Congratulations!!! Very happy for your and I’m sure you’ve going to knock 'em dead! Thanks so much for the update – it’s always great to see how a student’s journey ends. Though, of course, this is actually the beginning for you!
To be clear, then, you have formally committed to JHU before hearing the remainder of your decisions?
A final update to this thread:
In the end, I received 5 acceptances and 1 waitlist, all of which I am immensely happy with.
I was accepted to:
Illinois Tech (safety, chosen because I was really interested in Chicago and felt like I would have attended the school under other circumstances.) Received a decent sized scholarship and received an offer to interview for their full tuition scholarship, but I did not have the funds at the time to fly to Chicago to do the interview. Overall, I chose to not attend due to the fact that even with scholarships, this was the most expensive of my choices.
Reed - it was suggested in this thread, and I decided to apply when they extended their early action deadline. I decided to not apply to University of Portland due to the fact that I was uninterested in schools in this area and that Reed felt like the best fit for me in terms of Portland schools. I was accepted Early Action, and received a really cool package from them and a handwritten note from admissions on my acceptance letter. This was the 2nd cheapest option for me, tied with UW and Carleton.
Carleton - this was also suggested in this thread, and I was interested in their physics/astronomy program. I was amazed when I got this acceptance, and I really liked their admissions package - it was a really cool folder! I liked the vibes that Carleton gave off, and this was a school I seriously considered.
University of Washington + Honors - I was definitely going to attend UW if no school offered a better financial aid package. They have really nice dorms, a DOG as their mascot, and I have always liked Seattle and felt like it was far enough from home for me to achieve the independence I wanted. It was very hard for me to say goodbye to this school, as I had many friends who already committed and I was accepted to their honors program a couple weeks later, which made it sound even better to me. The issue here was that I received no aid, and ultimately it was going to be the same price as Reed and Carleton. If I did not get aid from JHU, I would have attended UW.
Johns Hopkins - I was accepted on Friday the 13th, which also is likely to have been my last day of high school, despite me not knowing it at the time. I’ve met a lot of fellow '24s who are all amazing and made me love the school even more, along with a bunch of '23s who have served as amazing mentors. I plan to join their Science Olympiad volunteer club so that I can help with the Maryland state competition (I knew going into this process that I wanted to do anything I could to continue working with SciOly kids), and I might try to continue either my squash or tennis careers there too! Every current student I’ve talked to has told me that the vast majority of students are helpful and all try to help each other succeed, and that is what I wanted in a “non-competitive environment.” On top of all of this, the aid was extremely generous and I will be paying about half of my FAFSA EFC per year - which is very exciting for me!
I plan to double major in Physics + either Electrical Engineering or Applied Math, and I am very excited to spend my next four years as a blue jay. I want to continue challenging myself, and I am glad that JHU has given me the opportunity to do so.
As for my other result, I was waitlisted at Georgia Tech. I imagined myself having a great time in Atlanta, but did worry that I wouldn’t get much aid from GT. Since decisions came out the day after Hopkins, I wasn’t too hurt and declined my waitlist offer a few days later. It wasn’t on my initial list here, as it was a school that I gained an interest in closer to late November. It was a school that I could see myself thriving at, and I’m very happy for those who got accepted or who will get accepted from the waitlist!
I have declined offers from the other schools I was accepted to and submitted my deposit to JHU. I hope that other dedicated students will fill my spot at those schools, and I know that I have made the right decision. I’ve met a ton of my future classmates, and I am so excited to spend the next four years with such amazing people.