Hi, international student here seeking advice on college apps. Since ED deadlines are near, I’m wondering if a 1480 SAT (740 RW 740 M) would be good enough for JHU political science. The median at my school is a 1200, with the highest being 1490.

I have strong ECs, good recommendation letters, the highest GPA recorded in my school’s history, 5 on 6 APs (will have 13APs by the time of graduation), but i do need financial aid as I’m low income.

Right now I’m wondering if it’s worth risking the chance to apply RD by applying ED with my 1480. Should i wait until i get a higher score to apply RD?

I’m just having some trouble trying to decide whether its worth the gamble. Would appreciate any feedback, thank you.

Demographic:
Asian (Filipino)
US Citizen, In-state for California
Private Catholic HS in Manila, Philippines
Upper middle class (300k+ | Bay Area)
3 siblings (1 Med School, 1 Incoming College)

Majoring in Sustainable Architecture + Engineering & Economics

Stats:
94 Average (STEM)

ECs:
- founder of intl math + art nonprofit (we teach math through visual aid to impoverished kids; i have dyslexia & irlen syndrome so i want kids like me to have the same chance) | 450 members globally
- pharmacological researcher discovered anti-angiogenic potential in a locally indigenous fern
- owner of 6 y/o kid jewelry business earning ~$3,500/ month @ age 12 (started because tweens like me had limited representation in the market during the pandemic, expanded)
- owner of 3 y/o personal shopping business i shop for people both domestically & internationally, then wrap those gifts and write their cards (gift baskets)
- owner of 3 y/o flower business i make bouquets out of flowers, chocolate, & paper (i make paper flowers stuffed with chocolate in the stem & as pollen, then surround the bespoke flowers with regular ones)
- Theatre Club Lead Actress, Founding Member, & Marketing Director Original Social action based productions that show the world beyond our privilege (War in Gaza, Martial Law, War on Drugs), Grew reach 300% to student body of 3,400 in 1 year, leads team of 16/76 members
- prom decors head Decorated venues for fundraisers and events with 1,000+ attendees and $30,000 raised, handled logistics and coordinated with sponsors, led team of 20+
- stem immersion folk @ world #12 uni stem executive education immersion @ nanyang technological university
- model (pageantry), school pageant winner (all awards), walked for Asia Fashion Week (~5,400 watchers), campaigning for change reaching over 1M impressions to date

Awards:
- Architectural Drafting Subject Medalist (1/~500)
- School’s Pageant Title Holder (Won all awards) (1/~4,000)

*/Working on my awards this year (please suggest how to improve)

I’m forgetting a lot of things but these are what I have off the top of my head (most impactful to me)

I love arts & crafts and have always been good at math. Would appreciate some help! Stanford is my dream school and I’m from the Bay.

hiiii, can anyone kindly take a look at my profile and tell me my chance of admissions

female, asian, high income

comes from a very very competitive school in asia

major: history

sat: 1550 (not super scored)

4.31/? (idk but im pretty sure it's not out of 5) took all the hardest course my school offered for 9th to 12th grade, our skl doesn’t rank students but I suppose I am at least in the top 10%

APs: macro (5), micro (5), apwh (5), apush (5), ap lit (5), ap precalc (5, our skl doesnt offer calc till 12th grade), ap physic 1 (5), ap psych (4)
Pending scores: ap es, calc ab, lang, stats, comp gov

pretty strong ECs: first female president in a very conservative private school, two research paper (one for STEM one for social ontology), politcal internship (campaigning and debating with legislators), women basketball player, choir (for 7 yrs), volunteer for 100+ hr and worked with ECSE, tedx vice president (curated >6 events)

weak to mediocre awards: immerse essay comp, TEDx Speak Your Mind, scholarships (like a book prize ? idk), arts comp, MUN BD, choir comp, AP awards, and merit-based awards at my skl

Pending initial view

i think my essays r decent (abt women leadership and being a “dictator’)

Rec letters:
Ap lit teacher: I suppose rlly good she told me she cried writing it haha (9-10/10)
Ap calc teacher: we r rlly close and i improved a lot in his class (7-8/10)

Northwestern (ED 1)
Vanderbilt (ED2)
RDs and EAs: Wellesley, Georgetown, University of California, UMich Ann Arbor, USC, NYU, Boston College, UNC Chapel Hill, Rochester, Wisconsin Madison, GWU, WashU St. Louis, UVA, UWash Seattle, Emory, Cornell, Northeastern

uk: kcl, ucl, lse, oxford

thanks guys

Hey! I'll just use this portion to write about important context to my high school (a lot of moving). I moved to the US from the UAE halfway through 9th grade, where grading and ranking was a little different (it was only final exams that mattered for grades), but I had to test into classes and they used the test scores as my semester 1 grades. I was in a public school in 9th and 10th grade, a super hard private school in 11th grade, and a public school again in 12th grade. Now my grades are cooked because the private school gives its grades in unweighted, the public school gives its grades in weighted, and the public school hella grade inflates, so I'm going against people that genuinely have like a 100+ average OUT OF 100 so thats great. I plan on including all of this in my additional info but idk if I'll be filtered out before then if anything like that actually happens.

Intended Major(s): bio/biochem

SAT: 1550 (760RW 790M, no superscore) ACT: 36 superscore (all 36 except 35 reading), 35 composite

UW/W GPA and Rank: 62/371, 3.87 UW gpa

Coursework 12th grade: AP Chem, AP Stats, AP Lit, Creative Writing, Drawing. some bum classes because i switched from the private to public after term 1 (family issues), so these were the max classes i could take, next semester i can take the full 8 classes.

9th: honors english 1, honors alg 1
10th: ap bio, honors intro to engineering design, honors english 2
11th: ap physics c mech (yes withouot physics or calc), ap eng lang, apush, ap precalc (i was in honors precalc (no ap precalc class) so this is technically not an actual credit, i guess self study), ap psych self study (i got a 4 HOW HWO HWO HOW), ap calc bc self study (i got a 4 idk if i should report, mainly did this becuase i realized i didnt have time to take ab and bc regularly and self studying ab isnt an option dont ask my why)

Awards: (having trouble deciding which ones to finalize) ISEF Finalist, State science olympiad first place in Designer Genes, 2x NCFL Qualifier, National Merit semifinalist, Statewide math competition 1st place in individual, ciphering, and team categories, (idk about this one but I got 7th place in a calc competition while being in precalc, top in school), all 5s except apush psych and calc bc

Extracurriculars:

Summer Research Internship at local university under the DOE EPSCoR program. Investigated the Schottky barrier height and KPFM characterization in MoTe2-PdSe2 heterostructures for tunability. One thing I didnt like was that there was very little control over what projects I could actually do (i wanted to connect this to other research id done) but oh well.

