**Official Princeton Class of 2013 Decisions Thread**

[CCCiter]

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 750 Read, 780 Math, 800 Write
• ACT: 34
• SAT II: 800 Math 2, 790 Physics, 760 US History
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 3%
• AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 taken (four 5s and a 3), will take 5 more this year.
• IB (place score in parenthesis): No
• Senior Year Course Load: 4 AP classes.
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): No

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): FIRST Robotics, programming lead. That's pretty much it.
• Job/Work Experience: Eh, random internships.
• Volunteer/Community service: Mm, some.
• Summer Activities: Aforementioned internships.
• Essays: Well hey, I liked them...
• Teacher Recommendation 1: Has a reputation for writing amazing recommendations. I have not read it personally. Likes me.
• Teacher Recommendation 2: Likes me a lot. Letter sounded generic, but generally a good rec.
• Counselor Rec: Also likes me. Told me she enjoyed writing the letter, I can only assume it means a good thing.
• Additional Rec: No.
• Interview: I definitely stumbled when I could not think of a good answer to one question. Showed up late because I couldn't find the freaking place where it was... not a good interview, methinks

Other

• Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
• Intended Major: Computer Science, most likely.
• State (if domestic applicant): WA
• Country (if international applicant): No.
• School Type: Public, nothing special
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: Low...
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): No

Reflection

• Strengths: The academics, scores, courseload should have been good enough. FIRST Robotics is very relevant to what I hope to be doing.
• Weaknesses: I probably seem too one-dimensional and only focused on techy stuff.
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Aforementioned weakness.

General Comments: Oh well. I'm happy where I got in. Congratulations to the new Princetonians, and to fellow rejectees, don't worry, misery loves company, and I'm right there with ya.

[kayabertz]

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 2350 (800 CR, 750 M, 800 W)
• SAT II: US History (790), Literature (750), Math Lvl 2 (750)
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/422
• AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), Calculus AB (4), Microeconomics (5). Will take: English Lit., Spanish Lang., Statistics, Psychology, European History, Macroeconomics.
• Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Spanish Lang, AP Statistics, Drama II, Economics Honors, Leadership Techniques.
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist; Girls Nation

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Youth in Government (President, 5 statewide awards); Model UN (3 regional awards), Academic Team (Captain, state champion team), Student Council (Vice President), Principal's Advisory Committee (Executive Director, planned 3 leadership conferences)
• Volunteer/Community service: 200 hours at local history museum, assorted projects through National Honor Society/Spanish Honor Society
• Summer Activities: Girls State and Girls Nation, travel, online classes
• Essays: Horrible beyond words. I wrote them the night before the deadline, and have hated them ever since.
• Teacher Recommendation: Did not read, but I assume they were good.
• Counselor Rec: GLOWING. She loves me!
• Additional Rec: “Best in my career” kind of thing.
• Interview: LONG story. See this thread: HELP! My parents refuse to let me interview...

Other

• State (if domestic applicant): Florida
• School Type: Public, mediocre
• Ethnicity: Caucasian
• Gender: Female
• Income Bracket: $100K

Reflection

• Strengths: Extracurriculars and maybe SAT scores.
• Weaknesses: Essays! Worst things I've ever written. I guess that proves that essays actually aren't a huge factor in the decision.
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: A clear application theme. Everything—activities, essays, recommendations—related to my political interests.
• Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Harvard, Duke, Emory and University of Florida. Rejected at Yale, waitlisted at Georgetown.

General Comments: Good luck to everyone! You are all spectacular people and will be successful wherever you go to college.

[eating food]

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

* SAT I (breakdown): 730 CR, 720 M, 780 W
* SAT II: Literature (750); Biology-M (740); World History (760)
* Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
* Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 29/316
* AP (place score in parenthesis): 5,5,5,5,5,5,5,4 (two of my 5's were self-studied)
* Senior Year Course Load: Differential Equations, AP Calc BC, AP Lit, Musical Theatre, Wind Ensemble, Independent Research, AP Music Theory
* Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semi, National Achievement Semi, National AP Scholar, Maryland Distinguished Scholar

Subjective:

* Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): JSA (Founder/President - Winners of National Chapter of the Month), FBLA State Officer, Young Democrats Club (Founder/President), Piano (I take lessons and do chamber music at a really prestigious conservatory), Band (flute and piano), Drama!!!, Baltimore Cappies Critics Team, School Chamber Music Society, A couple honors societies, County-Wide Student Government (Secretary)
* Job/Work Experience: Year-long internship in the FCC regulatory dept. of a REALLY big satellite firm in DC, Office Assistant at my dad's office, Tutoring Service (Founder/President)
* Volunteer/Community service: Appointed by County Executive to the Environmental Sustainability Board, Student Member of 2 other commissions confirmed by the County Council, Member of a lovely troupe of traveling kids that give presentations to parents on how they can better communicate with their teens (Elected Secretary), Teen Advisory Committee for my community, Participated in a fairly prestigious community service organization sponsored by my county, LOTS OF WORK GETTING KIDS INVOLVED IN GOVERNMENT!
* Summer Activities: Summer@Brown, Prestigious Music Camp (for piano)
* Essays: I'm a writer through and through
* Teacher Recommendation: N/A
* Counselor Rec: He said it was the best he's ever written
* Additional Rec: N/A
* Interview: Lovely

Other

* Applied for Financial Aid?: hmmm... I forget
* Intended Major: English
* State (if domestic applicant): Maryland
* Country (if international applicant): hmmm
* School Type: Competitive Public
* Ethnicity: Black
* Gender: Male
* Income Bracket: Middle Class!
* Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

* Strengths: Race, EXTREMELY INVOLVED (I do a bit more than I listed, but I feel like I've given you an accurate reflection with what I've provided), neat accomplishments!
* Weaknesses: Teacher recs, test scores
* Why you think you were accepted: i mean... what do you want from me?

General Comments: HOORAH! I didn't think I would get in.

Also got into: Harvard, Yale SCEA, Columbia, Berkeley, UCLA, USC. Probably going to go to yale or harvard... (read: going to yale!!!)

[dfinch]

I pledged to report so here it is

Decision: Waitlisted

Stats:

* Fee Waiver Used?: No
* SAT I (by section): 760m 760cr 800w 8e
* SAT IIs: 800Phys 800MII 800 Spanish 740 Lit
* GPA, Weighted and Unweighted: 4.0uw, 4.6w
* Rank: up there
* ACT:
* APs (including this year's): 5 Euro, 5 Music Theory, 5 Physics E&M, 5 Physics Mechanics, 5 Spanish Lang, 5 Calc AB
* IBs (including this year's:
* Senior Yr Courseload: AP Bio, AP Calc BC, AP Chem, AP English
* Number of Apps from Your School: dunno
* Other stats (Awards, etc.): National Merit/Achievement Semi, the usual

Subjective:

* ECs listed on app: Varsity Track and Cross Country Captain, Band, Community Service
* Job/Work Experience: Intern at Stanford
* Essays (subject and responses): pretty bad, actually
* Teacher Recs: mediocre
* Counselor Rec: thought it was good (never saw it)
* Interview (feel, interviewer and general location): went well
* Hook (TASP, RSI, Research, etc.): Research at Stanford

Location/Person:

* State or Country: CA
* School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): Very good public school
* Ethnicity: White
* Gender: Male
* Income Bracket: Middle
* Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
* Strengths: GPA and test scores
* Weaknesses: essays, recs probably
* Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: not sure, thought I might have a chance

Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: congrats to everyone, is the Princeton waitlist ranked? any chance of getting in?

Other schools: Waitlisted at both Harvard and Princeton. this sucks. wow. I got into Brown though

[vballerk]

Don't know if this helps any, but in case anyone thinks it does...

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 730R/800M/700W
• ACT: n/a
• SAT II: 800 Math II, 790 Chem, 760 Bio M, 700 World History
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): idk...4.32 weighted (4.0A, 4.3A+, 5.0H)
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): no official rank...would be top 1% of 350
• AP (place score in parenthesis): All 5s: World History, Comp Sci AB, Chem, BC Calc, US History, English Comp/Lang, Stat, Music Theory
• IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
• Senior Year Course Load: bunch of aps, multivariable calc
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Natl AP Scholar, Natl Merit Finalist, Rensselaer Medal Award

