Chance me at YALE? thanks :)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>rising junior at a crappy public high school.</p>

<p>Chinese female (yeah i know, sucks for me)
Pennsylvania</p>

<p>Public high school
GPA:4.0 unweighted, 5.0 weighted
Rank: 2/571
SAT (prolly gonna retake): 780 writing, 800 math, 700 reading; 2280 (**** reading)
SAT II so far: Bio-E 740 (should I retake?), Math II 800, gonna take more
Course load: all honors and APs, 14 A+'s and 2 A's.</p>

<p>ECs:
varsity swimmer, going to be 4 years and maybe captain senior year
summer swimming
science olympiad
ARML (american regions math league) (Section leader)
piano (gonna be 12 years)
student council rep (4 years)
basketball intramurals
debate team
math team
newspaper (Editor)</p>

<p>Awards:
Science Olympiad - 1st in Anatomy, 2nd in Ecology regional level
3rd in Ecology, 5th in Anatomy state level
ARML - highest achieving female, team won the national championships 2 years in a row
Swimming - most diligent swimmer award, i hold 4 team records for my summer team
Piano - lots of national and state awards and recognition</p>

<p>APs: gonna take 6 my junior year
AP Calc BC (soph year), expecting a 5</p>

<p>Community Service - hospital, piano accompaniment for chorus, teacher's aid
(going to be around 300 hours)</p>

<p>Work Experience - private swim coach, Mathcounts teacher at the community college</p>

<p>Sooooo, is Yale a possibility? I absolutely love it there!
Also, is it absolutely necessary to have a 2300+ to be considered competitive?</p>

2

<p>No absolute, but if you can get it up there, its a plus.
Good job on Arml, i got crushed last time i went hahaha… have you looked into USAMO as well? might as well rack up some more math awards if you have the ability.</p>

<p>That level of mathematical ability at Arml will really help you at the top schools, try to rack up leadership stuff while you’re at it. Volunteering and/or serious internship/research also helps.</p>

<p>But you really should exploit that mathematical ability of yours… </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/954601-hypsm-hopeful-chances.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/954601-hypsm-hopeful-chances.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>would you say it’s a reach or a high reach?</p>

4

<p>It’s too early to say. You haven’t finished junior year yet, and those are the grades that matter the most. If you maintain your GPA and everything else goes well, you certainly have a shot. FYI, there’s no difference between an A+ and an A.</p>

5

<p>there is a difference in my school. A+'s are 4.3 and A’s are 4.0.
It’s weird.</p>

6

<p>Looks like you’ll have a decent shot - if you get the SAT I above a 2300 I’d say your more of a reach than a high reach. </p>

<p>Also, I’d suggest highlighting in your application the national awards in piano if they are well known.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/953005-chances-ivy-stanford.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/953005-chances-ivy-stanford.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>

</p>

<p>Of course not. No specific score is necessary, though most unhooked applicants will be near 2300 or higher. Everything looks solid at the moment.</p>

8

<p>Well a 2300+ would help a lot, but having less won’t necassarily put you out of the running. The crappy public school part is going to hurt you though. Getting good grades at a bad school doesn’t mean much to colleges. However, I think that your excellent ECs will balance that out. You have a good shot.</p>

<p>Chance back: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/953055-please-chance.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/953055-please-chance.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<p>

</p>

<p>2300 is an arbitrary cutoff. There is no less difference between 2280 and 2290 than there is between 2290 and 2300.</p>

10

<p>So you think that if I get 2300+ on my SATs, highlight my piano awards and stuff, and keep my 4.0, I’ll be competitive?</p>

11

<p>You are already competitive. Increasing your score, of course, would improve your chances, as it would for any other applicant.</p>

12

<p>The problem is not overall SAT score, it’s the 700CR which is well below the median. As an unhooked Asian candidate from a well represented state, your goal should be their 75th percentile in each section which is 790…</p>

13

<p>yeah, I can’t do that. I suck at CR. I don’t know why.</p>

14

<p>Do colleges think ARML is impressive, or do they not care about it that much?</p>

15

<p>You have good scores - try to raise reading - and excellent ECs. Play up the piano awards on a national level and your leadership and dedication to swimming. Looks good! You should be competitive at Yale.</p>