Demographics: 

•Gender: Male

•Race/Ethnicity: Black, African American

•Residence: PA

•Income Bracket: Low Income

Type of School: Non-competitive, Private school (~200 students per class)

Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): Low Income

Intended Major(s): Mechanical, environmental science

Academics:

•GPA (UW/W): 4.00

•Rank: 5/203

Number of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.:

•AP: 10 taken (max), AP Gov(4), APUSH(4), APLang(5)

Standardized Testing

•SAT: 1480 (school avg is 1000 and I have the highest score)

Awards/Honors

1. Coca Cola Semifinalist

2. National African American recognition scholar

3. Award for contributing to a major nonprofit

4. Awards for physics, technology, and engineering from school

5. Award for major contributions to my school’s success and future

Extracurriculars/Activities

1. NASA Research internship with research published and presented to scientists. Worked with other interns directly under a NASA team.

2. Regional/Multiple State leadership in massive nonprofit and doing funded lobbying in D.C. for a cause related to my major, organized events attending by thousands

3. Founder and captain of an esports team at my school that has ~50 members and has gotten 1st place multiple times in multi-state tournaments

4. Statewide leadership in massive nonprofit, also related to my major, did more funded lobbying and organizing massive event

5. Captain of technology club, helped the school by building infrastructure with staff for new classrooms and clubs

6. City-wide tutoring operation I headed, also related to my major, taught ~60 students

7. Raised ~$5,000,000+ for my school with a team of other students through 3 years of meetings, alumni events, investor meetings, and lobbying, spoke to multiple senators and was even offered a job with one

8. Made educational content that got 15,000,000+ views, made communities online with 2,000,000+ members, content is also related to my major.

Also co-founded a massive political account with 500,000+ followers across social media.

1. Debate club captain, don’t know why I was voted captain. I kinda got cooked in our last match lol. Just had a lot of fun here.

2. Robotics club, competed in competitions but didn’t win anything. Was still really fun.

Essays 

Probably really good. Got reviewed by teachers who really, really liked them. Written mostly within a day, but my writing tends to be best if I spend a day on a piece

Letters Of Recommendation

LOR 1: NA/10 Science teacher, we were very close and I loved him so much! We constantly talked about physics and mathematics after school. Didn’t get to see it, but my counselor told me it was really heartwarming.

LOR 2: NA/10 Social science Teacher, also loved this guy! Didn’t get to see it, but it was also glowing from what I was told

LOR 3: 11/10, School head, let me read it. Was very sweet. He called me one of the most impressive students they’ve had at the entire school during his entire career, and he said I was going to be a game changer at whatever college I entered. Love them as well!

Counselor: NA/10, we’ve been working together for all 4 years, and I’ve been in constant contact with them. So, I think it’s probably good. They’re also an awesome person!

Interviews

Princeton: 11/10 bro was the goat. Spent 2+ hours talking to them, and they said that they would do everything in their power to get me accepted.

UPenn: 7/10 talked for an hour and a half. Had a wonderful conversation, but probably didn’t leave much of an impression.

Harvard: 4/10 I’d say the interview went pretty well and the interviewer seemed to be impressed, but I was too nervous to push it further I think.

Dartmouth: 8/10 another amazing person. Ended up talking for 2+ hours again, but I was pretty nervous in the beginning.

Duke: 7/10 a really solid conversion with a chill person. Think I handled a lot of questions quite well

Yale: 5/10 average interview, not much stood out :/

Decisions (All RD)

Acceptances:

Harvard University (full ride)

Princeton University (full ride)

Georgia Institute of Technology

Swarthmore (likely letter, full ride)

Northeastern (Boston campus, near full ride)

University of Colorado Boulder

Colorado School of Mines

Drexel University

Pennsylvania State University

Georgia State University

Waitlists:

University of Pennsylvania

Duke University

Dartmouth College :(

Rejections:

Yale University

University of Texas at Austin (And I’m literally pictured on their website, actual scam school 😭😭😭)

Rochester Institute of Technology???

Reflection:

Outside of a family tragedy during my sophomore year, I had an amazing time during highschool. Aiming to get into top schools made me come out of my shell in Freshman year, turned me into an extrovert, and made me explore what I was interested in.

I couldn’t be more happy with the amazing people I’ve met and the cool things I’ve gotten the opportunity to do. While it was undoubtedly extremely difficult, I am very happy I went through the process. I’ve grown into a completely different person then who I was when I was younger. I’ve become more optimistic, more empathic, and more in control of my destiny.

Even if I hadn’t gotten into my top choices, I would have been extremely happy with my experience!

Demographics

• Gender: Female
• Race/Ethnicity: Asian
• Residence: Texas
• Income Bracket: Lower Middle Class-ish
• Type of School: Large Public (~600)
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): None

Intended Major(s): Psych/Classics/Philosophy

Academcis

• GPA (UW/W): 3.98? (School doesn't do UW)/6.5
• Rank (or percentile): 24/585
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc: 13 APs
• Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs

Standardized Testing

• SAT: 1570 (790 M, 780 E)
• ACT: 34 (30 S, 33 M, 36 R, 36 E)
• AP: 6 5's, 2 4's (Physics I and Chinese)

Extracurriculars/Activities

1. Internship at a company that reduces methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells
2. Co-prez of writing club
3. Violin (9+ years), won a few awards with ensembles (played at intermediate level)
4. Theatre-- helped found improv troupe, games coordinator
5. Worked at stepdad's restaurant
6. Volunteer
7. Model UN (spoke A LOT about this one in supplementals)
8. Martial arts-- black belt in Taekwondo, trained in MMA
9. Random honor societies

Awards/Honors

1. AP Scholar with Distinction (easyyyyy)
2. National Merit Commended Scholar (honestly had nothing else to put on my awards)
3. Honor Roll with Distinction

Letters of Recommendation

Not too outstanding. Kinda forgot to ask until it was too late, so had to pick a few random teachers. Physics teacher probably wrote a great one, but my APUSH teacher forgot who I was when I went to thank her.

Interviews

Princeton: Talked about my internship a lot, since he also has to do with oil and gas. Got a little into our life philosophy and favorite foods.

Stanford: Interviewer was nice :)

Essays

Wrote about how I wanted to have an open mind and try everything (attempted to rationalize my ECs being all over the place). Didn't really want to or feel like writing about the things going on in my family, so I just picked something mundane.

