Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/600ish
AP (place score in parenthesis): US Gov (5), Micro (5), Macro (5), Lang (5), Calc AB (5), Enviro (5), Bio (5), US History (4), Lit (5), Calc BC (5), Psych (5), Chem (5), US Comp (4), Music (3)*explained*
Senior Year Course Load: Pretty much all AP
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): TASP Finalist, AP Scholar, Econ Challenge Semi finalist, QB College Prep
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): WINK Literary/Art Magazine (Co-Editor), NHS (Co-President), Speech and Debate (Captain), MUN
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: State air show, church, library (not much, to be honest)
Summer Activities: FBI Multicultural Youth Academy (got in pilot year, volunteered as a leader the second year)
Essays: CA one was decent.
Teacher Recommendation: I'd say pretty strong for both
Counselor Rec: A little above average, I suppose
Additional Rec: Kinda small, but used the supervisor from the Youth Academy
Interview: I actually thought it was my worst one, but turned out to be one of the best. The guy was genuinely interested in having me explain my many "potential career interests". I thought I was presumptuous and unspecialized, but he thought I was extremely versatile; a classmate of mine said he alluded to me in his interview 0.o.
Other
State: OR
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 60-80k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Indonesian Citizenship, Malay
Reflection
Strengths: I reread my general essay and it solely focused on civic and international duty of Penn. I think that was my main ticket. My Huntsman one was a fairly okay essay on oil now that I look at it.
Weaknesses: Volunteer hours. I didn't have many international/business oriented activities but I don't think those are major prerequisites at all.
Why you think you were accepted: I reread my general essay and it solely focused on civic and international duty of Penn. I think that was my main ticket. My Huntsman one was a fairly okay essay on oil now that I look at it.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Reject (Other ivies)
General Comments: I didn't really take the SAT II for Spanish, which is my target language... I'm really kinda astounded. Yet grateful, nonetheless as Penn was my first choice. I know assuredly there were plenty of other well-qualified applicants, but I trust their decision. I don't post on CC often, but I'd like to return the favor since I looked at quite a few decisions threads the past year or so.
Rohan Tangri?
You were rejected because you got beat by the school quota. Usually one person per one thousand at your school. Most Ivies group schools together. People like Edgar and Sandeep just have you beat.
I know, it's kind of late.. but after looking at these threads for the last two years, I really felt the need to contribute to this thread.
Decision: Accepted - CAS
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 760 Math, 650 Reading, 770 Writing
ACT: -
SAT II: 720 Math Level 1, 600 Bio
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/38
AP (place score in parenthesis): No APs offered until Senior Year (Small Private School). Did dual enrollment instead.
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Dual Enrollment (Done at a state university):36 Credits (12 classes). College GPA was a 3.8
Senior Year Course Load: Toughest Course Load available.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): President's Gold volunteer service award (Grades: 9,10,11).
Excellent rating in State Solo Ensemble.
Bausch and Lomb Science Scholarship award from University of Rochester.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Music E.C: All State Percussionist, Section Leader in my school band (9,10,11), Participated in Solo Ensemble every year and scored well, etc.
Medical E.C: Did a research project at an eye institute(Junior year), did a NIH sponsored Internship (Senior year), Volunteered at a Hospital.
Other: National Honors Society president, started a shoe drive and collected 1000 shoes, participated in Indian dances for four years in a row.
Job/Work Experience: NIH Internship for my senior summer. Worked for my parents in their retail stores.
Volunteer/Community service: 1200 Hours. 400 Hours from one research lab, 400 hours for an indian association. Other 400 were scattered, but most of my volunteer hours aren't scattered.
Summer Activities: NIH Internship (Senior), HHMI Summer Scholars program (Junior), Dual Enrollment (Sophomore), Volunteer at Hospital (Freshman).
Essays: Showed a huge passion for Penn. Readers were probably impressed that I knew so much about the school despite never visiting prior to my acceptance. I really think that my essays got me in.
Teacher Recommendation: Great, going to a small school helped a lot.
Counselor Rec: Great, she loves me and really wants me to get into a great school since not many go. .
Additional Rec: LOR from a prestigious doctor.
Interview:
Other
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Parochial
Ethnicity: Asian indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Applied for Financial Aid
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):None :/
Reflection
Strengths:GPA, Class Rank, work experience, Essays.
Weaknesses: Standardized test scores were horrible, especially my SAT 2.
Why you think you were accepted: Penn has been my top choice for a while (I wrote a thread about this in November lol). I showed a passion for Penn despite never visiting.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Rejected at all the other ivy leagues. Wait listed at JHU, Williams, and Vanderbilt.
My advice to future applicants is to cast a wide net. You'll get lucky somewhere, like I did lol. I applied to maybe 15 top schools and was only accepted at Penn. Oh and also SAT scores are not everything, but its probably what kept me out of most of the other ivys. Show a passion for the school in the essays if you can. Everyone is qualified, its the person who writes the best essays that gets in.
[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *]SAT: 2290 (CR 770, Math 800, Writing 720)
[ *]SAT II: US Hist 790, Math II 800, Chem 800, Bio M 800
[ *]GPA: 3.9ish
[ *]Rank: 5/450ish
[ *]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP Chem, US Hist, Calc AB, Stat, Compsci A, Bio: All 5's
[ /list][ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays: Common app: 8/10, Supplements: 6 or 7 out of 10. They were mostly cut and paste, but maybe I'm being modest
[ *]Teacher Recs: Should be great, didn't really get to see them.
