***YALE UNIVERSITY CLASS OF 2019 RD RESULTS***

Colleges & Universities Yale University
21

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:

[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2300: Reading 800, Math 770, Writing 730
[] ACT (breakdown): 33
[] SAT II: 2300: Reading 800, Math 770, Writing 730
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 of 115
[] AP (place score in parentheses): Calc AB 5 (self-studied)
[] IB (place score in parentheses):
[] Senior Year Course Load:Concert Band and all-conference each year, Spanish 3, Chemistry 2, College Composition English 4, open hour for independent math fun, JROTC, Biology 2. All classes are the highest available. My school doesn’t offer AP or IB.
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist and National Hispanic Recognition Program, if you want to count them[/li]
[/ul]Subjective:

[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Beta club treasurer; StuCo Senior secretary; JROTC Rifle Team Captain; JROTC Battalion Commander; Scholar Bowl four year varsity, all-conference, and all-district; Drama Club; JROTC Color and Honor Guards
[] Job/Work Experience: Janitor job after school
[] Volunteer/Community service: Color and Honor Guards with JROTC
[] Summer Activities: Missouri Scholars Academy (MO Governor’s School) after sophomore year, Boys State after Junior year, work
[] Essays: My Common App essay was about my experience at the Missouri Scholars Academy and how much it grew my view of the world. I talked a lot about how much the passionate and academic environment contrasted with my small rural town. To provide a bit of perspective, I didn’t know that summer homework, AP, IB, Model UN, robotics club, Debate Team, and several others existed before MSA. My supplemental essay was a quite personal essay about being gay in a rural small town and how my largely positive experience heavily contrasted with the horrible stories of other people I know, and how thankful I am that everything has gone as well as it has for me. I’d give my Common App essay a 7 and my supplemental one a 9. I’m genuinely proud of that one.
[] Teacher Recommendation: I got one from my math teacher that I’ve had for three years now. I’ve shown a lot of initiative with math, to the point where I largely knew everything we were taught last year. This year, because I also did Calculus online last year, I sit in the back of the Calc class and do Coursera and EdX classes while helping with her class. We have an awesome relationship. My second rec came from my English teacher this year. This is the only year I’ve had her, but I’ve known her for a long while now. From eighth to tenth grades I was in the literature club she created. She was also instrumental in getting me into the Missouri Scholars Academy and encouraging me to apply to top colleges. Her son goes to Yale, so she’s been helping me and my family through this entire process with the different tests and such, and we talk quite often. I’m confident that her letter was exemplary.
[] Counselor Rec: My school has never sent anyone to an Ivy, so I might have gotten some extra attention. However, we don’t have a particularly close relationship, so it might have been pretty generic. She’s not the best writer.
[] Interview: Never offered or contacted about one.
[li] Supplementary Material: None submitted [/li]
[/ul]Other

[ul]
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] State (if domestic applicant): Missouri
[] School Type: Small, rural, public
[] Ethnicity: Hispanic, Mexican
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): $75,000 - $90,000
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM[/li]
[/ul]Reflection

[ul]
[] Strengths: Pretty good test scores, probably uncommon extracurriculars, great teacher recommendations
[] Weaknesses: No interview. I’m really not sure what exactly is might have done differently. Obviously curing cancer or doing other crazy things like that would help.
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I’m guessing just the crazy strength of the total applicant pool. Trust me, I never expected to get in. But, seeing as Yale somehow ended up being my only rejection, I am a bit curious what they saw differently.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Harvard (likely letter) , Princeton, Columbia (likely letter), Tufts, Brown, Mizzou, WashU, Penn
Rejected: Yale… Deferred SCEA initially.

[/ul]**General Comments: ** I’m pretty sure that Yale simply hates me, haha. I visited over the summer and really fell in love with the place. At SCEA, I was pretty happy with the deferral, because that was exactly what I’d been expecting. I’d been expecting rejection today too. People simply do not apply to Ivies and similar caliber colleges at my school. I live in a very standard rural small town with pretty limited opportunities compared to these larger schools, so I kept my expectations low. The biggest surprise of my life was when those likely letters from Harvard and Columbia came in the mail. The rest of the results from two days ago just continued that. I never thought I had anything remotely resembling a chance to these colleges, and so to get into six of the best in the country is just mind-blowing. I’m not sure what Yale didn’t see about me that the others did, but I don’t particularly care that much at this point. Thankfully, I’ve had the past month to fall in love with that other little school in Cambridge. See you guys at The Game! GO CRIMSON!

