Official Boston University Class of 2016 Decisions Thread

iborpastan
Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:22:59 +0000

Decision: Rejected
School applied to: CAS for chemistry

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2150 (650 M, 760 CR, 740 W)
[] ACT:
[] SAT II: 740 (US History, 660 (Physics), 660 (Math level 1)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.1 (school doesn’t give non-weighted)
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 9%
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calculus AB (3), AP Physics B (3), AP US History (4)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature, AP Computer Science A, AP Calculus BC, AP Psychology, Umass Lowell Chemistry I and II (Umass honors program), Umass Lowell Chemistry lab
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Silver medal in physics and gold medal in art history in state Academic Decathlon, NHS, silver medal in national Latin exam, but really nothing truly major like Intel or USAMO. [/li]
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Academic Decathlon (president junior year), theater company, cross country, track (junior year), piano.
[] Job/Work Experience:
[] Volunteer/Community service:
American History Textile Museum, Lowell Folk Festival
[] Summer Activities:
Harvard Summer School: intro to biochemistry.
Mostly just read and watched college lectures for the heck of it.
[] Essays:
I thought they were good. I had teachers and friends read them and received praise.
[] Teacher Recommendation: One from my physics teacher which was very positive, and a solid recommendation from my sophomore year English teacher.
[] Counselor Rec: My counselor claimed that it was the first and longest rec she wrote.
[] Additional Rec:
[li] Interview: [/li]
[/ul]Other[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): Massachusetts
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: urban public
[] Ethnicity: white
[] Gender: male
[] Income Bracket: <30,000 a year.
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): [/li]
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: ummmm, essays? SATs are ok? I expressed a genuine passion for learning?
[] Weaknesses: GPA is respectable, but nothing too fancy.
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Looking at the above stats, I have no idea why I was rejected. I had an awful slump junior year, but I pulled myself out of it (it explains why I only barely passed the AP exams I’ve taken so far and why my rank isn’t higher). I worked hard on my BU app, and I thought BU was a realistic match. It was one of my top choices.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

[/ul]General Comments:
Only response I’m waiting for is for Cornell. I need a miracle at this point. :’( Any got any thoughts about why I might have been rejected? It could have been just the sheer number of people from my high school who applied. What of my income? I’m not exactly the richest applicant.