Can I get into these schools? ><

Applying to College
1

<p>I decided to make a post on this forum because I am beginning to freak out every night when I think about colleges. I go to a public school in California with about 1,000 people in my graduating class, and I am currently a junior. The average SAT score at my school is around 1300, and only about ten people that I know of have ever been accepted to an Ivy. Only one person has ever made it as a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship program. My biggest fear is that I am Korean-American. I've been told that Asians, in general, have a much harder time getting into the schools they want because of the competition. I really want to know about other people and what schools THEY have been accepted to. If you guys could leave me some feedback, I'd really appreciate it.</p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>GPA
10th 1st Semester - 4.17/ 3.67 (1 AP Course and 2 Honors Courses)
10th 2nd Semester - 4.33/ 3.83
11th 1st Semester - 4.5/ 3.83 (2 AP Courses and 2 Honors Courses)
11th 2nd Semester - 4.4/ 3.8 (1 AP Course and 2 Honors Courses)</p>

<p>APs
Euro - 4
US - 5
Psych - 4</p>

<p>PSAT
205
National Merit Commended</p>

<p>SAT
2220 - 760 Math, 760 Reading, 700 Writing
Math II - 720 (Retaking it for an 800)
US - 750
Planning on taking Lit as well</p>

<p>ACT
Taking it in September, aiming for 34+</p>

<p>Class Rank
9th out of 1,000+</p>

<p>Senior Schedule
AP Chem
Honors Physics
AP English
AP Gov
AP Econ
AP Calculus AB</p>

<p>Extracurricular
3 Years Key Club, Senior Representative
Helped create Psych Club, Vice President
3 Years German Club
2 Years Physics Club
1 Year Korean Club
Volunteered for one summer at a Therapeutic Horse Riding Center for the disabled
Volunteered extensively with Think Together, tutoring middle schoolers and supervising them on field trips
Volunteered at Columbia Memorial Space Center
Currently taking Principles of Economics courses at UCLA with college students, as well as a few other high school students</p>

<p>The schools I plan on applying to are:
USC
UCLA
UC Berkeley
Carnegie Melon
Yale
UPenn
Stanford
Northwestern University (Top Choice excluding REACH!!!! schools)
University of Chicago
Princeton
Harvard
Brown
Georgetown
Cornell
Duke (Top Choice excluding REACH!!!! schools)</p>

<p>I know, the list looks rather pretentious, and I do feel like I need a couple schools as back up, such as UCSD or UCI. However, I based my choices off of this year's top graduates from my school, who were admitted into Washington and Lee (1, full ride), UCLA (7), USC (3), Cornell (1), Berkeley (3), Georgetown (1), and Northwestern (2). Please help me out, and tell me what you guys think!!</p>

2

<p>That’s a lot of reaches. A lot of hey-that’s-a-reach-for-everyone reaches, to be exact. Are you really going to apply to that many schools? It’d probably be better if you only had three or four of those reaches.</p>

<p>Your SAT, GPA, and rank seem pretty good. You probably have a good chance for USC. I can’t say much about the Ivies and Stanford. Those are obviously reaches for everyone. Plus I heard that Stanford has the weirdest admissions ever.</p>

<p>Also, it’s mostly just California where there’s a lot of Asians. I’m pretty sure that Asians are less of a majority in schools at the East Coast.</p>

3

<p>I totally know what you’re talking about with the race thing.
First off, I would pick just 10 of your current college choices. 10 is the ideal and maximum number of colleges you should apply to. I would add a few (more?) “back-up” colleges.
No one from the graduating class last year got accepted to Stanford (which makes me cry a little, for that’s my dream school), but yeah your stats look good…I’m worried for my sake :wink: !
Good luck.</p>

4

<p>Yeah, I was thinking that this was too many schools as well, but so many people have been telling me that they regret not applying to more schools than they did. Right now, I’m not too worried about UCLA, UC Berkeley, and USC. I’m more concerned about Duke and Northwestern. I still want to try my hand at several reach schools, just to up my chances a bit. I plan on devoting 110% effort on those essays.</p>