Am I aiming too high? (I'll do my best to chance back)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Asian male at large public school (pretty competitive, I think?) in Southern California.</p>

<p>Solid stats but weak EC's, so I'm worried that I'm overestimating my own chances. </p>

<p>Unweighted GPA (4.0 scale): 3.95
Weighted GPA: 4.24</p>

<p>SAT I: 2390 (Math 800, CR 800, Writing 790)</p>

<p>PSAT: 219 (hoping to make National Merit Semis!)</p>

<p>SAT II Math 2C: 800
SAT II Chinese: 800
SAT II U.S. History: 800
SAT II Literature: 730</p>

<p>A.P. English Lang.: 5
A.P. Chinese: 5
A.P. U.S. History: 5
A.P. Calculus A.B.: 5</p>

<p>Will have 4 more A.P.'s by the end of 12th grade</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
- Speech and Debate (3 years; multiple awards but our school stays mainly within the<br>
league; qualified for State last year)
- Constitution Team (it's only for seniors; basically debate competition based on
Constitution, law, etc...)
- Mock Trial (3 years; lamest club ever, we don't even compete; Historian for next year)
- Rotary Youth Leadership Award (2-day leadership camp, I'm not sure how competitive it
was to get selected at my school though)
- Tennis (JV Team for 3 years; obviously, I only play for fun)
- Quizbowl (joined 12th grade)
- School Newspaper (joined 12th grade)</p>

<p>Community Service/other stuff:
- went to China this summer to teach English to underprivileged students for about 2
weeks
- volunteer at public library, comes up to about 140-170 hours
- random stuff for Chinese PTA, comes up to a measly 30-40 hrs probably
- Big Brother/Big Sister (only open to seniors)</p>

<p>Tentative list (needs narrowing down):
Yale
Brown
Amherst
Swarthmore
Pomona
Claremont McKenna
Haverford
Reed
Occidental
UCLA
UC Berkeley
UC Irvine</p>

<p>So......assuming that I have reasonably good essays/letters, what are my chances? </p>

<p>If you think I should aim lower, can you give some suggestions based on the schools that I'm interested in?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Your scores are extremely high, but the lack of leadership in ECs may hurt you.</p>

3

<p>As far as I’m concerned, any of those schools would be lucky to have you! Good luck :)</p>

4

<p>Your best shot at a top school is EDing to Amherst. It doesn’t seem like you got in to any of your activities in the way that you got involved in academics, and all the activities joined in 12th grade look bad, so at Ivies the key will be adding another dimension to yourself through essays. For some kids, their EC’s add that dimension, and they can get away with straightforward and basic essays. You don’t have that luxury.</p>

5

<p>Your test scores are fantastic; most people would dream of having your scores. </p>

<p>But you’re absolutely correct that your EC’s are very lacking (a problem if you want to get into a school like Yale). Especially since you are an Asian male, you want to defy that “Asian test taking machine” stereotype and show that you’re a passionate and well-rounded human being. I’m not sure if your info above does that.</p>

<p>While it’s impressive that you volunteered in China, your activities are kinda “all over the place” and don’t seem to “fit together” (joining a club in 12th grade isn’t gonna help you). </p>

<p>Yale would be a stretch despite your scores.</p>

6

<p>Great stats - ambitious, admirable list - You’ll be a fine addition to any of those institutions - get some great recs and go for it!!!</p>

7

<p>Looking good! Go for it!</p>