Chance a Junior for Top Schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello CCers,</p>

<pre><code> It's been a while since I've posted on here. Junior year is almost over, and lots of things have happened, so I wanted to know how things look for me in regard to some schools that I'm looking at. I really appreciate your time!
</code></pre>

<p>Possible Majors</p>

<p>Finance
International Relations
Journalism
Applied Math
(As you can see, I'm pretty much undecided as of now)</p>

<p>Schools I'm Looking At:</p>

<p>Stanford
Harvard
Cornell
Columbia
UPenn
Amherst
Swarthmore
John's Hopkins
NYU - Stern
UNC - Chapel Hill
USC
Georgetown</p>

<p>A Little Bit About Me:</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Albanian (I speak the language fluently. I came over here from Kosovo when I was younger due to genocide in my country).
State: Delaware
School: Top in the state. Ranked 10th best charter school for math, science, and technology in the nation.
Hooks: First-generation college applicant, low-income. </p>

<p>Test Scores:</p>

<p>SAT I - M: 690 Cr: 780 W: 700 Composite: 2170
SAT II - Biology M: 730
AP - Biology: 5 </p>

<p>Academics: </p>

<p>GPA: 4.1 Weighted - My school only provides a weighted GPA. The highest possible is a 4.3, which would be straight A's and a course load comprising solely of AP classes. </p>

<p>Junior Year Classes/Grades </p>

<p>AP Calculus AB - B+
AP Chemistry - A
AP English Language and Composition - A+
Honors U.S. History - A
Honors Anatomy and Physiology - A
Honors Spanish III - B+
Phys. Ed. - A+</p>

<p>Senior Schedule</p>

<p>AP Calculus BC
AP Statistics
AP Government
AP Literature
AP Economics (Macro and Micro)
Honors Physics
Honors International Relations</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (In School)</p>

<p>Model UN - Have been doing this for 3 years now, very heavily involved.
Academic World Quest - All three years
President and Founder of Business Professionals of America Chapter (Junior Year) </p>

<p>Extracurriculars (Outside of School)</p>

<p>100 Hrs. Community Service at Hospice
Started a technology blog recently. Growing in popularity. (You can check it out if you want! Future</a> Nostalgia)
Also, this might be a bit random, but I also rap/write rap music. </p>

<p>I realize that my EC's aren't exactly the best, and while they may be sparser then some, I am very passionate about my work, and commit a lot of my time to each one. </p>

<p>So, what do you guys think? Be honest. I won't take it personally ;) And any suggestions to improve would be appreciated! Thanks again!</p>

2

<p>Clearly, your SAT could be a little higher. Your grades are eh (B in SPANISH?). But your EC’s seem promising; I think if you held like a campaign to raise money for a cause yo’ure passionate about on your blog (since you say it’s growing in popularity), you’d have a better shot at the higher schools there. I’m really not feeling your chances at places like Brown and Harvard, but definitely for sure on the “lower” colleges there, like UNC chapelhill and USC.
Chance me?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1319216-please-chance-me-im-going-nuts.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1319216-please-chance-me-im-going-nuts.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Johns Hopkins* haha I was accepted there :slight_smile: I think you have a good chance as well. Make sure your essays are very well written and honest/true.</p>

4

<p>Quick Update:</p>

<p>Forgot to mention a few awards that I’ve won. Not sure if they make any difference, but here they are anyway:</p>

<p>COMAP Mathematical Modeling Competition - Meritorious Award</p>

<p>Common Wealth Award Writing Contest - Just found out about this yesterday actually. The Common Wealth Awards will be held here in Delaware, honoring Madeleine Albright, Wolf Blitzer, Kenneth Cole, and Judith Jamison. There was a contest for four people from the state to get to meet these people, and I was selected as a special guest of Madeleine Albright. Also, I was told that in the entire history of the contest, I am the first to receive a perfect score on my essay from the judges.</p>

<p>My essay was about Mrs. Albright and how she helped Kosovo in the war back in 1999 (which basically saved my life). Would this be a good topic to talk about in an essay for college (not about Albright, just about transitioning from genocide to America)?</p>

5

<p>Your list is very reach heavy. Your CR score will make ivies and their peers tough. You need solid matches and safeties.</p>

6

<p>I realize I have a lot of reaches, but I don’t think I’m too far out of reach. And I think you meant Math, not CR, right? My CR is 780. Math is 690. Do you think that if I brought my math score up, it’d give me a better shot. </p>

<p>As for safeties and matches, my safety is the University of Delaware, and some matches (at least I think they’re matches) are UMich and Penn State.</p>

7

<p>I id misread, CR is typically listed first. Lower math is not as bad. I hope you and all the others looking at ivies read this year’s results here. Most kids with strong stats do not get in. Once you have the stats it comes down to ECs. Nothing says ivy in yours.</p>

<p>You need to both love your safeties and be able to afford them. If you do and can, your list is fine.</p>

8

<p>Waverly, I appreciate your insight, however, I respectfully disagree. I have several friends who are seniors who had essentially the same academic stats as me with comparatively worse EC’s yet got in to some of the top schools, including Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and Cornell.</p>