Average GPA, great test scores? Chance me, will chance back?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Please chance me for any of the following schools: Stanford, Yale (haven't decided which school to apply EA/ED to), UPenn, Cornell, Brown, JHU, Wash U St. Louis, Duke?</p>

<p>Female, Asian, lives in Seattle area of Washington, middle class (likely will need financial aid for anywhere that I go to), high school is average </p>

<p>GPA: 3.85 UW (likely weakest point). No weighted GPA
SAT: 2350, 2nd try
ACT: 35
SAT II: Math 2 800, Chemistry 780, US History 800
Class rank: Top 10% (UW GPA), no definite class rank system</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
Orchestra (0 period)
AP French
AP US Government
AP Calculus AB (Highest math class available)
AP Chemistry
AP Computer Science
AP English Lit</p>

<p>Junior Schedule:
Orchestra (0 period)
Pre-Calculus
AP Macroeconomics/AP Microeconomics (5,5)
Chemistry
AP US History (4 or 5)
AP English Language (5)
French 5-6</p>

<p>Self-studied: AP Psychology (out of interest) (5), AP Comparative Gov. (annoying prerequisite) (5), AP Human Geography (5), AP Statistics (5)</p>

<p>Note: AP scores are projected based on how well I'm doing in the various classes and on practice tests</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
• 400+ miscellaneous volunteer hours
• BioQuest Academy at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (summer program)
• UW Math Academy at UW Seattle College of Engineering (summer program)
• Washington Aerospace Scholars at Boeing Museum of Flight (summer program)
• Renton Youth Symphony Orchestra camp (summer program)
• Volunteer at UW Medical Center and Seattle Children's Hospital (approx. 100~120 hours)
• Volunteer at Habitat for Humanity – Seattle (approx. 50~60 hours)
• Varsity Swim (4 years), Swim Captain
• Varsity Tennis (2 years)
• Orchestra, violin player (8 years)
• Piano (6 years), more or less a hobby.
• National Honors Society (3 years), President
• Key Club, (3 years), Convention Aide at District Convention, Service Projects Committee Chair
• Tutoring elementary school kids in violin and piano as part of volunteer program (5 years)
• Co-chair of committee for several local service projects (National Honors Society & Key Club sponsored), such as a special needs dance, book drive for burned elementary school, etc
• Fundraised $3,000 in school for Habitat of Humanity
• Formed Science Olympiad team & Model UN club near end of junior year, president/captain of both</p>

<p>Awards:
• National AP Scholar
• Academic Achievement award for all years (school award for top 20%)
• Microsoft certifications in Excel, Word and PowerPoint
• Rotary Youth of the Month
• Member of the Month (Key Club & NHS)
• State & District level awards for swim
• National History Day – Regionals 1st Place (this was in middle school, so not sure if it counts)
• 1st State Alternate for Soundview Solo & Ensemble, several Superior ratings for Solo & Ensemble
• Presidential Volunteer Service Award – Gold Level</p>

2

<p>Stanford-low reach
Yale-reach
UPenn-low reach
Cornell-match
Brown-low reach
JHU-low reach
Wash U St. Louis-match if not applying for aid
Duke-reach</p>

<p>You have MANY impressive accomplishments and I wouldn’t be surprised if you were accepted to several of these schools. Make sure you have a safety(ish) school (UCB/UCLA/UMich/etc). Good luck!!</p>

3

<p>Thank you for the feedback! :slight_smile: I have a few in-state safeties and I am applying to some of the UCs. I didn’t know somewhere like UCLA could be a safety, though.</p>

4

<p>Stanford - reach,
Yale (haven’t decided which school to apply EA/ED to) - lower reach
, UPenn (idk enough sorry)
, Cornell- match
, Brown - lower reach
JHU - mid match
Duke - match to high math</p>

<p>solid job, quite impressive overall :)</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1470725-chance-me-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1470725-chance-me-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;
chance me back?</p>

5

<p>Stanford-low reach
Yale- reach
UPenn- low reach
Cornell-match
Brown-low reach
JHU- match
Wash U St. Louis- math
Duke-low reach </p>

<p>you are a very strong applicant all around!! </p>

<p>please chance back(:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1471006-georgetown-notre-dame-gw-bc-nyu.html#post15592210[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1471006-georgetown-notre-dame-gw-bc-nyu.html#post15592210&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>Bump! :D…</p>

7

<p>I think you’ve got a great chance at any of those schools, your EC’s are very strong and test scores/GPA seem solid. We seem to have a lot of similarities; you’re like a better version of me haha. Chance back please!</p>

8

<p>Upenn low reach
Cornell high match
Brown high match
JHU high match
WasSlU reach
Duke reach
Chance back?
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=1471089"]http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=1471089"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=1471089"]http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=1471089&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<p>Everyone in this thread is wrong.</p>

<p>Stanford is NOT a low reach. You are unlikely to get into Stanford (high reach).</p>

<p>Assuming you have conducted some research, and your school has a precedent of sending kids to Yale (and you are in the same stat range according to Naviance), I don’t think applying to Yale ED would be a bad idea (50/50 chance) – although you would get more bang for your buck applying ED to Duke (80%+ chance).</p>

<p>Please do not include “Microsoft certifications in Excel, Word and PowerPoint” on your application. LOLzers!!!</p>