Decisions (RD for all)

Acceptances:

• Texas A&M (Auto-admit)
• University of Texas at Austin (Auto-admit)
• Rice (Likely committing)

Waitlists: None

Rejections:

• Columbia
  
• Princeton
• Stanford

Additional Information

Was surprised by Rice, but everything else was expected. Didn't really spend a lot of my time worrying about school or extracurriculars, so I was already pretty happy with UT. Started applications in November. Still deciding between UT (free tuition) and Rice (have not completed financial aid).

So yes, I am Karma farming but I'll explain that later. First for what all of you are here for:

SAT: didnt take

APs: 0

IB:0

GPA:3.9

College GPA 4.0

College credits: 60

EC: International gymnastics, International orchestra, DECA, club founder, gym teacher, violin teacher 100+ volunteer hours.

Essay: 9/10 talked about volunteering.

Accepted:

SU

UWB

USC!!! - econ+finance......(need karma to post about financial aid)

Northeastern

waitlist

UW Seattle

rejection: none

So yea I got into USC for finance and econ. Unfortunately I don't post on reddit that often so I dont have much karma and to be able to post on the USC reddit page I need more apparently, If you guys could help out that would be great.

Need help with decision.

USC - Electrical and Computer Engineering - private/no aid or scholarship/costly

UMich - Computer Science - out-of-state fee (~80k)

UC Davis - Computer Science and Engineering - in-state

UC SB - Computer Engineering - in-state

Thanks

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic
• Income Bracket: Lower Middle Class
• Type of School: Charter Public
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): None

Intended Major(s): Data Science / Computer Science / System Science

Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 4.0/4.5
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: No Ap's (Just honors, took everything available)

Standardized Testing

SAT: 1520 (730RW, 790M) (only submitted when above average)

Extracurriculars/Activities

1. FRC
2. Internship #1 (online, referral from internship #1, supercomputer lab, had several mini data analysis/research projects)
3. Internship #2 (a small startup made a few data repositories, updated site)
4. Freelance Graphic Design/Coding (Made 5K+, nothing crazy)
5. Key Club Tech Editor (Division)
6. Asb Treasurer
7. Student Ambassador President (Helped student lead some education conferences)
8. Summer Job at farmers' market (made promotional content, overhauled brand, sold the goods)
9. Varsity Tennis (Varsity all four years)
10. Waste of money summer program

Awards/Honors

List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

None! (LOL!)

Letters of Recommendation

(Briefly describe relationships with your recommenders and estimated rating.)

History Teacher 9/10

Biology Teacher 7/10

Counselor 8/10

Interviews

Duke ED (6.5/10): Worked at a company adjacent to the one I interned at. I was honestly super nervous. I asked some good questions, but I was far from my best.

UPenn M&T (9/10): Locked in. I read his book before the interview (not my best moment). Had some fire responses. The tone of it all was casual. He mentioned that the interview had no bearing on admission (he did take notes, though).

MIT (8/10): Super nice guy; had some weird questions for me. Said I was a great fit.

Princeton (3/10): My Wi-Fi went out, so I had to finish on a hotspot. We had a decent conversation; she just looked annoyed.

Essays

Personal Statement (9.5/10)

I wrote about moving away from my family's farm for better opportunities. Weaved in some extenuating circumstances, but overall, it was pretty great writing that made a few people cry.

Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

Rejections:

• Duke (ED)
• UChicago (def-> rej)
• UC Berkeley (MET & EECS)
• UCLA 💔
• Cornell
• Columbia
• Yale
• Northwestern

Waitlists:

• Carnegie Mellon
• UCSD
• UPenn (SEAS WL, Rejected M&T) 💔
• Princeton
• WashU
• Northeastern (RD)
• MIT (RD)
• UCI

Acceptances:

• State school (EA)
• Stanford CS???? (committed!) 🌲

It only takes one!!! I've been mentally preparing to commit to CC for a while, so I feel blessed. My life LITERALLY changed last Friday.

This college admissions process has been one of the lowest, most emotionally draining experiences I’ve ever gone through, so I honestly feel relieved it’s over. I really should’ve applied to more targets; I just went in feeling cocky and sure that id get into at least one UC (MISTAKE!). I fell into the trap of only applying to prestigious schools, thinking their name alone would guarantee happiness and a meaningful college experience. So with that, please, please, please do research! Admissions are so random that you could do everything right and still get rejected. I so wish you all the best of luck. 

My best advice is to start early, build a narrative, be genuine, and have fun writing! Feel free to reach out with any questions. 

Thanks for reading! : ^ )

Citizenship- India
Gender- Male
No financial aid

Major: Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)

Acceptances:

1. Purdue (EA)

2. UIUC (EA)

3. USC (EA)

4. UW Seattle (EA)

5. VTech (EA)

6. Rose-Hulman (EA)

7. UCLA--> Committed!

8. UCSD

9. Rest of the UCs

Waitlists:

1. Harvard

2. Northwestern

3. Stanford

4. UC Berkeley

5. CMU

Rejections:

MIT (EA)

Cornell (ED)

Georgia tech (EA2)

What do yall think?

Inviting opinions and suggestions which one would be better?

"You'll never know if you don't apply!" ahh results, but oh well. Reaches are hard as hell to get into. Still happy about where I'm going.

Demographics

• Gender: Trans male
• Race/Ethnicity: White
• Residence: Washington state
• Income Bracket: Lower-middle class
• Type of School: Public, small
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): None

Intended Major(s): Statistics, double major in Music

Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 3.4, didn't take enough APs for weighting to make a difference
• Rank (or percentile): Just above 50th percentile for my school
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 5 APs, 1 honors, 1 college in the high school
• Senior Year Course Load: 3 APs, CiHS.

Standardized Testing

• SAT: 1540 (760RW, 780M)
• ACT: 36 (36E, 36M, 35R, 36S)
• AP/IB: AP Physics 1 (5), AP Calc AB (5)

Extracurriculars/Activities

1. Only bassoonist in the advanced school band (...and the school)
2. \Officer of Green Club
3. \Member of book club, GSA, and as of this year math team.

