<p>Decision: Deferred</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2380 (800 math, 780 CR, 800 writing)
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): n/a
[<em>] SAT II: 800 math II, 800 Bio M, 760 Physics
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Weighted GPA: 5.2
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/592
[<em>] AP (place score in parentheses): Statistics, Latin Literature, US History, Comp Sci A, English Language, Psychology, Biology (all 5s, Latin Lit mostly self-studied)
[</em>] IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Calculus BC, AP Latin Vergil, Spanish 4 Honors
[</em>] Number of other EA applicants in your school: none
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul] not too much…NMSF, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, some regional math and latin awards</p>[/li]
<p>Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Freethought Society (founder & president), Gay-Straight Alliance (founding member), Math Club (VP), Tutoring, XC (JV, 3 years) and Track (Varsity, 4 years), Piano (11 years)
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Summer Internship at Clemson University
[li] Volunteer/Community service:[/ul] unfortunately not much 
Relay for Life every year, did a volunteer town trash pickup one year</p>[/li]
<p>Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[ul]
[<em>] Essays (Include Subjects):[list]
[li] What You Do For Pleasure: playing piano (8)[/li][</em>] Department at MIT: physics and linguistics (8)
[<em>] What You Do That’s Creative?: helping & working with others (9)
[</em>] World You Come From: how my parents encouraged me to learn (7)
[<em>] Significant Challenge: school principal opposed to posters for Darwin Day celebration for freethought (10)
[</em>] Other:[/ul] sending in a writing portfolio for RD
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation #1: Chem teacher, Ph.D., known for 3 years, Math Club sponsor, said it was excellent
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation #2: English teacher, known for 3 years, awesome
[<em>] Counselor Rec: no idea, I come from a large school & there’s not much individual attention
[</em>] Additional Rec: from research mentor, who was an MIT Ph.D. grad
[<em>] Interview: pretty good, lasted an hour, got along well
[</em>] Art Supplement:[/list] thought about music, gonna send in writing now</p>
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] Date Submitted App: sometime in mid-October, wish I had waited longer
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): South Carolina (bleh)
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: about 70,000
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul] not really</p>
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: recommendations, freethought society was unique, pretty good essays
[</em>] Weaknesses: lack of major hook, not enough volunteering
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: my high school, despite being large and pretty rich, doesn’t care about academic extracurriculars…I had no idea that science olympiads and such even existed until this year
[</em>] What would you have done differently?:[/ul] put a bit more time into essays, submitted portfolios</p>
<p>Other Factors: probably don’t stand out enough compared to other applicants
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc: bleh. Congrats to admitted, good luck to deferred!</p>