u/liahp0808

Hello. I am a rising high school senior that is navigating the college application process without much external advice/help. With that said, I've had a few questions about my profile and a few other things that pertain to WP. My FFR has been really helpful, but the more help the merrier.

1. I have a very unconventional profile in that it's very heavily based in the humanities. Leadership wise, I have 5 very solid positions that involve leading others + real impact, but it's not what you would normally see eg. varsity sport captain, student council president. What would be the best way to express my activities in the nom packet?

2. I did not do a sport throughout high school. This was something I have discussed at length with my FFR, and there's kind of a long story to this. TLDR: did a sport for 11 years (pre-professional level), quit before high school for personal reasons, maintained a athletic/active lifestyle, and will be joining cross-country in the fall (in her words: anything is better than nothing). If you have more advice/unconventional wisdom, please help out.

3. I have a very solid why/reasoning for why I want to attend. However, the current political situation... is not very... stable (?) and I was wondering how that is reflected at WP. As a minority (gender + race), how strongly should I be weighing this into my decision?

I would appreciate any help/advice/anything. Thank you so much!

Academics:

3.8 UW

4.3: W

Accelerated IBDP, finished the program this year, got a 30+ score

HL: A&I Math, Lang Lit, History, Business Management

SL: Bio, French

GPA explanation: one C in IB physics SL 2nd semester soph, one C in math 1st sem junior year. Had mental health issues, was struggling quite a bit. 2nd sem junior year, got my shit together, got good grades.

SAT: 1500+

Profile:

Asian-American

GOOD public school (T5 in state)

~30K in aid, upper middle class

Intended major: Literature/English, later double major with Poli Sci (pre-law)

ED: Columbia... (hopes are too high)

ECs:

1. Director/Owner of NPO -> writing, expanded to 4 states, professors from T20s (Harvard, Princeton, USC, Yale), $1000+ grants to use

2. EIC of the school newspaper -> leadership all 4 years, 2nd year as the EIC. Grants, print copies, workshops

3. Advocacy program at the local animal shelter head leader-> curriculum for 60+ teens, helped organize individual fundraisers + projects, lectures on the legislative process

4. Heritage Language Program leader in district -> promotion + marketing, exposed culture to people, managed a smaller team of students

5. NOAA internship -> policy + communications

6. Poetry editor at a lit magazine

7. Internship at a local women's rights nonprofit -> writing + media

8. Paid internship at a green nonprofit -> worked with the USFS

9. Writing tutor -> korean immigrants on improving communication skills, created curriculum

10. Job... in retail... apparently colleges like that or smth?

Awards:

NYT Summer Writing Competition- Honorable Mention (20 received accolades out of 732 participants internationally)
NYT Tiny Memoir Writing Competition – Finalist (Top 20% internationally)
Shortlisted for John Locke 2025 (Top 16 percent internationally), got commendation, shortlisted 2026
PTSA Reflections Regional 1st Place Winner – Literature
Scholastic Arts and Writing Honorable Mention– Poetry

French le grand concours -> silver + bronze

Hello! I got the email to make a DoDMERB account a bit back, and in preparation for that I've been going to doctors and making sure that everything is well, in order. Apparently, everything is NOT in order and I need some advice on how to navigate this. On a relatively routine eye checkup, my doctor noticed that something was a bit off. For some context, I have never actually had "real" eye problems except for myopia (-4.00 and -4.5), which was well within DoDMERB limits (I do not want to be a pilot).

Apparently, I have either had/developed binocular diplopia in my right eye, and at a relatively severe magnitude. This is basically when I look at things from afar, my right eye rotates inward, so I get some mild blurriness/double vision. It goes past the DoDMERB requirements of 15 prisms to 18 prism whatever it is, and I'm visiting a specialist within the next two weeks. Good news is, this is treatable and getting prism glasses will eventually fix this. Bad news is, this is a automatic dq and that's just something I really didn't want to face. Any advice for getting through the eventual dq and waiver process as smooth as possible?