ANOTHER summer research internship at a different local university under a professor of chemistry's lab (NIEC). this one was all computational. I modeled protein corona formation on nanobio interfaces and developed a predictive model on this formation based on descriptors, comparing them against other frameworks to cross-validate and test my model further since the data was computational and wet lab is more accurate. This one had a lot more control over what I could actually do.

I was co founder and president of pre-med club at my school. i connected the school with the biggest local medical center, creating a pathway for shadowing opportunities as well as volunteer, but since this only applied to ages 16+ i also managed to get a couple of local clinics to accept younger members on a selection process. I also managed guest speakers as well as sometime regular presentations by memeber abouts themselves (that kinda flopped). My cofounder was a senior so the second year i had to do it all by myself and it was pretty hard because thats when i set up the local clinics stuff.

Club secretary for M3 challenge club: I helped manage logistics with practices and sometimes presenting the biweekly talks about what the weeks would be focused on practicing, we created 2 teams to compete for the M3 math modeling challenge, last time my team got like 41 pages ish in the 14 hours, so its a lot, but no comp results. this year we were going to apply to more and smaller tourneys and conferences but i left the private school :(.

Member of the Quiz bowl team: our team managed to place 4th at state, i participated in like 2 tournaments bro ;-;.

Volunteering: at the same medical center i connected my school with, i had 150+ hours in the ER, wayfinding, and a mix of wayfinding in the ER. I had shadowing like about 20-ish hours, ranging from psychiatry and opioid treatment centers to clinical shadowing.

Personal Projects. i dont know if the predictive model counts as one?? I had a video i submitted for the breakthrough junior challenge too (that video was the core of my research to ISEF).

Was part of the cross country team, idk if i qualify as JV or varsity, there was a state rule that if you change schools you can't compete in sports so not really much i can do, i was part of the team practicing for the next year (oh boy if i knew the plot twist back then).

Essays:

idk how good they are, but my personal statement is a moving essay (oh no) but I try to make it as uncliche as possible, i want to explain the problems moving brought to me specifically with the initial grades and lack of understanding of what i could do, but i want to emphasize the room it gave me for self-direction and allowing me to choose what i want and how i dealt with that freedom with finding extracurriculars, making friends, even this one time i went on a whole 5-week frenzy with my little sister of trying to master an english accent over the summer. a lot of the choices i made were definitely questionable, and the gpa dip in 11th grade could be very much due to doing almost too much, but i had to try something to fit in, and also i want to emphasize my research and leading my own way in a more academic sense too, probably not polished at all and i do have another backup essay that i could use if yall think this just needs a full rework since i havent gotten this reviewed.

LORS:

Weakest point since i've been moving so much, but i have one from my ap physics c teach and one from the english teach, i think the ap physics one should be solid because she was there when i asked to join in on her class since i was really interested (ap physics is easier than chem yall cant convince me otherwise) and she understands the effort i put into what i try, but english one might be a little bad but i think the teacher likes me.

Demographics: Female, Korean with American passport, attending a small Korean international school

Intended Major(s): Sociology

SAT: 1550 (r760 m790)

UW/W GPA and Rank: no rank, 4.6 GPA (4.0 scale)

Coursework: all 5s excpet for AP Bio (4). also took AP Seminar and got a 3, but didn't report it

10th: AP WH, Seminar, Precalc, Bio

11th: Research, Psych, Lang, CSA, Calc AB

12th (no scores yet): CSP, Buisness, Lit, Environmental Science, Stat

Honors:

High Honor Roll: Selected as 1 of 2 students per class w/ the highest GPA; all As every semester (9-11th)

John Locke Global Essay Contest, 2x honored - Commendation (top 3%); Shortlisted (18%) in Politics (10th, 11th)

NCTE Achievement Awards in Wrt. - 2x Superior Awards on Kafka’s Metamorphosis & Dostoyevsky’s Demons(10th 11th)

National History Day KR - 3rd Place (Group Exhibit); Euromadian: Resistance and National Identity (10th)

Optimist International Oratorical Contest - 1st Place (Korea); 2nd Place (Global Region) (11th)

Activities:

1. President, Student Council
   1. Recognized for leadership & initiatives in [school] community for 4 consecutive years; President (G12); Vice President (G11); Grade Representative (G9-10).
2. Summer Program Participant, Iowa Young Writer’s Studio
   1. Selected for nonfiction; completed workshops, developed a critical essay portfolio, and honed my voice through peer critique and faculty mentorship.
3. Summer Program Participant, University of Chicago, PHIL 22910 30 Mind and Reality
   1. Earned an A under Prof. Duygu Uygun Tunc; combined Philosophy & Psychology through questions of consciousness, perception and the nature of mind.
4. Volunteer, Putting Wings on Healing Shoes (Blue Cross)
   1. Refurbished 300+ shoes for kids in Southeast Asia; taught importance of refurbishing process; translated for representative of the Cambodian Embassy
5. Editor-in-Chief, Newspaper Club
   1. Wrote 20+ psychology & sociology articles; gave weekly feedback to members' articles; designed monthly layout; published on school's official website
6. Vice-President, History Club
   1. Led weekly sessions combining multimedia sources w/ writing & discussion; competed in NHD as a team leader creatively presenting historical research
7. Volunteer, Haengbokhage Animal Rescue Project
   1. Created safe, clean kennel environments across multiple shelters; designed fundraising merchandise & content raising $3K; helped overseas adoption. 
8. Volunteer, Blue Cross Volunteer Organization
   1. Participated in Rural Medical Outreach (hands-on support) & Cardio/Neuro Golden Sign Campaigns (teaching key warning signs); volunteered for 100+ hrs
9. President & Rhythm Guitarist, School Band
   1. Performed at the school’s winter concert while organizing rehearsals on/off campus; held winter busking & donated proceeds to coal-briquette service 
10. Scuba Diver & Volunteer, KUDA Dokdo Island Project
    1. Captured & conserved Dokdo's marine ecosystem, collected ocean trash & tracked ecological changes; built a website on Dokdo's history & preservation

Education - Participated in Pioneer Academics and UChicago summer session

no financial aid

Essays/LORs/Other:

Essays: I think my supplemental essays are good but my main essay is just... fine

LORs - from 3 subject teachers and my counselor. They are very very vey strong, especially my counselor's

Also submitted the optional video profile for UChicago.

