<p>Hey,
I will start applying to colleges soon. I am aiming for really competitive schools like the ivys, stanford, some top BS/MD programs, and amherst, but I will be content where ever I end up. I don't have much time to improve my application, but I just wanted to know if I am even a match for any of these schools or what I can do to become more competitive. Here it goes:</p>
<p>GPA UW: 3.95
GPA W: 4.43
SAT: 750M, 800CR, 750W (total: 2300)
SAT II: 760,760,750
ACT: N/A
Rank: top 5% out of 600 (highest possible at school besides val/saludatorian)
Course Load: All honors and 2 AP freshman and sophomore year (my only 2 B's were in freshman math.) During Frosh and Soph years I completed the IB MYP certificate.
Junior year courses:
IB Bio HL 1
IB Chem HL 1
IB Physics HL 1
IB English HL 1
IB Psychology SL
Honors Spanish 4
Aquatics(reqd PE class)/IB Theory of Knowledge
Senior Year courses:
IB Bio HL 2
IB Chem HL 2
IB Physics HL 2
IB English HL 2
AP Physics B or AP English Comp (which do you recommend)
IB Theory of Knowledge
IB Spanish SL</p>
<p>Subjective part:</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Debate Team Captain (4 years)
Speech Team (4 years)
Chemistry Club (leader) (4 years)
Model UN (4 years)
Track and Fencing (freshman year. I doubt I will list this on app)</p>
<p>Other:
400 volunteering hours at one hospital in general duties
300 volunteering hours at another hospital in ER
2x Published clinical medical research (I think this is my best thing)
Research in lab setting (no publication)
Internship with one doctor during summer
Shadowed surgeries over 25 hours
Taken a few college courses on subjects which interest me such as Religion and History (got all A's)
Spent three weeks in India helping provide medical care for orphaned/poor children
Set up a charity fundraiser that basically raised money for buying vaccines and basic medical supplies for about 15 villages in India for a year.
Won a few local table tennis tournaments (if that counts for anything)</p>
<p>Also forgot to mention:
I have traveled to over 30 countries
Studied abroad in India in 8th grade for the year. (can I mention this even though it was in 8th grade?)
Self studied two AP tests</p>
<p>@Macarenaps: ha. thanks a lot for the encouragement. Do you think I have a chance at any of those colleges? It seems like most people have a lot more ECs than I do. Do you have any suggestions to make myself “standout”? Looking back, all of my ECs and most of my other things are seem kind of generic when compared to the applicants of HYPS (except for maybe research and other medical things).</p>
<p>Incredible! That blows my application out of the water multiple times! If that is your actual resume, I think you have an excellent chance of admissions. Wow, that’s stupid crazy.</p>
<p>Uh, I don’t think you’re real OP. Debate Team Captain as a FRESHMAN? I don’t think so. If I know anything about debaters, there is no way they would accept a freshman as a captain. </p>
<p>I would suggest AP Physics B though. AP Comp is easier to learn on your own than AP Physics. At my school, most people take the Language and Composition test without taking the class.</p>
<p>@anonymous93: we don’t have a captain of the entire debate team. there are a few different events with about 5-7 people in each. the event which I joined had no one in it previously (i.e. it was a bunch of freshmen who are now juniors.) each event practices independently of each other and may go to different tournaments than the others so we elected captains. i only had to outshine 5 other freshmen to gain the title “captain.” I have been captain ever since.</p>
<p>@everyone: Has anyone had any experience with the AP and IB Physics courses? Taking two Physics courses in one day sounds fun, but I don’t want to have a lot of overlap. </p>
<p>Do you know if I can write in the year-long study abroad in India in 8th grade as long as I can justify why it is important? Will they think poorly of me? </p>
<p>Is my volunteering overboard? (total 700 hours) I am on track to complete 700 hours by the time I have to submit my application, but I am worried that it is a waste of time. Right now I have about 550-600 total. Will the extra 100-150 hours make much of a difference?</p>
<p>@ indiya, I think that at this point, your app is more than superb. If you want to stand out though, I recommend you do so in your essays. You MUST have passion for what you do, or else, everything will feel like an empty list of things you’ve been doing JUST to impress admission officers. Show them who you are. You will definitely have a chance if you show them that you are someone that has a vision and really reflects on his/her experiences rather than someone who is simply completing 700 volunteering hours because it will look good. Show the reasons behind all these ECs, they shouldn’t be there just to pad your resum</p>
<p>Hmm, and what event is that? And how does your school have enough money to send you to different tournaments. From my knowledge, most the schools that have enough money to do that already have strong senior leaders to lead each event. It’s not like a school that cares that much about debate lets an event be completely uninhabited till the perfect freshman decides to join. </p>
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<p>Well, that was ignorant. You, sir (or ma’am), are the reason (or represent the reason) I hate mandatory community service. Shouldn’t you be doing community service to help out your community and to give back, since you clearly are extremely blessed? Not to get into college or impress random CCers? I’ve done 1000 hours of community service, and have learned so many things from my volunteer work that are irreplaceable. Seeing how other people live, learning how the small things you do can translate into others’ happiness - that’s what volunteering is about. Not to help you achieve your end of getting into college. Seriously, there are people out there who have no hope to get into college or even have the opportunity for education. And they aren’t that uncommon. You’ve been in hospitals; there are children who are going to die tomorrow, and elderly people who have lived fulfilling lives without college. So, when you ask “Will the extra 100-150 hours make much of a difference?” think about the people that you claim to help. Are you really helping them or just helping yourself build your resume? Because it seems to me that you live your life to get into college, and that is really sad. Community service is invaluable and you’ve essentially wasted 600 hours of your life and learned nothing. </p>
<p>And for the record, I didn’t report any of my hours. I’m not commenting on who is right, but more on how vapid and insipid your life must be. You’re living it to get into college and missing out on the things that matter. Clealy, college matters, but you’re turning everything into a means to meet an end. Community service shouldn’t be a vehicle for you to get into the college of your choice.</p>
<p>O.M.G. (The periods were necessary. In my head, I literally thought “Oh. My. God.”) Did you really just say:</p>
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<p>As in, you just insinuated that your 700 hours of community service was a WASTE OF TIME? O.M.G. I hope you feel awful about yourself right now. And I hope you reflect on your life. And I hope you change.</p>
<p>To be honest, I thought the OP’s ECs were just yet another laundry list - a more expensive one no doubt (what with all the self funded trips and such), and one that’s taken abit more time, but a laundry list nonetheless. </p>
<p>Where is the passion? Where’s any real altruism or desire to help? </p>
<p>I can’t stand how Machiavellian so many of these college <em>strategies</em> are. And I suspect the colleges themselves are on the lookout for people looking to “work” the system, and who spend their whole lives strategising a way to “look good” for admissions. </p>
<p>O.M.G. @ theskylitup. You are right to. I really HATE, how Machiavellian all these strategies are. However, I think that THAT is exactly why colleges often reject what seem SUPERB applicants. They are not looking for a “laundry list”, but rather looking for people who do things with meaning, because they have a vision, and they want to do something for the world, not just USE the help given to underserved people as a means to get what THEY want. I find that cold… really cold</p>
<p>Just to add to my post 18 at Anonymous… When people refer to community service as a means to an end, or as a waste of time, I really feel kind of shocked and offended, since not thinking seriously about people in need hurts me, given the reality that people in my country and in other underdeveloped countries face.</p>