Consolidated EA/RD 2012 results thread

[jj_heylookatme]

Accepted

Stats:

• SAT: 2230 (780 V 750 M 700 W)
• SAT II: 740 Math IIc, 700 Physics, 800 Spanish
• ACT: 33
• GPA: GPA: 3.75, a bit misleading because I had a terrible frosh year, and basically a 4.0 from end of soph year on.
• Rank: School doesn't
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):
  AP Music Theory 3
  AP Physics B 5 (self-studied)
  AP Gov 5
  AP Spanish Lit 5
  AP BC Calc
  AP Physics C
  AP Lit
  AP Chem (self-study)
  (my school has a limit of 3 APs per year, and you can't take any before junior year, so that's why I don't have too many)

Subjective

• Essays: I liked them, they were kind of random, about things like how I like riding my bike and physicists are like kids making snowballs :P
• Teacher Recs: Great I think, I didn't actually see them but when I got deferred one of my teachers offered to call them up and brag about me and the other one told me they were wrong. I'm not too upset because I ended up getting in
• Counselor Rec: Good, I seem to amuse him for some reason.
• Supplementary Material: I sent in a newspaper clipping about my company, my research abstract from over this summer, information on my tutorials.
• Interview: Went okay.
• Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): I've taken a lot of initiative on my own, self-studied exams, taken 11 tris of 'tutorials' which are self-study classes in technology, physics, and spanish, started my own microcontroller company, as well as design web page design contracts independently. I'm also venezuelan which makes me a baller.

Personal

• Location: Addison, TX
• High School Type: Private
• Ethnicity: Hispanic
• Gender: Female

Other

• Extracurriculars:
  Sci Oly Captain
  Amnesty
  Web Page design both in and out of school
  Started microcontroller company, do tech & web page design
  Founding member of Shakespeare club
  Research at HSHSP over the summer (best program ever)
  Debate
• Awards: Tech Student of the Year, Mu Alfa Theta, Language Honor Society, National Hispanic Scholar, French National Concours Medalist, State qualifier for debate soph & junior year
• Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:

AHHHHHH I AM SO EXCITED!!!! *spasm :P See you guys at CPW!!!!!
I actually have kind of a funny story about how I got my acceptance. I was at barnes & noble with a friend to check it, but I couldn't get wireless, so I was like...grar...must check decision...so I went to the apple store a couple of streets over and checked on one of the store laptops. So I open up the decision and I start like crying and laughing histerically simultaenously, and I was just like "wow....I JUST GOT INTO MIT...wow..." and one of the random apple geniuses was standing nearby, and he was like, "MIT! wow congrats! that's a first!" referring to someone checking their decision at the apple store. So the first person to congratulate me was an apple genius

[Coolphreak]

Accepted

Stats:

• SAT: Didn't take
• SAT II: Math IIC: 760; Physics: 720
• ACT: 33
• GPA: 3.8/3.9 UW
• Rank: top 10 I think
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP's are all 4's and 5's

Subjective

• Essays: Very good
• Teacher Recs: Should have been very good; didn't see
• Counselor Rec: Same as teacher recs
• Supplementary Material: Sent a list of several of my research abstracts
• Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): lots and lots of research experience

Personal

• Location: West Coast
• High School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: ORM
• Gender: M
• Applied for Financial Aid: Y

Other

• Extracurriculars: Lots of research, since 9th grade, mostly independent (without a mentor); also a lot of community involvement
• Awards: lots of research, a few of the bigger awards include isef multiple times, siemens regional finalist, intel sts semifinalist, and many more
• Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: really happy and excited. hope to see you guys at cpw

[hopelesslydevote]

Rejected

Stats:

• SAT: 2300 (800M 750CR 750W)
• SAT II: 800 Math2 800 Chemistry 800 Biology 800 French
• ACT: None
• GPA: 4.6/4.0
• Rank: School doesn't rank.
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):
  5s on AP Calc BC, Comp Sci AB, Biology, Chemistry, US History, French, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Lang + Comp, Statistics
  144 on AMC10
  138 on AMC12
  12 on AIME
  Made USAMO Twice
• Senior Courseload:
  AP English
  AP Government
  AP Physics
  Multivariable Calculus (CC, summer)
  Differential Equations (CC)
  Linear Algebra (CC)
  Discrete Math (CC)
  

