SAT I (breakdown): 2320 (800 M, 800 W, 720 CR)
ACT: 33
SAT II (if submitted): 760 Chemistry, 750 Math II, 730 Spanish
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/492
AP: Euro (4), Chem (4), Econ-Macro (4), US History (4), Calc BC (5), Lang (5)
IB:
Senior Year Course Load: Honors Physics, PE, Honors World Mythology, Honors US Govt, AP Spanish, AP Biology, AP Statistics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist
Subjective:
Extracurriculars:
-School Newspaper (12th: EIC, 11th: section editor, 9th-10th: staff writer)
-National Honor Society
-Math Honor Society
-Spanish Honor Society (12th: Historian, 11th: VP)
-Model UN
-Badminton (12th: Varsity, 9th-10th: JV)
-Science Olympiad (12th: Captain, 11th: Founder and Captain)
-Math Team
-Community Service (at local hospitals, for ACS, local nursing home for seniors with Alzheimer's)
-Research (summer after 10th) at Illinois State University
-Shadowing a doctor at IUPUI's Center for Translational Musculoskeletal Research (summer after 11th)
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: See ECs
Essays: I thought my Why Penn? essay was fairly good.
Teacher Recommendation: Didn't read, but really good I'm sure
Counselor Rec: Eh (Don't have the best counselor)
Additional Rec:
Interview:
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Don't remember specifically but something in the Biological Sciences/Pre-med
State (if domestic applicant): Illinois
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.):
Reflection
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
-Northwestern University (accepted)
-Penn State + Pre-Medical Medical program (accepted)
-Case Western Reserve (accepted) - waiting to hear back on the PPSP Program
-UMKC (accepted) - waiting to hear back on the BA/MD Program
-Loyola University (accepted)
-University of Michigan Ann Arbor (accepted)
-WUSTL (waitlisted)
-Vanderbilt (waitlisted)
-Johns Hopkins (waitlisted)
-Harvard (rejected)
-Duke (rejected)
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2320 (800M, 790CR, 730W)
ACT: didn't take it
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Physics, 730 Lit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis): 55554 in all math and physics
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: Physics research, Physics 406 (optics at univ.), AP Lit, Arabic 102 (at community college), US History (at community college), AP Chem (self-study), Worldviews and Issues
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Physics Olympiad Semis (3X), AIME (3X), Nationally ranked in chess for age, NMF, AP Scholar with Distinction, NHRP
Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Tons of music (university orchestra, rock violinist, church worship, teaching, recording, etc), math and physics competitions, math circle, varsity baseball, competitive chess, swing dance
Job/Work Experience: Math tutor, university physics tutor, professional violinist, violin teacher Apx. 15 hours a week
Volunteer/Community service: Violin teaching for low income students; math tutoring; worship leader (guitar/vocals), violinist
Summer Activities: Physics research; professional violinist for local theater company; travel baseball; working (math tutor)
Essays: Favorite essay was, "Calculus is Like Sucking My Thumb"; Strong essays
Teacher Recommendations: Really, really, really good (Physics prof, math mentor, AP lit teacher)
Counselor Rec: I wrote it! (Homeschool mom)
Additional Rec:
Interview: I think good?
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Ca
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Home school
Ethnicity: 1/2 Puerto Rican, 1/2 Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 70-80K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):URM?
Reflection
Strengths: Well rounded, national awards, strong leadership, graduate level physics research, lots of college classes, interesting.
Weaknesses: Not perfect test scores and not a lot of them; no science fair competitions
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Well rounded?
Where else were you accepted: Princeton, MIT, Caltech, Harvey Mudd, Vanderbilt, WUSTL, U Pitt, UT Dallas, Baylor
SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (800 CR, 800 M, 740 W, 9 Essay)
ACT:
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Technically Salutatorian, but my school only releases deciles, so Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5's on Chem, Physics B, Calc AB, Eng Lang, and Statistics. All were taken junior year besides Stats.
