Update: I just submitted an LOCI for UChicago! It’s late, but still better than nothing. I’ll post the details if it works
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UW: 3.9 W: 4.4
Public High School in upstate New York
Top 5% of 325 students
8 APs, 4 Dual Enrollment, 10 Honors
Travel Softball 10U-18U; captain from 14U-18U
Travel Volleyball 16U-18U
Varsity Girls Flag Football
Unified Bowling Team member
Statistics Tutor, Volunteer scorekeeper/timer for Girls modified Lacrosse
Over 150 community service hours
National Honor Society Member
Science Honor Society Member
I applied as a Psychology Major, Early Action to all that had it available and test optional to all schools except where it was required.
Appalachian State: Accepted, no merit, rejected from Honors program
Auburn: Rejected
Baylor: Accepted, $24,000 merit
Belmont: Accepted, $10,000 merit
Clemson: Accepted, $6,500 merit, rejected Honors program
Florida Institute of Technology: Accepted, $21,000 merit, additional $10,000 scholarship I applied for
Furman University: Accepted, $34,000 merit
Nova Southeastern: Accepted, $20,000 merit
Randolph Macon: Accepted, $29,000 merit
Stetson University: Accepted, Presidential Fellows and full tuition scholarship $57,010
TCU: Accepted, $20,000 merit, Honors Program
University of Florida: Rejected
University of Miami: Waitlisted
University of Tampa: Accepted, $16,000 merit
UNC-Wilmington: Accepted, $2,000 merit
University of Tennessee: Waitlisted
Western Carolina University: Accepted
Wingate University: Accepted, $30,500 merit
I will be attending 
Stetson University in the fall. 
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congrats on that full tuition scholarship! Nothing beats FREE!
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That is a great result. She will get so much access at Fordham through the presidential scholarship. My daughter is going to BC and it is the Gabelli Presidential Scholarship there as well. Your daughter will be very well connected in finance/business through the Gabelli program. Great choice. My daughter too applied REA to Yale but we do not regret it.
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Posting on behalf of my D24. Perhaps this will give some hope/comfort to other students who don’t have an extensive list of meaningful ECs (this was something I worried about throughout her high school career).
UW: 3.8 W: 3.92
SAT superscore: 1410 (680 M/730 V)
Public High School in New Jersey
Top 25% of of class
4 APs
No school-based ECs
Minimal volunteer work (2 hours per month each school year)
Steadily employed at part-time job(s) throughout the year since summer after freshman year, works 6-24 hours per week, depending on the season.
Rutgers New Brunswick, (major: Chemical Engineering): Applied EA, deferred, then accepted, no merit
SUNY Binghamton, (major: undeclared): Applied EA, accepted, $12k per year merit
Stevens Institute of Technology (major: Chemical Engineering), $42k per year merit (TE set rate award)
Rochester Institute of Technology (major: Chemical Engineering), TE set rate award
Wentworth Institute of Technology (major: Biomedical Engineering), $26k per year merit
She will be attending RIT
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My S24 is done and committed to UMd for History. #NowATerp! Likely will dual major or minor in something (?) and take some language(s). Applied History or IR everywhere.
3rd of 3 boys (S16 UConn, S18 Pitt honors). We are in the aid donut-hole with a painfully high SAI so we are practiced merit hunters. Built this list around mix of LACs, mostly urban, mid/large, and state flagships, most/all with potential merit to keep loans down. Naturally, he attended the one with none. 
Very Large NJ Suburban HS
UW: 3.7 W: 4.3-ish
SAT: 1380 (640 M/ 740V)
6 APs, all humanities
Light on ECs/Leadership, summer job
Swimmer
Strong essay
SAFETY
Manhattan ACCEPTED $39,000 merit
Loyola Md ACCEPTED $34,000 merit
St Joe PHL. ACCEPTED $31,000 merit
Seton Hall ACCEPTED $28,000 merit**
Marist Coll ACCEPTED $27,000 merit**
Geo.Mason ACCEPTED $18,000 merit
TARGET
Clark Univ. ACCEPTED $30,500 merit, honors
American. ACCEPTED. $17,000 merit**
Delaware. ACCEPTED $12,000 merit
Rutgers. ACCEPTED Zero aid
Pittsburgh ACCEPTED Zero aid
REACHES
Fordham. ACCEPTED $28,000 merit**
Maryland. ENROLLED Zero aid, no honors
Coll W&M. REJECTED
** indicates successful appeal for more merit.
Loved Clark and Fordham. If Clark was just bigger and closer…. Marist and UDel had great programs. Had Fordham or American given him more merit he would have attended but appeals were a few grand and he needed more.