Subjective

• Essays: I thought they weren't too bad
• Teacher Recs: Good, I'd say.
• Counselor Rec: No Clue
• Supplementary Material: Reseach I did on bacteria.
• Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None

Personal

• Location: California
• High School Type: Public - Competitive
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender Male
• Applied for Financial Aid: N

Other

• Extracurriculars: President of Math Club, FBLA, Science Club, Robotics, Varsity Tennis Captain
• Awards:
  Quite a few math contests
  FBLA National Placings since freshman year (1st twice)
  National Merit
  Scholar Athlete x3
  Made AIME since 7th grade
  USABO
  USNCO
  USACO
• Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Is there something fundamentally wrong with me?!?!?!

[woosie]

waitlisted

Stats:

* SAT: 670W, 740M, 750CR
* SAT II: 790 Chinese, 800 Math II, 760 chem
* ACT: 31
* GPA: 3.98
* Other Tests: 4 chem, 3 euro, 4 stat, 5 calc ab

Subjective

* Essays: moderate to good
* Teacher Recs: no idea
* Counselor Rec: no idea
* Supplementary Material: research abstract
* Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): I'm Asian? laughs ironically.

Personal

* Location: Michigan
* High School Type: public
* Ethnicity: Asian
* Gender: Female
* Applied for Financial Aid: yes

Other

* Extracurriculars: started small student group, minor research, public speaking, quiz bowl, the usual
* Awards: national merit
* Advice? Commiserations?
Congratulations to everyone who got in! And those who didn't/got waitlisted like me, it isn't the end of the world!

[Aiur]

Rejected


Stats:

• SAT: 2380 (780 CR, 800 Math, 800 Writing)
• SAT II: 800 Math II, 790 Chem, 780 USHistory
• ACT: N/A
• GPA: 4.0 Unweighted
• Rank: n/a
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 4 on Chem, 5 on Euro, Spanish, USHistory, English Language

Subjective

• Essays: Good
• Teacher Recs: Good
• Counselor Rec: Average
• Supplementary Material: Music CD, research paper
• Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):

Personal

• Location: California
• High School Type: Public, Competitive
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender: Male
• Applied for Financial Aid: Y

Other

• Extracurriculars: Violin, MUN, Science clubs, Hospital volunteering, UCI School of Medicine internship, varsity swim team
• Awards: AP Scholar w/ Distinction, National Merit Finalist, National Honor Society, Bausch & Lomb Science Award, MTAC Certificate of Merit Violin, Advanced Level
• Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Be born female or get a sex change.

A little bitter at the moment, so don't take my words too seriously; but looking through this thread, I see a lot of people who should have been admitted or at least waitlisted who were not. It seems that URM females, or just females in general, are able to get in with lower test scores while ORM males need every national science competition under the sun and near-perfect scores; in some cases that still isnt enough.

[Jen98]

Accepted

Stats:

• SAT: 2250 (800M, 730W, 720R)
• SAT II: 800 Math 2, 730 Chem, 700 Lit, 730 Span(R), 580 Span(W)
• ACT: 35 (34M, 35R, 35E, 36S)
• GPA: 4.0 Unweighted
• Rank: 1/206
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5 on AP Calc AB, Comp Sci A, and Psych; 4 on AP US Gov and Chem

Subjective

• Essays: I thought it was all right
• Teacher Recs: One good, one unread
• Counselor Rec: Didn't get to read it
• Supplementary Material: None
• Interview: None
• Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): See Personal Information

Personal

• Location: Wyoming
• High School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: Hispanic
• Gender: Female

Other

• Extracurriculars: Swimming, Academic Challenge (Captain, All-State), Student Council (Pres), Orchestra (All-State), Link Crew, Choir
• Awards: AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit
• Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Didn't expect it at all. Probably due to a locational hook more than anything.