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Gov (US), AP Humanities (a mixture of philosophy, art & music, and AP Lit), AP Latin V, AP Biology, Spanish V Honors, School Newspaper
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar With Distinction, Summa Cum Laude on NLE, National Merit Commended Student, URochester Honorary Science Award, 3rd in county calculus competition, US Presidential Scholar Candidate (100 Students in NJ were selected; I sent this update to Penn in mid-February)
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):Marching Band (Captain, best percussion in numerous competitions), Instrumental Music Executive Board (VP), Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, NJ Boys State (State Assemblyman, County Party Vice-Chairman, Ward Leader, passed a bill on geothermal energy), Columbia University Science Honors Program, NHS (VP, made major contributions to the Red Cross), Spanish Honors Society (Treasurer, increased profits by 50%), Latin Honors Society (VP, organized several events to increase enrollment in the classics)
Job/Work Experience: Percussion Instructor (teach fundamental drumming technique to a middle schooler), Employed as an Orchestral Percussionist in my school's holiday show.
Volunteer/Community service:4 years at a local hospital, transporting patients, speaking with patients, directing visitors; 300+ hours
Summer Activities: Nothing really. I was in Boys State, but that's it.
Essays: Common App was about various aspects on my personality (6.5-7). WHY PENN was very good (9-10). Optional was poetic (8-9).
Teacher Recommendation: Didn't read, but probably good. One from AP English III teacher. The other from my Latin teacher (she knows me really well; also, she's impressed with me because I've self-studied 3 years of Latin and currently have the highest grade in AP Latin)
Counselor Rec: Didn't read this either. Probably slightly better than generic, but not much better.
Additional Rec: Got a recommendation from a Penn Alumnus.
Interview: Went over pretty well. She could tell that I knew exactly what I wanted to do. We talked about the middle east, nano drug delivery, and my school's music program. She was a lawyer, so I didn't spend too much time talking about engineering.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, Usually sends 1 person to a "good" school (by which I mean Ivies, Duke, Chicago, etc.) However, this year we got 9 "good" school acceptances over 5 people.
Ethnicity: Middle Eastern
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $50-60k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Probably the Alumnus Rec, but I doubt it had too much of an impact.
Reflection
Strengths: Scores, grades, variety of ECs, Penn essays
Weaknesses: No outstanding awards/accomplishments, didn't do much over the summer
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Beats me...
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to UChicago (EA), Johns Hopkins (BME), Rutgers, and BU. Waitlisted at Cornel and Duke. Rejected by Columbia (deferred ED), Harvard, Princeton, and Yale
General Comments: Congrats to all the acceptees!! If I get a bit more money, I will definitely matriculate. To those who were rejected, keep your head up. I was absolutely in love with Columbia for four years. I finally got my rejection yesterday, but I'm okay. I think things will work out. Every school has flaws; no school is perfect. Getting rejected from your dream school is heartbreaking, but it's not the end of the world. Make the most of college and you'll be happy wherever you go
SAT I (breakdown): 2200
ACT: 33 (35W, 34R, 33M, 31S, 11E)
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 3%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Eng Lit (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Calculus, English, World Cultures, German, Physics
(my school is weird and doesn't call its classes "AP" in order to not follow the AP guidelines)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semi-Finalist, Colby Presidential Scholars Winner, Harvard Book Award, Rotary Club Youth Leadership Award, 1st Place Regional Science Fair (probably not major)
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Soccer-4yrs (Captain), Basketball-4yrs (Captain), Lacrosse-4 yrs (Captain), Gay-Straight Alliance (Vice President), Junior Class President, Student Council Vice President, Peer Mediator, Science Fair and ROV team, Lead singer in a band!
Job/Work Experience: Lab Assistant, Camp Counselor, English Tutor
Volunteer/Community service: High school English tutor, Elementary school tutor, Peer Mediator
Summer Activities: Lacrosse, Work
Essays: My Penn essays were some of my best!
Teacher Recommendation:Not sure! Hopefully good
Counselor Rec: Great!
Additional Rec: Basketball Coach: It was short but very helpful I think.
Interview: Amazing!
Other
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nope!
