<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>School & Major: College of Letters & Science - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology</p>
<p>Objective:
- [<em>] SAT I: 1820 (CR 570 M 620 W 650 E 10)
[</em>] ACT: 26 (E 26 M 27 S 27 R 22 E 09)
[<em>] SAT II: N/A
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] UC GPA: 4.31
[</em>] Rank: 7/73 (Top 10%)
[<em>] AP:
- [10] AP European History (3)
- [11] AP English Language & Composition (3)
- [11] AP Environmental Science (2)
- [11] AP US History (4)
- [12] AP English Literature & Composition
- [12] AP Calculus AB
- [12] AP Biology
- [12] AP Government & Politics: US
[li] Senior Year Course Load:[/li]- AP Calculus AB
- AP Biology
- AP English Literature & Composition
- AP Government & Politics: US
- Honors Spanish IV
- Dramatic Arts/Film/Video/Television
- Visual Arts & Comprehensive Imagery
- JROTC IV
- Church History & Comparative Religion
- Economics/Business
[li] Major Awards:[/li]- AP Scholar Award
- The American Legion Military Excellence Medal
- 2013 Saint Michael’s College Book Award: Academic Achievement with a Social Conscience
- Awards of Excellence
- Dr. Joseph Bator Memorial Scholarship
Subjective:
- [li] Extracurriculars:[/li]- [9, 10, 11, 12] **JROTC<a href=“11%20%7C%20Cadet%20Master%20Sergeant%20-%20Brigade%20S-3:%20Training%20Assistant%20NCO;%2012%20%7C%20Cadet%20Lieutenant%20Colonel%20-%20Brigade%20S-2:%20Information%20&%20Current%20Affairs%20Officer,%20Brigade%20S-3:%20Training%20Assistant%20Officer”>/b</a>: 222 Hours
My school’s JROTC program has been around since 1902, and I am the first to hold the Brigade S-2 position. I am commissioned to the second-to-the-highest rank in a brigade of 300+ cadets. This makes me 5th in command. I have also revamped and redesign the school’s old newsletter (last published in 1991) under this new position.
- [10, 11, 12] Spanish Club: 45 Hours
Our Spanish Club involves many activities that include an annual trip down to St. Augustine, salsa dancing lessons, a traveling art show, planning International Day, and helping out an orphanage down in Mexico.
- [11, 12] **Benedictine Knights of the Leo Club<a href=“11%20%7C%20Co-Founder%20&%20Vice%20President;%2012%20%7C%20Board%20of%20Directors”>/b</a>: 112 Hours
I co-founded this club along with a friend in hopes of finding community service opportunities for our friends to do, and to have fun doing them together. Our school requires 70 hours of community service to graduate.
- [11, 12] **Yearbook “Sabre” Staff<a href=“12%20%7C%20Editor-in-Chief”>/b</a>: 116 Hours
I have completely redesign the entire yearbook this year by myself versus reusing all of the templates from my predecessors.
- [12] **Math Team<a href=“12%20%7C%20Founder”>/b</a>: 31 Hours
Reviving an old, happy, middle school memory, I started a Math Team.
[li] Job/Work Experience: N/A[/li][li] Volunteer/Community service:[/li]- [10, 11, 12] National Honor Society: 96 Hours
I developed a tutoring program and work the blood drive.
- [11, 12] STEM Club: 20 Hours
I founded this club and is also the Environmental Division Head. I established a recycling program for the school under this club.
- [11] Lions’ Club International: 7 Hours
An annual event where my friends and I unload hundreds of Christmas trees, and help sell them to raise money to purchase eyeglasses for those in need of them.
- [11] Tara Feis: 4 Hours
An annual Irish festival, in which I help by managing rides, cleanup after folks, and serving food. It’s completely ran by high school students.
[li] Summer Activities:[/li]- LeadAmerica Conference on Business Innovation at Stanford University
- National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine at the University of California-Berkeley
[li] Essays:[/li]- Personal Statement #1: I wrote about growing up in the back of nail salon that was located in a bad neighborhood, and how that caused my young, innocent to realize the evils of the world earlier than most children. I also mentioned being an Asian kid of immigrant parents, who speak broken English, growing up in the Deep South and on the East Coast. I played a lot on my identity as an Asian versus an Americanized Asian person.
- Personal Statement #2: I wrote about taking care of my young brother while my parents work 24/7. I emphasized on playing the parent role and how I taught my brother various things that all kids learn from their parents ranging from riding a bike to being potty-trained. Also, I said that my younger brother has also become my own model, teaching me how to dream and to never completely grow up.
Other
[ul]
[</em>] State: GA
[<em>] Country: USA
[</em>] School Type: Small (323 Students), Private, Religious, All-Boys, Military
[<em>] Ethnicity: Asian - Vietnamese
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: < $60,000
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation College Student
[/ul]</p>
<p>Reflection
- [li] Strengths: GPA, Extracurriculars, Personal Statements[/li][li] Weaknesses: Test Scores, Community Service[/li][li] Why you think you were accepted?[/li]I think I was accepted because of my personal statements and GPA. My personal statements were just that, personal. In fact, I bawled my eyes out when I was writing my second one about my younger brother. I felt like I was relieving a huge weight on my shoulders, being able to be honest and to tell my life’s story. As far as my GPA goes, I think it being a perfect 4.0, compliments well with my class rigor when you consider that my school only offers 10 AP classes and 19 Honors classes. My extracurriculars are all over the place, but they do show a lot of innovation. Instead of seizing opportunities, I created opportunities for myself, as well as for others. I spent a lot of time trying my best to make a change at my school, and I believe that it’s another form of leadership in itself.
[li] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/li]Accepted:
- University of California: Riverside (UCR Achievement Scholarship, Chancellor’s Scholarship, & First-Year Honors Program Application Invite)
- University of California: Merced
- University of California: Irvine
- University of California: Davis (Provost Award)
- University of California: Santa Cruz (Campus Merit Scholarship & First-Year Honors Program Acceptance)
- University of California: Santa Barbara
- University of California: Los Angeles (UCLA Achievement Scholarship)
- University of California: Berkeley
- Pepperdine University
- University of Georgia (HOPE Scholarship & Zell Miller Scholarship) -
Waitlisted*:
- University of California: San Diego
- Emory University -
Rejected*:
- University of Notre Dame
- Rice University
- Washington & Lee University
- Vanderbilt University
- University of Southern California
- Tufts University
- Princeton University
- Stanford University
- Yale University
- University of Pennsylvania
General Comments:
I honestly don’t know what to say. A lot of people had their doubts about me being accepted into Cal, and I did too. I’m so thrilled and happy, because I fell in love with this school when I stayed for 10 days during the summer for a program. It was inspiring and motivated me to start up things and make a change in school! I’m excited now to be able to return. But to those who have doubts, because you have a low test score, well… Anything can happen! Trust in yourself and write a darn good essay! Do things to make up for your weaknesses! And just be honest! And for those who might be wondering why I applied and got rejected from so many private universities, is because I applied under QuestBridge. My QuestBridge application and Common App essays were not as well done and written as my Personal Statements for the UCs. So as you can see, a good essay comes a long way. Good luck to next year’s applicant pool! FIAT LUX!</p>