Chance a Spanish-speaking white boy for Cali schools + MIT, will chance back

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Intro</p>

<p>I go to a private Catholic college preparatory school in South Texas. I'm a junior male. I am Caucasian, of Polish descent, and I speak Spanish fluently (as a second language).
For UCLA, USC, Berkeley, Stanford, Caltech, MIT, and Rice.</p>

<p>Objective</p>

<p>GPA: (junior year) 102.14, (cumulative) about 102
(my school does not operate on a 4.0 scale)</p>

<p>Rank: (junior year), 4 (cumulative) 5
(out of about 120 students—very competitive)</p>

<p>SAT: CR 680, M 730, W 760
(superscored) CR 720, M 730, W 760</p>

<p>ACT: 32
(superscored) 33</p>

<p>PSAT: 214</p>

<p>APs: expected 5s on English language, Spanish language, Calculus AB.
Senior year AP classes: English literature, Calculus BC, Biology.
(I take the most advanced classes available to me)</p>

<p>I will take at least Math II and Chemistry subject tests. 800 expected in Math II, similar score in Chemistry.</p>

<p>Subjective</p>

<p>I have numerous honors for the three years, including at least 4 subject excellence awards per year.</p>

<p>Main extracurricular activities:
-Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout): very active, work at camps, many positions of leadership in my Troop.
-Cross country for several years, varsity.
-Science club (not school-based): taught at a local hospital by a surgeon, meet weekly, study advanced organic chemistry, anatomy, biochemistry.
-Participated in city Knowledge Bowl, 1st place this year.
-Boys State (this summer)
-Speaking competitions: (2 years)—1st at school, 2nd citywide.
-Participate in school theatrical productions, both significant acting roles and technical support.
-Peer tutoring (mainly of Freshmen), after school around 2 times a week, mainly in Spanish.</p>

<p>For the past two summers I attended the Duke TIP program, studying Algebra II (which I subsequently skipped in school) and computer science (programming). This summer I plan to either work for around 2 months as a Merit Badge instructor at a Boy Scout camp or volunteer at nursing homes and/or homeless shelters.</p>

<p>Around 200 hours of service:
Activities include church fundraisers, school fundraisers and events, nursing homes, tutoring, and Boy Scouts, which includes teaching young kids, constructing certain structures such as fences, etc.</p>

<p>I have extensive experience with anecdotal and creative writing as well as rhetoric, so I expect my essays to be a strong point.</p>

<p>Conclusion</p>

<p>I feel that my scores are kinda average for these schools, but that my other information may help me out. I plan to major in Biochemistry or a relatively similar subject, such as Cellular Biology. I am open to suggestions of other schools to apply to as well as any last-minute ideas of improving my chances. Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>You have a good shot at the UC’s and USC. Lots of kids will post telling you it’s much harder to get into UC’s when your OOS. It may be a little bit harder, but not much and it’s getting easier as the UC’s need money and OOS kids pay a lot more. UCLA actually has a 5 point higher admit rate for OOS applicants.</p>

<p>For the others, other than Rice which I don’t follow, you will need to raise your scores.</p>

3

<p>Would 5s on English Language and Calculus AB kinda cancel out less-than-stellar scores?</p>

4

<p>Well, first of all, congratulations on your Knowledge Bowl win. Your captain must be a genius.<br>
Your ranking is good but percentage wise it can be seen as somewhat of a detriment. Your scores are good but hmom5 is right, you should be at 2250+ and (2300+ would be great) or 34+ for Stanford, Caltech, MIT.
As for subjective, volunteering is great and the more the better, but it is something EVERYBODY has. You’ll have to think of something unique this summer which would really set your apart from the rest and definitely counterbalance the scores. Summers are very important because it shows how you spend your time wisely. The essay should certaintly entail something about your spanish fluency and how you got interested/learned(e.i. did you have a great spanish teacher??)
NOTE: If your school is 'very competitive" then it probably sends a lot of kids to ivies each year and has a national matriculation, so you may want to be careful about throwing that phrase around.
Stanford-Reach
MIT-Reach
^these two it is reach for everyone of course
Caltech-High Reach(highly stats based admission)
Rice-low Reach
Berkeley-Match/low reach
UCLA-Match/safe
USC-Match/safe</p>

5

<p>Nothing cancels out the key scores at top schools.</p>

6

<p>Thanks, InvisibleMan023 and hmom5. But what sort of summer activities/last minute extras would help? (What I mentioned above as my current plans–?)</p>

7

<p>Bumping the thread…</p>

8

<p>You need to raise your SAT scores. And, with regard to summer activities, “do what you love.” Cliche, but it couldn’t be truer.</p>

<p>Chance me back? :)</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/721471-how-does-my-unorthodox-courseload-hold-up-top-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/721471-how-does-my-unorthodox-courseload-hold-up-top-colleges.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<p>Seems I managed to raise my scores:
CR: 740
M: 760
W: 770
(not superscored)
Does this change my chances, and if so, by how much?</p>

10

<p>ur definitely a strong applicant
but for mitand caltech u need to show passion for math
but u def have a pllethora of activites which will def help u
chance me back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/737217-am-i-good-shape-ivies-top-tier-schools-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/737217-am-i-good-shape-ivies-top-tier-schools-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

11

<p>Solid SAT Scores and good GPA from what I can tell. Your ECs seem good too, I say a match for all your UC schools except Berkeley, that might be a low reach.</p>

12

<p>Oops! It posted my thread before I was done. Grrrrrr technology.
Anyways. Heres the problem with MIT and CalTech: they are strong math/science/engineering schools, and you really dont have any distinguishing awards in those areas. My chancing there is slim to none because everyone else will have amazing qualifications in math contests (AMC, AIME, USAMO, etc etc)
Also, slim chance at Stanford because you need something to jump out and really, your app doesnt do that…
Chance me back if you have time? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/736548-chance-me-top-schools-ivies.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/736548-chance-me-top-schools-ivies.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>Got my AP scores:
Calc AB: 5
Spanish Language: 5
English Language: 4 (dunno how)</p>

<p>This means I’m an AP scholar. Does this change my chances?</p>

14

<p>AP awards mean little at the top schools</p>

15

<p>

</p>

<p>Real life friend’s older sister (from NY, so OOS):
-4.0 UW GPA
-2390 SATI
-Filipino (but Berkeley doesn’t practice AA anyways…right?)
Anyhow, she was rejected from Berkeley. Ironically, she was accepted by Stanford.</p>

16

<p>Ok, got my SAT subject scores: Chemistry 700 (disappointing), Math II 780, Spanish w/ listening 790. How does this affect my chances?</p>

17

<p>Come on guys, nothing?</p>