<ul>
<li>SAT I: 2290 (superscore)</li>
<li>ACT: 36</li>
<li>SAT II: 800 US history 780 Math II 780 Bio M 800 Chem</li>
<li>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88 ish (had a C in Am. Lit. Honors and a few B's here and there but my focus is science for which I received straight A's and my context familial issues and factors come into play here)</li>
<li>Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): dunno</li>
<li>AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (5) US History (4) Calc BC (3) Calc AB (4)</li>
<li>IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A</li>
<li>Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP English 5, AP Spanish 5, AP Gov/Econ, AP Statistics, TA'ing for AP Bio teacher</li>
<li>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, NMSF (projected), possibly Intel/Siemens, Letter of Commendation from Mayor, President's Volunteer Service Award (Gold), my research is likely to be published, developing a vaccine for curing a bacterial disease </li>
</ul>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<ul>
<li>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Lead tutor of the school's Student Center for Success, Chairman of the volunteer organization of the largest Korean school outside of Korea, Varsity Badminton 3 years, Varsity Speech&Debate (founding member), Student Government (senate), NHS/CSF (not that these count for anything), Medical Research at UCSF</li>
<li>Job/Work Experience: None</li>
<li>Volunteer/Community service: Research volunteer at UCSF (1 year), Korean School volunteer (4 years), Kaiser Permanente volunteer (4 years), volunteering here and there for clubs...TOTAL: about 800 to 1k hours</li>
<li>Summer Activities: Research/volunteering/organizing things for K. school</li>
<li>Essays: Shows my passion well and explains the hardships I went through in a positive manner and explains what I learned. I'm a capable writer, I suppose.</li>
<li>Recommendations: One from AP Bio teacher (I'm expecting good), One from Lit. teacher (i'm expecting more than good because he knows what I went through and that I was able to overcome whatever problems I had), my mentor at the research lab (she really loves me and thinks I will do well anywhere), a postdoc at the lab (we had some very college-interview like talks and she really believes I can get into good schools. She's also graduated from Harvard College and then Stanford Grad. School), Counselor (to explain my domestic situations) NOT SURE IF I SHOULD SEND IN 5 THOUGH</li>
</ul>
<p>Other</p>
<ul>
<li>State (if domestic applicant): CA</li>
<li>Country (if international applicant): US</li>
<li>School Type: Public</li>
<li>Ethnicity: Asian</li>
<li>Gender: M</li>
<li>Income Bracket: Mid-High (but soon to be low)</li>
<li>Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation college in US, went through some family stuff (parents separated/grandfather diagnosed with terminal cancer/close relative diagnosed with terminal illness), I also helped my failing brother pass through 7th grade by spending a whole lot of time with him.</li>
</ul>
<p>When you say you are science-oriented, I assume you mean biology? Although colleges don’t necessarily weigh AP scores too heavily in admissions, your calculus scores seem rather low for an aspiring Ivy League scientist. Otherwise, your stats are strong. SATs are in good range, ECs and research are excellent.</p>
<p>I am sorry you had to endure so many hardships in high school. However, I want to warn you that your circumstances, though lamentable and unfortunate, are not uncommon among Ivy applicants and do not qualify as hooks. They fall under the “Four D’s to avoid: Death, Divorce, Drugs, Disease.” If you are going to discuss your parents’ divorce or your grandfather’s cancer in your essays (which I strongly urge you not to do), you must do so in a unique way. You must also show how you emerged from these conflicts a stronger person and student; not use them as a way to obtain sympathy from the admissions officers.</p>
<p>Listen carefully to PioneerJones, I totally agree… Your C in Am. Lit is going to hurt you. In such a competitive applicant pool, that makes you stand out… in a BAD way. Now on a good note, your EC’s and CS is outstanding.</p>
<p>Yeah, all of that unfortunate stuff happened over 1 semester jr. year. And in second semester, I got an A in Am. Lit. so I’m not sure if colleges will see that I’ve gotten over whatever happened first semester. Thanks anyways!</p>
<p>7 A’s freshman year
7 A’s freshman year
6 A’s Sophomore year
6 A’s sophomore year
3 A’s 2 B’s 1 C junior year
5 A’s 1 B junior year
and I’m projecting that I get straight A’s for 5 AP courses senior year first semester. That’s probably where we got different calculations.</p>
<p>Also, I believe admissions doesn’t consider acceptances based on financial aid at all.</p>
<p>Thanks Pioneer, not sure if I have an equal chance as all those perfect score applicants out there…</p>
<p>I would only submit your ACT. You cannot do better than a 36! I’d say you are still a mid-reach for most Ivies, except maybe Cornell, due to your GPA. Having said that, I’m betting you get into at least one of them because of your EC’s, awards, etc.</p>
<p>I’m sure they’ll take into account my situation. As long as I show that I overcame whatever happened and got back on track, I heard it’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Plus, I’ve heard of other people with worse GPA’s that are not URM’s or legacies get into Harvard, etc. I’m not too worried about the GPA, just the C.</p>
<p>I think it’ll come down to my essays, recommendations, and interview. Though, I could be wrong.</p>
<p>Your C’s and B’s are not going to help you (okay obviously). But you’re in the general bundle of West coast Asian kids… you need to stand out as much as possible. Your fantastic ACT score will certainly do that, and your ECs are pretty good. </p>
<p>If you aren’t an English wiz, I’d suggest you more for MIT than Harvard or Yale, because MIT doesn’t care quite as strongly how well you extract deeper meaning from a Dickens novel. (But again, they certainly get a lot of male West Coast Asians.)</p>
<p>I think you have a pretty good chance (the fact that you don’t have a rich, peachy life helps you), but the Ivies can be somewhat unpredictable in admissions.</p>
<p>I’m wondering if colleges will actually see this in a sort of favorable light if I show (from recs and essays) that I improved as a person from this experience?</p>
<p>Also, I don’t want to brag or anything but I am developing a legitimate vaccine that cures a bacterial disease prevalent in immunocompromised people and will be used in hospitals worldwide…if that stands for anything. (I just feel that people may be underestimating this)</p>
<p>Unfortunately for us, Asians are ORMs, not URMs. Admissions work against us, not favor us. So being Asian is not a hook; it’s the opposite of it.</p>
<p>Id just like to ask you a question crimsonuser - how did u get started with your research? What kind of research do you do. What kinds of experiments and tests do you run? And how can u get ur paper published? Simple send a copy of your report to a science magazine? PM, id really like to start doing Cell Biology research but i just don’t understand where i could get the equipment - i suppose if a got a mentor at the U of I.</p>
<p>Plz do PM</p>
<p>And as for your chances, you have rock solid ECs and a great ACT, but if it weren’t for those blemishes in your GPA, youd be as good as anyone applying.</p>
<p>btw, thanks for your opinion. I’m just curious. Will the GPA hurt me a lot? My GPA is decent as with my SAT II and ACT scores, just that there is a C in lit (which I improved in second semester). My impression was that since my stats don’t fall to much below a perfect applicant, it’ll come down to personality etc.? Or am I wrong?</p>