[ThisSideUp]

Accepted


Stats:

• SAT: 2400 (Single Sitting)
• SAT II: 800 Math Level II, 800 Chemistry, 790 US History, 770 Biology E
• GPA: 3.93 UW, 4.57 W
• Rank: School does not rank
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC10: 122, 126 / AMC12: 117, 112 / AIME: 5, 5 / AP: Biology (5), World History (5), Chemistry (5), US History (5), US Government (5), AP Calculus BC (5)

Subjective

• Essays: Wrote about a non math/science topic. The only people to correct it were me and a friend. I probably could have tried harder.
• Teacher Recs: Both recommendations should have been fairly positive. My math teacher went into detail regarding an calculus/economics project I did for him; I said I was going to major in economics, so this may be relevant. My English wrote about how I was President of a club she advised.
• Counselor Rec: I honestly have no idea what was on the counselor recommendation.
• Supplementary Material: I sent in a recommendation from a Massachusetts State Representative whom I interned for. It was very well written.
• Interview: It certainly could have been better, but there was nothing spectacularly bad about the interview.
• Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None

Personal

• Location: Suburbs of Boston (Lexington, MA)
• High School Type: Large Public School, Approximately 2000 kids
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender: Male

Other

• Extracurriculars: Math Team (Captain), Science Olympiad (Captain), Class Council (Elected Council-member), Student Faculty Senate (Elected), "The Electorate" Political Magazine at Phillips Exeter, Chinese Yo-Yo Club (President)
• Work Experience: Worked for a small software company, Interned for a State Representative over the summer, Caddy at Belmont Country Club
• Community Service: Volunteered for National Conference of State Legislators Annual Meeting, Middle School Science Olympiad Coach, Perform Chinese Yo-Yo for local cultural events
• Awards: First Place MA State Science and Engineering Fair, Many Math Team Awards, Many Science Olympiad placings, AP Scholar with Distinction, NMSC Letter of Commendation, National Honor Society Inductee, WPI Mathematics Invitational First Place Team and $1000 Scholarship
• Note: Was Deferred EA
• Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Hell yes. This is one of the greatest days of my life.

[mathwiz90]

Accepted !!!!!

Stats:

• SAT: 800 M / 680 CR / 710 WR
• SAT II: 800 Math 2 / 790 Phy
• GPA: 96ish UW
• Rank: School doesnt rank (top 10% was listed)
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): National AP Scholar

Subjective

• Essays: I was told they were great. One talked about my passion for research, and another talked about how I revived a school magazine and helped make it extremely popular.
• Teacher Recs: I was told they were great. And I had a supplemental one from a research professor.
• Counselor Rec: Again I was told it was very good.
• Supplementary Material: Sent a research abstract
• Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Siemens + Intel Semifinalist, ISEF Finalist (through NYCSEF)?

Personal

• Location: Live in NJ, go to school in NYC
• High School Type: Private (Jewish)
• Ethnicity: Jewish
• Gender: M
• Applied for Financial Aid: Y

Other

• Extracurriculars: Nothing spectacular. Debate president, magazine editor, newspaper associate editor, research, and the main things.
• Awards: National AP Scholar, National Merit Commended, Bausch + Lomb Honorary Science Award, Siemens Semi, Intel Semi, ISEF...
• Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:

I got very very lucky.

[libelhairdresser]

Accepted

Stats:

• SAT: 2150 (M 730 CR 680 W 740)
• SAT II: Math 770, Bio 710, Chem 700
• ACT:
• GPA: 4.0/4.0 unweighted
• Rank: 1/210
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): IB MATH SL 6

Subjective

• Essays: Main one was excellent, supplementary pretty good, short ones good as well
• Teacher Recs: pretty good
• Counselor Rec: pretty good
• Supplementary Material: dance supplemental
• Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):

Personal

• Location: California
• High School Type: public
• Ethnicity: Asian Indian
• Gender: Female
• Applied for Financial Aid: Y

• Extracurriculars: FIRST, Mock Trial, Science fairs, music, dance
• Awards: nm commendation, science fair awards, dept. awards
• Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I got into FREAKING MIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I GOT INTO FREAKING MIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I GOT INTO FREAKING MIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[piccolojunior]

