Am I aiming too high? Is there a safer path to take?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Chance me please on the bunch of schools listed on the bottom.
BG:
-Asian Male born in the U.S.
-Parents both graduated from SUNY-Stony Brook
-Low Income Family
-Attending one of the top hs in NY and in the nation; public school, known for rigorous coursework, competitiveness, and sends many students to top colleges/unis, no ranking system, almost 900 students in senior class. (Not sure if any of this even makes a difference)</p>

<p>-GPA: 95.38 (not sure what this translates to in 4.0 or 5.0 system, and I think my grades for AP class is averaged in)
-Class rank: No ranking system (should be on top somewhere)
-SAT I (took once):<br>
Math: 780
Reading: 720
Writing: 720 (Did horrible on essay though; got a 7 out of 12)
Total = 2220, or 1500 if just M/R
-SAT IIs: Chemistry: 800 (took twice)
Math 2c: 800
Biology (M): 730 (took twice)
-AP classes: AP Chemistry (5), currently taking AP Calc BC, AP Chinese,
AP Microeconomics, and AP Govt
(Will most likely take one or two more APs for spring semester)
-"Honors" classes - Pre-cal Honors and Chinese Native
(kind of considered a honor)</p>

<p>-ECs/volunteer work: (I know...very weak)
-Learn to Swim programs/recreational swimming throughout 3 summers of
hs (yet I'm not a particularly strong swimmer)
-After school Asian-Studies Program (once a week for around 3 months)
-Voting Rights Project (summer; govt funded project where we helped
new citizens register to vote and had weekly workshops about govt,
voting, leadership,identity, etc)
-Rowing Club (member; attended very sparingly)
-a Club about dragons (co-secretary, attended most meetings)
-Cashier job at small store (somewhat unofficial job, not really a set<br>
schedule, got paid some money but did not report on tax forms and such.
Should I still include this on the list of ECs on my apps?)
-That's most of the more important ones don't think there were really
anymore</p>

<ul>
<li>Awards: None =/ (unless those National Honor Roll and Who's Who counts
lol)
-Recs: Should be pretty good or at least okay. One is from Assistant
Principal of English department (had him for a class) and the other is
my Chem teacher who I had for two years (4 terms)</li>
</ul>

<p>-Essays: Should be fine/good. But I'm thinking about using a very risky essay
for the Common App essay (risky in that it does not resemble an essay at
all...ok maybe a little)</p>

<p>-Major: Undecided...kind of leaning towards Business or Architecture, or
something in the Medical field.</p>

<p>Schools I'm considering applying to:
- U. Chicago (EA)
- MIT (EA)
- Caltech (EA)
- U. of Michigan (Early Response)
- Columbia
- Cornell (A/S, Architecuture, or ALS?)
- Cooper Union
- Johns Hopkins
- Harvard (Do I even have a chance, esp. with my weak ECs?)
- Carnegie Mellon
- Dartmouth
- Duke
- U Penn
- Perhaps UC Berkeley? Or some suggestions?</p>

<p>Chance me please, and sorry for the long length, but I need some of your thoughts to settle my unsettling heart =[. Thank you all and every comment is appreciated.</p>

2

<p>If possible, also chance me for Princeton, Yale, and CUNY Baruch Honors. I won't be able to apply to all these schools, so I really need your help to cut the list to around 10-12 schools =[ Thanks in advance.</p>

3

<p>All of the schools that you've listed are very competitive, and most are going to be reaches even if you have the stats. Sure, your SAT and GPA is great, but nothing else in your application seems to stand out.</p>

<p>Anyway, out of those schools, I'd narrow it down to about 4-5. Then, add in some safeties and more matches.</p>

4

<p>I knew it, I'm aiming too high =/. As for safeties/matches, I was thinking maybe SUNY Binghamton and NYU. </p>

<p>Any safeties or matches you would recommend?</p>

5

<p>i hav almost the exact same stats as u i think, at least same sat score, and not really good ecs. Im applying for some of the same schools as u are, but i think that too many of your choices are crammed in the top ten, u should even out ur choices, i mean like 3 in top ten, 3 in 10-20, 3 in 20 or lower, and that would make sure that u would get into some schools, cuz ur stats arent the best but are solid. If all ur schools are crammed in the top ten, since they all hav similar acceptance rates, there is a high chance that all of them would reject u. But if one of the top tens like u, there is a chance the other top tens would like u too. but i wouldnt count on that. so yea, take a look at the schools ranked after 30. there are some good ones.</p>

6

<p>and i just noticed, if u add princeton and stanford to that first list of yours, ull basically be applying to all top ten universities in america! gud luck with that</p>

7

<p>Thanks so much joeyyang91 for your input. I will definitely take an in-depth look at schools ranked after 30.</p>

<p>And Lol, or rather laugh at myself, for not noticing that my list composed of almost all the top ten schools. It's good to know that my list was only schools i'm considering; if it was the list of the schools that i applied to, the high possibility of all rejections would simply haunt me for the rest of senior year. I will definitely look into more safeties, and thanks again for the great advice.</p>

8

<p>haah np always a pleasure</p>

9

<p>You've got impressive stats, but your EC's are lackluster. I suggest working on making your essay distinct. Most of the schools you listed are reaches/low reaches.</p>

10

<p>Honestly, I think your EC's are fine...
Your scores are where they should be.</p>

<p>Harvard may be a bit of a stretch, but you never know :)
Same with Princeton and Yale. I say pick one out of the three. You're in running for the others on your list though. </p>

<p>Would you mind chancing me too?
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/547444-so-here-goes-again-i-changed-my-mind-chance-me.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/547444-so-here-goes-again-i-changed-my-mind-chance-me.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>