Chance a rising senior for Ivies?

Applying to College
1

<p>Reposted from the Chance Me thread.</p>

<p>It's coming - the dreaded college app season. The stress. The anxiety. The wait.</p>

<p>Before I get into all the stats and such, I'll talk about what I want to study. I'm interested in scientific research as well as business, and medicine has been an increasingly interesting career to me as well. So I'd like to have the option for good research opportunities as an undergrad, while having the option to go into premed later if I want. Business and history are cool too, but more of a minor focus compared to science, which I plan to major in - probably chemistry or biology.</p>

<p>**Schools: **Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Dartmouth, Columbia, UChicago, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Duke, UVA, potentially Yale, definitely my state school</p>

<p>Objective Stuff
- SAT: 2360 (800R, 800W, 760M, 1st sitting)
- ACT w/writing: 36 (1st sitting)
- Subject Tests: Math II 800, Chemistry 790, probably another one soon
- GPA: 3.9/4.0 UW, 4.7/5.0 W
- Rank: school does not rank
- Courseload: Took a lot of AP/IB classes, probably the most rigorous courseload that our school offers, but only a few of the tests so far so I won't talk about those.
- Others: IB Diploma Candidate.</p>

<p>Major Awards
- Intel ISEF Finalist & Fourth Place Winner
- National Spanish Exam Gold Medal</p>

<p>Minor Awards
- Regional/state FBLA awards
- Regional/state National History Day awards
- Regional/state science fair awards
- School departmental awards</p>

<p>School Extracurriculars
- FBLA/Business Club (President 2 years, Secretary 2 years)
- Video news broadcast (President 2 years)
- Spanish Club (PR Manager, 3 years)
- National Honor Society (3 years)
- Freshman Orientation LINK Leader (2 years)</p>

<p>Non-School Extracurriculars
- Scientific research intern at local university (1 year, as junior)
- Paid medical research intern at hospital, which is nationally recognized, as part of a program that primarily accepted undergrads and med students (this summer)
- Principal flutist in local youth orchestra (Principal 2 years, member 5 years and all throughout high school)
- Congressman's youth advisory board (3 years)</p>

<p>Volunteering
- Approx. 300 hours (local hospital mostly, some random things too)</p>

<p>Other Stuff
- School type: public, 500 per class
- Ethnicity: Asian American
- Gender: Female
- Income: ~130k</p>

<p>**Thanks so much! Really, all your advice/comments/etc. are appreciated. **I tried not to include any of my opinions in the first part of this post so that you'd be as objective as possible when chancing me. So here's my opinion-loaded question for the very end; if you don't want to answer and just chance, that's fine too!</p>

<p>I'm especially unsure of where to apply EA; I love Harvard, period, but it's Harvard. I don't know if it'd really be a good school to apply early to. Part of me wants to apply early to a school where I'll have a better chance at, so I'll have an acceptance under my belt before April. But Harvard was absolutely lovely and the financial aid is great, and I really would 100% accept if I get in, so it's a big dilemma.What do you think - apply EA to Harvard or not? If not, then what other schools do you think would be good alternatives?</p>

<p>I think that either Stanford or UChicago&MIT would be my other EA options. Still very competitive schools (so if you think I'm assuming I'll automatically get in here if I apply early to these instead of Harvard, no, that's not what I'm saying), but I've probably got at least a slight better chance since these schools accept quite a few kids from my school annually. I liked MIT and while I haven't been there, will probably also like Stanford and UChicago...though not to the degree of Harvard. ;)</p>

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<p>So you’re double posting? I’ll respond to your Chance Me thread, as this will most likely be deleted by a moderator in the coming hours. Check that thread in a few minutes. :)</p>

3

<p>Ah, okay. I thought posting it in two different places would give me opinions from different people, but thanks!</p>

4

<p>Your stats look strong everywhere, and I see no weaknesses.</p>

<p>You should be a strong candidate at any of the schools on your list, or any other school you apply to.</p>

<p>With schools of that caliber, it becomes a numbers game (i.e., there are more strong highly qualified candidates than slots), so there’s no guarantee of admissions to any one of them. But if you apply to several, you should be fine.</p>

<p>This being said, do make sure you have safety schools, in case the unthinkable happens.</p>

<p>EA – apply to your first choice of schools. The only other thought, if you are torn between two schools, where one is single choice early action and the other isn’t, at least consider the one that will allow you to apply to multiple EA schools. There are many fine schools that are safety or near safety with your stats, that take EA. If you can, get that first acceptance under your belt early. However, this shouldn’t be the driving factor. Choose your number one school for EA.</p>

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<p>You look like you have a strong shot.</p>

<p>But I’m curious-- Is there really any significant difference between a 3.9 UW and a 4.0 in the eyes of adcoms?</p>

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<p>Is there any difference between a 780 and an 800 on the SAT?</p>

<p>One is perfect, the other isn’t. Probably not significant though.</p>

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<p>You have a good chance at all the Ivies- congrats on a great HS record. Whether you will be accepted at Harvard- well that’s hard to predict. You could get lucky and have many top acceptances ( be prepared for that, but don’t count on it.) You’ve done everything right though, so, once you’ve done your essays just know that its all in the hands of fate and the adcoms. Best of luck!</p>

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<p>good chance :)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the advice, everyone. It’s been really helpful to hear what everyone else thinks!</p>

10

<p>Strong applicant, you have a great chance. :)</p>