Chance a Rising Senior Senior Member

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So I've been on CC for almost one and a half years now and it's now time for me to make my own chance thread. I'm aiming for Ivy-level schools (the Ivies, Caltech/MIT, Pomona/Harvey Mudd, UCLA/Berkeley, etc.). Personally, I feel that my EC's and volunteering may be a bit lacking, so I'd like some feedback, please. Thanks!</p>

<p>Basic Information</p>

<p>Name: Jeffrey (Middle and Last names semi-recognizable as being Asian)</p>

<p>Location: Southern California</p>

<p>School: Public, about 3000 kids, on the Top 1000 schools list (albeit quite low)</p>

<p>Gender: M</p>

<p>Family Income: About $100K per year</p>

<p>Race: Taiwanese-American</p>

<p>Hooks: None, really. Both parents went to grad school at UCLA, so perhaps a legacy there.</p>

<p>Colleges/Universities</p>

<p>California
--Stanford
--Pomona College
--UCLA
--Harvey Mudd College
--Caltech
--Claremont McKenna
--USC
--UC Berkeley</p>

<p>East Coast
--Brown
--Princeton
--MIT
--Harvard
--Yale</p>

<p>Testing/Grades</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.53 W (through 1st semester junior year)</p>

<p>Class Rank: 1 (potentially 2 :P) out of 632</p>

<p>SAT: 2400 (single-sitting)</p>

<p>Subject Tests: 740 French, 780 Physics, 780 US History, 800 Chemistry, 800 Math II</p>

<p>AP: 5's on French Language, European History, Calculus BC (and AB subscore), Physics B during sophomore year. 9 scores pending for junior year. </p>

<p>Curriculum: All AP and Honors (except for classes like Health and PE). 4 AP + 2 Honors classes each during sophomore and junior years. 5-6 AP classes senior year (Lit, Stats, Bio, Art Hist, Gov/Econ, Comp Sci).</p>

<p>Volunteering</p>

<p>AP Ambassador (Tutoring): Three times a week for an hour before school. During junior year.</p>

<p>Textbook Distribution: Two days per year helping in the library during my school's registration and text distribution period</p>

<p>Playing piano/violin at church: 7th-10th grades, once a week for about 3 hours per time.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars</p>

<p>Mock Trial: Joined in 10th grade. Played role of defense and prosecution expert witnesses in 10th. Team made it to county finals that year. Was a prosecution and defense trial attorney in 11th grade. Team won county (I was named the top prosecution attorney of all 26 teams), went to state that year.</p>

<p>Classical Piano/Violin: 11 years piano, 10 years violin (and counting)</p>

<p>Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra (CYMO): Concertmaster of Intermezzo Orchestra (lower-level) in 7th grade, 1st violinist in CYMO from 8th-11th (and 12th, hopefully)</p>

<p>French Honors Society: Member 10th grade, Treasurer 11th grade, ___ 12th grade</p>

<p>California Math League: Participated 9th-present</p>

<p>Awards</p>

<p>Music</p>

<p>Inland Empire Piano Festival: Won numerous 1st and 2nd place awards in piano solo and concerto divisions since 2002. Winning the concerto division in 2009 allowed me to play the 3rd movement of Grieg's Piano Concerto with a local symphony orchestra</p>

<p>Southwestern Youth Music Festival: Won 2nd place piano and violin awards in 2006 (too early to be put on app?)</p>

<p>Music Teachers Association of California's (MTAC) Certificate of Merit (CM) Program: Passed Advanced Level for Piano with Branch Honors in 9th grade. In 10th grade, was named as one of 36 Panel Honors Piano students from the entire state of CA. In 11th, passed Advanced Level for Violin.</p>

<p>Mock Trial</p>

<p>--Blue Ribbon Award nominee 10th grade for both defense and prosecution expert witnesses
--Blue Ribbon Award nominee 11th grade for defense trial attorney
--Blue Ribbon Award and Outstanding Prosecution Attorney award winner 11th grade
--Winner of internship with _____ County DA 11th grade</p>

