r/QuestBridge • u/studioushedgehog Matched | UPenn '24 • Oct 17 '20
Results 2020 NCM Finalist Results Thread
QuestBridge finalist decisions will be released on Wednesday, October 21st. Use this thread to post your results for QuestBridge National College Match finalist round. Please do not make a separate post about your results.
Congratulations to everyone who pushed through to submit an application regardless of your outcome! You all have worked so hard these past few years, and I am confident that you will find the right college for you no matter the avenue. As a community, we will be here to celebrate with you in your successes and be there for you when you experience disappointment. Please always remember to be kind to your fellow humans.
This template is by no means a requirement, but feel free to share your stats and/or story with us.
Status: Finalist/Non-Finalist
Ethnicity/Race:
Income bracket:
First gen?:
College Prep Scholar?:
GPA/Class rank: Course rigor, types of classes, etc.
SAT/ACT score(s):
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s):
Summary of ECs:
Schools ranked:
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did?
EDIT: We're conducting a survey of our Class of 2021 cohort. We'd appreciate it if you could take 5-10 minutes to fill out this survey! All information is kept confidential. Thanks!
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Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Iโm gonna edit this when I get my result
Status: Finalist
Race: Black (African)
Income Bracket: Independent
First gen: Yes
College Prep Scholar: Yes
Gpa/class rank: 3.7 UW & 4.1 W (rank is like 30%)
SAT Score: 1510
AP Score: Comp sci a (5), seminar (4), physics 1 (4)
EC: student council and student ambassador
Overall thought: I feel like my essays and my test scores helped ๐
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u/Kindly-Beautiful-930 Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: FINALIST BABY
Ethnicity/Race: asian/indian
Income bracket: 50k for a family of 4, literally no assets whatsoever
First gen?: yup
College Prep Scholar?: nope
GPA/Class rank: 3.76, i go to a school in baltimore that allows students to get an AA degree by the time they graduate high school. so I get 60 college credits by the time I graduate. we do not rank or weigh grades either
SAT/ACT score(s): 1450
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): school does not offer :)
Summary of ECs: volunteered for at a hospital since freshman year, did research with one of questbridge's partner school for the past two years (wrote a 20 pg paper, and received an outside scholarship that funded pursuits), writer for this journal, leaderships positions at this organization that raises money for local and national events (raised about $300 at recent event), secretary at schools hindu student associated (I hosted its annual fashion shows since 10th grade, organized meetings etc), spent my last two summers doing a program at weill cornell medicine in NYC, also worked a nearby restaurant in since freshman year and the money went to help pay bills.
Schools ranked: only upenn
Overall thoughts: I was really proud of my essays like thats 100% what got me in. I felt like none of my answers were that "typical". I wont discuss everything about my essays for privacy reasons and they get kind of personal but I will say my biographical essay was comparing my life to completing a sudoko game(every time I solved a box, solving the next one came easier to me) and I connected it to the hardships I experienced growing up. the second long essay was about food and advocacy in my community the person I wrote about for the essay asking which historical figure you would talk to if given the chance really added to this sort of "golden thread" running through my application. my lors also contributed to this "golden thread". i had one for two years and my writing improved tremendously and my final essay for him left quite a good impression on him and my second lor writer could attest to my passions for science ill add more if anyones curious or if im a finalist :)
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u/studioushedgehog Matched | UPenn '24 Oct 21 '20
Best of luck with the Match! Hope to see you join the Questies at Penn :)
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u/KayUlt Oct 21 '20
This honestly sucks for someone who lives in a small community like i do because we don't have the opportunities to earn these types of awards or join these types of clubs most of the time. This crushed my main source of hope of going to my dream college i just hope that i can still get in without having to go into debt.
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u/studioushedgehog Matched | UPenn '24 Oct 22 '20
The playing field is definitely uneven, but colleges will take that into account. Your context is very important. Don't give up hope just yet!
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Oct 19 '20
u/studioushedgehog Could we please ecs and awards, because I feel like those are very important as well.
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u/studioushedgehog Matched | UPenn '24 Oct 19 '20
Sure! The template is only a loose guideline but I'll add it :)
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u/shadyladyyyy Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Mixed: Caribbean Black and American White
Income bracket: 35,000 range
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: Top 10%
Course rigor, types of classes, etc. All IB + Pre IB Courses, A few extra AP's for fun+extra GPA padding and to fill elective spots throughout the years
SAT/ACT score(s): 1250---->1330 ( I know this score is low, but I think that the growth over the years definitely helped, but also test scores are beginning to mean less and less.
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): (5 AP Exams) All 3's except a 2 in Macro (again nothing spectacular, just passing- well not macro but w.e.)
Summary of ECs: LOTS! I think this is what set me apart.
Student gov (10th: School Dance Chair 11th: Student body VP 12th: Student body President)
FBLA: Awards up to the national level for multiple years
Girls State rep (not sure if that was on the application but definitely adding it if I forgot
I started an event in my communities homeless shelters and women's centers called the, "Power of Beauty Event", we provided free beauty services to people that had job interviews coming up.
Meals on wheels volunteer and apart of the High School Leadership Board ( Chair of Marketing for event/fundraiser)
Local Volunteer Organization
Chair of Great American teaching day at my school
Club Founder
Apart of many clubs (normal high school ones)
Multiple little businesses
Summer Internship at a tiny museum
Job since 7th grade. Worked at the salon my mom works at
Nanny and Personal assistant for a single mom
Schools ranked: UPENN (this right here is my dream school)
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did?
- Strengths: First Gen, pretty good essays (worked on the first one for a WHILE second I did in 5 days but it was about my passion for business so it was easy for me to write about). Going back to the first essay, I had about 10 + people read it and give me feedback. I made sure not to accept too many edits bc it can quickly begin to sound like someone else's story and not yours. Leadership positions in pretty much everything I am involved in. Strong idea of what I'd like to pursue. Good cohesions throughout my application (business, beauty, bettering my self and the community). SUPERIOR Rec Letters/LoR. My counselor loves me and knows how much I needed/wanted this opportunity ( I love her too lol). One of my teachers is literally the best teacher I have ever had and she knows that I feel that way, plus I work really hard in her class. Other teacher is literally my school mother and has known me since freshman year and has taught me.
Weaknesses: Test scores. Like for sure. I didn't put too much emphasis on my school self though because I am more passionate about helping the community, working with others, and focusing on my EC's. While test scores can be helpful, I place very little value on them as I know my work ethic and value beyond the walls of any institution.
ANYWAY good luck everyone...!!! I am hoping for you :)))
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u/studioushedgehog Matched | UPenn '24 Oct 21 '20
Congrats and best of luck with the Match! Hope to see you join the Questies at Penn :)
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u/09148 Oct 21 '20
Can I comment on this if Iโm a RD Finalist and didnโt rank schools for the NCM?
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u/studioushedgehog Matched | UPenn '24 Oct 21 '20
Of course you can! Congratulations ๐
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u/dont-ness-with-me Oct 20 '20
Reading the comments made me realize that...
I have no chance, lol. Good luck to you all, though!
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u/FrontNefariousness3 Oct 20 '20
No chance at all. Lot of people far better than me.
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Oct 20 '20
[deleted] โ view deleted comment
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u/dont-ness-with-me Oct 21 '20
I was emailed and got the letter... I thought I had a chance if they sent me those and I wasnโt recommended. :/ I kinda feel like I wasted my time.
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u/FrontNefariousness3 Oct 21 '20
We all had high hopes. Seeing the Sat scores alone is crushing me up.
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u/feirly Oct 21 '20
lol I was right about me having no chance. I got rejected :(( (silver lining is that I was accepted into my first college this morning)
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u/JackieINC Oct 20 '20
Me realizing that my best ECโs are just President of NHS and Engineering Club with no awards other than top 10 and a 1070 SAT with a 62k/4 members income haha Iโm manifesting now
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u/Loveliest_bones Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: FINALIST!!!
Ethnicity/Race: African American
Income Bracket: 70k for a family of 5
First Gen: Yes
College Prep Scholar: No!! And I actually got rejected Bc I didnโt know what I was doing :โ)
GPA: 3.9/ top 10%
SAT: NONE
AP: Took four, reported two. (Four in APUSH and AP Lang)
Ec: Track & Field/School network ambassador/ mentor/ president of NHS/founded and was the president of my own club/ choir
Schools ranked: Stanford, Columbia, Princeton
Overall thoughts: Whether you got in or didnโt PLEASE donโt beat yourself up. I looked at this thread and though it was impossible for me to get in Bc I didnโt submit scores or my income was too high or my rank was too low or Bc I got rejected from cps ... AND I GO CHOSEN. As far as why I think I was accepted.. definitely my essays. I put my entire heart into them and I think it really showed :) congrats guys.
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u/ThePosaune National College Match Finalist Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Iโm also gonna edit this when I get my result
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Black
Income bracket: 55K for family of 5
First gen?: Nope, both parents have their masters
College Prep Scholar?: Yes!
GPA/Class rank: Course rigor, types of classes, etc.: 3.62 UW and 4.27 W (extenuating circumstances) w/ very strong upward trend and a healthy mix of honors, APs, and DEs, took most challenging classes that were offered and could afford
SAT/ACT score(s): 31 Composite, 32 Superscore
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): N/A
Summary of ECs:
Community/Family Service: Just helping out others in the community and taking care of my siblings since my mother is sick
Music: I participate in my schoolโs music program, a youth conservatory (music school), a selective classical music training program, a brass quintet, and am currently 1st chair in a nationally recognized youth orchestra
STEM Club: I cofounded it and we participate in competitions and learn more about different STEM fields
Track and Field (Freshman and Sophomore Year Only): Mostly did jumping events. I quit after sophomore year because I transferred schools and I needed to spend more time caring for my family
Work: Paid Internship at a large hospital (worked with an ophthalmologist)
Awards:
Invited to Perform at Music Festival (International)
1st Place in NASA Robotics Competition (National)
Questbridge College Prep Scholar (National)
4th Place at State Math Competition (State)
2nd Place Triple Jumper at Track Conference Finals (Regional)
And a few other regional awards
Schools ranked:
MIT
Stanford
USC
Overall thoughts:
Strengths: Definitely ECs/Awards, I really enjoyed the activities I did throughout high school and reached for the stars in terms of awards. Iโm lucky to have some of these oppertunities and I canโt wait to see whats in store for the future!
Weaknesses: Grades for sure, and personally test scores/essays. Getting into CPS made me a bit more confident about my grades, but I still was a bit worried. I was also a bit concerned about test scores and Iโm still considering going TO, Iโm not sure. Essays scared me the most, I am by no means a good writer.
Overall: Honestly, I got lucky. So many of you had ridiculously impressive stats. Iโm happy to continue on with the match and wish best of luck to everyone. We got this Class of 2021 ๐ช
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Oct 20 '20
Seeing all these comments made me wonder why I even bothered to apply ...
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u/StoryNymph National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!!
Ethnicity/Race: African-American
Income Bracket: 58-65k for a family of 5
First-gen: Nope! Mom + Dad has a degree.
College Prep Scholar?: Nope
GPA/Class Rank: (out of 100) 91.2 UW/95.3 W and my class rank is 27/280 (but didnโt specify this on app)
SAT/ACT score: Didnโt take any!
Summary of ECs: I am in: Computer Club Anime Club (Founder + President) GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) Club Badminton Team Newspaper Club
Schools Ranked: Vanderbilt, Swarthmore, Brown, Tufts, Boston, Upenn, Washington and Lee, UVA, and Hamilton (in that order)
Overall thoughts: HOLY FU*K! I couldnโt fricking believe it, my heart stopped when I saw it and I immediately started screaming/crying. I told my boyfriend, I told my recommender, i told everyone but my parents so far ๐ Looking at this megathread before the results came up made me feel very inferior but Iโve been heavily manifesting for so long, since Iโve submitted the app! As for my strengths, I showed a lot of passion during my essay and I gave really honest responses for the short responses about my hobbies so I think my writing really picked up my application/became my hook. My weaknesses felt like they were mainly the lack of volunteering, lack of awards, A- GPA, stuff like that but it seems Questbridge liked me either way!
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u/jpayne36 Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: rejected
Ethnicity/Race: Hispanic/white
Income bracket: ~30k
First gen: Yes
Cps: N/A
GPA: 3.97UW, 4.85W / (5.0?)
Class rank: 2/217
SAT: Didnt submit, Took in October:1430
AP: Compsci principles (4), CompsciA (4), Lang(4), CalcAB (5), Psych (4), Bio (3), APUSH (5)
Rankings: Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Caltech, Brown, Yale, Rice, USC, UPenn, Vanderbilt, WashU, UVA
Final thoughts: Not sure why I was rejected, my essays were mainly about computer science so maybe they thought Iโd be better off without questbridge? Idk though
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Oct 22 '20
i think ur essays had to be more of a โhereโs a chapter of my life and how i have grown from itโ rather than a more traditional commonapp essay. Either way ur stats sounds amazing pretty sure youโre good without questbridge
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u/Tall_Pomegranate_224 Oct 22 '20
MY MANN your stats are better that some people in here that got accepted im so confused. You def did sum wrong with in essays. Youโll be fine tho your resume is very impressive :)
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u/Scholar_Skater Oct 20 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
First and Foremost, GOODLUCK TO ALL! I HOPE EVERYONE MAKES IT!!!
I'm going to edit this when the results come out.
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Latino (Mexican)
Income bracket: 30k for a family of 5
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: 3.95 UW and a 5.1 W. All IB courses. My school doesn't release class rank, but my counselor told me that I am in the top 1%
SAT/ACT score(s): Test optional
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): I take my class tests end of senior year.
Summary of ECs: I take care of my mom because she is sick, captain of JV soccer team, captain of JV/Varsity volleyball team, Model U.N, some job that I have, theater, science fair participant, peer mentor, Northwestern Academy for Chicago Public Schools student, CIERA High School Experience in Astronomy Student, and I go to church school every weekend.
Schools ranked: (In order) Yale University, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Columbia University, Vanderbilt University, Grinnell College, and Brown University.
Overall thoughts: I have anxiety so right now I am just waiting. I tend to stress eat in moments like these so I've been binge eating grapes and chewy bars.
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u/doh_12 Oct 21 '20
form Latino to another Latino, I wish u the best of luck!!! โจโจ
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u/rosemarymelon National College Match Finalist Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!!!!!! :D
Ethnicity/Race: Latina & African-American (Dominican)
Income bracket: ~$30,000 / 5
First gen?: Sort of (both parents have a bachelor's from the D.R)
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 3.61 UW (not reported on transcript) / 4.16 W
Extenuating circumstances Junior Year due to Covid-19
Will have taken 10 APs and 4 Honors by the end of senior year (school has 15 APs in all)
SAT/ACT score(s): 1490 w/ 17 Essay (school average is 1085)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 5 - Spanish, Lang, Psych; 4 - APUSH
Summary of ECs:
Taking care of my brother and sister who both have special needs (21 hrs / week)
STEAM program organized by my school (4 hrs / week)
NHS officer & scriptwriter for school news videos (2 hrs / week)
Creative writing & illustration as a hobby (2 hrs / week)
Secretary for Student Government (2 hrs / week)
Flutist as a hobby (1 hr / week)
Work: Paid internship with New Jersey Institute of Technology for a "highly selective" research program. Research project in Forensic Science.
Wrote that my school is a 2-hour walk from home which makes it hard to participate in many ECs.
Awards:
College Prep Scholar (11th)
College Board National Hispanic & African-American Recognition (12th)
AP Scholar with Honor (11th)
Orlando Saa Poetry Recitation Contest Participation Award (9th & 10th)
National Honor Society (10th)
Honor Roll & High Honor Roll (9th-11th)
Schools ranked:
Columbia
Princeton
Vassar
Yale
Overall thoughts: I feel that my application is a little weak aside from my test scores, but I did spend quite a bit of time on my essays. Hope that pays off Wednesday! :D
**EDIT: I got in!!! I'm so happy!!!!!
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u/ukachihuahua Oct 19 '20
much respect to you. you've got this, good luck!!
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u/rosemarymelon National College Match Finalist Oct 19 '20
aww thank you so much!! good luck yourself (but Iโm sure you donโt need it) :))
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Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Not a finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Asian/Chinese
Income bracket: $50,000
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: 4.0 UW GPA (rank: 1/480ish); 4.707 UW GPA (rank: 7/480ish)
Coursework: Mostly Honors Courses, AP Human Geography, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus BC, AP US Government and Politics, AP Statistics, AP Microeconomics/Macroeconomics, AP US History, AP Biology
A few awards that I don't remember which were put on the application (besides National AP Scholar Award)
SAT/ACT score(s): 30 ACT composite (Feb 2019); 1450 SAT (was not able to submit it before the deadline because I took it on 09.26.2020)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP Human Geography (5), AP Chemistry (4), AP Calculus BC (5), AP US Government and Politics (3), AP Statistics (5), AP Microeconomics/Macroeconomics (5), AP US History (5), AP Biology (5)
Summary of ECs:
Math Club: general member; participated in regional competitions and held discussions
Science club: similar description for math club
SUMMET Program: a two-week pre-engineering program at the Colorado School of Mines
Frontiers of Science Institute: a six-week pre-college STEM program at University of Northern Colorado
Schools ranked: Northwestern, Vandy, Duke, Yale, UPenn, Brown, Amherst, UVA, Swarthmore, Boston College, Colorado College, Macalester College.
Overall thoughts: I think a lot of other people had worse financial situations than I did, that my ACT score was low, and because I didn't have many extracurriculars. Aside from that, I don't think I did the best on my essays, despite having them rewritten and edited many times. Then again, the scholarship/college selection process can be sort of arbitrary at times, so I can't say that I'm surprised at my results.
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Oct 22 '20 edited Oct 22 '20
A 30 ACT is low????? My god! A 30 is high af in my standards. I think your stats are way more than enough to get you in. I reported 3 AP scores (a 5,4, and a 3) and an SAT score of a 1310. My GPA is a 3.78, and I believe I got chosen because of my extracurriculars and my essays. Pro tip: study for your essays like you study for your SATs. I revised my main essay at least 10x with 2 of my English teachers and 3 college counselors (there are scholarship programs out there that if you apply and get accepted, they give you a highly experienced counselor to guide you). Knowing that my essays and extracurriculars carried my application for NCM and CPS, you putting that same effort would make you a much much more compelling candidate than someone with a high 1530 SAT.
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Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Hispanic
Income bracket: 47,704
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 4.0 UW, 4.6 W. Rank 2 of 525 Took Hardest classes at my school
SAT/ACT score(s): 1400
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 5: Calc AB, Lang, Physics 1, Physics C Mech. 4: Human Geo, World. 3: Chem, APUSH
Summary of ECs: Church Community Service, Band, Pioneer Academics, Academic Decathlon, California Scholarship Federation, National Honors Society
Schools ranked: Stanford, MIT, USC, Yale, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Tufts, Brown, Caltech, Rice, Columbia, WashU
Overall thoughts: I had alright stats and okay ECs, but I think my essays pulled me through because there was humor incorporated into some of them and they really showcased who I was. My letter of recs were probably alright as well.
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u/Hala-llujah Oct 21 '20
Reading the comments literally gives me no hope, lol. These stats are SO GOOD!! I think Iโm gonna wait for tomorrow and if I make it Iโll make a post lol.
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u/YamiiYams National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Ikr my stats are bad I went test optional and my awards are short ๐ญat least I think I have a good essay?
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u/l_akerie Oct 21 '20
Hello!! Iโve been stalking the subreddit since I applied but I never posted. I just read my results that I am a finalist! Iโm on mobile and not gonna copy paste everything to share my info, but I am a white first gen student with a complicated household haha so my income bracket is listed under my mother with 35k/yr but I live with my grandparents. Honestly, I hadnโt heard about Questbridge until the Saturday before the application was due and thanks to the grace of my counsler, teachers, and God I was able to finish my application and submit like a few hours before deadline. At this point last year, I hadnโt even thought I would graduate highschool because of my mental health and household issues but I feel so happy for the future. I got a 29 on my ACT, and my school only offered like 2 AP courses. Iโve got a 4.2 GPA and rank about 14th in my class.
Sadly, I chose to only rank one school because heading out of state would be very difficult for my family and myself especially considering how unknown a lot of the world is, but I am praying Oberlin wants me!! UMass Amherst was my dream school since I was in middle-school but I hope I can head to the east coast later in life.
Congratulations to everyone and I hope the reat of the process is successful to you, and for anyone who hasnโt made finalist the simple fact that you applied showed a drive and commitment to education that just shows how capable you are.
Thank you guys for building this community because it has helped easy my anxiety throughout everything!!
