@Lindagaf @collegemom3717 Thank you. It’s really disheartening to hear about all those people who got rejected despite being way more qualified than me. But it’s probably better to let this sink in now rather than later. I do think I can get into at least one of my match schools (I know several applicants with worse credentials than me who got into UIUC), but in the worst case scenario, I’d be happy going to my state school or even enter the workforce at 18.
Also, @CU123, my focus is CS but I’m genuinely interested in several subjects (I’m specifically applying to schools where I can pursue multiple subjects). I was planning on putting everything in the activities (3/10 are CS, still) and then writing essays specifically focused on CS. Would that be sub-optimal? Would it be better to completely leave stuff off? It feels weird purposefully omitting stuff from my application, but if that’s what I need to do then so be it.
@doorrealthe On the issue of JV sports - to be frank, I’m comically terrible at sports. In fact, I was cut from tennis freshman year. The reason I feel like sports are worth mentioning is not the fact that I did them or was successful; rather, that I improved substantially (I shaved roughly 30% of my 5K time, moved up several spots on the tennis lineup). Is this worth mentioning, as it shows personal growth I guess? Would this count as a “special quality”? It’s not unique at all, but I feel like it does reflect character.