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Write for website of local paper about high school sports, play varsity volleyball and baseball, jazz piano, bass guitar...other assorted stuff
• Job/Work Experience: IT staffer for a summer, website editor at paper for a couple months
• Volunteer/Community service: Our band raised $1000 for the Elias fund (help impoverished children in Zimbabwe)...assorted natl honors society stuff...
• Summer Activities: lots of random stuff...club baseball, worked one summer, travel somewhere every year, play lots of volleyball/soccer/tennis/golf/etc...idk
• Essays: Biggest weakness...summer essay was weak and the supplement essay was not great, adapted from another application. Common app was pretty good but didn't do me a whole lot of help at other schools.
• Teacher Recommendation: Should have been excellent, didn't see
• Counselor Rec: no idea, probably good
• Additional Rec: n/a
• Interview: Best interview I had, really connected w/interviewer and stuff, pretty short but got the job done.

Other

• State (if domestic applicant): Upstate NY
• Country (if international applicant): n/a
• School Type: Suburban public, 350 per class
• Ethnicity: White
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: around 100K
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy out the wazoo...both parents, uncle, grandfather, great-grandfather...

Reflection

• Strengths: Great academic record, challenged myself really well, active outside of school, and the legacy thing doesn't hurt
• Weaknesses: Service, leadership, probably essay, maybe lower-range SAT
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Put myself in a good position and got lucky.

General Comments: YAY! very welcome after five waitlists (brown, williams, amherst, chicago, lehigh-lmao)...next school on my list that i was into was northwestern (though haven't heard from penn), but definitely going to princeton. congrats/condolences to all.

[pianista]

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 800CR, 800M, 760W, 12E
• ACT:
• SAT II: 800 Math II C, 780 Chemistry, 760 Biology-M
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 1%
• AP (place score in parenthesis): 10 5s
• IB (place score in parenthesis):
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP CS AB, AP Euro, AP Phys C, AP French, Business Law, Public Speaking, Phys Ed, Differential Equations, Discrete Math
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): heh. not major but: National AP Scholar, NMF, Scholastic Gold Keys, Princeton Book Award, Bausch and Lomb, AIME Qualifier, Other Piano/Math/Writing awards

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Piano (awards), Music Club (president), School Music Stuff (orchestra, choir accompanist, lobby pianist for events), Math/Science Teams (awards), Math Research, Math Independent Study, Creative Writing (awards), Literary Magazine (2x editor-in-chief), Board of Education (2x student representative), Student Council (former class president), Interact (executive), JSA (chapter vp, state assembly rep), Presidential Campaign Volunteer, Tennis (varsity letter)
• Job/Work Experience:
• Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer Chinese Teacher to Adopted Children (4hrs/wk since I can remember I love the kiddies), Interact Stuff
• Summer Activities: Summer Science Program, Governor School for the Sciences, Writing Camps, Piano Camps, A lot of travel (I forget if I mentioned this on the app)
• Essays: One about a summer program, another relating two of my main interests; both are very well written, but nothing spectacular;
• Teacher Recommendation: Should be decent.
• Counselor Rec: Should be decent.
• Additional Rec: Piano teacher's, sent with music supplement.
• Interview: Interesting. Definitely not my best, but not my worst either. We shared similar interests but oftentimes he'd just look at me weird.

Other

• State (if domestic applicant): New Jersey
• Country (if international applicant):
• School Type: Strong Public
• Ethnicity: Asian American
• Gender: Female
• Income Bracket: Upper
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

• Strengths: Well-triangled and generally well-rounded.
• Weaknesses: Well-rounded upper class Asian female with no amazing awards/hooks.
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: See strenghts

General Comments:
I still can't believe it! Congratulations!

[4th house]

for S:

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 800cr, 740m, 760w = 2300 total
• SAT II: Math 2: 800
  World: 800
  Physics: 800
  Chem: 790
  US History: 790
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 98.32
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school does not rank; anecdotally #1 out of 63
• AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC: 5
  Chem: 5
  Eng Lang.: 5 (self-studied)
  World: 5 (self-studied)
  USH: 5 (self-studied)
• Senior Year Course Load: Hardest available: Multivariable Calc, AP Physics C, etc ...
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Intel Semi-Finalist, Stockholm Junior Water Prize – State Champ, #7 in nation, Moody’s Mega Math Challenge winner, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Commended

