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If you don't mind stating as a matter of transparency, would you be willing to provide some statistics w.r.t to your application? In particular, maybe possibly

If you don't mind stating as a matter of transparency, would you be willing to provide some statistics w.r.t to your application? In particular, maybe possibly your high school GPA and SAT/ACT scores. As an Asian American, I logically understand that there is discrimination applied towards us, yet for myself and among my peer group, I feel like we really didn't experience too many difficulties. I imagine my perspective is probably biased, as in California, the public UC system doesn't practice affirmative action, of which my university is a part of.

_wt8k 7y ago
Okay, I just checked my Northeastern application submission: GPA: 5.46/5 weighted SAT Reading and Writing: 790 SAT Math: 790 SAT Essay: 19 SAT Math II: 800 SAT Chemistry: 800 P.S: As for California, you're not going to like this: https://felleisen.org/matthias/Articles/loyalty.pdf https://felleisen.org/matthias/Articles/loyalty.pdf In order to advance in academia in the UCs, you have to sign a loyalty oath supporting affirmative action!
- lawrenceyan 7y ago
  Accounting for some minor differences in scaling (my high school GPA was weighted on a 4.0 scale and SAT scores were out of 2400 when I took them), my stats are very similar to yours. I'm surprised honestly that you didn't get into better schools.
  - _wt8k 7y ago
    I got rejected from Cornell, CMU, and UPenn, which are extremely competitive schools to be fair. But other people in my grade did get into Cornell. (I do not know whether anyone got into CMU or UPenn.) I got waitlisted from Georgia Tech and UChicago, but they weren't top choices for me, so I don't mind. Full disclosure: My ECs were weaker. I really liked my essay, but my mom claims that it gave a negative message that I didn't do much in school. I wrote about how in the past, I didn't care so much about high school and was looking forward to going to college so I could do PL theory, but after watching a heartfelt anime called K-On, I realized how special high school was, and joined a club and made new closer friends there. By the way, thank you HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18787851 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18787851 and may KyoAni (the anime studio that made K-On) recover from the massacre last year.
    - lawrenceyan 7y ago
      Given our scores are relatively similar with some inevitable variance attributed to our essays (personally I think your essay topic choice was totally fine and might have even helped you with its uniqueness), perhaps this acts as supporting evidence towards the potential benefits of abolishing affirmative action on a more comprehensive scale. An income-based affirmative action would be far more effective in my opinion, as opposed to affirmative action based on ethnicity, which to me just seems like a proxy for socioeconomic status that is objectively worse in its attempts at representation.
      - csa 7y ago
        > An income-based affirmative action would be far more effective in my opinion, as opposed to affirmative action based on ethnicity, which to me just seems like a proxy for socioeconomic status that is objectively worse in its attempts at representation. I completely agree with this. One of the challenges is that income can be gamed, but I think that this can probably be worked around somehow. Edit: Maybe the UC implementation would work? > UC may choose to advance goals like diversity and equal opportunity using a broad range of admissions that are not based on an individual’s race or gender. For example, holistic review in admissions considers income level, first-generation status, neighborhood circumstances, disadvantages overcome, low-performing secondary school attended, and the impact of an applicant’s background on academic achievement.
        deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
        lawrenceyan 7y ago
        I agree. I think > income level, first-generation status, neighborhood circumstances, disadvantages overcome, low-performing secondary school attended, and the impact of an applicant’s background on academic achievement are probably the best possible set of signaling factors in determining whether a person has the ability to overcome adversity.
    - dnautics 7y ago
  - Paul-ish 7y ago
    I think colleges have been getting more competitive.
- csa 7y ago
  Thank you for posting these publicly. Note that they are very good, and they are competitive for the schools you applied to. That said, they are also not that uncommon for some of the schools you applied to. The grandparent post did not ask for (imho) the important thing. Namely, what is something significant you have done on a regional, national, or international scale? This can be academic, artistic, athletic, or whatever. Note that this is not a requirement for admission to any of these schools, but it really helps a lot -- it serves as the one thing that sets you apart when you are not a recruited athlete or an applicant with the right social capital (e.g., come from a powerful and known family)... assuming that you don't fall into these categories. Also note that many (most?) applicants from a variety of backgrounds (white, Asian... actually pretty much everyone) with "almost perfect scores and GPA" fall into the category of whiffing on this front.
- jmastrangelo 7y ago
  Haha, hello fellow Northeastern student and disciple of Matthias! Lots of interesting things to read on his page.