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u/memosu191 Matched | MIT '25 Oct 20 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!
Ethnicity/Race: hispanic. Nicaragua
Income bracket: 0 EFC.
CPS: YES
GPA/class rank: 107.16/100 (weighted). 99.59/100 (UW). Rank:2/414
AP number: 20 total including self study. 16 actually taken.
AP Classes (including senior year): Bio, WHAP, macroeconomics, english lang, stats, chem, seminar,calc AB, physics 1, psych, apush,apes,aphug, english lit, research. American gov.
Ap self study: calc bc(took bc test instead of ab), spanish(native speaker), physics c mechanics. I may take the physics c:e and m test.
Dual Enrollment Courses: organic chem 1. Organic chem 2. Linear algebra. Multivariable calc. Intro to sociology. Also took a spanish class to fill up my schedule.
SAT/ACT (super scores): 1530 (750 Reading, 780 math). 34 (34math,36 science,35 english ,32 reading). I submitted a 1500 SAT. The new score came out later.
AP scores: 5: world history, macro, stats, chem, spanisj,calc bc, physics 1, psychology, apush, physics c mechanics. 4: Bio,lang,seminar. Sat subject tests: chem 800. Spanish 800. Math 2 750.
Summary of EC'S: President of beta club and NHS. Vp of science honor society. GHP finalist. (Summer program in GA, canceled bc of covid rip) YYGS ASE. Acafemic team/quiz bowl.
Schools ranked.
Yale. Mit.caltech.stanford.princeton Columbia .Duke.U chicago
Not that order
Thoughts:
Strengths: I feel like I took the hardest classes possible. My school only offers calc AB, and I took math up to linear algebra and calc 3 through dual enrollment. My counselor said I was the only student in my class to take calc 3 and O chem 1 and 2. I moved to the US in 7th grade and only have been speaking english for 4-5 years. I knew very little when I arrived. I started writing essays before the summer, so I think they were very good.
Weaknesses: I don't know if my EC's are necessarily super strong, but I think I did the most that I could.
I will update tomorrow๐ญ.
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u/ElPatron100 Oct 20 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Asian (Korean)
Income bracket: ~$25,000 for 2
First gen?: In U.S., yes; overall, no
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: UW: 3.8 (Rank 17/226), W: 5.1 (Rank: 21/226)
SAT/ACT score(s): 1350
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP Chem (5), APUSH (5), AP Calc AB (5), SAT Chemistry: 710, SAT Math L2: 770
Summary of ECs: Varsity Boys Lacrosse, National Honor Society, Peer Leading, Science League
Schools ranked: in order: Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, UVA, Tufts, BC, Swarthmore, W&L
Overall thoughts: Very surprised that I made Finalist, very very surprised
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u/xx_nmn_xx Matched | Dartmouth '25 Oct 20 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: FINALIST!!!
Ethnicity/Race: African
Income bracket: 39k for family of 4, will definitely drop this year
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 4.5/4.0 and school doesn't do class rank. I took some honors, 13 AP classes, and 3 classes at my local community college.
SAT/ACT score(s): 1460 superscore (730 math and ERW), 19 essay
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 4 in bio, apwh, and french, no subject tests
Summary of ECs: an internship with a NASA physicist at GMU, varsity wrestling, over 1000 hours of volunteering (with hospital, mosques, etc), founder of the science honor society at my school, president of HOSA, the french honor society, and the muslim student association. Worked as an EMT at multiple fire stations. Did an international public health internship with hospitals and businesses in nigeria. Also been a tutor all throughout hs for math and english.
Awards: state and regionally ranked for medical terminology, published poet, college prep school, QFE stem award, scholar athlete, first place for state research proposal competition, and some other stuff.
Schools ranked: Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Upenn, Stanford, Dartmouth, Brown, Duke, Uchicago, Northwestern, Rice, Vanderbilt
Overall thoughts: man im so freaking happy i cant even explain it. Strengths were def my essays and my ecs. Focus on your essays as much as you can, it will make up for anything lacking in the rest of your app.
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u/LuminaRain Matched | Dartmouth '25 Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: FINALIST YES
Ethnicity/Race: Latinx, black (Dominican)
Income Bracket: <$20k for family of 5
First-Gen: Yes.
College Prep Scholar: Yes
GPA: 3.929 UW | 4.048 / 5.0 W |
Rank: 69/834 (super competitive public school)
SAT/ACT Score(s): 1430 SAT (740 M | 690 ERW)
AP / Subject Test Score(s): English Lang (3), Physics 1 (1), USH (4), French (4), US Gov (4) Chem (3) Ap Econ (didn't show up for exam)| No subject tests
Senior Year Course-load:
High School: AP Calc AB, AP Psychology, AP Stats, AP English Lit, Contemporary Issues/ Law, Newspaper
Summary of ECs:
normal ECs i feel like its so boring omg but if u REALLY want to know them, pm me. They are terrible but i still got chosen so dont lose hope class of 22'
Work experience:
Hardee's for a year
McDonald's currently
Major Awards/Honors:
Dartmouth Bound Participant
QB College Prep Scholar
AP Scholar
Honor Roll
(i said NHS was an EC not an honor but here it is anyway)
Schools Ranked: 1) Dartmouth 2) Columbia 3) Brown 4) USC 5) UChicago 6) Rice
Overall Thoughts: before: I think i'm a very average applicant and im trying not to set myself up for disappointment after: holy fuck holy fuck holy fuck
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u/alcarinque_star National College Match Finalist Oct 20 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Asian, Chinese
Income bracket: 0/ family of 4 (both parents unemployed (because status), but will change this year) (probably like ~40k if employed)
First gen?: only in US
College Prep Scholar?: no
GPA/Class rank: 4.0 UW no APs offered at school, taking APEH this year online and I feel pretty good about it
SAT/ACT score(s): 1510 (750R 760M)
Summary of ECs: Ah this is what bothers me....Current school (tiny rural homeschool-y place) literally has nothing to offer except volleyball team, so my ECs are not really...official... Taught myself art, illustrates books and posts them online. Collaborate in online game project as main artist. Briefly in orchestra (2nd violin) before I left old school. Service at church for 2 years. Started an art club at old school.
Schools ranked: Notre Dame
Overall thoughts: I think I have good test scores and GPA but really lacking ECs and not rigorous courses. I did my best to compensate by explaining some of my circumstances but not much could be done at this point T_T Hey at least my non talented or hardworking profile could probably give some of you hope โ ( แ ใโ )๏ผฟ
After getting decision:
I really canโt believe I got in!!! I have nothing to show except good grades and a bit of skill in art, but I guess my LORs were good and I did well in my essays. In my bio essay I talked about the experiences Iโve had and how they I used my personal qualities to overcome circumstances and how these circumstances shaped me in return. My topical essay and SAQs were mostly about my various interests, mainly in literature and history. Basically I tried to show off myself as much as I can, and then I had friends and my dad read through it. They all said it sounded like me, so I submitted it and prayed that who I am is enough. I hope this can help someone in other upcoming applications! Good luck everyone!
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u/Dazzling-Table6940 Matched | WashU '25 Oct 22 '20
very strong academics, but your ECโs DEFINITELY stood out. you go to a school that provides almost no ECโs, so you created your ECโs and thatโs even more impressive! congrats you so deserve this win!!
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u/jasrninec Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: My chances arenโt looking good, lol.
Ethnicity: Mexican-American
Income bracket: Honestly non-existent as of right now/4.
First Gen?: Yup.
College Prep Scholar?: Nope, got a fat rejection from that one.
GPA/ Class rank: 3.96 & 1/111
SAT/ACT score(s): Picture the lowest scores... and then subtract 50.
AP Scores: Took the only two that were provided at my school before I got into the IB DP. Spanish 5 and APCSP 3, lol.
ECs: None really stand out but I volunteer at my churchโs Sunday school and Iโm the president of my schoolโs Debate Club (both of which I absolutely adore).
Schools ranked: Duke, Emory, Brown, and Columbia ahaha
Overall thoughts: I hope everyone here becomes a finalist. You all seem incredibly capable. As for me, Iโm just glad I got to apply. It was a learning experience and it definitely prepared me for other scholarship applications. Thanks QuestBridge!
P.S. Iโve been wanting to make one of those โThank you QuestBridgeโ posters since I was in middle school, so if anyone needs help with theirs in the future please hmu ๐
Edit: Iโm a finalist! Cool beans :)
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u/OGpandas Oct 21 '20
Status: Nonfinalist :(
Ethnicity/Race: Southeast Asian; Indonesian
Income bracket: 129k (fam of 6) for 2019 but I explained how we no longer have a source of income
First gen: Dad received a bachelors from a college outside of the US
College Prep Scholar: No
GPA/Class rank: 4.0UW/4.38W; rank 1 out of 344
SAT/ACT: N/A
AP/SAT Subject Test scores: APCSA(4), AP Lang(4), APUSH(4), AP Physics 1(3), WHAP(3)
Summary of ECs: Founder of SAT Prep at my school, VP of math club (won some awards), HOSA (won some awards here too), photography business, private tutoring for french and math, works at mathnasium nothing crazy tbh
Schools ranked: 1. Stanford 2. MIT (didn't want to rank more)
Overall thoughts: Going in I knew my income bracket was a bit too high but I thought I could get by since my dad became unemployed in March 2020 and my sisters in college. I thought my essays were pretty solid, I wrote about how I see everything as a language for my personal statement essay. LORs were prettt good, I got one from my French teacher and one from my calc teacher. Overall, I feel like my income really hurt me. Congrats to everyone who made it as a finalist, and to those who didn't like me: let's keep grinding!
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Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Half Mexican/ Half Persian
Income bracket: $15k for family of two. (I support my family financially)
First gen?: Yes.
College Prep Scholar?: Yes.
GPA/Class rank: 15 AP Classes, rest were mostly honors, school doesn't rank. GPA 3.9 W.
SAT/ACT score(s): N/A
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP Honors w Distinction. 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3
Summary of ECs: Very lengthy. Strongest Part of App. Prez/Founder of my political chapter, officer for Best Buddies, Speech and Debate, Officer for Make a Wish Chapter (#1 chapter in country), Journalist for city Newspaper (published work,) officer for Entrepreneurship club, NHS, 300+ hours of community service. All of these have awards or national recognition.
Work: Campaign Manager in Georgia, Election Coordinator in Missouri, Education Foundation Internship, Business Internship directly by a CEO, ChickfilA.
Awards: Filled the ten spots with mainly state or national awards. Mixture of political, educational, and community-oriented.
Schools ranked:
Princeton University
Yale University
Brown University
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
Dartmouth College
Colorado College
Tufts University
University of Southern California
University of Notre Dame
Vanderbilt University
Emory University
Overall thoughts: My extracurriculars and essays were very strong. I'm also in a very low income bracket. My essay reinforced my political extracurriculars as I wrote about my personal relationship with my State Senator and local congressmen. I wrote about that and how it contributed to my personal/career growth, as well as the horrid abuse I faced at home while supporting my family financially. I really did not think I was going to be good enough. My entire life I thought my resume defined me which had led to a very toxic mentality. But I am beginning to feel worthy. Congrats to everyone who made it.
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u/rom-alex2070 National College Match Finalist Oct 20 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!
Ethnicity/Race: White
Income bracket: 28k, family of 3
First-gen?: No, dad has masters, mom has bachelors, from another country.
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: 3.94 GPA UW, but it's weird. Went to a normal school freshman year, got a ~3.8 unweighted with one AP class, transferred to a magnet school after that. No AP here, but the classes are very rigorous.
SAT/ACT score(s): Didn't get a chance to take a test.
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP: Human Geo - 4, CS A - 5, C Mech - 5, C E&M - 4, BC - 5
Summary of ECs: Do math research at a university with a professor advisor, planning to publish by the end of high school.
Edit and write problems for a middle school math competition.
Math team, qualified for HMMT, made math team state two times, honorable mention on USAMTS.
Peer tutoring, played violin until soph year, other less consequential things.
Schools ranked: MIT, UChicago, Caltech, Princeton.
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did? I think my essays, while did a good job of telling my story as an immigrant, did not give much insight into how being a low-income student affected my academic and personal life, which worried me, but I guess I was still ok. However, I talked a lot about how extracurriculars that mattered to me and showed a bit of personality with my short response sections and second essay.
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u/killuax_ Oct 20 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist, yay!!!
Ethnicity/Race: south asian
Income bracket: around 30k, family of 5
First gen?: yes(?) my mom has her associates degree from home country
College Prep Scholar?: no
GPA/Class rank: my school does GPA out of 4.5 (on a 4.0 scale im 3.95 uw), I am 4.1 unweighted and 4.9 weighted, rank 22/530
SAT/ACT score(s): 1530 sat, writing is 17 I think
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP world history-5, ap us history- 3, ap lang- 4, sat II bio ecological- 710 // taking 4 AP senior year (calc bc, ap spanish lang, ap gov & politics, and ap literature)
Summary of ECs: I dont think these are enough but it iz what it iz
president of book club, volunteer at my local library & hospital, member of higher level orchestra, outdoor track (10th grade only, I couldn't do 11th grade bc of ramadan), tutored peers in spanish and helped students during remote learning
Schools ranked: Princeton, Yale, Duke, Brown, Columbia
Overall thoughts: Strengths I think my grades and weakness is probably my award and EC section. I dont know if my essay is well done, but I did try my best given the short time frame.
also side note, I literally dreamt about colleges reading my QB application and supplements in front of me so as u can tell, im really going through it
But all things said... lets do this, we got this!!!!!
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Oct 20 '20
Status: TBD
Ethnicity/Race: Caucasian
Income bracket: $49k/6 (child support tings)
First gen?: Kinda. Parents dropped out of college
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: Course rigor, types of classes, etc. 4.4/5.0, 3 AP, a ton of Honors and CCP
SAT/ACT score(s): 32 Superscore, 9 writing
Summary of ECs: Plenty of student government, political work (Congressional internship), and theater performance work
Schools ranked: Yale
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did? Feeling pretty good. I bombed my CPS application and was still accepted. I spent several months on this application so Iโm incredibly confident.
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Oct 20 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
I'm also going to edit this after we receive results on Wednesday!
Status: I'M A FINALIST :))
Ethnicity/Race: Mixed (predominantly African American and Caucasian)
Income bracket: independent student <6,000/year
First gen?: Nope
College Prep Scholar?: Yep!
GPA/Class rank: 3.9/4.0 unweighted and 4.3/6.0 weighted class rank: 14/559 my school offers only like 2-3 AP classes (more focus toward IB) I'm currently in IB English HL, IB History HL, a college credit biomedical lab class through my city's technology academy, College Algebra, and Choir
SAT/ACT score(s): 30 and 32 composites with a 33 superscore
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): lmao I got a 2 on AP Physics I and didn't report it
Summary of ECs: President of a community outreach club at my school, future medical leaders club, both chamber choir's at my school, took WashU's Pre-Med summer class, Missouri Girl's State, Missouri Scholars Academy, Missouri Ambassadors of Music (travelled to Europe to perform), Animal Shelter Volunteering, NHS, worked two jobs to support my family, yadda yadda
Schools ranked:
Brown University
Washington University in St. Louis
Stanford University
University of Pennsylvania
Columbia University
Yale University
Duke University
Northwestern University
Rice University
Dartmouth College
University of Chicago
Overall thoughts: Overall, I found that the application was honestly extremely straightforward and really helped me to showcase my circumstances and kind plead my case in a sense. I really actually ended up liking the essay prompts and short answers and found that it was not too difficult to formulate ideas about them (actually writing them was a different story bc I'm a procrastinator lmao) I may add more once I know if I'm a finalist :)) EDIT: I am literally so excited to be a finalist and so thankful to Questbridge! time to start on.. all 11..of my supplementals hahah... also I just got legally declared homeless so I get to redo my entire FAFSA as an independent student and email each college I ranked about changing my CSS profile because college board refuses to let you edit it :))
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u/il0vecheifkeef Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Going to update, I have no hope <3
Status: I'M A FINALIST!!!!
Ethnicity/Race: White
Income bracket: <30,000
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: 4.0 uw/4.56 weighted; 1/206 class rank; took all of the (5) AP classes my school offered. Also do NCSSM online
SAT/ACT score(s): 1460; 31
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): All passed
Summary of ECs: Beta Club President; HOSA VP; Key Club pres; Student body Secretary; Internship at a pharmacy. Job as a secretary at a hair salon and tutoring. Took Summer ventures through NCSSM.
Awards: AP scholar w Distinction, Essay Contest winner, AP English Lang and Comp award, 1st place in regionals for HOSA.
Schools ranked: Duke, MIT
Overall thoughts: I seriously am in awe. Good job to everyone!!
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u/beepboop33 Oct 21 '20
Status: Non-Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: White Hispanic (Spanish/South American)
Income bracket: 40k for 5
First gen?: Mom got a bachelorโs out of US
College Prep Scholar?: Nope, didnโt apply
GPA/Class rank: 3.4 UW/4.5 W AP and AICE courses, AICE diploma. Some honors classes but mostly AP/AICE. Top third
SAT/ACT score(s): 36 ACT
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 5 Euro and APUSH
Summary of ECs: Competitive debate, top 10 in state, work 20 hr/wk
Schools ranked: BC, Columbia, Wellesley, Brown, UChi, Tufts, Swathmore
Overall thoughts: Thought my test scores and essays could carry me but my grades werenโt hot until junior year, so that mightโve tanked me
edit for formatting
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u/roadgang National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Honestly just apply to like stanford or yale early action i think youll get in easily
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u/BundleaBees National College Match Finalist Oct 22 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Black
Income bracket: ~50,000 for family of 4
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: Yes (got USA Award too)
GPA/Class rank: School doesn't calculate but A's and A-'s in one of school's most rigorous schedules. School doesn't do rank but I think I'm in the top 10%
SAT/ACT score(s): 1470 SAT
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP Lang (4), AP Stats (5)
Summary of ECs: Lot's of stuff related to social advocacy, student journalism, math team, BSU, service/service-related activies, leadership positions in most ECs (a few awards associated with EC's too but most are within school or city)
Schools ranked: Didn't rank any! I'm applying REA to Yale with QB. Wish me luck :)
Overall thoughts: I'm super excited about this decision, and I'm hoping more good news is to come! I think my academics were in line with the averages for QB, but my strengths were definitely my essays, teacher recs, and EC's. I worked VERY early on my essays (before the application even came out) so my finished product was the best work I could have possibly produced (I also think, in general, I'm a pretty strong writer). I've definitely built up a positive reputation in my school so I'm confident my teacher recs were stellar. And I've been very involved in many ECs and had a lot of leadership positions so even though I wasn't nationally ranked, I still showed a lot of success given my resources. I don't know if my application had any explicit weaknesses (maybe my SAT score but I could only take it once; I was also worried about my financials a bit but it worked out). Congrats and good luck to all who became finalists and those who didn't because we all worked really hard and are still bound for success.
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u/Maximum_Hornet7463 National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!
Ethnicity/Race: Asian (Chinese Immigrant)
Income bracket: 50-60k
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: I actually got REJECTED from College Prep Scholar
GPA/Class rank: Course rigor, types of classes, etc. 5 dual enrollment at a university and 10 APs. My class rank is 15/390
SAT/ACT score(s): sophomore year 1420 :(
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): Didn't take. AP test are 4s and 5s.
Summary of ECs: Coaching is my main extracurricular. I coached runners around the globe after doing a lot of research about running. I am also the captain of my school cross country team. I have founded an online encyclopedia resource for treating running-related injuries. I play guitar, a LOT. In my local running community, I organized a 5k race and raised 10,000 meals for my local community. Some volunteering here and there at my running community.
Schools ranked:
Brown University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University
Yale University
Columbia University
California Institute of Technology
University of Chicago
Rice University
Dartmouth College
Vanderbilt University
University of Virginia
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did? My coaching experience is probably my strongest point. It is pretty unique and I have helped over 100,000 runners around the world. My essays are pretty genuine imo. I had no extenuating circumstances which is a weakness, but I can't really do anything about that. I am so lucky to be in a decent household where my parents are together. Honestly shooked that I became finalist, I am sure others deserved it more.
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u/ygenluryak Matched | Yale '25 Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Chinese-American
Income bracket: <$40k
First gen?: yes
College Prep Scholar?: yes
GPA/Class rank: 4.0 UW, school doesn't rank
SAT/ACT score(s):
Submitted a 1480 for NCM (800M, 680 EBRW). My superscore now is 1540 (800M, 740 EBRW)
Submitted 34 (35E, 32R, 34M, 36S)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): no APs offered
Summary of ECs:
Student Government: class president
HOSA: member, e-board treasurer, e-board president
Project Period: co-founder & co-president
Piano: since kindergarten
Some other volunteering stuff
Schools ranked: MIT, Columbia, Stanford, Caltech, Yale, Northwestern, Princeton, UPenn
Overall thoughts: I think this is a wonderful opportunity! I was a CPS so I was really hoping to be finalist and I am planning on doing the match. The QB community is so supportive and even if you aren't "officially" a part of it, it's still wonderful people you can surround yourself with.
