<p>Hi everyone!
Current GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.8 W (I'm expecting one or two Bs by the time I graduate)
SATs: Haven't taken them yet, but with practice, hopefully in the 2100-2250 range (my PSAT was a little lower than I would have liked, but I've been studying a lot this summer)
APs: Psychology, Chemistry, BC Calculus*, US History, US Government, Statistics, Bio, English 3, English 4, Spanish 5
No SAT II yet</p>
<p>Indian female from PA, pre-med, not sure of exact major but something with chemistry</p>
<p>ECs:
3 time international finalist in a youth symposium- 2 time international finalist in the college-level competition, 8 year local and regional finalist in the competition
Co-captain of the debate team, numerous awards at the local and state levels
Co-president of STAND (Darfur action club) at my school
4 years in Amnesty International Club
3 years in Science Olympiad, 1st place at regionals one year
3 years in JETS, 1st place in state
Volunteer at the local science center
Volunteer at a local hospital
Volunteer at a pool teaching children how to swim
2 years in EuroChallenge competition
2 years in World Quest competition
12 years of classical Indian music (vocals and instruments)
2 years of Model UN, numerous awards
2 years of JSA, numerous awards
2 years of cancer research in the lab of an acclaimed neurosurgeon
3 year published finalist in a poetry competition
I've also had some of my photography on display at a local exhibition
I formed a club in my school raising money for the children of people displaced by the 1984 riots in India, and have raised hundreds of dollars so far.
I'm planning on a few science fairs this year as well
I audited a college chemistry class at Pitt this summer and am also working in the lab mentioned above. I plan working in a lab next summer as well.</p>
<p>I have been told that I'm an excellent writer, and plan on putting a lot of effort into my applications and essays. I have a few teachers who I am quite close with, and I trust that they will give me good recommendations.</p>
<p>I have two questions:
Do I have a reasonable shot at the schools below (I'm aware the a lot are reaches)?
*Will it make a massive difference if I choose to take AB over BC? My reasoning is an A in AB is better than a B in BC</p>
<p>Schools
Penn State
UPitt
UChicago
Northwestern
Georgetown
Vanderbilt
Cornell
UMichigan
Duke
UPenn
Columbia
Yale</p>
<p>Your ECs are exactly what top colleges want, and the rest of your stats, if achieved, make you competitive. </p>
<p>Write a great essay and get good recommendations from teachers that love you, and you’ll have a real shot at the most selective colleges on your list, and a likely shot at the less selective ones.</p>
<p>Your APs might hurt you, though, and you are part of an overrepresented minority group, which will hurt your chances a smidge. But the essay and recs are far more important factors.</p>
<p>Terrific EC’s and good GPA with a rigorous course, if you get what you expect for SAT scores then you have a solid chance at all of those schools.</p>
<p>About the AB vs. BC question: in my opinion, it’s better to challenge yourself and take BC than take it easy and go AB. I just took AB this year and pulled a 2 and a C, because frankly, I’m not very good at math. But obviously you definitely are, and if you feel prepared to take BC, DO IT. Many schools don’t even accept AB for accreditation. So go big! Other than that, excellent application, plus you’re Indian and in touch with your heritage. That should go over really well :)</p>
<p>Id Say
Penn State-Safety
UPitt-Safety
UChicago-Slight Reach
Northwestern-Great Chance
Georgetown-Great Chance
Vanderbilt- Great Chance
Cornell-GreatChance
UMichigan-Great Chance (no financial aid for out of state though -.-)
Duke-Great Chance
UPenn-Id say probably
Columbia-Wouldn’t Surprise Me
Yale- Crapshoot With these types of Ivies, they are bipolar
Not sure if your GPA is on a 5.0 = AP scale, so it’d depend</p>
<p>thanks everyone!
wstflb8- GPA is on a 4.0 scale
dblum4224-I’ve been looking into Harvard and might apply, but it’s never really appealed to me as much as the other schools on my list. I’ve visited the campus, and I have some friends who go there, and I’m not sure that I’d completely love it :)</p>
<p>*Also, I just took a practice ACT and got a 32.</p>
<p>Thanks for chancing me! I think you have a really good chance at any of these schools. Your EC’s are really good concerning your field of study and your APs as far as I can tell are good. Referring back to the last post, your APs wont really hurt you because many colleges dont require you to send them in so just dont send the english 3. Hopefully you get a good score on the SATs! Good luck!</p>
<p>thanks, I’m sorry it was confusing. I haven’t actually taken the APs yet, and in my school, the English AP you take junior year is called AP Eng 3…so I didn’t get a 3 haha. thanks though</p>
<p>I know people who have a slightly lower gpa than you and around the same test scores who got into almost every single one of those schools except for Columbia, Yale and UChicago, so I think you have a really good shot at all the other schools!</p>
<p>i’d suggest you take BC calc. top 10 school’s want to see that you’re taking the most rigorous curriculum offered by your school. assuming your GPA is still top-notch by the end of junior year:</p>
<p>Penn State and UPitt are safeties, and UMich is a low match.</p>
<p>you’ve got a solid shot at Northwestern, Georgetown, Vanderbilt and maybe even Cornell, but for the others i suggest you try and get your SAT score above 2250. </p>
<p>so many over-qualified applicants apply to ivies that it’s better to be significantly above the average accepted. good luck w/ junior year!!</p>
<p>but yeah, i really do think it’ll help you a lot to get your SAT scores up, especially considering that you’re an indian applying to pre-med. :P</p>
<p>No SAT scores, no ACT scores, no SAT2 scores already we are sending her to Georgetown Etc Etc Etc… Let’s be responsible. THere are 30, 000 high schools in this country with atleast 10 students with 4.0 GPA i.e 300,000 students with that stats. Let her take a Scholastic exam and then her chips will fall in place.</p>
<p>thanks you guys! here’s an update: I’ve been consistently getting 32s on my past few practice ACTs. My last one was 33 English, 31 Math, 35 Reading, 29 Science. I haven’t really started studying yet, I’ve just taken 4 practice tests, so I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to get those Math and Science scores up.</p>
<p>I suggest BC as well, I def think it looks really good to be in bc as a rising junior. If you meet your expectation for the SATs you seem like you would be in good shape.</p>
<p>Penn State- safety
UPitt- safety
UChicago - low reach
Northwestern - match
Georgetown - match
Vanderbilt - match
Cornell - match
UMichigan - match
Duke - match
UPenn - low reach
Columbia - low reach
Yale - low reach</p>
<p>CHANCE ME PLEASE!!! I COULD REALLY USE FEEDBACK- I will chance back</p>