Chance me, and I will gladly chance back. (Ivies etc.)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello everybody,
I am a Grade 11 IB student from Vancouver, Canada, wondering about my chances at a few US Universities. The main ones I am interested in are Columbia, Dartmouth, UChicago, UC Berkeley UCLA, Amherst, U Penn, Duke, HPYS (but apparently no one has a hope at those) but feel free to suggest any good universities you think would be a fit or even a low reach for me. Obviously, I am new to the idea of chancing, and in fact to the board entirely (1st post), so hopefully i am not too incompotent. Your time is greately appreciated and would be happy to chance back.</p>

<p>Academics
-I am in the full IB program, so that is 6 courses plus Theory of Knowledge and EE, don't have GPA or Class Rank, as my school publishes neither.
IB predicted grades: 40-41/45
English HL 7/7
French SL 5/7
Economics SL 7/7
Physics HL 5-6/7
Math SL 6/7
Film HL 7/7</p>

<p>-SAT: 2220
CR: 750
Math: 700
Writing: 770
I am a little dissappointed with my math, but looking at these scores, they are atleast in middle 50% (25%-75%) at every uni, so do I need to take them again?</p>

<p>-SATII: haven't done any yet, but I speak french very well, and I am going to study harder than I did for the SAT for each of them, so I am expecting to do well.</p>

<p>Athletics
There is no such thing as "Varsity" in Canada, but I will only mention sports which I play at the grade 12 level, as that is my understanding of the term.
-U18 Club Soccer, Select Team, (highest regional level, more skilled than highschool level),
have been playing on this club's select team since Gr6 when they first started offering select teams.
-High School Senior Hockey Team, member since Gr9, good chance at team captain next year.
-High School Senior Volleyball Team, played during Gr10,11 (Not grade twelve, as I happen to know that the league in which we compete is shutting down next year)
-High School Senior Rugby Team, will play next year, Gr12</p>

<p>ECs
-Scouts since I was five. No Eagle Scout in Canada, but have accumulated hundreds of misc. survice hours with the organization. Have been patrol leader at each age level (Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers).
-Head of Athletics Commitee [next year]
-Play drums in a rock band, we are not signed but have released an EP
-Film, this is one of my passions, have one numerous regional high school festival awards, and a 2nd place for extreme sports and narrative drama at BCSFF (British Columbia Student Film Festival
-Debate, started this year in G11, placed well in regionals, just below level required to qualify for provincials. I will likely qualify next year, as all the g12s I was competing against will have left.
-Have gone on the following international service trips:
*Costa Rica: Helped a small village rebuild their school after it collapsed in an earthquake, such an amazing experience, it truely changed me. (2 weeks)
*Swaziland: Various projects at an SOS children's village (3 weeks)
-Me and a few of my peers are in the process of founding a charity for children with Cystic Fibrosis (a disease which my brother has), and it will likely be successful as we have a very good business plan for generating money, and I have a lot of connections with people involved with Cystic Fibrosis charities and foundations who are helping us get started.
-I do theatre tech for my school, although more because I am compotent at it and my school needs all the help it can get (we are relatively small, and very Academic-centric) than out of a passion for it.
-Working full time this summer, wherever I can get a job.</p>

<p>That is all I can think to include, if I should post anymore info, just say so, and I will gladly.
I just want to know in general, am I on the right track?
Is there anything I can do to improve?
At my current pace, what are me chances?</p>

<p>Thanks to everyone who chances</p>

2

<p>Did I mention I’ll chance back? :)</p>

3

<p>good job! your international experiences will definitely help you out in your essays
i think you should def take the sat i again to get at least 2250
have you thought about taking sat iis?
and more community work in the area of major will help a lot
chance back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/932434-chances-stanford-columbia-brown-northwestern-jhu-accelerated-med-programs.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/932434-chances-stanford-columbia-brown-northwestern-jhu-accelerated-med-programs.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Thanks!
When people talk about SAT do they talk about their best score or their superscoere?
“SATII: haven’t done any yet, but I speak french very well, and I am going to study harder than I did for the SAT for each of them, so I am expecting to do well.” So ya, I am planning to take them.
Ok thanks for the community service idea, but what would community service in a general liberal arts major be?</p>