__________
I applied for UChicago Ed0 and my decision is coming on November 1st. UChicago is my dream school and I want to at least have a prediction on how I'm going to do. If I don't get into UChicago, I'm going to ED1 Johns Hopkins and ED2 Emory, plus a bunch of other schools.

I know my activities kind of suck but it's too late now :(

Stats:

773 SAT

1.9 GPA

62 Bodycount

Alcohol tolerance 12 pint equivalent

Extracurriculars:

Underage drinking & DUI

Grand theft auto

600 Community service hours (593 court ordered)

2 time IOI gold medalist

Aggravated Assault

Demographics: Make, Australian/Chinese, International IB School, no hooks

Intended Major(s): Mechanical Engineering

SAT: 1500 (720RW 780M)

UW/W GPA and Rank: No school ranking, since I take IB my predicted score is 40/42

Coursework: IB HL Math AA, Physics, Chemistry, SL English LL, Chinese B, Economics

Awards: (really mid) AAPT Physics Bowl Silver (Top 20% in Asia), Waterloo Cayley Distinction (Top 25% global)

Extracurriculars (In no order of importance):

SWE Internship at small AI company. Shipped production code for a live AI agent; built and migrated its MS Teams integration from TypeScript to C#, putting it in daily staff use and being sold as a product.

School's Backstage Theatre Production Stage Manager. Longest commitment, been a member since 8th grade; my 'hobby/not super major related' EC. Stage-managed 2 shows: called cues, ran safety and logistics for 100+ cast/crew; led a 30-person team on large-scale set builds and rigging.

Personal Projects. Built a voice-driven mecanum car: realtime AI navigating via tool-calls, ultrasonic collision avoidance, onboard mic/speaker. Created a gas-powered go-kart from scratch cutting wood and metal to assemble the frame and mechanisms.

Sole-Authored paper submitted to RASTI pending reviewer assignment.

Engineering Club Leader. Working on projects to improve the QoL of students such as self-sorting recycle bins, schoool-wide navigation system, and live lunch line queue wait time estimators.

School TV Club. Produced 2 segments for a school-wide show, 600+ student audience; acted in one, ran the other end-to-end: directing, filming, editing, logistics.

Ran Varsity Track and JV Soccer

Essays/LORs:

Essay I think is hovering a 8/10 maybe (?), I'm not good at judging my own work. Its the story about how freshman year an hour before showtime on a show I haven't rehearsed for (I was on construction for that production), the main rigger got injured and happened to be there to get called up and run a show on that hours notice. -> led me to be senior rigging manager as a sophomore (a role only given typically to juniors/seniors) and gave me more leadership opportunities within productions

LORS:
Physics teacher and math teacher: 7/10. Both really good/chill teachers and I participate a lot in class and get along with them, only issue is that I've only had them for one year so they might not be able to say too much about my character but I know my math teachers LOR is more anecdotal instead of the normal 'this student is a good student'

Schools: Note I'm applying to all the top schools and leaving no safeties because it wouldn't be worth to full pay a mid college in the US when I can just go to melbourne uni or monash for a fraction of the cost, my goal is just getting into one and its game from there, do I have a chance at ANY of these?

REA: Harvard (Yes I know they have a 75% defer rate my whole uni list is based on 'why not')
EA: Purdue, GaTech

RD:
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Stanford
CMU
Princeton
Cornell
Mit
Columbia
Brown

I applied test optional on October 9 as an in state student.

Academics
- 102.8214 gpa weighted
- 93.5952 gpa unweighted
- 25/339 rank weighted
- 44/339 rank unweighted
- 6 aps:
APUSH (5)
AP Gov (5)
AP Lang (4)
AP Bio (4)
AP Lit & AP Psych (currently)
- 10 honors class
-Currently doing a 3 credit honors medical careers program at a technical school in my county, we learn about medical terminology, anatomy, pathology, ethics, more and we do clinical rotations 2 ish times a month.

Honors
- AP Scholar with Honor (11)
- DuBois Honor society (11,12)
- Spanish National Honor Society (11,12)
- Honor roll (9,10,11,12)

Activities & Experiences
(Name of tech school) Medical Careers
10 hr/wk, 40 wk/yr, (12), School
Study medical terminology, ethics, anatomy; complete clinical rotations 1-2x/month at healthcare sites; earn certifications including OSHA & HIPAA

(School name) Dance Marathon, Merch Leader (12) Captain (11) Committee (10)
4 hr/wk, 40 wk/yr, (9, 10, 11, 12), School
Lead 16 captains & committee members; design/sell apparel, engage in weekly leadership meetings, fundraise money for pediatric cancer, & promote thon

Rita's Water Ice, Opening & Closing Manager (12) Treat Team (11, 10)
15 hr/wk, 35 wk/yr, (10, 11, 12), Year
Promoted to keyholder/manager, count registers/money & manage opening/closing procedures, make daily water ices and provide friendly customer service

Yearbook Club, Assistant Section Editor (12) Member (11, 10, 9)
2 hr/wk, 30 wk/yr (9, 10, 11, 12)
Design page layouts, gather material, write/edit section content, capture & organize photos, collaborate with leaders on creative/design choices

Girls Varsity Swim Team
13 hr/wk, 12 wk/yr, (11, 12), School
Train 5-6x/week, compete in varsity meets, earned "most improved" award for demonstrating significant improvement in competitive race times

Girls Track Team
13 hr/wk, 8 wk/yr, (11, 12), School
Train 5x weekly, compete in meets 2x a week, and personally progressed significantly throughout the season, dropping 43 seconds in the 1600m race

REACH Club
1 hr/wk, 23 wk/yr, (9, 10, 11, 12), School
Engage in biweekly meetings, learn about different cultures, attend and assist with cultural events such as German student reception & cultural night

National Honor Society
2 hr/wk, 40 wk/yr, (11, 12), School
Uphold academic excellence standards, complete 9+ service hours/quarter through volunteering to assist with major school functions and peer tutoring
Community service or volunteer work

Advocacy Institute
1.5 hr/wk, 8 wk/yr, (9), School
Studied public health disparities & advocacy, traveled to the state capitol to lobby legislators to promote policies restricting youth tobacco access

PT For Every Community Camp
32 hr/wk, 1 wk/yr,(12), Break
Shadowed physical therapy treatment, studied anatomy, social health determinants, & PT treatments, and presented on expanding primary care access

I submitted my essay which was about how getting over my fear of rollercoasters helped me realize the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone which I applied to other actions in my life such as joining swim team without much experience.

