A junior looking for a chance or two...or many!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a white male. I'm a junior at a large public high school in Pennsylvania. </p>

<p>My school happens to be largely overcrowded, leaving many opportunities only open to seniors. Also, for its huge size, we lack any great academic programs/awards/teams, things of that sort.</p>

<p>I'm in three AP classes now (Biology, Chemistry, and US History) and all the rest honors. This is the hardest junior courseload possible. I'll also be taking four more APs next year with all the rest honors. Again, this is the hardest senior courseload.</p>

<p>Overall unweighted GPA: 96.7 (my school refuses to do it on a 0 to 4 scale)</p>

<p>Rank: not given out OFFICIALLY until senior year, but my counselor told me I'm in the top 10 of my class of over 400</p>

<p>PSAT scores: 77 reading, 70 math, 65 writing</p>

<p>SATs: none yet, hoping you can somewhat judge me on the PSAT scores</p>

<p>Essays would be excellent, I'm sure. I've had more than one teacher tell me that essays/papers I've written should be expanded for use when I get to college. Trust me, I would make sure my essays are perfect as they can be.</p>

<p>EXTRACIRRICULARS</p>

<p>I feel this is where I lack compared to most people. I haven't tried to spread myself around so much. I picked things that I enjoyed and stuck with them throughout my high school career. I hope that shows!</p>

<p>First off, planning on running for a class officer position this year. (Again, only occurs when you're a senior. For the record, I have a reasonable shot at vice president, which is what I'm hoping to get.)</p>

<p>Sports
--golf team for 2 years
--bowling team for 4 years (we also won our league championship last year)</p>

<p>Clubs
--Spanish club for 4 years (running for an officer position next year, only open to seniors)
--art club for 3 years
--Gifted classes since 2nd grade</p>

<p>Other Activities
--volunteered for 2 summers (about two and a half weeks each summer) at an aerobics/hip hop competition in Los Angeles; mainly gopher work, setting up, sorting music, greeting competitors, running scores, that sort of thing. Regardless, it was TONS of work...I'd say about 110-130 hours each year. The organizers of the competition have already told me they'd be willing to give me any recommendations or certificates necessary.
--I'm also EXTREMELY involved with my church. I've been an altar server since 1999. I've put countless time in there, as I've volunteered at just about everything possible, whether it be picnic setups, Bible school, or luncheons there.
--Whether it counts or not, I'm an extensive traveler. I've been around the world, seen many different cultures. My guidance counselor told me to mention that on the app, as it shows being well-rounded. I'm not so sure, but figured I'd mention it.</p>

<p>Work experience
--dietary aide at a local hospital for about 6 months now (will be over well over a year when I apply for college)...this takes up at least 20 hours a week</p>

<p>COLLEGE CHOICES</p>

<p>Hoping to major in premed and eventually become a doctor.</p>

<p>UCLA (out of state)
UVa (out of state)
UC Berkeley (out of state)
Duke
Stanford
Rice
Penn State (in state)
Pitt (in state)</p>

<p>I feel my ECs are lacking compared to these amazing people I've seen on here. I've strived during high school to show dedication to areas that matter to me, and I feel like I've done that very well, actually. I just don't think I compare to some of these wonder kids on here!</p>

<p>Thanks for reading! And hopefully chancing me, as well.</p>

2

<p>You have a good chance at Penn State. At the others not bad some of them might be a slight reach (like UVa).</p>

3

<p>Bumping this up!</p>

4

<p>you should look into USC pre med as you seem to like california a lot. however, its going to be hard getting into UVA or the UCs from out of state. Rice and Stanford are reaches. penn state is a safety. its hard to judge as you dont really have sats scores yet.</p>

5

<p>UCLA - Match
UCB - Slight reach
UVa - High match
Duke - Reach
Stanford - Reach
Penn State - Low match
Pitt - Safety</p>

<p>I'm assuming that's 96.7/100, BTW.</p>

<p>And you have decent ECs. Not stellar, and won't be any help, but won't be a detriment, methinks, at most places, super-selective HYPSM aside, of course.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the responses! I know it's difficult without SATs, but any help is appreciated. And yes, that 96.7 was out of 100. I'm not too familiar with the correct conversions on the whole 0 to 4 scale, no school I've ever attended has used it.</p>

<p>UCLA is really where I'm hoping to go, so to see some matches for that is awesome. UVa's second on my list, but I'm thinking I'll need to ace my SATs for that one. I figure Duke and Stanford are out of the picture entirely in my case, though!</p>

<p>Keep them coming! I really appreciate it!</p>

7

<p>I forgot to mention...in terms of Penn State, do you think Schreyer is a possibility for me? Especially being an in-state student.</p>

8

<p>Giving this a little bump.</p>

9

<p>polkahard:</p>

<p>UCB/UCLA: Slight Reach (out of state)</p>

10

<p>yes you have a shot at Schreyer. They like good GPA/SAT scores, good essays and good ECs. PSU also has an excellent accelerated pre-med program - very selective but you might have a chance if you get good SAT scores and are passionate about medicine (they do interviews). Good luck!</p>

11

<p>Don't spend $40K on UCLA when you can go to a good school in state, it's really not worth it.</p>

12

<p>you live in pa? what part of pa?</p>

13

<p>I'm starting to think you're right, suze. While UCLA may be something of my "dream school," the prices of medical schools are starting to scare me. I don't want to be over 100k in student loan debt before I even start med school, especially with good state options available.</p>

<p>And Classof08, I'm in the northeast, near Scranton, home of The Office!</p>

14

<p>if ur SAT 1 scores is similar to psat maybe take more SAT 2? keep the great gpa, then u have a pretty good shot.</p>

<p>UCLA (out of state) match
UVa (out of state) match
UC Berkeley (out of state) match
Duke match
Stanford reach
Rice match
Penn State (in state) safety
Pitt (in state) safety</p>

<p>no UPENN?</p>

15

<p>Ehh...Penn's never seriously interested me. If I'm going to stay in-state, I've always thought PSU's Schreyer would be a more feasible option.</p>

<p>Besides, I don't think my grades are Ivy caliber anyway. But it's that way for everyone, I suppose!</p>

16

<p>what the heck? 96% 70++ on PSAT how is that not an ivy candidate? what do you think u have to do to get into ivy? cure aids? you can probably go to stanford then if u improve ur writing scores.</p>

17

<p>Maybe I've been spending too much time on CC is all. These USAMO finalists and Intel winners and research assistants with parents and grandparents who went to Princeton and Yale are starting to scare me! (If that sentence in any way refers to anyone who may read this, I'm sorry!)</p>

<p>I don't think the normal population is as skewed as we are on here. But thanks for the compliments, really. Nice to know my hard work can pay off!</p>

18

<p>Sorry to bump this up after like two weeks, but I've thought of some new schools.</p>

<p>Anyway, my list is:
UCLA (out of state)
UNC (out of state)
UVa (out of state)
UT Austin (out of state)
UC Berkeley (out of state)
Duke
Stanford
Rice
Penn State (in state)
Penn State Schreyer (in state)
Pitt (in state)</p>