Yale University

Yale University: Filippo Fonseca

Podcast Transcript

Transcript organized for clarity and readability

Attendees:
Filippo Fonseca, Ashish Bhargava

Ashish Bhargava:
Welcome to GoodGoblin's podcast focused on US college admissions where we talk to exceptional high schoolers who have had a very successful admission season. Today, we are talking to Filippo. Welcome.

Filippo Fonseca:
Thank you so much. It's an honor to be here.

Ashish Bhargava:
Filippo, would you please introduce yourself to our audience?

Filippo Fonseca:
Absolutely. Hi, I'm 17. I'm from Italy but I live in Costa Rica and excited to share the insights that I gained from the entire college application journey which can be a bit daunting for sure. And I know it certainly was for me.

Ashish Bhargava:
Awesome. So to get started, I know you mentioned where you're from and where you live. Could you share a little bit more about your background and what drives your passion for learning, Filippo?

Filippo Fonseca:
Absolutely. So my entire scope that I sort of framed myself for college, but just my life in general, was engineering. Making, the love of as cliche as it may sound, constructing tools that genuinely make a difference in people's lives, whether it's an incredibly niche aspect of their lives or something with greater repercussions right in a positive note. And so yes, that's essentially what drove my entire high school career from my extracurriculars to my mindset when it came to the essays. Perhaps later we can go into more detail, but that was essentially the idea. I took that general notion of wanting to build things that genuinely help people in some capacity and sort of framed myself into a person that was able to cover a lot of those areas and not necessarily just for college applications. It was just because I wanted to do that, but it was a nice sort of positive side effect if you will.

Ashish Bhargava:
So Filippo, jumping into the college admissions, I know you mentioned it and I know the audience would love to hear more. Maybe you could get started with how many colleges did you apply to and what was your strategy behind your choices?

Filippo Fonseca:
Excellent question. So my strategy is a bit peculiar. I went into it with the mentality, at least for the US colleges, that I wasn't going to apply to any safety or more target schools. The reasoning for that was very specific to my case. I actually don't recommend it because I'd already gotten into a few universities in Europe that are less holistic. It's more purely based on grades. I knew I met their offers so I could just full send it with the US and apply to as many top schools as possible knowing that I had a good chance, but at the same time, I had a backup in Europe. So that was my idea. I applied to, I think it was 19 in total, 13 in the US, five in the UK, and one in the Netherlands as well.

Ashish Bhargava:
That's fantastic. By the way, a side note Filippo, have you had a chance to look at GoodGoblin?

Filippo Fonseca:
Yes, I have briefly.

Ashish Bhargava:
Because a lot of things that you're mentioning, it's what we do now programmatically, right? So basically everything that you did on Google Sheets is now on the platform so you can quickly create a list and do everything.

Filippo Fonseca:
Absolutely. You must have a structured plan and strategy and really make sure you're just on top of things. What I did was have a Google Sheet that listed how many essays per college, my progress per essay, etc. I treated it like a game. I saw it more so as I am a scientist and this is my experiment. Let me tinker with it and see what happens and I'll keep iterating until I'm able to go to the college that will make me happy.

Ashish Bhargava:
That's fantastic. Thank you, that was a really good answer. So you mentioned Harvard. How many colleges accepted you, given that you focused on reach schools?

Filippo Fonseca:
Let's see here. Out of the 13 that I applied to in the US, I got into Yale, Columbia, Brown, Vanderbilt, and Rice. So I got into five out of the 13 in the US.

Ashish Bhargava:
That's fantastic. Congratulations on Yale. Would you mind sharing just your stats? Right, because you got into some exceptionally good schools. And I'm sure folks are trying to connect the dots. Obviously, there's an aspect of extracurricular activities but also hard facts. So it would be great if you could share, as comfortable as you are, your scores and how you prepared for getting those scores.

Filippo Fonseca:
Absolutely. I'll break this down into chunks. Instead of the traditional AP classes that people take, I took the IB diploma because I'm an international student. I'm sure people are familiar with it. It's similar to the UK's A-levels, but at the same time similar to AP classes. The classes I took at a higher level were computer science HL and English HL, and at standard level, I took economics and Spanish. The IB is a two-year program at the end of high school that's known to be quite intensive. My admissions officer from Yale said that one of the contributing factors to my acceptance was the fact that I really challenged myself throughout high school by taking the hardest classes possible. Going back to the stats, I got predicted 45 out of 45, which is the max score.