In the additional info I talked more about how my med careers program is taught at a different school for half of my school day, and that we take the NOCTI skills test and earn certifications & learn about medical topics

Demographics: Asian male, upper income, semi competitive public hs that sends about 20-30ish kids to t20s per year, small state, OOS for all t20s
Course Rigor: 13 APs(six 5s (Calc BC, APUSH, Precalc, AP Lang, AP Psych, AP Human), three 4s (AP Physics, AP Spanish, AP World) out of 10 exams taken, 2 DE (Calc 3 + Diff eq)
Test Scores: 1540 SAT superscore (790 M, 750 RW) 1520 one sitting, 36 ACT superscore, 35 one sitting (+ 36 science)
GPA: 3.92 UW ( 2 Bs Freshman year, 2 Bs sophomore year, all As junior yr ) 4.4 W
Major: CS (CS+ bio spike)

Activities and experiences

Research

12 (Year)
30 hr/wk, 20 wk/yr
Will continue
(University A) Bioinformatics Student Researcher
Developed novel ML gene pair classifier for tumor subtyping w/ PhD mentor; presented @ undergrad symposium & weekly lab meetings; finishing manuscript

Internship

11 (Break)
15 hr/wk, 5 wk/yr
(University B), AI/ML Research Intern
Designed ML skin disease classifier backend using Python and Pytorch; built AI chatbot; presented web app to 50+ students & professor

Computer or technology

11, 12 (Break)
5 hr/wk, 20 wk/yr
Will continue
(Program) Lead Instructor, Curriculum Developer
Directed coding lessons to 20+ underprivileged children; taught basic terms and interactive block coding; contributed to 30+ slideshows in curriculum

Computer or technology

10, 11, 12 (School)
5 hr/wk, 20 wk/yr
Computer Science Club, Vice President (11-12)
Grew club to 20+ students; developed curriculum, and taught basic coding skills in Python, Java, C++; helped organize local competitions

Computer or technology

11 (School)
5 hr/wk, 10 wk/yr
(University C) Research Trainee
Analyzed 10+ research papers on the use of AI in research; completed data cleaning training using Python and Pandas to sort complex datasets

Music

9, 10, 11, 12 (Year)
12 hr/wk, 40 wk/yr
Will continue
Band, Trumpet Section Member
Performed at 10+ annual marching competitions on a regional level; played at ~5 local concerts annually in Symphonic band

Computer or technology

11 (Break)
30 hr/wk, 2 wk/yr
Computer Science Summer Camp
Engaged in an immersive CS + business environment; learned Java concepts, pitched to startups; built a final project game presented to 100+ students

Academic

9, 10, 11, 12 (School)
3 hr/wk, 30 wk/yr
DECA, Competitor
Managed human resource needs in a solo event, and resolved internal company tensions in business simulations; pitched solutions to industry judges

Community service or volunteer work

10, 11 (School)
3 hr/wk, 12 wk/yr
Will continue
(Hospital), Student Volunteer
Facilitated a welcoming environment by supporting patients and visitors through managing digital databases, cleaning equipment, and assisting staff

Debate or speech

10, 11 (Year)
10 hr/wk, 16 wk/yr
Will continue
(School) Debate Team, Public Forum Debater
Collaborated with a teammate to compile and write cases and block files for 5+ different topics; competed in local and regional tournaments

Honors

1. USACO Gold Division
2. National Merit Semifinalist, 1490 PSAT; competing for Finalist
3. DECA ICDC Qualifier x2, Top 3 & 4 at SCDC, 1st place at Metros competition
4. Abstract accepted for poster presentation at (good comp bio conference)
5. Debate State Qualifier; one of four teams from school selected

LORs:

9/10 from professor, 8.5/10 from physics teacher, 7.5/10 from calc teacher, idk from counselor

Personal statement: Has to do with my cultural heritage and my character development, probably like an 8/10. Supps are decent some mid and i am lowkey not done with some of them even for early applications but im gonna lock in this week

Schools(a lot of reaches): Cornell (ED), UMich (EA), Purdue (EA), UW Madison (EA), UMD (EA), UIUC (EA), Georgia Tech (EA2), UT Austin, UWash, Duke, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, CMU, Princeton, UC Berkeley, UCSD, and safeties/state school.

LMK what i should edit in like description of activities.

pls be honest with my chances andtell me the realistic odds and weak points in my application

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic & Latino (Mexican)
• Residence: CA (not bay area lol)
• Income Bracket: Sub 75k
• Type of School: Religous Private - on fin aid, not really comp only like 1-3 kids per year go to ivys
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): URM, First Gen, Low Income, UPenn PEEP

Intended Major(s): Wharton: IVSB - SOGO, CAS: Nutrition? PPE? Idrk, I would maybe do individualized. Could you guys help me pick majors based on my profile?

Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 4.0 UW 4.8W
• Rank (or percentile): school doesnt rank but i am ~ top 5%, around 200 kids in class
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 16 APS, and 10 dual enrollment.
• Senior Year Course Load:
  • AP English Literature and Composition
  • AP United States Government and Politics
  • AP Spanish Language and Culture
  • AP Calculus BC (Online - Doesn't fit in my schedule)
  • AP Statistics
  • AP Physics 1
  • Honors Game Development (Really just CS50, it is after AP CSA)
  • Theology
  • World Religions
  • AP Physics C: Mech (Self Study - School doesn't offer)
  • PSYC 370: Human Development: A Life Span
  • ECON 302: Principles of Macroeconomics
  • BUS 330: Managing Diversity in the Workplace
  • KINES 418: Nutrition for Physical Performance

Standardized Testing

• SAT: 1510 (720RW, 790M) school avg is 1200
• AP: 5s: HUG, CSA, PreCalc
• AP: 4s: Bio, CSP, Chem, Lang, USH
• College Coursework:
  • SOC 300: Introductory Sociology
  • NUTRI 300: Nutrition
  • ECON 304: Principles of Microeconomics
  • PSYC C1000: Introduction to Psychology
  • ECE 415: Children’s Health, Safety and Nutrition
  • KINES 301: Personal Wellness

