Chance a Hispanic with a 2400 for Ivies, MIT, and Cambridge! Will chance back.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I posted a very similar question, but I phrased it badly. </p>

<hr>

<p>Weak ECs, not-so-great courseload, and (potentially) good test scores</p>

<p>I am most interested in these schools:</p>

<p>Harvard
Yale
Princeton
MIT
Cambridge in the UK
Cornell
UPenn
University of Chicago
University of Florida</p>

<p>Location: Moved between schools in the Southeast US (including Title I, high poverty ones)
Ethnicity: Hispanic (Mexican American if it matters)</p>

<p>SAT I: 2400
SAT II: I haven't taken them yet, but I think I can manage 800s on Math II and Physics.</p>

<p>GPA: All As except for a B in AP Spanish Language. I think that's my punishment for doing AP in my first year when I am not a native speaker.</p>

<p>Courses:</p>

<p>Freshman:
AP World (4)
Hon Math I
Hon 9th English
Hon Gov't
Hon Physical Science (Oxymoronic, no?)
Business Essentials
Health
Chinese I (through program described in ECs)</p>

<p>Sophomore:
AP Stat (5)
APUSH (5) (also included Honours US History credit)
AP Psych (5)
Hon Chem
Hon 10th Eng
Hon Math II
Chinese II</p>

<p>Junior:
AP Physics C (should be 5s)
AP Econ (should be 5s)
Spanish III
AP Spanish Language (probably a 4)
Accelerated Math III
AP Calc BC (This will be a 5....)
Hon American Lit
AP English Language (should be a 5)</p>

<p>Senior:
I don't know yet. It should be similar to that for 11th grade.</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Freshman:
-Foreign Language Service something something (It was "selective" or something like that. At least I did something.)
-FBLA (regional winner of some things)
-Student Council</p>

<p>Sophomore:
-Beta Club (Honour society of sorts)
-Region Math contest (2nd place individual... I knew calculus better than anyone from my school when I was in Algebra II. I can't brag about that on the application, though.)
-FBLA (2nd in state, 6th at nationals in fairly competitive event. Competitive FBLA event, another oxymoron)</p>

<p>Junior:
-Beta Club
-Regional Math contests (1st in the one from previous year, 2nd in another)
-Quiz Bowl / Academic Team (qualified for national level things as team and individual in several things)
-AIME Qualifier (I was the first to do AMC from my school in years. I wish I had known about this sooner. No, USAMO, oh, well. I just hope that that not mean no Ivy League.)
-FBLA (1st in region in economics, bad place at state)</p>

<p>Senior:</p>

<p>I just hope I can pull something together for Siemens or Intel in time.…</p>

2

<p>Great ECs‽ Did you even look at them?</p>

3

<p>Having great SAT scores, good grades and being an URM alone should get you into most of the top tier schools.</p>

<p>However, for schools like Havard Yale Princeton MIT, you still need some ECs or work experience that demonstrate a special passion or ability for something other than just tests and school work.</p>

<p>I would suggest that you devote most of your remaining time on ECs or a skilled job. Assuming that plus your essays, recommendations and interviews go well, I would not be surprised if you got into more than one of HPSM.</p>

<p>Really not sure about Cambridge since you did not take A levels, but just like any top schools, they have holistic admissions so work on your ECs!</p>

<p>Chance back!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1504428-rate-my-chances-stanford-princeton-etc-singapore-applicant-here.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1504428-rate-my-chances-stanford-princeton-etc-singapore-applicant-here.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Ahhh, ok, I also responded to your original thread.</p>

<p>Let’s put Cambridge aside – I know nothing about their admissions policies.</p>

<p>All things considered, there is no school in the US that you should not consider applying to. Based on what we see here, you should be competitive at any of them.</p>

<p>Your list looks good – with your numbers, I’m assuming that Florida is your safety school. My only thought, is that the gap between Cornell and Florida is fairly large. perhaps you can find some schools in between.</p>

<p>Otherwise – someone giving you a percentage chance of getting in to any of the top schools is pretty useless, in your case. The decision point you’re at right now is “Apply or Don’t Apply”. From there, whatever happens, happens.</p>

<p>So, apply to all those on your list. Maybe find one or two more that fill it out a bit more (possibly look for schools with major merit money?). Pure guess – you’ll do fine.</p>

<p>If you can win a major award – always helpful.</p>

5

<p>Bǚmp a thread and hope no one cries about</p>

6

<p>Great, Great work. As good as chance as any. Feel free to post your stats when the insecure complain about minority preference.</p>

7

<p>You have a perfect SAT score, but say you have “(potentially) good test scores.” You have all A’s with one B in a courseload that includes many AP classes, but say you have a “not-so-great courseload.” You have many EC’s, including awards on the regional and national level, but say you have “weak EC’s.” When someone suggests you have strong EC’s, you berate them, saying: “Great ECs‽ Did you even look at them?”</p>

