JChen@wustl
JChen@wustl,
WashU
B.A., Biology, , Economics
I'll put U in WashU!
Features Included
11
Essays
20
Schools
15
Scores
5
Advice
8
ECs
1
Sports

Background

Hometown Shanghai, China
GenderMale
EthnicityAsian
AdmissionRegular Decision
Class of2020
English First Language No
Other Language(s) Spoken Mandarin

Results, Essays, and Advice

Accepted
Waitlisted or Withdrew
Denied
  • Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)
  • University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)
  • Emory University (Atlanta, GA)
  • Carleton College (Northfield, MN)
  • Colby College (Waterville, ME)
  • University of Colorado - Boulder (Boulder, CO)
  • Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)
  • Yale University (New Haven, CT)
  • Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH)
  • Brown University (Providence, RI)
  • Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)
  • Columbia University (New York, NY)
  • Stanford University (Stanford, CA)
  • University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
  • Duke University (Durham, NC)
  • Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)
  • Rice University (Houston, TX)
  • Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, NC)
  • University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor, MI)
  • Williams College (Williamstown, MA)
Tap/click a school logo above to view essays and advice specific to that school.

Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)

Applied for a B.A. in Biology

Accepted and Enrolled Legacy: No

School Specific Essays

School Specific Advice

More Essays

These essays haven't been tagged by school. Click school logos above to see tagged essays.

Personal Statement
497 Words
Athletic achievement
Blump. That’s the sound of a lethargic dive. First comes the immersion then comes the shock. The frigid water serves as a defibrillator shocking me to life. I inhale only to be reminded of Colorado mornings: the piercing 40 degree air. Only then am I awake enough to decipher the all too familiar surroundings. The sun still sleeps as my alarm blasts the lyrics to an old Taylor Swift song. I squint at the neon-green numbers flashing 4:55 AM. I give...
Read more...
Supplemental Essay Unique question posed by school
324 Words
Adapted for multiple schools (many of the Ivys): WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN, I fell in love. It wasn't your typical transient love for the girl in art class, but rather the profound love for Biology. I sulked my way through freshman US history eagerly anticipating what I would learn in Biology the next day. It was facinating how the minutest of enzymes can have a catastrophic effect. Take something as simple as a Carbon atom; if you switch the orientation...
Read more...
Supplemental Essay Unique question posed by school
483 Words
For University of N. Carolina @ Chapel Hill: The Inevitable Rain (TEDtalk) It’s strange how people regret all the things they can’t change: the thousands of deadly diseases they can’t cure, the millions of people starving in the world, and most of all the death of a loved one. I can still picture the polished white keys that produced the glorious harmony calling us to dinner, a humble approximation of Mozart’s Rondo alla Turca. I still remember...
Read more...
Supplemental Essay Diversity statement
530 Words
For University of Colorado Boulder (adapted for many more): Sometimes the most common questions are the ones we are the least prepared for. Something as simple as “What are your plans for the future?” could frighten the most fearless of people. I’m even willing to bet that it’s the single most asked question in conversation. It is inescapable on a date, unavoidable during an interview, and it is what every single adult defaults to when they first meet...
Read more...
Supplemental Essay “Why us” school essay
973 Words
How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago. For UChicago Prompt 2: Although “Dante forgot this level of hell,” this slogan very accurately reflects the weird, quirky, and creative people that made me fall in love with UChicago. I always wanted a Hogwarts-esque community; I wanted a second family, a family that...
Read more...
Supplemental Essay Unique question posed by school
660 Words
Can be used as Common App Essay: It was the blue swirls of the night sky and bright orange crescent of the moon; it was the mysterious wind patterns that haunted the night and the raging hills that tower over the land. There was neither special inscription made out to me nor any dog ears of touching words, but this was no ordinary book cover; this was no ordinary book. The cover was Van Gogh’s Starry Night, and the...
Read more...
Supplemental Essay Unique question posed by school
263 Words
For UChicago Optional: A little insight to my life outside academia… Welcome to my top 5 lists of my top 5 favorite “things”. Some might be explicit. Some might be vague. Some might be for you to interpret. Some might be for me to share…if you choose to accept me Taylor Swiftisms: 1. All Too Well 2. Starlight 3. Never Grow Up 4. Love Story 5. A Place In This World The Good in Deforestation: 1. The Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri) 2. Freakonomics (Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt) 3....
Read more...
Supplemental Essay Unique question posed by school
301 Words
Example of Adapted UChicago prompt 1 fro Williams College: The other student wouldn’t be Elon Musk or a reincarnated Leonhard Euler. It wouldn’t be any of the recognizable names we read about or see on television – not even Taylor Swift. It would be someone people outside my neighborhood never met; it would be my best friend: Vishnu Kodicherla. You see, after seven years of friendship, there still never a dull conversation, where even the most typical of subjects will...
Read more...
Supplemental Essay Unique question posed by school
355 Words
For Harvard: Dear future roommate, Hi! I guess I should tell you a little about myself seeing as we will spend the next eight months cramped together. But let me start out with a question: which whale are you? Now, I know what you’re thinking, but that wasn’t a typo. There are two emoticons of whales in your iPhone for a reason. So which one are you? Oh, the dilemma. Oh, the injustice. There are not only one...
Read more...
Supplemental Essay Unique question posed by school
665 Words
How are apples and oranges supposed to be compared? Possible answers involve, but are not limited to, statistics, chemistry, physics, linguistics, and philosophy. —Inspired by Florence Chan, Class of 2015. For UChicago prompt 1: Apples and oranges. Though they seem very different, they’re deceptively similar at the core. Comparing them is as easy as comparing theorems and wedding rings. A theorem. A theorem is something magical, something that permeates the beauty of mathematics. It is something that expresses the simplicity of...
Read more...
Additional Essay Details
73 Words
I adapted many of the essays I wrote for other schools. I used UChicago (apples & oranges) for Duke. Harvard for Stanford. It gets easier after 5 full length essays (or maybe you're not applying to as many schools as I were). Note that each school has a unique personality; they are looking for a specific type of person. The most notable example is UChicago, if you plan on applying there, write their essays first.
Read more...

