<p>Reposting this. Accepted through the Questbridge College Match, got my acceptance letter with the EDers. </p>
<p>Decision: Accepted to CC (Match)</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 700 CR 610 M 770 W (2nd sitting) = 2080
[</em>] ACT: 30 (not submitted)
[<em>] SAT II: 700 Lit, 650 USH, 750 Span w/ List
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/135
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (4), Spanish Lit (3), US History (5), Eng Lang (4)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Physics, AP Eng Lit, AP Gov, AP Calc AB, AP Span Lang
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Arts scholarship for creative writing (state level), Questbridge College Prep Scholar
[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Government (Freshman and Sophomore Class President, Student Body President my junior and senior year), Marching Band (First Chair/Section Leader), Drama Club (Treasurer), Academic Decathlon<br>
[<em>] Job/Work Experience:
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteering as a cabin leader for an elementary school outdoor education program (forgot to list)
[<em>] Summer Activities: Governor’s School for the arts (creative writing), TASP
[</em>] Essays: Super polished.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Teachers who legit knew me as a student and as a person. They must have been amazing.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Explained my socioeconomic situation well, my family’s small business, etc.<br>
[<em>] Additional Rec: From Academic Decathlon adviser. I’ve been working with her throughout my four years of high school. Explained how I was the only freshman in a team composed of all seniors my freshman year and went on to become a leader of the team in the years following.
[</em>] Interview: No Interview
[/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Small, rural public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Mexican
[<em>] Gender: M
[</em>] Income Bracket: Poor enough to get Questbridge.
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first generation [/ul]
Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: I’m confident that my essays had a strong influence. For this QB app, we had to write three. I utilized every space that I could to highlight different aspects of my life and how they’ve influenced me. I believe I succeeded in concisely conveying an accurate picture of myself, my circumstances, and my passions. I wrote my heart out and was completely myself.
[<em>] Weaknesses: My math subscore is obviously subpar or whatever, but hey. They were able to overlook it, I guess. My USH subject test was also meh, but I think the 5 I got on the AP test made up for that?
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred: I come from a severely underrepresented part of the state. I think it was evident that I was doing all that I could with the resources that I had at my small town high school. I was involved in a handful of ECs (listed above) since my freshman year and had legit leadership in each and every one. Quality vs. Quantity and whatnot. Also, I ranked Columbia as my first choice in the College Match as it has been my first choice for years. My “Why Columbia” was very strong. My passion for the school was definitely conveyed. All the knowledge I had acquired about the school over the years from reading this forum, Bwog, etc., made it so that I could be super specific. I knew what the “Columbia experience” was and made sure they knew how badly I wanted it.<br>
[li] Where else were you accepted/deferred: Also ranked Yale and Stanford as they were non-binding. I’ll never know if they wanted me or not. [/ul][/li]General Comments: I started reading CC in the fall of my sophomore year and it opened my eyes to so many things. Without it, I never would’ve realized that going to these prestigious schools was at all attainable. It’s been a whirlwind that led up to my senior year of high school and this application cycle. The information I’ve collected throughout these past couple of years has been invaluable, as I’ve mentioned above and it saddens me that there are so many viable applicants out there in underrepresented areas who just don’t KNOW. They just don’t know that this is possible. But it is. And I’ve made it. And it’s an absolute dream and part of me still cannot believe it. So while the “chance me” threads, obsession over scores, and other CC BS are super frustrating and quite disgusting, I put up with it. I post these results stats in hopes that somewhere, someone will read this and KNOW that this is possible. Work hard, play your cards right. It all works out in the end. This has been such a journey. Peace out.</p>