This student had a 3.88 unweighted GPA and completed 38 A-G courses. He completed AP Calculus BC in his junior year. However, rather than settling for just AP Statistics his senior year, he doubled down on math by taking higher Linear Algebra, at a community college upon my recommendation. This boosted the rigor of his senior schedule and demonstrated his mastery of the subject, which helped him stand out. Additionally, he was heavily involved in his school marching band, holding the positions of field conductor and drum major and winning multiple first place awards at regional tournaments in Fairfield and Cupertino. He also earned the rank of Eagle Scout and used his passion for technology to implement a QR code system for a local library. Finally, he used his programming knowledge to create an app that is a rage room simulation to help users destress; this app was downloaded in 10 countries. He was admitted to UC Berkeley for Computer Science, UC Irvine for Software Engineering, and UC Davis for Data Science.

This student had a 4.41 weighted GPA and a 4.67 10-12 weighted A-G GPA. She completed 38 A-G courses between 9th and 11th grade. She also completed and earned A’s in five community college courses in various subjects, such as political science, humanities, and philosophy. Her SAT score was 1550 (770 English/780 math), and she had five AP scores (four 5s and one 4). Furthermore, she was a co-founder of a nonprofit organization in addition to holding the positions of President and Vice President in several school clubs. Even though she did not intend on pursuing STEM, she took place in the Diamond Challenge and designed a healthcare app. She was accepted to both UCLA, where she had applied to international development studies, and UC Berkeley, where she had applied to Political Science.

This student had a 4.53 weighted GPA and was a part of the IB program at her high school. She held several leadership positions in addition to more than 150 hours shadowing a midwife. She was unable to earn a strong enough SAT/ACT score for her reach schools. As a result, rather than submitting her test scores to all schools, she only sent them to ones where her score ranked in the top 50% of admitted students. For reach schools, she applied test blind. The strengths of her essays and extracurriculars, coupled with her passion for helping others, which was the theme of her application, led to her acceptance at Boston College, UC Irvine, and the University of Pennsylvania.