Chance me for elite schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I have never posted, but I told myself I would do this once I got my SAT scores. I'm a junior planning on applying to FSU, UF, UToronto, UChicago, Brown, MIT, Columbia, Pomona, Cornell, Wellesley, Amherst, and Williams.</p>

<p>UW: 3.84 (should be at around a 3.89-3.90 by application time, my grades have improved this year)
My school weights everything weird so it would be meaningless to tell you, but all of my classes have been honors, AP, or IB.
Class rank: Top 3% most likely, definitely top 5
APs: World History (5), Human Geo (4), Biology (4), English Language (5), European History (5), will have taken 2 more by application time
IB: In full diploma program, haven't taken any exams yet. </p>

<p>Junior Year Schedule: IB French SL, IB Calculus Year 2 (SL), IB Psych SL, IB Chem HL, IB/AP English Lit HL, IB/AP us history HL
Senior year schedule: IB contemporary history, AP Physics C, IB tok, IB French, IB english, IB Chem HL, calc 1 dual enrollment </p>

<p>SAT: 2240 (730,740,770 W/CR/M) retaking January, aiming for a 2300</p>

<p>Awards: Nothing major yet apart from local debate competitions and whatnot, most likely NM semifinalist (my score is good enough) </p>

<p>I'm a white girl from middle class background attending pretty competitive and nationally recognized high school, in a very big very urban city (one of the biggest metropolises in the country).</p>

<p>ECs: Very involved in school MAO, will be president or Vice President next year (I participate in competitions and organize turoring). Founded and direct a turoring program in math at a local middle school (I used to attend). Learning assistant in mathematics at a University (I tutor university students in College Algebra, Discrete mathematics, and Precalc/Trig). Director of mathematics at STEM sprouts, a program designed to engage elementary school students in STEM fields.
Commissioner on the county's youth commission. We talk about issues relating to the youth and work with the mayor/adult commissioners to help solve these.
Somewhat involved member of FBLA (will probably be VP next year, made it to state level competition), Debate, MUN, and geography club (but these are more social than anything for me).
I also have played violin for about 11 years and currently am in a club called special melodies where we teach music (sight reading, basic rhythm) to special education kids.
I also belly dance (technically it's "traditional middle eastern dance" but americans know it as belly dancing) and I sometimes perform. It's really fun and interesting.</p>

<p>Jobs: babysitting and tutoring (in- you guessed it- math!!!)</p>

<p>Volunteer work: stuff with NHS, many many many hours with the local Red Cross (part of the planning committee of the youth club). </p>

<p>This past summer I took a dual enrollment course and spent a lot of time as a learning assistant at the university. I also exercised like 3 hours a day and did belly dance (which is why I didn't take another DE course). </p>

<p>Next summer I'm not sure what I'll be doing. If I get into TASP I'll definitely do that. Otherwise, I'll be working as an intern in an engineering facility at a university, dual enrollment, learning assistant at the same university, and independent research for an Intel/Siemens project I'm doing with my friend. (Plus the usual belly dance and exercise)</p>

<p>Other things about me: I really like math. And most humanities courses. MIT is my first choice (for mathematics and philosophy- either double major or major/minor). But, I'm pretty interested in everything. I love learning. I'm a highly political person and a raging feminist. Health enthusiast. I'm also a purveyor of useless, but interesting information (I kick ass at trivia) so my application essays should be interesting enough haha. </p>

<p>Under the assumption that I have pretty good letters of recommendation, how do you think I will fare? Do you have any advice?</p>

2

<p>I forgot my SAT II:
World History- 730 (took freshman year)
Bio E- 660 (didn’t study at all- definitely retaking.)
Will take Math II this year.</p>

3

<p>Your scores look pretty good… And your stacked resume is sure to help your chances. My friend applied to Amherst and was deferred and she had scores a little less than yours, just with a lot more leadership positions. I think that with kick-ass essays, each college would be more than happy to take you. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>1008ryan: I have leadership positions but nothing too impressive. Only a few presidencies. Thank you though :)</p>

