Courseload: most rigorous my school offers.. This fall I'm taking AP Calc AB, AP Comp Gov, AP English (Lit), AP Chem, Psych, Intro to B&W Photo
Rank: school doesnt rank
Other stats: Nat'l Achievement Semi-Finalist..?
Subjective:
Essays: good, considering I spent my fall writing them. I used the "Literature is the best way to escape death" quote for the supplement.
Teacher Recs: great, I had each teacher (math and history) for 2 years and they loved me haha
Counselor Rec: really great, she knew me really well
EC's: member of the Community Service Board, went on a school sponsored trip to the DR this past March for Community Service, attended numerous diversity workshops/conferences (ex: SDLC, AISNE, etc), on Disciplinary committee student pool, 2 sport captain (basketball and track), probably other things that I'm forgetting that I put on my commonapp
Hook (if any): I went to DIVOH in September and met with a coach there, who i kept in contact with... and other than that I showed a TON of interest in the school
Location/Person:
State or Country: RI
School Type: rigorous private school
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: female
Intended Major: History of Science type of thing, also pre-med possibly
major strength/weakness: I think my writing probably pushed me over the edge, along with recs.. I was SO afraid my GPA and first quarter grades were going to count me out - I am a classic case that shows that numbers AREN'T everything
I'm so exciteddd to be a part of the Class of 2014! Good luck to everyone else applying RD and to those who have yet to receive their ED letters
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.78 UW (weighted not used at HS)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 11% UW
AP (place score in parenthesis): US (5) English Lang (5) Euro (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Took three courses physically on a college campus (Chinese, Econ, Calc II) Calc I over the summer, AP Lit, AP Pub and Spanish 6 also
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Commended
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): President of one club, VP of another, hike alot, trekked Everest region soph year for month
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Adopted Bhutanese family, help with english
Summer Activities: CTY John Hopkins Program
Essays: Wrote about lit and death on supplement
Teacher Recommendation: Good?
Counselor Rec: Good?
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Y
Intended Major: Undecided
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: n/a
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): n/a
Reflection
Strengths: Strong writer, alright sats, commitment to ECs?
Weaknesses: 11th UW Percentile. Need I say more?
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Class Rank
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Don't Know
General Comments:
It was tough, I knew my class rank would hurt my application, apparently more than I thought. But I never saw my recs so perhaps they weren't as good as I thought. Amherst was a clear first choice so needless to say I'm disappointed, but I'll stick it out through RD ofc Recommendations on how to proceed from a deferrence would be welcome.
In Montauk's "How to Get Into the Top Colleges," Katie Fretwell, Director of Admission, made the following remark: "Senior fall is the best predictor of the kind of work a student will do here at Amherst if accepted. We look at it very closely--it is absolutely critical that a student do well senior fall" (emphasis added).
Of course, strong academic performance in one's first semester, senior year, contributes toward one's chances of admission to any highly selective college, but it appears that Amherst pays very particular attention to those grades.
I had been waitlisted--a situation far more hopeless than being deferred--and after I had found out, I sent my second trimester grades ASAP. They were the best grades I had ever earned throughout my high school career, and I strongly feel that they contributed to saving me from oblivion.
So:
- Very high fall semester grades.
- A letter of continued interest (LOCI) to the Office of Admission, or to a particular dean, to be sent about two weeks after the Regular Decision deadline. Mention academic awards, extracurricular distinctions, how Amherst remains your true love, etc.
Best wishes to those who have been deferred, and congrats to those who have been accepted!
To kwu: Thank you for your useful post, but do you think they will even read the materials? I mean, 2 weeks after regular deadline is the busiest time of the year, would they take their time to include additional materials to your profile?
Congrats accepted and good luck deffered! I'm still waiting and watching Amhcam to kill time
[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 800 CW, 770 CR, 740 CM
[ *] SAT II: 790 Lit, 750 Math II, 730 Spanish
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn't rank
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): World history (5), english lit (5), english lang (5), bio (5), US history (5), spanish lang (4)
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: ap calc bc, apes, ap econ, orchestra, ap spanish lang, ap world lit
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National merit semi-finalist, ap scholar with distinction
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): track and field (captain), cross country, cello - school orchestra and private lessons, soloist with orchestra in 10th grade, mock trial, student council in 9th grade
[ *] Job/Work Experience: lifeguard this past summer
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: student anti-genocide group, church small group leader
[ *] Summer Activities: nothing besides the ordinary camps and hiking trips and whatever, nothing major
[ *] Essays: they were pretty good...or so i thought.
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: didn't get to read them, but i would think they'd be good.
[ *] Counselor Rec: didn't get to read.
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: no
[ *] Intended Major: undecided...possibly the law, jurisprudence, and social thought one though.
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): Minnesota
[ *] School Type: public, but one of the best public schools in the country
[ *] Ethnicity:white
[ *] Gender:female
[ *] Income Bracket: top
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nothing
[ *] Strengths: well-rounded in general with strong test scores and recs.
[ *] Weaknesses: um...i'm not a standout athlete or musician or anything...I'm just involved in a lot of things I guess. and it's possible that they didn't love my essays.
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: i'm not sure. just didn't stand out enough.
[ *] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: nowhere yet.
SAT: 2230 (690 Math, 740 Reading, 800 Writing)
SAT II: 690 Literature, 700 Spanish
AP: Calculus AB 3, Spanish Language 4, English Language 5
GPA: 3.93 UW, 4.45 W, 10 of 353
High School: Very competitive public
State: California
Essays: They were decent, but not the best ones I wrote
Recommendations: didn't read, Probably decent, but not fantastic
EC's: Track and Cross Country Team Captain 11th/12th grades, President of Bike-To-School Caravan, JSA Member, 250 Hours of Day Camp Community Service, Tomorrow's Leaders Today Member, Team Swift Cycling Club Member
Awards: Lots of athletic awards, scholar-athlete, Summa Cum Laude, AP Scholar
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White/Hispanic
Hooks: Recruited Athlete
Intended Major: Undecided
SAT I: 2040/ CR650, M670, W720
ACT: n/a
SAT II: Math II 680, Spanish 690
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): not sure/ weighted gpa = 4.33/4.4
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/205
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (2)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chemistry, AP Spanish, AP Psychology, Honors Calculus, Honors English
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Gold medal National Spanish Exam, National laureate National French Exam
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): National Honor Society, soccer (captain)
Job/Work Experience: n/a
Volunteer/Community service: good amount
Summer Activities: Internship at Tufts University, Internship at Biogen Idec
Essays: good
Teacher Recommendation: good
Counselor Rec: good
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: n/a
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: undecided
State: MA
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: public school
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Hooks: first generation college, recruited athlete
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: athletics
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: n/a
General Comments: Still think my acceptance is an anomaly. Overjoyed to be going this fall!
