Asking for realistic opinions.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Asian-American male</p>

<p>(not like it seems to matter to most colleges but I'd be the first in my family to attend college)</p>

<p>unweighted GPA: 3.81/4.33; my school doesn’t rank but they’ll give a weighted gpa and determine it from there; my guidance counselor implied that I was 20% (after talking about requirements for a certain school, she said “they want students who are at least in the top 20% - which you are”) </p>

<p>As far as academics, all were honors/AP since freshman year (academic courses at least). </p>

<p>This year I'm taking AP Lit/Comp, AP Calc BC, AP Physics B, AP Macro, AP Chinese V, in addition to two electives and band.</p>

<p><em>My first marking period (half-semester) grades hurt me - a C in AP Calc BC, the rest A's.</em></p>

<p>==</p>

<p>SAT's: Took them three times, my third time was the highest:
2130:
CR: 730
M: 660
W: 740 (essay: 12) <- unfortunately many of the schools I looked at don’t consider this part</p>

<p>SAT II's: Biology 710, Literature 650. I took the SAT II's once again in December and I didn't do as well as I'd hoped (I took math II and literature). I considered canceling but decided against it.</p>

<p>ACT: 29.</p>

<p>== </p>

<p>Letters of recommendations coming from 1) my ap lang/comp teacher, whom I've gotten to know very well throughout the course of the year (not in the personal sense but in regards to my writing skills) and 2) my chinese teacher, whom I've had for Chinese since the sixth grade. 3) Not quite sure if this counts since schools require it anyway: my guidance counselor knows me well (at least enough to write about me without hesitation)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars... </p>

<p>The only leadership positions I hold include:
-playing in my school's jazz band (4 years) and being first chair alto sax,
-secretary in the Chinese Honor Society (3 years). </p>

<p>The first role basically dominated my weekends from November to May, and my work in the Honor Society took up most of the fall year. But I know, 'excuses excuses,' especially from a Northeastern suburbanite. </p>

<p>Other clubs include Chinese Club (4 years) and NHS.</p>

<p>Regarding volunteer experiences, I volunteered in the local hospital for two years, my local 4-H chapter's Senior Council, and the local American Red Cross for three years. Last summer I also volunteered in Spain as an "Anglo" in Pueblo Ingles, an English-refinement camp for Spaniards - it lasted one week.</p>

<p>My work experiences include working at a local Asian grocery store summer after sophomore year, and interning at Rutgers University: Food Science (microbiology) last summer, where I worked with undergrads and other interns on a three-month long experiment with tomatoes. </p>

<p>I've worked really intensively on one essay - answering the common app question regarding an influential figure in fiction (I wrote about Lester Burnham from "American Beauty" and the effect of suburban life on identity... somewhat cliche but I didn't write it like a term paper/sappy review); I'm in the midst of writing another essay based on my experience in Spain (I know this one sounds terribly cliche without having to ask anyone - but I'm not going to dwell on the tourist-y aspect of it; I'm going to focus on my troubles of communicating as a non-Spanish-speaker and my experience while volunteering)</p>

<p>Now...my colleges.</p>

<p>-highest reach: Tufts (for grins... relying on my writing for this one)
-next-highest-but-pretty-high-reach: NYU (really concerned about this school, with ~40,000 applicants)
-reach: Colgate
-BU
-TCNJ
-Rutgers (I'm confident about this one)
-safeties: Drew and Fairleigh Dickinson.</p>

<p>I'm new to this whole community but I hope I can get someone else's opinion on where I stand. Any helpful comments are really appreciated.</p>

2

<p>I think you are in at FD, Drew, TCNJ and BU. I also think you have a pretty good chance at NYU. Best of luck!</p>

3

<p>NYU is not a hard school to get into; there are just a lot of applicants. you're probably in there. Tufts too is not that high a reach for you. Rutgers and TCNJ are in, probably with scholarship. I doubt that Colgate is a reach for you. Don't apply to Drew or Dickinson; you won't need them. BU, I don't know specifically (but I hear it isn't very difficult to gain admission to either). You've chosen quite conservatively, I feel.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the opinions, you guys. I gotta admit...sometimes it's really daunting to read some others' "CHANCE ME PLZZZZZ" threads. </p>

<p>Freshman year, I thought that alot of aspects would get me into college...then I got hit with a dose of reality. In my essays I'm avoiding writing about my parents... the typical "my parents were refugees who've worked their tails off to provide me the best opportunities"; I mean, I'm not belittling that but it doesn't mean jack about my own convictions. </p>

<p>I'm trying to look for better "fit schools".. but unfortunately I'm kind of restricted on my choices (it's pretty much tri-state area + MA) I'd be happy with rutgers, honestly, but I'm just seeing where I can get in, and make my decision from there. I know it's a pretty big range (Rutgers <-> NYU) but a part of me really wants to go to NYU (not even for the "name"... just the # opportunities outside the classroom compared to Rutgers)... I thought it differed from school to school (Stern, Tisch, etc.) in terms of difficulty. I'm thinking of CAS... I know I should have ED'd but back then my parents and I were conflicted over if I should really commit (somewhat lame reason ;p)</p>

<p>Oh, and awards/recognition... 5's on the ap bio, lang/comp, and US history exams (junior year, "AP Scholar Award"), commended student on the PSAT and a "maxima cum laude" on the national latin exam.</p>

5

<p>Baobab, your gpa and scores are very good. You can get into a number of excellent schools. Have you considered University of Rochester, Fordham and Skidmore. All are highly respected and I think you would have excellent chances at all of them. Also, you should definetly apply to NYU.</p>

6

<p>i really think you have a realistic chance(if not a great chance) at your 'highest reach' Tufts.</p>

7

<p>you have basically the exact same resume as my friend who was admitted to tufts last year, so i think you're definitely a competitive applicant. also, i think tufts is one of those schools that would appreciate that you're the first in your family to attend college...</p>

8

<p>I was thinking about my extracurriculars...I decided to not include some of the activities I did in 9th grade (like FBLA and Key Club); eventually I found other community service opportunities that I stuck to.</p>

9

<p>bump...any other opinions?</p>

10

<p>bump yet again... someone else?</p>

<p>I talked to my English teacher about my recommendation and she assured me it was one of the best ones she wrote this year... she even admitted to me that she put 5 marks on the "one of the best I've ever encountered in my career" column (!) and swept through the classroom side of my profile. It makes me feel better but I don't know if it'll actually be a make or break thing, though. The letters of recommendation are my strongest points in my app.</p>

11

<p>I think that you have a good chance at NYU(if you are not applying to Stern). Colgate is very interested in ECs that show leadership (eg team captain, c.lass president I believe that you have less of a chance there.</p>

12

<p>Good shot at NYU and Colgate might be a little unsure. Your reaches are very realistic at least.</p>

13

<p>ummm. bump10char</p>

14

<p>Holy Cross is similar to Colgate but easier to get into. HC is only 1 hour from Boston.</p>

15

<p>isn't that illegal?</p>

16

<p>i think colgates a little harder to get into than tufts..... but i didnt apply to either of the two......</p>

17

<p>advan... I was pretty much thinking the same thing but I never asked her... she told me about it. A little disconcerting to hear about it, though... because I was already confident she'd write a good letter for me in the first place.</p>