10

<p>Stanford - high reach
Yale - reach (if ED, 50+% chance assuming extraordinary recs and essays)
UPenn - reach
Cornell - match
Brown - reach
JHU - match
WashU - match w/ no fin aid, otherwise you’ll be waitlisted due to Tuft’s Syndrome and a lack of Need-Blind admissions. I would recommend against applying to WashU if you need aid.
Duke - low reach (if ED, match)</p>

11

<p>^OrangeMellow
I don’t think my school has sent someone to Yale for…well, probably 20 years or so. </p>

<p>Would Stanford not be worth applying to since the chances are so low?
Is there a reason why Stanford is so high reach while Yale is not? </p>

<p>Additionally, I wasn’t aware that Microsoft certifications were so looked down upon. My apologies for the inconvenience. I don’t have a great deal of awards, so I put everything I had, even the generic ones.</p>

12

<p>I have the following advice.</p>

<ul>
<li>Apply for more awards.</li>
<li>Apply to Yale and Stanford RD (these are reaches for you, and due to lack of precedent, ED is unlikely to help)</li>
<li>Apply to Cornell RD (you should get in)</li>
<li>Apply to Duke, Penn, Cornell, or Brown ED (you will get the most bang for your buck here, though maybe slightly less bang for Brown)</li>
<li>Demonstrate interest for JHU (especially) and WashU, but apply RD. For WashU, only apply if you are going to apply for their scholarships (that have earlier deadlines than regular admissions). For WUSt.Louis regular pool, they will waitlist you b/c you are slightly overqualified and you require aid – unless you win one of their scholarships.</li>
</ul>

13

<p>^OrangeMellow
Thanks for your advice. We have had around 5-6 people from my school get into Stanford the past few years, if that’s what you mean by precedent.
Would that not make a difference?</p>

14

<p>That makes a huge difference.</p>

<p>How do you compare to those 5-6 students. Were they athlete recruits? Is your GPA similar? Can you compare yourself to any of them?</p>

<p>Give me some more information on how you stack up. Precedent is everything for a highly qualified applicant with good (but not exceptional) ECs.</p>

<p>Edit: did any of THEM apply ED? How did those ED students compare to you?</p>

<p>Further question: Are there 6 students at your school who are more qualified? Are there 10?</p>

<p>**How many got in LAST year?</p>

15

<p>I’d be interested in your answer. Howver, “past few years” indicates this was spread out over, presumably, 3+ years. If so, I would still insist that Stanford is a reach for you.
Yale is a high reach, almost not worth applying to – however, if you can convey a good story about this Aerospace/Science stuff, may be worth Regular Decision.</p>

<p>I would NOT use your ED on Stanford or Yale. I maintain that position.</p>

<p>I think you will get high value using it on Duke (slight risk here, no guarantees, but should work if you have good essays, show interest, talk to admissions counselor at school visit, have amazing recommendations, etc.) Cornell would be an auto-acceptance. Penn would give you a decent chance. Brown is more iffy (I would apply RD).</p>

16

<p>This year, two students got into Stanford. By the past few years, I mean 2-3 years.
Before that, I don’t think we had any others that were recent.
Next year, I know of no one currently who is interested in applying to Stanford. Most are interested in the Ivy Leagues on the East Coast or MIT.</p>

<p>None were athletic recruits, as far as I know. </p>

<p>The two last year were fairly similar to me. One had a perfect GPA, a fairly low SAT (in the 25% for Stanford) and a number of extracurriculars.
I believe her recommendations and extracurriculars were fairly good, though (volunteer work, athlete, leadership positions). She was also Asian, and was in an low income bracket. Also first generation.
She applied ED and was accepted.</p>

<p>The second was a white male with a number of extracurriculars in math and science. I think he had an article published in a magazine. Strong leadership in theater as well. 3.91 GPA. SAT score was stronger than the previous, more similar to mine.
He additionally applied ED and was accepted.</p>

17

<p>"I know of no one currently who is interested in applying to Stanford. " - hard to believe. If you are SURE no else is applying, well then, based on precedent, you should get in.</p>

<p>"I believe her recommendations and extracurriculars were fairly good, though " - yours better be exceptional</p>

<p>If you have your sights set on Stanford, then by all means apply ED there. Yale is a waste ED (as I think you realize), but worth it for RD.</p>

<p>Again, you get one chance. You don’t want to feel like you missed it. On the other hand, if you are not set on attending Stanford (and wouldn’t regret missing the opportunity), as I said earlier, there are other places where you may get more bang for your buck.</p>

<p>In summary – if you really think you are one of the top 1-2 kids applying to Stanford from your school this year, AND if you have your heart set on the school, go ahead. You will still get into great school RD (just make sure you show interest in them early on.)</p>

18

<p>Again, thanks for your advice!</p>

<p>I still have a few months before it’s time to apply. Is there anything you would suggest I should do with my remaining time?</p>

19

<p>Stanford, Yale do not have ED. They have REA or SCEA.</p>

<p>Stanford, Yale: High Reach
Penn, Brown, Duke: Reach
JHU, Cornell: Solid Chances
Wash U: WL if you apply for FA</p>

20

<p>Hmm. Feedback is somewhat inconsistent.
So my chances are much worse than I thought? If a college is high reach, would it not be worth the application fee?</p>