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Model UN (Secretary General), Investment Club (co-founder), Academic Team (Captain), NHS (President)
• Job/Work Experience: Congressional internship, quantum computing mentorship
• Volunteer/Community service: USY (co-president)
• Summer Activities: CTY 4 years, Harvard SSP (Edward Fein Fellowship)
• Essays: doesn’t everyone think their essays are great?
• Teacher Recommendation: alleged to be very good
• Counselor Rec: see above
• Additional Rec: Harvard TA
• Interview: very good

Other

• Applied for Financial Aid?: Y
• Intended Major: International Relations
• State (if domestic applicant): NJ
• School Type: public magnet (top 10 in the country)
• Ethnicity: white
• Gender: M
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none of the “classics”

Reflection
Strengths: typical hard working, well-rounded kid

What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Challenge of coming from a pre-engineering academy strong in math and science, yet personally having great interest in the social sciences

Weaknesses: not an athlete, not a musician, would not be recruited for any such niches

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Just a strong overall app

[littleathiest]

Posting for my sister...

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): M-750, R-690, W-770, E-12 (2210)
• ACT: M-36, R-34, W-34, S-36, E-12 (35)
• SAT II: Math I-750, Math II-770, Biology E-680
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.95
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 out of 60, however, her school doesn't formally rank its students, so this didn't appear on her application.
• AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (4), BC Calculus (5), Biology (5), Chemistry (5), Physics C, English Literature, Spanish Literature, Statistics, European History
• IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, AP English Literature, AP Spanish Literature, AP Statistics, AP European History, Multivariable Calculus, Clay, Health (second semester), Jazz Band, Independent Study in Organic Chemistry (second semester)
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Cum Laude Society, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with Honor, Rensselaer Medalist, Bausch & Lomb Award

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): varsity field hockey 9-12 (captain 12), communal orchestra 11-12 (first chair 12), school musical pit band 9-12, school newspaper 9-12 (opinions editor 11, managing editor 12), math team 9-12, Model UN 11-12
• Job/Work Experience: summer school math tutor 12, biofuel research assistant 11
• Volunteer/Community service: library bookstore volunteer 10, senior home performer 9-12
• Summer Activities: summer school math tutor 12, biofuel research assistant 11, library bookstore volunteer 10
• Essays: I read all her essays and thought they ranged from fair to excellent. Her Common Application essay was quite good, although I think her Princeton supplements may have been a bit weaker.
• Teacher Recommendation: both were very strong (I'm guessing).
• Counselor Rec: good, but a bit general. He doesn't knew her all that well (again, a guess).
• Additional Rec: none?
• Interview: I believe her interview went pretty well. It wasn't anything special, but it was decent.

Other

• State (if domestic applicant): CT
• Country (if international applicant): USA
• School Type: small private. The last year a student got into Princeton was the graduating high school class of 2003.
• Ethnicity: white
• Gender: female
• Income Bracket: upper
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none whatsoever

Reflection

• Strengths: With her grades, scores, and extracurriculars I think she gave herself an honest shot.
• Weaknesses: Nothing about her really stands out as all that unique. The Chemistry-Music pairing is interesting, but she hasn't done anything truly remarkable in either discipline. Also, it doesn't really help to be a white female from a small, mediocre private school in Connecticut.
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

A combination of factors. As I mentioned about, she lacked a "lobster claw" and was, frankly, from the wrong area and demographic to have a great shot, given her scores. In addition, she didn't show all that much interest in Princeton: she interviewed, but didn't visit the school, even though we live less than two hours away.

General Comments: We would have been amazed if she'd gotten in... Princeton Yale, the Peabody Institute, and MIT to a lesser extent were her four "long shots" (she went 0 for 4). Anyway, she seems happy if perplexed with her options. Congrats to everyone who got in and my condolences to those who did not!

