How this student got into multiple top schools

Ivy League. A group of the oldest colleges whose names are tied to prestige, higher education, and social mobility. And now, our very own William Gabe Espiritu has been accepted to multiple ivy league colleges, not just one.

Describe yourself in one word.

Ambitious

What colleges did you get accepted at?

• SJSU

• CSU East Bay

• CSU Humboldt

• UC Santa Cruz

• UC Irvine

• UC Los Angeles

• UC Berkeley

• Brown University

• The University of Pennsylvania

• Duke University

• The University of Southern California

• Santa Clara University

• Baylor University

• St. Louis University

What was your weighted and unweighted GPA?

Unweighted: 4.0, Weighted: 4.33

How many AP Classes did you take, and what were your scores?

AP Computer Science Principles (5), AP World History (5), AP US History (5), AP English Language & Composition (4), AP Chemistry (5), AP Calculus AB (5)

This year: AP US Government, AP Calculus BC, AP English Literature, AP Biology 

Did you take any dual enrollment classes at KSJC or at a community college?

EVC: Human Biology (A), Elementary Statistics (A), Psychology 101 (A)

What were your ACT and/or SAT scores, and how much time did you spend on studying?

ACT: 34 superscore (36 Math, 36 Science, 35 English, 29 Reading)

SAT: 1530 superscore (740 English, 790 Math)

He only submitted his SAT because of his ACT subscores; he didn't want colleges to see his weak spots in reading.

What were your main extracurriculars, and how much time did you spend on them?

The thing that William emphasized the most was his time in the Stanford Institutes of Medical Research Summer Program (SIMR), an internship that he participated in his junior year.

“I basically emphasized why research and how I did it. At SIMR, I researched stem cells and chemically manipulated them. And what I did was I emphasized a lot of what I learned and also what I did. I emphasized that I worked 40 hours a week. Doing research. I used like, a lot of acronyms too.”

Further, William also had a keen interest in fitness, going to the gym all 4 years of high school and founding the school’s first weightlifting club. When asked, he said that he put his personal gym time and weightlifting club as 2 separate things.

“...other than SIMR, it was a lot of gym stuff. I put [it] as my hobby. And it was the 2nd most important activity. It was ahead of my weightlifting club”

On gym: “So, yeah, I basically talked about my own achievements, but I also talked about how I brought in new people into the gym and how they went on to go to the gym regularly and bring their friends in regularly”

On weightlifting club: “I really didn't do anything too crazy in that club, so I had to really think about what to include. But I basically talked about fundraising and how many members I helped.”

What awards (if any) did you put down in your application?

• Jessica Lynn Saal Fellowship Award for Exemplary Research and Performance (SIMR Award)

• AP Scholar with Distinction

• Honor roll Awards

• School Excellence

• Most Improved Player (Baseball)

What did you write your essay about and why?

While he saw his friends write about SIMR, he wanted to show his passion and commitment to the gym, especially since fitness was so impactful on his character growth all throughout his development during high school.

Quote from his essay: “My local 24 Hour Fitness fuels my growth on a metaphysical level. Hardwired to chase self-improvement, I find it difficult to settle into sedentary; I aim to continue dynamically improving myself and my peers.”

Who were your letter of recommenders and why?

Mr. A: he knew him since the start of junior year, and William demonstrated the academic prowess he displayed in AP Chem. He knew Mr. A could illustrate his academic capabilities and leadership in the classroom

Mr. Betancourt: he is the club advisor for Wolfprints; used as a way to include his impact demonstrated through his leadership in Wolfprints since there was no space to write about it in essays.

Lab PI: talked about his performance in program, interest in medial field, and how he would fare in the field. He wanted the letter to show how he is a capable student for a bio major.

What college are you committed to?

Committed to both UPenn and Duke;

UPenn: “it's like my dream school, but I'm kind of nervous at the aid and stuff” 

“and with Penn, I heard that they have grade deflation” 

“Penn's medical advising is stronger, though”

Duke: “... it's more affordable and, what's it called? grade inflation”

What’s your background (race, income, first-generation)?

“I'm a 1st generation immigrant. I'm like, I'm not a 1st generation college student. But my parents really don't know anything about the application process in US schools. For my race, I'm Filipino Asian. I think I'm pure Filipino. And I am lower middle income”

What’s your major and your interests/ future career aspirations?

William is interested in attending medical school in the future, and majoring in biology for both schools. He isn’t sure of what he wants to specialize in yet, hoping to make a decision in college.

“I think it's, like, one of those things I have to discover in college” 

How did you form your college list?

William had multiple factors on his mind while choosing his college list.

“I mainly formed it by its location, resources offered, community”

He also said that he would prefer private colleges over public.

“... the reason why I like private [schools] is because I get to be in a much closer [and] tight-knit community, and I can have better relationships with my professors and everything.”

“I really want to move out of state.” 

He also had to cut off other top schools since they weren't a fit for him.

“I value strong academic support and also research opportunities. Um, that's actually [the] main reason why I didn't apply to Cornell because someone in my lab actually said that Cornell had, like very bad lab facilities, which is something I didn't really like.”

INTERVIEWER:  “And then location, you said that you liked somewhere that's more close to nature. Is that why you chose UC Santa Cruz?”

 “That's like a part of it. Like, I do like nature, but I like, you know. I like other things, like an urban area, like a suburban area. So, for me, urban, rural, anything goes.” 

At the end of this question, he said how it’s important to have a found community at any college, or anywhere you go.

“But I think I know that I can find my own community that will suit me in every college.”

What do you think was your strongest part of your application?

William wanted us to “make sure to emphasize that [he] really got carried by SIMR”

Do you have any advice for choosing your recommendations?

“Be strategic”: choose recommenders that can each show a different aspect of your character

What was a barrier you faced during the application process, and how did you address it?

“I would say that I didn't really receive a lot of help from my parents, because they really didn't know a whole lot about the application process. So they couldn't give me any advice on how to apply and what I should do for my extracurriculars and everything.”

If you were to restart your high school career, what would you change?

“I would say to start earlier [and] try to find extracurriculars that lines up with your passions at an earlier time, mainly because I basically started all of my extracurriculars at the end of my sophomore year, beginning junior year, which added a lot of stress on my part. I knew that if I were to have started earlier, I definitely would have had more impact in my extracurriculars and also like my community and everything. I would [also] be less stressed during the application process”

What would you say to the people who are currently unsure about what they want to pursue, like freshmen or underclassmen?

“I was very lucky that I started the gym and everything early on, and how fitness made me really interested in the medical field. But the reason I started the gym in the first place was because I kind of just wanted to try it. In that same fashion, I would suggest, people who are really unsure on what they want to do when they [grow] up would be to try out everything. Try out every career, if possible, to see if you like it or not.”

Any final thoughts?

“Have fun in school, get healthy.”