Chance me! Class of 2019

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

For most of my life I have set my sights on higher-end universities such as Georgetown, Duke, Vanderbilt, and Cornell. But as I see my senior friends, as well as other students across the nation, and the sorts of schools they are getting accepted to, I now know that what I had in mind may not be what is set in store.

Male
Korean American, First Gen
Very large public school in Los Angeles County
Family income- 100k
No disabilities/handicaps/conditions

SAT/ACT
-34 on ACT, plan to take again in June
SAT II
-no scores yet, I am taking most in June but will likely be in the 750-800 range, for US history, Math II, and Bio E/M

GPA (counting 9th grade, without it, uw would be 4)
w: 4.50 uw: 3.96

AP
AP Euro-5
*I have not taken any other AP test yet. I expect a 4-5 on calc ab, lang, and us history, and a 3-4 on biology

EC
-Vice Chair of Orange County youth political organization, called OCHSD, a branch of HSDA
-played music on my french horn for elderly disabled at a private care facility (weekly)
-I care for infants and do janitorial work at a federal rehab facility for juvenile criminal mothers (weekly)
-300+ volunteer hours
-Treasurer/VP of LEO campus club
-Social Chairperson / School Council exec. for two years
-Prom committee
-Mock Trial three years, no wins
-Duke Moot Court comp, two years, once a semifinalist, no wins
-Co president of Debate club
-recipient of 2017 National Korean American Federation scholarship 3rd place
-(one time deal) wrote an article for TeenInk
-(one time deal) organized book drive for an impoverished neighborhood in downtown LA
-(one time deal) organized a small toy drive for impoverished children in LA
-held adult voting registration drives at the local market (monthly, only in 2017)

*Major weaknesses
I am lacking in distinctive awards and scholorships
I have won few competitions

2

I realize that I haven’t specified what schools I want to gauge my chances at.
UCLA, UC Berkeley, Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, UVA, UNC, Duke, Cornell

3

@phractal what major?

4

poly sci most likely, but for georgetown it’d be middle east studies

5

@phractal Here is a guesstimate college tier list for you. Please note that I am trying to be as honest as possible, so it may seem harsh, but I have all good intentions for you and your future endeavors!

Reach: All the Ivies (they are always reach), Georgetown, UCB
Target: Duke, UCLA, UVA
Safety: Do some liberal arts college

If you want a chance type of thing, let me know. Just tag me :smiley:

6

Dude, your chances look very high. Considering the amount of ECs you have and your high gpa and ACT results, I think you’ll be definitely in the pool of applicants that the colleges will give consideration to. Also if you score a perfect 5 on the calc Ap ( which is very hard ) you can probably get into every Ivy. Good luck!

7

Ok first of all, Duke is not a target/match for anyone, and neither is UVA for out-of-state students. And even for in-state students, UCLA is still difficult to get into. Your ECs are pretty good, but there’s nothing special about the number of them. Quality>>>quantity. Some of your activities were one time things or happen infrequently. Those do not really help your application. GPA and test scores are good, but those are more of a threshold you have to pass. You don’t really have any competitions or awards, which as an ORM may hurt you. The AP Calc exam is definitely not ‘very hard’ as @hamstargaming and although challenging, it is already expected of you to do pretty well on it. I highly doubt you’ll get into all of your top schools, but you do have pretty good chances. Make sure you write good essays and get good LORs from your teachers.

8

@summerhazed thanks… i already know i’m not of a good standing, how do u think a legal internship would affect my chances? or is it too little too late? i have an internship going on this summer before senior year at a local courthouse.

9

@phractal I’m sorry if I was a little too harsh. I wasn’t trying to undermine you as an applicant in any way, you are a very strong applicant and I can definitely see you getting into some of your top choices. It’s just at schools as selective as those it really is difficult to chance someone. Now, I wouldn’t get a legal internship just for the sake of admissions, because it most likely will not have too much of an impact on your app. However, if you really want to do it, I encourage you to do so, and maybe you could discuss it in your essays or interviews or get an additional rec from someone who works there. It’s definitely not too late.

10

@summerhazed no, i appreciate that you were realistic; what was harsh was seeing all my friends get rejected from their dream schools lol. and thanks, I do think that i’m taking on the internship either way, and a little networking for a LOR would only help my chances

11

Duke is a target with its 8.3% acceptance rate but UCB is a reach? Gotta love college confidential…

@redwall3000

12

@JenniferClint For his major, the percentage is different for the two schools. Duke would be a lot easier for him to get into. :slight_smile:

13

@summerhazed i said getting a 5 is hard, not that the Ap test itself is hard…

14

Your ethnicity would sort of affect you though

15

@redwall3000 Universities don’t make admissions decisions based on a student’s expected major. There are a few exceptions like JHU BME, Georgetown SFS, and CMU CS but they are few and far between.

16

@JenniferClint They do in fact take into account the major the students are interested in. Given that my uncle works at one of the top 20 universities as an admission officer, he has told me that the major that they are interested in will affect admissions, as colleges usually accept students into specific schools within the college rather than accepting the student body as a whole.

17

@redwall3000 You must be out of your mind to think that Duke is easier to get into than UCB. If the OP was applying to say EECS at UCB, then you may be right, but the poly sci or L&S program at UCB is not much different than Duke admissions wise. Besides, schools may admit based on the school they apply to, but not the specific major. For example, when I was admitted to the school I’ll be attending (a top 20 university), the admissions committee did not select me as an undecided major, but rather as an applicant to the College of Arts and Sciences as a whole.

@hamstargaming It really isn’t that hard or noteworthy to get a 5 on ap calc as long as you study, especially if you’re applying to schools of the same caliber that the OP is applying to.

18

@summerhazed

You’re absolutely right (to the best of my knowledge). I have a minor quibble with this part though “poly sci or L&S program at UCB is not much different than Duke admissions wise”. It is very different. Duke is significantly more selective and the quality of its entering class is much higher (just look at the numbers).

Congratulations on Penn! It’s a great school (I speak from experience) :slight_smile:

19

@summerhazed @JenniferClint
I give up, this is hopeless … smh

20

@redwall3000 That is the case at some of the top 20 universities, as well as those outside of that range, but at Duke they admit based off of school: Trinity or Pratt. They only ask you to indicate your preliminary academic interests so they can get to know you intellectually. For Pratt, major is not even declared until end of 2nd year.