Chance a Junior, please? :)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I realize none of you work with admissions, but maybe you could at least answer the questions I list below? :) thanks so much. </p>

<p>Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: I have no idea if it matters, but I'm a year young for my grade...
Location: California
School type: Very small private
UW GPA: 4.0 (Nothing below a 94% in every class)
Rank: School doesn’t rank, but I’m assuming I’d be tied for Valedictorian. </p>

<p>Test Scores: </p>

<p>SAT - CR – 740, M – 640, W – 800; Total: 2180
In another thread I put 660 for math--I learned I only have 640 :( yikes. I will definitely be taking this again and trying for at least 700...</p>

<p>SAT II - Will take Literature, World History, and Biology in June. </p>

<p>ACT – Taking in April, but I have been scoring everywhere between 32-35. </p>

<p>AP - I will be taking these tests soon.</p>

<p>11th grade:
AP Literature
AP Language and Composition
AP Biology
Pre-Calculus
Statistics
Spanish III
Spanish IV
Western Civilization
Journalism</p>

<p>Summer after 11th grade:
Credited Stanford Summer Course (haven’t decided, but I have been accepted)
AP Macroeconomics (CTY Johns Hopkins)
AP Government (CTY Johns Hopkins)
AP Psychology (CTY Johns Hopkins)</p>

<p>My intended schedule for 12th grade:
AP Physics
AP Calculus BC (would it significantly damage me to do AB?)
AP World History
AP Microeconomics
AP….something else
Journalism
Photography</p>

<p>Extra Curricular Activities (so far…some may sound silly but I listed everything I could think of that I really put time into):</p>

<p>Academic -
- Founded student government (10/11)
-Student Body President (11, hopefully 12)
-Founded school newspaper (11)
-Editor in Chief, Formatter, and Writer for school newspaper (11, 12)</p>

<p>Sports -
-Varsity sport (9, 10, 11, 12) </p>

<p>Volunteer/Charity work:
-100+ hours (and counting) of general volunteer work (9, 10, 11, 12)
-Founded a nonprofit that has raised over $10,000 (10, 11, 12)
-Cofounded another nonprofit that has raised over $7,000 (11, 12)
-Active member of a charity organization pertaining to my sport that I host fundraisers for and have personally raised over $9,000 for (10, 11, 12)
-Tutoring (Summer 11) </p>

<p>Entrepreneurial -
-Founded a photography business that grossed approx. $13,000 (9, 10)
-Freelanced for 7 different national publications (9, 10, 11, 12)
-Wrote articles/photographer for two of the largest media outlets in the world within my sport (10, 11, 12)
-Photographed for an international modeling agency (11)</p>

<p>Other -
-Set to intern at a Biotechnology company (Summer 11)
-Created a Youtube channel that amassed approx. 5,000 subscribers from the editing of videos with Final Cut Pro (10, 11)</p>

<p>Waiting on more internships.</p>

<p>Awards/Other -
-Various national accomplishments in my sport
-Scholastic Arts and Writing Silver Key Photography Award
-Regional photography/writing award
-Community photography/writing awards
-Work (photography and writing) published in dozens of different magazines
-Accepted into summer programs by Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, and Brown
-Accepted into National Young Leaders Conference
-Accepted into the National Society of High School Scholars</p>

<p>Waiting on more contest results.</p>

<p>Recs: One from my English teacher, another from my math teacher of 4 years; I expect them all to be great, as I have a very good relationship with these teachers.
Essays: My first drafts are pretty good I'd say... :)
Hooks: Stanford legacy
Financial Aid: None. </p>

<p>Intended Major: Something in the Humanities/Visual Communications/Journalism...something of that nature. </p>

<p>Non-Safety Schools (in order):
Stanford (EA) and Brown (tied for first)
Cornell
Duke
Dartmouth
Yale
Harvard
USC
UCB</p>

<p>Notes:
1. My school does not offer AP's to underclassmen.
2. In terms of UC's, I believe I qualify for ELC
3. All of the funding in my charity/business comes from selling photographs and my competition prize money, which sort of ties them together.
4. I'd prefer not to name my sport, but it's rather uncommon and not something that really gets recruited..I think the schools that have it maybe recruit one or two for it a year.
5. I will send a photography portfolio supplement to all of these schools</p>

<p>Questions:
1. Should I change my senior year schedule at all?
2. Would taking Calc AB severely hurt my chances?
3. Is it better to get a Dartmouth peer review from a friend than a sibling? </p>