Rejected



Stats:

• SAT: 800 Math, 770 CR, 780 Writing
• SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Physics, 790 Chem
• ACT:
• GPA: 4.0
• Rank: 1/126
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):
  AMC - 104.5, 100.5, qualified for AIME last two years (4 last year)
  AP Bio - 5
  AP Chem - 5
  AP Physics C (both) - 5
  AP Calc BC - 5
  AP Stat - 5
  AP CS A - 5
  AP CS AB - 4
  AP Euro - 5
  AP US - 5
  AP English - 4
  AP Env. Sci. - 4

Subjective

• Essays: Good, I thought...perhaps talking about choking at the geography bee was not suitable?
• Teacher Recs: Humanities one was apparently epic, science one was great, just not as good as the humanities one
• Counselor Rec: no clue, we have a small class but I dont have confidence in my GC's intelligence....
• Supplementary Material: Sent in a DVD of me on a TV academic challenge as well as a scientific abstract...spanish teacher sent in a character rec detailing how I help out teaching middle schoolers.
• Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):

None, other than I might have been the strongest chem student in next year's class >_>
Personal

• Location: NY
• High School Type: public
• Ethnicity: Not listed
• Gender: Male
• Applied for Financial Aid: Y

Other

• Extracurriculars: XC, Track (400m), basketball (wrote about it in a short essay), Science Research, Math Team, Academic team, some tutoring
• Awards: AIME, NYSML, USNCO, USABO, ISEF (qualified this year on the day of decisions), National Merit, AP National Scholar, Presidential Scholar Nominee,
• Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:

Not much to brag about after a head-scratcher. All I wanted was a waitlist, but it looks like my chances at playing D3 basketball were just cut in half....

It's been real. I can't badmouth a school that I could see myself in, and if I decide to go to grad school...I'll keep my options open.

[pmalone224]

Rejected


Stats:

• SAT: 780M, 790CR, 760W
• SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 German +Lstn., 790 Chem
• ACT:none
• GPA:4.164
• Rank:top 10
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):AP: Chem-5, USH-5... AMC 100.5, AIME-4

Subjective

• Essays:didn't do any of the optional essays, but the ones I wrote were solid
• Teacher Recs: perhaps not particularly well written (well, one of them), but spoke highly of me
• Counselor Rec: very good, know her very well
• Supplementary Material: nothing....
• Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): weakly recruited athlete

Personal

• Location: MA
• High School Type: decent public (US News Silver medal)
• Ethnicity: white
• Gender male
• Applied for Financial Aid: Y

Other

• Extracurriculars: swimming, peer counseling, sci team
• Awards: sci team state champ 2007 chem lab, a lot of leadership awards for swimming, etc.
• Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Definitely show some interest if you want to get in (do optional essays/interview). I can't say I didn't see it coming, nor can I say i particularly care. Que sera, sera.

[Heerad]

Rejected


Stats:
SAT: Math- 800, Reading- 660, Writing- 740= 2200
SAT II: Math 2c- 800, Chemistry- 760
ACT: n/a
GPA: 4.3 W, 3.9 UW
Rank: Top 10% (unweighted rank)
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5(5) Calc BC, 4 Chemistry, 4 APUSH, 4 English Language. And Sigh, 88.5 AMC 12

Subjective
Essays: I slaved over them for weeks, and my friend who is pretty much a literary genius loved them.
Teacher Recs: Excellent
Counselor Rec: Pretty good
Supplementary Material: Research paper on nanowire photoluminescence; Two supplementary short-essays revealing more of my character; Very specific recommendation from my graduate student research mentor
Interview: GREAT, he said that he gave me "top marks" and even wrote an "extended" interview report
Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None
Location: Northern California
High School Type: Mildly competitive public
Ethnicity: Persian
Gender: M

Other
Extracurriculars: Math team+middle school team coach, SHARP research program at UC Berkeley, Internship in Cadence Design Systems, Speech and Debate, Tae Kwon do, volunteering.
Awards: -2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th places at various Tae Kwon Do tournaments
-3rd Place in the annual CSU Fresno Leapfrog Math contest
-5th place in the annual national Persian Olympiad Farsi language exam
-NFL Degree of Excellence (Speech and Debate)
-AP Scholar with Honor
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: At first when I saw the decision, I was only slightly disappointed, but now the feeling has finally started to seep in. After getting waitlisted by Caltech, I thought I might have had a better chance because of my shining interview report. Guess I'm just not quite good enough to be given a spot. Good job and good luck to the new class of 2012!

