<p>NOTE: I suffer no delusions of having even above a ten percent chance of getting in to most of these schools. I have several schools at my level at which I am either an auto admit or very likely to be accepted that I would be very happy at, so I'll be alright. I just want to see what you think my chances are at and how I could improve them for the more selective schools that I am also interested in. (Also, if you have any schools you think I should consider, let me know! I'm open to suggestions.)</p>
<p>SCHOOLS: Duke, Brown, UVA, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, Princeton, Rice</p>
<p>Basics: Texas, female, white. First generation college student, child of a single parent, pretty low income bracket.</p>
<p>**GPA:<a href="definitely%20my%20weakest%20point">/b</a> right now 3.3 UW, 3.9 W, though I expect this to rise a bit by application time. Top 15%, maybe a bit higher.</p>
<p>SAT: 2080 composite. 710 CR / 580 M / 790 W (retaking in October, projected 750+ on CR and 600+ on M since that's what I've been scoring on practice tests)</p>
<p>SAT II: Most likely taking Physics and either Korean or Spanish in the fall. (Is two standard for selective schools, or should I consider taking a third as well?)</p>
<p>ACT: took it, did horribly, won't send score.</p>
<p>COURSELOAD: Basically as rigorous as the school offers. Lots of APs and honors courses, the only non-advanced courses I took were required. During my senior year, five out of eight of my classes will be AP.</p>
<p>ECs: -Band for all years of middle and high school - very time consuming, about twenty hours a week not counting competitions, which easily tack on an extra ten hours. I hold an active leadership position in which I'm directly responsible for about 40 people. I've gotten some prestigious awards for my instrument as well.</p>
<p>-Academic Decathlon for junior and senior years. Last year I won awards at both the regional and state levels and I'm optimistic that I'll do even better this year.</p>
<p>-I teach Russian for beginners and am looking to start teaching Esperanto as well.</p>
<p>ESSAYS: My essays should be really good and should (hopefully) stand out. They're naturally my strong point and I plan on putting a lot of time and effort in to them.</p>
<p>RECS: Counselor one will be generic for sure, but I should scrape up some fairly decent teacher recs.</p>
<p>HOOKS: I plan on joining ROTC wherever I go and commissioning in the military. (I know Brown doesn't have it, but I've got something worked out for that in the unlikely event that I attend.) I'm the child of a single parent and a first generation college student, which I've heard helps a bit, and I've learned quite a few languages on my own, some near fluency.</p>
<p>INTENDED MAJOR: I'd like to major in either aerospace engineering or physics, but my math scores are low so I'm considering going in undeclared, proving my ability during my freshman year, and then declaring a major.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance :)</p>
<p>EDIT - For a multitude of reasons, I've decided to not consider service academies. (Just in case someone wants to suggest one.)</p>