<p>Amherst
Cornell
Harvard
JHU
Princeton
Tufts
U of Rochester
WashU in St. Louis
Yale (may be applying EA)</p>
<p>[its a pretty balanced list in my opinion, right?]</p>
<p>Background:</p>
<p>New York City
Top private school (no official AP classes; no rank; no GPA; typically sends students to HYP+others)
Asian male
Rising senior (2010)
Prospective major: pre-med</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<p>Grades: A- average (i have no idea what GPA that would be )
Class rank: [guessing here] top 10% in a class of ~50
SAT I: ~2200 8th grade (im not sure if I need to report this score to those colleges that require all scores I dont even remember exactly what I got lol)
2390 (800 V; 790 M; 800 W) 11th grade
SAT II: Biology E 710 (9th)
Chemistry 800 (10th)
USH 790 (11th)
Math II 800 (11th)
Biology M 770 (11th)
AP: BC Calc 5 (10th)
Literature 5 (11th)
Biology 5 (11th)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars [Im extremely low/nonexistent on leadership ugh]:</p>
<ol>
<li> research internship at Rockefeller University (11th) may have a paper to submit to competitions</li>
<li> science honors program at Columbia University</li>
<li> piano (12 years)</li>
<li> swimming (9 years + 3 years of varsity)</li>
<li> hospital volunteer (10th+11th)</li>
<li> layout editor of school literary magazine</li>
<li> layout editor of school yearbook</li>
<li> math team</li>
</ol>
<p>Honors/Awards [again, maybe a science competition award]:</p>
<ol>
<li> piano Carnegie hall recital</li>
<li> swimming athletic association of independent schools all-star award [one winner/year]</li>
<li> summer study scholarship [from my school]</li>
<li> national merit commended (I dont think this is even going on my app cus its useless considering I wasnt even a semifinalist ]</li>
</ol>
<p>Recommendations:
- will have recs from history and biology teacher: both will be good, but not especially exceptional
- extra rec from science research mentor: will be better than the teacher recs, but again, nothing thats like he deserves to win a nobel prize lol
- possible rec from piano teacher but I think itll be overkill on recs .</p>
<p>The only extra thing I have to mention is that Im the first person in my school ever to take BC Calc as a sophomore (ie an accelerated program). I had to bug the math teachers and administration hopefully my counselor will write that Im proactive and like challenges lol but it was really a lot of work.</p>
<p>And I know I sound like a typical asian oh well.</p>
<p>Hey! I really have no place chancing you since I’m in the class of 2010 too, but I’d thought I’d just say…nice SAT scores! And piano recital at Carnegie hall? Independent schools’ all star award? You sound like one seriously cool kid! That “leadership” stuff is so overrated…anyway, I think a lot of times they just mean “a leader in your field,” which it sounds like you are! So…if you school typically sends kids to HYP and you’re in the top 5 with ECs like that, I’d say your chances are looking pretty good!</p>
<p>Woot! I’m the first at my school to take Calc BC as a sophomore too (I just finished though, so class of 2011 ftw). SAT scores are looking great. My only concern is that piano is kind of a typical Asian thing so they won’t regard it as unique. However, you DID play at Carnegie Hall which is rather impressive, so it sets you apart. You being from a top private school is good, but it being from New York is bad (overrepresented state, like mine, CA). I’m guessing match for all except for HYP; I’m guessing you’ll be in at one and possibly two. </p>
<p>Wow, you have stellar stats in every category. I really can’t find a flaw, and i really can’t see why you wouldn’t get in anywhere. Just write good essays? Your outta most all leagues</p>
<p>Your GPA/SAT are stellar… but so are thousands of other applicants. That be said, there are definitely ways to make yourself stand out. Definitely make sure you point out how proactive you have been in addition to highlighting one or two things you have done in your essays (piano retical). One thing that will help you a LOT is writing the “Why” essay and throwing it into the additional information section of the commonapp if the school does not require it. Many schools could think you are just another perfect student tossing in an application, but if you write a focused, personal Why essay I think it will work in your benefit.</p>
<p>Amherst - Why essays are especially important for LACs - Match
Cornell - Match
Harvard - Reach, like you said, it is for everyone
JHU - Match
Princeton - Reach
Tufts - Match
U of Rochester - Safety
