My Background Information

Hello! I am Ahsen and I am from Turkey. I am coming from a public school in Istanbul. Since I was a child, I have always wanted to reach my full potential, and the United States would be the best place for me to achieve this. I was never serious about getting in, but in 11th grade, I registered for AP exams and officially started my application journey!

My Stats When Applying to Colleges

• SAT: 1410 with superscore, but admitted with test-optional

• AP: 4 on Calc AB, 3 on Calc BC. ( I also got 2 other APs, but I deleted my score. You should definitely get a tutor if you are someone who leaves everything to the last minute.)

• IELTS: 7.0

• GPA: 92/100

My Extracurricular Activities

My School Club Related Activities

I was the president of our environmental-social awareness and chess club. I think volunteering activities play a big role in admissions. We organized fundraising bazaars, collected good amounts of clothes and books. In chess, it was a new tradition, and with my team, we won the school’s first trophy. Attended multiple tournaments and also organized them in school.

My STEM-Related Activities

 I had a 3-week internship experience mostly about nanomaterials and sustainable aviation. 

We coordinated a STEM workshop at our school and had 60 attendees from other schools.

I completed multiple courses about coding (like Girls Who Code), and my peers planned a blog, where I served as a writing director.

My Music-Related Activities

Even though I was a beginner, I thought it would be cool to compose, so I released 6 of my classical pieces on Spotify and reached 45k+ listens in total.

My Honors

• Outstanding Success in “Introduction to Computer Engineering” and “Introduction to Quantum Physics” from Kadir Has University Summer School.

• Best Delegate Award from a Spanish MUN training conference.

• Various chess awards

In My High School Journey

• The Things I’m Glad I Did

   1. I made a good network.

   2. I never gave up and tried all of the possibilities.

• The Things I Wish I Hadn’t

  1. Had never procrastinated.

  2. Had an advisor.

   3. Had deleted social media while studying for the SAT.

How I Structured My Application Process

I am a procrastinator, and that made me quite depressed about the application process. I started getting excited mid-summer, but ended up writing my supplemental essays on the deadline day. So it didn’t take a lot of time, yet it took a lot from my mental haha!

Resources that I Used In the Applıcation Process

I didn’t have an advisor, which you should if you are like me. I thought it would be a waste of money, and the fact that some of them didn’t know as much as I did. But in the end, you will need help.

Additional Fees In the Application Process

I didn’t pay any application fee for the US universities, yet there were CSS profile fees. Which cost me around 400$. As you can understand from the number, I applied to many universities, which you SHOULDN’T if you are qualified enough. Unfortunately, I wasn’t.

Why I Choose Whitman

I got accepted into the University of South Florida, Hofstra University, Genoa University, Politecnico di Torino University, KU Leuven, and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. All of these universities have a reputation, but some things are more important than only prestige. You should consider all of your options, no matter what, even if you think something like “Oh, but this school has a high acceptance rate.” Trust me, you should both consider your happiness and future. I knew I couldn’t accommodate engineering in Europe. So review your considerations carefully. Maybe liberal arts is not something you are into; that's understandable:)

Why I Chose the US Over Europe

To be honest, I was really undecided once I got the options from Europe. I talked with people, asked about their experiences, and searched for job opportunities after graduation. I can suggest to you that you should never be scared of asking someone anything if there is a possibility that you are going to learn something from them. I even asked my past teachers and sent connections to strangers on LinkedIn. Eventually, I knew what I wanted from a college experience and made my choice with the USA. 

My Financial Aid Package

I received a need-based plus music scholarship from Whitman College. These cover my tuition and the majority of my living expenses. Whitman offers to fill out the ISAFA instead of the CSS profile, so I only filled it out and applied for a music scholarship.

How I Successfully Rejected My Rejection Decision

Weeks before getting rejected from Whitman, a professor from there emailed me and introduced him and the school’s opportunities. So, when I opened my decision when the time came, I was traumatized :D I thought there was nothing to do, but I knew there was something called “appealing your decision”. I would always think, no way, it is quite embarrassing to send, but I sent one to the admissions office a couple of days later. After some time, they reviewed my application again and let me know that I was waitlisted!!!! I had 3 other waitlists, so I never thought I would get accepted, but in mid-April, I got an email, and my life changed.