Asian male gets a few T50s, learns rejection is truly redirection.

I think I'm pretty dox-able so I'm keeping stuff vague.

Demographics: Middle-Class Korean Male from East Coast

Intended major(s): Math + English

Academics:

• SAT: 1580
• UW/W GPA: 4.0/4.83
• Coursework: 24ish APs + Dual enrollments
• Awards: 1. Prestigious Social Award (Yes IK this is super vague lol), 2. USAJMO, 3. Scholastic Gold and Silver Keys, 4. and 5. HMMT and Local Math Comps

Extracurriculars:

1. Vice-President of international science non-profit helping make science accessible.
2. President of school math team
3. Activity related to social award (linked to teaching science in classrooms)
4. Independent research (peer-reviewed published paper) from math summer program
5. Research project (peer-reviewed published paper) working with HYPSM (got it after presenting research above)
6. Intern [Unpaid :(] at company related to social issue
7. VP of school robotics
8. Sport Co-Captain (high school-affiliated but not official IE volleyball, badminton, pickleball, etc)
9. Competitive Eating (Recent, just did one competition lol just put it bcs I hope to do more).
10. I can't remember the tenth and I'm too lazy to check.

Results:

REA/EA:

Princeton: >!Reject (Was p sad as I expected at least a deferral)!<

UChicago: >!Defer --> Reject!<

3 State/nearby-state Schools: >!Accept + $$$!<

UMichigan: >!Defer --> Accept!<

RD:

Accept***:***

!UCSB!<

!UCSD!<

!One of Amherst/Swarthmore/Pomona (Sibling Legacy)!<

!Wash U!<

!UCLA!<

!Columbia!<

!UPenn!<

!Brown!<

!Cornell (with likely!!!)!<

!Yale (with likely!!!)!<

!Stanford!<

Waitlist:

!UCI!<

!UC Berkeley!<

!Dartmouth!<

!Harvard!<

Rejection:

!MIT!<

Reflections:

I am beyond grateful for my results and want to first clarify that this is purely to inform, not flex.

My #1 piece of advice is to do what you like. I remember scoffing at the MIT applying sideways post, but you can genuinely only find motivation to do stuff in the long run if you genuinely enjoy it. I got completely burnt out of math my freshman year itself as I'd been pushed into it from Elementary and Middle School. I still drifted through competitions my sophomore year but just shut down my junior year, and I genuinely thought I'd never enjoy the subject again. Reading, writing and getting a social life legitimately saved me and I'm only now in the past few months enjoying math again.

There is soo much fun to have in high school and I'm only now pushing the bounds, seeing what's out there, and enjoying myself; and I encourage everyone who doesn't--underclassmen or upper--to do the same.
To all those out there who regret pushing so hard because they "sacrificed their time in high school," I completely understand your frustration, but at the same time, it's not too late. In just a short time I have come sooo much further socially than I ever thought I could and I really hope the same happens to everyone feeling down; if not now, then in college. We don't have to continue this cycle of overworking ourselves --> burning out --> refusing to acknowledge the burnout- -> realizing we're burnt out --> complaining about the burnout --> taking on more work to avoid feeling like a failure --> etc. It's not worth it to join that extra club or fight for that internship, please just take some time for yourself: hanging out with friends, or going to the gym, or reading, or baking, or whatever makes you happy.

I'm sorry if this is coming out extra-preachy lol, but I'm writing as if to my past self. I don't mean to claim I'm an authority on anything, merely someone who has been through the rat-race and now believes he has gained consciousness around it.

Regarding college apps themselves, please please please don't neglect essays. I think I was a pretty rounded applicant regarding essays vs stats, but I saw in my peers a very strong positive correlation between time spent on essays and results, possibly even stronger than the stats/ecs and results correlation. Colleges are admitting humans, not academic pokemons at the end of the day.

Good luck to all the underclassmen and congrats to all the seniors! Here is my favorite phrase here: Per aspera ad astra.