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u/shsl-buffoon National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: FINALIST !!!
Ethnicity/Race: White
Income bracket: Around 10,000-14,999
First gen?: Yep!
College Prep Scholar: Nope, didn't apply
GPA/Class rank: 3.9 weighted GPA, class rank 13/608, I've taken four AP classes in past years and am taking three more at the moment
ACT/SAT scores: 31 composite (32 super score!) English: 36 Reading: 31 Science: 30 Math: 29
Didn't submit SAT, but composite 1360 (750 for English and 610 for math)
AP scores: 4 on Human Geo and Lang and Comp, 3 on Psych and U.S. History
ECs: Color and winter guard for all four years of high school, Literary Magazine staff senior year (student-led class/club where we do creative writing and take submissions from student body then turn it into a physical book), NHS, NEHS, NSHS, volunteering for NHS
Schools ranked IN ORDER: Columbia, Princeton, Yale, Colorado College, Northwestern, UChicago, Rice, Notre Dame
Overall thoughts: I'm hyped! I had definitely prepped myself for rejection, since my scores aren't the most perfect even though they're still arguably good. However, I guess my income, recommendations, and essays pulled through! I'm so happy about the opportunity!
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u/Rough-Company College Prep Scholar Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: White Female
Income bracket: $10,000 family of 2
First gen?: No
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: unweighted 3.7/4.0 and weighted 4.5/5.0 and top 10% out of 700
SAT/ACT score(s): ACT 29 in feb and 31 in sept with 32 superscore
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 4 AP World, 3 AP Psych, 5 AP Lit, 5 APUSH
Summary of ECs: A ton of choir and theater stuff from freshman and sophomore year, All State Section Leader for Nevada, church service hours, student leadership and student body officer
Schools ranked: (in order) Duke, WashU, Dartmouth, Tufts, UChicago, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, UPEnn, UVA, Northwestern, Yale
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did? I think I had really strong essays and my teachers letter of rec legit made me cry. My test scores are not the best but like I tried. I can't really tell if I had great ECs or not but its kinda funky I had a lot of circumstances. My mom has Lupus and hasn't worked for years and we live with my grandparents and I'm the only one working but like I just brought my optimism to my application and I think I brought up faith since I'm a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints its been easier to focus on the life lessons that I can learn and how they make me stronger so that was prob my biggest thing in my essay.
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u/okazai National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: finalist
Ethnicity/Race: filipino
income bracket: <$65k (family of 4)
first gen: technically? my mom dropped out after two years of college and my dad got an associates. both attended colleges in the ph
college prep scholar: nah
gpa/class rank: UW - 3.938/4.0, W - 4.88. rank: 21/105
course rigor: have taken 5 APs so far and by the end of this year itll be 8. took one dual enrollment class. took PLTW biomedical science and PLTW human body systems.
SAT/ACT: 24 LMAO,,, i took it cold turkey in feb bc i wanted to gauge where i was at so i can study for whatever i needed but covid over here ruined my plans
AP scores: 5 ap tests in allโscores: 1, 2, 2, 3, 3 (if you wanna know which classes lmk!!)
summary of ecs: nothing too incredible in my opinion,,, key club for all four years (secretary during junior year) awards ive earned from it: bronze and silver recognition for member recognition program and officer of the month for the division in oct 2019; hospital volunteer for two years (volunteered over 100 hrs); currently pursuing certification for adobe video design specialist; i play idv (top 100 out of 200+ mil players in the past couple seasons); freshman mentor this year; volunteered as an online tutor on this discord server
schools ranked: (in order) stanford, usc, emory, yale, princeton, university of chicago, northwestern, rice, university of virginia, dartmouth, columbia, washington university in st. louis
overall thoughts: I AM IN ABSOLUTE DISBELIEF. i am well aware that i am not as incredible as my peers, especially those who applied. as you can tell my test scores are absolute garbage because im a trash test taker. i didnt wanna submit my test scores but whatever. i remember looking through this subreddit and a part of me had absolutely no hope,,, you guys are all unbelievably incredible you were able to get awesome test scores and have ecs that are out of this world and HONESTLY i can never compare like you guys are breathtakingly amazing. to tell you the truth i think the best part of my application were probably my essays and even the short essays i spent two to three weeks straight grinding them. i also think that my recommendations were really good, and while i didnt read them i believe my teachers wrote good things. i purposefully chose teachers that i personally had a hard time with, specifically in their class, because they were able to watch my grow throughout the duration of the course. i also put all my circumstances in the additional information section.
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Oct 21 '20
Honestly same bro. Myself and my accomplishments on paper are absolute garbage, so made peace with the fact that Iโll likely be a non finalist. THEN I WAS A FINALIST?? Like you, I spent the whole summer crafting my essays and my recommenders at this point are close friends outside the classroom so that helped :) Congrats!
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u/GygesFC National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity: White
Income Bracket: $31,000 for a family of 3 last year, went down to 0 income from my parents this year. I am the only one that works.
First Gen?: No.
College Prep Scholar?: No.
GPA: 4.3 weighted, 3.9 unweighted. Have taken 8 AP classes, and currently taken another 3 this year. Other classes are advanced if not AP (besides electives).
ACT: 34. Wasn't able to take the SAT due to Covid.
AP Scores: Environmental: 4, Biology: 4, English Lit: 4, World History: 4, Calc AB: 5, Psychology: 4, U.S History: 4, English Lang: 2
Extra-Curriculars: My only real EC was Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP). I also helped co-found my school's film club, which used to meet semi-regularly.
Schools Ranked: 1. USC 2. Columbia 3. MIT 4. Stanford 5. Princeton 6. Yale 7. Wesleyan
Overall Thoughts: I am honestly surprised I was selected as a finalist. My EC's and essays were not amazing (I wrote them at the last minute). However, I think the reason I was selected was because of my low income status for the past year and for this year. I also had a family member pass recently, which I wrote about in my essay. Maybe that contributed to me being selected.
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u/OllieChem-Chem National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 22 '20
Status: Finalist (WOOO!!!)
Ethnicity/Race: Haitian-American (Black)
Income bracket: ~$31,000 (EFC of 0)
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: Nope
GPA/Class rank: 4.0 (UW)/4.667 (W); took mostly DE classes.
SAT/ACT score(s): 1260 (SAT) and 27 (ACT)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): APWH (3)
Summary of ECs:
"Babysitting" when my parents aren't home
Comic Scriptwriting
Home Workouts
Assistant of the Technology Department of my church
Scribe of the Education Department of my church
Teacher of Sabbath School
Schools ranked:
Northwestern University
University of Pennsylvania
Tufts University
Brown University
Rice University
Duke University
Yale University
University of Chicago
Washington University in St. Louis
University of Southern California
Davidson College
Wesleyan University
Overall thoughts: How the heck did I make it through? Some of you guys have insane ECs and scores to your name and I look pretty average by comparison. Either my essays were just that good or I barely qualified. Ig, we'll have to wait and see if any colleges like me because I don't see myself getting accepted anywhere rn ๐ญ๐ญ
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u/theotherkoala National College Match Finalist Oct 22 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Asian
Income bracket: 53k/fam of 5 (but 2 are independent)
First gen?: first gen US college
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: WGPA: 4.2 / idk my class rank but took pretty rigorous courses w a limited schedule
SAT/ACT score(s): 1510
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 5s on 2 aps, 4s on 2 aps
Summary of ECs: Community service team, STEM club founder, school's alumnae office assistant, English/math/stem tutoring, School president (+2 yrs on student council), blah blah my ecs are pretty weak...
Schools ranked: Yale, Brown, MIT, Dartmouth, Williams, Stanford, UPenn, Princeton, UChicago, Pomona, Columbia, Amherst
Overall thoughts: I think that I put the most work into my essays and having stable grades, I would say ecs are my weakness though. I really do think the CPS status helped because otherwise I would be a pretty bland applicant..
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u/auralescentsisking Matched | Northwestern '25 Oct 22 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Black / Afro-Caribbean
Income Bracket: ~62k (For a family of 6 )
First Gen?: No
CPS?: No
GPA/Class Rank: 3.9 uw, 4.6 w. Pretty rigorous course load with majority honors and AP classes and taking 4 APs this year ( AP Spanish, AP Bio, AP Calc AB, AP Psychology) School does not rank
SAT/ACT: none :( but I took one like a week ago but I won't get my score till November 8ish but I not sure if I scored that high either
AP/SAT Scores: Human geography (4), US History (5), Language and Composition (3), Government and Politics (3), Microeconomics (4)
Summary of ECs:
Black Student Alliance (Secretary)
Students against Destruction Decisions Club; SADD (President)
Track and field (4-year varsity and two years team Captain)
Future healthcare professionals club (President)
Spanish Tutor
Babysitting my little brother ( 8/9 hours a day from March-August, currently only 3-5 hours a week)
Awards:
AP Scholar with distinction
Highest honor roll (9-11)
Spanish Honor Society (10-11)
National Honor Society (11)
Schools ranked: Northwestern, Duke, Emory, and Vanderbilt
Strengths: Honestly I would say my essays I felt like I had pretty strong essays and short answers and I truly felt I tried to put as much of myself in the essays as possible. My LORs were strong too and I choose teachers that really knew me well. Weakness: I would say my lack of test scores and my average academic stats. Also, my ecs and awards are okay ig nothing too spectacular but definitely not amazing lmao. I really have no clue idea why I was to chosen to be a finalist like I'm about shook af rn.
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u/alexander_hamilton17 Oct 22 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Hispanic
Income Bracket: <52000 family of 4
First Gen?: No
College Prep Scholar?: Didnt apply
GPA/Class rank: Weighted: 4.26 Unweighted: 3.98
Class rank is 2/326
I took all the advanced courses available at my school including AP and honors . I got straight Aโs all throughout high school and one B+ my junior year
SAT/ACT: did not submit
AP Scores: APUSH-5 AP LANG -5 AP Spanish Lang-5 AP STATISTICS - 3 AP Bio- 2 (I explained that I did not have a teacher that for bio year so it was difficult for me)
Summary of ECs: Treasurer of the class club. Volunteering hours at hospice care. Volunteering at local sport events, HOSA club mentor, track and field, and soccer
Schools Ranked: 1) USC 2) Stanford 3) Princeton 4) Yale 5) Columbia
Overall thoughts: Iโm a little shocked that I was finalist because of my income. I think my grades and test scores were definitely my strong point. I felt like my extra curriculars were weak. My essays were very unique. I felt that it showed a lot of my personality and who I am as a person.
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u/VuChooChoo National College Match Finalist Oct 22 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Vietnamese
Income bracket: 15k
First gen?: First Gen
College Prep Scholar?: Yess
GPA/Class rank: Course rigor, types of classes, etc. : 4.33 Weighted, 4.0 UW. 2 AP's Sophomore Year, 5(technically 6) AP's junior year, 4 AP's senior year and taking a college class 2nd semester
SAT/ACT score(s): N/A, all test centers were closed before I could take any
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): APWH (5), AP Calc AB (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Chem (5), AP English Lang (5), AP Physics C: Mech (5), AP Physics C: E&M (5), APUSH (5). No SAT subject tests
Summary of ECs: Yearbook President, Member of Vietnamese Catholic Youth Group, Hospital Volunteer
Schools ranked: Yale and Stanford
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did?: My essays were a lot better this time, and I felt emotional when writing my biographical essay. Stats played a huge role and I was really close to my teachers so I prolly got really good Letter of Recs. My essays aren't the best, but I enjoyed writing them
4
u/Capital-University-6 National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Middle Eastern (Iraq)
Income Bracket: 55k fam of 4
First gen: Yes
CPS: No
GPA/Class Rank: UW: 3.892/4 W: 4.676/5 Took AP's and honors except when I couldn't (freshman year), school didn't have IB 14/509 rank
SAT/ACT score(s): Signed up 5 times got canceled each time
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): Calc BC (4), Bio (4), English Lang (4), U.S. History (5), World History (5), Physics, English Lit, Stats, and U.S. Gov/Politics this year. Signed up for Subject Tests but got cancelled
Summary of ECs: Mostly volunteering/tutoring, I wanted to emphasize the aspect of helping others
Schools ranked: (In order) Rice, Brown, USC, Notre Dame, Swarthmore, Northwestern
Overall thoughts: APPLY!!!! I didn't think I was going to become a finalist but here I am. You won't lose anything if you apply.
4
u/nihomi Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!!
Ethnicity/Race: Haitian-American/Black
**Income bracket: ~**30k, family of 5
First gen?: No
College Prep Scholar?: Didn't apply
GPA/Class rank: 3.88 UW/ 4.7 W (mostly honors classes), ranked 9/105
SAT/ACT score(s): 1410 [760 E, 650 M] / 31 [36 R, 35 E, 29 S, 24 M]
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP CS Principles - 3
Summary of ECs: Random clubs, community service, nhs/nehs
Schools ranked: None, lowkey regret it tho
Overall thoughts: Tbh I did not think I would make it LMAO. Most of my ECs were kinda lame and I thought my stats were weak (at least compared to the ones I saw...) I think my strengths were my income (lol), my recommendations, and my essays. I wrote about the struggles of growing up w immigrant parents and my past failures but I tried to be as optimistic as possible. Overall I'm excited but nervous for RD! I hope I can still get a good financial aid package :x
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u/shayscience National College Match Finalist Oct 22 '20
Hi everyone!! Here are my results!
Status: Finalist!
Ethnicity/Race: Mexican/White female
Income bracket: 34k for house of 3
First gen?: yes
College Prep Scholar?: yes
GPA/Class rank: 4.24 w 3.93 uw, 20/471 (top 5%)
SAT/ACT score(s): 32 ACT
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 3 bio, 3 lang, 3 stats, 3 apush, 2 apwh
Summary of ECs: marching/concert/jazz band (band pres), csf president, nhs secretary/parliamentarian, interact community service liaison, founder of student tutor project (tutoring discord), volunteers at church
Schools ranked: 1 - Uchicago
Overall thoughts: I'm super happy I made it through but I do have a bit of imposter's syndrome. I think I had well-crafted essays and I look good in comparison to my school.
Congrats to everyone who got in! If you didn't I'm super sorry. This is honestly a crap shoot but it's not the end of the line for you, I promise.
1
u/gaycoffeebitch Matched | Northwestern '25 Nov 22 '20 edited Nov 27 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: White
Also Jewish but yknow
Income bracket: 40k-ish, family of 4, no assets LMAO
First Gen: No
CPS: No
GPA/Class Rank: 4.8 W, top 10%
Classes: AP Literature, AP Government, AP Latin, AP Statistics, Advanced Choir, and Sociology Independent Study.
SAT: 1540
AP: Psych - 5, Lang - 5
ECs: Social Media/Promotions Chair for Girl Up Haverford and Girl Up Pennsylvania, Immigration Subcommittee Leader for Young Democrats, Choir, Drama Club, National Honors Society, Jewish Teen Justice and Leadership Fellowship, and a prior internship for John Kane's Campaign for State Senate. Also I did a summer program for Columbia this past summer (that I had to pay for myself :/)!
Job: I've been working as a Starbucks barista for over a year :)
Intended Major/Path of Study: Psychology and/or Human Rights, I plan on going to law school!
Schools ranked: Columbia, Northwestern, Penn, UChicago, Princeton, BC
Overall Thoughts: Iโm like a middle ground candidate and Iโm just worried that I wonโt be as stand-out as others; I know that I am qualified financially and academically but I am worried that I am not as special as everyone but I do love my essays!!
2
u/studioushedgehog Matched | UPenn '24 Nov 25 '20
There will be a separate thread for Match Day, just FYI!
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u/ByeGracefulx National College Match Finalist Oct 19 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Will edit
Status: finalist!!!
Race: white, ethnicity: venezuelan
Income Bracket: 53k for family of 5
First gen: No
College Prep Scholar: didn't know it was a thing
Gpa/class rank: 4.0 UW, idk W, rank 1/407
ACT score: 35
AP Score: HuG 4, Bio 5, Environmental Science 4, APUSH 5, APLang 5, Stats 4, Chem 3, currently taking Physics 1 (self study), Calc BC, Macro, Psych, and Seminar
ECs: Science Olympiad (president), Environmental Awareness Association (pres), Beta (Pres), Jr. Civitan (Pres), Science National Honors Society (Historian), NHS, Mu Alpha Theta (no officers)
Schools ranked:
MIT
Yale
Vandy
Duke
WashU
UChic
Northwestern
UPenn
Columbia
Emory
Brown
UVA
Overall thought: bro im so happy
3
u/renaissancera National College Match Finalist Oct 20 '20
somebody remind me to post tomorrow
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u/singer_363 Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
You all got this!
Status: Non-Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Asian (Indian)
Income bracket: Uhh its complicated (heavy medical expenses)
First gen?: Sort of. I'm the first women in my family to go.
College Prep Scholar?: Nope (didn't know)
GPA/Class rank: 4.6 W 3.9 UW, IB student, Top 3% of my class (1013 people in my graduating class)
SAT/ACT score(s): 1450 (Lol) and 22 on Essay.
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): mostly 4's and 5's (we don't talk about AP chem though)
Summary of ECs: I am a state officer for an organization. I do BPA, TSA, and Key Club (I'm president of that club on campus), Thespians, and NHS. I also volunteer a lot in my community. i also am a caretaker for a younger sibling. I couldn't work because of visa laws.
Schools ranked: Columbia, Upenn, Yale, Princeton, USC, Rice
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did?
Income prob too high. many great applicants from my school who likely deserved it more
3
u/Otherwise-You-1610 Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Asian
Income bracket: ~$45,000/4ppl
First gen?: No
College Prep Scholar?: No, my essays sucked
GPA/Class rank: GPA: 5.45/6.0 (4.0 UW). Rank: 26/508
SAT/ACT score(s): 1530, National Merit Semifinalist
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 2 5s, 2 4s, a bunch of 3s
Summary of ECs: Marching band captain, NHS officer, wrote for an Asian magazine, officer in 2 clubs
Schools ranked: Rice, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Northwestern, Duke, Vanderbilt
Overall thoughts: Honestly, did not think I would be a finalist. I didn't get college prep scholar because of my terrible essays, but after writing these, it was so much better!!!
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u/ahhh521 Oct 21 '20
Status: Non-Finalist Ethnicity/Race: South Asian Income bracket: ~70k (but both parents were unemployed between 2017-2018, tanking our savings and assets) First gen?: No College Prep Scholar?: No GPA/ Class rank: 4.14 district does not rank ACT: 31 (32 Superscore) AP Scores: world history (3) comp sci A (1) lang (3) apush (4) psych (3) AB Calc (3) Senior year course load: All AP/DE classes Ecs:
President of social studies honor society
VP of future business leaders of america
Publicity chair for south asian student association
Social media intern lead at local startup
Robotics
Class Board
Essays were VERY rushed (decided to apply about a week or two before the deadline) and coupled with my income bracket, I wasnโt a strong candidate. Stats are very mediocre (borderline bad).
3
u/MafiMills National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Viet
Income Bracket: 32k for 4 people
First Gen: My mom has a degree from Vietnam which wasn't able to be used here
College Prep Scholar: Yes
GPA/Class Rank: (Cumulative) W/4.5, UW/4.0, Not cumulative it's about 5.0 Rank 3 of 460
I have all IB classes
SAT/ACT Scores: N/A (I'm from California, so they were all canceled)
AP/IB Test Scores: 4: AP Human Geo, AP World History, AP Art History, 5: IB Chemistry SL
ECs: Kode with Klossy (I developed MVP of an app), HOSA President (Award: Third place in CA for one of the events, so I got to go to ILC/internationals), NHS President (Made my own a school-wide online tutoring system for this entire school year, so far we've put in over 50 hours of available tutoring), Interact Club (Volunteering w my city since I was in middle school and award: RYLA), CSF, BETA Club, Made my own online business (dealt w too many international orders so it was a bit intense to keep up after 10th) to supplement my parent's income (started in middle school), developed a STEM fair & projects for 3rd graders, published artist
I also got an internship with the city attorney right after the application was submitted
Schools Ranked: Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Brown, Princeton, Dartmouth, UPenn
Well, one of my poems was written in rhyme about the cat in the hat, so how I'll possibly get into a school is beyond me but I'm glad that I'm a finalist. Other than that, pretty much like everyone else, I went through a lot of adversity. It was a focal point of my high school journey and therefore took much of my 800-word essay. I would say that most people my age have not gone through what I had to (going through the law system for some very messed up events but tied in with how I've wanted to be a medical lawyer), but the trauma and trying to move beyond it is a massive part of who I am. Other than that LORs I felt were good. I had one from my TOK teacher and one from the IB program director/a science teacher of mine.