Final4 was 2x2 matrix of private/public vs yes/no loans: American, Delaware, Maryland and Marist.
A million thanks to all the CC people over the years: @Winky1, @OregonMom2024, @NiceUnparticularMan, @Gatormama, @Stat12, and many, many others.
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Congrats, @BoroDad . Well done, enjoy your CC retirement. I still have S25 coming down the pipeline. All the best to you and yours
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Not sure I’m CC retired yet!
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Impressive results!
And congrats on the “Public Ivy” enrollment 
Best wishes to your son.
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If y’all want to get rid of me, you will need to pitch together on a decent gold watch.
Plus there is D30 . . . .
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I’ll do one for D24 because I really benefitted from these when I was stalking this forum the past few years…
NE Public HS
UW GPA: 4.0
SAT: 1580
Rank: #2 in class
Applied as a STEM major
Did not apply for financial aid.
Soph/Jr year APs: World (4); APUSH (5); Calc BC (5); Chem (5); Lang (5); CSA (5)
Senior Yr AP’s: Physics 1, Physics C (Mech); Lit; Spanish; Macro; Stats
Senior Yr Math: Multivariable Calculus
Hooks: Legacy at Princeton + Hispanic
Principal EC’s:
- Two extremely competitive summer science research programs
- Accomplished musician (performed solo at Lincoln Center)
- 10+ year competitive swimmer (Varsity Captain)
- Founder of school Chem Club
- Volunteer with 2 nonprofits serving immigrant community
- Various other school clubs/leadership roles
LOR’s:
She used a Math and Chemistry teacher. She worried about doing 2 STEM teachers but they knew her best.
One of her music teachers also submitted a LOR.
Also, one of her summer science research mentors wrote a letter for her.
Supplements:
For all schools accepting supplemental information, she submitted TWO music arts supplements (2 different instruments) and a science research supplement (either an abstract or the paper itself).
Interviews:
She had interviews with Princeton, Yale, and Harvard
Early Results:
Princeton SCEA: Accepted
Michigan EA: Accepted
Georgia Tech EA: Accepted
UVA EA: Accepted
Regular Results:
Harvard: Accepted
Yale: Accepted (COMMITTED!!)
Brown: Waitlisted
Vanderbilt: Waitlisted
Final thoughts: She had amazing results and we are thrilled. I thought her application was very strong. Biggest weakness as I saw it was lack of substantial awards in science as a STEM applicant. (No olympiads, no science competitions). The summer research programs were key to her success, imo. But who knows what moved the needle…
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May I ask the names of extremely competitive science research programs were
I’m hoping you’ll find a reason to weigh in on the class of 26’s cycle! 
I’m trying to convince myself we learned enough with twins going through the process this year but then so many people I talk to IRL here say “oh. yikes. A high stats girl from the northeast. dime a dozen. prepare for the worst…(insert horror story).” I’m not saying they aren’t right (I’m not expert) and I’ll do my best to prepare for the worst but 
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Now that S24 has officially submitted SIR for UCLA (Go Bruins 
),
I am adding relevant info here in case it helps future year applicants
S24 unhooked with painfully high SAI
Rank 4/60 at small LAUSD public charter school in Los Angeles
3.9UW/4.4 Weighted GPA
1530 SAT single sitting (780M/750V) - submitted to all non-UC schools
High rigor relative to classmates (eg nobody took more AP courses) which I suspect was a big factor in his UC results relative to classmates with similar/higher rank
Calc AB(5), APUSH (5), APLang(4)
Calc BC, USGov, CompSciP in progress
Took DE Statistics and Cultural Anthropology
Extracurriculars: 4 Years Varsity Basketball was really only major one
Light Volunteer/Community service: math tutoring, volunteering at special education HS
Summer Activities: Syracuse-pre-college program and other self-directed certifications related to desired major
Applied for Data Science/Statistics Major
and Applied EA wherever available
LIKELY
UI-Bloomington ACCEPTED (EA) w $11k/yr merit and Honors
UConn ACCEPTED w $23k/yr merit and Honors
Penn St ACCEPTED (EA)
Washington St ACCEPTED w WUE $11k per year discount
Syracuse ACCEPTED (RD) w $30k/yr merit
TARGET
Purdue ACCEPTED (EA) to CoS and Honors
UW-Madison ACCEPTED (EA)
UC Davis ACCEPTED
UC Santa Barbara WAITLISTED
REACH
UC Irvine REJECTED
UC San Diego ACCEPTED
UCLA ACCEPTED ** ATTENDING
UC Berkeley ACCEPTED
U Michigan DEFERED (EA) then WAITLISTED
His list was focused on schools strong in his major and ideally with big D1 sports fandom. As a Pomona alum, I took him to visit multiple SLAC but definitely wasn’t his interest.