<p>All other Awards (including some that are pending)</p>

<p>History Day 2011: Group Documentary won district, 1st place at county, was rated "Excellent" (2nd best rating) by all 3 judges at state</p>

<p>National French Contest (Le Grand Concours): Placed 7th in nation for Level 3 in 9th grade. Placed 10th in nation for Level 4 in 10th grade.</p>

<p>National Merit Scholarship: Scored 236 on 11th grade PSAT. Should be NMSF.</p>

<p>AP Scholar with Honor (National AP Scholar status pending 11th grade results)</p>

<p>California Scholarship Federation: Member for 6 straight semesters (Life Member status pending 1st semester senior grades)</p>

<p>Science Olympiad: 9th grade: 3rd place in ecology at regional finals</p>

<p>Reflections: 10th grade: 1st place at school level, Literature</p>

<p>Science Fair: 10th grade: Honorable mention at district level</p>

<p>Work Experience</p>

<p>Private Violin Teacher: October 2010-May 2011. 1 student, once a week for an hour per lesson.</p>

<p>Internship with ____ County DA: June 2011-August 2011.</p>

<p>Thanks to all for chancing me!</p>

2

<p>So… What makes you unique? I mean you have the grades, the scores, the (insert MUN/Mock trial/debate/some combination of these 3), the (insert piano/violin/both), and the regional to state awards to back it up. But this is too familiar. You need to write killer essays but otherwise your chances are on the lower side for all of your reaches. </p>

<p>Also, Ivys and Stanford prefer to see national success in 1 EC than moderate success on a regional level.</p>

3

<p>Granted your still a perfect student on paper. You just need to find a way to differentiate yourself from the other applicants. I think you can since your accomplished, but work hard on your essay. Good luck!</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1155428-chance-me-hypsm.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1155428-chance-me-hypsm.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Thanks for the feedback! Could you give me your opinion on reach/match for me?</p>

<p>That’s definitely what I worry about for my app. Without a doubt, I feel blessed to have been born in a middle-class Asian family with parents who care about giving me a great education without being stereotypically Asian. But I can’t help but wonder how much easier application would be if my parents made less money or I were a URM.</p>

<p>I’m really banking on killer recommendations (I know they’ll be good since these teachers know me personally, but how good?) and some nice essays to go along with my applications. We’ll see. Thanks again and good luck to you!</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Oh, I already did! You have a story that’s nothing short of inspirational.</p>

5

<p>2400+4.0 UW+Sal-Val out of an enormous class+Near Perfect SAT IIs+12-13 APs (all 5s so far)</p>

<p>I don’t care what anyone says, I find it hard to believe that those credentials alone wouldn’t be enough for any school, including Harvard, to take an extremely serious look at your application. How many applicants have those stats or anything even close? </p>

<p>I could be wrong, but you look to be one of those easy admits for all schools. It’s not like your ECs are nonexistent, you’ve obviously spent plenty of time involved with them. For you, your hook is your stats and credentials. That’s my opinion.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for your opinion! I feel that Butters1 is right about top schools seeing lots of kids like me, so I’m really trying to think of a way to differentiate myself from other applicants like me.</p>

<p>Anybody else?</p>

7

<p>Pi</p>

<p>Amazing stats! You have EC’s as well though not as stellar as your stats/grades, etc. Colleges should be lucky to admit you :-)</p>

<p>Keep up the good work. </p>

<p>BTW, can you please let me know the essay prompt requirements for UC’s (Berkeley, UCLA, etc). Are the prompts available for 2012 applicants? What is the application procedure - do they accept common apps? If yes, are the essay prompts same as that for common app? Have the common apps essay prompts for 2012 been released?</p>

<p>I gather, there is no early action for UC’s and Nov is the deadline… Am I correct?</p>

<p>Appreciate your feedback on the essay requirements and admission requirements for UC’s. Are recommendation letters NOT required? Heard Georgia tech does not need one and hence was not sure? Where can I see the sample application for UC?</p>