General Admissions Advice

Most popular extracurricular activities at my college
30 Words
Anything relative to Pre-Med (shadowing doctors, volunteering at hospitals....
Read more...
How I chose schools to apply to
54 Words
I knew I wanted to go to a school that had prestige, and I'm sure many...
Read more...
Recommended summer activities during high school and college
99 Words
I think you're probably more interested in summer activities for high school. So if you want to get into a really good school, you need to show them you're committed...
Read more...
My advice about getting recommenders
58 Words
High School teachers are usually less picky about this. In college, some professors have strict requirements, but...
Read more...
What might make for a good “Why Us” essay topic at my school
102 Words
WashU has A LOT of pre-meds, and on the other side of Forest Park is our world class med school. So a genuine interest in Pre-health would be advisable. Similarly, WashU...
Read more...

High School Performance

Weighted GPA
4.40
 
Rank
Top 10%
 
High School TypePublic
College Classes In High School
Academic Performance in High School Low at first but improved
Explanation of Low Grades

Test Scores

Highest ACT
35
 
ACT Score Details
 
ACT Prep
Other Standardized Tests

AP / IB Classes and Scores

Details14 classes and scores

Sports

SportsSwimming/Diving

Extracurriculars

ActivitiesAmerican Red Cross, Athletics Organization, Model Congress / Model UN, National Honor Society, Nonprofit, NGO or Charitable Organization, Community Cleanup / Service, Hospital Volunteer, Chinese Club
Elaborate on Extracurriculars or Work

Experience & Awards

How Spent Summers
Volunteer Experiences
Awards Received

Similar Profiles

yujin2023
Brown


Accepted to Brown, Amherst, Duke, Emory, Santa Clara, USC, Pacific, Vanderbilt, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSB, UCSD, UC Davis, UC Irvine

Nature lover, STEM nerd. Will likely be late because of who I am as a person.
ssssnown
UC Berkeley


Accepted to UC Berkeley, NYU, UNC, UCLA, UCSD, Wisconsin

An egalitarian ready to live her life.
Jess_Williams1…
WashU


Accepted to WashU, Emory, Fordham, Florida

Profoundly deaf with cochlear implants; Pre-Med; innovated a Special Major in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
zookeeper
WashU


Accepted to WashU, Illinois, Northeastern, Case

Just finished my freshman year at WashU and will take a gap year to travel the world for a year before going back to college
denson.rebecca
WashU


Accepted to WashU, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Elon , UVA, Indiana

I am an undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis interested in a healthcare career.