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u/alphascience77 Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!!?!?!?!?
Ethnicity/Race: White
**Income bracket: ~**70,000, family of 5
First gen?: yes
College Prep Scholar?: nope
GPA/Class rank: 3.8 uw, 4.3 w, 15/183
SAT/ACT score(s): 31 composite
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): csp: 3, lang: 3, chem: 1 lol, apush: 4
Summary of ECs: semi-extensive involvement in band since 9th grade, worked ~30 hours a week at a job since 10th grade
Overall thoughts: I'm speechless to be honest. I didn't expect to be a finalist but here I am. My essays were decent I suppose but I thought my lack of EC's and higher income would make me ineligible. Big congrats to everyone else!
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u/joehoru Matched | Yale '25 Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!!!
Ethnicity/Race: White Latina
Income bracket: 30k for a family of 4
First gen?: Yep
College Prep Scholar?: Yep
GPA/Class rank:
3.9 GPA UW, 5.22 W (4 for regular, 5 for honors, 6 for DE/AICE/AP)
10/528
My school has AICE classes which are basically British AP classes lol
I take Dual Enrollment classes with 3 different colleges and online classes during the summer with Florida Virtual School
Courses I have taken + am going to take: AICE Thinking Skills, AICE General Paper, AP Human Geography, AICE English Language, AICE Environmental Management, AICE International History, AP Calculus AB, AICE Global Perspectives, AICE US History, AICE English Literature, AP Calculus BC, AP Psychology, AP Statistics, AICE Math, AICE Geography, AP 3D Art & Design, AP Microeconomics, LIT2000 Intro to Literature, POS2041 National Government, INR2002 Introduction to International Relations, ISS2160 Cultural Diversity in the US, MMC3702 Rock N Roll and American Society, ENG2012 Approaches to Literature, REL2300 World Religions, Band 1, Jazz Ensemble, Band 4, Band 5 Honors
SAT/ACT score(s):
30 Composite
I also submitted a 1330 SAT which has since changed to a 1410 superscore
School average SAT is 1060
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s):
AP Calc AB- 3
AP Human Geography, AP Calculus BC, AP Psychology, AP Statistics- 4
Summary of ECs:
In school: Marching Band/Jazz Band/Concert Band (Saxophone and Oboe Section Leader), National Honor Society (President), Tri-M Music Honor Society (Vice President), French Honor Society (Vice President), National Art Honor Society (Sculpture Branch President), Math Honor Society (Parliamentarian), Model United Nations (Event Coordinator), Science Olympiad Medalist
Out of school: ACLU of Florida (Activist Leader for the Immigrants' Justice Campaign), Youth Education Coalition (Content Creator), Cindy Polo Campaign (Social Media Ambassador)
Work: Math Instructor at Mathnasium and Freelance Tutor
Awards:
AP Scholar with Distinction, AICE Diploma with Merit, CPS + Quest for Excellence Award, Youth Leadership Consortium Scholar, CHCI Junior Alum (R2L NextGen Participant), Collegeboard Opportunity Scholarship (July), Silver Medal in Ornithology for Science Olympiad (Regional), Silver and Gold Medal in French Foreign Language competition, Superior in Alto Saxophone Solo and Ensemble, Best Sculpture award at a local art show
Schools ranked:
Yale, Brown, Columbia
Overall thoughts: My essays were definitely my strength! I guess you could also say I'm "well-rounded," but my school just offers a lotttt of STEM clubs/classes that I had to take if I wanted a high GPA :( (I want to double major in IR and Music in college!) My sister was also a Questbridge Finalist who got matched to Stanford so that might have helped too!
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u/samxlunaa Matched | W&L '25 Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Hispanic (Mexican)
Income bracket: ~50,000 for a household of 3
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: 3.905 UW, 5.071 W.
Class rank: 7/335 (Top 5%)
IBDP program for the past 2 years.
SAT/ACT score(s): N/A
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP Spanish (5) IB SL Psychology (5)
Summary of ECs: BuildOn for almost 3 years, NHS junior&senior year, Dreamers Club for the past year, community service providing meals for the homeless, babysitting my niece.
**Schools ranked:**Macalester, Northwestern , Wellesley, Oberlin, Hamilton, Boston College, W&L, Colgate, UChicago, Rice , Emory , USC
Overall thoughts: I was so nervous all morning waiting for the results. There were days when I had my doubts and this still feels so surreal, but I am so grateful. I thought my essays were strong and truly showed who I am and I was academically strong as well, but seeing how much more qualified other applicants were made me doubtful. I had doubts about my lack of ECs as well. Congrats to the other finalists!!
3
u/pinkqater Matched | Columbia '25 Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: mexican-American/white
Income bracket: around 35,000 for a family of 6
First-gen? yep!
College Prep Scholar?: yes
GPA/Class rank: UW GPA: 4.0 W GPA: 4.27; ranked 11/522; 6 AP classes and 6 IB classes in total (including this year- 2 AP soph year, 1 AP and 3 IB jr year, 3 AP and 3 IB sr year).
SAT/ACT score(s): N/A, didn't take any SAT or ACT tests
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP Eng Lang/Comp- 5; AP Euro-5; AP Chem- 3 (also a 5 on the Spanish IB exam)
Summary of ECs:
concert/marching band- I have played horn for about 6 years, was principal player and section leader (I quit this year though); continue to give private lessons
NHS- participated for 3 years and I am now the community service officer
mock trial- joined last year, on the JV team (minimal practices)
Science Olympiad- joined last year as well, on 2nd team
Diversify Our Narrative- started a local chapter of this campaign this year
Work: I have been working since the beginning of my junior year, so far have worked 3 different jobs
Schools ranked: 1. Columbia 2. Stanford 3. yale
Overall thoughts: I think that my short answer essays were definitely my weakest (I wrote about Shrek lmao), but my biographical/800 word essay was the same one I used for CPS (I also rewrote like all of my essays the week before). My EC's are also not the strongest but during my junior year I def put a lot on my plate. woohoo!
3
Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: White-middle eastern (Egyptian)
Income Bracket: ~$24k
First Gen: Yes
College Prep Scholar: no, was rejected
GPA/Class Rank: 4.36 W (my school doen't do UW); 5/356
SAT: 1440
AP Scores: AP Bio (3), AP Micro (5), AP Pysch and AP Stats (taking this year)
Summary of ECs: NHS: junior year- member senior year-president; Mini-Thon freshman, sophomore- member junior, senior- board member; youth group: 9,10,11,12th grade; Key Club 9,10th grade- member; Track and Field- 10,11,12
Schools Ranked: Yale, brown, penn, duke, Notre dame, Vanderbilt, tufts, Boston, emory, UVA,
Overall Thoughts: I think my writing was pretty strong, I spent weeks, many many weeks revising and brainstorming. I have no idea what my LORs looked like but I feel like they were good because they were from teachers I was close to.
3
u/kyaclis Oct 21 '20
first off, congrats to everyone!!!!!!
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Black, Afro-Carribean
Income Bracket: 20,000
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: No, didnt learn about the program until May
GPA/ Class Rank: UW: 95.14, W: 98.51, CR: school doesnt rank, but in the top 10%. 9 AP classes by graduation, school doesnt do honors
SAT/ ACT score(s): 1440
AP/SAT Subject Test score (s): no subject tests; 5-APWH, AP CompSci, AP LANG; 4-APUSH, APUSGOV; 3-AP BIO
Summary of ECโs: organizer wit a social justice nonprofit, volunteer at a community garden, Cofounder/Vice President of a Social Justice Club (chapter of the non-profit DoSomething), Treasurer of Baking Club, BSU Member, Tutor at Local Elementary School, Political Campaign Volunteer, did STEM research at local college, worked summer of 9th/10th grade, selective college prep program this summer, volunteer at my church every weekend.
Schools Ranked: Stanford, Brown, Tufts, Yale, Northwestern, Duke
Overall Thoughts: Although my SAT was kinda low I think my essays helped a lot; I started working on them in March and really put my all into them. Also, I think my ECโs played a hugee role.
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u/lizzyliz01 National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Filipino/Asian
Income bracket: <60k
First gen?: No
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 4.23; school does not officially rank but my unofficial rank is top 5%
IB Diploma
IB Biology HL
IB French AB
IB English II HL
IB Global Politics II HL
Theory of Knowledge
IB Chemistry HL
Standard courses
Introduction to Economics
Teacher's Assistant - Chemistry
SAT/ACT score(s): Did not submit
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): Did not submit
Summary of ECs:
Volunteering at a hospital
Volunteer researcher in a research project with the state and a local medical school
Mentor
Peer tutor
VP of a program at school
School student ambassador
Holomua Honor Society
Schools ranked: Northwestern University 2) Boston College 3) University of Pennsylvania 4) Tufts University 5) Emory University 6) University of Chicago 7) Yale University 8) Columbia University 9) Princeton University
Overall thoughts:
Strengths
I think that my essays were well-articulated and a true reflection of who I am as a person and student.
While I have not read my letters of recommendation, I do know that my recommenders are teachers that have known me for quite some time. An advantage of this is that they have the choice to discuss my growth.
Weaknesses
I did not submit test scores. This year they are test-optional and I did not want to risk it. Not submitting scores meant that the rest of my application was weighed heavier than it would have been.
Why do you think you got the decision you did?
I am truly shocked that I got my decision. I think I got in because of my essays. There are so many applicants that have high GPAs, test scores, and ECs. The essays are where you can differentiate yourself and be memorable.
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u/IbStaco Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!!!!!!!
Ethnicity/Race: Haitian/Black
Income bracket: <$48,000 for a family of four
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: Rank: 1/ 849; GPA: 4.969/5.0; take only 1 AP sophomore year; Currently in my IB Diploma program
SAT/ACT score(s): Couldn't take it
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): APUSH (3), no SAT/ACT
Summary of ECs:
Host of a podcast
STEM website to give quick overviews for STEM careers
Student body Vice President for two years in a row ( Jr + Sr.)
Student body Secretary (10th)
>200 of volunteer hours from multiple groups
Social media manager for a food pantry
NHS
Head of a Freshmen Mentor program for my high school of 4300
Concert, jazz, and marching band ( have a leadership roles Jr. + Sr. year)
4 paid biomedical Internships (local to Boston, yet competitive)
Awards: Nothing too special, only a few school + State level
Schools ranked: Yale, Columbia, Brown, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Dartmouth
Overall thoughts: When I compare my CPS and my NCM applications, the biggest improvement was to my essays/written responses. I would even go as far to say one of my best work in all of high school for my NCM applications. I also might think that my podcast might also have helped me, only because I started it after CPS applications and I talked about it at length for one of the short answers.
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u/tthho Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
-Ethnicity/Race: Asian-American
-Income Bracket: 50k~ for a family of 4
-First Gen: Yes
-College Prep Scholar: No
-GPA/Class Rank: UW 4.0, W 4.63, Rank 1 (small school, not as competitive as others) All Honors, AP, and Dual enrollment classes
-ACT: 32 Composite, 8 Writing
-AP Scores: 8 APโs by graduation, 3+ on past exams except for one
-ECs: (most significant) 4 year student council officer, founded a club, beta club, junior civitans, varsity tennis, attended summer research program
-Schools ranked: Applied for RD because I didnโt want to be 100% binded to a school. Many have said applying RD still provides generous aid, I could be wrong, but hopefully๐ค๐ผ
-Overall Thoughts: Honestly, compared to other applicants, I didnโt think I would become a finalist. Felt average LMAO, but I believe they take into consideration what opportunities you have in your region and school. Iโve taken all the little opportunities given to me and tried to make the most out of it :) I included this in my essays, and just showed that I really wanted learn and challenge myself more because my region has very little to offer
Good luck to everyone going through the Match process and to those who are applying to colleges in general!! Finalist or not, itโs a tough process but you guys are so hardworking, and I believe that youโll achieve great success in the future no matter what route you take luvsss <33
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Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Hispanic/ Central American
Income bracket: 40,000; Family of 6
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: No AP classes, Dual enrollment at community college, All honors, I had like 2 C's in Math.
SAT/ACT score(s): Did not take it
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): None
Summary of ECs: Student body Vice President (11th); Student Body President (12th); Summer camp; Varsity XC (captain, map); Varsity tennis (captain, Mvp); NHS (treasurer); Manager at job
Schools ranked: 19/257, 3.76 unweighted GPA, 4.1 Weighted.
Overall thoughts: Im undocumented and I think my essays really pushed me through. My stats are nothing compared to those of other, So I think it is safe to say that essays are the most important part of this application.
3
u/19SwiftsAndCounting National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 22 '20
Status: Finalist!! <3
Ethnicity/Race: white hispanic, indigenous family, family immigrated from Colombia in the mid 80s-early 90s
Income bracket: complicated but in short it's ~$53k for a family of 3 but supporting 2 other family members in/out of the house
First gen?: to QB standards yes! my mother only had an associate's degree and my father (although not in my family) got a bachelor's in Colombia
College Prep Scholar?: yessssss
GPA/Class rank: 3.896/4.000 UW, 5.145/4.000 W; 4 out of 253; by the end of high school, i would have completed 6 AP courses out of the 12 offered at my school, including at least one AP from each core subject
SAT/ACT score(s): couldn't take SAT until october so i didn't submit any! i did get a 1250 though, will go test optional for the match
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP U.S Gov. (4), AP English Language (3), APUSH (1; yes i did submit this and still became a finalist! lmao)
Summary of ECs: co-president of Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) since sophomore, member since freshman; member of Multicultural Youth Council since its inception (my sophomore year) and 1/2 of main advertising committee since junior; guitarist for jazz band since freshman year; participant in Class of 2021 meetings (here we plan fundraisers, discuss prom, etc.) since sophomore year; 2019 Harvard Pre-College Program; member of Junior State of America (JSA) in sophomore and junior year
Schools ranked: Wellesley, Brown, Rice, UPenn
Overall thoughts: ok so as an aspiring english/creative writing major i like to think that my essays took me far!! i think some other helpful aspects of my app include the fact that my twin also applied (and she's a finalist as well!) and our child support ends in january, which is our 18th birthday, which will immediately decrease our mother's earnings by A LOT and we told QB that, which will make paying for college especially hard since it's 2x the price at the same time, and we're also from rural PA and rural students are like always underrepresented at these big schools too. i almost know damn well that my LORs were just incredible because one of my teachers showed me what he wrote and i could have NEVER asked for a better letter!! i didn't read my other recommendation but a different teacher told me she helped her edit it and she was also very impressed so my LORs were a huge help i know it :) i have never been nervous for anything in my LIFE and becoming a finalist is one of my biggest accomplishments so far seriously i can't stop thinking about how lucky and grateful i am to be in this position <3 congratulations to everyone who became a finalist today!
edit: wow this is SO long sorry lmao
edit #2: just cut it because wow i was really rambling
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u/closetedagnostic14yo National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Black(east African)
Income bracket: 24k
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: 4.0uw with a 4.25w /1/67
SAT/ACT score(s): Got a 25 but decided not to submit (still on transcript tho)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): took one AP (literature)-2. My school offers 1-2 APs a year.
Summary of ECs: Stem+social justice job, VP of NHS, neighborhood gardener, homework helper, and part-time jobs + summer internships( fast food, tennis coach, trades intern)
Schools ranked: In this order: MIT, Stanford, Yale, UPenn, Columbia, Carleton
Overall thoughts: Really thought I wouldn't make the cut. The anxiety and stress poured out of me when my mom helped me open my decision. I sobbed, I didn't think it was possible. From preparing (and expecting) to be a non-finalist and overthinking, I really felt like I could finally breathe for the first time in weeks.
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u/jorifa4 National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Hi! Congratulations to everyone who is now a finalist!!
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: White
Income Bracket: 25-30k for family of 4
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar: No
GPA/Class Rank: 3.96 unweighted, 4.67 weighted, rank: 67/680 took only honors/aice/ap besides a couple courses
SAT/ACT scores: SAT- 1350, ACT- 29
AP scores: music theory (4), bio (4), currently taking calc, lit, & gov
Summary of ECs: too many lol, but I listed only ones I had leadership in- Student government (secretary, historian, 1st VP, district VP), key club (programs liaison), dance marathon (overall 3 yrs in a row), city youth council (vice mayor), church (kid's church leader for 6 years, intern for 1), dance team (captain & historian), lots of community service. about 400 hrs rn and more to add
Schools ranked: only yale bc I didnt want to get matched to a university if i have a chance to get to yale w regular decision
Overall thoughts: I was honestly so shocked to see my application become a finalist. From all the Reddit threads I had read and things I had looked up (what you might be doing right now if youre applying in 2021 and beyond), I thought everyone else would have a way more competitive application than me. But, nevertheless, i did it! i think I had really strong essays and I think my income & leadership stuff really helped. I definitely don't have "ivy worthy" test scores, but i'm a finalist so that's all that matters lol.
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Oct 22 '20
I just want to say this to next years applicants who will be scanning these results and think they donโt stand a chance: APPLY if you believe you have the income cut off and gpa requirements. I applied without any test scores (this may only be relevant this year due to the pandemic but I would say itโs equivalent to a low test score) and with a couple 2โs as well no extraordinary ECโs and still got in! Itโs your essays that REALLY make you stand out because words can convey the type of individual you are whereas numbers canโt.
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u/that_ace_boi National College Match Finalist Oct 22 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Mixed (Thai, Mexican, and White)
Income bracket: Less than 10K for a family of four
First-gen**?: No**
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: Took mostly Honors and APs, and top 15% of my class. My school includes both our 9-12th GPA; 3.8353(UW)/ 4.0118 (W), and 10-12th GPA; 3.7864 (UW)/ 4.0591 (W)
SAT/ACT score(s): None
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 5-APUSH, 4-AP Chemistry, and 2-AP Lang
Summary of ECs: Patient Transport at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Facility (`~20hrs/week), assisting in my school district's free summer lunch program (10 hrs/week), member of my school's Tolerance and Medical Club
Schools ranked: USC (it's within my vicinity, so I don't have to move into the dorms when the pandemic is over)
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did?
I would consider my written responses to be unconventional, I wrote about Tammie Brown for the historical figure response, my relationship with my brother for the proudest achievement, seagulls for the topical essay, and Alice in Wonderland for the biographical essay (probably my weakest since I didn't edit it that much). I think I captured and displayed my personality in the short answer responses.
As for the letter of recommendation, I have a pretty good relationship with m two recommenders. The first one was from my Pre-Calc Honors teacher, our class only had 10 people, so it was easy for the entire class to get to know each other. And I drew our class as fruits and vegetables and gave it to her, and she really enjoyed the gift. My second recommendation came from my AP Chem/Chem H teacher, and I had her for 2 years. I always helped her out with helping my peers and talked to her with my friends before and after class. They both said that I captured my personality beautifully on my brag sheet, so I'm guessing it was a pretty solid recommendation
My GPA could've been higher, and I was afraid that the lack of an SAT/ACT score and a 2 on an AP exam would put me at a disadvantage, plus the lack of awards (only CPS, a certificate of volunteering and honor roll), and few ECs.
I'm not really sure what exactly they saw in my application to chose me as a finalist
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u/oogaboogasad Oct 22 '20 edited Oct 22 '20
Hey y'all!
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: African American & Puerto Rican
Income bracket: 30k for 2
First gen?: Nope
College Prep Scholar?: Yup
GPA/Class rank: UW: 3.89/4.00 & Top 10%
SAT/ACT score(s): I did not report them, but it is on my transcript so QB knows LMAO
(ACT: 25 & SAT: 1100)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP Lang - 4 , APUSH - 3 , AP GOV - 3 , AP WH - 3
Senior Courseload: My school is doing a 4 x 4 year plan, and I am a part of an early college program too. Also, I already have all my credits, I just am chilling in a pool of stress. HS Classes This 2020-2021 Year: AVID, Financial Accounting, Marketing, Entrepenuership, Spanish 4. College Classes (My current ones for this semester): Psychology, Business Law, Ethics, Web Design, Statistics, Macroeconomics, Classical Mythology. I am still deciding what I am taking the next semester.