22

**Decision: Accepted **

Hopefully this helps someone!

Objective

SAT I (breakdown): 2390 (790 CR, 800 WR, 800 M)
ACT (breakdown): Did not take
SAT II: 750 Math II, 760 Chemistry, 760 US History, 770 Chinese w/Listening
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Chemistry: 5, AP US History: 5, AP English Language and Comp: 5, AP Psychology: 5, AP Human Geography: 5, AP Chinese: 5, AP Comparative Government: 4, AP Statistics: 4
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP English Literature, AP Macroeconomics, AP US Government, Japanese
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar, National Merit Finalist, published a paper on Japanese Tokugawa foreign relations during the 17th-19th centuries (I sent in the first page of the journal article as a supplement) in a Stanford Institute of International Studies journal, Chinese-American Semiconductor Professionals Association Scholarship (not that major), various awards from the World Affairs Council for my passion for international relations, a bunch of awards from flute competitions

Subjective

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

Director of Foreign Relations for the UN International Youth Council (currently in the midst of creating a youth-run policy journal), Youth Ambassador to Finland (1 of 12 students to receive a scholarship from the Finnish govt), Stanford Reischauer Japanese and Sejong Korean Scholar (competitive program, only 25 students nationally selected), Board Member of the Silicon Valley United Nations Association (10-12), Student Ambassador for local World Affairs Council (10-12), Principal Flutist of a state-level youth symphony and school Wind Ensemble (sent in a flute supplement) (9-12), Undersecretary general for Model UN (9-12), Director of finances for National Honor Society (10-12), Founded my own financial literacy initiative after interning at a microfinance NGO in China (10-12), Business editor for award-winning school newsmagazine (10-12)

Job/Work Experience: Interning at a microfinance NGO? That was only for a summer though.

Volunteer/Community service: Many hours through the UN Association

Summer Activities: 2013 summer was spent touring Central Europe with my youth symphony for 2-3 weeks, Interned at a Microfinance NGO in Central China, 2014 summer: Received a scholarship from the Finnish government to study abroad 7-8 weeks

Essays:
My Common App was a 8.5/10, about my experiences as a student diplomat in Finland- I talked about a Finnish word that could not be translated into English and how eventually understanding the word helped me understand the Finnish spirit
Yale Supplement was a 9/10, too tired to explain haha

Teacher Recommendation: Stellar! From my APUSH and AP English Language teachers. I was a heavy participant in both these classes and they loved me.

Counselor Rec: Should have been pretty good; I visit my counselor a lot and she understands my aspirations

Additional Rec: Did not send. But I did send in a flute supplement.

Interview: Was not offered an interview??? still confused about this

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: International Studies/Linguistics/East Asian Studies- I haven’t decided yet
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Competitive Public
Ethnicity: Chinese-American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~$400,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None.

Reflection

Strengths: SAT I score, unique passions and extracurriculars, not a cookie-cutter Asian, international perspective, did research at Stanford (social science research)
Weaknesses: GPA, SAT II scores, bad at math
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: It’s a crapshoot! I SO was lucky lol
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

Accepted: YALE!!!, Columbia (John Jay Scholar), Stanford, UPenn (University Scholar), Wellesley, Johns Hopkins, Washington University in St. Louis, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis (w/ regents and honors), UC Irvine Honors Program w/Regents
Waitlisted: Duke
Rejected: Northwestern, Princeton (after SCEA deferral), Dartmouth

