An Anxious Junior - give me your two cents...or more!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am aiming for Ivy League schools and wanted to know what you think of how I'm doing as of now.
I am looking to major in either English, Sociology, or maybe Economics.
My specific questions are:
1. How do I stack up w/ other Ivy applicants, and how much of a chance do I have?
2. What are my "match" schools?
So here it goes:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Profile:
Non-citizen, Korean, Female
All-girls private boarding school</p></li>
<li><p>SAT: took once last January. taking again in March.
680 CR/ 770 M/ 700W</p></li>
<li><p>Classes and grades:
9th grade
Algebra II/Trig……………………..A+
English Fundamentals……………...A
English Composition………………B
ESOL………………………………Pass
Biology…………………………….A+
Fundamentals of Design……………A
Beginning Photography…………….A</p></li>
</ul>

<p>10th grade
Chemistry………………………….A
English II…………………………..A-
English Supplemental……………..A
Modern World History……………..B+
Advanced Studio…………………..A+
Advanced Geometry……………….A+</p>

<p>11th grade –
AP Chemistry……………………..A-
AP Studio Art………………………A+
English III…………………………B+
US History…………………………A-
Physics w/ Trig……………………..A-
Pre-calculus………………………..A+</p>

<p>*Extracurricular</p>

<p>Violin…………………………….playing for almost 12 years now
- DC Youth Orchestra, all throughout high school, concertmaster since 10th grade
- Performance w/ DCYO at the White House, State Department, Kennedy Center
- Performance with the National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center for Youth Orchestra Day, 9th and 10th grade
- School orchestra, all throughout high school, concertmaster since 10th grade</p>

<p>Leadership positions
- Boarding Committee, Assistant Head of House, 10th grade
- Socials Committee, Class Representative, 9th, 10th grade
- JV Softball co-captain, 10th grade
- Student Leader for Admission office, panelist for prospective students, 11th grade</p>

<p>Sports
- Softball 9th and 10th grade, JV level
- Tennis for 11th grade, JV level</p>

<p>Volunteer Work
- Teacher’s Assistant at local elementary school, once a week, 10th grade</p>

<p>Internship
- Intern for Congresswoman’s office, once a week, 11th grade</p>

<p>Summer
- Trip to England planned out on own, with two little siblings</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Awards</p></li>
<li><p>Violin: Winner of Concerto Competition at DCYOP, performed at Kennedy Center as prize</p></li>
<li><p>Art: Selected for Best of Independent Schools’ Student Art Show</p></li>
</ul>

2

<p>Your extracurriculars are excellent, but your SAT so far is pretty low for the Ivies. I would test-prep like crazy and retake the SAT and maybe try the ACT before you apply. Do you have a class rank?</p>

<p>Your grades in math and science classes are tops. You might consider declaring an interest in majoring in math or physics or engineering for your application – women in these majors are in short supply, especially at MIT. Once you get in, you can change your mind. MIT has an outstanding economics dept, I heard.</p>

3

<p>Thank you for your comment. Hopefully, my scores will be better March…
Anyone else? Please??</p>

4

<p>What’s your unweighted and weighted GPA? Depending on the source, I’ve heard that some Ivies have median unweighteds as high as 4.0, so your Bs, although minor, may hurt your chances.
Like the above poster stated, your SAT is a bit low, especially in Critical Reading and Writing. I’m not sure if the Ivies Superscore, but trying to get at least 750 average is probably a good idea.
While your ECs are excellent, I would say HYPS are probably high reaches (they are reaches for everyone), while places like Brown and UPenn are more like medium reaches.
Chance me?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1087095-chances.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1087095-chances.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>You have great chances, but your SAT is a little low. I would also suggest the ACT and some SAT II’s. Good luck.</p>

<p>Chance me?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1072869-what-do-you-think-my-chances.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1072869-what-do-you-think-my-chances.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>I would say that the Ivies would be a reach since you are applying as an international. Without substantial academic awards or higher SAT, most likely rejection. Although it will come down to your essays in the end.</p>

7

<p>So I guess what I need are…</p>

<ol>
<li>Better SAT scores - will get that in March.</li>
<li>Pulling up the GPA - am always trying… but hopefully the B+ in English this year will go away, and I’ll do better Senior year.</li>
<li>Academic Awards - I hope I could see this happening, but I really don’t. I qualified for the National Merit Scholarship(?) from my PSAT scores, but since I’m an international, a scholarship from anywhere isn’t a possibility.
As for my school, it believes in “Personal Best”, so we don’t give out any academic awards.
Would this hurt me a lot?</li>
</ol>

<p>Anything else??</p>

8

<p>Not really. Focus on improving your SAT score and then your grades, record your best violin piece and send it in as supplementary materials. </p>

<p>There are a variety of activities that the majority of Ivy wannabes have. If you look through your app and get rid of the “laundry list” activities, then you have your violin left. Now, I’m not saying that those activities are meaningless. I’m just saying that admissions officers are so used to seeing them their eyes glaze over and they disregard them. </p>

<p>Now, you’ve racked up some awards for your violin playing. I’m nowhere near musically talented and so have no idea how prestigious these awards are, but they sound impressive. </p>

<p>Let’s reiterate something you’ve been told probably many times: Colleges are looking for something interesting. Try to stand out from the crowd. A lot of people are musically talented and applying for the Ivies. Also, unless I’m mistaken, you’re an International. The standards for Internationals are extremely high.</p>

<p>Again, focus on those SAT scores. It’s a good thing you asked for matches. Unfortunately, I’m not able to help you in that department. Just hope that someone who has been on these boards for longer or is more experienced than I will be able to tell you good colleges you should be able to get in. Not really. Focus on improving your SAT score and then your grades, record your best violin piece and send it in as supplementary materials. </p>

<p>There are a variety of activities that the majority of Ivy wannabes have. If you look through your app and get rid of the “laundry list” activities, then you have your violin left. Now, I’m not saying that those activities are meaningless. I’m just saying that admissions officers are so used to seeing them their eyes glaze over and they disregard them. </p>

<p>Now, you’ve racked up some awards for your violin playing. I’m nowhere near musically talented and so have no idea how prestigious these awards are, but they sound impressive. </p>

<p>Let’s reiterate something you’ve been told probably many times: Colleges are looking for something interesting. Try to stand out from the crowd. A lot of people are musically talented and applying for the Ivies. Also, unless I’m mistaken, you’re an International. The standards for Internationals are extremely high.</p>

<p>Again, focus on those SAT scores. It’s a good thing you asked for matches. Unfortunately, I’m not able to help you in that department. Just hope that someone who has been on these boards for longer or is more experienced than I will be able to tell you good colleges you should be able to get in.</p>

9

<p>SAT scores are somewhat low for Ivies, especially for HYP. For an Ivy league school you should aim for a 2200 to be safe. Everything else looks good. </p>

<p>Chance me back</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1090865-chances-brown-nyu-villanova-johns-hopkins-i-will-chance-back-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1090865-chances-brown-nyu-villanova-johns-hopkins-i-will-chance-back-2.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>Thank you so much for your input. They are helping a lot :]</p>