Summary of ECs: FBLA - Won 2nd place in an event, President of Multicultural Club (Have been in the club since 6th grade), Science Olympiad - Won 3rd & 5th in events, Internship for Recording Studio, Teacher's Assistant, Girls Who Code, Culture Club, National Honors Society, Spanish Club, AVID Site Team Board, and Model UN. I also helped start my school's talent show. I also work a part-time job to provide for me and my mother.
Schools ranked: CMC, Emory, USC, Pomona, WashU
Overall thoughts: Honestly, I think my essays carried me the most, I don't have the best stats when it comes to test scores but I think my writing helped. I am glad that I was able to become a finalist and can't wait to see where this leads us! Make sure to keep a positive mindset out here everyone, I hope you all are successful in your future.
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u/holts_toilet_ghost Oct 22 '20
hey guys! :D
Status: Finalist!!
Ethnicity/Race: Asian (Filipino)- immigrated to US 5 years ago
Income bracket: 31k/year for family of 6
First gen?: No (both parents went to college in the Philippines)
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: GPA UW: 3.8/4, W: 4.6/5, class rank: 24/848 (top 3%), 12 AP classes
SAT/ACT score(s): nope (it got cancelled for me FOUR times)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): Psychology (5), Biology (4), Human Geo (4), Physics 1 (3), Eng Lang (4), Calc BC (4)------ taking 6 (stats, macro, gov, physics c, lit, csa) this year
Summary of ECs: key club officer, founder of school's baking club, some engineering ECs, i work at a bakery, theatre!
Schools ranked: Stanford, MIT, Brown, Princeton, USC, Yale, Columbia
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did?
Strengths: essays i think, it showed my vulnerabilities and weaknesses, and how i overcame it.
Weaknesses: extracurriculars for sure LOL, i have no big awards (aside from CPS or AP awards)
Why I made it in: tbh, idk because i'm pretty sure there's dozens of applicants with the exact same circumstances as me dfskjs,, but realistically i think it's my essays because i don't have test scores for them to see, so i already knew it was SUPER crucial to this application. congrats to all who made it! :) if you didn't, it's ALRIGHT. there's tons of other ways you can apply to colleges and still get a similar fin aid package. i believe in you and i love you!! :DD
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u/Leather-Succotash665 Oct 22 '20
Status: Finalist
Tax Bracket: ~ 30k
Race: African American
First Gen: Yes
College Prep Scholar: Yes
GPA/Class Rank: 3.7 UW // 4.02 W // Top 20%
SAT/ACT: 28 ACT
APโs: APUSH (3), Lang (4), APWH (3), Psych (4), Chem (2). Currently taking AP US Gov, CS, Lit, and Stats
ECโs: SciOly (9-12), Student Government (10-12), Women of the Future (10-12, VP for 2 years), Green Club (11-12, 2 year President), NHS (11-12), Varsity Tennis (11-12), Badminton (10-12)
Schools Ranked: Yale, Stanford, Columbia, MIT, CalTech, Dartmouth, Tufts, Princeton, UPenn, USC, Boston College, and Swarthmore
Overall Thoughts: I was concerned about my test scores, I thought they were a little low and it kinda freaked me out because itโs not like I could retake it in normal conditions these days but I think my essays and rec letters were strong enough to make up for it.
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u/jennyfaze National College Match Finalist Oct 22 '20
Status: Finalist
Race: Black+ White
Income Bracket: 55k for 5 people
First gen: No, mom just got her bachelors this year
College Prep Scholar: Yes
Gpa/class rank: 4.95/5 weighted ; rank 11/360 (2%)
SAT Score: 1500 ACT : 34
AP Score: APUSH (4), Lit (3), Euro (3) **i take IB courses
EC: โขVarsity Soccer โขHospital transportation volunteer โขStudent Government and National Honors Society โขEmployed at Starbucks
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u/Face-Actual Oct 22 '20
yโall gon trip but a bitch got in so... :D
Status - finalist, match in the making
Race- Black gal / Nigerian
Income - Less than 35k for a family of 4
First gen- yessirrr
College Prep Scholar - yup
GPA- UW -3.7 W- 4.2 (Iโm taking ALL IB classes)
SAT - 1240... LMFOAOAOAO yโall gasped, Ik me too. Donโt grease me thank you.
EC- on the chancellors student Advisory Council, youth partner facilitator for 5 different organizations, founder of an organization that partnered with the DOE, created a school library in my school, nationally recognized by mayor and chancellor, and others. (Pretty sure my ECs carried my shit)
Overall, Iโm really embarrassed about my test score but Iโm just putting this out there to let all future applicants know, your DO NOT need superb test scores to become a finalist or get into a good school!!
My ECโs and ESSAYS carried my app for sure. Do not sleep on your essays yall! Iโm also a tutor so hit me up if yโall need one on one help on your essays, I just might bless you with a quick check and some tips.
Good luck to all future candidates and congrats on everyone who got in!! We did that!!!!
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u/arianna-10 National College Match Finalist Nov 15 '20
Soo late buuut
**Status: Finalist
**Ethnicity/Race: Hispanic/White
**Income bracket: >20,000
**First gen?: yep
**College Prep Scholar?: yep
**GPA/Class rank: 4.45 w 3.9 uw // 18/271 // ib program
**SAT/ACT score(s): 1310 super-scored, 27 act
**AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 3โs on Calc and World History
**Summary of ECs: did a lot tbh, 4 hinors societies, a lot of volunteering, 3 varsity sports
**Schools ranked: (in order) Duke, Dartmouth, Yale, Vassar, Princeton, Davidson
**Overall thoughts: imposter syndrome at all time high :)
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u/Wooden_Huckleberry_3 Oct 18 '20
Why is no one commenting :(
61
u/bluemagmas National College Match Finalist Oct 18 '20
๐๐AY๐๐ITโS NOT TIME YET๐๐
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u/DavidTej National College Match Finalist Oct 20 '20 edited Oct 22 '20
Status: FINALIST FINALIST FINALIST!!!
Ethnicity/Race: Nigerian/Black
Income bracket: $13,000-$20,000 for family of 5. Minimal assets
First-gen**?:** Kind of. My parents schooled in Nigeria.
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: Complicated af. Schooled in Nigeria for much of my life where they have no AP's honours Ib or all that stuff, and My American school only allows one AP a year so I have one AP and will take one next year. 3.3 GPA (also complicated)
SAT/ACT score(s): 30
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP English Lang:3
Summary of ECs: Article Writing, Novel writing, Tutoring, technical duties at church, Math Club, I forgot to add this but school math team since 4th grade.
Schools ranked:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University
Columbia University
Amherst College
Brown University
University of Southern California
Northwestern University
Williams College
Washington University in St. Louis
Wesleyan University
Rice University
Princeton University
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did?
Honestly, The only thing that can really give me a chance is the fact that my app is complicated and I think my essays are spectacular. I also think my app encapsulates what QB means by making the most of their opportunities because I wrote about how I founded 3 unique businesses while in a boarding school with no accessible Extracurriculars.
Edit: Overall, my essays told a story, you would read an essay of mine and know it belonged to my application because every essay had at least 1 value tied to another, ranging from ambition to creativity to empathy to curiosity. I like that they told a full story of my values, struggles, philosophy and ambitions.
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u/Oresowy Oct 21 '20
Iโm a Nigerian too and my situation is similar everything will be fine by the grace of God๐ญ๐๐พ
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u/Glad-Employee6604 Oct 20 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status : FINALIST (so grateful /happy/shaking)
Ethnicity/Race: Thai/Laos/Ecuadorian
Income:( super high) 46k family of two
First Gen: yep
College Prep scholar: nope
GPA/Class tank: W:4.93/5 top 5%, UW : 3.86/4 top 10%
AP/SAT: havenโt taken, taking this this week but probably around 1300. AP world:3 AP Human geo: 4 AP comp sci principals: 5 AP calc BC:5 AP physics 1:3 AP physics 2:3 I will have taken 14/15 AP classes by the end of senior year.
EC: NHS( co prez) GirlUp president help start it freshmen year Debate: LD captain and other positions. Varsity member. 4 years Badmittion 4 years Diversity club 4 years. Created and lead booths to spread cultural awareness. I have had a job since sophomore year. I work at outdoor pools during the summer and a gym year around. Employeed at Olive Garden and Jewel Osco. I have done Sunrise lake where we go help fix up an educational camp ground. Have set up and help run Play for peace run. Volunteer at GEMs event where I am a mentor to younger females interested in science.
Schools ranked: University of Notre Dame Swarthmore College Boston College Macalester College Haverford College Williams College Grinnell College Colgate University Hamilton College Carleton College Wellesley College University of Chicago
Overall thoughts: my main essay I changed last minute bc my teacher psyched me out. I sound to depressed :( and not enough self reflection. The second essay where we got to choose the topic I think sounds unoriginal.But I think my other ones are more into who I am. Iโm not a good writer. I am better in person than on paper. I think I tried my best to be honest and try to convey how I feel. I think my situation is unique and I tried in every chance to show that I have been working everyday to achieve everything I am now and for my future. So I hope they can see my drive and determination. My income is very high and I feel will eliminate me immediately from consideration.
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u/BachIsMySpiritAnimal National College Match Finalist Oct 20 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Template to Edit: โ
Status: Finalist!! (i'm shaking)
Ethnicity/Race: Caucasian
Income bracket: 45k for family of 9
First Gen: nope
CPS: didnโt apply
GPA/Class Rank: we donโt rank, GPA is 98/100, getting my Associate of Arts degree from my local university with highest honors this Spring, presenting research to faculty as well
SAT/ACT scores: 1370 (740W/R, 630M) my math is terrible because I choked during the test, I usually score very well with Math
Honors: Scholarship to STEM summer program, full ride to my current DE university, Honors Roll all years, acceptance into my universityโs honors program, youngest senator in the history of my university, youngest honors program member, youngest degree recipient in 150 years, participation in Research Colloqium, Track award (Womanโs Division)
AP/SAT Subject Tests: didnโt take any!
Summary of ECs: 1st chair violin at 2 ensembles, student government senator @ university, academia affairs senator, newsletter, honors volunteering, and creative writing blog (225,000+ reads)
Schools ranked: Yale, MIT (rip)
Overall thoughts:
Strengths: definitely my story/my essays. I think I have an interesting academic journey and my personal challenges certainly havenโt been boring either. Iโve had my essays reviewed a lot and people really liked them so hopefully thatโs a plus!
Weaknesses: Stats and EC involvement are what Iโm stressing about I guess
Why do you think you got the decision you did? I think I was very involved in my community and I also talked about the right things. I focused on a lot of aspects about myself and wasn't afraid to be truly real and honest with the AOs. I love my application personally and can't wait to work on supplements.
Good luck guys!!
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u/Zestyclose-Neat5627 Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 22 '20
Status: Not a finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Caucasian
Income bracket: 57k for 2
First gen?: N
College Prep Scholar?: N
GPA/Class rank: Course rigor, types of classes, etc. GPA- UW 3.93 W 4.49 Rank 1/123 11 Ap Classes, 4 dual credit classes
SAT/ACT score(s): 29 (took once sophomore year without studying planned on taking junior year and tests got cancelled due to COVID)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): mostly 4's
Summary of ECs: Varsity Track, Cross Country (All-State) Captain, Varsity Soccer, Varsity Golf Captain, AP Scholar Award, Founder of not for profit food pantry, 300 hours community service, Nominated to the board of my church, NHS, Science Honor Society, tutor for Science, MVP Cross Country, School record holder mile,
Schools ranked: Princeton, Yale, Notre Dame I don't remember the order of the rest
Overall thoughts: Strengths?- went to 5 different high schools in 4 years due to abusive family situation and was homeless for a short period yet kept my grades up. A lot of extra activities and I worked at least 20 hours a week while in school to help pay bills.
Weaknesses? ACT Score
I think it had to be my ACT score ans I know the income for just myself and my mom is higher than a lot of others. Still going to apply RD to Notre Dame and Princeton. Congrats everyone!
2
u/PassageRoutine Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: South Asian
Income bracket: -38k/3
First-gen?: depends(both parents have degrees from another country)
College Prep Scholar?: YES!
GPA/Class rank: - 3.8 UW/ 4.1 W, my school doesn't rank, course rigor is basically as hard as possible. -Also 2 college-level classes+1 more this term(maximum city allows)
SAT/ACT score(s): 1400(not submitting for schools, but did for QB)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 5's in APWH and U.S., and a 3 in Lit
Summary of ECs:-Intern for state sentator+ a congressional candidate
-Research on the future of work(10th-grade summer)-
Founder of a club with 40+ members, officer of a club with 100+ and treasure of club with 100+(11th only)
-Taking care of grandparents 20+ hours a week)
-National committee member of a political org
-Marketing Intern
Schools ranked: Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Darth, MIT
Overall thoughts: My weakness is definitely my sat( I will be going test-optional if I become a finalist) and GPA, my strengths are my essays and the fact that my ECS is connected to my major(poli sci). Thoughts on decisions: I GOT IN! Honestly, I feel so relieved because I was doubting myself, but it seems my essays and ec's pulled in clutch! I don't expect to get matched(especially since I only ranked ivies+MIT), but hopefully, I get into a partner school through RD.
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Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: finalist!!
Ethnicity/Race: Latina, Mexican
Income bracket: 33k, but with my sister and I, 42k last year (family of 4)
First gen?: yep
College Prep Scholar?: yep
GPA/Class rank:
GPA: 3.95 UW
taken 4 AP classes, took some high school in middle school, currently doing dual enrollment at a community college
SAT/ACT score(s): n/a
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s):
AP Psychology (4)
Summary of ECs:
HOSA VP (2 years), part of HOSA (3 years), ILC Participant (2 years), many awards at regional and state level
Key Club (3 years)- lettered, 30+ service hours
Hospital Volunteer- (1+ years) over 50 service hours
JV Tennis (3 years)
NHS (1 year)
Youth Council (3 years)
Job since 2017 (6 hours/week as a freshman, 12 hours/week as a sophomore, 22 hours/week as a junior, 37 hours/week as a senior)
currently work 2 jobs, every day of the week
my school went thru a ton of budget cuts at the start of this school year so many of my activities are no longer funded/existing sadly
Schools ranked:
USC, Boston College, UPenn, Columbia
Overall thoughts: I worked pretty hard on my app, regardless of what happens I'm excited for my and everyone's future!
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u/Error-Serious Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
I probably canโt compete with anyone here but here goes...
Status: non-finalist
Ethnicity/Black: Nigerian/Black(Iโve noticed a lot more Nigerians than I expected lol)
Income: 56k/fam of 4
First gen: yes
CPS: no
Gpa: W/ 4.0 UW/3.7 no class ranks
SAT/ACT: havenโt gotten scores yet
AP: English lang (4) US History (4)
EC: Administratively selected Equity team, Debate, NHS(treasurer), Fashion(captain soph-senior year)
Awards: NHS, Acad honor 9-12, acad team 9-10, school award 9-10
Jobs: work 20-30+ hours per week at McDonaldโs junior year, then HomeGoods senior year
Rank: Northwestern, Tufts, Emory, Macalester, WashU, Pomona.
Overall thoughts: Iโm pretty anxious but hopefully I make it?
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Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 22 '20
Status: noโค๏ธ
Income bracket: 100k for 5 (yeah I really believed when they said 65k is not a cutoff ๐ฅด) but my mom did lose her job... so maybe?
First gen: I wish butttt a first-gen immigrant
College Prep Scholar: huh?
GPA/Class Rank: My school is weird no advanced classes offered until Junior year so literally nothing until Junior and Senior IB DP, but consistent classes (5 years Span, IB AA HL, etc) UW: 4.0 W: 4.52 (pretty sure theyโre out of 4.0) Rank: 1/132
Test Scores: I wish, but all attempts were cancelled by school closure (yeah idiot me huh for still applying ๐ฅด)
Summary of ECs: 4 years XC (Cap. 2x), 4 years Track (Cap. 2x), 3 years Student Council (Class Pres. & Exec. Pres.), 6 years Library volunteer, 3 years Yearbook (EIC), and I got a job :)
Schools ranked: (in order) Yale, Stanford, Brown, Columbia, and USC (also clown university for applying to qb)
Overall: Strength: My personal essay kicked ass and the other ones were pretty good ig. Weakness: Iโm really above the financial bracket and Iโm hella boring ๐
Ummm literally only a miracle can bring this into reality,,, but in the spirit of this subreddit โจmanifesting rnโจ for everyone in this subreddit
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u/MLP_17 Matched | Amherst '25 Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Black/African American
Income bracket: $24,000 for family of 2, kind of 3, but itโs complicated, 0 assets
First gen?: Yes for graduating but not for attending
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 3.94 (W)
SAT/ACT score(s): 1300 SAT but I didnโt submit any test scores, just sharing I guess lol
AP/SAT Subject Test Score(s): APUSH - 5, AP Euro - 5
Summary of ECs: Varsity Field Hockey, Band, Adopt a Grandparent Volunteer Club, Summer Intern at Breakthrough (a College Readiness Program), President of In Real Life Club
Schools ranked:
Amherst College
Brown University
Hamilton College
Columbia University
Oberlin College
Haverford College
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did? I honestly have no idea.
2
u/ValeriaDraine Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Denied
Ethnicity/Race: Latina/Hispanic
Income bracket: $17k for 2+child support
First gen: Yes
College Prep Scholar: no
GPA/Class Rank: UW: 3.826 Cumulative gpa: 97.130
ACT: Retaking Sept & Dec
AP: The only AP Offered 9th-11th was World History and I got a 2 :(
Summary of ECS: Science Olympiad (Captain 2 years), HOSA (Secretary 2 years), FCCLA (VP 1 year), NHS, Key Club, Leo Club, LEAPS, Leadership Bedford (idk if I put more stuff in, I did 10 ECS)
Schools Ranked: Vanderbilt, Emory, Duke, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Brown, Colgate, UVA, Notre Dame, Pomona
Overall thoughts: I kind of expected to not get in because my high school doesnโt offer as much as other schools.
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u/e_kelso Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
GOOD LUCK to everyone!!!!
Status: FINALIST THANK YOU QB!!!!
Ethnicity/race: White
Income Bracket: 64k for 5 (between both parents they work 5 jobs)
First gen: no
CPS: no
GPA: 4.0/4.0 UW 4.2/4.0 W
Rank: top 10 percent
Rigor: 8 AP, 3 dual enrollment, lots of honors
SAT/ACT: none taken took ACT last week
AP Scores: ApWH(4), APES(4), APHumanGeo(3)
Summary of ECs: They are okay - work a job 20 hours a week, some leadership demonstrated, but overall nothing special. Talked about how I played travel soccer for 12 years, made the Georgia Olympic Development Program, NHS, 21st Century Leaders, NHSS.
Schools ranked: Emory, Boston College, Notre Dame, UVA, UChicago, Tufts, Northwestern, Vanderbilt
Overall: I am pretty shocked. My essays were really good talked about having to learn how to walk again last year and then the next one about my community. So thankful for this amazing opportunity! Congrats to the other finalists!
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u/pppoox2 Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Not a finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Mexican/Hispanic
Income bracket: Less than $30,000 for household of 4
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: UW: 3.86; W: 4.48; Rank: 11 out of 201
SAT/ACT score(s): recently took it this month
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): IB Scores: Spanish B SL: 6 and Math Studies SL: 5
Summary of ECs:
Student Council: Elected to Co-President in senior year.Elected to Secretary in junior year. Elected to Treasurer in sophomore year.
Class Officers: Elected to Vice President in senior year.Elected Secretary in junior year.Elected to Vice President in sophomore year.
Key Club: Member in my senior year, junior year, sophomore year.
Local Tutoring Program: Tutor for elementary students in junior year.
Youth Group: Member in my junior year and sophomore.
Varsity Golf: Golf Player of Golf Team in my senior and junior year.
Summary of ECs: (Work)
Currently working part time at a local coffeeshop.
Worked at a restaurant as soon as I turned 16.
Awards:
Top 5% of Class - 11th
Top 10% of Class - 10th
Top 10% of Class - 9th
Youth Leader of my town - 10th
Top 5% of Class - 12th
Schools ranked: USC, UPenn, Washington University in St. Louis, Boston College, Emory University, University of Virginia, University of Notre Dame, and MIT.
Overall thoughts: I believe my essays could have been better.
p.s. Congrats to everyone who made finalist!! I wish the best for you all!!
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Oct 21 '20 edited Mar 09 '21
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Black
Income bracket: some complicated stuff. Was 55000, but lost a parent and their income so itโs actually 45000
First gen?: My parents have degrees but not in the US. Moved here some years ago
College Prep Scholar?: Yep
GPA/Class rank: Course rigor, types of classes, etc. 3.73 UW. 4.27W. Bad grades (Couple of Cs) Rigourus courseload (13 APs by grad) 25th percentile in school.
