Chance a junior (mostly for ECs) for Ivies/top-tier schools? :)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Objective:
SAT: 2330 (800M/CR, 730 W oops)
ACT: pending, possibly not sending
SAT II: Math II (790), taking Lit in June
GPA: school uses 100 pt scale. 1 A- so far.
Rank: 1/411
Course Load: IB Diploma Candidate</p>

<p>At this point, spending time to improve my objective stats won't make a significant difference in my application (...right?). The tricky part is trying to stand out. I have several concerns for some of my ECs and wish to know how I can do more.</p>

<p>[<em>]Lindsey Meyer Teen Institute (President of local chapter, Youth Counselor at state level, 9-12)
- Community service group that promotes healthy lifestyles and natural highs. I love this group and everyone in it. I'm not concerned about this at all. I've probably racked up over 200+ hours of service through this group.
[</em>]Debate/Forensics (President, 9-12)
- My school lacks resources. We only have two members who consistently attend tournaments and about 7ish total members, so the officer position doesn't mean much. Our coaches are not completely knowledgable in this field and don't attend all the tournaments. We only compete at statewide tournaments and in the past, when only one person could go, the coach called it off. My only means of improving is through observation. I've only broken a couple times, and I'm not sure what else I can do.
[<em>]Lit Society (potetial officer, 9-12)
- The original advisor had a premature baby this fall, so the club fell apart this year but is currently being resurrected by the current president. We hold creative writing workshops and welcome all forms of writing. There's a fair chance I'll be president next year, but I don't want to jinx myself.
[</em>]Quill (editor, 9-12)
- Unfortunately, I chose art classes and a creative writing workshop class over journalism, so I could not be Editor-in-Chief this year. I originally planned on applying to journalism schools, but now I'm a bit deterred...
[li]two2one (keyboards, 8-11)[/li]- Garage band. We've won several battles of the bands and play at many service events. However, I am quitting this June because the band no longer represents me.</p>

<p>Some scattered ECs:
[<em>]Interact (9-11)
- The officers stopped replying to my e-mails. I'd ask to sign up for service activities but never got back a definite answer.
[</em>]Jazz Band (piano, 9-10)
- Enjoyed it, didn't feel rewarded. I sight-read my way through the season and was never yelled at or noticed for doing such.
[li]SGA (11)[/li]- Probably not even putting this on my app. I joined to have a say in school events, but as soon as I realized non-officers have no say (and I didn't want to spread myself too thin by becoming an officer), I quit.</p>

<p>Notable hobbies(?):
[<em>]Piano (12 yrs)
- I actually stopped taking formal lessons this year, but I still practice a lot. Unfortunately, I had a lenient teacher who would only show up half the times we scheduled him and never pushed me to compete :(
[</em>]Creative Writing (8yrs)
- Love
[<em>]Spoken Word (2ish yrs)
- Last summer, I recorded a CD of my slam poetry with music composition in the background and sold it to anyone interested. I didn't make a huge profit, but I do feel that this is something that makes me stand out a bit.
[</em>]Art
- Not quite a long-lasting hobby, but it takes up most of my electives.</p>

<p>Awards:
ABRSM Gr8 with Merit
Scholastic Writing Region-At-Large Gold Key (Poetry)</p>

<p>Other stuff:
State: NJ
Ethnicity: ASIAN. THIS IS PROBABLY SIGNIFICANT.</p>

<p>Thanks for taking the time to read this. I'll probably post a more formal chance thread over the summer. And I'll chance back!</p>

2

<p>I just realized I completely forgot to mention the schools I’m thinking of:</p>

<p>Williams College
Johns Hopkins
Rice
UPenn
Brown
HYP</p>

<p>These are only some possibilities. I’ll be visiting a couple more over the summer and will spend some time researching each school (especially the Ivies) to see which ones actually fit my interests.</p>

<p>Also, I apologize for the formatting issues in the first post. But I can’t edit it anymore! :[</p>

3

<p>Yeah, sorry to say this, but your GPA just isn’t on the mark. An A- isn’t really acceptable for ANY of those schools. Your SAT scores are also pretty low. I suggest you retake them as many times as you can until you get a 2400. 2330 is terrible. Ranking 1/411 isn’t that notable either. You should probably start looking for something else that might make you shine. Maybe you could try involving yourself in more useful extracurricular activities. Your Asian ethnicity will have a serious impact on your admissions. But luckily, if you’re a Filipino, with some tanning you might be able to pass for a Mexican. If you can’t, there are some surgical procedures that will allow you to allow you to assume a more underrepresented appearance. I don’t think you meet the par on any of those listed schools. Too underachieving. Too typical. A little boring. Try harder next time, though. There’s always community college?</p>

4

<p>Considering the fact that your school has limited resources and you’ve excelled within your environment, I think that your EC"s are relatively strong, but I don’t see a passion that you’re specifically pursuing (I might just be reading this wrong though idk). Maybe try specializing in one thing (like creative writing maybe?) will help. Your stats are amazing. I think Johns Hopkins and Rice are targets, UPenn and Brown are a low reach as of now. Nice job!</p>

5

<p>I hope it’s clear that criticfromhell4 is being sarcastic. :slight_smile: Your stats ARE awesome, and you sound really interesting to me. A smart arty student with good writing, great scores and a healthy lifestyle club you love? I think you ARE standing out. Honestly, just keep being who you are, maybe do more with fewer ECs, and worry a lot less. You will find the right college for you.</p>

6

<p>:facepalm:
I was actually trying to make it clear that I wanted this chance thread to focus on my ECs rather than my academics (hence why 9/10 of what I wrote is about ECs), but I don’t think that came across. Oops!</p>

<p>I’m coming from the mindset that the best applicants have at least one major accomplishment to supplement their ECs and their out-of-school hobbies. But I’m afraid colleges won’t see the context of my forensics club, for example. I’ve never won any piano competitions or sought out significant publication. My art is mediocre because I’ve only been taking it for a couple years.</p>

<p>I agree that I don’t have a clear focus. I listed everything I’ve done, but I won’t be listing all this on an application, I don’t think. Next year, my main ECs will be LMTI, forensics, and Lit Society with Quill on the side. Writing and interpreting literature will be my main focus.</p>

<p>Does anyone have suggestions for how I can take these interests (especially the creative writing) further?
Thanks guys!</p>

7

<p>bump
anyone else?
…I’ll chance back?</p>

8

<p>Williams College-reach
Johns Hopkins-match
Rice-match
UPenn-reach
Brown-reach
HYP-high reach
I’d say you have a good shot at the ivies. Your ec’s are decent and should do it for you. And no, don’t take the SAT again as that well make you seem like a nerd and won’t help much. Your stats seem on par with this one guy in my school who got in Dartmouth. So yeah, just pray for the best.</p>

9

<p>I think your EC’s look ok, but your stats are definitely Ivy quality. Just stick with what you are doing EC wise and maybe seek out a major leadership position or two and you’ll have as good a shoot as anyone at getting into the schools on your list. Good luck!</p>

10

<p>Who said I was being sarcastic?</p>