WashU in St. Louis - Match (pre-med here is cutthroat)
Yale (may be applying EA) - Reach, slight reach with EA</p>
<p>ditto what silverturtle said. for most of his schools, he wouldnt have to put premed… and the colleges wouldnt take that into high consideration anyways.</p>
<p>Amherst - mid-reach
Cornell - match
Harvard - reach
JHU - reach (if you’re applying premed… i’d say don’t put premed as prospective major)
Princeton - reach
Tufts - match/safety
U of Rochester - safety
WashU in St. Louis - mid-reach (again if applying premed)
Yale (may be applying EA) - reach/mid-reach for ea</p>
<p>Talk to your counselors. Applying from a top NYC prep isn’t something most can assess. Your biggest issue is going to be all the legacies, development kids and kids of the connected and powerful in your class and in like NYC prep schools.</p>
<p>HYP takes fewer prep school kids every year. Getting in from one is a whole different game.</p>
<p>Guys… u know Carnegie Hall often has recitals with young ppl, right? Like, they aren’t all with a bunch of ppl watching… Sometimes it is just parents and friends of the people performing, and that’s it. I’ve been to these. So clarify whether it is one of these small recitals or what. Because I live in New York, and basically everyone in my school who has played piano for a very long time has done a Carnegie Hall recital.</p>
<p>Your grades and scores are great, but your EC’s are lacking. Especially as you said in leadership. That of course should be dealt with in your essays. I wouldn’t include the carnegie hal in your awards section since (assuming we’re talking about the small recitals) it’s not an actual merit award.
For most of your non-reach school syour scores and grades will definitely get you in. That said, for your reachs, (yale, etc) it’s imposible to say without knowing your esays, but I’d say you need your essays to provide the hook that your Ec’s lack</p>
<p>every year, my school sends about 5 to harvard, 3/4 to yale, and 1/2 to princeton. not to mention all the other ivies and lacs. usually only 1 of the people going to harvard have legacies or other connections; same for yale and princeton (so obviously… princeton just doesn’t like our school as much). so about 6 with no legacies or connections can get into hyp. just from a class of 50. does that help?</p>
<p>i’m not including carnegie hall in the awards section of the common app. but in the extracurriculars section they have this extra line that says include any leadership positions or awards you’ve received in this activity… so i’m including it there.
yeah i know about those small recitals. but my case is a little different? cus my piano teacher often plays at carnegie hall and he just let like 2 students crash his concert lol. so it wasnt just parents and friends (yeah… my parents came) but still mostly other people.
and also, no one in my school (or at least in my graduating class) has played at carnegie hall? i didnt know it was that common… =(</p>
<p>and yeah, the leadership thing… it really annoys me b/c its basically a huge popularity contest at my school, like most people become friends with current presidents of clubs and then they get picked as the next presidents… ugh.</p>
<p>I’m confused a bit, what did you do math wise after 10th grade. Did you go take college classes junior and senio year? I was in the same situation and that’s what I did, which I think helped me quite a bit. So what’ve you been doing math wise junio ryear? and if you haven’t you should do it senior year.</p>
<p>You seem to be a well rounded individual with a lot of really good aspects of your application. I agree with most of what other people of said. You will get into a bunch of the match ones but its always up in the air for the really top schools, but it seems your school sends a good amount to those, so as long as you can stand out in your graduating class, I bet you will get into some of the really tough ones. Good Luck!</p>
<p>we’re not allowed to take college classes… i mean, you can take them but out school doesn’t acknowledge them and you get no credit so theres no place for them in your app. and also, i was going to take multivariable at columbia anyways but the price was super steep and my school refused to give me any financial aid.
so basically i just doubled up on science, which is really rare in our school because no one really gets the chance to do that.</p>
<p>Should I presume you go to Fieldston? I got accepted to that school as a freshmen, but couldn’t go since they didn’t give me enough FA. Good job, you will get into Yale.</p>