Reflection
Strengths: Grades, extracurriculars, interest
Weaknesses: scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Tried very hard in HS and showed a lot of interest.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Tufts, Claremont McKenna, Vassar, Colby, Tulane, Richmond, Oberlin, Bucknell, Umass (Honors), Waitlisted: Wesleyan, WashU, Vanderbilt. Rejected: Brown
Need to hear back from Middlebury
General Comments: I am so excited! I couldn't stop smiling all night when I learned of my acceptance. Congrats to all who got in. Everyone else will find their niche. Don't fret!
SAT I (breakdown): M 660 CR 650 W 760[*] ACT: 28 (biggest weakness, didn't have enough time to finish math section so I guessed on the last 10)[*] SAT II: n/a[*] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0[*] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 24/266[*] AP (place score in parenthesis): n/a[*] IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a[*] Senior Year Course Load: Hnrs Church History, Hnrs US Govt, AP Calc AB, AP English language and composition, AP US History, Hnrs Business Law, Hnrs French IV[*] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):maxima cum laude NLE, mock trial awards[/list]Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): mock trial three years (co-captain), big brother, ambassadors, community service corps, ASIST etc.
Job/Work Experience: bus boy, currently work at pet store
Volunteer/Community service: ASIST, Parish Ministry, etc.
Summer Activities: work
Essays: strong point
Teacher Recommendation: glowing, upitt took the time to mail me a letter saying one of my recommendations was sensational
Counselor Rec: avg
Additional Rec: good
Interview: excellent
Other
State (if domestic applicant): PA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private Catholic
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 80-90k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
Reflection
Strengths: essays, recommendations, interview
Weaknesses: ACT score
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: put a lot of work into my essay, from Philadelphia (believe it or not, it helps)
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Iona, Washington, York, La Salle, Pitt, PSU main
Rejected: NYU, northwestern, chicago, brown
Waitlisted: Cornell
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/218 ish
AP (place score in parenthesis): WH (5), USH (5), Chem (4), English Lang (4), Latin Vergil (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Religion classes, AP Politics, AP Physics B, AP English Lit, AP Calc AB, H Bio, H Visual Basic, H Western Civ
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Governor's Scholar, National Merit Finalist, Comcast Leaders & Achievers, Scholastic Art and Writing Silver Key, National Latin Exam Summa Cum Laude/Gold Medal (3x), a few other local writing awards
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate 9th-12th grade (captain), Envirothon 10-12 (captain), school service society 9-12 (VP), NHS 10-12 (VP); The first 3 are the ones I have dedicated myself to in school over the years, it would take a while to describe the things I do in each of them, but I am very active in these ECs.
Job/Work Experience: none, applied for some jobs, didn't get them >.<
Volunteer/Community service: worked with a non-profit in New Orleans rebuilding houses, volunteer at food pantry, tutor at local middle school, volunteer for local state representative, and the school service society could be considered community service (we run monthly schoolwide food drives that go to the aforementioned food pantry)
Summer Activities: volunteering at food pantry, camp CIT, etc.
Essays: Common App was a little abstract, fairly personal, not sure how admissions officers would've responded to it; my Why UPenn/Wharton was very distinctive, probably stood out because of my academic/intellectual interests. My UPenn optional elaborated on those interests.
Teacher Recommendation: don't know, didn't ask for or read, but I have very good relationships with the teachers I asked
Counselor Rec: don't know, didn't ask for or read
Additional Rec: Envirothon coach, it would've been very good
Weaknesses: none in particular, overall solid app, but no superstar awards/recognitions or anything
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: UPenn supplemental essays
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Harvard accept, Dartmouth likely letter, Swarthmore early write acceptance, Northwestern accept, Duke accept, UChicago waitlist, Yale reject, Williams waitlist, Stanford reject
General Comments:
This was shocking. I applied last minute, almost a "why not" kind of app. I certainly didn't expect to get in, but I guess my app stood out among other Wharton applicants, who probably in general were focused on business and math, while I am fairly focused in humanities. I was invited to join the Benjamin Franklin Society and the Joseph Wharton Society, which, from what I've read, seem really intellectually interesting and fit me well, ie being with other kids who share my interests. I'm pretty pumped, gonna be a tough choice between Wharton and Harvard!
