woowski777

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 660 M, 620 CR, 710 W
• ACT: 34
• SAT II: 750 Math II, 700 US Hist, 610 Spanish
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/500
• AP (place score in parenthesis): Eng Lang (5) Span (4) US (4) Micro (4) Euro (3)
• IB (place score in parenthesis): --
• Senior Year Course Load: Pretty ‘Rigorous’
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Regional Leadership Award
  

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Baseball (Sportsmanship Award) NHS (Exec Board), Youth Group, ACE (Exec Board) Investment Club (Secretary)
• Job/Work Experience: Baseball Umpire, Park District Employee, Summer Baseball Camp Coach
• Volunteer/Community service: Youth Baseball Coach, SO Basketball Announcer, Peer Mentor for Leadership Conferences
• Summer Activities: Baseball
• Essays: I put my heart into the application. I love reading my essays, mainly because they address my passions in a unique way.
• Teacher Recommendations: Good. Each teacher also commented on my EC's, which I thought helped make me stand out.
• Counselor Rec: Also good
• Additional Rec: From a parent of the baseball team I coach
  

Other

• State (if domestic applicant): IL
• Country (if international applicant):
• School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: South American
• Gender: M
• Income Bracket: Mid-Class
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM
  

Reflection

• Strengths: Essays, grades, hooks
• Weaknesses: SAT’s
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Stanford saw that I had both intellectual vitality and a passion for something outside of school. I also prayed a lot.
  

General Comments: I want to thank everyone who has helped me on CC. Thank you also, to my savior, Jesus Christ, and St. Rita.
I still can't believe that I’m going to Stanford!!! Congrats to all!!!

dkbear

Decision: Rejected

Stats:

• College/Major Applied To: Biology (of some sort...I'm using this for multiple colleges so I can't say the exact title)
• Fee Waiver Used?: No
• SAT I (by section): Critical Reading 680, Writing 750 (Essay 8, MC 78), Math 800
• SAT IIs: Math Level 2 750, Literature 700, Physics 570, Chemistry 530
• GPA, Weighted and Unweighted: UC Unweighted: 3.5ish, UC Weighted 3.65, Unweighted 3.65, Weighted 3.78 (difficult school with very few honors or AP classes)
• Rank: 7 of 38 (smart class too)
• ACT: 35
• APs (including this year's): Calculus AB: 3, I'm taking 8 tests this year thanks to independent study (I am the first at my school to do this), but I didn't know until my applications were in, so I was able to notify a few, but not all colleges
• IBs (including this year's: None
• Senior Yr Courseload: Heavy-the two other AP classes (English Lit and Physics) offered besides the one I have already taken, Speech, Apologetics, Government/Economics, Band, Spanish 3...at my school, that is a really heavy load
• Number of Apps from Your School: for all colleges I applied to except Davis (2 others), LA (1 other), Berkeley (1 other), and Pepperdine (1 other), there was no one else who applied. They are smart...but not very ambitious.
• Other stats (Awards, etc.): I've gotten a few minor awards, but nothing really worth mentioning. I guess I'll just list what I could get:
  1st Place - Algebra II Math League - School
  1st Chair - ACSI Honor Band - Regional
  Nominee - Junior Homecoming Prince - School
  Nominee - Senior Homecoming Prince - School
  Nominee - Veterans for Foreign Wars Competition - School
  Winner- Veterans for Foreign Wars Competition - Regional
  Winner - Servant's Heart Award - School

Subjective:

• ECs listed on app:
  Honors Society - Participant - 10th-12th - 1hr*10 wks
  Drama Productions - Actor - 9th-12th - 3hr*12 wks
  Student Council - Sophomore Vice-President - 10th - 1hr*5 wks
  Ministry Council - Participant - 9th-12th - 1 hr*8 wks
  Band - 9th-10th, 12th - 5 hr*40 wks
  Political Campaign Volunteer - 12th - 3 hr*5 wks
  School Scoreboard Operator - 10th-11th - 6 hr * 8 wks
  Honor Society Service Day - 11th-12th - 2hr*1 wk
  Community Service Day - 9th-12th - 5hr*1 wk
  California Forestry Improvement Volunteer - 11th-12th - 2hr*1wk
  Yearbook Staff Member - 12th - 2 hr*15 wk
• Job/Work Experience:
  After-School Care Assistant - 11th-12th - 12 hr*30 wk
• Essays (subject and responses): they were all pretty good. my teachers all liked them. I thought they were pretty original. I don't know what else to say...
• Hook (TASP, RSI, Research, etc.): N/A