5

<p>Bump </p>

6

<p>Since you are a senior, I don’t think you can retake both the SAT I and your selected SAT 2 Subject Tests. And also, I’m in the IB Diploma as well!
For the Schools I know:
U of Chicago: Match
Cornell: Low Reach
Columbia: Low Reach
Brown: Low Reach
MIT: Reach
And as others have said before: Essays and Recs. Essays and Recs.
Chance back?<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1722731-chance-me-for-cornell-stern-columbia-upenn-wesleyan-brown.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1722731-chance-me-for-cornell-stern-columbia-upenn-wesleyan-brown.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>I think that with your stats and ECs, you have a decent chance at all of these as long as your essays and recs are good. Good luck! Chance back? :slight_smile: <a href=“Chance me for Vassar I'll chance back :) - Vassar College - College Confidential Forums”>Chance me for Vassar I'll chance back :) - Vassar College - College Confidential Forums;

8

<p>UChicago certainly isn’t a match. I’d say mid-reach for UofC. </p>

9

<p>2240 is an exceptionally good SAT score. Retake it if you must but you might be better served by taking ACT. MIT wants extremely smart students with in-depth, hands on exposure to internships or summer research opportunities. I would identify and go after something this summer in an area of academic interest. Are you near a school like U.Chicago that has intense summer math curriculum for gifted HS students? </p>

10

<p>MIT was the only school I applied to (I got in EA) so I can only give you advice regarding that. </p>

<p>If MIT is your first choice make sure to do that application first. And apply EA if possible, as your scores and grades seem great so you don’t have to wait for senior grades to help you too much. </p>

<p>I’d start working on your essays early (like in August). The MIT application is super unique and I think should be done before the Common App because it is slightly shorter but more in depth and you don’t want to get into the Common App writing style for it because they are very different. </p>

<p>You definitely fit the MIT profile and personality; someone with unique and passionate interests as well as intelligence and a good compassion standpoint. Let that shine in your essays. Talk about why you love belly dancing and teaching math and music and your passions. Plus your sense of humor or voice. </p>

<p>But don’t be too all over the board; show that you like a lot of things but try to find a common thread. This just helps in applications overall. Many employers and colleges want you to be able to describe your passion in a sentence or so. I’d recommend having a personal motto to fall back on for life, as it just helps you stay focused while writing all the supplement essays for the schools you want to apply to. </p>

<p>As for the application, I see you have a lot of activities. MIT only lets you list 5 main ones and describe them quite briefly. However there is a separate section for summer and employment activities, so you can add in some more there. I wasn’t able to list all of my activities and that is OK. They don’t want them all. Just pick the ones that mean the most to you, in the sense that you can describe them the best and you are very dedicated to them and most of all enjoy them. </p>

<p>I would definitely consider submitting an art supplement for your dancing if you’re comfortable doing so. Just as its a unique art that you seem to really enjoy. I just feel like the supplements add more to the application. But they aren’t required. </p>

<p>And for MIT specifically make sure to do an interview! Do it early because the earlier you do it the less stressed you will be with senior year (trust me, your teachers will not pity you and won’t lighten up the work load to work on college apps). The interview is important on more of a personal sense. Don’t try to go in and completely wow this person with everything you’ve done, try to have an honest conversation about what you’ve done and where you want to go. Be raw and real; interviewers sit across from too many fake kids trying to prove themselves. You don’t have to prove yourself, only show yourself. </p>

<p>Lastly, definitely do something this summer before senior year. Your current plans sound great. But also make sure to do something purely for fun, as its your last summer before college. My friends and took 1 week off from our jobs and programs and classes to camp out at my house and we went everywhere around town (shopping, laser tag, hair dying parties, paint balling, train rides, etc) and I don’t regret it at all. College applications are super stressful and you need to come into senior year on a good note, so please take my advice and whatever you do, cram something nonacademic and fun into next summer. </p>

<p>Best of luck! Keep doing what you’re doing and get your subject SATs and other testing in. And make sure to keep up your grades! </p>