People who went to college at least 10 years ago: what was your profile and where did you get in?
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Anonymous
| I graduated from HS in 1991 and was a strong student but no where near the top of my class (huge, uber affluent HS in Chicago), had a decent but again not top ACT score and went to WUSTL. No way I’d get in there today. Now, it’s basically a school for those who just miss the mark for Ivies. A lot has changed. |
Anonymous
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-White, female, no legacy
-Graduated HS from the NOVA area in 2000 -Graduated in the top 20 of my class of 230+ -GPA was 3.6-something -SAT was 1450 -Honors & AP classes (took all they offered & received 4s & 5s on the tests) -Started French starting in 7th grade & Spanish starting in 9th grade. So I did French I - AP French and Spanish I-IV. -I had a role in the school play 2 years and tech crew another year -I was on the school newspaper as a photographer and was also part of yearbook as a photographer -I was part of the photography club, French club, Keyettes (like Key club, but for girls), PEER mediators, and in the NHS -I'm 99% sure I either lied about or overly exaggerated any volunteer work on my college applications as I don't remember doing much other than what I did through Keyettes I was accepted to UVA, VT, JMU, WVU, GMU, Duke, Clemson, Colgate, and Vassar. I picked Vassar because they gave the biggest aid package and I had zero financial assistance from my parents. |
Anonymous
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In January 1990 I enrolled as a 33 year old provisional status freshman at Penn State, University Park. I had four young children and worked full time nights as a PSU maintenance technician. I had been denied the traditional path to college after graduating high school. I was raised on the world’s poorest farm with 9 siblings in a house without running water. My parents did not recognize nor appreciate the value of higher education. Studies show that family emotional support provides the most positive influence for a student’s college success, and my support was strongly negative. I recall how my parents and older brother would tell me how stupid I was and how I would never attend college. (Especially sad as Pell Grants in the early 1970’s essentially paid for all a student’s tuition, especially at a state school. My father, however, as a product of the Great Depression refused to file the necessary financial forms for any of his children).
After many years struggling, working difficult, menial jobs at a fertilizer plant, driving a garbage truck, high rise construction in Minneapolis winters, among others, bouncing from one job to another, the opportunity arose at PSU. I matriculated at Penn State in Spring Semester 1990. In May 1992 I graduated with a BS with honors, completing 144 semester credits in 2 years and a summer session, while working full time and raising a family. After many years of unpleasant, meaningless jobs, frustrated by life, I captured the full advantage of the opportunity. I lived without food, sex, or sleep during my college years but by the grace of God I earned that degree! PSU changed many policies after I graduated, limiting the number of credits in which a student could enroll in a given semester. (I completed 28 credits one semester, and 26 credits each in 2 other semesters while working 40 hours per week. The most difficult, by far, though, was the 18 credits I completed Summer 1991.) Penn State also limited the employee tuition reimbursement, as no limit existed during my attendance., and now requires several signatures for an employee to enroll in a class. I discovered that success in college depended on time management . Front load the semester’s work. First two weeks work diligently to complete as much of the semester’s work as possible, and keep working. Never miss class. Don’t ‘cram’. Don’t enroll in easy classes. Sit in the front row, take copious notes, be prepared with the day’s reading, and ask many questions. |
Anonymous
| I graduated in 1985 and wouldn't be able to tell you my GPA or SAT scores if my life depended on it.... |
Anonymous
I see reading comprehension was not on your list of achievements. AT LEAST 10 years ago. That means everybody who graduated from college prior to 2008. |
Anonymous
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1988. First generation, Latina. 3rd in my class of 250 students at a top Catholic high school in the Chicago area. Took AP Exams in Spanish, Chemistry, and Biology, earned 5s on all of them. Scored 1550/1600 on my SAT, and a 35/36 on my ACT. I wanted to major in math or chemistry (and did).
My school's college adviser was a classmates' mother whom I only met with twice during my senior year. And though I wanted to apply to Stanford, my immigrant parents would only allow me to apply to schools within driving distance of home. I applied to the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago, and Notre Dame, and was admitted to all three. I decided on Notre Dame because my twin sister chose the University of Chicago, and I did not want to attend the same school as her. I graduated #1 in my Biochemistry major, and was admitted to every medical school to which I applied, including Duke, Johns Hopkins, the University of Chicago, and Yale. |
Anonymous
Wow. You’re a rockstar! |
Anonymous
| 1983: Valedictorian with 1370 on SAT, school newspaper editor. No APs. Admitted to Northwestern, Chapel Hill and University of Georgia with a scholarship. |
Anonymous
Can't believe that you got rejected from VA Tech but admitted to an Ivy! |
Anonymous
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1980s: Was salutatorian of small and not very distinguished midwestern parochial high school which offered no AP courses. Got 1260 on SAT and 33 on ACT (didn't take prep classes or even study for them), had a ton of EC's including leadership roles, excellent recommendations, and went to an Ivy with substantial aid.
Not pretending I'd get in today. |
Anonymous
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College in late 90s
1330 SAT 4.2 GPA Valedictorian at a small religious school (class of 40) President of just about everything my school offered, community service and political campaign volunteer work, jr. reporter for my local newspaper, no sports UVA - admitted W&M - admitted Princeton - waitlist Yale - denied Georgetown School of Foreign Service - denied I suspect my high school not offering AP classes did me in with the Ivys. And if I had it to do over, I wouldn't have applied directly into the Foreign Service program. But I loved attending William and Mary and in the end, college has had little to do with my professional success. My peers are HYPS graduates and I paid about 1/4 what they did for my degree. |
Anonymous
| I was in college from 2001 to 2005. My boarding school didn't rank us, but I had mostly As and A-s. SAT was 1510. No ECs of note. I got into Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and Tulane (safety). Did not get into Stanford, Cal, or Duke. |
Anonymous
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White female graduated 1986 hs Montgomery county public. Gpa 3.92, unweighted. One AP, calculus. Not a lot ap offered. Sat 1360-- math was 790. No sports. A fair amount of community service.
Accepted duke Waitlisted uva Rejected Cornell Accepted u md honors. |
Anonymous
The SAT has been re-centered three times since you took it, each one raising the average score. A 1460 in 92 would be equivalent to a perfect or near perfect score on today's SAT. |
Anonymous
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Midwestern HS known for its high teen pregnancy rate, 1988
SAT 1240, 700 M, 540 V GPA 3.3, a couple APs 93% class but they didn't weight classes Musician Accepted Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke, Wash U St. L, Bates, Kenyon, Middlebury Rejected Amherst, Harvard, Northwestern, U Miami Ohio |