Decision: Accepted
I wrote this before to make sure that I am unbiased
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1460 (760EBRW/700M) (took it once)
ACT (breakdown): 34 (didn’t submit, 4 is unlucky in my culture)
SAT II: Molecular Biology 650
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Weighted GPA: 4.2
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 20/100
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Studio Art (5), AP Human Geography (4), AP Biology (3), AP Chemistry (2), AP Language (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Yearbook, AP Literature, Pre Calculus, Spanish 1, French 1, AP Physics 1
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): I would have qualified for the Junior Olympics in track if I had continued with track but I quit at 13 because I developed a passion for dissecting, so nothing I guess??
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): I write 5 articles a month for Buzzfeed through their Buzzfeed Community program, President and founder of both the French and Spanish Clubs, started this year, staff writer for school yearbook (I would be an editor but the upperclassmen really hated me last year), Dissection and Anatomy Club for all four years, Track runner (until age 13)
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: I volunteer at the kitchen of the local retirement center, I help cook dinner (10 hours a week)
Summer Activities: Buzzfeed journalism internship, I attended a $3,000 ACT and SAT bootcamp the summer before my freshman and sophomore years
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common 11/10 Incredibly inspiring essay (my mother cried reading it) about how attending an elite SAT/ACT camp made me cognizant of the economic imbalances of our education system and the ways in which the wealthy act as an aristocracy in the U.S. My supplements something that’s meaningful to you 9/10: talked about how I dissect small animals (rats, squirrels, rabbits) that I capture with traps around my parent’s house and how I gave up track to teach myself the anatomy of animals
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 7/10: This was my yearbook adviser, she heard me say some pretty racist things before so idk how good the letter was
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10: My English teacher wrote one about how I’m his favorite student and how he starts his day reading my Buzzfeed posts
Counselor Rec: 8/10 she’s super strict with FERPA so I couldn’t see it
Additional Rec: My boss at Buzzfeed 10/10: She talked about my viral posts and how much I’ve changed over the years, the ability to meet deadlines
Interview: I met with an alumni who also ran a successful Congressional bid (Mike Levin) and it went pretty well, I told him I was a Republican but he didn’t seem to mind too much, went on for an hour
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biomechanical Engineering + English, I want to also minor in French but unsure if this is possible
State (if domestic applicant): Arkansas
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Small, Private
Ethnicity: Chinese and Korean (rip)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $65,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Low income, my school sends a lot of kids to Stanford, BUZZZYFEED
Reflection
Strengths: Essays, extracurriculars, LOR, SAT score
Weaknesses: ethnicity, lack of engineering ecs,
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I’m really unique and I break the mold for asians
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
General Comments: I AM SHOOKETH OMGOMGOMG JESUS GAVE ME THE W ahhhhhhhh. I can’t believe it. I was too afraid on Friday so I opened it on Sunday after church and I am CRYING ppl. My advice is: find unique things that make you stand out. Buzzfeed doesn’t even have a real pathway for high schoolers to work for them but I cyberstalked a bunch of employees there through LinkedIn and made the connections that brought me to where I am today. If you want something, GO AFTER IT. I also think the fact that I self taught myself so much about muscle structures in animals was cool. ASIANS: try and break the mold