19
Colleges
8
Q&As
5
AP/IBs
35
Essays
5
Awards
10
Activities

Low-income, disabled pre-med Human Biology major/Creative Writing minor with additional interest in humanities
I applied to 19 schools, which was less than my original 22 plan, but I would NOT recommend that. I spent nearly every hour during my school's two-week winter break cranking out essays on top of the dozens of hours I had put in prior but my dream school's essays (Stanford) took the majority of my brain space. I wrote a lot of my essays at night in my head while I was trying to fall asleep, to be honest. I went through a really long process with my Common App essay though, so I had already done a lot of reflection. Remembering, reflecting, and looking inward were some really hard parts of this process, but also some of the most important. My biggest advice is to do 'word barfs' where you write everything you can think of about the topic. I also suggest valuing clarity and vulnerability over pretty much everything else, like putting in snazzy words, using complicated metaphors, or telling the ENTIRE story (it is very unlikely that you will have the space to do this in one essay).

Low-income, disabled pre-med Human Biology major/Creative Writing minor with additional interest in humanities
19
Colleges
8
Q&As
5
AP/IBs
35
Essays
5
Awards
10
Activities
Race
White
Gender
Female
School Type
Public
Legacy
No
Low income
Yes
First generation
No
International
No
Recruited Athlete
No
GPA (W)
4.53
GPA (UW)
4
GPA Scale
4
# AP/IB Exams
5
Personal Statement
Stanford
University of Rochester
George Washington University
Vanderbilt
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Santa Clara University
University of San Diego
WashU
Dartmouth
Pomona College
Boston University
UVA
Brown
Williams College
Tufts



Do you have any additional info to share?
This is copied directly from my Common App application: After being diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of my junior year, I had to opt for Pass/Fail grades for most of my classes. I also had to ch
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What would you do differently if you were to redo the application cycle?
I would definitely apply to fewer schools. 22 was way too many, and 19 was still too many. I ended up applying to a lot of cool schools to fill out my 'safety' slots, but I really wasn't excited to go
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How did you build your college list?
So I knew I was applying to Stanford from the very beginning. I'm one of those kids where it's been my dream school since I was seven years old. I also had wanted to go to Vanderbilt as my second choi
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How did you manage the stress of the application season?
Honestly, I was in a total grindset the entire time where the anxiety and worry hit me full force after I pressed 'submit' for them all. Changing my mindset from "I need to be accepted at this school
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Who should read over your essays?
I would keep this number small. While different sets of eyes will help you find both technical errors and places lacking clarity, too many will result in the loss of your voice. This is one of the mos
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How did you choose your recommenders?
First of all, in general, I would not pick a freshman year or senior year teacher. I would also try to pick core class teachers, with obvious exceptions. I had a tough call for this. Covid hit halfwa
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Were you accepted anywhere without an interview, or with a poor interview?
I actually felt really bad about my Stanford interview. It was my first one and was very strange. My interviewer and I talked for almost two hours and had a whole part of our conversation be an "off-t
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How long did you spend on each essay?
Disclaimer: I have ADHD and Anxiety, so I probably spent more time than the average person would simply because of distractions and overthinking. I spent three months working on the version of my per
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What questions were you asked during your interviews?
I think it is really crucial to prepare for the "tell me about yourself" question. That one is basically a given and honestly the hardest one to answer. I was also, of course, asked why "insert school
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