Chance me at some Ivys, LACs + others? I love you all.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I've always wanted to make a chance thread, so here I am. Thanks in advance erryone.</p>

<p>GPA: 5.73 Weighted, 3.87 Unweighted (yeah I know, we have an odd weighted GPA system).</p>

<p>Rank: ~7-10/489 (an approximation since school was <em>just</em> let out). I have the most rigorous course-load in my class but that might have been what brought me down.</p>

<p>ACT: 32 - 35 E, 29 M, 33 R, 29 S. This test was required by the state, didn't have writing and I didn't prep much (read: didn't prep at all) for it. I'll be taking the June 8th ACT (with writing) and based on practice tests, I should be able to land at least a 34 but obviously nothing is definite.</p>

<p>SAT IIs: I'll be taking USH and Lit. on June 1st. I doubt this info is that helpful seeing that I haven't taken them yet, but if it means anything I feel relatively good about them (it probably doesn't mean much, but hey -- the more data the merrier).</p>

<p>PSAT: 204 - 68 M, 68 CR, 68 W. This should make me a National Merit Commended Student, nothing special.</p>

<p>APs: US History (soph) - 5, World History (frosh) - 3. I took Macro, Micro, Comp Gov, US Gov, Psych, Bio and Lang this year (self-studying Macro and Comp). If my feelings after the test indicate anything, they should all be 4s/5s.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (the number of years is tentative since I'm factoring in my planned involvement senior year):</p>

<p>Philosophy Club (4 years) - cofounded this with a friend our freshman year. Currently president.
Scholastic Bowl (Quizbowl, 4 years) - JV captain sophomore year, Varsity captain junior and senior year.
Computer Science Club (4 years) - cofounded freshman year as well. 15+ kids strong, currently VP.
Math Team (4 years) - a few regional awards, nothing special.
Speech Team (2 years)
Debate Team (2 years) - cofounded junior year, currently captain.
Ultimate Frisbee team (2 years) - cofounder.
National Honor Society (2 years)
French Honor Society (2 years)
In-school tutoring (4 years) - rackin' up dem volunteer hours
Tom Cross Youth Council (junior year) - the IL House Minority Leader has a youth council for high school students in his district that essentially serves as an immersion in local government. I was one of 10-15 picked out of ~90 applicants.</p>

<p>I also started a sort of scholastic organization with a friend this Spring. It's essentially a national organization for high school philosophy clubs, consolidating philosophy clubs around the country under one umbrella. It technically launches this Fall, but we already have around 10 member schools lined up (and we're most likely going to expand to 15-20 schools come this Fall). It does to philosophy clubs what the NFL or the NAQT does to speech/debate and quizbowl, respectively: consolidate operations + increase credibility. I can provide more info if necessary.</p>

<p>I will be organizing a student-centric (high school and college) hackathon (see: Hackathon</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) on behalf of a relatively large nonprofit based out of Seattle. The nonprofit's aims are to get students into programming or help students improve their current programming skills and one way they try to accomplish that is through hackathons. They currently have operations in Seattle, SF and NY but wanted to expand to Chicago (and as a result, a friend associated with the organization referred me to them). The main responsibilities are getting a venue and judges, hawking sponsors and marketing. I can provide more info about this as well if need be.</p>

<p>I briefly interned at two local think-tanks -- one was centered around sociology research, the other was focused in "green" policy and initiatives.</p>

<p>Summer shenanigans:</p>

<p>Last summer I took courses at Harvard SSP. This year, I was accepted to WSBA and I'll also be attending a quizbowl camp at UIUC.</p>

<p>Other relevant (or irrelevant, idk brah) junk:</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Male
Prospective major: Econ (meaning I'll be applying to a few B-schools -- more on that below) perhaps stacked with Int. Relations or similar.
Chances are that I might not require finaid. Dunno if that helps.</p>

<p>Schools:</p>

<p>I'm currently thinking Princeton SCEA along with UVA, Michigan* and UIUC EA but everything is still up in the air. Other schools I'm looking at (in no particular order):</p>

<p>Williams
Penn (Wharton)
Chicago
Brown
Yale
Georgetown (a maybe on McDonough)
NYU (Stern)
Harvard
Stanford
Middlebury
Swarthmore
Cornell
Bowdoin
USC
+ all of the UCs, seeing that it's one app.</p>

<p>I might've missed a few things, but that should about cover the basics.</p>

<p>So, what are my chances? Throw suggestions, advice, whatever at me! I'd appreciate that.</p>

<p>Much appreciated, everyone.</p>

2

<p>Bump 10char</p>

3

<p>Oddly enough you and I have very similar interests and profiles! I’m an Indian male who’s interested in Economics as well - though I’m still on the fence about B-School econ/finance vs. a BA in Econ. </p>

<p>Nevertheless congratulations on a very impressive resume! You’ve accumulated a great rigor of coursework and a large repertoire of ECs. But there are some serious black marks. Your GPA is just a TAD low but I don’t think it’s a huge issue. The bigger issues lie in A.) the generic and somewhat random ECs you have and B.) your ACT test score. </p>