23

**Decision: Accepted **
Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2240 composite (720 CR, 720 M, 800 W, Essay: 10)
[] ACT (breakdown): 35 composite (36 E, 33 M, 36 R, 35 S, 31 E+W, Essay: 7 (eeeeek))
[] SAT II: Chemistry - 720; Math Lvl 2 - 770
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10% (my school doesn’t rank, only does deciles)
[] AP (place score in parentheses): Chemistry(4)
[] IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
[] Senior Year Course Load: Honors Physics, AP French 4, AP Calc AB, AP Computer Science (rest of classes just standard)
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended Student, National Achievement Finalist, French National Contest Medal Winner (Bronze for two years, Silver for one)[/li]
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Track and Field (captain of jump team, 2 years); helped found a club, CSF (inactive member though)
[] Job/Work Experience: n/a
[] Volunteer/Community service: serve as a leader at a local soup kitchen
[] Summer Activities: attended a summer program focused on computer science between my sophomore and junior years
[] Essays:
Common App Essay describing failure - This essay talked about my experiences with computer science and how I overcame challenges that I faced in it. I reread this essay so many times that I started to hate it, but I’ll give it an 8.
*What in particular influenced you to apply? * - talked about special learning experiences that come with the residential college system
*Reflect on something I’d like Yale to know about me * - talked more about my experience serving at the local soup kitchen
[] Teacher Recommendation:

1 - Got it from my chemistry teacher who I absolutely loved. Didn't read it, but I'll say an 8.

2 - This one was from my English teacher freshman and junior year who I hit it off with. She told me herself that she wrote an awesome letter of rec so I'll go with 10.

[] Counselor Rec: Don’t know her super well, but I saw her lots towards the end of junior year and the beginning of senior so she got to know me better than most. Let’s go with a 7.
[] Additional Rec: n/a
[] Interview: It went well! He seemed to enjoy speaking with me and the interview went over 30 minutes.
[] Supplementary Material: n/a

[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: All Girls Private
[] Ethnicity: African-American
[] Gender: F
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): ~175,000
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM (first generation American citizen)

[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: background, test scores, GPA, transcript, essays, ecs and awards
[] Weaknesses: ACT essay, no work experience
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was totally not expecting this, but I think my essays really helped my application! I made sure that they said something else about me other than the surface level things. I believe my interviews helped a lot as well.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Harvard, UCLA, UChicago, Rice, Santa Clara, Saint Mary’s College of California, UC Davis, Cal Poly SLO, Harvey Mudd, San Jose State; Waitlisted: Stanford :confused:

[/ul]**General Comments: ** Even if you have doubts, be sure to apply! I did not expect for this to happen, but look at me now :slight_smile: Good luck to all!

24

Decision: Accepted!

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1910- CR 680 M 590 W 640
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: US History 740, English Literature 690
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 8/465
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (junior) (5), AP English Language (junior) (5), AP World (sophomore) (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem + lab, AP Bio + lab, health, gym, honors pre calc, AP English Literature, study
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none really but i got a book award once

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): senior class president, nhs, key club, model un, quiz bowl, as schools match wits, world quest, massachusetts girls state, book club, cinema club, varsity cross country

Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: key club and nhs activities. my favorite one was gift wrapping for habitat for humanity during christmas time.
Summer Activities: none of merit besides massachusetts girls state last summer
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10. i chose the prompt that dealt with something that is crucial to my identity, and my subject was coming to terms with my father’s death. he was an alcoholic and for a long time i hated him but i learned that isn’t cool. i’m a pretty damn good writer and that’s all i really had going for me.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10 - APUSH teacher/favorite teacher/best friend. Excellent stuff.
Teacher Rec #2: couldn’t read it
Counselor Red: couldn’t read it
Interview: i didn’t

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: biochemistry
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: hispanic
Gender: female
Income Bracket: about 90k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first generation college

Reflection

Strengths: essays, letters of recs. i was very honest in my answering the supplemental questions and apparently that worked in my favor.
Weaknesses: SAT I scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I have no idea. This was a complete and utter shock to me, and I still am having trouble coming to terms with it.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: BC, Tufts, Wellesley, Smith, Mount Holyoke
Deferred: Harvard ED
Rejected: Harvard, Dartmouth, NYU, Northeastern

General Comments:

I am an example of one who got into Yale even though I live in a poor urban city with few opportunities compared to those living in the richer surrounding towns. I don’t think test scores are everything, and Yale seems to truly attempt to choose their applicants based on talent and charisma, not just silly numbers. I hope that everyone applying to the college of their dreams does not feel inhibited by modest test scores. You have a chance. I am proof of it. Just be yourself. It’ll all work out.