Location/Person:

• State or Country: California
• School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): Parochial/Private. SAT Critical Reading Average 542, SAT Math Average 529, SAT Writing Average 552. Decent...
• Ethnicity: White. I mean Caucasian. Whatever. I wish I had gone undeclared.
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: 200,000+
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
• Strengths: SAT scores, at least one essay on each application, interviews
• Weaknesses: SAT science scores (considering my science major), GPA
• Why you think you were accepted/wait listed/denied: Sophomore and Junior year GPAs. They were lower compared to my 1st, 2nd, and 7th semesters: 4.0 weighted.

Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: THE ABSOLUTE WORST PART OF THIS ENTIRE PROCESS WAS WAITING FOR UC IRVINE FOR A MONTH JUST TO BE REJECTED. Hehe. On the other hand, I gave UC San Diego a call and they gave me the exact reason I was rejected because they could pull up my file and look at it. It was GPA by the way. And yes, the "chart" of point distribution is valid.

I knew what I was getting myself into, so I'm cool with it. If you need help with preparing for your application or college or whatever, PM me and I'll be happy to help. I wish I had had some help. Perhaps I would have pushed my GPA a bit more.

battletops

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

• SAT I: 2290 (800 M, 800 W, 690 CR)
• ACT: (not taken)
• SAT II: 800 Math IIc, 750 Physics
• Unweighted GPA: 4.0
• Rank: Probably 1 or 2 out of about 250
• AP: AP Calculus AB (5), AP Physics MechC (4), AP World History (4)
• Senior Year Course Load: Most rigorous
• Major Awards: Macworld 2008 Video Contest (Grand Prize), NFL National Qualifier

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars:
  • Speech & Debate (several state and national awards)
  • FIRST Lego League (volunteer coach)
  • Tug of War Engineering Challenge (captain, won research award)
  • Math Team (created the team)
  • Spanish Club (president)
• Job/Work Experience: Freelance Website Design
• Volunteer/Community service: 200 hours as volunteer computer instructor in Philippines
• Summer Activities: National Speech & Debate Tournament, volunteering in Philippines
• Essays:
  • Common App - Hard drive died, lost thousands of photos, value of memories
  • Vitality - AP Psychology, how we interpret numbers and quantity
  • Roommate - humorous essay in third person, really honest
  • Stanford - visiting California, specific programs, goals
• Teacher Rec: Math teacher has known me for 3 years, wrote one that is bound to be amazing.
• Counselor Rec: I know my counselor fairly well, and they took this recommendation very seriously.
• Additional Rec: Amazing one from middle school teacher and mentor
• Interview: None

Other

• State: Maine
• School Type: Small Public
• Ethnicity: Filipino-American
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: Relatively low (full tuition?)
• Hooks: Nothing in particular

Reflection

• Strengths: Transcript, essays, recs, extracurriculars
• Weaknesses: AP scores, SAT CR could be better
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was satisfied with my application. After seeing some of the rejected folks here, I think the essays and involvement were what set me apart.

General Comments: Congrats to those who got in! It's going to be tough to decide between this and a full boat to WPI.

JW Muller

(S of JW):
Decision: Rejected

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (CR: 800, W: 780, M: 690
• SAT II: Math 2: 700, US History: 770
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.72 Weighted: 3.96
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 98/794
• AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), World History (5), English (4)
• Senior Year Course Load: 4 AP's
• Major Awards : None

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars: Forensics
• Job/Work Experience: None
• Volunteer/Community service:
• Summer Activities: Camp Counselor, Forensics camp
• Essays: Nothing special
• State (if domestic applicant): California
• School Type: Large public
• Ethnicity: White
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: Upper
• Hooks:Legacy

Reflection

• Strengths: Grade progression (4.0 last 2 semesters); See hook.
• Why you think S was rejected: Lack of EC's, class rank >10%.

General Comments: Application was weak beyond help of Legacy. Was rejected everywhere else, including Duke legacy as well.

dpattzlover

^^Lol, did you go to Stanford or Duke?