[schee410]

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 2310 (800 CR 770 W 740 M single sitting)
• ACT: 35
• SAT II: 790 Chem 740 Math II 680 WH
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9ish
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/160, too bad only the top 5 or so are competitve, our school is basically a feeder school for junior colleges with a handful of kids going to good schools
• AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 Chem 4 USH WH
• IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Macro/USG, Choir, AP Calc AB, Physics H, AP CompSci, Philosophy of Man H, AP Eng
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NMF, APS, AMC10, some regional math competitions

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): CSF, Link Crew, Youth Leadership Team, Football, Track, Recycling Club, Philosophy Club, Recycling Club, AcaDeca, Math Club
• Job/Work Experience: tutoring math
• Volunteer/Community service: about 150 or so hours at various places
• Summer Activities: NORMAL stuff, no research, no major trips
• Essays: honestly, i hate writing. i am a math and science guy. i liked my princeton engineering one, but could care less about the others.
• Teacher Recommendation: my teachers loved me, especially my chem teacher i had for 2 years. she said we were the smartest class she ever had, and she used to teach at a huge school in texas where she had like a 99% pass rate on the ap chem test
• Counselor Rec: probably crappy. my counselor liked me, but our counseling dept is a joke. no advising at all. out of around 20 applications to the ivies, 0 acceptances, and 1 or maybe 2 waitlists. out of 15 or so applications to stanford, 1 deferral, 1 acceptance.
• Additional Rec: n/a
• Interview: great. it was over the phone though, which i didn't like. my interviewer and i shared a lot of interests, and she seemed to like me. she said i gave a few answers that she had never heard before.

Other

• Applied for Financial Aid?: yes. that was a huge factor for me, considering i have no money, contrary to what the fafsa or anyone else might be saying.
• Intended Major: engineering, civil
• State (if domestic applicant): CA
• Country (if international applicant): US
• School Type: small, private, catholic. not competitive at all.
• Ethnicity: asian
• Gender: ma
• Income Bracket: ~100k, but 4 kids going through private school.
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): i had negative hooks.

Reflection

• Strengths: math (contrary to standardized test scores), science, gpa, wide variety of interests
• What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: i tried to focus on presenting who i was, given that i hate writing essays, which is pretty difficult.
• Weaknesses: not an URMF, hate writing. seriously hate writing. i have an interesting hypothesis on the whole literature world/academia in general that would probably make a lot of people mad at me.
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: i do not know. i did the best i could in presenting myself, but when the decision was made, i was found wanting.
• Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted @ Rice (will be attending), UIUC, Purdue, Rose-Hulman, UCI. Rejected @ MIT, UCB, Princeton, Columbia SEAS, Stanford
• General Comments: I am not surprised by how this turned out. I completely expected this and all my other rejections (except Cal) when the first round of EA decisions came out. All the kids in my area were slaughtered. There simply isn't the opportunity to do certain things in this area that other schools can do. I am mostly furious at my school, because for being a "college preparatory" high school, it isn't doing a good job. Several of my classmates are seriously some of the brightest kids I have ever met, and yet we are not good enough for the East Coast schools.

Sorry for the long rant. I feel better now. Congratulations to all, and the best of luck to everyone no matter where you go. Rice 2013.

[Elvito]

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 780CR 800M 720W
• ACT:
• SAT II: 800 Maths2 800 Chem 800 Chinese
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9 ish
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):1/110 (unreported)
• AP (place score in parenthesis):
• IB (place score in parenthesis): Predicted 7s in 7 subjects.
• Senior Year Course Load: Maths HL, Chem HL, Phy HL, Geo HL, Eco SL, Eng A1 SL
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Some international and national awards

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Environmental Club (President), Habitat for Humanity (treasurer), city youth council (executive), School prefect, lots of sports - mostly captain
• Job/Work Experience: Waiter
• Volunteer/Community service: 200 hours+
• Summer Activities: Work/Volunteering
• Essays: Meh. Must have been ok
• Teacher Recommendation: Excellent
• Counselor Rec:Excellent
• Additional Rec: Excellent
• Interview:What got me in!!!

Other

• State (if domestic applicant):
• Country (if international applicant): New Zealand
• School Type: Private, have sent Val to Princeton a lot of times
• Ethnicity: Chinese
• Gender: M
• Income Bracket: Under 60000US
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None.

Reflection

• Strengths: Passion for environment/ policy making/ sustainbility
• Weaknesses: Supp essay
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Interview!

General Comments: So excited! Who cares about H and Y lol P all the way!

[atis]

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 2360 (Math 800, Crt. Read 800, Writing 760)
• ACT: nope
• SAT II: BioM 790, Chem 760, MathIIC 770
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/169? not formal ranking
• AP (place score in parenthesis): EuroHis(5), USHis(5), ArtHis(4), CalcBC(5), Psych(5), SpanishLang(5), EnglishLang(5), Chinese(5)
• IB (place score in parenthesis): nope
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP Physics. full schedule though
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

National AP Scholar, National Merit Finalist, not that much actually, haha.