_wt8k 7y ago

Okay, I just checked my Northeastern application submission: GPA: 5.46/5 weighted SAT Reading and Writing: 790 SAT Math: 790 SAT Essay: 19 SAT Math II: 800 SAT Chemistry: 800 P.S: As for California, you're not going to like this: https://felleisen.org/matthias/Articles/loyalty.pdf https://felleisen.org/matthias/Articles/loyalty.pdf In order to advance in academia in the UCs, you have to sign a loyalty oath supporting affirmative action!

lawrenceyan 7y ago
Accounting for some minor differences in scaling (my high school GPA was weighted on a 4.0 scale and SAT scores were out of 2400 when I took them), my stats are very similar to yours. I'm surprised honestly that you didn't get into better schools.
- _wt8k 7y ago
  I got rejected from Cornell, CMU, and UPenn, which are extremely competitive schools to be fair. But other people in my grade did get into Cornell. (I do not know whether anyone got into CMU or UPenn.) I got waitlisted from Georgia Tech and UChicago, but they weren't top choices for me, so I don't mind. Full disclosure: My ECs were weaker. I really liked my essay, but my mom claims that it gave a negative message that I didn't do much in school. I wrote about how in the past, I didn't care so much about high school and was looking forward to going to college so I could do PL theory, but after watching a heartfelt anime called K-On, I realized how special high school was, and joined a club and made new closer friends there. By the way, thank you HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18787851 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18787851 and may KyoAni (the anime studio that made K-On) recover from the massacre last year.
  - lawrenceyan 7y ago
    Given our scores are relatively similar with some inevitable variance attributed to our essays (personally I think your essay topic choice was totally fine and might have even helped you with its uniqueness), perhaps this acts as supporting evidence towards the potential benefits of abolishing affirmative action on a more comprehensive scale. An income-based affirmative action would be far more effective in my opinion, as opposed to affirmative action based on ethnicity, which to me just seems like a proxy for socioeconomic status that is objectively worse in its attempts at representation.
    - csa 7y ago
      > An income-based affirmative action would be far more effective in my opinion, as opposed to affirmative action based on ethnicity, which to me just seems like a proxy for socioeconomic status that is objectively worse in its attempts at representation. I completely agree with this. One of the challenges is that income can be gamed, but I think that this can probably be worked around somehow. Edit: Maybe the UC implementation would work? > UC may choose to advance goals like diversity and equal opportunity using a broad range of admissions that are not based on an individual’s race or gender. For example, holistic review in admissions considers income level, first-generation status, neighborhood circumstances, disadvantages overcome, low-performing secondary school attended, and the impact of an applicant’s background on academic achievement.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
      - lawrenceyan 7y ago
        I agree. I think > income level, first-generation status, neighborhood circumstances, disadvantages overcome, low-performing secondary school attended, and the impact of an applicant’s background on academic achievement are probably the best possible set of signaling factors in determining whether a person has the ability to overcome adversity.
  - dnautics 7y ago
- Paul-ish 7y ago
  I think colleges have been getting more competitive.
csa 7y ago
Thank you for posting these publicly. Note that they are very good, and they are competitive for the schools you applied to. That said, they are also not that uncommon for some of the schools you applied to. The grandparent post did not ask for (imho) the important thing. Namely, what is something significant you have done on a regional, national, or international scale? This can be academic, artistic, athletic, or whatever. Note that this is not a requirement for admission to any of these schools, but it really helps a lot -- it serves as the one thing that sets you apart when you are not a recruited athlete or an applicant with the right social capital (e.g., come from a powerful and known family)... assuming that you don't fall into these categories. Also note that many (most?) applicants from a variety of backgrounds (white, Asian... actually pretty much everyone) with "almost perfect scores and GPA" fall into the category of whiffing on this front.
jmastrangelo 7y ago
Haha, hello fellow Northeastern student and disciple of Matthias! Lots of interesting things to read on his page.