<p>Also, are there any other schools you would recommend for me? Safety, Match, or otherwise...weather, location, and aesthetic aren't issues, and the size doesn't really matter as long as its not extremely small or huge. I don't need a 'party scene,' but I'd like to be surrounded by kind, sociable students. </p>

<p>Feel free to answer just a few things. Thanks :)</p>

2

<p>Your business sounds really impressive, but the SAT could use improving, especially if you’re applying to Stanford/Brown. I don’t know much about this (I took college courses instead of AP), but can you take BC without doing AB?</p>

3

<p>Are we twins? LOL. Same dream schools, intended majors, credentials, EC’s, etc. Except yours are quite a bit more impressive. I would HOPE that you have an awesome chance at all of your top schools, especially being a Stanford legacy. But don’t apply there, kay? Just a suggestion. You probably wouldn’t like it. :slight_smile:
Anyway, your senior schedule looks awesome as well. I’m taking Calculus BC next year, and from what I’ve heard, it encompasses everything AB does, and then some, so I would probably just bite the bullet and take it.
We have almost the same top schools. But I’m considering USC and Northwestern as “safeties” to some degree, as they’re slightly less competitive and have great journalism programs. Hope this helps! :)</p>

<p>EDIT: Agreed about the SAT score. But you have time to improve it!</p>

4

<p>@Acuraman</p>

<p>Thank you very much! I will certainly try to improve the SAT or hopefully get a better ACT. At my school, at least, you can… :)</p>

<p>I appreciate your time.</p>

5

<p>@CollegeChica</p>

<p>I have a twin, actually (possible hook? I wish.) but you can replace her… :slight_smile:
That is too funny though! I haven’t met anyone with even remotely the same EC’s, school choices, etc.</p>

<p>I LOVE Stanford and practically all of my family goes there…so sorry, I will be applying :stuck_out_tongue: </p>

<p>Oh gosh…I’m not sure if it’s safe for me to assume USC would be a safety given the nature of admissions this year. </p>

<p>Thanks for your comments though!</p>

6

<p>Um…I have a twin too. Creepy. But he’s a guy. This is weird. LOL.
Anyway, yeah Stanford’s been my dream school since freshman year. I guess USC isn’t such a safety, but at least it’s not such a freakin’ long shot. I’m crazy to even consider applying SCEA to Stanford, but if I never try, I’ll never know, right?
After I get that nervewracking experience out of the way, my next choices would be Dartmouth, Princeton, Tulane, USC, and Northwestern.
I love journalism, but I might minor in that, especially with the way employment is right now. I didn’t found my school’s paper or anything (it’s 100 years old, LOL), but I really love being a reporter and photographer, and I’m the founder of our website, so that’s something.</p>

7

<p>@CollegeChica</p>

<p>Wow…this is getting weirder! Haha yeah I guess USC isn’t completely out of reach.
I would definitely go for Stanford SCEA if I were you! My cousin got in in 2009 with low 2000 SAT scores, no AP’s, not a URM or athlete…his essays saved him. </p>

<p>If you do have similar stats to mine, then I’m sure you’ll get in to at least Tulane and USC, and probably the other ones. </p>

<p>I was at an advantage with my paper…my school had been too small in the past to really need one. Founding the school website is definitely impressive!</p>

8

<p>Your profile is impressive. Now it depends upon your essays.</p>

9

<p>@harisheena</p>

<p>Thank you; I will try to make them compelling.</p>

<p>Would anyone mind answering some of my other questions? :)</p>

10

<p>What I want to add is that your profile is impressive, but all of the activities seem so impressive that it appears that you have done those activities to get in (which makes you a clear reject case).</p>

<p>You need to cut down that list, no matter even if you have involved millions of hours in those.</p>

11

<p>@harisheena</p>

<p>What you said is definitely interesting, but slightly unnerving…Could someone else comment on this? :confused: </p>

<p>Should I just dress my activities down a bit, or completely remove some? Gosh I always thought my downfall would be not having enough EC’s…I honestly just do these things because I enjoy them.</p>

12

<p>Okay, then I might be wrong here. If you enjoy them and can show passion in all them, then you are good to go.</p>

13

<p>Damn! I’m jealous of your extracurriculars. Your application looks amazing.</p>

