Chance me for Duke, Vandy, WashU, and UMich?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am a rising senior from the state of Washington, and I just want to ensure the schools I am currently considering would not be out of the realm of possibilities. I am a Caucasian Male from a public school of 1100 students from 10-12, plus a freshman campus with a class of roughly 350 students. My high school is in the class 3A (third-largest) division in Washington. My school offers relatively few AP classes (only 6 or 7 for all years of high school), but offers a college-in-the-high-school (CHS) program. The classes work as dual-enrollment and the CHS classes I have found to actually be more difficult than the AP classes I have taken.</p>

<p>Class Rank: School does not rank; however it is quite obvious I am number 2 behind a girl who is almost a shoe-in at Harvard, which would place me at 2/~370
GPA: 4.00 UW, school does not weight GPA (I calculated it once, and it was a 4.52)
ACT: 32 (35 Math, 33 English, 31 Reading, 30 Science) with an 8 on writing portion
SAT: N/A (I was not planning on taking the SAT because all of the practice tests I took on the SAT put me in the 1900-2000 range, which would indicate my ACT score is better)</p>

<p>Classes Taken So Far (All Solid A's):
Honors English (9,10)
American Literature (11)
Speech/Debate (11)
Alg II/Trig (9)
Pre-calc (10) - CHS course (through Central Washington University)
Calculus I and II (11) - CHS course (through Central Washington University)
Honors Pacific Northwest History (9)
Honors World History (10)
United States History 1940 to Present (11) - CHS course (through University of Washington - Seattle)
Honors Biology - Ecology (9)
Honors Biolgoy - Microbiology (9)
College Prep. Chemistry (10)
AP Chemistry (11) - Expecting a score of a 4 or 5 back in July
Spanish I (9)
Spanish II (10)
Spanish III (11)</p>

<p>Schedule for Senior Year:
AP Statistics (School does not offer beyond Calculus II)
AP Government
Contemporary World Problems
Physics - CHS course (through Central Washington University)
AP Biology
Film and Literature
Spanish IV - CHS course (through Central Washington University)</p>

<p>EC's:
Eagle Scout
National Honor Society (11, elected President for next year as a senior)
DECA (Marketing Club) Nationals Competitor in School-Based Enterprise (11)
Attend the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (includes before-school seminary for all four years of high school, like a 0-hour class)
Varsity Tennis (Third in state as a team while a sophomore, seventh as a junior, possibly team captain next year as a senior)
JV Cross Country (10, 11, will try to make varsity as a senior)
JV Basketball (9)
State Competitor at National History Day
300+ Hours of Community Service so far</p>

<p>Hooks: None (would a sibling with a mental disability count?)
Essays: I plan to write about getting cut from tennis as a freshman, making varsity on the third place team at state, and maybe becoming team captain as a senior
Recommendations: I will get great rec's from my Calculus teacher (also XC coach) and Chemistry teacher, and I am considering to have my Scout Leader write me a letter of recommendation (his would be more about me as a person, rather than just academics)</p>

<p>What are my chances for engineering at Duke, Vandy, WashU, UMich, and maybe Stanford? I'm not sure if I want to apply anywhere ED, but I would consider EA.</p>

2

<p>Strong class rank, course load, and EC’s. Although I’m sure you’ll get into most of your choices (Stanford is a bit of a reach), taking the ACT again after prepping over the summer would help a lot! Also, have you considered taking a few subject tests?</p>

3

<p>Thank you for the input! I was thinking Stanford would be the toughest of all of them to get into as well. I was kind of dissapointed because had I scored one point higher on any sub-score of the ACT, I would have gotten a 33. What score would you advise shooting for if I were to retake? And I honestly haven’t considered many subject tests. I only noticed they weren’t required for ACT plus writing, so I was hesitant to look too far into them. If I was to take them, I would probably take a math II and chem subject test.</p>

4

<p>Haha, I know what you mean. Scored a 2190 on my SAT xD Yeah, I would suggest taking the subject tests just to show some initiative. If you could possibly score 34+ on your ACT, that would really raise your chances for Stanford. Btw, I like the essay idea - perhaps go for a humble tone?</p>

5

<p>Oh, yeah, isn’t it just annoying? Haha, just one question would have made a difference! Ok, I might look into the subject tests then. Are they offered the same time as the SAT, or is there a separate time and place to take them? Thanks for the advice by the way! I think a 34 would be doable, seeing I got the 32 without any preparation whatsoever. As far as the essay is concerned, I was thinking exactly that. I was planning on mentioning how I got cut from the team entirely (including JV), put in hours of practice throughout the entire year and made varsity the next year at #2 doubles (and winning a tournament that season). Do you think that would work well?</p>

6

<p>Youre in at UMich, and probably Vandy/WashU. Duke’s a good possibility too.</p>

<p>:)</p>

7

<p>Yeah, essay sounds great. If you didn’t prep for ACT, 34 will not be a problem. Just take as many practice/diagnostic exams as you can find. The Subject Tests are given at the same time / place as the SAT, and you can only take one or the other. BUT, you can take Math II and Chem at the same time, and then say goodbye to standardized tests (at least for now).</p>

8

<p>Goirish16 - Thank you! I’m really hoping to get into Duke!</p>

<p>MilkShaikh - Ok, I was also thinking about an essay topic of growing up with a younger sister who has Down Syndrome. Would writing an essay talking about how she is my hero and has inspired me to volunteer more for the disabled (special olympics, etc.) be a better topic? Or would there be some way to incorporate both ideas?</p>

9

<p>MilkShaikh - So, for the SAT II tests, I could take both Math II and Chem without having to do any portion of the SAT I all in the same sitting?</p>

10

<p>ACT score isn’t terrible, but a bit weak. You should retake in september and aim for 34+.</p>

<p>Everything else is fine, you will be competitive at Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, and Wash U, maybe getting into one or more of those 4 schools or none of them. Slightly higher chances if you apply early. You will probably get into U Mich.</p>