This is my first time doing one of these chance threads :P Just trying to relieve some stress and find out if I even stand a chance! Don't mean to be annoying...
Here goes...
Applied to: Cornell ILR. (Interested in Dept. of Int. and Comparative Labor)
State: Tennessee (Competitive public HS, but not one of the "magnets")
(Asian student from Taiwan, came to the US during my junior year)
ACT: 34 (35E, 36 M, 32 s, 33 R, 9 essay-oops)
SAT 2s: 790 US History, 790 Math II, 720 Literature
GPA: 3.93 (Unweighted)
Rank: 32/550 (Unweighted) - Do colleges look at unweighted? Oh well
Senior Schedule: (Really the most demanding at our school, which kind of hurts my unweighted ranking)
AP Econ
AP Environmental Studies
AP Literature
Fiction Studies
AP Spanish
AP Chemistry
AP Calculus BC
AP Physics
APs taken:
AP Stats 5
AP US History 5
AP Psychology 5
ECs: (sent in activity list)
Debate and Speech (Varsity, state, regional champion a few times, hardcore devotion)
Math Team (State qualifier, placed 5th two years in a row)
Congressional Debate, Model UN
Habitat for Humanity
Oil-painting (Awards, exhibits)
Modern Dancing Club (Choreographed for charity shows)
Paid internships that were pretty selective, only HS student
Volunteer for organizations related to my interest- labor and immigrant rights.
Various volunteering activities in my community, mostly centered around my interests. I didn't bother doing NHS and hospital volunteering and such..
Didn't have a lot of leadership roles.. though I did run in elections. Whatever!
I will settle for being an incompetent nerd.
Awards:
1st, 3rd place in national writing contests
State level awards in debate and speech
Art awards and such
Recommendations: Didn't read, but from two teachers that know me very well.
Teacher #1 said she focused on my writing skills and social responsibilities, and how she was most impressed by my concern for disadvantaged groups
Teacher #2 talked about my writing skills, interest in history, and outstanding skills in forensics and communicating my thoughts.
Counselor rec was either generic or exaggerated lol...#hugepublicschoolproblems.
Worst case scenario she probably laundry listed my awards and ECs. She said she praised me as a "foreigner" that adapted incredibly well to a new environment and excelled in every activity I did...lol.
Common app essay: I'd say 9/10, reflected my personality and goals really well. Great in terms of language and all that.
Activity essay: About debate, heartfelt. Good writing style, if I may say so.
Supplement: Focused on my interest in labor studies and my goals in helping to advocate for labor rights especially in third world countries. Didn't use much flowery language, it was very genuine and I feel it was a true reflection of my personality.
Anti-hook: Asian student, foreigner, US resident for only 2 yrs, mediocre in every aspect
Merci!