25

**Decision: Accepted

[ul]Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2240 Total; M800/CR740/W700; only took test once
ACT (breakdown): 32 Composite
SAT II: M2 740, Lit 780, Spanish 590
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/25
AP (place score in parentheses): Not offered at my school.
IB (place score in parentheses): Not offered at my school.
Senior Year Course Load: Current World Problems (History/ Social Studies), English IV, Independent Latin, Chemistry, AP Calc BC (online)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Natl. Merit Finalist

[list]Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Student Government (Junior Auditor/Treasurer), Class Government (Vice President), Drama Club
Job/Work Experience: Worked Farmer’s Markets during summer, Respite caregiver for an elderly woman
Volunteer/Community service: Missions Trip to Mexico, Tornado Relief to Oklahoma in 2013, Library Volunteer, Blood Drives, Vacation Bible School at my church, a bunch of other small stuff…
Summer Activities: Work. Reading?
Essays: They were OK. I’m admittedly not the greatest writer, but I try to be enthusiastic and I think I do a fair job of portraying my personality and honestly assessing my thoughts and feelings.
Teacher Recommendation: I’m well liked, so good recommendations. Although my teachers aren’t used to writing for Ivies.
Counselor Rec: Another great recommendation I’m sure. I have an awesome counselor.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: I did a student interview for the QuestBridge College Match (although I wasn’t matched) early in the year. It went well, I suppose. No alumni interview though.
Supplementary Material: N/A

[list]Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes.
State (if domestic applicant): WA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public, rural, small
Ethnicity: White/European Caucasian
Gender: F
Income Bracket (mention if FA candidate): $10,000-$25,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation, QuestBridge College Prep Scholar & College Match Finalist

[list]Reflection
Strengths: Lots of unconventional academics. My school doesn’t offer AP, so I’ve done independent classes and finished 2 years of math my sophomore year (I just did the classes twice as fast, finishing one each semester). I had to pursue challenging classes. The 4.0 GPA and coming from a small, rural school helps.
Weaknesses: No AP. No SAT/ACT prep. Limited extracurriculars. No money for summer programs. No access to research facilities.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I worked for it, which shows on my applications. Also, I tried very much to show that I am enthusiastic about learning and honestly try my best in everything.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Yale, Williams, Whitworth, University of WA - Seattle, Dartmouth, Brown, and Amherst. Waitlisted at Harvard and Cornell.

[/ul]**General Comments: **
I’m absolutely thrilled. I never thought I’d be able to go to a school like Yale, but I was lucky enough to be both accepted and with financial aid able to attend. I can’t express how grateful I am.
Also, I’m going for a Classics major. A bit strange, but I wan’t to work with rare books so Yale’s library system is a dream.

26

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): Did not submit
ACT: 34 (34E 33M 35R 32S Essay:10)
SAT II: Did not submit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92 UW/4.46 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Lang Comp: 5, APUSH: 5, Psychology: 5
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP European History, CP Calculus, AP Spanish, AP Lit, Honors Abnormal Psychology, Advanced Creative Writing, AP Enviro
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Ranked in top 20 in nation for marching band

