At the end of my Sophomore year, I made this post to the Chance Me forum on this site. Having recently rediscovered it, I have decided to provide an update detailing my college admissions results. I hope this information and the insights that may be gleaned therefrom will be of use.
Demographics
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Residence: Domestic, Urban, MA
Income Bracket: Lower-Middle Class
Type of School: Public, Not Competitive
Hooks: FGLI
Intended Majors: Government/Economics
Academics
GPA (UW/W): 4.0/4.6
Rank (or percentile): 1/~550
of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 8 APs, 3 DEs, Rest Honors
Standardized Testing
SAT: 1540 (780 RW, 760 M)
AP: CSP, 4; Lang, 5; Seminar, 5; Physics, 4.
Extracurricular Activities
#1 Legislative Intern, Massachusetts State House (12th): Bill Research, Hearings, Mock Senate Experience Program, Wrote Newsletter, Research Convinced Rep to Cosponsor an Act That Expands Rights of Undocumented Migrants.
#2 Founding Member, Model UN Club (10th, 11th, 12th): Medaled Every Competition, Achieved Most Medals in Chapter History, Elected for Student Government Experience, Mentored 8+ Junior Delegates; was supposed to be captain as is noted in original post, but advisors decided to adopt a more “egalitarian” structure right after I was elected.
#3 Student Journalist, PSJP (12th): Lectures/Workshops, Conducted Interviews, Published op-ed.
#4 Co-founder, Debate Club (11th, 12th): Organized Meetings, Engaged in/Moderated Debate, Designed Activities, Researched Competitions, Grew to 25+ Active Members, Liaison w/ Advisor & Admin.
#5 Founder & Editor-In-Chief, School Newspaper (11th, 12th): Organizing Monthly Releases, Contributions of Content, Selecting Articles, Arranging Page Layout, Conferring w/ Administration.
#6 Counselor, School Summer Program (10th, 11th): Organized/Designed PBL Projects/Activities for 100+ Primarily High-Needs Students to Prepare Them For High School, Outreach to Isolated Students.
#7 Founder & President, Chess/Boardgames Club (10th, 11th, 12th): Organized Weekly Meetings, Managed Donations, Organized Tournament With 12+ Participants, Chess Tutoring For 15+ Elementary Schoolers.
#8 Member, Student Council (10th): Organized Spirit Activities, Represented Student Body in Discussions of Policy w/Administration, Helped to organize Breast Cancer Awareness Effort; was elected president at end of sophomore year, but advisor got pregnant, and the club stopped existing, so I never got to actually take office.
#9 President, Math Club (10th, 12th): Organized Weekly Meetings, Designed Activities For Meetings, Organized School-Level “24” Tournament, Represented in Discussions w/ Administration; year-long gap because advisor quit due to burnout.
#10 Competitor, SkillsUSA (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th): Competed All 4 Years, Competed In CS Related/Speech Competitions at In-House, District, State Levels.
Awards/Honors
#1 MUN Best Delegate x1, MUN Outstanding Delegate x3, MUN Honorable Mention x2
#2 State House Citation For Participation in Student Government Experience
#3 SkillsUSA: In-House Gold & Districts Gold, State Bronze
#4 NHS Admission & Graduation (275 Hours Community Service Total)
#5 John & Abigail Adams Scholarship
Letters of Recommendation
Sophomore Honors History II Teacher: 8/10. Told me I was the most intelligent student he’d ever had, and was more than happy to write the letter.
Junior AP Physics Teacher: 8/10. He liked me well enough, and I always did well in his class. He also selected me for an award for his class, so there’s that.
Counselor Who Ran School Summer Program: 8/10. She knows me pretty well, and spent a while drafting.
School Counselor: 10/10. I’m actually really close to her due to personal reasons, so the letter was probably really good.
Interviews
Interviewed in a Panera Bread a few towns over. Interviewer was an older guy, one who had been doing alumni interviews for around 20 years on and off. We had a nice conversation (weirdly cerebral), although, strangely, he never asked me a lot of important questions (like Why [College]?). I talked about the clubs I founded, and how I was driven to do so by my desire to create opportunities for my peers/build community. Also, Frankenstein and the Heisenberg Principle, but that’s not important. He did tell me he thought I was thoughtful and articulate. 8.5/10.
Essays
I wrote about how my views on justice have evolved since I was a child, transitioning from a view of justice as purely punitive to an appreciation for restorative justice (equity, community, advocacy). I somehow incorporated Batman into my essay (the campy one with Adam West).
Applied: Harvard, Williams, Brandeis, UMass Amherst
Accepted: Harvard, Williams, UMass Amherst
Wait-listed: Brandeis
I (unsurprisingly) committed to Harvard and am now on campus.
I think things worked out for me because I decided to fully throw myself into Government-related activities (what I wanted to do originally) and started really grinding, allowing me to replace my mediocre stats and activities with much better ones.
Advice:
- Don’t just do things for college. Instead, just do what you believe to be good or necessary, and the rest will work itself out.
- Do things you genuinely care about. It’s easier to dedicate a lot of your time to something if you honestly enjoy it.
- Any level of impact matters. Whether it’s nation-wide, state-wide, county-wide, or even just school-wide, making a difference is always worthwhile.
- On a more pragmatic note, probably try to get leadership positions/into summer programs/internships.
- If you struggle with time-management/motivation like me, seeking out structured activities can be really helpful, especially when something more enterprising can seem really daunting at first.
- Avail yourself of every opportunity at your disposal. It was actually on a Model UN trip that I met the state rep who offered me my internship.
- You can do great things no matter where you go to college.
- Finally (I know this is really cliche), but remember to be yourself. As Kurt Cobain (probably never) said, “wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.”
