronological order:
Political/Govt-ish: Debate (Pres/Pres/VP), Amnesty International (VP/Publicist), JSA (Pres/Co-founder), MUN (Sec)
Environmental: Environmental Club (Pres/Pres/Founder), Science Club
Community Service: Tutoring Society (Pres/VP), NHS</p>
<p>--> as far as community service goes, tutoring has been pretty big for me since freshman year, although I haven't recorded most of my hours. I've also done a couple community events here and there and some shelving at the local public library, but I don't think Yale will care about that haha</p>
<p>I've also been active in my township recently by attending town hall meetings, environmental commission meetings, planning board meetings, etc. I'm not sure if that counts as an activity, but I do take time out of my day for it.</p>
<p>Recognitions:
NJ Governor's School on the Environment scholar
NJ Scholars Program scholar (offered)
USA Biology Olympiad semifinalist
Columbia University Science Honors Program
National Honor Society
French Honor Society
National AP Scholar junior year, AP scholar sophomore year
Varsity Policy Debate team
Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate team
Plus a few competitions like NOSB, NJ Science League, AIME, National French Exam, etc, and then some debate tournaments as well</p>
<p>Summer activities
2006 - Governor's School on the Environment, taking an Environmental Management college course
2005 - worked as a tutor about 15 hours/week</p>
<p>Ok so I've received comments in the past about my activities and such being too spread out and unfocused, which is why I grouped my EC's by category above. I just want to clarify the difference between my prospective major and career and why I've pursued them differently. I want to major in something scientific like environmental studies or biochemistry, and I've pursued that interest in school by taking on extra challenges in the classroom and succeeding in related competitions like USABO and NOSB. In the further future, though, I want to pursue a career in government or perhaps law, and I've gotten more practical experience accordingly through my activities like JSA and MUN. In the end, I want to do something like environmental law, bioethics policy, or something like that that allows me to apply science in the context of public policy. I think an essay may be in order to help explain this, and I'll make it more of a journey or learning experience than a boring description like what I just typed here. =P</p>
<p>Um yeah I guess that's my twist cause I think it makes my application unique, hehe.</p>
<p>Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :)</p>