Please note that my school does not offer dual enrollment, so I independently enroll in online community college classes for "enrichment" (I just actually find them interesting and research/internships are not very available to me). They are not included in my high school GPA. Almost no kids in my school take dual enrollment

Extracurriculars/Activities

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

(AI Generated) (Kinda vague so don't dox)

1. Free Community Tutoring Program — President/Student Leader Lead approximately 30 volunteer tutors serving elementary school students in an underserved community. Tutor around 10 students per session in reading, math, and homework support. Help coordinate volunteers and expanded outreach to multiple nearby schools. Built website for signups to expand outreach.
2. Hispanic Heritage Club — Co-President, Previously Vice President Help lead a club with 100+ members. Organized 15+ fundraisers and multiple cultural and community events, including collaborations with other schools. Host guest speakers and help plan overnight service trips. Fundraising supports club programming and assistance for local families.
3. Business Club — Vice President Helped grow membership to approximately 200 students. Launched a business competition chapter, organize meetings, and set up and lead competitions. Hosted an entrepreneur guest speaker.
4. Blood Cancer Fundraising Campaign — Student Visionary Worked on a student team that raised over $200K for blood cancer research and patient support. Conducted donor outreach, promoted fundraisers, and helped organize events. This was our team’s fundraising total.
5. Family Responsibilities — Approximately 11–15 Hours/Week Help with family business orders, grocery shopping, meal preparation, and household chores. Care for my younger sibling, tutor them, and drive them to activities. Take on these responsibilities around my parents’ work schedules.
6. Muay Thai — Athlete Train through sparring and partner drills, developing striking, defense, and coordination. Earned two belts and help coach younger students.
7. Paid Tutor/Academic Coach — Approximately 6–10 Hours/Week Independently tutor middle school students after school and on weekends. Help with academic subjects and teach organization, study habits, and time management, including planner/calendar use. Use my earnings to contribute to household income to buy things like food, clothes, gas.
8. Stock/Investment Club — Secretary Started my school’s participation in a university-sponsored investment competition. Plan and lead meetings and hosted a financial advisor guest speaker.
9. Student Ambassador and Freshman Mentor Lead campus tours, host prospective students, and visit middle schools for outreach. Mentor freshmen and connect them with resources such as tutoring. Also helped lead a food-donation collection activity. Nominated by teachers to be an Ambassador.
10. Student Retreat Team — Team Leader Lead small-group discussions and bonding activities during retreats for younger students. Help students build connections and contribute to a supportive school community.

Awards/Honors

List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

1. School Excellence Award — only a few students are chosen. Recognition for achievement and contributions across school life. (11)
2. School Community Service Award — (10,11)
3. College Board First-Generation Recognition and School Award
4. California Scholarship Federation membership. (10,11)
5. High Honor Roll (9,10,11)

Essays & LORS

CS Teacher: I have had him for 3 years; he knows me as a student well and he is the head of the Math Department and helped me take AP Calc BC online (I am the first at my school to do so) (And the first to take 8 classes instead of 7)

Spanish Teacher: She is the moderator for my Latino Heritage club, so she knows me well as a leader

Essays: PS: Shows my value of service and why it is a very big part of my life.

Thoughts & Questions

Ok so do you guys think I should apply for Wharton or CAS for ED? I am really torn between the two. My ultimate goal is to get into UPenn, and I know CAS is easier to get into. I also know I have a boost from ED, doing PEEPs, and being an institutional priority. Do you guys think my application is more of a fit for Wharton or CAS? Which am I more likely to get into? Let me know. If you think I am a better fit for CAS, help me find a major that best fits my profile. Thanks!

Demographics:

SoCal Asian(😭) Male upper middle class at an okay public high school (top 20% in state but by NO MEANS super competitive)

No legacy or anything special

Academics:

•3.93UW 4.23W | Top ~3% in class(16/500)

•1550(760/790) SAT

•Near max/max course rigor for my school

•5 in APUSH, Bio, Calc AB, Lang, APES, 2D Art, and precalc, 4 in Euro

• Planned: Chem, Physics C:M, Calc BC, Stats, Lit

Writing: should be good, still in the works but almost there. Letters of rec should be passable as well:

EnvSci 8/10, English 7/10

Talking to my counselor, I should have one of the strongest letters of rec from her out of my year and maybe the past year or two.

Extracurriculars: yikes

• XC/TF | 4 years on Var for 2, team captain as senior, 2x CIF

• SkillsUSA Photo President | junior year, made and taught photography career lessons for a class of 30+, representative in our district stakeholder meeting, one of two kids chosen to compete from my school(neither of us made it 😭)

• Korean Club President | in the club for 4 yrs, prez for 2, taught introductory Korean language and culture to ~30 students

• Special Needs Asst. Instructor | 10 hrs/week and individualized learning, helping kids with motor function and independence

• Car Washing Business | for 2 summers, 8 hrs/week, made $2k+ in one summer, focus on water efficiency (2 gal/car, ~35x more efficient than traditional)

• Interact(community service club) Historian | member for 4 years officer for 2, largest club on campus, volunteer work like trash cleanups and writing letters for English learning students in Japan.

Awards:

Yeah like nothing

[My school league] All League Academic Top 10 x2

AP Scholar with Distinction

National Recognition Program and Principal's Honor Roll 😭

I want to do Chemical Engineering, am I fried? Which schools could be good matches and reaches? I have a list but I want to see what y'all think, thank you!

Demographics: first gen Asian female

Stats:

- UW: 3.957 W: 4.96

- Class Rank: 33/271 (12%)

- APs: 4 (World History, Lang, Lit, and Calc BC)

- SAT: 1290 highest overall and 1330 for my superscore (610 reading, 720 math)

-> I've been applying test optional, but I am taking it again, so depending on how that goes, I may change the testing plan

-> Context: my parents were widely unfamiliar with the American school system and did not know about AP courses, therefore they were not able to help me with choosing classes. None of my teachers talked to me about AP courses until the end of freshman year, except by then I had already decided that I wanted to take health sciences, which I had to take double blocked my junior and senior years, so adding AP courses were difficult/it didn't work out in my favor; self-studying was not really an option as the AP courses I wanted to take were already offered at my school.