JW Muller

^Stanford. Having both a Stanford and Duke legacy was a terrible thing to waste. The SAT's were in range, but nothing else.

dpattzlover

^^I, somehow, got in! Would you say Stanford is worth it? Here's my situation....Stanford>UW-Madison Full-Ride?

Reply on that thread because I don't think people want this one to get "cluttered". !

Good luck to your son!

mk-kmla0609

Decision: WAITLISTED


Stats:

• SAT I (by section): 2070 670/730/670 CR/M/W essay 9 (Oct 2007)
• SAT IIs: Math2C 800, Physics 800, Chem 800, Bio M 780
• ACT:35 essay 8, 33 essay 10
• APs: Physics B, Calc AB, Calc BC, Chem, Bio, US Gov’t. All 5’s
• IBs: n/a
• GPA: 4.56 w, unweighted GPA unavailable
• Rank: not available, top 10%
• Other stats (AMC/AIME/USAMO, PhO, ChO, etc):

Subjective:

• ECs listed on app: voice, school choir and musical productions, soccer, science bowl, etc
• Job/Work Experience: school tutor
• Essays (subject and responses): wrote about singing & science (biology)
• Teacher Recs: one from Chem, and one from Physics/Math teacher; both said they wrote good ones
• Counselor Rec: he said it’s good
• Hook (if any, such as RSI or URM):NO hook☹

Location/Person:

• State or Country: from Korea; currently living in KS
• School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): small private
• Ethnicity: Korean
• Gender: F

General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc:

lasermouse9

REJECTED

Numbers

SAT: 2220 (M 720, CR 730, W 770)
ACT: 33 (S 27, R 33, M 33, W 36)
AP: United States History (5)
GPA (non-weighted): 3.9
Rank: 6th percentile

Application

Essay
I felt really good about my common application essay, but by the time I got to my Stanford supplements my mind was mush. I can hardly even remember the topics I chose.

Recommendations
Well, I know that at least one teacher was authentic in scope and stylistic character, though I fear the other teacher and my counselor wrote the standard, generic recommendations that do little to impress.

Interview
I did not have an interview with this or any college.

Personal Information

Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin
School Type: Public, suburban/urban mix
Gender/Ethnicity: Male/Caucasian
Legacy: None whatsoever. My parents went to technical school and the my mom got her bachelor’s degree going to school part-time
Athlete: I jog, but I don’t participate in school-related activities.
Extra-Curricular Activities: Head of Political Awareness Club, competitor on Math Team and Social Studies Academic Team
Other Factors: I do no volunteering, but I do have a part-time job as an usher at the local movie theater. I am a National Merit Finalist.
Other Colleges: I qualified for fee waivers, so I applied to eleven schools. I was accepted at Amherst, Middlebury, Pomona, Reed, University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin and Weslyan. I was rejected by Stanford and Yale, and waitlisted at Swarthmore.



GOOD LUCK TO ALL, IN THIS AND OTHER ADMISSIONS ENDEAVORS!

shayonsaleh

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 2170 (800M, 730CR, 640W)
• ACT: 35 (35W, 35M, 32R, 36S)
• SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Bio E, 780 US History, 650 Spanish w/o Listening
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.00
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/495
• AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), US Gov (5), English Language (5), Environmental (5), Calculus BC (5)
• IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Psychology, AP European History, AP Biology, AP English Literature, AP Comparative Government, AP Statistics, Honors Research Methods, Honors Special Interest Seminar
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Scholar

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science Olympiad (Captain), Key Club (Sergeant-at-Arms), Math Team (President), Green Hope Ambassadors (President) Environmental Club, National Honor Society, Quiz Bowl, Tennis, Taekwondo
• Job/Work Experience: Internship at NCSU's Chemical Engineering Lab Over A Summer
• Volunteer/Community Service: About 300 Hours From Various Clubs
• Summer Activities: Internship Stated Above; Summer Science Program
• Essays: Pretty Good (One Person Said Best out of a Hundred He Read)
• Teacher Recommendation: Probably Good; Waivered Right
• Counselor Rec: Probably good; I am the president of the club she advises for.
• Additional Rec: From Professor at NCSU whom I worked under at internship.
• Interview: None

Other

• State (if domestic applicant): North Carolina
• Country (if international applicant):
• School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: Asian (South Indian)
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: Highest
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

• Strengths: My academics were definitely my best point. I took the hardest courses that I could possibly take and kept straight A's through high school.
• Weaknesses: SAT, Little Extracurriculars Outside of School
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I have absolutely no clue. After I got my rejections from Harvard and Yale, I thought Stanford be the same. But SOOOO happy to get in.
• Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I got rejected from Yale, Harvard, and MIT. I got waitlisted at Johns Hopkins and Columbia. I got accepted at NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill, WashU at St. Louis, Cornell, Duke, and Stanford.

