am i aiming too high?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Female
Asian (Indian)
MA
Competitive public high school (sends many to top schools including Ivys)</p>

<p>Cumulative GPA: 3.8 unweighted. No idea what it is weighted.</p>

<p>All Honors and/or AP classes...and this means 3 AP classes total. I know that's a shocker to some of you, but my school doesn't offer very many at all. This won't hurt me, right?</p>

<p>Rank: 16/300...Top 5%</p>

<p>SAT:
CR-540
M- 660
W- 740 with a 12 on the essay
I working very hard to get that total score up to a 2050-2150. I understand that my CR needs a lot of work, but right now I'm getting in the 600's on practice test things. I'm retaking on Oct 4th and hoping to reach my goal.</p>

<p>SAT IIs: Bio-630(might retake) Math II-taking in Nov.</p>

<p>ECs: <em>Please note that I moved and therefore switched schools after my freshman year. There many seem a slight inconsistency in some activities because of this</em>.</p>

<p>Speech& Debate Team<a href="9th">/I</a>
-Went to many competitions and won numerous awards even on the state level. Could not continue because it was not available at my new school.
*Violin
-Have been playing for 8 years, and freshman year played in the Symphony Orchestra.
*Model UN<a href="10th-12th">/I</a>
-Delegate
*Yearbook<a href="10th-12th">/I</a>
-Editor Senior year.
*Science Club<a href="11th-12th">/I</a>
-Vice President
-Serve as a mentor for elementary school kids and help them conduct research at the vernal pool.
-Also set up many other fundraisers and events.
*PEER Leaders<a href="11th-12th">/I</a>
-Community leaders from the school.
-We do various community service and help around the school.</p>

<p>Community Service (about 150+ hours):
-Elks Lodge (over 50 hours)
-Pediatric Doctors Office (about 30 hours)
-Local Hospital (about 50+ hours)
-Various other events including Special Olympics, Soup Kitchens, Church...etc</p>

<p>Other Summer Stuff:
-Did some research in a Genetics Lab at URI. Did everything from PCR to Extracting DNA to helping with a primer design. My professor said she would write me a strong letter of rec. Would this help?</p>

<p>-Internined at InCube for a few weeks at the end of this summer. It's a biomedical research company in northern CA. Worked with a cell biologist and chemical engineer to help design and test a device that would be implanted in the spine to reduce pain. Paid internship...if that matters.</p>

<p>-In summer 2006, I went to India and for about 2 weeks and did some community service there. My grandfather lives in a small (rather poor) village, and he also works in a nearby clinic which treats patients from that area. I worked and helped in that clinic, and will be most likely receiving a letter from the government consulate for my services.</p>

<p>I will most likely pursue something in biology or the medical field. What are my chances assuming I will bring up my SAT score to a 2050-2150?</p>

<p>Brown (ED), Tufts, BU, UC Berkeley, Northeastern, UMass Amherst, URI.</p>

<p>Last two are mainly backups, but I would really want to know my chances at the others. THANKS!!</p>

2

<p>no those are reasonable</p>

3

<p>no such thing as aiming too high. You never ever know. You'd be suprised at where you can get accepted if you have good essays and recs.</p>

4

<p>Oh my so many Brown EDs D: Your stats are almost like mine except that you have better EC's. I think you have a solid chance for BU and Northeastern either. Your admission into URI and UMass are also likely.</p>

5

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/567079-i-m-damsel-distress.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/567079-i-m-damsel-distress.html&lt;/a> </p>

<p>Can you chance me too? I'm applying ED to Brown too :)</p>

6

<p>I'd say Brown is a high reach, and Berkeley too since you're OOS.
Good shot at the rest though.
Good luck!</p>

7

<p>Your SATs are weak, a 1200 for Brown with absolutely no hooks seems very unlikely even with ED. Bring it up to 2100, 2200 to be safe and you have a decent shot. Also, Berkley OOS is a reach. The rest you're in provided you get the scores up.</p>

8

<p>Yeah, i'm going to bring that SAT up to around a 2100. I've taken practice tests and i'm getting around that anyway.</p>

<p>Will Brown still be a big reach with a ~2100? It's my dream school and I would do almost anything to get in. I'm just not the strongest test-taker. Ugh.</p>

9

<p>U remind me a little of myself and I received a guaranteed transfer to Cornell, so don't ever think you are aiming too high because I ended up with a better result with ppl who scores were hundreds of points above mine.</p>

10

<p>Yeah i agree with the posts above...if you get your sats up than you have a good chance for Brown. Good luck!</p>

11

<p>Hi sak09!</p>

<p>In no way are you aiming too high. Like what supereagle10 said, you may surprised at what schools you get into. There is no such thing as "impossible" in college admission unless you failed out of all your classes or got suspended because you were caught taking drugs or looking up porn (things that CCers would never do). There is no such thing as a "minimum" test score to get into an Ivy --- it's the overall picture that counts. Your essay is becoming more important than ever. Count on it. Show them who you are. Tell them about yourself as you are. Release your inner monkey. People who tell you that you're not good enough are the ones who are more likely to get rejected from the top schools, because they're trying too hard to weed out normal average Joes like you and me. We live in a democracy, so we can apply to wherever we want (right?). </p>

<p>That said, you have a pretty good GPA at a 3.8 (heck that's what I have and I'm trying for Stanford & MIT). You have challenged yourself with Honors/AP courses in your schedule. A total of 3 APs is below average for the top schools ... but if that's all you could do in school, so be it. You're fine. Just have your counselor explain your situation. Your SAT of 1940 is slightly weak, mainly because of your CR score. I highly recommend Princeton Review to help you prep for your retake later this year. Based on your scores, you also demonstrate a strong writing ability. That will carry you far. I also recommend retaking the SAT II Bio, if you feel that the 630 does not represent you well and if you feel that you can do much better. Your ECs are very solid, and I think that you should also talk about your research at URI. </p>

<p>Overall, you're a pretty good student who has obviously worked hard in HS. </p>

<p>Chances:
Brown ED: Reach (it is for everyone!!)
Tufts: High match
BU: Match
Berkeley OOS: Reach
Northeastern: Not too familiar with admissions here
UMass and URI: Safety match</p>

<p>Good luck!
-ab2013</p>

12

<p>wow incredible resume. not saying i had the exact similar list of activities and accomplishments, but somewhat similar =) and got into Berkeley. I only applied to California schools. Didn't see whether or not you're an out of stater. They definitely take that into heavy consideration. best of luck!</p>

13

<p>although you have low sat scores... you can raise that up^^
i'm surprised at the activities you have done. looking at yours makes my activities seem small.............:(
I think you will have a decent shot at Brown if you raise your sat1 score up to 2200 or something like that.
i'm an international and all of my friends who are applying to Brown for ED have something above 2200.</p>

14

<p>Returning your favor ~</p>

<p>Your test scores are a tad low (1200) but you still have time to raise it so don't sweat it too much. Your other credentials look impeccable so I wouldn't worry too much. </p>

<p>Other than brown and Berkeley I think you have a great shot at and even for those two you just need some test scores. </p>

<p>As a socal resident, I can say for sure that Berkeley does tend to favor applicants with high test scores, but I've seen many with lower test scores than yours and still got in due to steller ECs. </p>

<p>Good luck !</p>

15

<p>you have a good chance…u need to work on sats, but u know that already
i think if your college essays and applications shows your passion for whatever you might want to do…you have a safe bet at getting in…</p>