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Marching Band (Color Guard): Many regional level awards, top 20 in nation and winner of Esprit de Corps award
Fencing (4 years)
Gymnastics (3 years)
Stage Crew (4 years) - co-head of lighting
Fencing Club (3 years) (Treasurer and Founding Member)
Ski Club (4 years)
Peer Mediation (4 years)
some other misc. stuff
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: 100-120 hours over the last three summers at a horseback riding camp for children with disabilities
Summer Activities: College class in ASL at Rutgers, Volunteering
Essays:
Common App: About how I challenged people’s beliefs about me because as a petite, nerdy girl, I can do lots of push-ups. It was kind of funny, and everyone who read it liked it. I spent a long time on it. 9/10
Why Yale?: Ok. I was clear and specific about what I liked about Yale, and specifically talked about how Yale students stepped in to teach health classes in New Haven after the New Haven school district cut funding, and how I thought that said a lot about the character of Yale students. 8/10
Short Answers: Oh my goodness, these were the hardest things to write. They were ok, nothing super special, 7/10 maybe?
Pick your own topic Essay: I loved this essay. I actually loved it so much I used it for Harvard (rejected), William and Mary (accepted), and Georgetown (still waiting, but probable rejection). It was about my sense of adventure, and I used a bunch of little anecdotes to demonstrate (flying trapeze, my first double black diamond ski run, learning new gymnastics skills). 9/10

Teacher Recommendation #1: Not sure. I picked this teacher because he saw me help out other students in his class, but it’s impossible for me to say if he wrote a lot about that in his rec.
Teacher Recommendation #2: I think this one was good. This teacher and I were kind of on the same wavelength, and I gave him a ton of supplemental information to pull from.
Counselor Rec: She likes me, but it was probably kind of bland. She has 239 other kids to worry about.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A

Other

State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Very large public
Ethnicity: White, but chose not to respond
Gender: F
Income Bracket: >250k (did not apply for FA)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I wish

Reflection

Strengths: By Yale standards? None.
Weaknesses: Course load rigor could be better, bad SAT math score, only one substantial EC, a serious lack of Olympic medals

Why you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: It’s Yale man, and that’s all there is to it. I honestly don’t believe it’s personal, just a numbers thing, although I think I was probably pretty far down on the list of potential acceptances lol.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Rutgers and the University of Alabama EA, accepted to WashU, Oxford College at Emory, Tufts, BU, and William and Mary RD; Rejected at Pomona, CMC, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, USC, and Middlebury; Waitlisted at American, UVa, and Kenyon

General Comments:

Saw this one coming from a mile away. Congrats to all that got in.

27

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:

[] SAT I (breakdown): 2400 (800 R, 800 M, 800 W)
[] ACT (breakdown): N/A
[] SAT II: 800 M2, 800 Physics, 800 Chemistry, 800 Biology (E)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96 UW
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5% of class, 700+ Class Size
[] AP (place score in parentheses): Chemistry, Physics B, Physics C Mech, Physics C Emag, US History, World History, Lang, Latin, Calc BC, Comp Sci A (All 5’s)
[] IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Econ, AP Stat, AP Bio, AP Gov, AP Human Geo, AP Psych
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): USAMO Qualifier for 2 years, ISEF Qualifier, Siemens Semifinalist, ISTS Semifinalist, National Junior Classical League Awards, won science and math competitions at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc.[/li]
[/list]Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Cross Country (Captain), Fencing (Captain), Track, Swimming, Math Team (President), Science Olympiad (President), Mu Alpha Theta (Founder and President), Key Club (President), Latin Club (President), FBLA (President), National Honor Society (Vice President), Boy Scouts of America (Eagle Scout and Junior Assistant Scoutmaster)
[] Job/Work Experience: Tutoring Business for 3+ years, Lifeguard, Research Internship in which I helped publish two papers with postdocs and graduates
[] Volunteer/Community service: Founded a free tutoring business at multiple locations, community service through Boy Scouts, volunteers at local retirement homes weekly, etc.
[] Summer Activities: Summer camp in 9th grade year, research at universities during 10th and 11th grade years
[] Essays: Common App (8/10), Supplement (8/10)
[] Teacher Recommendation: Both recs were very strong, (9/10)
[] Counselor Rec: Counselor doesn’t care much about recs, so probably mediocre
[] Additional Rec: XC Coach rec, very strong
[] Interview: In my opinion, one of the best interviews I had. Talked a lot about similar topics in life and even delved into interviewer’s life, etc.
[] Supplementary Material: N/A

[/list]Other
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: Male
[] Gender: Asian
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): < 100K
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A[/li]
[/list]Reflection
[] Strengths: Overall well-rounded, strength in math and science
[] Weaknesses: Being too stereotypically Asian I guess
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: To be honest, the fact that I’m Asian may have been the factor. Literally cried when rejected/waitlisted from all of the Ivies and compared stats to everyone else.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

