<p>*Note, I may not apply ED for the sake of finding out from other schools.</p>
<p>Stats:
2300 SAT
34 ACT with Writing
Taken 7 APs before senior year, 5's on them
Hardest Course Load In School (All APs/Honors at an accelerated track)
High GPA (All A's) (In the context of my school, it's strong enough for HYPSM based off past years' students)
ECs: Three school activities that take up more than 15 hours each of my time every week. I devote a lot of my time and interest into them and I'm the head of all of them (President, Editor in Chief, etc.) and also have won a lot of awards at the national level, etc. (It's really hard to express my involvement and growth in these activities on a forum... the genuine passion for my activities can really only be elucidated through an essay or recommendation letter. Otherwise, they look a little insignificant when just jotted down on a page). Also I am part of two sports, one at the varsity level the other as JV captain. Also do some pretty significant, continued community service (at a local place for almost 8 years) and some random hobbies for fun like music.
Hooks/Pros: Attending NJ Governor's School (Like 60+/80 of the attendees go to HYSPM and other Ivies), college counselor worked for Penn admissions, etc.</p>
<p>I am not a URM.</p>
<p>Also considering:
Princeton SCEA (I go to a feeder school)
Columbia RD
Yale RD
Stanford RD
Harvard RD
Boston College RD
Johns Hopkins RD
Northwestern RD
Tufts RD</p>
<p>While I don’t want to chance you (I don’t have the authority or enough information), I do think that it is great you have a few activities you are passionate about. I think that may separate you from a lot of other applicants. What I think people miss a lot is the fact that colleges are not looking for “jacks of all trades” who are the head of every possible club so they can put it on their resume. The fact is, that once those kids get to college, they may not continue any of these activities.</p>
<p>UPenn Adcoms state there is no weight given for legacy if you do not apply ED. So if you can get into Princeton, you may have a chance with UPenn.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback guys. Can you be a little bit more specific as to the likelihood of my admissions into these institutions? Would you say I’m locked in for UPenn if I applied ED?</p>
<p>Also, Poeme, that’s exactly what I was going for. I used to do these chance threads and a bunch of CCers were like, “You don’t have any substantial activities, your list it too short blah blah…” and I was like, yes but I commit just as much time and effort as you guys do for your 12 different clubs as I do for my three. Thanks for recognizing that… it’s definitely reassuring.</p>
<p>Probably a 50% chance of admission at Penn ED and a significantly lower number at HYPS. I have also heard that any legacy preference is garnered applying ED only.</p>
<p>I’d say like 90% chance of admission at Penn ED with legacy, and probably like 60% RD.
As for HYSP, probably 30% or so.
Columbia is probably like 40% RD.
Tufts around 70%.
Boston college around 90%.</p>
<p>A lot of people underestimate the power of genuine passion in a handful of activities as opposed to a laundry list of random crap. Also, you go to a feeder school and are attending NJGSS, which both are pretty good hooks. And your academics are all relatively competitive.</p>
<p>Edit: Okay maybe my numbers are a little exaggerated. I’m just saying I’d be surprised if you didn’t get into one of HYPS.</p>
<p>Try telling that to our Valedictorian with an over 5.0 GPA (never anything but an A+ in the hardest classes possible since 8th grade), 2380 SAT, a bunch of super involved, passionate ECs, incredible recs and essays, and great volunteer work. He’s going to Wharton, which ain’t nothin’ to sneeze at, but didn’t get into HYP.</p>
<p>Or the kid with a 4.9 GPA, 2360 SAT, varsity captain of 3 sports he’s been playing for 5+ years each, some of the most incredible essays and recs ever to have left our school, loads of involved ECs and community service, and a background story that is sad as hell but he has overcome incredibly (obviously, judging by his stats). He’s going to Duke, again a great school, but was rejected from Yale and Harvard and waitlisted at Princeton.</p>
<p>Or many other top students who didn’t get into HYP. It’s certainly NOWHERE near as easy as you’ve made it out to be.</p>
<p>I would say shawnwhite is pretty close with his numbers. While no one is a ‘lock’, I would think applying legacy ED would put you in a great position. You cannot apply to Princeton SCEA and Penn ED…that is a fact.</p>
<p>I know it’s never rational to get overconfident about Ivy admissions, but I mean compared to students in my school’s past who have been accepted to Princeton (because of our feeder status/strong relationship with them), the applicants who have been accepted are by no means nearly as strong as yours (for example, ~2100 SAT, solid/unremarkable GPA, unremarkable ECs, not URM, not legacy, solid essays) which leads me to believe that either the people you are describing have some tragic flaw you’re not mentioning or our schools different in their reputation, as well as a lot in the type of students they shape and send off to most colleges. I’m not trying to be arrogant, but a lot of people really overlook the importance of secondary schools in the context of admissions.</p>
<p>@Decillion our school is consistently ranked between 120 and 160 each year out of every public school in the country. We send 30+ kids to Ivies each year. This year we have waaay more than that going to Ivies and Top Tiers (WUSTL, etc.). So no, we certainly do not have a bad reputation whatsoever. And those kids got into incredible schools as I said (though not HYP), so I doubt they have “some tragic flaw.”</p>
<p>The process is a complete crapshoot. You also have some surprising results school to school. In my class, one kid got rejected early from Stanford but got into Yale regular and may have also gotten into Princeton. Another got deferred and then rejected from Penn and got into Brown regular. I have noticed however that some schools seem to have strong relationships with certain colleges. I went to a very competitive public high school that sent over 30 kids to Ivies and another roughly 70-120 to other “top” schools. My school seemed to have a pretty good relationship with Vanderbilt, Wash U, and Northwestern so around 15 kids go to each of them each year. This also extends to the Ivies in a less dramatic way. Around 7-8 kids get accepted to Yale and Brown each year (last year Brown had way more). At the other Ivies it varies more year by year.</p>
<p>Princeton’s my #1 choice (I’m going to be applying SCEA). I was just wondering if it would be unwise for me to do so and instead should apply to Penn ED, but I’m pretty certain at this point I’m just going to go for SCEA to Princeton instead. Penn’s like my 4th or 5th choice, but like in reality I would be more than ecstatic to go to Penn either way.</p>