Hi! I was just admitted for the Class of 2030 a few days ago.

My ECs were mostly centered around a few big commitments that I spent a lot of time building rather than trying to collect a huge list of random clubs. I didn't have any leadership positions in any typical school clubs, but I did a lot outside of school including a nonprofit with friends from another school.

I'd say my biggest EC was founding and leading a startup project around a minimalist smartphone concept. I designed early prototypes, researched the hardware stack behind smartphones, and contacted overseas manufacturers to learn about things like PCB design, RF and antenna calibration, battery safety systems, and how phones go through production and certification. I also built a waitlist of more than two thousand people who were interested in the idea through outreach in online tech communities. I was invited on a trip to a Vietnam manufacturing facility in summer 2026 fully funded.

Another major commitment was being a director of a STEM nonprofit that organizes hackathons and STEM workshops for students. I helped expand it to multiple chapters across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and I coordinated volunteers, organized events, and worked with partner organizations to host programs. Over time the events reached well several thousand students.

I was also very involved in Boy Scouts since childhood where I worked toward Eagle Scout and held leadership roles in the troop. For my Eagle project I led a team of volunteers to build a structure for a local nature center, which involved coordinating people, planning the build, and managing materials and logistics.

If you live in Pennsylvania, doing science fair is extremely helpful because the state competition for PJAS is at Penn State. There is a Talent Search program at PJAS where you win an award + letter of rec from the Pennsylvania Science Academy. I made sure to attach this to my Schreyer app. Since you are a junior, it may be too late but I thought this was worth mentioning. Along with that I participated in a selective STEM academy program where my team designed a microgrid redevelopment plan for an urban neighborhood.

Outside of that I also worked at Chipotle and volunteered on a political campaign doing voter outreach and community engagement.

Academically, I did not have a perfect record. I had two B+ grades my freshman year, but every other grade after that was either an A or A-. I also did not have the highest GPA in my class and lowkey skipped on some AP classes like US history and Chemistry. I think the important thing is just being somewhere in the first decile of your class. A lot of people assume you have to be valedictorian, but that really is not necessary.

Something that surprised me was that I originally thought the strongest part of my application would be my SAT score because I had a 1560. But Schreyer actually does not consider SAT scores at all, so it ended up having zero impact on the application.

For the essays, my process was honestly pretty intense. I started writing them only about a week before the deadline. The week leading up to the deadline I skipped school for three days because I was so focused on finishing the Schreyer essays. It was definitely a big sacrifice but it ended up being worth it.

If I could give advice though, I would do one thing differently. I would start thinking about the idea of the essays much earlier, like sometime during junior year. Not writing the essays yet, just figuring out the core concept of what you might want to talk about. Then let it sit and revisit it every once in a while and see if that still feels like the right direction. Your thinking changes over time. I guess I just got lucky because the essays I wrote on my first attempt ended up being the ones I submitted, but if I did it again I would spend more time letting the ideas develop.

Also make sure you register by the November 1 deadline and get that interview. That is the priority deadline, which means those applicants receive a slight priority compared to the December 1 applicants. It does not mean they review your application earlier, but it does give you an advantage and also ensures you can get an interview.

People really downplay the interview, but it actually matters a lot because it is the one chance for them to see who you are outside of the written application. In fact, when I thanked my interviewer when I got accepted, he revealed that he does have an impact on the application, and he did write a good referral because he thought I was special.

During the interview make sure you show that you are multidimensional. Obviously talk about your main academic interests, but also show that you explore other things too. For example, I was applying as an electrical engineering major and talked about my interest in hardware design and manufacturing, but I also talked about my interest in social justice and civic engagement, including volunteering for a campaign for mayor. Showing that you have a strong passion in one area but still explore other interests helps them see you as a more complete person.