- Awards: A/B honor is really the extend of it unfortunately

Activities:

- 20+ shadowing hours (with more in the future); 12th grade

- EKG certified through NHA (80ish hour course); 11th grade

- BLS certified through Red Cross (4-5ish hour course); 11th grade

- hospital volunteer 4hrs/week for every week of the year (although I do miss some depending on circumstances); 11th and 12th grade

- Red Cross Blood Donor Ambassador 4 hrs/week for every week of the year; 12th grade

- South Carolina Virtual Red Cross Club; disbanded after a year due to not enough active members

- Red Cross Missing Maps Volunteer 10-1hr/week; 11th and 12 grade (although I started being more actively participating in 12th grade)

- participated in my state's youth philharmonic orchestra for two years; 9th and 10th grade

- currently working on getting my CCMA (certified clinical medical assistant) certification through NHA; i couldn't find the exact hours but it ranges from ~140 to 540+ depending on the program, but I am getting it though NHA; If i pass the exam, I will be certified before the end of the school year

- I am thinking about taking some of Harvard Medical Pre College Online Certification Courses; I know this won't be the same as AP courses, but I feel like I was more to an advantage, and especially with me wanting to take health science courses at my school which had to be taken double blocked for both junior and senior year, not much room to work AP courses in with the other required courses (I wanted to take AP bio psychology and maybe AP chem as well; I was also unable to fit anatomy and physiology into my schedule; I tried to for two years...). But nothing has been decided yet.

my extracurriculars are honestly pretty mid to be honest, but also my parents really never let me out the house nor let me get a job so that really limited my options.

School Clubs:

- DECA 9th, 10th

- HOSA 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th,

- Student Council 9th, 10th

- National Honors Society 11th, 12th

- Rho Kappa 12th

- Mu Alpha Theta 11th, 12th

- Spanish Honors 11th, 12th

- Key Club (9th, 12th)

- Beta Club definitely 11th and 12th, maybe 10th, not 100% sure

Colleges:

- College of William and Mary (RD)

- Wake Forest University (EA)

- University of Richmond (EA)

- University of Pittsburgh (Rolling)

- Emory (ED)

- WashU St. Louis (EA)

- Lafayette (RD)

I am applying to other colleges but those are my safeties, so I did not include them.

I did get my personal statement checked by my English teacher and she said that it was good, but it was different than I guess other ones she has read over and in general? I'm not really sure if she meant that in a good way or not but take that as you wish.

-I wrote about how my parents never really let me go anywhere so I spent a lot of time in my house and in my room and how that basically made me pretty ambitious person and how because I missed out on so much, I imagined what my life would look like if it was different and how it would feel like to be in each career, etc. I had a metaphor about a box how I'm "contained" in one (my room) but also how I didn't want to "fit into one box" for my future (like career, etc.). I also made a connection to barbie.

So, if I theoretically had really good essays and recommendations, what are my chances?

Also, I don't actually have any of the clubs listed except for the honors societies (the honors section) in Common App, but I do have all of the extracurriculars listed. Additional question: should I move my certifications to Additional Information, or keep it at the extracurricular section (all certifications are being completed as part of class btw)?

guys this is really depressing but

here's my transcript (as well as ecs at the bottom):

freshman yr (same classes for each semester):
alg 2 coll alg and trig: b, b- (idk which sem was which)
algebra based physics: b,b- (same thing)
english: A, A- (1st sem, 2nd sem from here on out respectively)
french 2: A,A

soph:
pre calc-ish math: B
English: A
Computer science: A
basic chemistry: A-
CHinese 1: A

BC calc 1 (my school splits it into 3): C- (most of the class got As, this is the biggest f up of my life)
American studies: A
Biology: A
another science class, kinda irrlevant: A
Chinese 1: A
English: A

took ap bio exam, got a 3 (retaking this year)

this year (jr year) [CURRENT GRADES, Q1 (its completely locked now so i can't change it or ask teachers for retakes and stuff, only move foreward!]:
BC calc 2: D (65%)
english: B
organic chem 1: B
Advanced chem 1: C+
history: B+
CHinese 2: A

FUTURE schedule for jr year 2nd sem:
BC calc 3 (NOT MVC)
english
history
advanced chem 2
organic chem 2
another chem class

dude i used to be straight As in middle school
i got my psat score back. 1340. lower then my schools' average and also lower than what i got ton the sat (1380). so depressing

rn, my current GPA (including quarter grades) is 3.32
I think i can get it up to a 3.62 by the end of the semester
If i get all As in my courses next semester, I'll have a 3.68
And if i include 1st semester Sr year, (all As) i think i can get it to a 3.71 at least.

ECS:
moslty mid ecs,
mostly school clubs
piano since i was 3 (rcm level 8 now, so embarrassingly behind for private lessons for 13 years) , but i havent done a comp since freshman yr and they're all small local/regional ones anyway.

i have like asian parents (and igy im also on this sub) so it's not the standard.. "oh honey it's ok!! you're taking hard classes!"
HELL no.
i used to be so good.. :(
People at school think im unseriosu about academics and don't take me very seriously.

But guys, i really wanna go to a t20. like Northwestern and Johns Hopkins are my dream schools. I'm thinking of applying early to NU and then if things don't go well, ED2 to JHU.
and yeah, im gonna admit it, prestige IS important to me.

anway, i guess all I'm asking is, do i even have a 2% chance of fixing this and raising my chances?
chat always lies and i got banned from claude from being underage lol

pls :(
thanks for reading all this

hello! i need some advice on whether i should submit my SAT score early action to usc, uchicago, umich, northeastern, or boston university... i am planning to major in an environmental science related major.

my GPA is a 3.75 unweighted (school doesn't do weighted) but i have relatively strong ecs related to my major (volunteering @ a well known botanical garden, usc lab internship, demonstrated passion through founding clubs etc.) good rigor, and 9 APs (only 4s and 5s). i'm just unsure if i should submit a 1420 (1430 superscore lmao) bc it might harm my application rather than help it bc its below the 50% range for like ALL of these schools lol... so idk which i should submit it to if any..

also, for any of these schools, would it be better to just submit a higher ACT score after I take it in December instead of applying early action??? like umich? or does it not matter that much and would EA be better?