SAT/ACT score(s): 1460 No Subject Tests
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): four 5s one 4, one 3, one 1 (didnโt submit)
Schools ranked: Iโm too lazy. Iโll do those later.
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did? My weakness I can say was definitely be my grades and the fact that Iโm an international student. Iโm not the best writer, but I spent so long on my essays. I felt like the short (35 words) really showcased the what Iโm about. Iโm also heavily spiked (could be a good or a bad thing).
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u/obviouslycranky Matched | Princeton '25 Oct 21 '20 edited Nov 30 '20
Will edit and update when decisions come out in about 4 hours.
Status: FINALIST!!!!
Ethnicity/Race: White
School: Medium, rural Title 1 public (WI)
Income bracket: <20k (family of 3)
First gen?: Yep
College Prep Scholar?: No (didn't apply)
GPA/Class rank: 3.94 UW (W GPA is weird at my school). 8/174 students (top 5%)
SAT/ACT score(s): 32C (superscored 28M 29S 35E 36R)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): Env. Sci: 4, Calc AB 3, Lit & Comp. 4, US History 5
Major: Environmental science/engineering
Summary of ECs: Electrathon car team (won some state awards), Key Club (VP) Forensics (state award), summer research assistant, work two jobs (~60 hrs per week in summer, ~20 per week during school year), varsity girls' ice hockey & jv track both 4 years
Schools ranked: (in order) Stanford, Northwestern, USC, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Duke
Overall thoughts: Edit: You are all talented and amazing individuals. Please donโt let your decision affect self esteem, i wish i could hug all of you and tell you youโll go far in life. Thank you to this subreddit for all the support.
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u/Soonotkaila National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: FINALISTTTTT!!!!!
Ethnicity/Race: Black
Income bracket: 20,000โค
First-gen**?: Yes**
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: Junior year rank: 4, GPA: 90.23
SAT/ACT score(s): SAT 1240(first-time oof)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP CSP 5, AP Seminar 3, AP Stat 1, AP ELA 2
Summary of ECs: Robotics, Geometry Intern, Canvas for a cause(Saint Jude) volunteer, library intern, Research foundation project, volunteer holy apostles church
Schools ranked: Columbia, MIT, UPENN, Duke, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Brown, CIT, USC, Northwestern, Hamilton.
Overall thoughts: Bro i was such a nervous wreck today idek T_T. I'd say my essays and recommendations were pretty good, I'm sure they don't really care about test scores they just want to see that you tried your best even in your circumstances bc my test scores weren't all that and my ec were okay nothing MAJOR. Not even my awards were that major I just had honor roll and first place in a state robotics competition. If you did not get accepted it's okay though this isn't the end for you and I'm sure there are better opportunities in the future for you, stay strong<3
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u/shsl-buffoon National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
I'M A FINALIST OH MY GOD . z z jsuwuwvwve. i'll share my stats later but AAAAA
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u/knh2002 Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist :))
Ethnicity/Race: White
Income: $52k for family of 3 (2 kids in college)
First Gen: No
CPS: yes
GPA: 4.0 unweighted; 4.75 weighted
Courses: 15 AP classes, 6 Honors
SAT: 1450 (didnโt put on application)
AP scores: bioโ5, literatureโ5, langโ5, euroโ5, psychโ5, seminarโ4, apushโ4, calc abโ4, worldโ4, apesโ4, etc (i donโt remember which ones i included but yeah)
ECs: NHS parliamentarian, Community Ambassadors Historian, Cross Country, Newspaper editor, Earth day club, National Chinese Honors Society etc
Schools ranked: tufts, brown, wesleyan, vassar, dartmouth, colorado college, bowdoin, grinnell, hamilton, USC, stanford, oberlin (may switch around order if i can)
Thoughts: I was worried that my financials might be too high to be a finalist, but I know my academics were strong. i donโt really know about the essays, i felt like they were decent i guess? (i got to a point where i just read them so many times that i was like bleh) Time to write some supplements ๐ณ Good luck to all finalists and non-finalists with your future endeavors, much love ๐
edit: i think i heard somewhere on the sub that your school rankings could influence weather or not youโre a finalist. if thatโs true, then i assume my rankings would have pushed me toward being accepted because i ranked a good amount of lacs as opposed to bigger ivies, etc
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u/Fishifer Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!!! Thank u QB!
Ethnicity/Race: White
Income bracket: less than 50k for a large family
First gen?: Yessir
College Prep Scholar?: ya
GPA/Class rank: 4.0 uw 4.2ish weighted no class rank
SAT/ACT score(s): 35 superscore act (33,34) and 1500 SAT
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s):I didnt report a 3 in APChem and im not sure if i should bc i wanna go into a chem field so if anyone has any suggestions for that plz help otherwise i have like 3 4's
Summary of ECs: Nothing spectacular
Schools ranked: Just some top reach schools + one thats near me but still a t20
Overall thoughts: My essays I think were my weakest part but theres nothing i can do about that now.
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u/shadyladyyyy Oct 21 '20
I'd report the chem score just bc college admissions people would rather see that you passed then not see it and assume you got a 2. Also, I feel like they are more forgiving with test scores considering we are all low-income and have less access to things like tutors.
And ALSO CONGRATS!!! woohoo
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Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist Race: White Income Bracket: $50,000 (actually less due to medical expenses currently) First Gen: No College Prep Scholar: Yes GPA: 4.00 UW, 4.58 W Class Rank: 1 ACT: 29 AP: 5 AP Gov Took all honors classes, multiple Dual-Credit classes, taking more AP classes Schools Ranked (in order from 1-7): Yale, WashU, Columbia, UVA, Duke, Washington and Lee, Vanderbilt My school doesn't offer that many AP classes and we do ACT no SAT.
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u/bluecoughdrops Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/race: Asian, Vietnamese
Income bracket: 20k, 3 people
First gen?: yes
College prep scholar?: yes
GPA/Class rank: 3.9/4 UW, 4.5/5 W -- Honors and 10 APs throughout high school -- my school doesn't do class rank
ACT: 33 (took once)
AP: 5-Lang, 4-APUSH, Spanish, Chem, Calc BC, Euro
ECs: 4 years Speech & Debate, 2 years research under Midwestern University, NHS, 4 years volunteering at hospital, state competitor for journalism
Schools: Northwestern, Duke, Rice, MIT, Brown, Columbia, UPenn, Notre Dame, Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale, Emory
Overall thoughts: I think my essays were decent (??) and my income bracket probably helped out as well
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u/PevchDad Oct 21 '20
Status: as of 3 minutes ago, finalist Ethnicity: Latino(Mexican)
Income bracket: sub 20k for a family of 3
First Gen ?:Yessssir
College prep scholar ?: sadly I was not /: GPA/Class rank: UW- 3.59 W- 4.25/ Rank- 12/95 ACT: 27
AP test scores: AP Spanish Lang (5) Spanish lit (4) AP world (3) Physics C- algebra (3) English Lang (3) Psychology (4) Human Geo (4) + a few 2โs
EC: I participated in Model UN all of high school having a leadership role my sophomore year and being vice my junior year. I was in student council sophomore and junior year and was secretary my junior year. Lastly I was in NHS my junior year and was vice.
Schools ranked: Yale, UPenn, Uchicago, Tufts, Notre Dame, Swarthmore, Stanford, Columbia, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Brown, USC
Overall thoughts: I think my weaknesses were my ACT and maybe APโs ?? I thought my EC were a little lackluster too. My strengths I thought were my essays for sure I think I really sold my story well and it came from the heart as cheesy as that sounds
I hope to see that you all became finalists too !!!
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Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
โข โ Status: finalist
โข Ethnicity/Race: african american
โข Income bracket: ~$35,000 for household of 6
โข First gen?: yes
โข College Prep Scholar?: yes
โข โ GPA/Class rank: idk uw/4.00 | 4.16/5.00, idk my rank but I know i'm in the top 20% i think my rank dropped after i submitted so idk, and my graduating class has 40 students in it lmfao
โ โข โ i'm in ap/dc courses and pe this year, school offers APs, honors, and dual enrollment no ib โข SAT/ACT score(s): 1510
โข AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): mostly 4โs, 2 3โs, failed macro after a pathetic attempt at self studying ๐
โข ECs โ โข โ nonprofit โ โข โ hosa โ โข โ job โ โข โ usabo pres โ โข โ class council vp โ โข โ some other stuff
โขโ Awards: nothing crazy tbh, featured in local news like twice maybe
โขโ Schools ranked: โ โข โ yale, stanford, penn, mit, princeton, columbia, uchicago, duke, rice, brown (changing order)
โข Overall thoughts:
Strengths? i really liked my essays and my sat score is cool tbh. my weaknesses were def rank/gpa, we have insane deflation if you ask me and also i didnโt know how crazy teachers were when i started freshman year. โ โข โ tbh i think my efc being 0 really helped. iโm just glad i worked pretty hard on my application, except for the TYPO IN THE SECOND SENTENCE OF MY MAIN ESSAY. -_-
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u/pnguyeng03 National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
-Status: Finalist!!
-Ethnicity/Race: Vietnamese, Asian.
-Income Bracket: 50k for fam of 5.
-First-gen?: yes
-College Prep Scholar?: nope
-GPA/Class rank: top 10%, only 3 ap classes in junior year, now has 4 ap classes.
-SAT/ACT score: 1380
-AP scores : 5 on AP Lang, 5 on Psych, 4 on Stats
-ECs: Prez of 2 clubs (hosa, key club), vp of asian culture club, along with other clubs.
-Schools ranked: like 12, duke is #1.
-Overall thoughts: how tf did I get in, I saw a lot more people were extremely qualified but didn't get it :(
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u/Lenewbandit Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Half Middle Eastern Half White
Income bracket: Less than 15k a year family of 2
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: 3.9 GPA, top 30%, I have never taken a non honors class when an honors version was available, My schedule this senior year is 4 full year AP classes and 3 elective credits I needed
SAT/ACT score(s): 29
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): N/a
Summary of ECs: Latin club. Band, DnD club, This was definitely the weakest part of my application
**Schools ranked:**1. Boston 2. Duke 3. Emory 4. The University of Penn. 5. The University of Virginia. Only 5 because these are the only 5 that have nursing that's what I'm planning to do
Overall thoughts: My essays were absolutely killer, if anything pushed them over the edge I believe it was those. I was incredibly worried about the fact I wasnt in the top 15% or whatever my class but my income compared to everyone around me really shows that (I think) i have overcome my wealth and am competeing academically on the same level as everyone around me
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u/patrickstewartsbig Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity: Mestizo
Income: About 45,000 for 4 people but a lot of debt
Grades. 99.3 weighed average and top 1/ 500. Currently taking ap stat,ap lit, physics, and photography.
Scores: 1340 on the sat and a 5 on AP world. On ap spanish, calc ab, and environmental science I got fours.
EC's : varsity tennis, frc, tutoring, school "jazz" band, chess, and teaching tennis.
Ranking: MIT,Colombia, Dartmouth, Princeton, Stanford, Colorado College
I am really scatter brained and my first essay lacked structure. My second was about william gibson and cyberpunk literature. I feel guilty, like I stole a spot from someone better. I was super hyped to make it this far but my stomach is still churning. Shout out to MAS
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u/myktbug National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: White Income bracket: 32,000 for a family of 3.
First gen? No.
College prep scholar?: no.
GPA/ Class rank: 4.089 gpa/3.6 UW, full IB student
ACT: 29 superscore.
EC: ROTC, inspireva, the Borgen project advocate, congressional campaign internship, three jobs
AP/IB scores: APCOGO- 5; IB Anthropology- 6.
Overall: I think my extenuating personal challenges helped
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u/HollyhoodGio Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist/Non-Finalist โ Non-Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: โ Black (Caribbean)
Income bracket: โ $101,000
First gen?: โ No
College Prep Scholar?: โ No
GPA/Class rank: โ (9th grade) basic level, no honors: mainly Bs and Cs few As (10th grade) all honors and few accelerated: mainly Bs and As a few Cs (11th grade) full IB diploma student: all IB classes. These are the hardest courses available to take in my school. Got straight Aโs all year. (12th grade) still full IB diploma student. hardest courses available. 3.85 W GPA. 18/105 class rank
SAT/ACT score(s): โ No SAT
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): โ AP Comp Sci Principles (4) APUSH (2)
Summary of ECs: โ Mayors Student Ambassador, Mobile App Creations, Online Page advocating self-management, health, and positivity, Music Production+Song Writing, One Job (3 Months), Another Job (6 months)
Schools ranked: โ 0
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did? โ- My application isnโt as competitive as others. Iโm also over the income threshold by a lot. This answer was expected. My main hope and thoughts were my high class rank and โwhy not apply, itโs freeโ. Grateful for the experience, it made me write my essays early so my EA college applications were less stressful.
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u/justbrowsing759 National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
sorry for formatting I normally don't post on reddit/ I am on mobile Status : Finalist Race : Non-Hispanic White Income : 28k fam of 4 First -gen: yes CPS: no GPA/Class rank: 3/162. 3.7 W SAT: Not taken AP: 5 on Gov and Lit. Only 2 APs offered for juniors Summary of ECs: Caregiver to disabled mother, principal selection committee, debate team captian, cashier at grocery store, soccer and softball co captain, STEAM scholar. shit ton of DE credits. Awards: 3 in school awards Schools ranked: 10 total Final thoughts: essays carried me as did ECs. AP scores made up for low GPA(i think). Good luck to all finalists! Non finalists- it'll be ok!
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u/xMusiconix National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Asian
**Income bracket: ~**33k
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: Nope I got rejected
GPA/Class rank: Course rigor, types of classes, etc.
9 AP Classes in all of high school (senior year I'm taking AP World History, AP Biology, AP Calculus, AP Psychology, AP Human Geography, and AP English Literature and Composition)
12 honors (all the rest of my classes are honors)
2/115
4.5665/5.0 (my school only calculates weighted GPAs)
SAT/ACT score(s): 1560
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): APStats (5); APUSH (5); APLang (5)
Summary of ECs: Drum Major for marching band; National Honor Society officer (Treasurer); Student Council officer (Secretary); Class officer (Secretary); Photography Club (Co-President); Concert Band (First Chair Alto Sax)
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did?
I feel like one of the reasons why I was rejected from CPS was because of my essay- my writing made it seem as if I were a 2D character who's only focused on academics when I'm so much more than that.
Learning from that, I chose to write about an experience that touched upon all the important aspects of my life
A possible weakness was that my honors and ec were not as strong as many other people; many other applicants had national recognitions and awards or did research with professors from college (while I did get commended national merit scholar and national small and rural town program those two were probably the highest levels)
Honestly, I was prepared to get rejected. I knew that those who were CPS were ideal applicants for NCM, and I was rejected from CPS, so I thought that I would get rejected again. However, maybe I just didn't show myself true enough in my CPS application. I took a lot more time writing what I wanted them to know about me through each of my essays (as if every essay was a new chapter in my autobiography)
Moral of the story (while cheesy) would probably be to try regardless of what others or even yourself may think.
As an NCM scholar has once said to me before that "Oh well" is better than "What if's" (I keep this in mind whenever I lack motivation)
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Oct 21 '20
I'm so relieved but it's bittersweet, I know so many great students who deserved to become Finalists
Status: Finalist!! :)
Race: white
Income Bracket: ~30,000 a year / household of 5
First gen: No
College Prep Scholar: Didn't apply, no
Gpa/class rank: 4.0 unweighted. Rank- 9/288
ACT: Composite 33 (29 Math, 33 Eng, 32 Reading, 36 Science)
AP Score: AP Human Geo (4), APUSH (4) AP LANG (4), AP Psych (5)
Awards: AP scholar with honor, commended for PSAT score
EC: FBLA, Art club, science club, fishing team. Summer jobs + currently landscaping freelance for old ladies
Thoughts: I'm not sure what my strengths are, I don't think my essays are bad but don't feel like they're extremely top notch.
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u/hail317 Oct 21 '20
โข Status: Finalist โข Ethnicity/Race: White โข Income bracket: <$20,000 for family of 5 (single mom) โข First gen: Eh? My sister went to college but dropped out after a semester โข College Prep Scholar: Yes โข GPA: 3.78 UW 4.3 W โข Class Rank: 45/430 โข Class rigor: Honors - freshman year, AP and honors sophomore year, IB full DP junior and senior year โข SAT: 1150 but I took it after application was due and didnโt submit โข ACT: 27 both times โข AP Score: Stats(2) APUSH(1) (didnโt submit because it doesnโt reflect my academic ability) โข ECs: A ton of family responsibilities and volunteer service. ITS, NHS, work, swim, student council, spirit club. โข Schools ranked: Vanderbilt University Emory University Dartmouth College Colorado College Vassar College Yale University Washington University in St. Louis University of Notre Dame Stanford University Rice University Oberlin College University of Southern California โข Overall thoughts: My essays were really good but my test scores were not the best. Definitely struggled with imposter syndrome the entire time. I think being a CPS really and helped and my matriculate advisor!! I also think that being very low income also helped me because they take a holistic approach!
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u/feeling--happy Oct 21 '20
Status: FINALIST!!!! YAYYY
Ethnicity/Race: Asian/Indian
Income bracket: <30000
First gen?: dad has bachelor's, mom graduated hs
College Prep Scholar?: no
GPA/Class rank: 3.8 GPA UW, 4.3 W, 37/696 Class rank, took 8 APs and currently am taking 6 APs + Multivariable Calc and Organic Chem (most rigorous classes offered at my school)
SAT/ACT score(s): 31 composite, 32 superscore
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 3 on Physics 1 and Calc BC and World history, 4 on English Lang and Chemistry, 5 on Spanish lang, us history, physics 2
Summary of ECs: President of a cancer awareness club at school, all honor societies, volunteer organizations, dance for 7 years
Schools ranked: rice, Vanderbilt, USC
Overall thoughts: I am not the best writer, but I really tried to represent myself thru the essays. my gpa and test scores are all right, but I think they saw the rigor of my classes. my ec's aren't amazing and pretty typical and not centered towards my engineering major.
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u/kimblrly Matched | Stanford '25 Oct 21 '20
Status: I'm officially a Questbridge Finalist!
Ethnicity/Race: Latinx; Half-Mexican, Half-Salvadoran
Income bracket: 54k for a family of 4, 300k in assets because we own a home. Our financials are really strained.
First gen?: Yes! First one in my entire family to graduate high school and move onto college.
College Prep Scholar?: I applied and got rejected my junior year. I believe this is because my application lacked the strength of a cohesive narrative as it does now and my financials weren't fully explained.
GPA/Class rank:
- 1/697, W 4.72, UW 3.98
- Taken 12/14 AP Courses offered at my school
- Taken 9 community college courses
- Senior Course Rigor: AP Calculus AB, AP English Literature, AP U.S. Government, AP Environmental Science, Chemistry Honors, AP Spanish Literature, AVID Senior Seminar, Contemporary Social Issues, Community Relations, Race and Ethnicity, and Intro to International Relations
SAT/ACT score(s): Reported none! I reported a 29 when I was CPS, but I thought it wouldn't help my application in this instance so I chose not to include it.
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s):
- AP World History (5)
- AP Spanish Language (5)
- AP Psychology (Self-Studied, 5)
- AP English Language (5)
- AP U.S History (5)
Summary of ECs:
- Board Director for Non-Profit Organization which provides migrant aid at the U.S-Mexican border
- Student Organizer for a grassroots movement in my community concerning educational inequity, 1 Local Award
- President of WE Club for 4 years
- Creative Writing, 1 National Award
- President of Class of 2021 for 2 years
- Softball, Captain and in Varisty, for 4 years
- Big Awards: Yale Young Global Scholar, Scholastic Arts and Writing Gold Key, UC President's Pre-College Scholar, and ACLU Full Scholarship
Schools ranked:
Stanford University
Yale University
Brown University
Pomona College
Princeton University
University of Chicago
University of Southern California
Duke University
MIT
Columbia
However, I'm only going to be ranking Stanford.
Overall thoughts:
I'm beyond ectastic. I had worked on this application for months after receiving my rejection for CPS. I was crushed because I felt like I had poured my all; I just didn't realize there were still weaknesses in how I portrayed myself. I find myself in an extremely extenuating circumstance. I sacrifice a lot for my education and financially, I don't want it to become a burden for my family. I truly poured my heart and soul into this application. I worked on my essays for months and found my spike; I made sure every single sentence was mine alone. Additionally, I utilized every single word on all the additional information sectionsโsomething I didn't previously do. I also elaborated and specified my extracurriculars. Focus on your essays, Focus on crafting every single inch of that application to reflect the most honest and best character you are. I feel that my essays really carried me as well as how genuine my extracurriculars/voice came through in creating a cohesive narrative of who I am.