Awards/Honors

1. \WMEA All-State (for small schools)
2. \Won 1st regionally for a woodwind ensemble piece, and more recently 1st for a solo
3. \Two school Student of the Month awards, one for Science and one for Attitude

Letters of Recommendation

Got letters from my AP Physics teacher and my Honors World Religions teacher. Didn't see them, but I was close to both the teachers, enjoyed their classes a lot, and feel like they would write good letters.

​

Interviews

I had one interview for MIT. It was really cool hearing the interviewer talk about her experiences there, but looking back on it, I feel like I might've spent too much time asking her questions and been too reserved and awkward when she asked me about myself :')

​

Essays

My main personal essay was about learning to cook for myself after going vegetarian (but more complicated than that and tying it into the rest of life and my future and whatever, as personal statements do). I felt like I cooked. My AP Lit teacher said I cooked too, so that gives me a little proof. I felt like I did good on my supps, too, but I didn't get any human feedback to back me up so they could've been terrible for all I know lol.

​

Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

Acceptances:

• Western Washington University (EA)
• Oregon State University (EA, with honors college)
• Bard College (EA)
• St. Olaf College (EA, with music pre-admit + hella scholarships)
• Rochester Institute of Technology (RD)

Waitlists:

• University of Washington (i was literally born there, and they waitlisted me... My mother birthed me in their hospital in front of all the eager med students, and they waitlisted me...)

Rejections:

• Northeastern University (EA)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (RD)
• Cornell University (RD)
• Pomona College (RD)
• New York University (RD)

Additional Information:

Struggled with depression and slacked off freshman/sophomore year, then recovered and got straight A's for junior/senior year, which is why the gpa is lower than most internet ivy-loving admissions-obsessed teenagers. If anyone is in a similar boat, and sad because they probably won't get into a single reach: Every school has good parts and bad parts. Sure, the higher-ranked schools have marginally more funding and opportunities than others, but most schools are so close in what they offer that the rankings turn into an arbitrary prestige contest. If you're the type of person to hone in on a school's low ranking and let it make you miserable, then you're gonna find tons of tiny things to be miserable about even if you do end up at a T10. There is no perfect ideal of a school. Not saying don't shoot your shot, or that you'll hate going to Harvard, but instead of focusing on how much you hate your safeties/targets for what they lack, find things you love about them (and trust me, there's plenty to love).

Committed to St Olaf, and looking forward to spending the next four years there :)

How do people who are real good at math and got rejected from Harvard feel about this?

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/9/3/new-math-intro-course/

Hello guys,

I've been accepted for fully funded PhD in my top 4 choices, i.e., Stanford (Energy Resources Engineering (former PE), TAMU (PE), UT (PE) and Penn State (PE), would you be so kind giving me your thoughts as of which one should I follow.

I totally understand that many factors can be influential in my final decision but I would like to receive unvarnished opinions from as many perspectives (industry ties, locality, reputation, research fever, academic environment, funds robustness, etc.) as I can get.

Personally, my baseline to push forward definitely is the subsurface chain as in RE and other interrelated disciplines.

Every aspect would be greatly appreciated!

Demographics

• Gender: male
• Race/Ethnicity: asian
• Residence: high income california
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): legacy to yale but im dumb so

Intended Major(s): applied psych/game design

Academics

• GPA/Rank (or percentile): 3.67/~4.3
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 14 APs all honors
• Senior Year Course Load: AP stat, AP physics C, AP 2d art, AP lit, AP us gov

Standardized Testing

List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

• SAT/ACT: 1480 (780m/700rw)
• SAT II:
• AP/IB:
• Other (ex. IELTS, TOEFL, etc.):

Extracurriculars/Activities: (list here)
game design thing (its rlly weird)
trumpet section leader 11-12th
high wind leader 12th
1st chair trumpet for pit orchestra 10-12th
designed merch/posters for 8 school clubs + robotics
academic decathlon
president of esports club
vice president of chinese culture club + big band club
raised decent amt of money for chinese and korean club
freelance art stuff to fund for travel (my parents dont like my ecs so they wont support it i need to pay ubers n stuff)

Awards/Honors: 2 international game design awards, pit orchestra state award nomination, csf, ap scholar w dist, (not on app bc 2nd sem senior: 1st place in points in our division acadeca)

Essays/LORs/Interviews:

essays overall like a 6-7/10 on common app
like 8/10 for college specific ones
8/10 for ucs
(essays are probably better than what im judging them based on how i even got waitlisted on some of these altho i thought they were pretty mid)

interview only at dartmouth like a 8/10 he was rlly nice and we started talking abt lana del rey idfk

Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

• Acceptances: uc merced (fee waiver i didnt even plan to apply), northeastern, guaranteed transfer to bu for 2026
• Waitlists: ucsc, ucr, ucd, ucsd, ucsb, ucla (how), cmu (how), cornell (how), nyu, umiami,
• Rejections: dartmouth (ed1), rice (ed2), uci, ucb, jhu, yale, vandy, usc, nw, umich

Additional Information:

Lots of hard work last 4 years but it finally paid off. My advice to next class is to keep on working

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: White
• Income Bracket: ~2 mil
• Residence: NE boarding school
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): Rowing recruit, 3rd Generation legacy Princeton, father and grandfather are building donors

Intended Major(s): Finance

Academics

• GPA/Rank (or percentile): 3.3uw idk weighted
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 3 APs 4 honors
• Senior Year Course Load: AB Calc, Physics, English, AP Econ, Spanish, PE, Art

Standardized Testing

List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

• SAT/ACT: 1220 SAT
• SAT II:
• AP/IB: 3 on APUSH others in progress
• Other (ex. IELTS, TOEFL, etc.):

Extracurriculars/Activities: 

Rowing (30 hrs per week)

Goldman Sachs summer internship

Awards/Honors: Deans list (one semester), bunch of rowing awards

Essays/LORs/Interviews: N/A

Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

• Acceptances: PRINCETON!!!, Central Connecticut State
• Waitlists: Sacred Heart
• Rejections: UConn, Harvard

Additional Information:

Even when it gets hard just keep working it will all be worth it in the end. Good luck next class!

