**Decision: Accepted **
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1560 (800 math, 760 R/W), 20 overall essay score (took this in one sitting and didn’t bother to try and improve)
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Math II, 690 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/469 (although I’m technically tied w/ 17 other people or something like that bc my school doesn’t weight GPAs)
AP (place score in parentheses): Calc AB (5), World History (5), US History (5), Biology (4), AP Lang (4), Chemistry (3), Physics 1 (3)
Senior Year Course Load: Band plus 5 more AP courses
Number of other EA applicants in your school: IDK, but I’d guess probably 0.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): N/A
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): NMSF, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, some awards from my high school/college for maintaining a high GPA
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Wind Ensemble (9-12) – section leader, 1st-3rd chair consistently (my school does seating placement a bit differently), received top award from regional contest
Marching/Pep Band (10-12)
Math Club (11-12) – VP both years
Piano Lessons – since 4th grade
I also do a lot of editing for people both on school essays and fictional stories they’ve written, so I included that as well.
I also included in this app that I spent a ton of time reading, lol
Job/Work Experience:
I’ve worked for my grandma’s business since I was 13, but it’s run out of my house so I can basically work whenever I want to, which is nice.
Volunteer/Community Service:
Nothing concrete; as I mentioned above I do editing for people, and I also help as a math tutor on occasion. I wish I’d have done more bc I truly love volunteering, I often get really hyper-focused on school though and stress about everything, so that was put to the side for me.
Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):
Essays: CA essay wasn’t spectacular in my eyes (and I didn’t have anyone look at it so I have no idea how good it was), but I think it gave some insight into how I think and how I’ve changed throughout the last few years. The supplements were the first I ever wrote, so while I think my ideas for them were good, I didn’t understand until later what the problems with them were (namely, showing some interest in UVA or showing why I’m a good fit specifically for UVA). 7/10
Teacher Recommendation #1: Calc AB teacher from 10th grade. Didn’t know me very well but could speak to my dedication to math. He’s an experienced teacher so I feel like his LOR was probably really well done 9/10
Teacher Recommendation #2: German teacher I’ve had for 4 years now. Knows me the best of all my teachers, and I think he could speak to my character well 9/10
Counselor Rec: Only met her a few times since she became my counselor this year, but she seemed to like me, so it was probably pretty good 7/10
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Undecided
Date Submitted App: Nov 1
U.S. State/Territory or Country: WA State
School Type: public, used to be grades 10-12 but changed this year to 9-12
Took Calc II and III junior year at the local community college too
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket Range: 100-150k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):
Reflection
Strengths: GPA, SAT, LORs
Weaknesses: ECs, leadership
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I honestly have no idea. I’m OOS, so it was already unlikely I’d get in, plus my ECs are lacking. I was honest on my app though, and I am dedicated to the things I love, so I think that was pretty clear, especially since my supplementals really focused on band and math, two of the things I’m really into. I also have pretty good stats, so that didn’t hurt.
What would you have done differently?: I would have written my supplemental essays differently, and maybe shown some more leadership if I wasn’t such a recluse, but overall I’m pretty happy.
Where else did you apply?
Northeastern – accepted
Waiting on Brown, Cornell, UPenn, Smith, Boston College, Fordham, UPitt, UW
**Other Factors: **
General Comments & Advice:
Just be yourself honestly. I didn’t expect to get in, but I was real on my app and I think that was helpful. I haven’t done anything super crazy with my life so far, but I didn’t try to paint myself as if I had.