Decision: Accepted
Objective
SAT I (breakdown): 1520 (720 Reading, 800 Math, 5/6/6 Writing)
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 English, 33 Mathematics, 34 Reading, 36 Science, 8 Writing)
SAT II: 800 Math Level II, 740 Literature
Capped Weighted UC GPA: 4.27
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 22 (out of ~600)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geography (4), World History (3), Chemistry (4), Language and Composition (4), US History (4) [Senior Year (scores not considered for UC deadline): American Government (3), Calculus AB (2 lol), Pyschology (5), Macroeconomics (3), Literature and Composition (3)]
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs (mentioned in AP score section above), 1 free 6th period
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Congressional Award (worked for my congresswoman), 3x Presidential Gold Award for Volunteer Service, City Achievement Award from Mayor, American Cancer Society Excellence Award
Subjective
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Promoting Youth Advocacy (President), NHS (Exec Board Secretary), CSF (class secretary), Environmental Leadership Academy
Job/Work Experience: Online Business icubemart.com (COO/CDO), Office of Congresswoman Judy Chu (Intern)
Volunteer/Community service: Library Rubik’s Cube Program (Founder/Host), American Cancer Society (SoCal Chinese Committee: Youth Chair)
Summer Activities: attended Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies (Java & Robotics), Brown Pre-College Program (Econometrics), Georgetown University Summer Institute (American Politics), took community college courses, ran library program, service events
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 6/10 based on my personal expectations. I know I’m not a poor writer, affirmed by my peers/teachers/self lol. But I didn’t let any uniqueness show on the UC essays: I wrote about discovering my passion for politics despite my Asian immigrant parents frowning upon it, elaborated on my time volunteering in the American Cancer Society committee, learning advocates’ struggles through trying to lower my school district board voting age, and how art strengthened my perfectionist/calculative-ness despite being a creative outlet. **MY MISTAKE: The essays were well-written, but they lacked originality. Write about niche things, be edgy, even if it is the UCs. I felt much more comfortable stepping out of the box in my private school essays, but I wish I didn’t shy away in the UC essays either. It really would help you stand out. My friend got into UCLA by submitting a poem, a short dialogue, and two tiny weeny essays. It’s not a risk if it’s well done.
Supplemental Review or LOR submission: Wasn’t asked to submit any
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Political Science (did emphasize my want to double in Economics)
State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type: Public
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $250-300k
ELC Eligibility: Yes
First Generation: No
Reflection
Strengths: strong extracurricular activities, solid (not the best) grades/rank, good test scores
Weaknesses: essays fell short of special, kind of your stereotypical Asian-American resume (minus majoring in PoliSci), didn’t do anything especially outstanding that stretched past my community
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: my stats were easily above the threshold for UCSB and I wasn’t applying in a super impacted major
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted to UCSD, waitlisted for UCLA/UCI/Georgetown/NYU, deferred from Brown ED (then rejected), rejected from all the Ivies I applied to and Stanford
General Comments: Definitely feel like I got scuffed from some conventionally “better” schools, but I’m committed to UCSB and could not be happier. If anyone still in high school is reading this and has questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to me!!