Accepted: Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley, Case Western, UNC Chapel Hill
Waitlisted: Stanford, Duke, Harvard, Caltech, UChicago, WashU

Rejected: Northwestern, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, MIT, Brown

[/list]General Comments: Honestly, I’ve been more confused than saddened over past few days after decisions came out. I know that I wasn’t going to be guaranteed to get into any Ivies or highly ranked schools, but getting rejected by most of them and then seeing the people that got in… makes it seem like my four years of high school were all wasted and thrown down the drain. Been trying to find flaws in my application, and except a few minor ones, I can’t come up with a valid reason why other than the fact I’m an Asian male. If any part of my gender and ethnicity had been different, pretty sure I would be in a more fortunate situation than now. Anyway, congratulations to the rest of you that got in, enjoy your next four years of college.

28

**Decision: Accepted **

(Posted for my son)

Objective:
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2300 (750 R, 800 M, 750 W)
[] ACT (breakdown): 34C
[] SAT II: 800 Math, 740 Chemistry
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96 UW
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 3% of class, 300+ class
[] AP (place score in parentheses): English Language (5), Calculus AB(5), Chemistry (5), APUSH (3), AP World History (3)
[] IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP US Government, AP Macro Economics, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C, AP 2D Art
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None, the closest to major awards were Scholastic Gold Key awards and National Merit Scholar Finalist[/li]
Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Tennis (co-captain senior year), Orchestra (section leader), Junior Engineer Society (team leader), Academic quiz team, co-founder of culinary club and ultimate Frisbee team
[] Job/Work Experience: Freelance artist with limited small income
[] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer musician, community art activist and volunteer tutor
[] Summer Activities: Stanford Summer College in between Junior and senior year
[] Essays: Common App (not sure, his essay is unique and maybe what got him accepted), Supplement (8/10)
[] Teacher Recommendation: English and Chemistry teacher in Junior year, both were very strong, (9/10)
[] Counselor Rec: Don’t know
[] Additional Rec: None
[] Interview: Decent interview, turned out son’s interviewer lives only a mile away from our home.
[] Supplementary Material: Art Supplement

Other:
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] State (if domestic applicant): OH
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: Male
[] Gender: Asian (Chinese)
[] Income Bracket(mention if FA candidate): >150K
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None whatsoever

Reflection:
[] Strengths: Overall well-rounded, ECs and essays were consistently art focused, but he applied for Engineering major in all applications
[] Weaknesses: Weak ECs, no major awards, in the end they did not seem to matter at least to the ones he got in
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Still shocked, maybe his common app essay or his art supplementary?
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Case Western, USC, Rice, Northwestern, Duke, Columbia, Yale and several safe schools
Waitlisted: UChicago, Vanderbilt, Upenn, Cornell
Rejected: Stanford, Princeton, Dartmouth, Harvey Mudd College

General Comments: After reading the result by Weightlisted above, I am not sure if it was luck or something else in his application that (I can think of) got DS accepted by Yale, Columbia and Duke. Being ORM and without any hook whatsoever, his test scores were decent but not spectacular, the admission result in his words was more than he ever had hoped for. In my opinion, DS’s experience somewhat proves Weightlisted’s assumptions invalid and I want to encourage future applicants not to be discouraged simply by being Asian male or other perceived factors. Best of luck to everyone in college!