Demographics: * Gender: Female * Race/Ethnicity: White * Income: Lower middle-class * School Type: Public

Intended Major (s): • Nursing

Academics: * АСТ: 31 * SAT: 1350 * Class Rank: 127/634 * UW/W GPA: 4.2W/3.8UW * Coursework: AP x8, Honors x18, Academic x2 * APS: AP Gov (5), AP Bio (3), AP Lang (5), APUSH (4), APES (5), AP Psych (5), AP LIT (5), AP STAT (5) * Dual Enrollment: ENG111 (96), SOC210 (97), ENG112 (95), HUM115 (96)

Awards: * Honor Roll x 8 (All 4 years) * Talent For Writing Merit Award (12th grade) * Young Writers Merit Award (12th grade)

Extracurriculars: 1. HOSA Member (9-12) 2. Practical Medicine Club (10-12) 3. FFA (11-12) 4. Shift leader at job (9-12) 5. Volunteer Work at Homeless Shelter (50 hours)

Essay: For as long as I can remember, the concept of self-reliance has been my most steadfast companion. I was in the fifth grade when my mother started working evening shifts, returning home only after midnight. With my dad being a distant figure in my life, I found myself pushed into a role that most children my age could hardly imagine. I had to grow up quickly, learning to navigate the responsibilities of adulthood while still in my formative years. Each morning, I would jolt up to the sound of my alarm. I would get ready and prepare myself a quick breakfast, often a simple bowl of cereal, and set myself off to school. There was no one to ensure I was on time or even to see me off with a hug. At the age of 14, my responsibilities multiplied when I started working. After school, I would board another bus to get to my job, where I worked between 30 to 40 hours a week. The money I earned was essential, covering my food, car expenses, school supplies, and hygiene products. With my mom working late, these were necessities I had to manage on my own. Managing work and school became a balancing act I performed daily. My evenings were spent doing homework without any assistance, cleaning the house, and cooking my meals. I didn't have the luxury of parental guidance or support so I learned to be self-reliant. This self-sufficiency became my greatest strength. I understood that my future depended on my efforts and dedication. There was no safety net, no fallback option if I failed. Despite these challenges, I refused to let my circumstances define me. I took my academics and passions seriously, knowing they were my ticket to a better life. My education became my priority. I would often stay up late to study after working long hours. My situation, though difficult, motivated me to push myself to the limit and strive for excellence in everything I did. My hard work paid off when I earned top grades in my classes and received recognition for my academic achievements. Raising myself wasn’t just about survival, it was about thriving against the odds. It required maturity beyond my years and a level of responsibility that few of my peers could comprehend. While they enjoyed the carefree moments of adolescence, I was budgeting my earnings and planning my future. As I look back on those years, I am grateful for all I learned. I recognize that my challenges have been my greatest teachers. My journey was not an easy one, but it was mine. I carry with me the lessons of self-reliance, perseverance, and resilience that I learned during those formative years. My experience, though arduous, shaped my character and prepared me for the rigors of adulthood. I have already proven to myself that I can succeed on my own so I am not daunted by the road ahead, instead, I approach it with a sense of optimism and confidence.

Acceptances: - Appalachian State (Honors + Scholarship) - East Carolina University (Honors + Scholarship) - Western Carolina (Honors + Basically Full-Ride Scholarship) - UNC Wilmington (Honors) - Campbell (Honors + Basically Full-Ride Scholarship)

Waitlisted: - UNC Chappell Hill

Rejected: - Duke University

Nobody guessed correctly on r/chanceme...

Demographics:

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Asian
• School Type: Public
• Hooks: Recruited by MIT for athletics

Intended Major(s):

• CS / Asian Studies

Academics:

• ACT: 36
• Class Rank: N/A (likely top 1%)
• UW/W GPA: 4.0 (Only UW)
• Coursework: 12 APs (Physics C, APUSH, Calc BC, Bio, Gov, Lang, Macro, CSA, etc.), 1 college course. All 4/5 on exams.

Awards:

• National Merit Semifinalist (Ended up winning scholarship)
• AP Scholar with Distinction

Extracurriculars:

1. Attended a [language] school on Saturdays. Basically was a school from that country plopped onto the Midwest. Used the same lessons and textbooks. 30 weeks per year. 7 hours.
2. [Sport] at a very competitive level. Most players on team went D1. 20 hours a week. 45 weeks per year.
3. Student Senate at [language] school. Planned some cool cultural events.
4. Varsity athlete for my sport
5. Tutor for nonprofit my friend and I founded. 25 weeks per year. 1 hour a week.
6. Math team member. 3 hours a week. 5 weeks per year.
7. Member of volunteering club. Didn’t do much except for a few hours per year.
8. Some online coding course over the summer

Essays:

• Common App: ~7/10
• Supplements: Overall 7-8/10. Spent most time on MIT so they were probably 8.5/10 IMO

LORs:

• CS Teacher / Coach. Very supportive. 9/10
• APUSH Teacher 7/10
• Counselor: No clue. Big school so didn't get to talk to her much but made sure to say hi when I walked by.

Schools

• MIT EA Deferred --> RD Accepted
• UChicago EA Deferred --> Rejected
• State flagship EA Accepted
• Northeastern EA Deferred --> Rejected
• Cornell RD Accepted
• Duke RD Rejected
• Hopkins RD Waitlisted
• WashU RD Waitlisted
• GT RD Rejected
• Northwestern RD Waitlisted
• Dartmouth RD Rejected
• NYU RD Accepted
• Colby RD Waitlisted
• Grinnell RD Accepted
• Macalester RD Waitlisted

I have a LOR from a distuingished prof working at Harvard, will it give me a boost if i apply early in Harvard or should i use my REA for another school with a high acceptance rate to safeguard my choice and life. P.s: Harvard is my first choice

What should I do?

Advertising & PR / Communication Major

Demographics:

• Residency: In-state (Socal)
• Gender: Female
• School Type: Public
• Hooks: Title I School

Stats:

• Unweighted GPA: 3.93
• UC GPA: 4.33
• APs: 8 total (5 on Lang, 4 on APUSH, others TBD: Lit, Stats, Psych, 2D Art, Micro, Gov)
• Dual Enrollment: Social Psychology & Entrepreneurship
• Test Scores: N/A

Extracurriculars:

CEO, Creative Agency – 10+ clients, 360k+ reach, $3.2k revenue.

