chance greasy mena basement dweller

  • Gender: Female
  • Ethnicity: Middle-Eastern
  • Residence: United States, CA
  • Income Bracket: 20k
  • School Type: Public Online High School
  • Interesting stuff about me?: Applying QuestBridge RD. Have a twin sibling, "school" is not really school, attend class 2 days for 2 hours out of the week. I'm submitting my SAT in hopes that it shows my potential and that despite limited schooling and resources I'm able to succeed. My essays were all reviewed by my Matchlighters counselor.

Academics:

  • GPA: 3.97 UW / 4.2 W
  • Rank: Top 15%, 4/28
  • SAT: 1460, 760RW/700M
  • Rigor: School has no APs. Took 8 honors, I'm taking over 12 dual enrollment classes and graduating with an associate's for transfer.
  • Extenuating circumstances: Crippling poverty the entirety of high school (<30k, living on government benefits). Going to online high school, can't afford gas & car mileage is dookie.
  • Hopeful major: Neuroscience, astrophysics, astronomy
  • Awards: Questbridge College Prep Scholar, Questbridge National College Match Finalist, [REDACTED] Editor's Choice Prose, National High School Poetry Contest Topical Winner, Top 500 in Pokemon Showdown (Random Battles), Top 0.05% TypeRacer, VALORANT Premiere Beta Champion. Yes, I did put all of those.

Extracurriculars:

  1. Summer Programs
    • Girls Who Code (RTX/Raytheon). 2-week program where I learned coding fundamentals.
    • DemocraShe, 3-month program learning advocacy skills and contacting government officials to practice civil responsibility.
    • Stanford SPINWIP. I'm really sad about this, accepted but forgot to sign waiver form. I read through the work asynchronously and worked on it.
  2. Extracurriculars (only 5 slots for QB)
    • County Student Advisory Panel: Was the representative for my school. Created presentations about lack of awareness on Chronic Diseases in the city and in schools.
    • Tutoring/Church: Tutoring kids from my school, was paid. Helped create class curriculum (patristics), set festivals and handle food at church.
    • Low-Income Discord: 900 members, making Excel sheets of resources, reviewing college essays, sharing advice, etc.
    • Poetry/Prose Writing: Write and submit work to journals/contests, publish work online. Over 50,000 clicks.
    • Language Learning: Learning to speak, read, write in Arabic. Used to be my native tongue, but forgot it as I moved to the US.
  3. Family Responsibilities
    • I'm responsible for making lunch every day for the family and cook dinner on some days. I do the laundry every week at the laundry room by our apartment complex. I manage grocery expenses and compare prices of groceries.

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School List

California State University, Fullerton (Accepted, Electrical Engineering)

California State University, San Bernardino (Accepted, Physics)

Amherst College

Bowdoin College

Carleton College

Colby College

Cornell University

Duke University

Johns Hopkins University

Pomona College

Princeton University

Rice University

Stanford University

Swarthmore College

Tufts University

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Irvine

University of California, Los Angeles

University of Southern California

Vanderbilt University

Williams College

Yale University

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Am I delusional? Yes. But I need good aid, my family is struggling financially now. I have a twin that'll be in college as well. Paying for two kids in college at the same time with no savings and retirement is insane. That's why I'm willing to shotgun, I've been dealt a bad hand in life, but I refuse to let that stop me.