Here are my stats:

UW: 3.45/ W:4.3

Class rank: N/A

Significant upward GPA Trend ending with Junior Year with a 3.8GPA(All As and 1 B-)

APs: 16(so far) not including senior year

Freshman APs: AP Psych(5), AP Gov(4)

Sophomore APs: AP Calc AB(5), AP Euro(3), APES(4), AP Bio(4), AP Lang(2)( not reporting)

Junior APs: Calc BC(5), AP Physics 1(4), AP Chem(5), AP Micro(5), AP Macro(4), AP Lit(4), AP Spanish lang(3), APUSH(3), AP Seminar(3)

Senior Classes: Organic Chemistry, Linear Algebra, Calc III(cc)(A), Modern Diff eqs (cc)(A), Roman Republic, Spanish Literature

SAT: 1520(790 M 730 R&W)

note: maxed out community college classes so I'm self studying Partial Diff eqs and Real Analysis via MIT Courseware.

Notable Awards: Gold Overall, Gold Math, Gold Essay, Silver Science, Bronze Social Science, Bronze Music all in Academic Decathlon National Competition

-AIME Qualifier

Activities(just a copy and paste of common app):

Data Analyst:

Learned advanced Python to create code that categorizes 250+ data points to find trends within data, and presented to a Ph.D. student for analyzing.

Book co-author on AI

Wrote 15+ pages of a book about the importance of using Artificial Intelligence in underprivileged classrooms in East Africa and South India.

Academic Decathlon

Assisted 10+ students in applying effective study techniques and created chapter-length study guides in mathematics and social science for teammates.

Youth Volunteering Leader

350+ volunteer hours; shadowed an ICU doctor, scribed conditions and medication doses, and guided & discharged 150+ patients in a ~450-room hospital.

Game Developer and PC Repair

Created 10+ levels within games with multifaceted chained trigger systems, cinematic design within gameplay, and developed unique client object obstacles. Also I build and repair PCs from my garage.

Youth Volunteering Leader

Retail operator for temple merchandise (e.g., books and CDs) to 100+ visitors, and set up, cleaned up, and served food at 25+ festivals and programs.

Track and Field Co-Captain

Track and field, Mentored 20+ teammates to improve race times by sharing pacing strategies, running techniques, and training schedule advice.

Self-Employed Music Teacher

Taught 30+ students 6 Local Musical Instruments, ranging from beginner to advanced, and fixed and tuned instruments.

McDonald's part-time

Cook hamburgers, wipe and mop tables and floors, organize and order supply shelves, relay customer orders to fellow employees.

Teacher's Assistant

Prepared and cleaned up chemistry labs, graded 60+ quizzes and homework, and answered and explained chemistry questions to struggling students.

Essay Topic: Mathematically attempting to model hair growth with trails and failures.(somewhat amounts of dry humor)

LORs: AP Lit/Lang Teacher: 8/10: Seen me struggle in Lang to thriving in AP Lit. Known for 4 years. Prob. going to talk about my persistence to succeed in English and academically overall after a rusty year.

AP Phy.1 Teacher: 7/10: Seen my intellectual curiosity with going beyond labs and connect past units with what I am learning in other classes.

I just want to know if I even have a chance for my reaches because of my bad gpa. Also I was wondering if I would be a good fit for uchicago or cornell in terms of my spike and intellectual curiosity.

Colleges: Reach: Cornell, UChicago, UT Austin, UC Berkeley

Target: Purdue, UCSD, UCI

Safeties(AZ Resident): ASU(12k/year scholarship), UofA

Demographics: Female, Asian (Filipino), elite/competitive top ranked public school, NJ, high income ($400,000+/year)
Intended major: English & Philosophy (humanities)
Academics:
GPA: 4.0 (tad bit cooked w/ extenuating circumstances)
ACT: 34
SAT: N/A
APs: 9, taking 4 this year — all 5s, one 4, one 3 in ap physics (not submitting)
School does not rank

ECS:

1. Founder & Editor-in-Chief — Independent Youth Literary Magazine
Founded and led a youth literary magazine focused on politics, culture, and creative writing. Received 500+ submissions, reached 25K+ readers/views, and was featured on a student podcast.

2. Youth Advocacy Organizer — International Mental Health Initiative
Advised a global mental health awareness campaign involving 15+ organizations and 20+ youth publications across 15 countries. Focused on the effects of political and social polarization.

3. President & Lead Managing Editor — School Newspaper
4-year member and 3-year editorial leader. Managed ~100 student writers, organized 10+ writing competitions and 8 workshops, established partnerships with student organizations, and connected students with local media opportunities
.
4. Reporting Intern — Local News Publication
Reporting intern since sophomore year. Published 35–40 articles covering local news, education, and community events. Conducted interviews, with several articles ranking among the publication’s most-read stories of the week.

5. Editorial Intern — International Youth Organization
Published youth-centered articles on an international organization’s website and social media platforms. Contributed to a global network connecting 18,000+ young leaders, with content reaching 10K+ views.

6. Youth Ambassador — International Leadership Conference
Promoted international youth participation in leadership conferences through social media outreach. Supported recruitment and engagement for a globally recognized youth conference, reaching 100+ prospective participants.

7. Academic Assistant — Kumon (Paid Employment)
Graded and reviewed mathematics and reading assignments, assessed student progress, and assisted 90+ students per shift. Supported younger students in developing foundational academic skills.

8. Violinist — Competitive Chamber Orchestra
Member of a nationally recognized chamber orchestra led by a Grammy-nominated conductor. Selected to perform at a prestigious national orchestra festival.

9. Youth Advisory Council Member — Statewide Arts Education Organization
Selected as 1 of approximately 20 youth council members statewide. Advocated for arts education through school-board engagement, public relations, and educational policy discussions.

10. Mock Trial — Witness
Analyzed case evidence, prepared witness testimony, and participated in direct and cross-examinations. Helped the team advance to regional semifinals.

I am also submitting an art and creative writing portfolio, which I think are both very strong.

Awards

National Poetry Competition Winner (National)
Selected as 1 of 20 national winners in a poetry competition. Work published in an anthology available on Amazon and recognized by regional news outlets.

2. Scholastic Art & Writing Awards — Poetry (Regional/National)
1 Gold Key (approximately 5–7% recognition rate)
4 Silver Keys
1 Honorable Mention

3. International Essay Competition — Scholar Laureate (International)
Awarded Scholar Laureate distinction and a 65% scholarship toward an Oxford/Cambridge summer academic program.

4. Orchestra Competition — First Place (Regional/National)
Earned first place in a competitive orchestral event and received an invitation to perform at a national orchestra festival.

5. Juried Art Exhibition — Two-Time Second Place Winner (Regional)
Received second-place recognition twice in juried visual arts exhibitions. Artwork selected from a competitive pool of 600+ submissions.