29

**Decision: Accepted

Objective:
[] ACT (breakdown): 34C, 35S, 35E, 34M, 32R
[] SAT II: 800 Math level 2, 750 foreign language
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 Junior year, 3.9 Senior year, school doesn’t do cumulative
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):Top 10th
[] AP (place score in parentheses): AB 5, BC 5, EngLang 5, APUSH 5, Science 4
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Comp sci, AP Calculus 3, AP Statistics, AP Physics, AP foreign language, English
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Received a Scholarship noted as high-school equivalent of Rhodes, represented State at the US regional cross country championships, decent amount of Scholastic Art Awards including Gold keys, State math competition finalist.[/li]
Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
-Newspaper: Editor in Chief
-Art and Lit Magazine: Editor in Chief
-Residential Council: President
-World Club: President
-Gold Key (a club that works for admissions): President
-Youth in Government: Vice-President
-Cross-Country/Track: MVP, MIP, School record holder (not interested in running D1)
[] Job/Work Experience:
-Commercial Photographer: Portrait, wedding, sport, theatre.
-Internship with a college Professor and doctor. Wrote medical case-report after internship.
-Interned at a well-known bank in Asia. Pursued an individual project comparing bank’s handling of credit among the thre countries.
[] Volunteer/Community service: Not anything significant.
[] Summer Activities: See above. Also took part in an Economics course and Global Leaders Programme at Cambridge University. Created a commercial for a non-profit organization that builds schools in Ghana utilized on their website, and helped raise a lot of money for the charity. Won a startup competition judged by Hearst Editors, for magazine design and production proposal.
[] Essays: Unique and not afraid to take risks.
[] Teacher Recommendation: 10, 6
[] Counselor Rec: 10
[] Additional Rec: None.
[] Interview: Average
[] Supplementary Material: Art portfolio. 7.5

Other
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] School Type: Private/boarding.
[] Ethnicity: White, not US Citizen but go to school in US.
[] Gender: Female
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A[/li]
Reflection
[] Strengths: Leadership, class rigor especially math, many art and sports awards, unique essays.
[] Weaknesses: Community service, weak in science.
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I am very passionate about the things I do and the classes I take, and I was able to write about them in a natural and fresh way in my application.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accept- Upenn/Wharton Huntsman, Columbia, Cornell, Morehead-Cain, USC, UCLA, WashLee, CMC. Reject- Stanford, Brown.

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General Comments
My advice is to just apply, and maybe you will be positively surprised! I did not expect to get into Yale. To all applicants, I wish you the best of luck in the next four years, and beyond :slight_smile:

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Decision: Rejected

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1840 - didn’t submit
ACT (breakdown): 34 (34S, 33R, 34E, 33M)
SAT II: 700 Chem, 640 Math II - didn’t submit
Unweighted GPA: 3.91
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 14/230
AP (place score in parenthesis):5 (APHG), 4 (AP Comp, APUSH), 3 (AP Bio, AP Chem)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP US Government, AP English Literature, AP Stats, AP Calc BC, AP Physics I, Economics, Ceramics I
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): QB CPS, QB NCM Finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, scored in top .1% of Math Contest - attending nationals this month

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Swimming (11 x Reserve Conference Champion, 3 x Captain, 2 x School Record Holder, Mental Attitude Award Winner, Most Valuable Swimmer Award), Equestrian (Reserve World Champion, 3rd All-Around at World Show, National Direction of Association, Multiple State High Point Awards), National Honors Society, internship at Notre Dame in the Chemical Engineering department
Job/Work Experience: lifeguarding every summer
Volunteer/Community service: 400+ hours as an assistant swim coach for our middle school, and about 100+ hours for volunteer lifeguarding at community events
Summer Activities: working, competing in swimming and equestrian events
Essays: Pretty good I think! My Common App was awesome IMO
Teacher Recommendation: Both of my teachers gave really good recommendations - I’ve had both for 3 years and one said she “made me sound like a rockstar”
Counselor Rec: Really good. I go to a small school, so she knows me pretty well! She’s very excited about my college applications!
Additional Rec: N/A
Short Answer Questions: I think good! I don’t really remember them
Interview: N/A

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Mathematics
State (if domestic applicant): Indiana
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Rural Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <30,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection:

Strengths: Scores, I think my EC’s
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: I really focused on my hardships from my QB application
Weaknesses: GPA, probably some of my awards aren’t as astounding as some people
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: IU (Honors + Direct Admit to Kelly), Purdue (Honors + Direct Admit), Northwestern (ISP), Notre Dame (Mendoza Pre-Approval), Waitlisted at UChicago and Penn, Denied at MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford
Notes: Awesome job everyone! Keep your head up! You will find your dream college!

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