SAT I (breakdown): 2240 (Reading 700, Writing 780, Math 760-- One sitting)
ACT: 31 (three times straight)
SAT II: USH (740) Lit (750) Math II (690)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97, 5.1 weighted
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5 / 190
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geo (3), World History (5), English Lit (4), USH (5), Psych (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Psych SL (5)
Senior Year Course Load: Gov / Econ H, IB HL History of the Americas, AP / IB HL Biology, IB HL English 2, IB SL Math Studies, AP / IB SL Spanish IV, IB Theory of Knowledge
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Just small local awards-- PC Fellow, National merit, Student of the Month, Youth of the Season at my youth group, Degree of Outstanding Distinction in NFL, etc.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): American Red Cross Youth (member for 6 years; Secretary for 3, current President; CPR / First Aid certified instructor, helped the group continue after the recession took its facilitator away; hosted two successful Youth Leadership Conferences for a total of over 250 teens throughout the state; community service projects each month ranging from Special Olympics to Safe Harbor to a local nursing center), NHS / Interact (Co-President), Student Council (Senior Secretary), Newspaper (Co-Editor), Forensics (Secretary; NFL qualifier, District Champion, ToC qualifier, Degree of Outstanding Distinction), Youth in Government (4-time legislator, MUN resource staff, other conferences, selected to attend CONA), Film Club-- Upstate Youth Film Festival Assistant Director, Youth Leadership Greenville class participant
Job/Work Experience: /
Volunteer/Community service: See above
Summer Activities: Took Calculus at local college, attended college summer camps, Red Cross, became a CPR / First Aid instructor
Essays: I thought they were good. My personal essay was on red hair-- evidently they don't like gingers. My extracurric essay was obviously on Red Cross, but perhaps I was too impersonal in that one. My supplemental Princeton one sucked because I wanted to apply early and didn't put enough time into it. I thought my Harvard and Yale ones were phenomenal. They were about how I lived my life trying to be something greater than just me and how I wanted to start a legacy of my own.
Teacher Recommendations: I'd guess they were good. They love me.
Counselor Rec: Probably average.
Additional Rec: From American Red Cross CEO who I have worked with-- apparently very well written according to someone from last year who got one from her
Interview: One of my best
Other
State (if domestic applicant): SC
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: No financial aid
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None, besides a series of letters I wrote beforehand letting them know I was going to try my best to be accepted signed Legacy Man. I also transferred to the IB school after my sophomore year-- showing commitment to take opportunity.
Reflection
Strengths: The fact is none of my statistics are stellar, and that is what they are looking for. All of my application was good. Nothing was great.
Weaknesses: I should have taken the SAT more than once and superscored made over 2300. I should have taken more SAT IIs and retaken the Math II one because it was very low. My rank could have been higher. Also, I am not good at boasting about myself-- perhaps a problem with my application was I didn't elaborate quite enough on my accomplishments with the Conferences I've organized and leadership I've exhibited in the community. Advice to anyone reading this: CAPITALIZE ON THE SPACE GIVEN.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My school has always had a very good relationship with Ivies. Last year, members of the senior class were accepted into every Ivy. This year, one person got into Penn. That's it. Who knows? Maybe they had too many people from this area already. Besides that, there was just nothing above and beyond to distinguish me from anyone else. As simple as that. Even if there had been, I still would have needed to get extremely lucky to be accepted.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Rejected: Harvard, Yale, Princeton (EA deferred, then rejected), Brown, Columbia, UPenn, Dartmouth, Cornell
Waitlisted: Vanderbilt, UNC Chapel Hill
Accepted: Duke, USC H, Clemson H, Furman, Emory
General Comments: I mean, I look at all these people who were rejected and think to myself what the hell-- how would I have gotten in anyway? Gradually the Ivies are going to lose their prestige. There are simply too many qualified people to be students at Ivies, and all of these people will end up at other schools that will become more competitive as well as time goes on. It was so demoralizing getting rejected from all 8 Ivies. I certainly wasn't expecting much, but I thought I would at least get into one. At least I got into Duke with a 5% acceptance rate and with a ranking above some of the Ivies anyway. I look back on the past four years of my life, grateful for the opportunity I took and the decisions I made and the work I put into my community, but I have to offer some advice. It really isn't worth all the stress just to get into an Ivy-- because you can be the best candidate they could ever possibly have and then still not get in.
