A last minute scramble to appear accomplished...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Okay: here are my stats. I will tell you up front that a lot of the stuff I do was motivated by the idea of adding it to my resume. I will also tell you that I have come to love each and every one of these activities, which is why I have stuck with the. Many of these things, however, were started mostly during sophomore/junior year. Therefore, I am worried that admissions officers will look at this as having only done the acitvities because applications were coming up. Anyway, I'll let you see for yourself: I'm a junior right now.</p>

<p>middle class
indian american female
suburban NJ
kind of good public school</p>

<p>gpa - don't know. (haha sorry) in terms of final grades, i have all A's except one high B.
rank - probably in top 20 or 30 out of 400 students
courseload - all honors. 4 AP's junior year. 6 (planned) AP's senior year.
SAT - 2210 (without studying, so i'll study a bit and retake to see if i can do better)
SAT II - dunno haha, haven't taken them.
PSAT - 2250</p>

<p>In School:</p>

<p>Class office - VP (soph) and President (junior)
Model UN - secretary (junior)
GSA - VP (junior) have already been appointed president for next year
Environmental Action Club - VP (junior) already decided for prez next year
Academic Team - will most likely be one of three captains next year
Mathletes - captain (junior)
Key Club - VP (junior) will maybe be prez next year
Youth and Govt. - member (soph and junior)
Science League - member (soph and junior)
Student Council - member (soph and junior)
Literary Magazine - editor in chief (junior)
Art Club - Secretary (junior)
Peer Leader - in peer leadership program (junior)
junior nominee and attendee to HOBY program</p>

<p>Out of School:</p>

<p>editor (of about 20) for national literary magazine
member of temple's youth commitee
writer for temple's youth newspaper
counselor at temple's summer camps
volunteer at march of dimes offices (150-ish hours so far)
member of march of dimes chain reaction youth board (junior)
founder and director of volunteer tutoring corps in town (junior)
member of student board of indian cultural association (likely to be named chair) - junior
dancer (classical indian, several years)</p>

<p>Planned for next couple of months:
-job at law office (just have to send in my resume, will most likely get it)
-job at ice cream place (its my dream job, maybe will get it)
-internship with state senator (will deff. get it, everyone who applies does haha)
-self-study 4 more AP courses and take test (i know this sounds like a lot, but i can do it, trust me)
-start youth coalition in town for political advocacy
-library youth board member (senior year)
-start dance school (will be easy)
...and whatever else comes at me haha</p>

<p>okay, so assuming that I achieve what I have planned (which I think I will) and that I will continue everything I already have going for me (which I will, except maybe for the class presidency next year, that depends on whether I win the election, which will be tough), do I have a chance at the following schools:</p>

<p>Princeton
Georgetown
Yale
Harvard
Columbia
UVA
U-Mich
MIT
John Hopkins
Stanford (first choice)
UC Berkeley</p>

<p>please keep in mind that I have a horrendous attendance record. I dropped out of school earlier this year, but am re-enrolled. my grades havent suffered as a result, and i still have A's and only one B. I have had a total of 6 detentions for tardiness, and one in school suspension for truancy. I lost credit for a journalism class soph year because of too many absences. I also do not turn in a lot of assignments cause I hate doing work. I will still manage some pretty good recommendations, but nothing extraordinary, I predict. My essays will also be somewhat mediocre, maybe slightly better than average (considering the pure awesomeness that my competition will have prepared)</p>

<p>k, so whats the verdict?</p>

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<p>and i’ll chance back!</p>

3

<p>bummmmmmmp</p>

4

<p>Hm, very interesting. Very good test scores -is that PSAT a typo?- but I do not know how attendance and tardiness effects admission. I will also assume you will get pretty decent AP scores and SAT 2’s. One last thing before i rate, if your EC’s are legit, then all I can say is “Holy Crap”!!!</p>

<p>Princeton- reach (don’t feel bad, everyone is a reach at princeton)
Georgetown- match
Yale- probably a slight reach
Harvard- reach (same as princeton)
Columbia- match
UVA- match
U-Mich- match
MIT- (MIT is MIT, so indefinite reach)
John Hopkins- match
Stanford (first choice)- with an acceptance rate of <10%, its a reach
UC Berkeley- Idk how out of state applicants are viewed, but should be match for sure</p>

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<p>oh, thank you nwgolfer321, for being the first to answer my pathetic pleas for chances haha. </p>

<p>and thanks, yeah, the ec list seems kind of like a lot, but in practice it really isnt a lot. </p>

<p>and the psat score is legit. i was mad surprised when i got it cause the stupid window that i was sitting next to was open the whole time during the test and i froze my ass off. and i pulled an all nighter the night before the test to have a lord of the rings marathon haha. but yeah, i think my disciplinary record will kind of get me in the end. eh.</p>

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<p>Wow, impressive then. and let me say, not a bad choice on the lord of the rings marathon haha. But my advice is try to use it to your advantage. Write some BS about how troubles in your life that have caused your poor attendance have made you realize what is important etc etc. If they are going to see that attendance stuff, they see it. That is why i would just come out and talk about the elephant in the room. good luck!</p>