Knowing how selective the top UC schools have become (and seeing many similar-stat kids get shut out last year), we spent last summer touring and identifying alternatives that he could love and where his SAT would be seen. From Jan-March we were excited for him to end up at Purdue but after UCs came in, were thrilled to have Cal vs UCLA become his finalists. Went to Cal day since he was less familiar with that campus but it wasn’t enough to overcome 18 years of dreaming about UCLA.
Feel very fortunate that it worked out so brilliantly for him but the whole experience for him/us was joyful throughout thanks to setting good expectations and spending time finding multiple LIKELIES he would be happy at.
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GPA: Top 5%
Scores: 35 ACT
Rigor: 12-13 APs
Demographics: Wasian from a public school in a flyover state.
Recommendations: I reckon her recommendations were strong because she has a very close relationship with her teachers.
Essays: I have no idea whether her essays were good or bad in content; I only know that they were well written in structure, style, and grammar.
ECs & Awards: D24 did three varsity sports (nowhere near being recruited but “all-state” in one sport), is president of her school’s largest club (volunteer work), is on an academic team that competed nationally this April, works as a youth ski coach in the winter, and has some impressive outdoorsy accomplishments for her age. She also had a ton of art activity: Sales, some regional awards, and a portfolio submitted to every college except Pomona and Penn, which don’t accept visual art portfolios.
Outside Help: No advisors or test prep courses beyond UWorld. But I read books, listened to podcasts, and scoured CC for advice. There was some anxiety that I wasn’t always giving the best advice, but it seemed to have worked.
Hooks: No major hooks, but we live in a (economically diverse) rural area, which might have been a baby hook.
Rejected:
- Williams ED
Waitlisted:
- Pomona (accepted and would consider if offered a spot)
- Penn
- Skidmore
Accepted:
- State Flagship EA
- Macalester
- Scripps
- WashU
- Wesleyan
- Smith
- Bowdoin
- Swarthmore
- Dartmouth
Attending: Swarthmore
Probably-Should-Be-Ignored Advice: For cost-sensitive families, I recommend running those NPCs with your tax returns early in the process and being brutally honest with your kid about what’s affordable early and throughout the process. We targeted several elite schools because their NPCs showed that their financial aid, if admitted, would be outstanding. The financial aid packages from all but one school were similar or cheaper than the NPCs we previously ran. If the list above seems reach heavy, it’s because D24 got into our very affordable flagship EA, which allowed her to aggressively seek financial aid from the aforementioned elite schools. This strategy worked for us. YMMV, but for our particular financial circumstances, the elite schools with great financial aid were much cheaper than the strong schools with good merit aid. I’d also recommend applying to different kinds of schools to accommodate your kid’s potentially shifting priorities between the fall when they apply and spring when they have to decide. For example, D24 was initially attracted to several outdoorsy schools like Dartmouth and Williams, but ultimately chose a more urban school so that she could experience an environment totally different from her home.
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UW: 3.75/W: 4.5
Top15% class of ~500 (public)
Full IB Diploma/Full IB MYP +3AP
(Highest rigor designation)
Full CTE certificate
Bilingual seal
100s of service/activity hours
Desired California school, but will attend in-state due to cost. Did not apply to UCs due to cost. I would advise applying to more CA private schools for the chance of aid, although my child chose not to.
