Objective
SAT I (breakdown): 630 CR 760 M 740 W (Comp: 2130)
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II: Korean w/ Listening (800) World History (630) ← Not recording, APUSH (tba), APBio(tba)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.74
Weighted GPA (if available): 4.42
Rank/percentile (if available): Top 10% of ~650
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (3), U.S History (n/a), Biology (n/a)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, Chinese 3, AP Calc AB, AP Gov/Econ, AP Psychology, Wind Ensemble
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Principle Honor Roll (4 years), EXPLO At Yale Completion (2013)
Subjective
Extracurriculars:
-Future Business Leaders of America (3 yrs, V.P)
-Chess Club (4 yrs, member)
-Hwarang Leo Club Branch of Lion’s Club
-Korean Club (4 yrs, Junior Rep. Next year’s president)
-Amateur Astronomy Association (3 yrs, Secretary/Grade Rep)
-Competitive Archery [2 state competitions: ranked 34th in California 2014]
Job/Work Experience:
-Internship at Guangzhou, China for ADS (Audio Science Technology Co.) Winter 2014
Volunteer/Community service:
-Hwarang Leo Club (40+ hrs)
-Discovery Science Center Orange County DCOC
-Church Orchestra (100+hrs)
Essays: Didn’t write yet but hoping 9/10
Teacher Recommendation: none yet but 9/10
Counselor Rec: n/a
Additional Rec: n/a
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: International Business
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: Public School
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Notes:
-Been hosting Chinese students from Guangzhou for 3 years
-Went to China over Winter Break for internship/cultural exploration
-3 Years of learning mandarin
-2 Internships w/ Lions Club & Rotary in Korea this summer (upcoming)
Dear TalktheTalk : Hard to believe that we are just closing the discussions about the Class of 2019 and our first chance-me discussion for the Class of 2020 is now opened! Clearly your composite SAT I scores are in the upper second quartile and working to improve your critical reading score in another sitting might be a great option for you.
Your GPA while in the top 10% (a positive) does not yet reflect a depth of AP course work which will be your school’s highest level of work. In your senior year, should you consider another hard science (Physics or Chemistry) as opposed to AP Psychology, a so-called soft AP course. Is a Calculus BC course available for you? Since you will still get an AB subscore, you might want to consider the more rigorous course.
If you could share more about your music background, it would be advantageous. Clearly your profile is lacking any sports (save archery?) which you will need to offset in some way to demonstrate school spirit and engagement. Remember, Boston College is seeking students not only interested in attending a great university, but wants to accept students that are focused on making Boston College itself better. It is difficult to see in your extracurriculars where you have made a community impact, either inside your High School or with the broader community. For example, what did your volunteer efforts achieve? More details will help define you as a candidate.
In closing, there is nothing here that would disqualify you from consideration however there are several areas(critical reading score, AP results, sports, community impact) that could be improved heading towards your application.
I don’t agree you need another AP science to apply to a business school. I’d rather see something that demonstrates you have some software skills/experience, though AP CS might be overkill. Perhaps from job experience or another class somewhere… And more math is always better, though Calc AB senior year seems fine.
@Daddio3 Is science really necessary for me next year though? If I were to take on another class, it would mean I have to give up either Chinese 3 or Wind Ensemble which for both classes/activities, I have shown huge commitments for. Isn’t it better to stick with what’s important and sort of sticking out (bassoon + Chinese as a Korean) instead of taking another year of ap science?
Sorry… tried to edit my previous comment but CC wouldn’t let me for some reason. Here it is in its entirety:
@talkthetalk My S had almost identical stats - 620 CR 760 M 760 W (2140), top 8% class of 750ish, NHS, Math, English, German National Honor Societies, Principal’s List 4 years, 3.74UW 4.16W; AP Psych, AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Environmental Science, AP Stats, AP German; Captain of both JV and Varsity Soccer, Soccer Scholar-Athlete Award; President of Leo Club, lots of community service; Student Senate; American Legion Boys State; Varsity track; worked as soccer referee, other awards and activities. Wrote incredible essays (so we thought). Continually showed interest by updating BC Admissions on awards, grades, and full scholarship to a leadership program. His older brother, also with almost identical stats, was accepted to CSOM only 2 years ago (did not attend - could that have jinxed him? I would hope not).
Ultimately S was wait-listed CSOM (and very disappointed). BC was one of his top two choices, and I suspect he would have gone there if accepted. He was accepted into Lehigh Integrated Business and Engineering Honors Program, where he will attend, and Washington and Lee, Bucknell, and EA Villanova Business School.
Anyway, you just never know what the “perfect” alphabet soup of ingredients will be for admission. And always remember that there are literally THOUSANDS of candidates who look just as good as you if not better. You need to have that “something special” admissions connects with, but you will never find out what it was. Continue to work hard and be true to yourself. What will be will be, and it will all work out for the best (God DOES have a plan, although it may takes a lifetime to reveal itself). Best of luck to you!
I second the idea of dropping AP Psych, which is a really easy AP. (Sure, your HS may make the course difficult, but the material itself is really basic, which makes Psych the easiest AP to study for.)
If you are taking AP Bio this year, AP Enviro should be pretty easy. (Unfortunately, this is a course in which teachers dump on a lot of busy work, but since Enviro is nothing but a subset of Bio, you have already covered at least half the material.)
Assuming that you have three years of science, perhaps pick up Stats or Comp Sci (both of which count as a Math), or Calc BC if offered at your HS.
Actually, in a few states, AP Comp Sci counts as a science. One interesting side note is that BC is more of a stickler than most regarding taking 4 years of each of the five core areas.
that’s great!