am I aiming too high? fearing rejection everywhere...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi... I'm a senior and as my application deadline keeps getting closer, I'm more overwhelmed, less confident and basically overwhelmed!!(like many other seniors,,,haha) so i just decided to consult some of my fellow CCers' opinions on my college choices...</p>

<p>my stats----------------------------------------------------</p>

<p>Asian(Korean) Female..(ouch/)</p>

<p>SATI(new) - C630M740W670 (urghhh//)
(old) - V620M800
SATII - MIIC800/Korean800/BioM730
(i don't know why, i just really sucked at SATI!!!
I don't believe in SATI anyways, but many colleges believe in it... so what can I do//)</p>

<p>GPA- 3.9UW/4.4W(8/556?)
(pretty good public school in suburban Southern CA area)</p>

<p>-AP TEST/SCORES
AP Euro-4
AP US-4
AP Bio-5
AP Chem-4
AP EngLang-3
-taking - AP EngLit, AP Spanish, AP Calc BC, AP Physics
-also two college classes(psychology, comparative cultures(music)) online</p>

<p>ECs..
-Red Cross volunteer(club & local chapter)-school club member of the year, attended National Convention(lots of volunteer hours!!)
-Math Club - member for 5yrs(including middle school :p), senior secretary this year!
-Web design/Photoshop-although not really college prep, I just loved making stuff on computer.. lol)... devoted 3~4hrs everyday for more than 3years. (some say it was waste of my time!! HOW DARE YOU!) - (basically, I learned it by myself, and ppl requested me to make logos/backgrounds etc... and I made them. Also made free online lessons for ppl & answered their questions...-too time consuming I say)
-Orchestra-school/local - cello(for four years... too typical?-but I LOVE music!!)
-California Scholarship Federation - member
-City Volunteer</p>

<p>not much... man.. not much....(it hurts me...lol)</p>

<p>Awards
(2001) Medal for distinguished service(from elemenray school by the way :p)
(2001) Korea Youth Association Model Student Award
(2001) Student of Seoul City Award
(2002) Academic Excellence Award in Golden State Examination – High Honors
(2002) Honor Student of the Month – Chinese School
(2002) Outstanding Academic Achievement in Contest of Using Chinese Dictionary – 2nd Place – Chinese School
(2003) Citizenship Award
(2004) Certificate from National Youth Leadership Forum – Recognition of academic success and commitment to the field of medicine
(2005) Premio de Oro and medal – AP Biology
-Every year, each teacher chooses one student from each class to award a Premio de Oro, and awards a medal to one among all of his students.
(2005) AP Scholar with Distinction
-juss listed whole bunch starting from.... what. elementary? haha</p>

<p>Essay - pretty good.. kinda touchy...
Teacher Rec's - good to awesome!
Counselor - uhhh... pretty good? considering that she was new this year and I don't really know her...</p>

<p>Hook(?) - languages?(Korean(native speaker), English(duh..), Chinese, Spanish...), came here four years ago... stressing my improvement over years... but... not really?! haha.. (starting from ESL.. to AP Eng?)</p>

<h2>ALSO-I count as an international student!(which kinda sucks)</h2>

<p>I have applied/am applying to these colleges : </p>

<p>Harvard(EA-deferred)
Brown
UPenn
Cornell
USC
University of Pacific- Pre-Pharmacy program:)
UCs(berkeley, LA, san diego, irvine)
Johns Hopkins
Wellesley</p>

<p>I believe MOST of these are all REACHES for me...</p>

<p>I'm thinking....</p>

<p>Maybe I need more SAFTIES?!!! and...
what chances do you think i have with these colleges that I'm applying too?
it would be horrible for me to get rejected from almost everywhere!!</p>

<p>URGH...</p>

<p>any suggestions guys??</p>

<p>plz help out this overwhelmed senior... (;</p>

2

<p>Regardless of your stats, many of the schools on your list can be thought of as lottery schools, where even the most qalified applicants have a terrible chance. You definetely need a safety or two. Also, see if you can pare down the list of schools you're applying to...the culture of, say, USC, is very different from that of Wellesley, and one may be better for you than the other (not saying one of the two specifically should be eliminated - just an example).</p>

<p>:)</p>

3

<p>why is being an asian girl an ouch factor?</p>

4

<p>thanks! karthikkito...
i agree with you on the lottery school part... I can't even really guess whether i would make it or not....</p>

<p>and I know quite a lot about USC since I live close by, I don't really know a lot about Wellesley(only from books, online, CC!! haha) but it just appealed to me...(location, other ppl's experiences, research etc...)</p>

<p>I'll consider your advice on paring down the list.... think harder....+research more...</p>

<p>thou it's kinda late! lol</p>

<p>thanks again... thou..</p>

5

<p>asian - definitely not minority...
(half native american would be great! haha - all the scholarships and stuff.. you know)</p>

<p>not so much of the girl part... thou it matters in Wellesley(??)</p>

<p>haha//</p>

6

<p>You wanted Harvard over Stanford?!! Shame, how dare you!!! </p>

<p>STANFORD!</p>

7

<p>what really stinks is being 1/16 native american (enough to count!) and your great grandmother had to go and LOSE the ONLY copy of her birth certificate.</p>

8

<p>Your list is a little top heavy. I'd suggest checking boxes for a few more UCs: say Davis, SB, and SC. It wouldn't require additional apps, and one or more of those mid-level UCs is bound to come through for you. And you'd have UCSC in case somehow one of them didn't.</p>

9

<p>since you are looking at wellesley, have you looked at other women's colleges - i think mount holyoke and bryn mawr a bit less selective in admissions.</p>

10

<p>You are looking at a lot of major reaches. I think you look good for Wellesley, but a lot of the privates will be hard because, yes, they do believe in SATIs. Still not too late to add and subtract schools. The ivies seem really unrealistic, but you can do better than U of the Pacific. It seems crazy we're having this conversation in late December, where ara all the counselors?</p>

11

<p>urgh... my school counselor doesn't help at all...</p>

<p>i wonder how it feels to be going to a private school..(:
(reason why i'm applying to many privates...hehe)</p>

12

<p>and for stanford...
i don't know.. i juss don't like it..</p>

<p>maybe it's becuz the ppl i know who went to stanford are mostly *****es and snobs...
(thou i'm sure most of the ppl in stanford aren't)</p>

13

<p>If interested in Wellesley, might want to look at Holy Cross-very good LAC -1 hour from Boston. HC is easier to get into and actively recruits students from west coast. Also Holy Cross is SAT optional with Jan. 15th deadline. Another choice might be Colgate.</p>

14

<p>You will probably get into many on your list but you DEFINITELY need a saftey in there. Checking off a few other UC's is an easy way to do it at this point in the game. Otherwise it can be tricky to get together teacher recs over the holidays.</p>

15

<p>You should get in to at least one on your list, but it is safe to have a safety. Look at the top 100 and choose ones you know you can get in that are still good and competitive.</p>

16

<p>thank you so much you guyz...</p>

<p>I juss love CC..</p>