[ecthelion1211]

Rejected


Stats:

* SAT: 2400
* SAT II: 800 Chem 750 Math 2 740 Physics
* ACT:34
* GPA:4.0 UW
* Rank:1
* Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):AP: Chem-5, USH-4, Calc AB 5, Stats 5

Subjective

* Essaysretty good
* Teacher Recs: good
* Counselor Rec: very good
* Supplementary Material: nothing
* Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None

Personal

* Location: MI
* High School Type: po-dunk public
* Ethnicity: white
* Gender male
* Applied for Financial Aid: Y

Other

* Extracurriculars: Cross-Country (captain), Track, Quiz Bowl (captain, #1 team in region), FIRST Robotics (captain), NHS (VP)
* Awards: Presidential Scholar Candidate, 3-years running Flint Metro League Math/Science Competition champion, other localish things
* Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I feel kinda crappy about this, because there honestly was NOTHING else I could have done at my school. I did perfect on everything I could, took almost 60 credits worth of college classes, and became captain or other leadership position of every EC I'm involved in (im captain of track now). I just don't see how it is possible for someone attending my school to get in. Oh well, maybe I'll have better luck getting into Harvard and Princeton!

[WhyTryHarder]

Accepted

Stats:

• SAT: 2210 (800 Math, 700 Critical Reading, 710 Writing)
• SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Chemistry, 770 US History
• ACT: 36 (36 Math, 36 Science, 35 Reading, 35 English)
• GPA: 4.36 Weighted, 3.92 Unweighted
• Rank: N/A (School doesn't rank)
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC10: 126.5, 131. AMC12: 103.5. AIME: 2, 5, 3.
  5 - AP Calc AB, AP Chemistry, AP US History. 4 - AP Euro.

Subjective

• Essays: Not great, but decent.
• Teacher Recs: No idea how they turned out, but my teachers really like me, so I'm sure they were great.
• Counselor Rec: Excellent. She always brags about me.
• Supplementary Material: None.
• Interview: Lasted about 2 hours, and he told me a lot about MIT.
• Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): URM

Personal

• Location: Bay Area, CA
• High School Type: Suburban public, sends about 5 to Ivies, 3 to Stanford every year. Hasn't sent anyone to MIT in past 4 years.
• Ethnicity: African-American
• Gender: Male

Other

• Extracurriculars: Academic Decathlon, Youth and Government, Model UN.
• Awards: National Achievement Scholar, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with Honor, Presidential Scholar candidate.
• Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:

When I look at those who did and did not receive acceptances, I realize how much admissions doesn't depend on mere stats anymore. I am sure those who were not accepted will have a great undergraduate experience wherever they end up going.

To the others who were accepted, see you at CPY!

[collapsethelight]

Rejected

Stats:

• SAT: 2360 - 800 M, 770 CR, 790 W
• SAT II: Math IIC - 800, Bio E - 800, Physics 800, World History 790, Chemistry 770
• ACT: n/a
• GPA: 3.75 uw
• Rank: 14 / 384
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): all 5s on four AP exams. taking five more exams this year.

Subjective

• Essays: definitely good
• Teacher Recs: haven't read, but probably good
• Counselor Rec: probably generic
• Supplementary Material: n/a
• Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): sent in a college transcript with five college-level math courses, if that counts.

Personal

• Location: NY
• High School Type: good public
• Ethnicity: white, Russian
• Gender: M
• Applied for Financial Aid: Y

Other

• Extracurriculars: lots of stuff, most importantly, Science Olympiad
• Awards: n/a
• Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:

I'm a bit disappointed that I got rejected from both Caltech and MIT... hopefully other schools will like me more!!