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): school comic club, school orchestra 1st violin,
• Job/Work Experience: tutoring underperforming kids at school, research
• Volunteer/Community service: Volunteering for old folks, playing violin for them and stuff.
• Summer Activities: COSMOS (UC Irvine sponsored summer program for science thing), environmental/mechanical engineering research at Cal State Long Beach
• Essays: probably on the strange side! one talked about an art piece i did based on a David Bowie song, the other was about wanting to find a junction between engineering and art.
• Teacher Recommendation: not sure how to answer this, as i didn't get to read em. teachers seemed happy enough to write them though.
• Counselor Rec: i think she likes me. doubt if she knows me that well.
• Additional Rec: nope
• Interview:

Heheh, it was pretty awkward actually. I ended up getting my interviewer to talk a lot more than me. He was a cool guy though.

Other

• State (if domestic applicant): CA
• Country (if international applicant): USA
• School Type: public, requires entrance exam
• Ethnicity: Chinese
• Gender: Female
• Income Bracket: ~100,000, bro just finished UG, going to law school
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Brother just graduated from Pton.
female engineering? if that is indeed a hook.

Reflection

• Strengths: holistically quirky image, since i have interest in engineering and also art.
• Weaknesses: Leadership, haha! Also, lack of any really impressive awards. Mediocre activities.
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

Probably saved from pure rejection by numbers, brother? maybe essays.

General Comments:
Surprisingly, no hard feelings. Not bitter at all like I was with Stanford REA. Well, Berkeley here I come! Probably not going to stay on waitlist for pton.

[maricelag21]

[ size=+2][ color=green][b]Decision: Accepted[ /b][ /color][ /size]

[ b]Objective:[ /b][ list]

[ *] SAT I (breakdown): 740-CR, 640-M, 760-W
[ *] ACT: None
[ *] SAT II: 760-Lit, 700-US History, 590-Spanish
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 100): 95 Weighted: 102
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/603- 1st female student
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH-5, English Lang-5
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis): None
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: AP Psych, Advanced Geophys. H, AP Spanish, AP Gov, AP Lit
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): State Edward Blounstein Scholar, National Hispanic Scholar

[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]

[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Amnesty International president, Newspaper-editor-in-chief, Debate Club (Model Congress and Model UN)-varsity, Enviromentalist Club, Peer mentor
[ *] Job/Work Experience: Hallmark card store sales associate July 08-Present
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: Puerto Rican parade in Camden
[ *] Summer Activities: SIG, NYLSC, NYLC
[ *] Essays: Good but kinda rushed-wrote supplements day of
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: Strong
[ *] Counselor Rec: Strong since I told her what to say
[ *] Additional Rec: Newspaper advisor
[ *] Interview: Great! Guy was weird but awesome and nice
[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: Absolutely
[ *] Intended Major: International Relations (woodrow wilson school)
[ *] State (if domestic applicant): NJ
[ *] Country (if international applicant):
[ *] School Type: public
[ *] Ethnicity: hispanic
[ *] Gender: female
[ *] Income Bracket: ~$100,000
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM-Hispanic female

[ /list][ b]Reflection[ /b][ list]

[ *] Strengths: grew up in Camden, NJ-father still lives there; good essayds
[ *] What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: International commitment, Puerto Rican parade-grandmother was founder, father president
[ *] Weaknesses: rushed application, SATs
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: URM, essays, and class rank
[ *] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted-Harvard, UPenn, Brown, Columbia, American, BU, GW, Tufts, NYU Rejected-Georgetown

[Amadeuic]

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 760 CR, 780 M, 770 W (1540/2310)
• SAT II: 750 Latin, 730 Math II, 730 World History, 720 Math I, average to bad on a few others
• Weighted GPA: 97/100
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%
• AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (5), US History (4), Calculus AB (5), Calculus BC, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, English Literature and Composition, Latin Virgil, Physics B.
• Senior Year Course Load: Basically the unscored AP exams above.
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, NMSQT Commended Scholar, National Latin Exam Gold Medals (3), some statewide Latin competition prizes, etc.

