Chance for Me at UCBerkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Princeton and Brown

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Gender: M
Ethnicity: Asian
Location: California
College Class Year: 2013
High School: Public</p>

<p>Academics:
My school blocks the gpa at 4.32, but if i were to continue augmenting it, I would have around a 4.92
Class Rank: 1/554
Course selection:
Freshman Year:
AP Human Geography 5
Alg II, Physics, Spanish III</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
AP European History 5
AP Spanish Language 4
AP Biology 4
Trig/Precalc Honors</p>

<p>Junior Year:
AP Calc AB
AP Music Theory
AP US History
AP Spanish Literature (Independent Study) (I actually had a class period for this, but I was the only student and it was me independently reading the required readings)
AP Chemistry
AP English Language</p>

<p>Then I also independently studied AP Art History and AP World History (very similar to AP Euro) and took both of those exams too</p>

<p>Next Year (Senior Year):
Possibly
AP Calc BC
AP Enviro Science
AP Eng. Lit
AP Gov (Both comparative and US)
AP Physics C (although i will independently study for 'B' too and take all 3 exams)
AP Statistics
AP Computer Science AB (or A if AB is discontinued)</p>

<p>..i might also consider independently studying ap psychology and/or ap economics over the summer and take those exams</p>

<p>Scores:
SAT total 2090 (Will retake)
ACT -32
SAT II
Math II: 780
US History: 740
Biology Molecular: 730
Chemistry: 710</p>

<p>ECs
-Math Team captain 4 years
-Middle Eastern Indian Club Leader for 2 years
--Science Olympiad Chairperson and placed 1st-2nd in regional and state events (9th-12th grades)
-MUN Secretary general for my school and participation for 4 years
-Piano for 10 years
-Tennis all 4 years of highschool
-i'm doing a research internship at UCSF this summer
- have 12 credits (units) at community college for classes i took last summer
-Relay for life club -4 years American Cancer Society
-150 volunteer hours at hospital</p>

<p>Recs
-I have 2 great teachers who'll write me recommendations</p>

<p>Question
-Senior year, should I participate in the Academic Decathlon (my school usually wins 3rd-4th at the state competition) and cut down on my AP classes or should I not do Academic Decathlon and have a large number of AP classes. I might get the AP State Scholar award for most AP exams taken.</p>

<p>Colleges of interest
Harvard
Stanford
Princeton
Brown
John Hopkins
UC Berkeley</p>

<p>I'm planning on majoring in Bio/PreMed, Political Science or maybe even History</p>

2

<p>so do you think i have a chance of getting into any of these universities?</p>

3

<p>Yes! i think you have a good shot at these universities. Remember though, that what these universities look out for are not how varied your ECs are, but whether they can detect your specific interests from your profile that makes you stand out from the crowd! Gd luck!</p>

4

<p>You will most likely get into many of them, though Harvard, Princeton, and JHU are often a crapshoot. I would take more APs rather than the Academic Decathlon, simply because APs look awesome on a transcript, whereas an Academic Decathlon is nice but only one line on a resume, buried with other ECs and achievements, and universities might not understand the rigor involved with participating and question why you did not take more APs. Also, have you considered Washington U in St. Louis? Very comparable for premed with JHU...</p>

5

<p>@ smart cookie
congrats on ur own achievement of getting into Harvard, S and P from Canada</p>

6

<p>i'm a bit confused...when you list your classes, are you including everything? because my cumulative average (we don't do GPA at my school) was lowered by glorified shop and similar required courses</p>

7

<p>they block it at 4.32? </p>

<p>(1) What do they block it in the first place?</p>

<p>and(2) why pick such an odd number...why not just 4.3?</p>

<p>but anywho...</p>

8

<p>my school blocks the gpa off at 4.32 which means that they only give the addition .08 additional points for upto 4 AP class, any additional ones do not raise my gpa, however they say when i apply, i can recalculate my gpa</p>

<p>also i have taken those 12 AP exams up till junior year; i haven't taken the ones listed under senior year but I will be taking those once senior year starts in august</p>

9

<p>JHU is not a crapshoot school, with 100 points higher on the SATI you're a shoo in. Good chance at Berkeley. For the ivies you need to really up the SAT and really differentiate yourself in essays. Brown should be quite possible if you can do this. The bottom line for HYPs is that probabaly about 2% of admits without legacy/athletics/big money/minority status get in according to my very tied in counselor. I would add more schools between them and JHU.</p>

10

<p>bump haha bump</p>

11

<p>pretty intense course load.</p>

12

<p>bump bump bump bump</p>

13

<p>my friend who is a white mail had a 4.6 gpa. Perfect SAT score in math and a near perfect in the other 2. Had alot of extra caricualrs. And had taken all AP classes possible. Lots of volunteer. Did not get into MIT. Got into Caltech. Did not get into Harvard. To put it bluntly, you scores are very very average among the elite.</p>

14

<p>As for the choice between Academic Decathlon and AP classes, I would personally choose Acadec. I am also on an Acadec team that competes in the California state competition and it is FAR more rigorous than any AP class that I have ever taken. While colleges may not recognize the absolute dedication involved, I believe that they see it as something worth while. If nothing else it will set you apart from every other AP kid applying to these top schools. This is just my 2 cents.</p>

15

<p>"While colleges may not recognize the absolute dedication involved, I believe that they see it as something worth while. If nothing else it will set you apart from every other AP kid applying to these top schools. This is just my 2 cents."</p>

<p>I disagree. Yes lots of kids applying to HYP have lots of APs, but if you apply to HYP and don't have lots of APs it's a red flag. Academic Decathlon may be worthwhile, challenging, etc. but primarily it is a EC.
Also, getting the State AP scholar award would look much better than acadec, IMHO.</p>

16

<p>hmmm but don't you get the AP State Scholar Award after the end of senior year, so colleges really wouldn't know/ or care that much about it?</p>

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<p>"Also, getting the State AP scholar award would look much better than acadec, IMHO."</p>

<p>okay, but don't you get this award after the end of senior year...so colleges wouldn't really konw then?</p>

18

<p>how hard is your school? though your grades are perfect the standardized test scores are a little mediocre (for harvard, etc.) definitely get your sat up to at least a 2200</p>

<p>and not to be discouraging- but your ec's as of right now dont indicate a passion outside of academics. though i could very well be wrong</p>

19

<p>I agree that the test scores are suspect. The grades, the rigor of the course load and the AP stats are top notch. Coupled with your class rank, you should be fine if you can increase your ACT to a 34 or your SATs to 2250. </p>

<p>You want to distinguish yourself in your essays and you will have a decent shot at one of the top tier schools. I agree that Berkeley and JHU are shoe-ins if you increase your test scores.</p>

<p>Hey, take some time to smell the flowers this next year. Go to a concert or a ball game once in a while and let yourself have some fun.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

20

<p>math team captain four years! that's amazing...i'm captain only my senior year...meanwhile, please rate me for MIT</p>