5

<p>Columbia 25%
Dartmouth 30%
UChicago 30%
UC Berkeley 40%
UCLA 50%
Amherst 40%
U Penn 20%
Duke 20%
H 8%
P 9%
Y 10%
S 10%</p>

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<p>Will these chances increase once I take sat ii’s or are they assuming that I do well?</p>

7

<p>I definitely say retake the SATs, and most definitely take at least 2 SAT IIs. Most higher-tier schools require/recommend at least 2, and you should probably have some choice about which score to send. You’re ECs are a little all over the place, which may be good if you have many interests, but you may want to try and really focus on your intended major or what you really love. </p>

<p>Hope that helps. Chance back please!</p>

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<p>Yeah well i’m all over the place too :stuck_out_tongue: yeah I am planning on taking sat ii’s. Don’t rlly know where I wanna major</p>

9

<p>thanks for the chance. I would say that Columbia reach, Dartmouth low reach, UChicago match?, UC Berkeley UCLA match, Amherst high match, U Penn reach, Duke high match/low reach, HPYS high reach
I don’t know too much about international students, but I know if you need financial aid you are totally screwed.</p>

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<p>I can probably survive without aid</p>

11

<p>buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuump</p>

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<p>I’ll chance back</p>

13

<p>Agree with the percentiles above, from Canada the scores need to be higher and the IB score needs to be stellar for ivies.</p>

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<p>Your extracurriculars look excellent; as long as you take a few SAT II tests and do relatively well on them, meaning 720+ you will have a decent shot, assuming your essays and recs are of above average quality. I would suggest retaking the SAT I test again only if you feel as though you can make a significant increase. If not, twenty points or so will not make or break your holistic application. All in all, decent chances at crapshoot schools for most.</p>

<p>chance back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/935287-chances-top-tier-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/935287-chances-top-tier-schools.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

15

<p>Frankly, Costa Rica and Swaziland will help - but not as much as you and the posters above would think. It really screams “I’m rich and my parents are throwing money to pad my resume”. In fact, it may have an adverse effect due to the reason above. </p>

<p>It’ll only benefit you to a considerable degree if your household annual income is less than $30,000, and all funds used to re-build the school/travel expenses were a result from fundraising/sponsors, and you make this clear either in your personal statement or on your resume. Another way you could salvage the experience is if you are of Costa Rican descent or Swazi descent, and tie that into your essay. A best case scenario would be if both of these apply.</p>

<p>Taking in account all your info, I can see Duke, Penn, UChicago, and the UCs happening - but not Columbia, Dartmouth, Amherst, or HYPS. Unless, of course, you are able to fulfill the criterion described in the above paragraph.</p>

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<p>Thank you, insane what the clueless say here.</p>

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<p>I can’t speak about your IB scores (maybe get that IB Physics up to a 6), but about your SATs, I would definitely say get that math score up. It’s also the easiest, may I add, if only because it’s the most straightforward as opposed to critical reading. Try to break 2250 (which should be easy considering your score right now :D) and reach for 2300.</p>

<p>Also, very impressive ECs, but try to narrow down your focus to around 3 activities. You look way to spread out right now. I also second GoldenCoast’s advice about the whole Costa Rica/Swaziland thing. Be careful about those!</p>

<p>But overall, you’re looking to be in really good shape!</p>

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<p>The international service was funded by a combination of fundraising and my parents. Honestly, I didn’t travel to Costa Rica or Swaziland to pad my resume and whether or not I paid for it, it helped expand my perspective and inspired me. Is that honestly not a beneficial activity? I am neither African or Latin American but to be honest I resent the fact the one needs to be from a country to help with aid there with out it being a facade. Honestly, is it that big of a deal that I paid money out of my families pocket to go help an impoverished village rebuild after an earthquake instead of raising it, I know that the people of Pausita wouldn’t give a flying f**k. They were grateful for the help regardless of our income bracket.</p>