2.  Executive Producer & Anchor, School News – Took over after mentor’s ALS diagnosis, 130k+ views.
3.  Head of Marketing, Student Film Festival – MC’d, ran social media, boosted attendance 250%.
4.  Marketing & Sales, Art Festival – Video ads (70k+ views), managed $2-5k daily sales.
5.  Varsity Cheer Captain – Led nationally ranked team, 3x All-American, 20k+ social media.
6.  Editor-in-Chief, Yearbook – Led 35-person team, designed 250+ pages.
7.  Design Intern, Architecture Firm – Rebranded $50M company, designed 20+ handbook mockups.
8.  Founder, Fashion & Business Clubs – Led workshops, partnered with major brands.
9.  Student Rep, School District – Advocated for student programs, designed 500+ certificates.

Awards:

• 3x All-American Cheerleader (National)
• Regional Art Finalist
• VP, National Art Honor Society
• Homecoming Court Winner
• CSF Seal Bearer (Top 5%)

Essays/LORs: 9/10 (Strongest Part of App)

PIQs for UCs:

• Leadership: Running school news after mentor’s ALS diagnosis.
• Creativity: Capturing nostalgia through videography at an art festival.
• Challenge: Overcoming childhood trauma, breaking the cycle through leadership.
• Academic Passion: Love as an interdisciplinary study (philosophy, psychology, linguistics, literature).

Decisions:

✅ Accepted: UCSB, UCSD, Parsons (with scholarship), USD (with scholarship), NYU, SDSU (Honors),

USC (with merit/70k aid!!!) & COMMITTED

⏳ Waitlisted: UCLA

❌ Rejected: Columbia, Cal Poly Slo

Demographics

• Gender: female

• Race/Ethnicity: latina

• Residence: North Carolina

• Income Bracket: upper-middle class

• Type of School: large public (not that competitive except top 60ish)

• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): none

Intended Major(s): political science, public policy focus where available. 

Academics:

GPA (UW/W): 3.56/4.2

Rank: 110/660

# of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 8 APs, 13 honors, 9 dual enrollment 

Standardized Testing:

SAT: 1440 (690M/750R)

ACT: 33 (31E, 30M, 36R, 35S)

AP/IB: 3: world, 4: APUSH, psych, french, stats, lang 

Extracurriculars/Activities:

• MUN CoPres: only meet once a month mostly affinity. clubs don’t start at my school til october & i was invited to be copres by my friend later than expected so no comps or anything special :)

• elementary school ASEP tutor & math/ESL peer tutoring 

• Mu Alpha Theta secretary

• Secretary for family business 

• few other community service clubs/honor societies 

Awards/Honors:

• AP Scholar w/ distinction 

• aforementioned honor societies

Letters of Recommendation:

got one from my stats teacher last year who im pretty close w/ & i haven’t seen it but i do imagine it was pretty good since i participated a lot in class & he was also an advisor for a club im in & worked w. 

my old counselor loved me but he left and i spoke to the new one a single time (our school is severely overcrowded i fear and they’re also never in school for some reason)

one of french teachers agreed to write me one and then never did 😆 (i asked like five times)

Essays:

my personal statement was okay, i decided to rewrite it an hour before applying to UNC (dont do that).  About how my love for math & number theory led to me making sense of my life and overcoming BED.

for my supplementals i mostly wrote ab wanting educational policy changed b/c i saw first hand the struggles immigrant students in my community faced esp. in math classes, except for GW because i wrote about magnet schools being a cop-out against integration. 

Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

Acceptances:

University of New Hampshire (EA/direct)

American University (EA) 

LSU (rolling + honors college)

Queens University of Charlotte (RD it’s basically rolling though + honors college)

UNC Asheville (RD + honors college)

UNC Charlotte (RD)

Waitlists:

GW (RD)

NC State (RD)

Rejections:

Boston College (ED)

UNC (EA)

Smith (RD)

Additional Information:

had a bad skin condition that reached its peak freshman year & limited my mobility. also i originally wrote this on my phone so i apologize for any inconsistent grammar.

I got accepted into lots of cool schools which I’m grateful for. Three of them I am currently grappling with in terms of committing

(Not in any order)

1. Washington and Lee

2. Indiana University Bloomington

3. Northwestern

I love the schools for different reasons. Northwestern is northwestern and closer to home. Also has wicked rankings for my major(~1hr)(rd)

Washington and Lee is out there and the farthest from me. I like the vibe there and all the offices and students I’ve talked to made me excited to go(rd)

Indiana University Bloomington is my state school. It’s most familiar to me bc I did research and science stuff there every summer for a total of 2 months there(ish). I’ve met great people there(ea)

The real kicker is the money. I wanna major in biology and business on the course for med school. IUB would be a fully ride bc the business school gave me a scholarship + state tuition + a scholarship for people in my area. Thing is, I would have to do two honors business programs but bio is my focus sooo

Northwestern with aid is 40k yearly and Washington and Lee is 50k. Probs bc I applied rd.

Idk… I see lots of people here committing to the prestigious colleges out of their options so maybe the idea of debt means differently to me? My siblings had to pull loans for out of state schools, not big loans just for housing, and my parents had no debt for school. So we don’t have the background of dealing with college debt personally? Not to the degree of these schools.

Edit:: If anyone has any knowledge on what dealing with that kind of debt is like, please lmk! I just wanna make an informed decision

At the bottom I explain my extenuating circumstances.

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Asian
• Residence: NY
• Income Bracket: Upper Class
• Type of School: Extremely Competitive HS
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): None

Intended Major(s): Computer Science

Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 89 UW, school doesn't do Weighted
• Rank (or percentile): School doesn't do ranked
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 3 APs, rest Honors. It is included in the school profile that students are unable to take APs until junior year, with a max of 2 in junior year.
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, Teaching Assistantship, English Elective, Physiology

Standardized Testing

• SAT I: Superscore was 1560 (790RW, 770M) and one sitting was 1550 (790RW, 760M)
• ACT: Didn't submit but was 33
• AP/IB: AP Computer Science A (5)
• Other (ex. IELTS, TOEFL, etc.): None

