Dispatch from Lincoln High: Science Enthusiast Accepted To Harvard University
Lincoln High School senior Elizabeth Peng says there is a stereotype that Lowell is the school to go to if you want to go to a top school but in the end is what you make out of your school experience.
Dispatch from Lincoln High is a series that features the reporting of journalism students at Lincoln High School and their student newspaper the Lincoln Log.
By Veronica Estefania Velazquez
Elizabeth Peng is a senior at Abraham Lincoln High School. Throughout her high school career, she has prepared to become an outstanding college candidate with the hopes of getting into the number one ranked school by Best Global Universities, Harvard University.
In middle school, Peng realized that her subject of interest is science, and she focused on developing a strong background of scientific knowledge.
She has taken AP Biology to further her knowledge and has also done work outside school that combines acts of service, health, and science at the Red Cross West Bay Youth Executive Board since sophomore year, she helped lead a “thank you” card drive for California firefighters.
During her junior year, Peng helped lead the “Missing Maps” initiative, where volunteers map rural buildings on geospatial data to lower the response time for emergency workers as they’re able to locate residential buildings better.
Over the years, Peng has made sure to take advantage of the available resources that she has found online.
“Look outside the classroom, do research, and find niche things to do during the summer. Many students don’t have siblings, so talk to friends and see what they do outside of the classroom,” advises Peng.
Peng attributes her confidence and qualifications of becoming a competitive college candidate to the eight-week long Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research (SIMR) program that she completed the summer before junior year. Peng, along with forty other students, were accepted over one thousand other applicants, mainly from the Bay Area.
Peng had the freedom to choose her field of interest in medicine for the program. She chose stem cell research. The project was conducted at the Joy Wu Lab, where, thanks to an automatic grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), Peng was able to reprogram human fibroblasts into osteoblasts.
By the end of the summer, she presented a poster with information from her research and work at SIMR's poster symposium and at CIRM’s symposium.
After the Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research program ended, Peng started to seriously apply to Harvard University.
Peng didn’t want to take any chances of risking her possibilities due to time issues, so she worked on her essays the summer before senior year.
It is crucial to seek outside help when applying for college. Peng attended two college preparatory programs. One of them, Minds Matter Bay Area which targets low-income students in the Bay Area to provide them with SAT preparatory classes, skills building, and college application help. She was also part of Matriculate, a free non-profit college prep organization that targets low income students all over the U.S. They provided all types of help, and they were her biggest assets when writing her essays.
“I knew I wanted to apply to a school early and that I wanted to give my best shot for a school I knew I’d consider committing to if I got in,” says Peng.
Peng applied to some of the Universities of California and to the restrictive early action program of Harvard University, which would allow her to know if she had been accepted before the regular acceptance date.
Like many applicants, Peng didn’t think her dream would be fulfilled but it became a reality in December of 2022 when she received an email right before winter break.
At that time Peng was at home. “I felt disbelief and happiness because no one hopes to get into Harvard, my parents didn’t attend college in the United States.”
Although Peng comes from a low income background, she understood very early in high school that attending a private school leads to many misconceptions.
“Oftentimes, if you're low income, private schools are usually cheaper than your local state school. If you’re low-income and have the time, I’d strongly recommend you try to apply for private schools,” says Peng.
Deeana Pazl Datangel, an English teacher at Lincoln who taught English 1 and American Literature to Peng wrote a letter of recommendation for Peng’s common application.
Datangel believes that in addition to her committed work, Peng is a successful student as she is genuinely interested in what she learns.
“She does her best when working with others so everyone is successful. She engages in conversations about how she can improve, and she always pushes herself to take advantage” says Datangel.
Initially, Peng shared her successful acceptance news with her closest people. The first person to know was her oldest brother
Datangel was also one of the first to hear about it. “I was touched. She sent me an email within hours after she found out,” Datangel recalls.
Sara Falls, Peng’s AP Literature and Composition teacher, describes Peng as diligent and strong in terms of worth ethic, engagement, and commitment.
Although Peng missed the first few weeks of her senior year due to illness, she made sure to stay on top of everything.
“She was in communication, paying attention to the Google Classroom, and she showed interest and asked questions. Before I even met her, she was warm and friendly,” says Falls.
“For people that might look at this story and might want to compare where they are to where I am, I would advise to not, because when I was applying I was comparing myself to others, but the admission officers see you individually. Just focus on yourself, and your [application] will not be compared to the one of a student that is from a private school,” advises Peng.
Reported and written by Lincoln High School student journalist Veronica Estefania Velazquez. We encourage student journalists in high school and college to volunteer as writers for Supervisor Engardio’s newsletter. Interested? Apply here. Do you know a story you would like to see featured in the newsletter? Tell us about it here.