<p>Your ECs - while they show long-term commitment - are simply normal day-to-day things these admissions officers will see. There is a lack of central focus in them that screams to admissions: “Hey this kid is definitely determined to do economics”. Try to find some ECs in the realm of business, finance and economics if you can. Internships (while it IS rather late in the year) are a great thing to look out for. You can start by simply Googling high school internships in your state. As for your ACT, it’s very low for the colleges you’ve listed to put it blatantly. (Ex. A 31 on the ACT is comparable to a 2070 on the SAT: I got this information from a practice ACT scored by an institution in Arizona that compares ACTs with equivalent SAT scores) You need to SERIOUSLY bump up that score to a 34 at least because the colleges you’ve listed won’t bother looking at an Indian male interested in CAS or BSchool Econ with an ACT 32 (or a comparable 2150 SAT). </p>

<p>Chances:</p>

<p>Williams - low reach
Penn (Wharton) - high reach (remember that applying to Wharton specifically is like applying to HYPSM)
Chicago - reach
Brown - low reach
Yale - high reach
Georgetown - high match
NYU (Stern) - high match
Harvard - high reach
Stanford - high reach
Middlebury - high match
Swarthmore - low reach
Cornell - high match/low reach
Bowdoin - match
USC - match
UCB - low reach
UCLA - high match
UCSD - match
Rest of UCs - low match/match
Princeton SCEA - high reach
Michigan - match/high match
UVA - high match</p>

<p>Assuming you get that 34 here’s your chances:</p>

<p>Williams - high match/low reach
Penn (Wharton) - reach (remember that applying to Wharton specifically is like applying to HYPSM)
Chicago - low reach
Brown - high match/low reach
Yale - high reach
Georgetown - high match
NYU (Stern) - high match
Harvard - high reach
Stanford - high reach
Middlebury - match
Swarthmore - high match
Cornell - high match/low reach
Bowdoin - match
USC - match
UCB - high match
UCLA - high match
UCSD - match
Rest of UCs - low match
Princeton SCEA - high reach
Michigan - match
UVA - match</p>

<p>Chance back? [Penn</a>, Harvard, Chicago and More!!](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1509778-chance-new-guy-penn-harvard-chicago-more-will-chance-back.html]Penn”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1509778-chance-new-guy-penn-harvard-chicago-more-will-chance-back.html)</p>

4

<p>Academics: Good enough. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to have perfect scores for Ivy League schools, but you have to meet the invisible “barriers” created by averages. Shoot for above a 3.8 UW (with a challenging course load), 2200 SAT/33 ACT (10 writing is a good goal), near 700’s on SAT Subject Tests, and some AP scores or other academic accomplishments that distinguish you. You have pretty much accomplished that.</p>

<p>EC’s: The scholastic organization and hackathon you started seem like great distinctions - make sure to focus on those. They are unique and “expert” in nature. Other than that, though, you may want to DEEPEN EC’s (not broaden!). They want applicants who have demonstrated great proficiency in 2-4 areas, as opposed to broad/shallow proficiency over 10 different areas. So if you can find some “focuses” for your EC involvement, then frame your application in that way. They WANT to see the depth, you just have to show them!</p>

<p>Other: Choose your recs carefully. They will see your academic strength from stats alone, so really try to choose recommenders that can speak to your EC strength. Center your essays in a way that displays your most significant accomplishments - use them as extra space to show yourself off, in a way that does not come off as egocentric. Also, indian is an over represented minority at many top schools, so understand that you will be in a very competitive applicant pool and nothing is guranteed, but I WOULD say that you have a decent chance with Ivy+ admissions. So apply where you are most interested! But DON’T apply to that whole list or your supplemental applications will likely be boring, repetitive, and not standout.</p>

<p>Feel free to message me if you have questions! I got into quite a few of your listed schools, including Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Michigan Honors, and more.</p>

5

<p>Thanks guys, I appreciate the replies. Since both of you brought up similar points when it comes to ECs: I get what you mean when you stress that I should deepen rather than broaden my ECs, but (besides the internship idea) how can I do that my existing set of ECs? Any advice on how to go about doing that? Thanks!</p>

6

<p>Centralize your focus and seek out leadership positions or positions in 2-3 clubs you’re passionate about. Aim at what colleges would appreciate when you write about it. Remember that your passion is what colleges want most. Also look at the ones that offer you opportunities to expand. Don’t stress all your ECs on your college app - just the main powerful ones to have.</p>

7

<p>Bump 10char</p>

8

<p>Did you intentionally or unintentionally misspell grammar when you selected the screen name GrammerNazi? If intentional, you possess a subtle wit and should do well; if unintentional, your lack of attention to detail could be your undoing.</p>

9

<p>the above ^</p>

10

<p>It’s supposed to be ironically clever, guys. :)</p>

<p>Also, Gram, how did the June ACT go?</p>