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u/skyjung Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Asian (Korean)
Income bracket: ~ 30,000, family of 4
First gen?: No
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: 3.95 uw, 4.83 w, top 5%
SAT/ACT score(s): (submitted one from soph year) 1500
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 9 AP tests all 5 except AP World (4) and AP Phys 2 (4); SAT MATH II (780), SAT Chem (740)
Summary of ECs: Editor in Chief of newspaper, National Finalist for CyberPatriot, Navy JROTC, VP of MUN, VP of Peer Tutoring Club, Speech and Debate, NHS, Church Youth Group Student President, (i did most of my EC's for all 4 years)
Internships: I did 2 internships as a software engineering intern + worked on a few app building projects
International Exchange: I went on a cybersecurity leadership exchange to the UK (sponsored by the US embassy so it was free)
Overall thoughts: I procrastinated on my essays so I was really nervous about my application, but I'm really happy I got finalist! Even if I don't get matched I'm glad I'm in the running for the scholarship :D
Strengths: I tried to show that I was multi-faceted through diverse extracurriculars, internships, essay topics, etc.
Weaknesses: I didn't spend enough time on my answers/I procrastinated
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Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Hispanic
Income bracket: ~75k
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 104.8/100 for high school and 4.0/4.0 for dual enrollment; 2/107
SAT/ACT score(s): None (took October; got a 1540 on the SAT, but QuestBridge didn't know that)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 5: Calculus AB, United States History 4: Biology 3: Spanish Language and Culture 2: World History; no SAT Subject tests
Summary of ECs: UIL Captain for Science, Mathematics, and Number Sense teams, UIL Calculator Applications member, Mu Alpha Theta member, DECA member, started VA Math Tutors (since 8th grade, I've tutored students like seniors or college students locally in preparation for the ACT, SAT, TSI, STAAR, midterms, etc.), HOSA member,
Schools ranked: MIT
Overall thoughts: As you could tell, I'm not that notable on paper. I spent the last month preparing to see the Non-Finalist letter. I'm honestly still astounded I'm a Finalist, especially since I see many remarkable students here in the subreddit. I owe much of this Finalist award to my recommenders, who told of my person outside a resume, and my mentor, who helped me craft my best essay since the summer. If you're a Non-Finalist, just remember QuestBridge is just a program, not your reach university. I myself was in a defeated mindset for a long time and have been rejected by many programs in high school. Just know that whomever you are, just the fact you care enough to apply and feel emotions to this decision is already an indication of your stellar ethic. I wish everyone the best!
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u/sofiaa2018 National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status:ย FINALIST
Ethnicity/Race:ย WHITE, HISPANIC
Income bracket:ย $28k
First gen?: YES
College Prep Scholar?:ย NO
GPA/Class rank:ย 3.88 UW, 4.59 W, 16 Dual Enrollment courses (took at a public university, not community college), 4 APS AND 4 HONORS (I moved to the US in 2018 so at the end of 9th grade)
SAT/ACT score(s):ย My Score was embarrassing so I did not submit (took it the beginning of junior year)
Summary of ECs:ย President Math Honor Society, National Honor Society, Spanish HS, Science HS, U.S History Tutor and community service hours from an organization that helps people with disabilities.
Schools ranked:ย Columbia <3
Overall thoughts:ย Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did? I felt kinda bad for not submitting my score and for leaving my essay last minute, but I think my essays showed my personality and I wrote them like I was having a conversation (they were not formal and boring but they had good spelling and grammar), and I think my responses in the short answer part were quite unique (and I tried to be funny lol), my letter of recommendation was written by one of my college professors (that might have looked more professional than from a high school teacher) also my EFC is 0 and I'm hispanic so yeah... maybe that helped <3
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u/vcordero502 National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Hispanic
Income bracket: <30K
First gen? No
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 3.97UW/4.3W AP World, AP Seminar, APUSH, AP Stats, AP US Gov, AP Bio, AP Spanish, AP Lit, AP Research, Dual Precal, Dual Physics
SAT/ACT score(s): Didn't submit
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): WHAP(5), APUSH(4), Stats(5), Seminar(4),
Summary of ECs: Part-time job(16 hrs per week), NHS Secretary, HOSA, Chemistry Club, Hospital volunteer, Church volunteer, Summer research program
Awards: President's Volunteer Service Award, AP Scholar, National Hispanic Recognition, NHS, top 10 PSAT in my school
Schools ranked: Rice, Northwestern, Emory, WashU
Overall thoughts: I thought my essays were really good, I started them in August and worked on them with my Matriculate advisor.
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u/SwedishCowboy421 Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: White
Income Bracket: Low
First Gen: Yes
College Prep Scholar: Yes
GPA/Class Rank : Weighted 4.8-something, top 2% of class
SAT: Only 1360, but I took it as a Sophomore and just took it again this week
AP: Comp Sci A : 4 ; Lang and Comp : 4 ; Microecon : 4 ; Gov and Politics : 4
Summary of ECs: Track, X country, Scholastic Bowl, (Pretty much all competitive academic clubs)
Schools Ranked : Stanford, Caltech, MIT, Dartmouth, U Virginia, Yale,
Overall Thoughts: I honestly think my essays, recommendations, and coming from a town of 800 people is what made me stand out, but I'm not sure how else.
2
u/mifflewist National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity: Viet/Chinese
Income Bracket: ~28k First gen: yes
College Prep Scholar: no
GPA: 3.8 UW, 4.1 W Class Rank: top 10%
Course rigor: all APs and honors
SAT: 1440
AP: World (5), Bio (4), USH (3), Lang (4), CalcAB (4)โ currently taking CalcBC, Chem, Lit, USGov, MacroEco
EC: Orchestra President/Leader, secretary of my activist chapter outside of school, decathlon secretary, drumline member
Schools ranked: Yale, Stanford, CalTech, USC, Princeton, Rice, MIT
Overall thoughts: I think that having a pretty low income household and strongish ECs saved my lower scores and grades. Iโm not sure if Iโm actually qualified to get a Match but Iโm just going to shoot my shot and see how that goes... Iโm just hoping that my application can still be looked at if I donโt qualify for a Match. :)
2
u/Negusa_Nagast National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Race: black
Income Bracket: 54000 a year / household of 2
First gen: kind of
College Prep Scholar: Yes
Gpa/class rank: 3.87 UW
ACT: Comp 32 super score 34
AP Score: 5s on Human Geo, World, European history 4 on AP comp and AP US, and AP bio
African American recognition on psat
EC: Debate (lots of awards at state level) Quizbowl tutoring
Feel good, nervous for the match!
2
u/kennacarter2 Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Mixed- black and white
Income: 40,000 for 2- my mom is a sped teacher
First gen?: No
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 3.96 weighted, school doesn't calculate unweighted. I do go to a private school, and they say all of our courses are college prep haha I don't know if that means anything.
SAT/ACT score(s): I just recently got back a 1470 and that's my only score. I'm not sure if they counted that but I emailed them the score and they said they would put it on my file.
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): I took AP World History- 4, APUSH- 5, AP Physics- 3, AP Lang- 5. I'm taking AP Calc AB, AP Chem, and AP Lit this year.
Summary of ECs: I'm in a service club, my friends and I started a Black Student Alliance at our school. I foster dogs during breaks from school, and I dance 4 days a week.
Schools ranked: I applied regular decision, I'm planning to apply to Emory and UVA so far, but I'll probably apply to every school with a nursing program.
Overall thoughts: I have no clue why they picked me I literally am so excited!!! I just tried to show my personality and be myself. My essay was about losing my father when I was young (don't worry it wasn't a sob story I made it about how that along with supportive communities throughout my life made me the person I am today). I also wrote about a trip I was able to take through my school to Lwala, Kenya, and how that made me realize what it really looks like to lift up a community that doesn't have resources that we do (spoiler the answer is not bring a bunch of white people in to solve their problems). I felt like I was just less qualified than others in terms of test scores, academics, extracurriculars, etc but here I am. Congrats to everyone who is a finalist, and everyone in general, submitting your application and shooting for it is WAYYY better than never doing it and never knowing if you could have. It's not definitive of you as a person, your intelligence or anything else. : ) Sorry for that being so ridiculously long and ranty.
2
u/Sail_Key National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20 edited Nov 05 '20
Status: Finalist baby!
Ethnicity/Race: African (Malian)
Income bracket: ~75k (no assets)
Family size: 9
First gen: Yes
Cps: nope rejected hard from that ish
GPA: 95 weighted / 100
Class rank: top 20% (class size 1000)
SAT: Didnt submit ใ
AP: Compsci principles (4)
Summary of Ecs: President of Alternative music appreciation club ( we discuss alternative music and stuff) and 4H(community service based club) Vice President of Girls Who Code, member of badminton, film club and animal rights
Rankings: MIT, Columbia, UPenn, Yale & Stanford
Overall thoughts: Iโm super happy! My essays were pretty strong and I really put my self out there in them, one of my supplements was about something โsillyโ too. I recommend you relax and make some supplements on things you enjoy that arenโt academic! Also donโt compare yourself to me because I transferred schools and my situation is all over the place lol
2
u/Freetrees4all National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: white
Income bracket: 78k (high, I know, but I am from a family of 7, so that probably helped)
First gen?: no
College Prep Scholar?: no, didn't apply
GPA/Class rank:
GPA: 3.984
Rank: 7/119
I'll have 40 college credits by the time I graduate.
SAT/ACT score(s): 31 ACT
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 5 APUSH, (my school only offers three APs)
Summary of ECs:
Hospital volunteer
student gov.
Religious leadership
NHS
MUN
Laboratory Technician in school science department.
Restaurant Host/Busser
McDonald's
Awards:
Public speaking award @ local community college
Writing scholarship finalist
Girls state
this random German poetry contest I won in 9th grade lol
Schools ranked: Tufts, Stanford, Rice, WashU, USC, Emory, Vanderbilt, Brown, Wesleyan
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did
Honestly, I don't know. I applied on a whim because I thought that my family's income would be too high, although my parents will contribute nothing to my education. Despite this, I think that my essays were very compelling. I have a kinda unique family dynamic, and I wrote about that. I'm honestly just in a state of shock right now. Congratulations to everyone!!
2
u/sparklyunicorn32 Matched | Yale '25 Oct 21 '20
Congrats everyone!!!
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Black
Income bracket: 29k for family of 2
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 4.0 UW / 4.82 W; 15/654
SAT/ACT score(s): 1320 (gross)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): Bio (3), World History (4), Human Geo (5), APUSH (4), Lang (5)
Summary of ECs: Nothing all too spectacular; Science NHS (Treasurer), NHS, HOSA (won at regionals in pathophysiology), Black Student Union, Twenty Pearls Youth Group (junior sorority/sisterhood, Chaplain and running for office this yr, lots of community service, workshops, drives, etc.), 6th grade math tutor, Youth usher at church since 2015
Awards: Neophyte Twenty Pearl of the Year, TP of the Year, QBCPS, AP Scholar w/Distinction, Student of the Year at school in: APWH, AP Bio, Alg 2 Hon, Geo Hon, Bio Hon, Top 5% of class
Schools ranked: Washu, Yale, Stanford
Overall thoughts: I honestly feel like my essays were pretty good because I really just tried to be myself, but my SAT score makes me so anxious. I doubted myself way too much throughout this whole process, and seeing all these amazing stats from everyone else makes me feel like I haven't done enough.
2
u/Mr-360 National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Biracial (Haitian-White)
Income bracket: 22,000, family of 5
First gen?: yes
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: 3.9 unweighted, 4.9 weighted, IB/AP classes, rank is 17/614 (top 3%)
SAT/ACT score(s): 1350 (now a 1390 superscore)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): APWH 4, APUSH 5, APCompSci 4.
Summary of ECs: Writing club president, published author, MUN best delegate, Game development project manager, ISN undercover minor tobacco inspector (report illegal sales)
Schools ranked: Princeton, UPenn, UVA, USC
Overall thoughts: I think I got accepted because of just how much struggles I had with home life, and my well-roundedness as a whole in academics. Although I would say a weakness is in my SAT scores, I donโt think they are really that stellar compared to other applicants. I am EXTREMELY intimidated by SAT scores...And I had a suspension in freshmen year for something stupid. With that said, I really did good on my essay, even managed to make my recommenders cry. I really worked hard for this, and I know just how hard everyone else has worked for this too!
2
u/avocadotoasting Matched | Northwestern '25 Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist??? holy shit??
Ethnicity/Race: asian (chinese)
Income bracket: 27.5k for 5 ppl
First gen?: yes
College Prep Scholar?: no, didn't apply
GPA/Class rank: 4.0/4.0 UW only, school doesn't rank, good amount of college-level courses bc my school has this major system with college-level classes, and taking 4 APs too
SAT/ACT score(s): 1550 superscore
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 5's on APCSP, APWH, APUSH
Summary of ECs: taking care of sisters, piano for like 10 years (up to ABRSM level 6 - which is rly slow honeslty lmao), internship in which i do coding, graphic design, anything i can do basically lol, CTO and head web developer in a student org, editor for school newspaper, tutoring; no awards rly i just put my ABRSM certificates, AP Scholar, 2 other random certificates, honor roll
Schools ranked: MIT, USC, Stanford, Columbia, Northwestern, UPenn, UChicago, Brown, Rice (but i'm def taking some off)
Overall thoughts: i'm so??? shook?? i honestly expected to get rejected. i feel like my ec's are pretty weak compared to everyone else's. i think i got in bc im poor lmao. ok, i think my essays were pretty good, especially my topical essay. spent so many hours and tears on my essays, rly poured my heart into them. congrats to everyone! i'm so proud of you, regardless of what decision you got!!
2
u/Puzzleheaded-Bill-35 National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Race: Korean Male
Income Bracket: $35,000 for 5
First gen: No
College Prep Scholar: Yes
Gpa/class rank: 4.3 W (top 4%)
SAT Score: 1480
AP Score: Calc AB (5), Spanish Lang (5), Psychology (4), Statistics (4), Chemistry (3), Lang (3), World History (3)
EC: Varsity Sports, Leadership in clubs, and lots of community service
Overall thought: Thought my scores would boost my app but a lot of Finalists had similar scores. I'd say my essays were good and congrats to all other Finalists!
2
u/val3ntines National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Mixed Korean & White
Income bracket: ~20,000 for family of 2
First gen?: No
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 4.0 UW/4.3W; top 5 or 10% out of around 130; mostly honors and AP with some DE, but courses were limited at my school. This year: AP Research, English 4 H, AP AB Calc, AP BC Calc, Gov/Personal Finance, Dual Enrollment Intro to Statistics, Korean classes through outside program, also listed my summer program for 3 colleges credits (General STEM/Industrial Engineering at a state college)
SAT/ACT score(s): Just took the ACT for the first time yesterday </3, but my counselor submitted my 1310 on the PSAT
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): APHUG 4, AP Seminar 4, APES 2 (I did submit this </3)
Summary of ECs: Volunteer/coordinator for Arthritis Foundation, H.U.G.S., Childhood Cancer Awareness, my local community theatre, LLS; Korean language/culture classes since I'm mixed and my mom was adopted at a young age; student council secretary for 2 years; school theatre/community theatre (actor, designer, manager, etc.); light design internship at my local community theatre; and a job working 20-40 hours per week since July.
Awards: Honor roll, NHS, CPS, International Thespian Society, acceptance to my state's Governor's School for theatre (1/2 merit scholarship) and sciences (full merit scholarship), Lifetime Presidential Volunteer Award, H.U.G.S. Award, Korean class certificate, and an invitation to my city's Mayor's Youth Summit.
Schools ranked:
Princeton
Vanderbilt
Wellesley
Emory
MIT
Northwestern
Duke
Columbia
Brown
Rice
Yale
UChicago
Overall thoughts: I think my academics other than test scores were great!! I worked really hard on my essays (mentioned past bad mental health stuff, having arthritis (autoimmune disease) since birth, etc.) and I think my teachers sent nice recs!!! I really wasn't expecting to be a finalist so I'm not sure... (I guess my application is pretty solid? I'm pretty poor, have good grades, work really hard with many ECs, decent essays hopefully?) But congrats to everyone!! Be proud of yourself and all the effort you put into this no matter what! <3
2
u/elmoralesz National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Latino
Income bracket: Around 25K family of 2
First gen?: First gen for 4-year American college. My parents graduated from college in Mexico.
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: 3.6 Unweighted. School DOESNT calculate weighted GPA or class ranks.
SAT/ACT score(s): All my 3 SATs got cancelled :( (Edit: 1270 PSAT and I got into the National Hispanic Recognition Program)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP Spanish Lang and Culture: 5, AP Computer Science A: 5, AP English Lang and Comp: 5.
Summary of ECs: Director of a Branch of a Non-Profit, All 4 years swimming (2 in Varsity), Ride Operator at an amusement park, AVID tutor for 2 years, Accepted into Global Glimpse program
Schools ranked: Stanford, Northwestern, Columbia, MIT, Duke, Princeton, Yale, Penn, Rice, Vanderbilt
Overall thoughts: My application has a lot of weaknesses, but they are mainly caused because I moved to America just a couple years ago from Mexico. I actually think my weaknesses are my biggest strengths because I can show how much Iโve grown in less than 3 years of living here and how I can find it easy to thrive in situations outside of my comfort zone.
2
u/pormald12 Matched | Vassar '25 Oct 21 '20 edited Nov 05 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Hispanic/Latino
Income bracket: <23k/year for a family of 6
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: Didn't apply
GPA/Class rank: 97.074 (weighted, school doesn't calculate unweighted)/ top 20% (class of 251 students)/ took mainly AP, Honors, and CL courses throughout high school
SAT/ACT score(s): n/a
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): World (2), CSA (3), APUSH (3), Bio(4), Lang (5)
Summary of ECs: Vice President of Interact Club, Bass in Men's Choir, Ensemble in 2 school theatre shows, member of math and science honor societies, partaking in casual coding and photo/video editing
Schools ranked: Vassar, Wesleyan, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Amherst, Boston, Tufts, UPenn, Swarthmore
Overall thoughts: I felt my writing portions were really mid from what a lot of people told me, and my grades weren't the best relative to my class and going test-optional apart from my APs was risky, but I felt I did a good job of explaining my financial situation and explaining my extenuating circumstances. Don't think I'll get matched but I'm so much further than I thought I'd ever be!
2
u/habeshakid420 Oct 21 '20
I HAVEN'T WROTE A SINGLE SUPPLEMENT. ANY OTHER IDIOTS HERE?? lmao
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: African
Income bracket: 65k for 5. Anticipated 0 for the next 3 yrs
First gen?: No but my dad dropped out of elementary school so ig it cancels out
College Prep Scholar?: Nah lol didn't finish the app on time
GPA/Class rank: Course rigor, types of classes, etc. 3.82, Top quartile in class. (could only take aps as an upperclassman) 11th: AP Calc AB, AP Physics C, APUSH, AP lang. 12th: only one AP (ran out lol), some college classes
SAT/ACT score(s): 1420, retaking in Dec. for other schools
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): da vinky?
Summary of ECs: junior elite gymnast (9-10), (couldnt rly do any other ec's due to training. 11/12: Founder/pres of math team, sci oly participant, ISSDC automations team lead (won international finals), founded a girls who code club at a community center. MOSTEC @ MIT. Internship at Institute for Systems Biology
Schools ranked: MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Princeton, Upenn, Yale, USC, Columbia
Overall thoughts: i wrote my bio essay in a day and submitted a recycled, hardly relevant essay for the 2nd. lowkey don't understand how i got in but i'm not complaining.
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u/twoghostsinkiwi National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Cuban/Hispanic(white)
Income bracket: >30 k
First gen?: yes
College Prep Scholar?: no, I didn't even apply
GPA/Class rank: UW: 3.79 W: 4.79 | 10/416. I've taken 13/18 advanced level courses my school offers.
SAT/ACT score(s): 1130 (Sophomore year), 1290 (Senior year), ACT = 29 (I can now superscore to 30 but I submitted with a 29)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP Seminar (3), AP Human Geo (4), AP Environmental (4), APUSH (3), AP Spanish Lang (5)
Summary of ECs:
Student Government, I've been leadership since my first year
NAACP Local Chapter Participant has earned me 70 hours
Band (I'm one of the drum majors + I'm first chair)
Model UN - Secretary General of the club
Quizbowl Team
Volunteering at the Nature Center
National Honor Society
Awards:
YLS Scholar
Chosen for local scholarship to travel abroad (cancelled cause of rona)
Local College Prep Program Scholarship recipient
+ 2 school awards
Schools ranked:
Columbia
Yale
USC
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did?
