<p>^^ I didn’t say it would be likely that would happen. I just that getting when you don’t belong there is much worse than not getting in. I won’t qualify for fee waivers; it’s just that it seems ridiculous to spend so much money that won’t get me anything.</p>
<p>(BTW There are several other schools on the list I am more interested in than Harvard and Yale, and I threw Yale on the list for really little reason at all.)</p>
<p>OK, how much longer are you going to milk this??? Research schools, apply to the ones you want to attend, see what happens. There are NO guarantees. There are also NO reasons NOT to apply to your list of schools. But don’t simply make an ethnicity/test score assumption, because ECs, and some evidence of school or real world “good citizenship” DO matter.</p>
<p>You see, anyone who tells you that you WILL get into all these schools simply BECAUSE you are a hispanic with a high score, DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HE OR SHE IS TALKING ABOUT! There are NO guarantees, hispanic or not. Your whole profile needs to meet what each individual school is seeking in its students. None of these schools say, “well, here’s a high scoring hispanic. Let him in and we’ll meet our quota…” If ALL you have to offer is ethnicity and a high score, don’t assume you will be accepted. There must be MORE to you than an ethnicity and a test score to cross the threshhold into admissions for the very top schools. Those who tell you otherwise are naive about admissions at the top level, and revealing their affirmative action ignorance/jealousy. Go down a rung, prestige and selectivity-wise, and that ethnicity and number may provide more of an admissions guarantee. Your applications MUST be more than your ethnicity and scores. If they are, you have a decent chance at all your schools. But “decent chance” is not the same as “YOU WILL GET IN EVERYWHERE!”</p>
<p>Good luck. Now, it is time for you to start thinking for yourself.</p>
<p>^^ I know. I was just hoping for a few more people who knew what they were talking about had to say about UPenn, UChicago and Cornell, but everyone either only wants to talk about HYP or is giving thoughtless or uninformed answers for a chance-back. But it’s a little to do anything other than work on research and put applications together. By the way, what is “rung”? Is a rung down from Ivys UF and similar schools, or would it include schools like NYU and the like? </p>
<p>I just hope that one of UPenn, UChicago, and Cornell accept me.</p>
<p>UPenn has a relatively high hispanic population, I think, compared to many other Ivies. If its the College you’re applying to, then you’re in. Wharton is still a reach, but your FBLA extracurriculars help. I think you have an excellent chance for Penn.</p>
<p>UChicago is famous for a very intellectual personality. This could go both ways for you. It may mean that your scores are emphasized, or it may mean that they look at your extracurriculars (FBLA, math contests) and see them more as pre-professional activities and think that you aren’t a fit.</p>
<p>Many, many kids from my school go to cornell, and most of them have subpar stats for Ivies. I don’t know, however, how excellent applications such as yours fare. Someone recently brought up the point that Cornell might reject you if they feel that you won’t accept them.</p>
<p>You are essentially perfect candidate. I think the key to being accepted, for you, isn’t convincing the colleges that they want you, but rather convincing them that you want them.</p>
<p>you’ve a great shot with your scores! just work out more on your EC’s 
chance me! <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1506757-chances-wharton.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1506757-chances-wharton.html</a></p>
<p>I think I can project the math contests as part of an intellectual passion, as that is what it is, and it’s something that I have had for a very long time. FBLA was never anything I cared much about. I just liked the idea of national level awards and similar easy-to-get padding for college applications, which is probably something many adcoms could see through.</p>
<p>OK, yes, on CC most people (especially those uninformed about the full range of great schools) are obsessed by HYP. YOU need to determine what schools are the best fit for YOU!!! Independent judgement is something you need to cultivate, as well as more self-confidence; those two things tend to develop hand-in-hand. Work on both.</p>
<p>What is crucial is for you to determine where you would most like to attend, and really spend time crafting applications to those schools; applications which demonstrate why YOU are a match for them. Chicago, for example (my undergrad alma mater), places real emphasis on the esssays, in addition to recs, stats, course rigor. If you want Chicago, know that those essays need to be stellar. But in truth, don’t apply to more schools than interest you – that you would actually attend – because you want to be able to spend the appropriate amount of time crafting each application.</p>
<p>There were several Ivy League schools my little one did not apply to, because she didn’t like their “personalities.” She didn’t apply to all eight because she didn’t like all eight. She applied only to schools she wanted to attend (reaches, matches, and safeties) and really, really worked on those applications. She is now attending her first choice school. It is an Ivy, but the one SHE wanted. If you are not interested in Harvard or Yale, don’t apply. Apply where YOU want to attend. But before you close the door on any school, do your research so that you will have no regrets later in life!!!</p>
<p>If you are specifically interested in Penn, Cornell, and Chicago, it is time to go to their forums and get advice from the alums and current students who post there.</p>