<p>The only thing I see that might negatively impact your application is the fact that you’re from a very small, private school- not this fact in itself but some minor disadvantages it presents. Though you may be the valedictorian of your class, the admissions officers take into account that you did not have as much competition as some of the applicants with bigger class pools. Similarly, being President or an officer in school-related positions when only competing with a few other candidates for the position is much less prestigious than holding the same position in a larger school with many more qualified candidates. Your involvement in sports is great too, but the fact that you were a varsity athlete at a small, perhaps Class A/B Ranked School as opposed to a Division-sect School, means very little; this is not, however, to say that sports will be discounted altogether since they, regardless, take alot of time and effort.</p>

<p>Overall, your academics and activities are incredible, and it unsettles my confidence since I will be applying to many of the same schools. From my limited experience, you have a very high possibility into every one of your reach schools.</p>

<p>Best of luck! and Hey maybe we’ll even meet up some day and not even know it</p>

14

<p>@WhatsCollege8</p>

<p>I will definitely take what you said into account, thank you very much! I realize my class size affects my government/newspaper roles, but luckily it doesn’t affect my volunteering/nonprofit/business…or my sport, for that matter, as I actually do my sport through a school with a class size of 836.</p>

<p>Ohh goodness please don’t let any of my credentials unsettle or deter you–I’m sure you’re very qualified :wink: I have quite a bit to work on myself in terms of testing and whatnot. </p>

<p>Thank you, good luck to you too! Yes, maybe we will :slight_smile: anyways, I appreciate your response.</p>

15

<p>I hate doing this but…bump…aha I need some more opinions. Maybe a specific list, as in:
College 1: High Reach
College 2: Low match</p>

<p>etc.</p>

16

<p>Brownford! Girl…I wouldn’t qualify any of your schools as reaches! LOL. But seriously, you’re best matches are probably schools like USC/Stanford/Brown, which are a bit more laid-back, creative minded, but still top-notch institutes. The other Ivy Leagues, IMO, seem to be more left-brained, but you could surely still get in if you really wanted to. BTW, do you just play the one sport? I just play one sport, varsity, and I was reading your description, and it piqued my curiosity. My sport is kind of uncommon too, we have a small team, and it’s not something hordes of people get recruited for either. It’s more of a single player sport, anyway. Outdoors. Want to give me a hint on yours? :slight_smile: And if you want to list more schools, I could give you more input, too. I’m just not exactly sure what you have in mind with the whole “High reach/low match” thing.</p>

17

<p>Ohh trust me…they’re reaches for everyone. But you’re very sweet! And I agree with your statement about the other schools being more left-brained–I would be thrilled to get into those, but I feel like Stanford or Brown would be the best fit for me. I really, really want to get in…but I don’t think ‘desire’ is enough these days :confused: </p>

<p>I do just play one sport…I kind of fail at every other sport haha. My sport is also single-player and involves animals… :slight_smile: which totally gives it away. So much for total anonymity.</p>

18

<p>Yup, I guess I’m just deluding myself about the “reaches”…maybe it’s just because I’m waaaay to attached to Stanford for my own good. :slight_smile: I wish schools admitted on how completely enamored you were…I’d totally be a shoo in! I think Stanford or Brown would be a good fit for you, from what I know, especially with your sport. I can totally see either school having a good atmosphere for that. Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone being recruited for that sport either, but best of luck! My sport involves clubs…and tees…and it’s perfect for an uncoordinated, unathletic person like me! :slight_smile: It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with Stanford. I mean, Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie are alumni, after all!</p>

19

<p>Nahh; you sound like the kind of person they’d want. Well thank you! I hope they think I’m a good fit for them too…</p>

<p>I know Brown and Stanford both recruit one or two people for my sport every year…but some of their past ones include olympic level ‘players’…I’m not the worst, but I’m certainly not at that level, unfortunately. Darn competitions and animals cost so much…</p>

<p>Ha I used to play your sport until high school! Some friends of mine funded the course at stanford and it’s gorgeous. I hope you get the chance to attend and play there :)</p>

20

<p>If your essays are good</p>

<p>Stanford (EA)- I never thought I would say this for anyone about stanford but low reach. (They don’t seem to care as much about SATs and they realy like outstanding things like businesses and they love legacies)
Brown - reach
Cornell - reach/match
Duke - reach
Dartmouth- reach
Yale- reach
Harvard- reach
USC- low reach
UCB- reach</p>

<p>If you get your Math SAT up you should be VERY competative for all of these schools. You should probably get into at least 4/9</p>