Extracurriculars/Activities

1. Research Intern at CUNY (11-12) : Developed neural networks to determine the best optimization workflows for quantum circuits. Continued this research into my senior year and presented my work to the lab. Currently working on developing a web app to help reduce the time spent on mundane tasks within the lab.
2. CS Teaching Assistant (12): Teaching students about stuff like Boolean algebra, logic gates, and Python. I teach two lessons a week and grade homework and tests.
3. Game Development Program (10-12): I have been part of a free program where I have learned to develop video games in Unity. Developed a game as Project Leader during 11th which I presented at the program's annual showcase, and am currently part of an indie game studio developing a full length game.
4. Eagle Scout and Boy Scout (9-11): I have been involved in Scouting since 2nd grade. Served 6 terms on Patrol Leaders Council (youth leadership council) as the Jr Asst Scoutmaster, 2-term Patrol Leader, Order of the Arrow Rep, and 2-term Troop Librarian. My Eagle Scout project raised $3000 to help seniors in a low income housing community in the South Bronx with food insecurity.
5. K-12 Initiative at Cornell Tech AI Summer Camp (10): Summer after freshman year I was a volunteer teaching assistant where I assisted instructors with teaching a 40-student class of underrepresented middle school students. Planned and taught a lesson in computer vision.
6. Google Code Next (11-12): Learned laser-cutting and 3D printing skills. Created 2D video game in Unity inspired by Space Invaders. Presented project demo at annual showcase.
7. Soup Kitchen Volunteer (9-12): I am a weekly volunteer at local church's soup kitchen. I assist with preparing, packing, and serving food to less fortunate residents of my neighborhood.
8. Varsity Swim (10-12): Organized and led dryland workouts, and helped the team qualify for playoffs twice.
9.  Inspirit AI (10): Summer after sophomore year. Led 4-member team to create and present a music recommender for individuals with Auditory Processing Disorder using machine learning.
10. MIT BWSI Spring Outreach Program: Shower Thoughts (10): Learned foundations of data analysis in Python. Worked in teams to develop solutions to data science-related problems.

Awards/Honors

1. National Merit Commended
2. Second place in international hackathon (Was like 30 ppl 😭😭)
3. Posse Finalist
4. Congressional Award Silver Medal
5. School award for exemplary community service

Letters of Recommendation

Counselor (no clue): Said it was a strong recommendation and that it highlighted my upward trend and my ability to overcome adversity.

Math Teacher (9/10): Said I was one of the strongest students in the classes he taught. Brought up an example of me asking to put my head down and rest in his class because I had a headache as an example of my character since most people just try to get away with it 😭. I thought that was pretty unique though.

History teacher (8/10): Very standard letter of rec, helped highlight me overcoming adversity in freshman year.

Interviews

University of Rochester was pretty chill, just talked about myself and why I liked about their school.

Essays

Personal statement was about my Eagle Scout Project and how I gained a new appreciation of the rank. (8/10)

Other essays were normal.

Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

Acceptances:

• University of Pittsburgh (Rolling, waitlisted from Honors College)
• The Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus (EA)
• Case Western Reserve University (EA, $30,500/yr)
• University at Buffalo (EA)
• Binghamton University (EA)
• Rochester Institute of Technology (EA, $25,000/yr)
• Indiana University - Bloomington (EA, $8,000/yr)
• Rutgers University - New Brunswick (EA, for both CS and CompE)
• University of Massachusetts - Amherst (EA, $18,000/yr)
• University of Rochester (RD)
• Northeastern University London Scholars Program (EA)
• University of Wisconsin - Madison (ED for Posse, deferred to EA): Committed!!

Waitlists:

• Virginia Tech (EA)

Rejections:

• University of California, Irvine (RD)
• University of California, Davis (RD)
• University of California, San Diego (RD)
• University of California, Santa Barbara (RD)
• University of California, Berkeley (RD)
• University of California, Los Angles (RD)
• University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign (Deferred)
• Purdue University (EA)
• University of Maryland - College Park (EA)
• University of Southern California (Deferred)
• University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (EA)
• University of Virginia (EA)
• Cornell University (RD)
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (EA)
• Rice University (RD)
• Johns Hopkins University (RD)
• Stony Brook University (Bruh, EA)
• Georgia Tech (EA, However, I was offered a Conditional Transfer Pathway for Fall 2026 to any major except CS)

Additional Information:

I'm very grateful to get a second chance at an exceptional CS school, especially because my Freshman grades were not the best. I had hearing issues, and I fixed them through lipreading, but with COVID, people started wearing masks and each classroom had a loud air filter, so I struggled. I was scared to ask for help because I thought I would be looked down on, which I realize now is not the case.

I think if my grades were better I would have a good shot at my reaches, especially because my school is an uber feeder and my friends and people I know with ECs on a similar level were able to get into their reaches, and they had better grades than me. I don't have anyone to blame but myself, but it's something I have thought about. I am looking forward to UW especially because I will be going with a friend, so at the end of the day I am happy with my choice.

is ur ap test score more important or the grade in school for college apps. like if you got b in school but 5 on ap test is that good, would colleges overlook the b

edit: i just realized that the title sounds kind of pretentious/entitled (no pun intended), which wasn't my intention (i expected to get rejected pretty much everywhere out of state lol). apologies for any confusion

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: White/East Asian
• Residence: Ohio
• Income Bracket: Upper middle class
• Type of School: Public high school (moderately competitive)
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): None

Intended Major(s): Biomedical Engineering

Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 4.0/4.9184
• Rank (or percentile): 4/371
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 11 APs, 3 dual enrollment, 11 honors
• Senior Year Course Load: AP CSP, AP Physics C Mech, AP Spanish Language, DE Calc II, DE Calc III, DE E. Sci., band.

Standardized Testing

• ACT: (Superscore (two tests) 36, 36, 36, 36; highest individual score 36(36 R, 36 E, 36 M, 34 S))
• PSAT: (1520; 760 M, 760 R)

Extracurriculars/Activities

1. Youth staff leader for multi-state youth leadership course - lead a large team of staff members, presented on leadership and communication topics to groups of over 50.
2. BSA - Life Scout and former Senior Patrol Leader
3. Boys State Delegate
4. Trivia team varsity member (two-time league champions)
5. Hydroponic gardening (hobbyist) - independently designed and built small-scale indoor hydroponic gardens to grow lettuce and other vegetables throughout the year.
6. Link Crew Leader - helped plan and run freshman orientation, met with a small group of students throughout the year to help guide them through high school.
7. Theater Lighting Designer - designed the lighting for the majority of productions at my high school.
8. Cross Country - JV runner for 4 years
9. Theater booth technician (paid) - worked for my high school to help provide lighting and sound services to outside events in the school's auditorium.
10. NHS member - through NHS, volunteered at an elementary school throughout the year to assist with a program to teach kids about character development.