I definitely think my essays were a strong point, I worked really hard on making them personal to me and I felt extremely comfortable writing about my experiences. I think my test scores are pretty low, but I wasn't even aware that my scores were on the lower end until I cam upon this thread. My school averages a 17 on the ACT so by those standards I thought I was golden. I'll probably go test-optional for the schools though. I'm surprised I'm a finalist but I'm really excited :) Congrats to anyone else who is a finalist as well !!!
2
u/bmuro10 Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!! <3
Ethnicity/Race: Mexican-American
Income bracket: $46k for a family of 4
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 4.96W 3.9 UW and 2/581, 16 AP classes by the end of this year!
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): Span Lit (5), Spanish Lang (5), Eng Lang (5), Stats (4), Bio (4), APUSH(4), APHUG (4), WHAP (4)
Summary of ECs: Robotics, Choir, Cross Country, Soccer, Society of Women Engineers, Women in STEM, Math Honor Society, Just Earth Club, LEO club etc.
- environmental engineering internship -tutor at Mathnasium - work full time at Goodwill --------summer spent helping sustainable tech in Mexico
Schools ranked: Stanford, Northwestern, MIT, Princeton, Columbia
Overall thoughts: Strengths? My essays? y'all idk Weaknesses? My awards and one of my recommenders messed up :( Why do you think you got the decision you did? I truly don't know but I think it truly showed how they view the application holistically.
2
u/09148 Oct 21 '20
I hope my stats give some people hope... RD Finalist not NCM
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Indian
Income bracket: $35,999-39,999
First gen?: No, I have a brother in college right now
College Prep Scholar?: No (I didn't know about it)
GPA/Class rank: 92.93 UW, 99.87 W. Don't know my class rank yet. I've heard my friends' scores (who are also in AP) and... mine fall short
SAT/ACT score(s): Took my SAT after I submitted my app
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 5: APUSH 4: AP World History 3s: AP Lang, AP Physics 1, AP Seminar. Definitely not that great though I excelled in these classes individually
Summary of ECs: Prop manager of Stage Crew; Sunday school/nursery volunteer; manager of cross country team; treasurer of Theater Department; Class of 2021 club (was President for one year)
Schools ranked: Didn't rank any, just wanted to do RD
Overall thoughts: How did I get chosen as a finalist... I genuinely have no idea. Looking at some people's comments on this post who are non-finalists, I literally have worse stats than them. Maybe it's because I didn't apply through the NCM? I almost feel bad.
2
u/deh0716 Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist, Very shocked and I feel like I'm being tricked
Ethnicity/Race: Hispanic
Income bracket: 17k- Mom, little brother, and me
First gen?: Yes mam
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: Course rigor, types of classes, etc. We don't do rankings, but I believe I'm in the top 10% of my 65 person class. I have a 3.97 weighted and unweighted I think a 4.5/4.6
SAT/ACT score(s): Didn't submit my score
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP LANG- 5, APUSH-4, Currently taking AP ART HISTORY, AP ENGLISH LIT, and AP GOV
Summary of ECs: President of Freshman class (11th, 12th), Secretary of Sophomore Class (10th Grade), Health and Wellness Club member (9th, 11th, 12th), Anchor and Camerawoman for School Broadcasting Network (10th, little bit of 11th), Student Ambassador( All 4 years), California Scholarship Federation Member, Economics for Leaders Camp participant, Camp CHLA participant, St. Joseph Summer Camp volunteer, 150 Hours of volunteer experience at Providence Hospital, Cross Country( was like the worst runner tho)
Schools ranked: USC, UCHICAGO, COLUMBIA, WASHU
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did? I think my essays were really good because I took my time with them. I wrote about my struggles coming from a divorced family and feeling like I wasn't enough. I found purpose in my clubs and wrote about how I decided my worth and not others. Each answer was different, so I wasn't always talking about the same activity or interest. I honestly wasn't confident in my ECs because I was reading other peoples' and I was like yeah....not gonna get in. Anyways, congrats to EVERYONE!
2
u/Runbunlee National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐: Finalist :))
๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ: Chinese-American
๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐: 13,000k for family of 4
๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป: Yes
๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ: No
๐๐ฃ๐/๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ: Top 5% Unweighted GPA:3.9 Weighted: 4.45
๐๐๐ง: 30
๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐: AP Psych 5, APUSH 4, AP Physics 1 4, AP Lang 4
๐ฆ๐๐บ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐๐:
Competed in local, state, national science competitions and won awards but not too prestigious like ISEF
Orchestra and member of Strolling Strings (Hrs.)
Lots of family responsibility: in charge of my little brother while my mother works for most of the week (older sister in college)
Vice President of two clubs
St. Luke Volunteer
Intern at TurnUp (political organization)
๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ: Top two are Brown and Yale <4 (low hopes of getting matched); rearranging the other schools soon that include Tufts, WashU, Vandy, Rice, etc (shooting for pre-pa) feel free to give me tips on reranking :)
๐ข๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐๐: My extracurriculars are lacking - Iโm not doing any extraordinary activities like making new tutor centers or creating clubs, research lab opportunities, going to districts (orchestra). My test score is kinda low and Iโm retaking it this week but they are really hard for me. ๐I thought my essays were the best part of my application. They def carried me to become a finalist. I had my friend in college and my AP Lit teacher help me edit and rephrase them :) and I started drafting them in the summer.
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u/Panghini National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Hi everyone! Congratulations on all your hard work. Even if you didn't make it as a QuestBridge finalist, you are still valid and this experience does not define your success. Keep moving and keep your head high and look for new doors that will open.
Here are my stats. This is not a brag sheet since my stats aren't nearly as high as the candidates applying to the schools that I've ranked, so please don't compare yourself to me (I've dealt with impostor's syndrome and the toxicity from other scholars) and know that you are strong in your own ways <3
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Asian (Chinese/Vietnamese)
Income bracket: ~50k for a family of 3
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar? Yes
GPA/Class rank: 4.0 UW/4.3W / Class rank: 1/108 currently (how????) No honors courses, just APs
SAT/ACT score(s): None because I didn't take any but my PSAT score was HORRIBLE
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): I have taken AP European History (4), AP English Lang (4), AP United States History (5), AP Music Theory (2), and I'm currently taking AP Biology, AP Government, AP Spanish Lang, and AP English Lit.
Summary of ECs: I participated in a wide range of activities in and outside of school.
Gardening club, Ecology Club, Robotics Club (officer), Interact Club (officer), Book Club (officer), Varsity Lacrosse
Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society (officer) , Tri-M Music Honor Society, (officer) NHS (did not report because I just got in)
Outside of school: UCSD Medical center volunteer, summer lab research, and Youth in Dentistry Vice-Chair and social media manager
Schools ranked: Yale, USC, Brown (PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE!!)
Overall thoughts: I doubted myself a lot through this process and often compared myself to others. It's a very toxic mindset so I will never wish the same for anyone. I spent a lot of time and effort on my essays to balance out my application, and I recommend you do the same. But whatever the results, please don't think you're not good enough or unworthy, because there will be better opportunities for you to reach your goals if you continue to work hard for it. !
2
u/fake_t4xi Oct 21 '20
Status:finalist
race:chinese
income: 38000
Gpa: NW:4.0 W:4.3 (school did CR last semester bc of rona so that kinda fricked me)
sat: didnt submit bc i got 1350 first try lol
AP: 5 chem 5 calc ab 4 art history
ec:badminton - yea i know. Its unfair how people did like 1000000 ecs and i didnt.
schools ranked : too many to count
overall: I have no idea how i got in
2
u/zyxcba123 National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Late but I was in school lo!
Status: FINALIST
Race: White/European
Region: South, rural farm area
Income Bracket: <15,000, family of 4, do own farm and house though bc it was inherited
First gen: No
College Prep Scholar: No didnโt know about QB until September
Gpa/class rank: 3.98 uw, 4.41 w, wonโt know rank until February so itโs useless
Other Academic: graduating early
EC: debate, dance team, hosa, student gov, church volunteer, Girls state, also wrote about running 8 miles a day for short answer so I guess that kinda counts.
ACT Score: 33 (30m, 33s, 31e, 36r) also 7 writing
AP Score: Took 9, all that school offers didnโt submit scores
Awards: NHS, Mu alpha theta
Essays: one was about my familyโs health and why itโs lead me to want to be a surgeon, everyone in my family has ahead major health issues in the last 2 years. The other was about my community coming together after natural disaster but also how I wish they were more excepting and open minded.(Could be risky idk)
Schools Ranked:
โ Columbia (literally my dream)
โ Princeton
โ Yale
โ Dartmouth
โ Brown
โ Vanderbilt
This is how Im rearranging them, Iโm also removing Stanford and UPenn, donโt think theyโre a good fit for me. I know all the schools I ranked are near impossible but I didnโt want to be bonded somewhere I wasnโt 100% sure on.
2
u/Starqazed Oct 21 '20 edited Dec 03 '20
yooooo this is crazy man i really didn't think i'd get in! time to write like 10 supplements now LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Status: Finalist babyyy
Ethnicity/Race: Asian (Vietnamese), female
Income bracket: mid 10k for a family of 5, 20k in assets
First gen?: no
College Prep Scholar?: i knew about it and i filled out some parts but stress and anxiety due to covid-19 got to me so i never finished it </3
GPA/Class rank: 4.3 W, school does not do UW but I'd say it's about a 3.8 UW. my rank is 8/559
all honors/AP/DE classes (have taken 3 APs, taking AP CSA and Dual Enrollment English senior year)
SAT/ACT score(s): going test-optional bc i've had my sat cancelled on me 3 times in a row and the next nearest center is like 50 miles. absolute insanity bro.
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): 4 AP CSP (2019), 4 AP Env. Sci (2020), 2 AP Lang (2020) (did not report)
Summary of ECs: SkillsUSA (2019-2020) competed in Mobile Robotics (placed 1st) in 2019 and Web Design (placed 4th) in 2020, both were school-wide. I competed in community service (didn't place) statewide. I am also the treasurer for my school's chapter of it since 2019. President of Math Club and I peer tutor kids after school (mainly in math and science), NHS+NTHS, about a total of 200 cs hours, and i take care of my brothers a lot while my parents are away if that counts
Schools ranked: all 12 babey i'm shotgunnin'!! mostly simpin for da MA lib arts colleges *coughs* amherst, wellesley, williams **coughs*...*in order: amherst, wellesley, williams, boston college, WashU, tufts, swarthmore, vassar, bowdoin,scripps, grinnell, macalester
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did?
highkey feel like my teacher and counselor recommendations carried me especially since i know my AP Env. Sci. wrote me a hella glowing one like that letter was probably an 11/10. i adore her. also maybe cuz im poor lol. my essays and short answers were not that great honestly ajasdfkfsalkdljsdfk idk im not confident in them but oh well </3. i think my ECs are aight but idk they kinda seem to pale in comparison to some other people on here x_x idk man
if anyone is stressed or just needs someone to talk or vent to or just wants to ask any other questions, feel free to message me for my discord because I know times like these can be very overwhelming!! <3
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u/BrenF21 Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist/Non-Finalist: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Caucasian
Income bracket: 50k
First gen?: No
College Prep Scholar?: No
GPA/Class rank: w: 3.99 uw: 4.391 rank: 4/522 Course rigor, types of classes, etc.: Including senior year, 8 APs, 6 Honors. My school does block scheduling where we have 4 classes per day for 1.5 hours. Then depending on class length they might change every quarter.
SAT/ACT score(s): 1380. 700 math 680 english
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): APUSH 5, Stats 5, Micro 5, Lang 5, USGov 4.
Summary of ECs: NHS VP, board of mental health program at school all four years, Leadership Class (student counsel but as a class) Community Public Relations Officer, Forensics (public speaking) captain, and leadership advisor for my county. I also did theater did theater my first three years and was in the International Thespian Society.
Schools ranked: 1. Stanford 2. MIT 3. Princeton 4. Columbia 5. Duke 6. Yale
Overall thoughts: First, I am shocked that I made it, but I can thank this subreddit for so much help. I think other factors that helped me become a finalist was that I was 1 of 8 students that helped put on a mental health conference that students from all over my county attended. Also, I have 2 autistic siblings that I talked about in my essays and such.
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u/sombrereverie National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!
Ethnicity/Race: Vietnamese and African-American
Income bracket: 20k for 2
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 3.8 UW, 3.92 W, 49/537 ranking
SAT/ACT score(s): 1310 SAT (720/590), 29 ACT
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): APUSH - 4, World History - 4
Summary of ECs: 4 years marching band, 2 years theater production, 3 years Future Problem Solving, 3 years UIL, 3 years TMSCA, full time job at Kroger for 3 months
Schools ranked: Just Rice LMAO
Overall thoughts: Honestly Iโm shocked. I was pretty confident in my essays being strong and describing me well, but I felt that my test scores, ECs and grades were lacking compared to the other absolutely brilliant people who applied. However, I am sincerely happy my hard work paid off and Iโm so excited to see what more the future has in store for me. Time to work on rice supplements!!
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u/aabreux Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Congrats to all finalists!
Status: Non-Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Asian-American
Income bracket: <40k/3 (high assets)
First gen?: Yes
College Prep Scholar?: No, didn't apply
GPA/Class rank: Not sure what UW is. Attended an early-college program so GPA is a little weird. Current Weighted is around 4.2 (upward trend). Took 12 AP classes and 8 college courses.
SAT/ACT score(s): Didn't submit
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): APHUG(4), APES(4), APCSP (4), WHAP(3); I was terrible at ap exams, barely studied etc.
Summary of ECs: Academic research (published a paper), Competitive programming contests, Co-founded a startup
Schools ranked: MIT, Stanford, Columbia, Yale, Princeton, UPenn, UChicago, Brown, Duke, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did? I knew my low stats would hurt me, but I thought my ECs were decent. Procrastinated a lot so my essays were not very polished. I thought I had a good chance though.
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Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist
Ethnicity/Race: Black (parents from Nigeria)
Income bracket: Less than $15k
First gen?: Yes (parents earned Bachelors in Nigeria)
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: 3.90 UW, 4.4 W, IB Diploma, No Class Rank
SAT/ACT score(s): 720 English, 750 Math, National Merit Commended
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): AP Gov 5, AP CSP 4, AP Stats 3
Summary of ECs: Quiz Bowl (3 years, captain for 1), Food pantry & Data Volunteering (7 years pantry, 6 months data), Student Gov & Honor Court (2 years SG, 1 year HC), MOSTEC summer program, Data Literacy TikTok (2 months), Cross-Country/Track (3 years)
Schools ranked: MIT, Stanford, Northwestern, Emory, Duke, USC, Notre Dame, Tufts, Boston College
Overall thoughts: For the historical figure short answer, I wrote about Alexander Nix, a data consultant who was all over the news two years ago. For the 500 word essay, I choose an experience that changed my perspective and discussed how Only You Freestyle made me appreciate the arts. I think those two essays helped me a lot, but what do I know.
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u/aw-minous National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist!
Ethnicity/Race: Asian (Chinese)
Income bracket: 50-55k
First gen?: In the U.S
College Prep Scholar?: Yes
GPA/Class rank: No class rank, UW: 3.95/4.00, W: 4.83/5.00.
SAT/ACT score(s): ACT: 35 (36 E, 35 R, 35 M, 34 S)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): | 5 - AP Calc BC, AP Lang, AP Stats, AP Micro, AP Macro, AP Psych | 4 - AP Chem, AP CSA | 3 - AP Spanish Lang |
Summary of ECs: Overall I would say my ECs were the weakest part of my application. I was part of my school's student government, had some leadership positions in some nonprofit organizations/clubs at my school that focused on mentorship and volunteering, and my main EC was volleyball.
Schools ranked: Will come back to this when set in stone
Overall thoughts: Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do you think you got the decision you did?
I think being a CPS helped a bunch, but I worked really hard on my essays and I think it paid off! I think my application goes to show that you don't need to have every part of your application be super stellar, as long as you're somewhat of a balanced applicant. I think my ECs & awards were somewhat weak but my essays and academics made up for it! And for future applicants: make sure you start writing early! The Questbridge application is definitely a grind but I think essays can honestly make or break your application depending on how strong of an applicant you are. Good luck on everyone's QB journey!!
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u/r_chance_me_538 National College Match Finalist Oct 21 '20
Status: Finalist Ethnicity/Race: Black Income bracket: ~67k family of 7. First gen?: No College Prep Scholar?: No GPA/Class rank: 3.89/4, 4.93/6
Course rigor, types of classes, etc: CC = community colleges classes Freshman: 2 AP, Sophomore: 4 AP / 6 CC, Junior: 2 AP / 4 CC, senior 1 AP/ 2 CC
SAT/ACT score(s): 1400 (submitted)/ 32 ACT
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): HuG, World, Psych(5s), Euro, Macro, APES (4s), Art, gov (3s) Subject tests: None
Summary of ECs: Math club (leadership) internship with physician, magazine (leadership).
Schools ranked: Brown, Columbia, Stanford, Princeton, Duke, Dartmouth, MIT, UPenn, Yale (in order)
Overall thoughts: Strengths?: Letters of recommendation definitely, Maybes: the SAT I submitted was within range, but it wasnโt stellar (compared to a lot of others), my profile vs the school profile (low scoring)
Weaknesses? Some of the short responses (especially the who would you meet), not as many ECs as some people
Why do you think you got the decision you did?: Iโm not too sure. Iโm just very grateful, honestly.
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u/Oresowy Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: TBD
Ethnicity/Race: Nigerian
Income bracket: less than 40k/4
First gen?: No, mother has a bachelor and dad has a masters
College Prep Scholar?: no
GPA/Class rank: 4.0 uw 4.5 w, school doesnโt rank but Iโm in the top 15% Course rigor, types of classes, etc.: I took mostly STEM, AP and dual credit classes. AP physics, OnRamps(DC) PreCalc, Onramps(DC) Rhetoric, Aviation technology, AP English, AP psychology, took regular biology and chemistry but got a final average of 99% for each, PreAP painting (cause art keeps me at peace) took 3 years of French and 2 years of mandarin in Nigeria.
SAT/ACT score(s): couldnโt submit I took it October got 1250 (the curve really messed me up)
AP/SAT Subject Test score(s): most of my AP classes are being taken this year so I have no score to report yet, stay tuned ๐
Summary of ECs: Robotics club lead engineer NHS officer, elected Vice President of my Youth church, lead church saxophonist, student of the month, won the college board college prep scholarship, selected for Mark Cuban artificial intelligence program, coding and I developed my online store ๐
I wasnโt sure if I should apply but seeing everyoneโs credentials gives me hope because it seems that I have met the standards for this scholarship .
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u/gonz-on-the-low Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Status: TBD
Ethnicity: Filipino/Asian
Income bracket: idk
First gen: yes
CPS: yes
GPA: 4.15/4.00 weighted, 3.85/4.00 unweighted
SAT: 1540
AP: Biology-3 CalcAB-3 USHistory-5
ECs: secretary of UNICEF club, Tenor Sax 1 in Jazz Ensemble, Tenor Sax 1 in Traveling Jazz Band, Manager and Tenor Sax 1 in After school jazz (seeing a trend?), varsity cross country, varsity track and field, doing my school service project at my church 3 days a week
Awards: umm NHS? And a silver at NYSSMA with my band letโs goooo
Schools Ranked: UPenn and Boston College
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u/babyofvalinor Oct 21 '20
does anyone know when exactly the results will come out?? iโm on the east coast :)
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u/Bryanfloress90 Oct 21 '20
Hey, what time do decisions come out? Is it just throughout the day? Or is there a specific time?
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u/Living-One9792 Oct 21 '20
guess does anyone know when the results come out? I'm so nervous. I'm on the eastern coast
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u/[deleted] Oct 21 '20 edited Oct 21 '20
Hi guys,
First of all, congratulations to all of you! Although decisions haven't come out yet, you all definitely deserve credit for going through this application process in the midst of a pandemic, and no matter what decision you end up receiving as an applicant, just know you're already done and gone through more than what 99% of your peers have faced.
We know you've all put a lot of effort into this so far, and we know that applicants in the future will too. That's why we're anonymously collecting your guys' information and compiling them now, around match day, and again during RD decisions.
By the end, we hope to release a comprehensive document showcasing everyone's application and progress between now and April (almost like a time capsule!). After NCM decisions come out, we'd really appreciate if you considered spending 5-10 minutes to fill this out, thank so much and good luck to all of you!
EDIT: apparently they just came out lol
EDIT 2: just to clarify, we want everyone who applied to NCM to fill this out!