Attending:
University of Arizona, Franke Honors college. Attending/in-state tuition, ~13K); $10K merit. Estimated COA ~$20k
Accepted:
Arizona State, $7500 merit (in-state)
Estimated COA: ~$24k
Chapman U/Dodge College (documentary film/broadcasting)
$14k merit + $16k need w/ likelihood of $10k additional merit after deposit, but we ran out of time due to FAFSA situation
Estimated COA: $42-52k
($3k work study option)
SDSU/Weber Honors college—
Oos, no $
Estimated COA, $50k w/annual increases
CSULB, oos, COA $41k
CSUN (oos WUE) COA: $29k
Waitlisted:
University of Miami
Rejected:
USC (Annenberg)
Cal Poly (psychology)
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If your student still dreams of school in California, remember that University of Arizona belongs to National Student Exchange. NSE allows up to 2 semesters of exchange at any of the other participating schools, paying no more than what the student is paying already, and credits transfer seamlessly. Participating schools in California include Cal State Monterey Bay, Chico, East Bay, Northridge, San Bernardino, Stanislaus, Sonoma State, Cal Poly SLO. (Also lots of other interesting schools across North America!)
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Despite everything I’ve learned here over many years, our second go around on this college admissions ride was riddled with things we’d like to have done differently, but ultimately don’t know that results would have been different either, just making mental notes for our third and final in 2027!
Career goal: Orthopaedics | Backup plan: Physical Therapy
Midwest Region | Small private HS | Unhooked
UW: 4.2 WGPA: 4.8 | CR: 4/164 (reported on transcript, school allows you to choose)
ACT: 35 (one sitting), 34 STEM (submitted everywhere)
10 AP (4s & 5s, reported all) | 3 CCP/DE
National Awards: NM Commended, NLE medalist, NLE Perfect Paper
Main EC: Varsity athlete, earned team awards, played same sport out of season year round, ran camps and volunteered as an inner city youth coach for same sport
Other ECs: NHS VP, other honor societies, leadership team for a large local fundraiser, some small service based events
Essays: The personal statement essay was very strong, writing is a strength of hers but she definitely did not plan enough time for supplementals so I would say those were just average. The supplemental word limits and topics didn’t allow her to truly deep dive into one of her more important ECs in a way that showed their full impact on her and since that one related most to her future career choice, that was a definite miss in her overall application.
Recommendations: These were probably weak (but also out of our control), her school doesn’t seem to give credence to the importance of these. They weren’t unflattering but weren’t particularly interesting either (a nice but basic ‘form letter’ reaffirming that she is a great student and person). In addition, her counselor was leaving for maternity leave at the height of EA season and uploaded her secondary LOR rather than primary LOR and would not correct it because she felt they sounded the same. (there was a specific reason the primary person was chosen though and this still irritates me)
Yale: Rejected RD
ND: Deferred REA, Rejected RD (*no LOCI)
Vanderbilt: Waitlisted RD
WashU: Waitlisted RD
CWRU: Accepted EA (University Scholarship, CWRU Grant)
UNC: Accepted EA (Rejected Honors College, Rejected Science Scholars)
UVA: Waitlisted EA (Interviewed for Jefferson but didn’t advance, *Applied Kinesiology)
{Would not recommend. Didn’t do the math to realize she was competing for ~15 spots. Also didn’t realize the impact of UVA getting rid of EA deferrals. Wish we would have applied RD and into A&S}
UGA: Accepted EA (Honors College, Classic Scholarship, didn’t apply Foundation Fellows)
UoSC: Accepted EA (Honors College, Academic Scholar Excellence, Rejected Top Scholars)
Purdue: Accepted EA (Trustees Scholarship, didn’t apply to Honors College)
OSU: Accepted EA (Honors College, Maximus Scholarship)
IU: Accepted EA (Dean’s Scholarship, Hutton Honors Scholarship)
UTK: Accepted EA (Waitlisted Honors College, Volunteer Scholarship, Rejected Haslam Scholars)
Auburn: Accepted EA (Presidential Scholarship, didn’t apply to Honors College)
UA: Accepted EA (Presidential Scholarship, didn’t apply to Randall Research Scholars)
Loyola Chicago: Accepted EA (Presidential Scholarship, Honors College, Rejected Ignatian)
Dayton: Accepted EA (Trustees Scholarship, Honors College)
Miami University: Accepted EA (Presidential Fellows Program, full ride + can be used for study abroad + research grant) Attending
D24 was also awarded a $20K Governor’s Merit Scholarship which she is allowed to stack with the full ride, so she’ll be able to set that aside for grad school, in addition to what we would have contributed if she hadn’t taken the full ride. There is a chance waitlist movement may cause her to rethink plans but for now she is happy with her choice.
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Thank you! I will check it out. I am not familiar with this program.
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This is such helpful advice, thank you for posting. Our D26 will have some similarities to your D24’s profile and she will apply to similar schools. Though we are from the northeast, which is a ding at many of these schools (according to the college counselor).