Another Asian guy trying to get somewhere

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I've already posted this in the College Admissions, but I just realized this is probably a better place. </p>

<p>I'd just like a little diagnosis of my problems and what level colleges I should apply for.</p>

<p>2nd generation Korean American, grammatically near-perfect and stylistically sound English, halting but somewhat fluent French, horrid Korean</p>

<p>3.7/4.0 unweighted and 4.5000/5.0000 weighted GPA; Rank 14/650+</p>

<p>Mostly low to mid A's, but 2 B's on 1st and 2nd semester of freshman, 1 B on 2nd of Sophomore, no more B's expected</p>

<p>Expecting 3-4 5's , 1-2 4's on AP (out of 5 tests this year)
4 on AP World History</p>

<p>1520 on old SAT 800V 720M</p>

<p>222 PSAT 71V 80M 71W (National Merit Scholar hopefully)</p>

<p>800 on SAT II Writing</p>

<p>~2300 to 2350 expected on New SAT</p>

<p>800 expected on SAT II Biology (my best and favorite subject)
~750 expected on SAT II Math IIC</p>

<p>Taken all the hardest courses, have the highest number of credits in Junior class because I'm the only Junior who will have skipped 3 years of lunch for classes next year. In fact, I'm taking Cal III next year- there's not even an AP Exam for a math that high. I'm also going to have taken AP Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. </p>

<p>Not very competitive school, though there are some very tough people I'm competing with. Afterall, how could I be top 2% with 5 B's otherwise?</p>

<h2>Pre-Med + English Major, Music minor expected in college</h2>

<p>EC's (By next year with (hopefulls) next to them)</p>

<p>UIL (University Interscholastic League) 1st Place Biology District
UIL Academics Science Team Captain and member, 4 years for both
UIL Academics Mathematics 2 years</p>

<p>HISD Silver Key for Art, 10th Grade (digital media)</p>

<p>HISD Gold Key for Writing, 8th Grade (short story, but still competed with highschoolers)</p>

<p>700+ volunteer hours at M.D. Anderson, West Houston Medical, Houston Museum of Natural Science, and at my church youth group with cello and bass guitar</p>

<p>450+ "intern" hours (all unpaid), at University of Houston (self-made opportunity) in Chemistry and at University of Texas Arlington with the Welch Scholar Chemistry Internship and at Washington D.C. in Bill Archer Student Intern Program (big- saw and met 30+ Congressman, 2 Senators, and Justice Scalia, the only program of its kind in the U.S.)</p>

<p>8 years of Cello, 2nd chair freshman-junior, 1st chair senior, Region Junior year</p>

<p>2 years Houston Youth Symphony Philharmonia, (hopefully) 1 year Houston Youth Symphony (top group)</p>

<p>President of Quiz Bowl Club (helped to create it, recruited most of its best members personally, made arguably one of the ten best teams in Texas for QTBA Quizbowl)</p>

<p>Treasurer of French Club (one of original members)</p>

<p>Westside Howler (School newspaper) Political Cartoonist- 3 years</p>

<p>South 2 House Senior Representative (equivalent of Student Body Vice President, no real overall Class President)</p>

<p>3 years NHS</p>

<p>Will have led at least 5 NHS projects</p>

<p>(HOPEFULLY) NHS President (I'll post in a week, when I'll know)</p>

<p>5 years of Tae Kwon Do, expecting 2nd Dan Black Belt before applications sent</p>

<h2>Great grammar and essay writer- never got below 790 on practice SAT II's except for on that PSAT (I knew there were too many C's !)</h2>

<p>Recognized weaknesses- only sport is Tae Kwon Do, too much is hypothetical (hey, I'm only a junior), and I'm Asian.</p>

<p>Recognized strengths- I believe my standardized tests are pretty good and my EC's aren't bad (I've never known an idle summer). Hopefully, I'm showing pretty good leadership positions, though what I do with them is obviously more important.</p>

<p>How far a reach do you guys think Harvard would be for me?</p>

<p>Any other college match and reach levels suggested? I'm looking for a research institution pretty high up in the ranks with a great medical or bioengineering/biophysics department.</p>