<p>Re: a rung. If the top “rung” is, say, the top fifteen schools on the USNWR listing, the next rung might be schools 15 through 30. You will often find that slightly less selective schools admit by score and ethnicity, rather than holistically. For you Florida is not the next rung down, it is a safety school. But you do need a few in-between safety and reach schools.</p>
<p>The in-between schools won’t work for me. They will be too expensive. The top schools give good financial aid, and the bottoms schools have other aid.</p>
<p>You have excellent test scores which is a huge advantage. Your weakest point is EC’s I would say, but they aren’t bad either. Depending on your essay here is what I think.</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT-Mid Reach
Cornell Upenn, UChicago-Likely match
U Florida-Safety</p>
<p>I don’t really know about Cambridge. Sorry. </p>
<p>also chance me!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1509438-chances-various-schools-ill-chance-you-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1509438-chances-various-schools-ill-chance-you-back.html</a></p>
<p>OK, have you investigated “lower tier” schools that offer merit aid? With your scores you may very well qualify for some impressive grants. Therefore, the in-between schools may not be completely unavailable to you. </p>
<p>None of the Ivies offer merit aid, though they are all need-blind and pledge to meet 100% of demonstrated need. Chicago is, by the way, somewhat less generous with financial aid than other schools. Don’t let it dissuade you from applying there, but be aware.</p>
<p>There are quite a few threads on merit awards, on the financial aid forum. You might want to take a look.</p>
<p>And, I am sorry, but ANYONE who tells you that Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and M.I.T. are mid-reaches FOR YOU OR FOR ANYONE, is uninformed. They are reaches for everyone. And though you seem competitive, no one can call Penn, Cornell, or Chicago likely matches; that label suggests that you are a shoe in for those three. Thousands of valedictorians, or kids with perfect SAT scores, are rejected from these schools every year, not just HYPM, but Penn, Cornell and Chicago, as well. Kids who, on paper, seem perfect to the rest of us. That is because these school want more than perfect test takers, or perfect test takers who just happen to be Hispanic. That does not mean that you will not be a competitive applicant, bcause you seem competitive. But you are not a shoe in. At least this much is true: no one here can guarantee that you are a shoe in. Ignore anyone who says you are. So, be sure you are working on the rest of that application. Not padding it with activities because, as you know, they will see right through that strategy. But by becoming deeply, passionately involved with your other intellectual and extra curricular interests and conveying those passions in your applications. That part is crucial and part of what these schools all call the “holistic approach” to admissions. </p>
<p>You may have gathered that I think chancing threads are ludicrous. No one knows. NO one. And you will not until you receive decisions next academic year. What we can tell you is that you seem competitive on paper, at least in terms of numbers. But numbers and ethnicity are not guarantees of admission to the very top schools. </p>
<p>The reason I harp on numbers and ethnicity is that you used these very factors to hook CCrs into reading your thread, you know, “Chance a Hispanic with a 2400…” The very title of your thread suggests you think these two things are all that matter. They are not. If there is more to you than your score and your ethnicity, make sure your applications demonstrate this. If you do, you will make yourself a VERY compelling applicant to the schools of your choice. Notice I didn’t say “shoe in.”</p>
<p>^^ I know that a balanced 2250 on the SAT is the same as 2400 and that being a Hispanic is not the hook it once was. That is why I listed everything else out in full and used tiny lines for SAT I and ethnicity. The title was just there to get people interested. I started out with another thread, not many people were reading or responding, so I changed some things and the title, and voila. </p>
<p>Can you look at my ECs and classes to tell me if those are okay, disqualifying, etc. for some of the schools I listed?</p>
<p>I really am kind of kidding you about the title. There are so many “chancing threads” – all of which are pointless – that you need to be somewhat clever to stand out. It worked!!!</p>
<p>Look, nothing disqualifies you from applying to the schools of your choice. In terms of classes, be sure you are taking the most rigorous courseload available to you. In the School Counselor Report, the counselor will be asked to rank the rigor of your courseload comparatively. How does the rigor of your courseload compare with that of your classmates? Are you taking the most rigorous? Less rigorous for better grades? How does the rigor stack up with classmates also applying to these very same schools? That is one way colleges are able to make fine judgements among applicants from the same high schools. Who is taking the most rigorous courseload and who, among those, is most successful in taking advantage of all the academic opportunities the high school affords? Take the most rigorous course load available and you will be fine.</p>
<p>As for ECs? I cannot judge what is important to you. That is what schools look at, what you do and how important what you do IS to YOU. They want to see passionate involvement in things that really mean something to you, not membership in a lot of orgaizations. If STEM is what you love, pursue it within the limits of what is available to you.</p>
<p>One thing that happens on CC is that kids over-think and over-strategize their applications and their “chances.” They make it too complicated. The schools you are interested in want smart, talented, authentically passionate students. The application is the way you show them all these sides of yourself.</p>