<p>What is wrong with this picture? Seems to show that someone can be great academically, yet still have no judgment.</p>

8

<p>^^ I still have not taken SAT Subject tests. I have done a practice test in each from a large book and had 800s, but my scores are speculative until I take another test.</p>

<p>With coursework:</p>

<p>— I have only done two credits in each foreign language, no literature courses either.
— For an intended STEM, I am a little behind on maths and may not even ever take any of linear algebra, multivariable calculus, AP Comp Sci, etc.
— Freshman year was quite weak.
— No IB diploma…</p>

<p>As ECs:</p>

<p>— I didn’t make USAMO.
— I am not a leader of any student organizations.
— I have not won any competitions prestigious enough to enough deserve a glance from an HYPMS adcom.
— Many things I have participated in I have done poorly in.
— I am yet to do any internships or submit any original research.
— My ECs in general are lacking in both quantity and quality.</p>

<p>These are things that someone looking to study what I would have before even dreaming of applying to these schools.… Maybe being a URM makes it easier for some of it to be overlooked, but there is still so much that separates me from a bottom of the barrel HYP student and what I have done in high school.</p>

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<p>I’m not sure being a URM is a “hook” these days like it once was. There are plenty of qualified URMs for the top schools.</p>

<p>That said, you will most likely gain admission into a top 25 school, if you have a top GPA, too. Do you? Have a top GPA?</p>

<p>Of course, I would tell that to anyone of any race with a perfect SAT.</p>

<p>Clearly make sure you love your safety, and have one you can afford. That is always the first order of business. Anyone can find 20 dream schools. The safety school is key. You should make sure you have 2 of them, too, because someone might turn you down thinking you won’t attend with your stats. </p>

<p>Good luck to you.</p>

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<p>you can easily get into most of those schools being hispanic with a perfect SAT. and your ECs are actually pretty decent too</p>

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<p>^^ They reserve a place for you based on A-Levels (IBs, APs, and SATs for Americans) but admission to any particular course, similar to a major in the American university, is generally dependent on admissions test on the subject you want to study.</p>

<p>And putting Cornell in the same category as Harvard and Cambridge does not make me feel good.…</p>

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<p>Every year, thousands of students get into top schools without any math beyond Calc AB, without USAMO, without winning any prestigious competitions, and without interning or doing original research.</p>

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<p>^^ … URMS to Brown as humanities majors who happen to be recruited athletes</p>

<p>What did the unhooked STEM majors at HYPM have to do to get in? Serious work or good performance in competitions along with perfect grades—I don’t have those anymore—and test scores</p>

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<p>Búḿṕíńǵ*á ŧħēāđ īs̄ ḡōōđ?</p>

15

<p>Okay --</p>

<p>Would it help we said you had a ‘better’ chance at Cornell than at Harvard and Cambridge.</p>

<p>Essentially, Cornell is not a safety school for anyone. You have a good chance.</p>

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<p>Well, putting them both in the “you-have-as-a-good-a-chance-as-anyone” category when some of those schools have lower than 10% acceptance makes me feel as though I have very slim chances of getting into any of the schools I want.</p>

<p>I know I need to find some more safeties, but, really, I am starting to feel as though I am hopeless.</p>

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<p>“you-have-as-a-good-a-chance-as-anyone” doesn’t mean you have a 10% chance… it’s not saying you have no advantage, it means you have the BEST POSSIBLE chance of getting in, but it’s still impossible to predict.</p>

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<p>^^ The average acceptance rate for some of these schools is 10%.</p>

<p>Maybe HYPMS Chance Threads shouldn’t exist.…</p>

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<p>Your SAT and GPA are good enough to be considered by HYP. You’re obviously a good student and a good test taker. For everything but the very top you probably have a decent shot. Cornell, match/low reach, UChicago low reach, UF safety. For HYP, MIT, Cambridge and UPenn, your stats won’t be everything. Those schools should all be considered reaches. Your EC’s are weak, they don’t show a passion for anything truly in particular. The ivies love turning down kids like you, unfortunately, because you don’t show anything truly special. Work on finding that passion! Being hispanic helps, and at anywhere but the ultra-selectives your 2400 would get you in. I’d look at some more matches and safeties if I were you. Best of luck!</p>

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<p>Cambridge is all about stats, nothing else. I do have a passion, but not making USAMO and living 75 miles from the nearest four-year college makes it difficult to show. The only thing I can do at this point is put my years spent self-study math to work with research, but it would have to be completely independent, which makes me doubt I could put together anything of good enough quality to win me anything through Siemens or Intel. Do you have any additional suggestions for safeties, preferably those that would not be too expensive? I still feel that I could get into UF, but I think I have less than a 20% chance at Cornell, and UF isn’t much fun or helpful to what I would want to do with my life. I just don’t know what I could find as a middle-ground between Cornell and UF.</p>