2

<p>Another thing, before anyone replies, at least 350 hours of the 700+ volunteer hours is from my church band.</p>

3

<p>your worthless...get a life... by the way...was it worth losing out on lunch and the friends u could have had for a few other credits that wont really matter in two years?</p>

4

<p>crumflake --- u have a big mouth..... maybe you should be the one getting a life --- go find some other website to deride people and their talents....</p>

5

<p>Chances posts are useless. They either inflate your head or **** you off. Stop wasting your time here and go do something useful.</p>

<p>That being said, the number of B's you have will likely keep you out of HYPS.</p>

6

<p>ehh.. i only wrote all that to revive the post... and i do have a pretty good life... the number of b's wont keep him out oh HYPS... other factors will... he has done above average among his peers... and that makes him stand out</p>

7

<p>In fact, taking classes during lunch for no good reason, you should not consider the church band as "volunteer hours." Putting those down would reflect someone without passion simply doing things because they would look good on a college application.</p>

<p>And no, his GPA is below average among HYPS applicants. A better target would be Penn. Probably would get into the College or SEAS and would be able to rectify his GPA in order to get a dual degree at Wharton. Don't apply straight to Wharton with those stats because getting in there is as difficult as getting into HYPSM.</p>

8

<p>Jesus, what's up with all this "azn" and racial accentuation...it makes me want to smack every ddr-dancing "azn" who feels that our race needs to be marginalized before anything. Yes, I am asian too. Bottom line: if you can really show that you actually enjoy doing all those things and putting your heart into them, then you'll be fine.</p>

9

<p>u guys **** me off when u say below average
lets think about this
the average SAT score for a school is 1450
there is bound to be 1600 and 1500
but the average is 1450
so to even that out
there might be a 1200 or a 1300
perhaps even a 1150
so it doesnt matter if your a bit below the average... deal with it</p>

10

<p>Taking classes during lunch reflects an uptight personality. That's negative.</p>

<p>"Average" not overall. "Average" AMONG Harvard applicants.</p>

<p>What did I say about Chances posts being useless. They do no good for anyone. You either think you should get in to begin with, or you don't.</p>

11

<p>yes it does, also shows u eat breakfast, or that u sneak food into class, and thats a rule breaker... bad thing to do</p>

12

<p>My teachers allow food in class.</p>

13

<p>stop gettin defensive</p>

14

<p>hehehehe</p>

<p>=P</p>

15

<p>Well, you're not "typical" asian since your verbal is better than your math, but then again, my friend in Stanford had an 800V and 750M and she was chinese. It is true; you have very good standarized tests... it is also true; you have a low GPA, but that won't keep you out of HYPSMs... They don't look at a 3.8 and say "pass".. i think you have a fair shot. </p>

<p>I do think it's funny that you didn't eat lunch for 3 years and took class during those time. You might want to stress what you accomplished; like something pertaining to what you want to do later in life by that sacrafice. Don't make it sound like you did it just to make your stats look good..</p>

<p>Oh yeah... I really like your perfect grammar thing, since i dont HA.. btw i'm asian too</p>

16

<p>yo...good news and bad news
Good news:
1)good ec's
2)freshman grades dont count for Stanford so technically u have one B so far for Stanford's admission process.
3)good GPA...if not counting freshman but good either way</p>

<p>bad news:
1)IVY might not like all those B's in freshman
2)assuming your school isnt that competitive as you said, a person who goes to a highly competitive school will have an edge over you
3)harvard, Yale, etc. are always reaches</p>

<p>look into UC's and other private schools.
also...chillax mister before you grow white hair.. (hahaha). man, really, start eating lunch</p>

17

<p>hey guys, this kid is a troll</p>

18

<p>cryptic fate: why?</p>

<p>its not impossible to believe what he does... i mean, they're definitely achievable things, and his GPA isnt that great</p>

<p>it's not like... a billion APs, a billion SAT II and all 800s... a 4.0 GPA and a humongous list of club presidents</p>

19

<p>They're not fake stats. I know quite a few people at my school with better.</p>

20

<p>This kid is not responding to his OWN posts! Can't you see he's silent all of a sudden?</p>