[ *]Counselor Rec: Should be excellent, I'm probably one of her favorite students.
[ *]Supplementary Material: Didn't send any
[ *]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None. Antihook: Asian male with no exceptional EC's going into engineering :'(
[ /list][ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location: PA
[ *]High School Type: Public
[ *]Ethnicity: Asian
[ *]Gender: Male
[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *]Extracurriculars: Nothing special. Orchestra, Mock Trials, Electric Car Club, Intern at a chem lab for 4 years (my strongest one probably. Sent in a pretty good recommendation from that)
[ *]Awards: Distinguished AP scholar, National merit finalist
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/list]Congrats to all those who got in!!
Where else: Accepted to cornell, rice, and psu schreyers.
waitlisted at dartmouth and duke, rejected from stanford and MIT.
going to cornell!
SAT I: Reading (780), Math (780), Writing (680) = 2240.
ACT: <not submitted>
SAT II: Math II (800), Chemistry (790), U.S. History (750).
Unweighted GPA: 4.28/4.0.
Rank: <na>
AP: U.S. History (5), Chemistry (5), Calculus AB (5), Statistics (5), English Language and Composition (5).
IB: <na>
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Government and Politics, AP Biology, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Calculus BC, Spanish IV, Teacher Assistant.
Major Awards: Third Place WV State Math Field Day.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Student Government (Senior Class Secretary), Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society (President), National Honor Society (Vice President), Math Honorary Club, Science Bowl, Cross Country (3 Varsity letters), Track and Field (1 Varsity letter), MHS Frisbee Club (Founder and President), Community League Basketball (Captain), Community League Frisbee (Captain).
Job/Work Experience: <na>
Volunteer/Community service: Middle school tutoring, helping in a nursing home.
Summer Activities: Governor's Honors Academy for 3 weeks in 2011, a smattering of one-week camps.
Essays: I took the essays very seriously.
Teacher Recommendations: ???
Counselor Rec: ???
Additional Rec: <na>
Interview: No.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): West Virginia.
School Type: Public.
Ethnicity: White.
Gender: Male.
Income Bracket: $120 - 140k.
Hooks: Class Secretary, underrepresented region.
Reflection
Strengths: Application essays.
Weaknesses: Music, foreign languages.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Low probability.
Where were you accepted: Brown, Olin, Tufts, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, UVA (Honors), Virginia Tech (Honors), WVU.
Where were you waitlisted: Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Duke, Lehigh.
Where were you rejected: Yale, Cornell, Penn.
General Comments:
I am pleased to be going to Brown University in the Fall of 2012.
There seems to be quite a bit of randomness in the evaluation process at schools where the acceptance rates are very low.
I took all of the application essays very seriously because my lowest SAT score was in writing. Brown's app was the one with the most essays which might be why Brown was the only Ivy (out of the seven that I applied to) that accepted me.
SAT: 2160 CR: 750 M: 650 W: 760
ACT: 34
GPA: (4.0 scale) 4.0
SAT II: Biology M 750 US History 780 Literature 730
Rank: top 10% of very small class
AP : World Hitory 4, Biology 5, European History 5, Lang 5, Chemistry 4, Art History 5, US History 5
IB: none
Senior Year Courses: AP Calculus AB, AP Physics, AP Literature, AP Government/honors economics, Dual Enrollment Psychology, Honors Marine Science, Advanced Performance Workshop, AP Human Geography
Awards: National Merit Scholar Commended, Most Service Hours at School, Superior Ranking for Publicity Design at State and District Thespian level
ExtraCirriculars: Theatre Troupe Vice President, held a job for two years, second job over the summer, literary magazine editor, debate club founder, hospital volunteer
Essays:
Common App: I wrote about how Hermione Granger influenced who I am today, and honestly I loved this essay. This essay was very personal and quirky. It really hit me on an emotional level. I never thought of a second topic. This was the first one that jumped into my head and I felt very good about it. 10/10
300 Word Penn: I had an advantage because I really like the idea of a liberal education. I want to major in Biological Basis of Behavior but minor in Art History. It was a slightly boring essay though. 8/10
500 Word Penn: I was able to include the fact that my grandmother donated her body to the medical school at Penn. 9/10
Teacher Recomendation:
I had three amazing teachers write my recomendations. One teacher had even had me as a student twice. They are very supportive and have been throughout high school.
Interview went well. It lasted about an hour and a half.
State: FL
School Type: Small religious private school
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Middle middle class. (I saw someone describe themselves as this and thought the phrase fit perfectly.)
Hooks: Honestly, none.
Strengths: My essays, recomendations, and extra curriculars
Weaknesses: My SAT scores, I thought if one thing would keep me from getting into Penn it would be my math score.
I think I was accepted because they saw how much I truly love the school. That is what I believe they are looking for a lot in ED. I am truly blessed to be a part of such a great group. Best of luck to those not attending Penn. You are all amazing and I know you will succeed wherever you are!
I am looking for advice for my daughter as to what class she needs to take BEFORE she takes the SAT Subject Test for:
Literature (she is scheduled for AP Lang/ Comp in her junior year and AP Lit her senior year)...but she needs to take the Subj Tests after her junior year to apply ED.
Chem (her school only has Chem SL and not AP Chem)
Math 2 (can she take if after PreCal H or is it a must that she take it after AP Calc AB?
Math II is best after precalculus. Do not wait till after AP Calculus. She may actually forget some of the concepts she learned in precalculus if she waits.