I3auer - Anyone who applies to all of the Ivies has clearly not taken the time to really consider the schools and the experience each one offers. They are all drastically different from each other! I am sure that you did not express to any one of them a compelling reason why you were a good fit for that particular school. The schools where you were accepted are all great schools, but also very different. Take some time over the next month to think about what you want the next four years of your life to look like and I am sure you will find a good fit among them.
AP (place score in parenthesis): Computer Science AP (self study): 5.
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Math 12, English 12 Honours, Electronics 12: Robotics, Physics AP (online), Chemistry AP (online), Macro AP (online), Calculus, Biology 12, French 12, Greek 11
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.)
Loran Award Finalist
Provincial robotics awards
District wide chess awards
Provincial Math award
Provincial chemistry contest: 2/1412
Many smaller awards...
Volunteer/Community service: School web admin, math team tutoring
Summer Activities: None, maybe business development and summer school?
Essays: Great, showed passion and was very specific to Penn
Teacher Recommendation: Great
Counselor Rec: Great
Additional Rec: None
Interview: This was the best interview I ever had. My interview and I had shared a deep passion for all things that were CS or business. It was also a very unique and relaxed interview in a city 4000 miles from where I lived!
Other
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): Canada (Permanent Resident, Indian citizen)
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Duke, University of Toronto Eng Sci
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Cornell (waitlist)
General Comments:
I have lurked on this forum for a long time and it has tremendously helped me. What I learnt from my application process is fit and passion. Really important that you do activities not to get in, but because you are passionate about them. Also apply to universities because of the education provided and not the brand name. I was a business-CS kind of guy and felt Penn fit me more than any other university.
Any Canadian citizens or permanent residents out there applying for next year and have any questions, PM me, I would have already experienced most of them!
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH 4, AP SPANISH 5, AP LANG 4, AP HUMAN GEO 4, AP CHEM 4, AP WORLD 4
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: APmicro Economics, Latin I, E-commerce, international business honors, ap lit, ap ab calc, ap bio, us gov honors
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): ap scholar w distinction, questbridge finalist
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): created environmental club at school, creating a local non-profit organization to help spread good deeds teens do (got featured on the newspaper and on FOX news on tv for this), community advisor for an institute for community studies, soccer manager
Job/Work Experience: babysitter, tutor
Volunteer/Community service: almost 200 hrs of volunteer service through multi
Summer Activities: full time summer business internship in Peru summer of '11
Essays: I think they were really good, especially "why penn"
Teacher Recommendation: didnt see them.
Counselor Rec: Probably sucks, my counselor doesnt take time to know her students
Additional Rec:
Interview: Amazing! Interviewer told me I would get in!!
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public inner-city (pretty much ghetto)
Ethnicity: Hispanic (Peruvian)
Gender: F
Income Bracket: <17000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation college,
Reflection
Strengths: essays, personal story (personal circumstances, been through alot)
Weaknesses: unweighted gpa!! got pretty much all b'c and c's in 9th & 10th grade!! also sat subject tests not very high
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted: emory, amherst, bowdoin, vassar.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: because my interview went amazing and my interviewer somehow convinced penn to let me in?? I'm living proof that GPA/transcript isn't everything!
General Comments: yayyy I got into my dream school
SAT I (breakdown): 2350 Superscore, 2300 one sitting (770 M, 790 CR, 790 W, 12 Essay)
ACT:
SAT II: 800 Math II, 790 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):1/105
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):45/45 Predicted
Senior Year Course Load:IB Maths HL, IB Economics, HL, IB History HL, IB English SL, IB Physics SL, IB French Ab Initio SL
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):Cambridge Top in India in IGCSE in IT, felicitation with ex-President in India for achievements in Indian development (microcredit), Times of India Student of the Year, Selected to be part of the official Indian delegation to the 2nd Preparatory Conference for Sustainable Development, chosen to go to Wockhardt though leadership Conference where I had personalized time with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Muhammed Yunus, South Asian Leadership Conference, Many MUN awards
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):President and Founder of Eutopia, a microcredit organisation that has lent hundreds of thousands of dollars
President and Founder of Project Synergy, a network of schools and organisations that work towards sustainable development, over 30 schools and 1300 volunteers.
