Chance Me for Ivies, UCs, and Other Top 20's Schools Please, and I Will Chance Back!!!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys! It took a while for me to write this, and it is more or less something I already had as a thread, but there was a bit of new information, and if I just kept adding those onto the comment section, it would just get too messy and hard to follow, so I am writing about it here. </p>

<p>ABOUT ME:</p>

<p>I am a currently a senior, and am Indian, speak Tamil and English fluently, and my parents are 1st generation immigrants. (Now we are citizens..) I am from a higher end middle class family ~150K income, and currently reside in California. My college wishlist is more or less in the title, and I would like to know if I stand a chance. </p>

<p>I hope to major in computer science and/or computer engineering. Then, while I have a job, I would like to go to grad school for my MBA in financing.</p>

<p>GRADES:</p>

<p>8th grade---This grade's unweighted & weighted GPA: 4.0
(these credits from 8th grade carried over into high school... that's how my school works...)
(Both semesters)
Algebra 1---A
Spanish 1---A</p>

<p>9th grade---This grade's unweighted & weighted GPA: 4.0
(Both semesters)
English 9H---A
Geometry---A
Spanish 2---A
CP Science 9---A
PE 9---A
1/2 semester of Computer Apps---A
1/2 semester of Health Science---A</p>

<p>10th grade---This grade's unweighted GPA: 4.0 & weighted GPA: 4.33
(Both semesters)
English 10H---A
CP Biology---A
Spanish 3H*---A
PE---A
AP World History---A
Algebra 2/Trig---A</p>

<p>*Spanish 3H counts as a 5.0 class in my school because of its difficulty</p>

<p>11th grade---This grade's unweighted GPA: 4.0 & weighted GPA: 5.0
(Both semesters)
AP English Language & Composition---A
AP Computer Science A---A
AP Calculus AB---A
AP US History---A
AP Chemistry---A
AP Studio Art Drawing and Painting---A</p>

<p>12th grade---We are only allowed 5 AP classes in 12th grade for some odd reason
AP Government & Econ
AP Calc BC
AP Literature & Composition
AP Physics A
AP Statistics
Peer Tutor</p>

<p>OVERALL GPA:
Academic GPA (excluding PE's GPA): 4.50
Total GPA (including PE's impact on GPA): 4.44
Total unweighted GPA: 4.0
10 & 11th grade GPA with PE: 4.67
10th & 11th grade GPA w/o PE: 4.73</p>

<p>STANDARDIZED TESTING SCORES:</p>

<p>SAT Reasoning Test: 2090 (1st), 2150 (2nd) <--1410 M & CR, and it's higher than the M & CR in my 2090 SAT</p>

<p>ACT--
(1st) 31 C: 34 E, 35 M, 30 R, 25 S
(2nd) 33 C: 35 E, 35 M, 31 R, 29 S</p>

<p>SAT Subject Tests:
--Math Level 2: 740
--Chemistry: 730
--US History: 670 (Probably not going to submit)</p>

<p>PSAT- 211 (got a commendation letter for NMSQT)</p>

<p>Scored high on the CST testing (state testing), so got letter saying that UC and Cal State colleges will get to see my transcript early or something. I just know that it is sort of good...</p>

<p>AP test scores:
AP World History---4
AP US History---4
AP Computer Science A---3
AP Chemistry---4
AP Literature and Composition--3
AP Calculus AB---5</p>

<p>EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES:</p>

<p>1)
Tae Kwon Do 2nd Degree Black Belt, did it for five plus years, and stopped at the end of 9th grade
---Won 2 gold medals, one in sparring and another in forms in the summer between 8th and 9th grade
---Won Student of the Year Trophy in Tae Kwon Do in Winter of 9th grade</p>

<p>2)
Been a member of Key Club for all 3 years in a row now
Been a member of Interact Rotary Club 2 years in a row, and got a certificate of distinction in sophomore year
Secretary of Science Club in Junior Year
Member of JSA (Junior Statesmen of America) in junior year & president in senior year
Co-founder of Rubik's cube club</p>

<p>3)
About 150 to 200 hours of community service at the local senior center for the elderly</p>

<p>4)
Interned for cold-calling under a real-estate agent, who basically taught me the ins and outs of that--this is important for me because I am into business, retail/management, whichever, so it gives me slight exposure
---Did this from beginning of 11th grade, and am going to start getting paid this summer and on</p>

<p>5)
2 Local Basketball Tournaments
---Lost in Semi Finals in the Park and Rec. one
---Lost in Finals in the Boys and Girls Club one</p>

<p>6)
Aeronautical and Military Safety Systems Summer Internship Program for High School-ers
--One whole month job-shadowing people engineering, finance, and marketing</p>

<p>7) Played club Cricket against other youth teams in SoCal in 9th grade.</p>

<p>CONCLUSION:</p>

<p>This took me a great deal of time to write, and each opinion will be regarded with the utmost importance, and (have I mentioned this already) I would really really really appreciate any response. I would like to know which colleges would be a reach, and which wouldn't. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Sorry to break it to you but all of the schools you listed are high reaches. I hope you applied to some safeties</p>