General Comments: Congratulations to everyone that was accepted or waitlisted!

dpattzlover

Lol, why does our decisions thread only have 5 pages?? Princeton's already has 7 and Harvard's 10! hahahahaha.

Zenador

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 2080 (750M, 670CR, 660W)
• ACT: none
• SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chem, 740 Physics
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/650 (unranked, all 4.0 recieve 1)
• AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (5), Chem (5), (English, Bio, Calc BC, Stats this year)
• IB (place score in parenthesis): none
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP English, AP Biology, AP Statistics, PE, US Cit, free period
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended Scholar, 4 time All conference golf team, Math Comp awards (minor), Student Athlete

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Golf (captain), Mu Alpha Theta (Treasurer), Science National Honors Society (one of several founding officers), National Honors Society
• Job/Work Experience: Work at a prestigious golf course
• Volunteer/Community service: Athletes for Kids (mentor program for young children with autism)
• Summer Activities: Golf, Wakeboarding, Vacations
• Essays: Main one on golf, vitality on original sin, roommate on being a big sports fan, Stanford on its quirks. I liked all of them
• Teacher Recommendation: The one I read was great, assume other one was solid as well
• Counselor Rec:Very nice, our school has advisors do them so they are personal
• Additional Rec: none
• Interview: none

Other

• State (if domestic applicant): Washington
• Country (if international applicant): US
• School Type: 4A Public, pretty wealthy area
• Ethnicity: Filipino/Caucasian
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: High
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):meh, unless Filipinos are URM

Reflection

• Strengths: ECs, liked the essays, probably good recs
• Weaknesses: SAT was low for high end standards, although I was proud of it
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I don't know, but I'm happy. I'm glad they looked past some lower end SAT scores in favor of some of my other stuff
• Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at UW, UCLA, UC Berkeley, USC, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Cornell. Rejected at Duke, Harvard.

General Comments: Most likely will be attending, very excited and somewhat surprised

dpattzlover

Congratulations class of 2013!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CCPWNZ

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

• SAT I (breakdown): 2270 - 730R, 780M, 760W (71 gram 12 essay)
• ACT: 34 - 35 Eng/Sci/Math, 30 Read, 32 Eng/Writ (9)
• SAT II: 760 math II, 770 chem, 780 phys, 790 korean w/list, 117 TOEFL iBT
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 100 weighted
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5%
• AP (place score in parenthesis): world hist, eng lang/comp, physics b (5), us hist (4)
• IB (place score in parenthesis): not offered
• Senior Year Course Load: ap chem, calc bc, eng lit/comp, comparative gov/pol, spanish
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): intel semi, national merit commended, ap scholar w/honor

Subjective:

• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): tae kwon do (junior master), science olympiad, newspaper (editor) etc.
• Job/Work Experience: tutoring
• Volunteer/Community service: nursing home
• Summer Activities: intel research
• Essays: alright
• Teacher Recommendation: good
• Counselor Rec: good but prolly bland
• Additional Rec: good from research mentor
• Interview:

Other

• State (if domestic applicant): NY
• Country (if international applicant): moved from korea 6th grade, moved over (hopefully) to regular pool after status change to permanent resident
• School Type: public
• Ethnicity: korean
• Gender: male
• Income Bracket: ~$130k
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):none
  

Reflection

• Strengths: moved from korea 6th grade, focus on mech. engineering
• Weaknesses: grades, essays (?), ECs
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: eh i just suck at life

General Comments: accepted to yale, uc berkeley, and stony brook so dont really care, but waitlisted to harvard, mit, columbia, penn, cornell, johns hopkins, and cooper union, so im kind of wondering what i may have done wrong with my application(s) that caused so many (SEVEN out of 12) waitlists.... oh and rejected from princeton/stanford. anyway dudes(and dudettes) if u wanna get into stanford do better than me and get better grades, good luck!!!

mikey104

Pardon my naivety, but what does "URM" stand for?