Another Chances Thread

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey all,</p>

<p>I'm an incoming High School senior and am a little bit concerned about my future as it pertains to colleges, so I guess I'd just like to ask for some reassurance, or criticism otherwise, about what I should/need to do or should have done (oh well! haha). Chance me I'm not much of an overachiever nor do I have very much (hardly any) extracurriculars. Now before I hear anything about how I'm never going to make it in, if it'll prevent any flaming, this is a reach school. </p>

<p>I'm also looking to apply to Vassar, Hamilton, Haverford, Bowdoin, Amherst, & Brown. Yes, I know, I'm nothing spectacular, but I'm comfortable with U of Pitt as my safety school, so I'm just thinking about reach schools preliminarily. </p>

<p>Academic Info:
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
Weighted GPA: 4.7
SAT: CR-640, M-650, W-710 @ 2000 10 on Essay
SAT: CR-700, M-630 (ouch!), W-720 @ 2050 (Superscore 2070) 11 on Essay
ACT: M-30, E-30, R-35, S-31 @ 32. 11 on Essay, for a 31 compound English/Writing</p>

<p>Probs going to send the ACT score, but I'll take both again. </p>

<p>I would say I've taken a fairly rigorous course load. High School doesn't rank. </p>

<p>-I've taken all Honors English classes and always finished with a B. Will take AP Lang & Comp next year.</p>

<p>-I will have taken 4 years of French (Honors & AP 11th & 12th grade respectively) and always finished with an A. Ranked on National French Exam of this year (maybe last year's too? I don't remember). I took Spanish 1 freshman year and finished at the top of the class. One percentile away from getting something or other on the National Spanish Exam (better than 74 percent of takers or something?)</p>

<p>-I have received A's in (H) Chem, (H) Bio, AP Environmental Geoscience, & (H) Organic Chem. I got a B & a 4 in AP Chem. I'm expecting a 5 in APEGS. I will be taking AP Bio & AP Physics C: Mechanics next year. </p>

<p>-I've taken all Honors math since freshman year, and took an advanced precalc class this year (best class ever!). Always received A's. I'll be taking APBC next year.</p>

<p>-Basic social studies, haha. I don't know what happened, I've always liked history but didn't step up to take APUSH or anything. Always A's in the basic classes. I'm only taking one semester of econ next year. </p>

<p>Extracurriculars...hmmm
Well....
I did fencing as a freshman. Track 400m as a sophomore. Participated extensively in "Existentialist Club" junior year; I'm best friends with the founders. That's about it, haha. I've volunteered every-year at Mt. Lebanon Earth day at which I've helped a neighbor/family friend teach about his job? We make rust tye-dye He extracts Iron (II, III) oxide from acid mine drainage in the areas around here from abandoned iron mines through holding ponds. We learned about the value of wetlands and environmentally-friendly rehabilitation practices in APEGS this year. Yay.</p>

<p>I've volunteered a little bit (I'm thinking maybe at the most 50 hours?) helping tutor ESL kids at my local elementary school and general tutoring at my middle school. I've participated in Science Bowl since Sophomore year. I'm going to get the boss Adv. precalc teacher and my sophomore bio teacher to write me recommendations, along with my EMT instructor. </p>

<p>I'm a certified EMT-B, and volunteered this year in that capacity in the Pittsburgh Marathon. </p>

<p>That's about it I think. </p>

<p>What else do people use for admissions? I'm Chinese, speak the language at home, will be first generation college-goer, love science, am fairly adept at learning languages, on-par with most low-end advanced students at math in school, and have kept over a hundred species of neotropical plants (personal hobby. Wait, what do I even do besides that? haha) </p>

<p>Ahh, thanks for making me (or not) feel better by reading. And replying, that would be nice too. Sorry for making you guys read through this long list mmmm</p>

<p>Andy</p>

<p>P.S.
And hey, if you're feeling extra generous, you might as well chance me with the other schools I've said I would apply to!</p>

<p>Feel free to ask for more information that might be necessary to determine a chance. I may have given out too much personal info already though! haha oh well</p>

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<p>Wow, I’m Chinese as well~
You really have taken lots of AP and honor classes,very impressive. BTW, are you study in International school?
Your SAT is fine, math…you can improve it at least to 700+ I guess as a Chinese? The CR is great! And you learned French for 4 years?! Spanish for 1 year?You are a polyglot?Good for you~
Hamilton will be your match and you definitely have a shot for Brown~</p>

3

<p>Brown is a definite reach…not sure what ing was saying? i mean of course you have a shot so does everyone. I would say if you can just push your test scores into the 2200 range you would give yourself a realistic look at Brown Amherst and Vassar. the other schools you are all g for. no need to fret about them.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the reassurances guys. Ing: no, I’m not in an international student or anything like that haha. And yes, my math scores are killing me :frowning: </p>

<p>You guys think it would make more sense to get my ACT to 34 or my SAT to >2200?<br>
Also, my dad would like to know if colleges can find out about past standardized test score; he only wants me to submit the ACT if colleges can’t know about the SAT. I think they can ask to see them though, right? </p>

<p>I’m more worried about getting into Haverford & Bowdoin than Vassar. Should I apply ED to Amherst? Raw statistics bring admission chance to about 30% I think for ED applicants. Would this ruin my chances at financial aid though? </p>

<p>I think it’s interesting that although achievement wise, a 32 is, according to most online conversion charts, approximately equivalent to a ~2130 SAT, for alot of teh schools I’ve looked at their 75th percentiles use about a 2200 SAT and 32 ACT. Maybe this is because the wider-spread use of SAT scores forces college admissions to choose slightly higher SAT’s than from the smaller pool of ACT applicants? </p>

<p>Thanks for the reassurance you guys! I’m still researching this “college business” but I appreciate human help too!<br>
Andy</p>