Editor-in-Chief of School Newspaper
Economics Club President
Head Boy
Varsity Tennis for 4 years
Job/Work Experience: Internship at ASA Bangladesh, for microcredit
Volunteer/Community service: See Eutopia and Project Synergy
Summer Activities: ASA Internship
Essays: Excellent
Teacher Recommendation: Excellent
Counselor Rec: Excellent
Additional Rec: None
Interview: None
Other
State (if domestic applicant): GA
Country (if international applicant): India (US Citizen attending High School overseas)
School Type: Independent
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <30,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Reflection
Strengths: Unique Extracurriculars, Essays, a great Journey
Weaknesses: No Hooks
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Perhaps I should the Stanford "entrepreneur" spirit. Either way, I'm immensely thankful.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Stanford (w/likely), Brown, Dartmouth, LSE (UK), UCL (UK), Northwestern, Berkeley, UCLA, Warwick (UK), University of Edinburgh (UK)
Waitlisted: Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, UChicago
Rejected: Harvard, UPenn
General Comments: To all accepted, a great journey awaits you. To those rejected/waitlisted: The most important thing is hope. I know its hard but don't lose it. Ever.
Essays: My Common App essay was a response to visiting the land of my ancestors.
Teacher Recommendation: Good, but nothing spectacular.
Interview: It went well.
Other
State (if domestic applicant):New York City
School Type: Catholic
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: Male
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM
Reflection
Strengths: Essays, grades and achievements in Track and Field
Weaknesses: Standardized test scores
Where else were you accepted/deferred/denied: Accepted: Princeton, UPenn, Brown, Georgetown, UChicago, Emory, Williams and Swarthmore / Waitlisted: Dartmouth and Columbia / Rejected: Harvard, Yale and Stanford
General Comments:
I'm grateful to have been accepted. And without a doubt, my writing was a key factor in my acceptance.
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Chinese(5), AP Biology(5) AP U.S History(5) AP European(5) AP Lang(5) AP Environmental Sciences (5) APChem+Calc(failed—so didn't report)
IB (place score in parenthesis): school doesn't offer
Senior Year Course Load: AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, AP Statistics, AP Literature, AP U.S Government, AP Psychology, Spanish IV(self), AP French(self), AP World History(self), AP Art History(self)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Tutoring Club (President), Math Club(vice-president), French Club(secretary),
Job/Work Experience: work at family biz, Teacher's Assistant, internship at tech company, volunteer at dental office, taught English in an impoverished region of China
Volunteer/Community service: Key Club, Habitat for Humanity,NHS, volunteer at library, organized lots of park-cleanups
Summer Activities: same as in job/work experience +more volunteer stuff
Essays: common app-meh, upenn-medium
Teacher Recommendation: 1)good 2) laundry list
Counselor Rec: glowing
Additional Rec: none
Interview: GODLY- My interviewer is my savior. Lasted close to 2hrs.
Other
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):domestic
School Type:Public-medium have never sent anyone to ivies in its 50+years
Ethnicity:Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: <50,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):first gen college
Reflection
Strengths: interview! Course rigor—took all the (8)APs available at our school and self-studied the rest
self-study everything else
Weaknesses: essays, scores, no major awards
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:my GODLY interview
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Columbia:waitlist, Washu: waitlist, JHU:accept, Uchicago: waitlisted, Case Western: Accept w/scholarship, OSU: full-ride
General Comments: Don't lose hope guys who were waitlisted-After Washu and Chicago waitlists I felt I had no chance elsewhere and stocked my freezer with ice cream( a flavor I dislike as a type of punishment lol) to prepare for Penn waitlist/rejection—until PENN accepted me. So I guess the moral of the story is regardless of whether you think you'll receive a rejection or acceptance, buy the ice cream flavor you like because eventually, you'll have to eat it lol. Also, if in-person interviews are available try to get them-Penn + OSU were the only ones where I received interviews.
