Chance me for Duke, Vanderbilt, U of Chicago, and others please!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Please chance me for Duke, Vanderbilt, U of Chicago, and other high caliber schools that you guys would suggest. I'm currently a junior from southern CA. White male with a bit of Mexican (though I'll most likely skim over that, it's not a huge deal. I make tamales twice a year and that's that). Income is average.</p>

<p>-Weighted GPA (5-point scale) -- ~4.4 (CA)</p>

<p>-AP Courses
Biology (5), World History (4), Psychology (#), Chemistry (#), U.S. History (#), English Lit and Comp (#)</p>

<p>-Honors Courses
Pre-calculus (A's both semesters)</p>

<p>Expected senior course load:
AP Lang and Comp
AP Physics
Math 150,151 (CCC course)
Political Science (CCC course)
Band/Marching band
Gym (track and field)</p>

<p>-class rank/size
Out of ~600, I'm going to be around 10, I think. </p>

<p>-SAT/ACT scores
Not taken yet, but scored well on the PSAT</p>

<p>-SAT II scores
740 Bio (M), 700 Chem, 760 USH</p>

<p>-ECs --
Stock club (freshman and senior years)
Junior Model United Nations for 3 years, Model United Nations for 2 years
Volunteering at a local hospital (100+ hours so far)
Band (marching, do decently well, as in honor bands for the school district and such). Play multiple instruments, over the last 5 years.
track and field (varsity senior year)
Academic League (basically trivia showdowns. varsity next year, JV this year)
California Scholarship Federation (basically, I get to put it on an app since I do volunteer stuff in the neighborhood and I get decent grades).
Part of a recreational soccer team in a well-run league</p>

<p>-employment -- years involved, nature of the work, what you've done with the earnings
I'm going to do a paid internship this summer at another local hospital</p>

<p>-honors/awards --
Small certificates and such from my ECs</p>

<p>-short explanation on recs/essays
Recs are good and I plan on writing some very good essays (I've started on them now).</p>

<p>Anything else that's special:
My essays are coming along very well. </p>

<p>Thank you guys in advance!</p>

2

<p>Will chance back, if you want my $0.02.</p>

3

<p>I think for these schools, you are competitive but not nearly as much so as you need to be. What is the uw gpa? I think while you have some ecs, they may not be enough to make a difference. You have a decent chance at any of these schools but that also depends on how many honors/APs you have in comparison with what is offered at your school. I think you probably have a better chance at UChicago and Vandy than Duke but that’s just my biased opinion.</p>

4

<p>Put down Hispanic on commonapp. Trust me, people who are only a small fraction native American do it. That will up your chances.</p>

5

<p>My UW GPA (with athletics) is 3.91. In relation to the other kids at the school, I far from honors coast (my only honors class has been pre-calculus, which was the highest offered at that level). The community college classes, though not standardized, are much more difficult than the AP courses of similar content.<br>
I have other ECs (Math Club, etc) but I didn’t want to spam up the board with negligible stuff. I touched on them in my essays, about how I informally end up doing a lot anyway (a lot more refined than this, however).</p>

6

<p>Sound advice, emory and lovely day; thank you!</p>

7

<p>This is good an I think it’s going to be your essays that tip the scale either way.
Good luck!</p>