<p>I see this link <a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/how-to-apply/personal-statement/index.html[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/how-to-apply/personal-statement/index.html&lt;/a&gt; but not sure if its for 2011 or 2012 essay requirement… Are these essays OVER AND ABOVE the common app essay or is it just this?</p>

<p>Also, there is no mention of recommendation letters - does it mean its not required?</p>

<p>On another note, when do you think is the right time to “start” thinking about the essay drafts? </p>

<p>Sorry for so many questions…</p>

8

<p>I have no idea about Georgia Tech. As for UC’s, I think the 2 essay prompts for the class of 2015 ([University</a> of California - Personal statement](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/how-to-apply/personal-statement/index.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/how-to-apply/personal-statement/index.html)) were the same as the prompts for previous classes (and, I guess, will be the same for us). I’m not sure about UC recommendation letters. There is no EA/ED for the UC system. Applications are available online in early November and are due by the end of the month. The UC application is not the same as the Common App. However, all UC campuses use the same online application.</p>

<p>The Common App has a preview of the application on its website. The essay prompts are all there; the main change is that there is now a suggested word limit (“250-500 words” now as opposed to the “at least 250 words” of the past).</p>

9

<p>Question: Since both my parents attended UCLA’s Anderson School for their Masters degrees, does that make me a double legacy at UCLA?</p>

10

<p>Let’s bump this and see what happens.</p>

11

<p>you’re the perfect applicant, and that right there is just the problem. you have a perfect sat scores, you’re well rounded in a number of prestigious activities, but nothing is exactly popping off the page. The only colleges you’ll have problems with, like most people, will be HYPSM etc… However, you can turn this around if you write some good essays, which will provide that extra spark colleges are looking for. If you can do that I’m 100% sure you’ll get into one of your top choice schools :)</p>

12

<p>Your stats/accomplishments/activities are phenomenal. Unfortunately, like you’ve probably been told, HYPSM level schools are extremely hard to get into. I think you couldn’t have set yourself up better to get in to the ivies and I wish you the best of luck.</p>

13

<p>You’ll probably get into one of the aforementioned schools, just because you are so ridiculously qualified.</p>

<p>I would try create some sort of focus though, because after reading this I just see that you are a stellar student. </p>

<p>-good luck!</p>

14

<p>Thanks for the feedback! Anyone else?</p>

15

<p>you have absolutely amazing academic info and stats. that will get you serious consideration from all the schools you are applying to. you also have great ecs with a clear demonstration of leadership. all that remains for you to do is create a focus that shows how valuable you would be to any school.
statistically it is very hard for everyone to get into the schools that you are applying to and no one can really predict what decisions they will make, but you have a great chance. i would avoid clustering all your applications at the same types of schools and mix it up a little by throwing in some less selective colleges that you like. sometimes on cc people get really worked up over getting into the ivy league, but prestige isn’t everything in a school. i would just try and create a more balanced list (maybe a safety or two). just a thought
regardless, i think you have very good chances of getting into any of those schools
good luck =]</p>

16

<p>very good resume, any of those schools are gonna give serious consideration to you. plus you might be eligible for some type of alumni scholarship at ucla if both parents went there. i think all the cal schools your a lock for admission, except stanford since they’re sometimes arbitrary in who they select. but even for that i think you have great chances. as for the ivies, you’ve got solid chances as well. good luck with the search!</p>

17

<p>being instate for UCLA and Cal I don’t see how you would need safeties besides those two.</p>

18

<p>The safeties I have in mind are UCSD, UCSB, and/or UCI, so I have safeties covered (at least, I would hope that I have safeties covered). </p>

<p>Anyone else?</p>

19

<p>Bump again! Anybody know if I’d be a double legacy at UCLA since both parents went to graduate school there (as opposed to undergrad)?</p>

20

<p>I think you have a very very good chance for Harvard/Yale. Your course load, GPA, SAT perfect score coupled with some fairly strong EC’s are your hooks!</p>

<p>By the way, can you please chance this</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1156808-where-can-i-apply.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1156808-where-can-i-apply.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>and advise on the possible list/mix of colleges.</p>

<p>Thanks so much</p>