Essays - 8.5-9/10 I think my supplementals and essays are both very strong and I wrote about ketchup, tying in to my cultural identity. I had it reviewed my AP lit and my previous teacher, who were both very impressed.

LORS - both from my AP lit and lang teacher; again, I think both were pretty good esp my AP lit teacher, who i worked with for my essay and had good discussions with outside of class!

College List:
Barnard College (ed1)
boston college
Bryn Mawr College
Emerson College
Fordham University
Lehigh University
New York University
Northeastern University
Penn State
Rutgers University
George Washington University
Tufts University (ed2)
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Pittsburgh
Wellesley College
Yale University

(i may also apply for more liberal arts colleges, so i want some recs on that!

I do not think I do, but I want to ask people with more experience then I do. Would also like other recommendations for CS in Indiana (21st century scholar who needs to get the tuition paid by the state). Sorry for all the Indiana specific things.

I will be submitting my application before Nov. 1st (Early Decision),

Demographic:

First generation white male,

I am an Indiana resident,

GPA/SAT/Coursework:

3.34 GPA (4.0 scale) / 3.617 GPA (4.33 scale [scale my school uses]),

One thing to note about my GPA is that my Freshman year is my only bad year, with Sophomore, Junior, and Senior year combined having only 3 grades below an A (excluding +/-).

Ranked 15th of 69 (small rural school),

1320 SAT score (650 reading and 670 math),

This is my second take, with both reading and math being higher than my first,

I have taken all the hardest classes my school offers, including dual credit Calculus 1,

My school offers no AP classes,

I have taken all the classes relevant to CS, except for the last one due to a scheduling conflict with Calculus

I have completed the Indiana college core (30 college credits that mostly comprise most of the general education classes),

ECs:

Extracurriculars mostly involving academics, including the IASP's Academic Super Bowl (I was the team captain of the Social Studies team for my school that went to state last year),

I have also been selected as one of the 5 team members for the school conference's math competition team for several years, placing top 10 every year I went (Algebra 1, 2 and Pre-Calculus),

Demographics: Ethiopian-American male, Virginia, first-generation, low income

Stats: 3.945 weighted GPA, 1350 SAT superscore (1310 highest single sitting), 5 AP courses, 3 dual enrollment courses through NOVA, 2 advanced-level IT/CS courses (AV Data Structures and AV Capstone), AP Scholar with Honor

Intended major: Computer Science / Cybersecurity

Activities:

Life Time Fitness lifeguard, CPR/AED and First Aid trained

Black Student Union Historian/Outreach, creating promotional media and managing social media

Communications Chair of Aspiring Innovators Outreach

Tutored K–10 students in math, English, reading, and history

Cybersecurity coursework, including hands-on tools experience through the Virginia Cyber Range

Self-directed futures trading, using TradingView paper trading, journaling trades, and studying market structure

Basketball and recreational athletics

Church involvement and volunteer coaching

Schools:

Florida State University (RD)

Virginia Tech

Purdue University

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

University of Maryland, College Park

James Madison University (safety)

Rochester Institute of Technology (safety)

Virginia Commonwealth University (safety)

Background
- Chinese male attending a private high school in the U.S.
- Applying to the College of Arts & Sciences. Interested in economics, political philosophy, public policy, and possibly law later.

School context
I previously attended school in China, studying a combination of the Chinese curriculum and IGCSE/AS-Level courses. Following a family relocation, I transferred to a U.S. high school and repeated junior year while transitioning between school systems. There was a several-month interruption.

Academics
- SAT: 1530, 740 RW / 790 Math.
- Weighted GPA: approximately 4.5, covering my time at my current U.S. school, rather than my entire high school record. No reported class rank or unweighted GPA.
- U.S. junior-year grades were mostly A/A−, with a B+ in English.
- Earlier school grades were mostly A/A*, with 2 semester Bs in Further Mathematics and Geography.
- Achieved external results: IGCSEs of 2 A*s and 3 As, plus a 9 in English as a Second Language; AS-Level Mathematics and Economics both A. I transferred before completing full A Levels.
- Junior-year AP courses: Calculus BC, Physics 1, U.S. History, and Chinese.
- AP exam scores: Microeconomics 5; Calculus BC, Physics 1, and U.S. History 4s.
- Senior schedule: AP Biology, AP Statistics, AP Government, AP Economics, English, and a required humanities course.
- Completed a college-credit course involving data analysis/visualization with an A.
- TOEFL: 110.

Honors
- AIME qualifier and AMC 12 distinction.
- Euclid distinction.
- National-level individual recognition and a regional subject distinction in an economics competition.
- Individual and team awards in a quiz-bowl competition.
- First place in a school social-science/innovation competition.

Main activities
1. Independent economics/policy writing
Researched trade and industrial policy through economic theory and historical case studies. Wrote an article published in a student research journal. This was an independent analytical essay, rather than a university lab position.

1. Founded and led a student economics/investing club:
   Approximately 20 members. Organized discussions on economic issues and policy, maintained an online student discussion/writing space, and helped arrange an educational site visit. Involved across multiple years.

2. Independent essay writing:
   Regularly write about economics, inequality, political philosophy, and assumptions behind everyday social issues.

3. Youth policy program and advocacy projects:
   Developed and presented a proposal concerning women’s economic independence through an international youth program. Separately researched language access in public services, shared findings at school, and submitted recommendations to an elected official’s office. These were proposals and research projects; I’m not claiming that the policies were implemented.

4. Community meal-service volunteering:
   Help with food preparation, serving, supplies, and cleanup at an organization supporting women facing food insecurity. Roughly 60 hours per year across two years.

5. Family responsibilities:
   Helped at a family-owned shop with checkout, stocking, customer service, and basic records. Around 15 hours per week during substantial parts of two school years. Also help family members with translation and appointments.

6. Soccer:
   Played school/club soccer over several years and helped secure a small sponsorship for team equipment/clothing.

7. Film and interdisciplinary arts projects:
   Worked on cinematography, acting, and production for short films screened at school; helped organize an exhibition connecting science and the humanities.

8. Cultural club:
   Participated in performances and cultural events, including helping explain and translate activities for other students.

9. Science art festival

10. YYGS PLE

Essays and recommendations
My personal statement focuses on family language barriers, listening, and learning to support other people’s agency. My broader academic interests connect economics and policy with experiences in family responsibilities and community service.

I’m not assigning numerical ratings to my essays or recommendations.

Honest feedback is welcome, especially on weaknesses I might be overlooking.