Awards/Honors

1. National Merit Finalist
2. Governor's Merit Scholarship Recipient (it's an Ohio thing)
3. AP Scholar with Distinction
4. Cross Country Senior Scholar

Letters of Recommendation (these are estimates obviously, I didn't actually read any of these)

AP Physics and trivia team advisor (I estimate an 8/10)

AP Gov Teacher (I estimate an 8/10)

Leadership course advisor (I estimate a 9.25/10)

Interviews

Harvey Mudd College (I felt that it went alright. In hindsight, I was very nervous and likely answered too quickly and without detail)

Princeton University (This was another decent conversation, but again, I was extremely nervous and it showed in my responses.)

Essays

Personal Statement (9.5/10 estimated - I spent an extremely long time on my common app essay and I feel that it's one of the best things that I've ever written. Reviewed by my AP Lit teacher as well as some family members.)

Supplementals (on average, anywhere from 8 to 9.5/10 (except for USC, where it was like a 7/10.)

Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

Acceptances:

• College of Wooster (EA)
• tOSU Honors Columbus Campus (EA)
• Occidental College (RD)
• GWU Honors (RD)
• Otterbein University (Rolling)
• Pitzer College (RD)
• Cornell University (RD)!!

Waitlists:

• UChicago (RD)
• Johns Hopkins University (RD)

Rejections:

• Caltech (RD)
• Harvey Mudd College (RD)
• Pomona College (RD)
• Princeton University (RD)
• USC (EA; defer -> deny)

Reflection

This isn't what I expected at all. On one hand, there were definitely some disappointments (such as my Harvey Mudd rejection) and some times when everything was looking down. On the other hand, getting into Cornell was not even a possibility on my radar when I applied and was the biggest surprise/highest point of this whole process. I'm not committed anywhere yet, but I feel incredibly happy to have all of these choices.

I would say that the best decision that I made was finding schools that I loved in all of the ranges of selectivity. Even though I applied to some T20s and highly-competitive schools, it made the process feel better when you know that you have safeties and targets where you know that you would be happy. This is something that I almost didn't do, being swept away by the flood of rankings and acceptance rates, but it made rejections and long waits infinitely more bearable.

Looking at it data-wise, I have come to realize that I did pretty much no STEM ECs in high school while applying to some very competitive STEM programs, and this was probably a weak spot. However, I wouldn't change anything if I could do this again. I enjoyed every extracurricular that I participated in, and I picked all of them because I wanted to participate. Do the things that you want to do in high school and tell your own story.

I’m an international from South Asia and applied to the UK and US (pls ignore the lack of enough safeties)

Here are my stats(in short)(feel free to ask for more deets, would love to help out fellow intls) and results

Stats -4.0 GPA ( I gave O levels and A levels) -1560 SAT -ECS: got highest national academic award, national debate team, youth journalism, dance, music, national camp for biology olympiad, president of 2 school clubs, etc -insanely low EFC: 7k

UK: 1. Oxford - Rejected (their feedback said I didn’t make the cutout just because I scored 3 marks less in the PAT ;-;) 2. Imperial - Rejected (sort of fucked up my application here my bad)

1. UCL - Accepted
2. University of Glasgow - Accepted
3. University of Warwick - Accepted

US: 1. Harvard: Accepted

1. Yale: Rejected

2. Princeton: Rejected (gave an insanely good interview tho, dream school gone fr)

3. Upenn: Accepted

4. Dartmouth: Waitlisted (don’t let em super nice interviews fool you)

5. Columbia: Rejected

6. Brown: Rejected

7. Cornell: Rejected

8. MIT: Rejected

9. Stanford: Rejected

10. Caltech: Rejected

11. UChicago: Rejected

12. Amherst: Rejected

13. NYU: Rejected

14. Duke: Rejected

15. Northwestern: Rejected

16. Rice: Rejected

17. JHU: Rejected

18. Bryn Mawr: Waitlisted

19. Flagler College: Accepted

20. HWS: waiting for decisions

I feel like the rejections are mostly due to my low efc, my profile was otherwise objectively strong, and interviews went well too. However, I am extremely grateful to have gotten into Harvard and Upenn (honestly a bit scared too)

To end it all, would love to extend my gratitude towards all college subreddits for being such a supportive(haha maybe not always but oh well every community has toxic ppl) and helpful community, it’s weird that I no longer will be desperately scrolling reddit while I anxiously wait for decisions, signing out (?) <3

Major: Mathematics

Gpa(UW/W): 3.9/4.5

Rank: 47/638

Sat: 1170(applied test optional to schools that offered it)

Courses: 7 Aps, 9 Honors

Acceptances:

• Rutgers Newark + New Brunswick(RD)

• Montclair State(EA)

• Njit(EA 2)

• University of Delaware(RD)

• UCSC(RD)

• UCD(RD)

• Northeastern(RD; oak(1 yr) —> Boston)

• UW Madison(RD)

• Boston University(RD;as a transfer for fall 2026)

Waitlists:

• NYU(ED 2)

• UW Seattle(RD)

• UCSB(RD)

Demographics

• Gender: male
• Race/Ethnicity: asian
• Residence: China
• Income Bracket: not sure--middle upperish class
• Type of School: small private school
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): Nun :)

Intended Major(s): Computer Science

Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 3.82 UW/ School doesn't do W
• Rank (or percentile): N/A
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 15
• Senior Year Course Load: Ap Chem, AP Bio, AP Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Research, AP CSP, World Gov, Gen Chem

Standardized Testing

List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

• SAT I: 1500 (700RW, 800M)
• ACT: N/A
• AP/IB: 10APs (3-5s)
• Other (ex. IELTS, TOEFL, etc.): Toefl 116

Extracurriculars/Activities

List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

1. Stuco(10,11,12)-president, raising $2k usd, events etc.
2. CS Club(9,10,11,12)-founder, witih ex-LG systems worker as mentor helping.
3. Math tutoring club(10,11,12)-founder, lead tutor
4. Electrical engineering internship(11)-50 hrs, assisting/shadowing daily tasks and industry practice and creating multilangual PPTs/booklets
5. Band(11,12) lead guitarist/vocalist
6. Athletics club(11,12) ultimate frisbee player, going to other cities to compete. created and coached U15 basketball, competing in other cities.
7. Volunteer teacher(11summer): 50hrs at country-side teaching english and international physical games
8. stuco at weekend korean school(11-12) president, organizing events, helping students
9. DSA & hardware club(12) mentoring, creating projects with arduino, etc.
10. Cambodia volunteering(11) a week trip with classmates to teach english, promote local culture through social media through an organization

Awards/Honors

List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

1. AP International Diploma (intl)
2. exeplary conduct and service award by korean consulate general (national)
3. Australian Mathematics Competitoin certificate of credit (11) (intl)
4. Science fair(9,10) (school)-they stopped giving out awards from last year to make it "fair"
5. school honors for excellence in behavior/etc (school)

Letters of Recommendation

Senior year AP bio teacher(8/10): she's known me for three years at this point and she has taught me other classes before hand. We are close and I think she wrote a great LOR for me.