Subjective:[list][*] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): High School Classical Culture Society (Treasurer x2, President), New Jersey Junior Classical League (Central Registrar), National Honor Society (Treasurer), Literary Magazine (Assistant Editor in Chief, Editor in Chief), Mock Trial (Witness x2), Students Against Destructive Decisions[*] Job/Work Experience: None[*] Volunteer/Community service: Local hospital, making lunches for poor, pancake breakfast for blind, setting up for local art shows and carnivals, etc.[*] Summer Activities: Film Camp, Summer Rowing Program, NYLF on Medicine, Honors Pre-Calculus Class[*] Essays: CommonApp showed source of intellectual interest, Princeton Supplement was about Mountains Beyond Mountains[*] Teacher Recommendation: Should have been great.[*] Counselor Rec: Probably bad, actually. I don't think she knew me very well and probably wrote the wrong information.[*] Interview: Probably my best one.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope.
Intended Major: Classics
State (if domestic applicant): New Jersey
School Type: Private, ~215 in graduating class, gets about a dozen kids to top twenty universities each year
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Not sure, specifically. But no FA.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Classics? Maybe?

Reflection
Strengths: SAT's, EC's, Essays

What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Center it around passion for many things, brought it all back to Classics, etc.

Weaknesses: SAT II's

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Not valedictorian; guidance counselor related things.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted- Brown University (attending), University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Washington University in St. Louis, Colby College, Vanderbilt University, University of Notre Dame (Honors Program), University of Michigan; Waitlisted- Duke University, Cornell University, Williams College; Rejected- Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania.

[Mustafah78]

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 770 CR, 720 W, 720 M
• SAT II: 740 French, 750 Literature, 760 World History
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/180 (class rank)
• AP (place score in parenthesis): None
• IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): One non-exclusive, national-level award for academics; Gold Award in national concert band competition, three times.

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): School concert band, pit band, and jazz ensemble; community wind symphony; volunteering at a foster home; tutoring; tennis
• Job/Work Experience: 25-30 hours/week at a communications company
• Volunteer/Community service: More than 1500 hours
• Summer Activities: Work, independent study, reading, road trips, pick-up tennis and basketball, one leadership conference in the United States.
• Essays: Very passionate and personal, a story of my upbringing.
• Teacher Recommendation: Best they have ever written.
• Counselor Rec: Very good.
• Additional Rec: from a Ph.D. student at American University
• Interview: Excellent

Other

• Country (if international applicant): Canada
• School Type: Public; performs slightly below provincial average.
• Ethnicity: African
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: Lowest
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first-generation college student, low-income, interesting story.

Reflection

• Strengths: Grades, volunteer work, music ECs, great essay and teacher recs
• Weaknesses: Not a lot of traditional "leadership" positions
• Why you think you were accepted: You tell me.
• Where else were you accepted: Harvard, Amherst, Columbia, Georgetown SFS

General Comments:
I'm genuinely happy for everyone who got accepted. Be proud! Thank God! And I can't feel sorry those of you who didn't get accepted, because you all have great opportunities lined up!

[omgitsover9000]

Decision:Waitlisted

* SAT: 2360 (770V 800CR 790W)
* SAT II: 800 Math II 800 Bio-M 790 Chem
* ACT: 35
* GPA: 4.74 W, 4.00 UW
* Rank: top 1%
* Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC 10: 126.5, AMC 12: 108; Aime: 4,5, respectively. APs: Bio, chem, gov, comp pol, 5's
* Essays: Pretty good, could have been better.
* Teacher Recs: Excellent
* Counselor Rec: Should be ok
* Supplementary Material: Published paper + another one that i submitted to contests (also in process of publication tho)
* Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):
* Location: Midwest
* High School Type: Public
* Ethnicity: Asian
* Gender: Male
* Applied for Financial Aid: Y
* Extracurriculars: Chess (top 40 in nation), research (several papers submitted/published in peer-reviewed journals)-worked for 3 summers in same lab, 20 hrs a week part time during school year, some other stuff... Journals that I have submitted to/published: Organic Letters, Cancer Science, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Science
* Awards: Siemens semifinalist, intel science search semifinalist, National merit finalist, AP scholar with honor, some other awards that i don't recall.

Accepted: Caltech, MIT, Northwestern HPME, WashU(full scholarship), Duke, Stanford, Yale
Waitlisted: Harvard, Princeton, UPenn.