Regarding standardized test scores, I have a love-hate relationship with the SAT because I started off terribly. I got a 1250 on the PSAT. My fall semester of junior year and then I SAT for the first time in March of junior year and I got a 1470. I realized that wasn't up to par for the schools I wanted to go to. I took the SAT again in June and got a 1470. Then, in December, two weeks before the regular decision deadlines, I finally got a 790 in math and a 770 in reading/writing, resulting in a super score of 1560. That score helped me a lot. It's important to maximize your score because the SAT is about test strategy, pacing, and managing nerves on test day. My tip would be to practice as many past papers as possible and focus on your weak areas.

Ashish Bhargava:
Thank you so much for sharing. One of the things that a lot of students who are looking at Ivy League schools often ask is how did you manage your time between running startups, keeping up with schoolwork, and participating in extracurricular activities?

Filippo Fonseca:
That's a great question. I used a system called time blocking where I allocated specific portions of my day to specific tasks or groups of tasks. For example, I would dedicate four to seven PM Monday through Thursday to studying physics or math. During the college application season, I blocked time for essay writing and other application tasks. I also trained for marathons and an Ironman 7.3, so I blocked time for those activities as well. Having a structured but flexible system allowed me to manage my time effectively and ensure I had time for both work and fun activities.

Ashish Bhargava:

You mentioned coding and semicolons in a Docker container. Do you think coding is a must-have skill for all engineering applicants regardless of their focus?

Filippo Fonseca:
From my biased perspective, yes. Whether you're a multidisciplinary engineer or focused on software, electrical, mechanical, or mechatronics engineering, coding is imperative. Even in fields like chemical engineering or civil engineering, coding can be useful. For example, you can model protein structures through algorithmic representations in bioengineering. Coding skills can optimize projects, make them more impressive, and provide tangible results for college applications. It's a very valuable skill and is becoming essential in many fields.

Ashish Bhargava:
That's one of the things we have seen. We have a robust blog series and one of the most popular topics is sample essays. How did you approach your common application essay and what did you write about?

Filippo Fonseca:
I think it's important to start early and stay true to yourself. The Common App prompts are more or less the same every year, so you can get a workable draft before senior year. The way you sell yourself is through storytelling. You have to become a master storyteller of your life. Practice writing essays and get feedback from others. Demonstrate your impact through numbers and concise frameworks. For my Common App essay, I made a list of five to six of the most important and story-worthy areas of my life. I crafted a narrative that set the tone for my other essays. I highlighted my passion for engineering and entrepreneurship, my curiosity, and my commitment to helping others through my projects.

Ashish Bhargava:
That's a great answer. When you applied to 20 schools, how did you approach getting intimate details about each college to include in your essays?

Filippo Fonseca:
That's a very overlooked part of the college application process. I tried to talk to at least one student or alumni from each school I applied to. I also watched day-in-the-life videos, read books, and explored the schools' websites and promotional materials. It's important to start early and gather as much information as possible. I conveyed my curiosity and passion for learning in my essays, which helped me connect with the schools' values and cultures. Even if you can't visit every school, there are many ways to get to know them and show your genuine interest.

Ashish Bhargava:
Thank you so much, Filippo, for taking us through your application journey. Is there anything else you would like to share that you feel would be helpful to our audience?

Filippo Fonseca:
Enjoy the process. It goes by quickly. Treat it seriously but have fun and don't get overly stuck on the end result. Dedicate yourself to your craft and realize that you're doing it for yourself. That mindset will impress college admissions officers. Enjoy the journey.

Ashish Bhargava:
That's awesome. Thank you so much, Filippo. We appreciate your time and insights. Good luck at Yale and beyond. Please come back and share your experiences with us.

Filippo Fonseca:
Thank you so much for inviting me. It was a pleasure to chat and you had great questions. Have a great day. Talk to you soon. Bye.