Senior year CSP teacher(9/10): he's really cool and I think he likes me a lot. He told me about how he wrote me a good LOR. The only downside for this is that he came this year to our institution. However, we did know eachother a year prior thorugh interschool events, etc.

School Director (6/10): I think he likes me, but he probably doesn't have any specific anacdotes or anything compared to the CSP teacher or AP bio teacher as we haven't had a class together. We did spend quite some time due to Stuco events/planning tho.

Counselor (6/10): Not too sure about this one. She is cool, but she's an online counselor so the letter may be generic.

Interviews

Princeton(10/10) He told me that my story and values really resonated with him and we had an amazing conversation abt skl and more.

I missed the emails for other interviews... ex) penn...

Essays

topic is about my story of staying in this small school, seeing it grow and being the first graduate. I don't think I specifically mentioned abt first graduate tho.

College list:

Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

ED/EA: Stanford ED: rejected, UT Austin EA: rejected

I knew the chances were slim so I was fine. I just had regrets of not applying to more earlies.

RD:

Acceptances

·      UC Santa Barbara (CS)

·      UC Riverside (CS)—20K yearly scholarship

·      University of Washington—Seattle (Pre Science)

·       UC Irvine (CS) (probably will commit to)

·       Northeastern University (CS)—first year London campus

·       Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (CS) 27k scholarship

·       HKUST (Science A + AI)—conditional offer (Calc BC, Chem, Bio(4s*2, 5s*1))

Waitlist

·      UC San Diego

Rejections

·      California Institute of Technology

·      University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign—file issues

·      Washington University in St. Louis

·      Carnegie Mellon University

·      University of Notre Dame

·      John Hopkins University

·      University of North Carolina

·      UC Los Angeles

·      Georgetown

·      New York University

·      Northwestern University

·      University of Sothern California

·      Vanderbilt University

·      Rice University

·      UC Berkley

·      Princeton University

·      Harvard University

·      Columbia University

·      Cornell University  

·      Yale University

·      Brown University

·      University of Pennsylvania

·      Purdue University--This one surprised me.

·      Georgia Institute of Technology

·      University of Michigan

Additional Information:

My mid year report/senior year report was bad. 3.67/4 gpa with a 3.0 on Ap chem/chem as they were online and had some consequences due to late submissions. I didn't know how much senior year grades/mid year report mattered. So, I advise maintaining your GPAs high senior year. Finish with a bang!

Thoughts*:*

Honestly? I'm content with my results. Rejections didn't really hurt much as I guess I was sort of anticipating them, but getting 20 in a row did make me feel something. I do have small regrets of not trying harder at certain times of my highschool life, but I think I had a pretty well balanced school-life balance. I am contemplating when to go to military as I am korean D:

Demographics

Gender: Female * Race/Ethnicity: White * Residence: Bay Area, California * Income Bracket: 400k+ * Type of School: Public * Hooks: Lots of medical issues

Intended Major(s): Biology, Biochem, Premed path

Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 3.96 UC UW, 4.27 UC W GPA
• Rank (or percentile): N/A
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc:5 honors,10 AP courses. AP Euro (5), AP Seminar (5), AP Chem (4), AP Research (4), AP Calc BC (5), AP Lang (4), AP Physics?, AP Bio ? , AP Stats ?, AP Macro ?
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics, AP Bio, AP Stats, AP Macro, Multimedia, Literature (regular)

Standardized Testing

List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

No SAT/ACT * AP: stated above, 3 fives and 3 fours

Extracurriculars/Activities

List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

1. Volunteering - 4 hrs/wk, 2 years
2. Tutoring- 1 hr/wk, 4 years + 2 hrs/wk different place 1 yr
3. Volunteering Coordinator of a club 2 yrs, 5hrs/wk, planned a service event every other week
4. Babysitting- 2 hrs/wk, 4 yrs
5. STEM competition, 3 months 15 hrs/wk, got 2nd place
6. Varsity track- 3 yrs, 15 hrs/wk
7. Varsity XC- 2yrs, 15 hrs/wk
8. Astrophotography, 2 hr/wk, hobby, 4 yrs
9. Garage band, 5 hrs/wk, 2 years

Awards/Honors

List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

1. Presidental Silver Service Award
2. AP with WE Service
3. AP Capstone Diploma
4. School Honors award
5. Most inspirational award for XC (x2)
6. AP Scholar with Distinction

Letters of Recommendation

Not relevant

Essays

Personal Statement — About how my medical issues have shaped me as an individual who wants to give to the community and follow a path in stem (Personally I believe this is a 10/10 essay, I love it so much but realistically I guess 9/10)

PIQ: - Wrote about volunteering and why I love doing it (9/10) - Wrote about about love for science and how I currently and hope to explore it (9/10) - Wrote about struggles with medical issues and how it has shaped me (8.5/10) - Wrote about my biggest skill being charisma (9/10) (Ok I know I ranked my essays all high but I worte my essays so many times I made sure they were perfect) Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

Acceptances:

• UC Berkeley
• UC Santa Barbara
• University of Washington + 9k scholarship
• University of Oregon, Honors, EA + 20k scholarship
• Loyola Marymount, EA +20k scholarship
• UC Santa Cruz
• Cal Poly Slo
• SDSU
• CSU Long Beach
• SJSU
• UC San Diego

Waitlists:

• UCLA
• UC Irvine
• UC Davis

Rejections:

None!

Thoughts:

Comparing yourself to this discord is so toxic, I honestly thought I wouldn't get in anywhere after reading basically every post. I think my essays carried though so put a lot of throught into them!

I'm between UCB and UCSD for premed- if anyone has any input please lmk!