<p>What I would suggest you do this summer is start working on essay topics. What do you want schools to know about you that scores, and ethnicity, and grades do not completely reveal? How can you express your true self in a way that complements the grades, the scores, the ethnic “hook”? Start thinking about essays now, especially by going to your top choice schools websites or CC forums and find out what the essay prompts may be. Think how to package your whole self. If your true self and voice come through, you can presnt yourself as a compelling applicant to your schools.</p>
<p>The time has passed for worrying about chances. It is pointless worrying, as no one knows. Forget this nonsense. Challenge yourself in school. Work on essays. Apply where you want.</p>
<p>Oh, and don’t worry about arguing Ivy requirements on other threads. You are misinformed if you think all the top schools want in a student is statistical perfection and world-class ECs. In the thread where you are being argumentative, Friend B met the threshhold of statistical competitiveness. There was just something else lacking, clearly, perhaps essays and recs, which are not quantifiable. And, as someone still a junior in high school, you may not be best qualified to determine why someone wasn’t admitted to an Ivy. I mean, you and every other high school kid on CC!!!</p>
<p>I have a problem with the courseload. At the school I was at for most of 10th and 11th grade, I had what one of the counselors described as the most rigorous courseload they had ever had a student do, but I don’t know how I will compare at the school I will be at when I apply, and changing schools may end up really hurting me in that respect.</p>
<p>I still think working on original work in pure maths as something to submit to colleges, Intel, etc. would help and so much more fun than obsessing over essay topics, but I haven’t been the through the process, so I don’t really know.</p>
<p>Absolutely work on math!!! If you love it, absolutely!!! But I must advise you NOT to shirk on essays. A bad or indifferent essay can kill an otherwise excellent application. Spend a bit of time every week jotting down ideas for essays, let’s say 15 minutes per week between now and September. By the end of summer you will have a base to work with. What I am urging is that you do not wait until the last minute. They need to be stellar, not because the rest of your app will be weak, but because every part of that app should be as good as you can possibly make it. Don’t underestimate the power of a powerful essay.</p>
<p>In terms of changing schools…I strongly urge you to get a recommendation from that counselor at the first high school who described your course load as “the most rigorous…they had ever had a student do.” Or see if your new school’s counselor will allow an add on from the first high school counselor. This might not be a bad time, while he or she still remembers you, to ask the counselor at school #1 if he or she can write a rec for you, or if he or she will collaborate with counselor at school #2 to craft a report that covers all of your high school years and both of your schools!</p>
<p>Also think about teacher recommendations. Who knows you the best? Have you forged a really good relationship with a teacher at school #1, particularly a math teacher? If so, that is a teacher who should be writing one of your recommendations. The key is to get teachers who know you best. It sounds to me like it might be teachers from school #1, because you will be a new student at school #2. If so, you will want to contact teachers at school #1 no later than the very beginning of the school year, so that this can be coordinated. Just because you are leaving school #1 does not mean you cannot use the counselors and teachers as resources when you apply to college. </p>
<p>If you love pure math, why haven’t you considered CalTech?</p>
<p>Harvard: Very low reach
Yale: very low reach
Princeton: Low reach
MIT: Reach
Cornell: High match
UPenn: High match
University of Chicago: depends on essay
University of Florida: super safety
Cambridge: not so sure</p>
<p>If you have a 2400 and you are a URM, your good for the most part. Chance back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1508365-wharton-cornell-ed-others.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1508365-wharton-cornell-ed-others.html</a></p>
<p>Ignore Kobe. HYP are not very low reaches for anyone. Really, anyone who is also asking you for a chance, is someone whose “chancing” you should particularly ignore.</p>
<p>Although, as I said, chance threads are meaningless. Advice threads, on the other hand…</p>
<p>@swingtime CalTech is small, smaller than any school I have been in, which I don’t like. I don’t think I am a good fit, and the location is not what I am looking for. </p>
<p>EDIT: What you said about ignoring the actual “chance” people… This is why I didn’t ask for real “chances” the first time I asked about some of these schools. </p>
<p>@Kobe123358 Is there any reason that you think MIT and Princeton will be tougher to get into than the others? And why do you think those schools are “very low reaches,” which is a nonsensical term.</p>
<p>Sorry swingtime if I offended you. I just felt that a Hispanic with a perfect sat has a better relative chance than someone who does not. I’m sorry I’m not an expert on admissions like you</p>
<p>Oh for Princeton I just was tired of typing. And it just means u have a better than normal chance than most people applying to those schools. It’s just my opinion</p>
<p>@Kobe I think your definition of “reach” differs from most people’s on here. Yes, a 2400 and Hispanic is better than average for admissions, but it is not going to get anyone in. It really means little more than a white student’s 750/750/750, which doesn’t turn any heads.</p>