Chance an unoptimistic Junior

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am <em>very</em> uncertain of my chances of admission to most of the schools on my list. I've switched high schools twice (I've been to three)... I am interested in foreign languages, history, philosophy and biology/medicine and will probably base my major off of those. </p>

<p>Male
Arab American (Egyptian)
California</p>

<p>Rank (Current High School) 11/972 (This was last semester, probably closer to #1 this semester due to weighted GPA.)
GPA
Weighted: 4.3
Unweighted: 3.9</p>

<p>SAT
2080 (Planning to retake in fall)
SAT IIs and ACT will be taken in June</p>

<p>Courses/AP
Scores:
World History: 5</p>

<p>Currently taking:
AP Biology
AP Chemistry
AP English Composition
AP Spanish
AP US History
Pre-Calculus</p>

<p>I have taken/am taking 6 AP classes, planning to take ~5 senior year for a total of 11.
I might take courses at a community college.</p>

<p>I just finished taking the AP tests and I am confident that I got a 5 on all tests except Spanish (Probably got a 3 or maybe less :). </p>

<p>Extra-Curricular Activities (Honest, not much, but I am not extremely passionate about any of these)
40 hours working at a children's hospital's cafeteria.
Chess Club for 2 years and next
Junior Statesmen of America this year and next</p>

<p>About
Parent's divorced, both of them are physicians. I've lived in both the Middle East and North America and traveled relatively extensively.
I play the oud (Middle Eastern stringed instrument).
I ride my bike to school and back (2 miles one way).
Trilingual: English, Spanish, Arabic (I'll try to learn French or another Romance language over the summer... I think being a polyglot is the greatest thing going for me right now.)
Financial aid will most probably not be a problem. </p>

<p>Schools that I will apply to:
Johns Hopkins (Early Decision)
Cornell (proximity to my family, highly doubt that I will get into this school :<)
UC Berkeley</p>

<p>Safeties:
RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic in upstate NY)
UC San Diego</p>

<p>I got College Search letters from Princeton, UChicago, UPenn, Duke and Columbia, but judging by other people's applications on this forum I'm not sure if I should even bother.. Does anybody think I have a chance at these schools?</p>

<p>Thanks for reading/replying.</p>

2

<p>First of all, everyone with decent scores gets those letters. They mean nothing. You would have a chance at those schools, but they are all reaches, pretty much.</p>

<p>If you could get your SAT scores higher, that would definitely help put Duke and maybe UChicago more in reach. </p>

<p>You definitely have a chance at JHU (especially with ED), though higher SATs wouldn’t hurt there as well. </p>

<p>It sounds like you are from NY - in that case, absolutely don’t count on UCSD as a safety OOS. Maybe check out WPI, GaTech, places like that?</p>

3

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<p>I thought so, thanks for clearing that up.</p>

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<p>I’m actually in-state California, forgot to mention that.</p>

4

<p>Okay, first let’s get real–you’ve got a lot of things going for you:</p>

<p>You said you expect to rank #1 in your school out of 972 students–quite impressive.</p>

<p>You speak three different languages.</p>

<p>You are of an unusual ethnic background.</p>

<p>Now let’s talk about what works against you:</p>

<p>The ECs are not that hot (and I’m a ranked chess player, too–but honestly, this isn’t really helpful as an EC)
Junior Statesmen is good and so is your volunteer service–but only 40 hours–and at a cafeteria, when you plan to apply to one of the top medical schools in the country in John Hopkins? </p>

<p>You should be looking for volunteer work that will excite you, like a medical volunteer job or something that allows you to use your linquistic skills to help others. (My former wife, who was Brazilian, and spoke five languages, volunteered in a lot of different ways, including for the Olympics when they were in LA back in 1984–which is where we lived then).</p>

<p>The other thing that works against you a bit is the 2080 SAT score. This and your GPA will get you into UC Berkeley or UCLA, and possibly John Hopkins and Cornell, but is what will keep you from getting into a school like Princeton. I guess the question is "Do you want to make the extra effort to try and get into Princeton?–and that will ensure you getting into John Hopkins? Or are you okay with UCLA or UC Berkeley? These last two are both great schools as well (trust me, my MBA is from UCLA), but the question is, do you want to do the work to get into the absolute best or not? Only you can answer this.</p>

<p>Albert Einstein said that “Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means.” If you want to get into Princeton, you have to set the example that will show others you are worthy of it.</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision–and with the effort.</p>

5

<p>I see two main issues with your profile. First is the ECs, they seem a bit light, but some of that could be explained by the fact you’ve been in three high schools in three years. A good essay explaining how you’ve had to move so many times would go a long way toward mitigating the lack of EC numbers. I’d emphasize the fact that even with all these changes you’ve maintained a very high GPA and posted some very strong SATs. Also, I’d play up, (no pun intended), the oud experience; it shows a musical diversity based on your heritage.</p>

<p>The second issue is your attitude. Your post has a defeated air about it. Why? You’re in the top ten of your class of nearly 1000. You have an SAT average of nearly 700. You’ve taken 5 APs and are planning 6 more. You’ve maintained a commitment to chess and Junior Statesman even while matriculating at three different schools. There’s a great essay in that profile, you just have to write it.</p>

<p>Like everyone else on this board, I can only guess at your chances, that said, I think Hopkins ED is fairly likely, Cornell not out of the question though a reach, Berkely slight reach, UCLA probable, UCSD likely. Others to consider might be Michigan, Emory and North Carolina.</p>

6

<p>Thank you both for your precious insight.</p>

<p>You have made my perspective clearer: My defeatist mentality will probably hold me back if I do not get rid of it. I have a good amount of time until applications to show that I am worthy of a spot at such universities (a whole summer and more).</p>

7

<p>Well, being able to speak multiple languages is not a hook. I myself can speak three and a bit of a fourth and that’s just by going through what can be considered a ‘typical’ route in a Singaporean HS. </p>

<p>Your SATs need to be better for those schools. Work for them. Your rank/courseload seems good, you won’t have a problem there. </p>

<p>Write about the oud, as someone else suggested.</p>

<p>Decent but not great chances, largely due to the paucity of ECs; nothing really stands out.</p>

<p>Chance me back: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/702662-common-cure-college-anxiety-2-chance-international.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/702662-common-cure-college-anxiety-2-chance-international.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

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<p>True, but Singaporean education probably has a lot more emphasis on learning several languages. From what I know about Singapore, many Asian ethnic groups live in that city and its education has very high standards compared to my bare-minimum American public school. </p>

<p>Also, I am determined to put a lot of effort into learning several languages as a serious hobby. Outside of (maybe) Spanish, there is not much use to learning another language in the United States other than for knowledge and enrichment. </p>

<p>I believe colleges may recognize that. It is MUCH harder to find someone who speaks more than one language in the U.S. than Europe or Asia, simply because English is probably the most useful lingua franca. </p>

<p>Thanks for the insight, I will chance back.</p>