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<p>Please don’t give the “I didn’t study for the SAT, I’ll take it again.” bs. Come up with a realistic list or else you’re going to have one sad spring…</p>

<p>Princeton - rejection
Georgetown - rejection
Yale - rejection
Harvard - rejection
Columbia - rejection
UVA - leaning to rejection
U-Mich - you’re OOS, most likely rejection
MIT - rejection
John Hopkins - rejection
Stanford (first choice) - rejected
UC Berkeley - you’re OOS, most likely rejection</p>

8

<p>Come on nirvash, I agree the ivies are reaches, but I have seen a lot lesser qualified people get into Mich and JHU that are OOS. Plus the diversity factor should help. And that was meant in the best way possible, because believe me I wish I had it.</p>

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<p>trust me, I went to a school where there were people who were well qualified then the OP. Great essays, great GPAs, great ECs, great SATs! Most of them got rejected by these schools! Our valedictorian got rejected by JHU, so you can’t give me an excuse that JHU is obtainable (and yes, our valedictorian was African American, went to UCLA, rejected by Princeton, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Cornell…) And since the OP is OOS from some of the schools (UVA, UCB, and UMich), her chances decrease. Is she were in state in one those schools, then her chances at UVA and UMich are a match, while UCB would still be reach, most likely in the rejection part.</p>

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<p>nirvash, take some midol for god’s sake.</p>

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<p>lol how is “start dance school” easy??
and you have a HELL of a lot of clubs, at my school you’re not allowed to be an officer of more than 2 or 3 haha
but i do kind of think all those plans won’t happen haha some will but i had big plans too, and you end up getting new ideas or working around what’s handed to you. so far sounds great though. GPA would help lots :confused: </p>

<p>Princeton - might be looking for higher class rank (depends on how competitive your school is)
Georgetown - good chance, esp from my experiences with what my friends have done
Yale - might be looking for higher class rank (depends on how competitive your school is)
Harvard - might be looking for higher class rank (depends on how competitive your school is)
Columbia - might be looking for higher class rank (depends on how competitive your school is)
UVA - in
U-Mich - good chance of in
MIT - depends on math SAT score, SAT 2 score, AP score to figure this one. and same as above – might be looking for higher class rank (depends on how competitive your school is)
John Hopkins - good chance of in</p>

<p>unfortunately, i didn’t even glance at places in california so idk :frowning:
Stanford (first choice)
UC Berkeley</p>

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<p>i would think it would be harder to get in to places in state because there’s often more kids applying from the same area as you, and the school wants to diversify their student body.</p>

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<p>You have good stats and solid EC’s, but the attendance thing is going to reflect very poorly on you, especially if any of your teachers or counselor mention it in their recommendations. Colleges don’t want to admit a student who’s had a reputation for cutting class or is known for not working hard. I’d highly recommend that you add more safeties to your list. </p>

<p>On a brighter note, you could potentially base some of your essays off of this, and discuss how you’re a different person since it certainly looks like you’ve learned from your laziness. If you do that, you’ll have just as good a chance as every other applicant, but Ivy League admissions are so random that you can never tell who will get in and who won’t. From a fellow junior to another, best of luck in the process! :D</p>

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<p>haha nah, i’m pretty sure i’ll get most of the stuff i have planned done by may. i had NOTHING the beginning of this school year, but i made all these elaborate plans and here you go. i’m pleasantly surprised at how easy it all came about, considering how i was in india for a little over a month. and i don’t want to sound like im arrogant or anything, but it was surprising how easy it all was. please, don’t think im a braggart or anything - i just think that people accept obstacles too easily.</p>

15

<p>bumpppppppppppp</p>

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<p>ARGH BUMP.
lol.</p>

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<p>I’d be surprised if your tardiness/absence-record/general-indifference-toward-your-schoolwork didn’t hurt you. But no one on this thread, including myself, has any clue.</p>

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<p>i am going to bump this again. sorry haha.</p>

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<p>Frankly, the only thing that stands out from your application is your SAT/PSAT scores, although they’re not that great either, for Ivies that is. And as for the ECs, they’re quite “shallow.” I mean they’ll be myriads of applicants who have been club presidents/vice presidents. What you accomplished as a president is more important than just being one. In addition, your horrid school disciplinary records and attendance records will devastate your chances at the schools you’ve mentioned. Not to mention your non-4.0 GPA. </p>

<p>So…
Princeton - high reach
Georgetown - reach
Yale - high reach
Harvard - high reach
Columbia - high reach
UVA - low reach
U-Mich - low reach
MIT - high reach
John Hopkins - reach
Stanford (first choice) - high reach
UC Berkeley - reach</p>

<p>By the way, I’m sure you meant to write 225 PSAT, not 2250.</p>

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<p>yeah, i did mean 225 for the PSAT, my bad.</p>