Hey guys, I just made a college confi account, but I’ve been using this whole year. My goal here is to give my full application for future applicants to see how they compare with where I got in and how much I got. If we could make this a thread of a bunch of applications that would be pretty cool.
Basic idea before reading on: great stats, decent extracurriculars, applied for aerospace engineering to big state schools and gt, Im an upper middle class white guy.
Stats
Act: 35 composite (35/35/34/35) and 36 superscore (36/35/36/35) I only took it twice
Sat II: math 1 800 math 2 770 (these weren’t required for any school I applied too, but I took them for hope of it bolstering my application)
GPA: 5.84/5.0 weighted 4.98/5.0 unweighted (this was one B for reference)
Rank: 8/583 in a pretty averagely competitive public high school in Illinois
AP: World 4, US history 4, english lang 4, econ 5, us gov 5, current- calc bc, physics c, env science, psych
Awards
Coalition allows 5 so I did 5 but the last 2 were a stretch
11th place at illinois math team state, ap scholar with distinction, national merit commended scholar, illinois state scholar, member of the nhs
Extracurriculars
I applied on the coalition application so Im just going to list all 8 of my extracurriculars that were on my application
Volunteering: I worked at a cat rescue since 8th grade for 2 hours a week just to care for the cats and I was a volunteer math tutor for my school during my study hall period
Academic: Math team was my strongest extracurricular, I was the team captain junior and senior year, qualified for state each year and placed 11th at state during my sophomore year. I also listed being in my schools nhs and a competitive admission engineering summer camp at Michigan Technological University
Work: I was a lifeguard my soph and junior year as well as a swim instructor (about 8 hours per week in the school year and 35 during the summer)
Sports: Ive swam since 6th grade and was varsity for my soph and junior year as well as a leader for the jv team (No awards or anything)
Classes (H means honors, didn’t include gym which was for all 4 years)
Freshman- bio H, English H, Spanish 1, geometry H, AP world history
Soph- Chem H, English H, Spanish 2H, Algebra 2H, APUS history
Junior- Physics H, AP English Lang, Spanish 3H, Precalc H, AP gov, AP econ
Senior- AP physics C, AP environmental science, dual credit rhetoric, AP calc BC, AP psych
Essays
My coalition main essay was something I was very proud of I would say it was very strong 9.5/10 (I could definitely send a copy to anyone that’s particularly interested)
My other essays per college were strong, but some stronger than others, I will specify for each later
Rec letters
My references actually let me read them before they submitted them because Im pretty tight with my references (other than my counselor, although we have a strong connection too) I chose my geometry and precalc teachers and the letters were extremely flattering, but not particularly wonderfully worded as you might expect from an English teacher, so 9/10 for them and probably similar for my counselor
The results
I didn’t apply to any prestigious private schools because I didn’t see myself at them so if that’s what you’re looking for I’m not the guy. In general, the info you might find helpful most likely has to do with the scholarships I received (which was the biggest concern for me as I would be paying for the bulk of my schooling, I received no need-based aid)
Ohio state
Accepted EA into honors, I applied for eminence (which is their full ride, they offer 40ish and they have 75 semifinalists) and didn’t make it to the semifinalist round and I believe my application for this was extremely good, but I didn’t expect much. I was offered national buckeye and maximus- $16500
Uiuc
Accepted EA into honors (instate) didn’t try to hard on my app and didn’t get any scholarships so even in state coa is around 37k, I assumed this was a safety, but some of my friends who also applied EA for engineering with equal stats to me got deferred and waitlisted so don’t be too sure -$0
Georgia tech
Accepted EA this is probably my only reach, given no scholarships, idk if they have honors but if they do, I didn’t get in -$0
U Maryland
Accepted EA into honors, I was really hoping for Banneker key, there are 400 given, 150ish are full rides, and I didn’t get either partial or full. I got the presidential and a small engineering department scholarship- $13000
U Kentucky
Accepted EA into honors, UK was only for the hope of singletary or presidential which I had a strong application for, but I got neither (they offer something like 80ish, not very clear tho) Additionally UK isn’t very competitive, but I have heard the honors college is and emphasizes the essay heavily. I got the highest blue grass and a engineering department scholarship -$15500
Rutgers
Accepted EA into honors got the trustee and henry Rutgers scholarships- $19000, net cost was still 39k
U Florida
Accepted EA, didn’t apply to honors and didn’t try hard on the application, but they surprised me with a scholarship because they are notoriously hard on out of staters, they offer around 80 scholarships (3 levels) I got the second level- $16000
Purdue
Accepted EA, I can’t recall if there’s an extra essay for applying to honors, so if there is, I didn’t apply, but if there isn’t then I didn’t get in. I got the alumni general scholarship- $6370
I hope this has been helpful feel free to ask any questions