3

<p>you need 4 years of one language for Harvard. possibly a 700+ on their SAT section (600-800 is okay if i remember) if i remember correctly. they said the SAT part on their tour, but i think the 4 year part is on their website, but it might just be a “recommendation” (what ever that means)</p>

4

<p>@plzletmeincolege Thanks for the input, but are you sure the UC colleges are reaches, too? I’ll chance you soon.</p>

<p>@Kaiser1418 Thanks, and I will chance you, too. Also, I could not take my fourth year of language because of scheduling conflicts. I will have my counselor write that down in my transcript somewhere. Thanks for telling me. I might have forgotten had you not reminded me. So barring that, how does the rest look?</p>

5

<p>your grades seem to be excellent…you should try to raise your scores a bit i would suggest…but yes most of the colleges are reaches…remember to apply to some safeties…though you stand a chance at the UC’s…and churn out excellent essays…i feel that your EC’s are good,but slightly generic…on the other hand,your grades are consistently excellent,so it is difficult to tell…also why do u want to study comp. science at the ivies…apart from cornell by and large their engineering is not considered to be great from what i know</p>

<p>also chance me back if you feel like <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1702440-chance-me-will-chance-back.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1702440-chance-me-will-chance-back.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>Oh, and by the way, my class rank is 4/522</p>

7

<p>I think you have a great chance at a couple of schools (UCs). Your GPA is sooo great, I’m jealous. Haha, I would suggest trying to improve your scores. When I think of top 20 schools, I think of the Ivy League and Stanford (even though that’s only 9 schools). I think those are all reaches for you, but you do have a chance. Best of luck to you. I’d suggest looking at more targets schools, just to be on the safe side. </p>

8

<p>Ivies are reaches and, as an ORM, you are at a disadvantage. Your test scores are a little weak for the ivies. Don’t include anything before 9th grade.</p>

9

<p>UCLA /UCB - high match (only b/c of ORM. otherwise would be Match )
Other UCs -low match
(Assuming your essays are decent )
Ivy leagues are always reaches but if you raise your scores to like either a 2250+ or 34 ,then you should fare much better when applying to the ivies & the other top schools like stanford, caltech etc…</p>

10

<p>I thought UCs don’t look at race.</p>

11

<p>They don’t</p>

12

<p>Yo bro, just wondering, how exactly does your school’s grading system work? What constitutes an A? Is it 90 and above? Because at my school, an A is 90 to 95, and that’s a 3.66 out of a 4.0 scale. Also, your standardized tests and Ec’s are very lacking for your target schools. They’re not special or extraordinary in any ways. Those schools are probably reaches for you. Chance back?</p>

13

<p>Well ur grades r not at the level of top ivy, HYPSM schools but I know that a lot of those schools look beyond the numbers. One of my friends got into Brown with an SAT score close to urs. My advice would be to expand upon what makes u different and what makes u amazing in ur essays. Good luck!</p>

<p>chance back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1701416-chance-me-for-upenn-mit-and-uchicago-please.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1701416-chance-me-for-upenn-mit-and-uchicago-please.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

14

<p>@figuresk8ter07‌ - the OP has straight As! Grades are not a problem:</p>

<p>@IAmTheGOAT‌ - you are a strong all around applicant, but I see a few issues that might hurt your changes:

  • your SAT/SAT II/ACT scores are ordinary (even below average) for top schools.
  • your AP scores are not impressive - especially the 3 in CS for someone who wants to go into CS or related fields.
  • you have interesting ECs but made no mention of any leadership positions
  • you are an ORM interested in studying a field that is very popular with Indian Americans.
  • there is nothing unique in your application that would make people take notice</p>

<p>That being said, you are still a strong candidate for many of these schools (not at HYPSM), but it will require excellent essays, strong recommendations, and good interviews to stand out from the pack, and not come across as one of many similar candidates.</p>

15

<p>sry I meant grades as on SATs and APs not school-wise. I apologize for any misunderstandings</p>

16

<p>Hey guys, thanks for the replies! I know HYPS are reaches. I don’t think I’m applying for MIT or CalTech, though… I might take out Yale for MIT. I am still trying to make up my mind on that. Anyhow, I just want to play the lottery to see if I get it. My aim was more towards the other ivy leagues, like Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, UPenn, and Brown. They are still very, very good (and reaches), but I just feel like I stand a better chance there than at HYPS. Besides the ivy leagues, I was looking more towards the other places, like Georgetown, Northwestern, Duke, Emory, etc. I understand that most of them will still be reaches, but I feel that I can show them my vision in computer science and computer engineering, to change how it all works. Hopefully that will make up for a lack in test scores. </p>

<p>@BldrDad Also, I do have leadership positions; it is under the 2nd listing in ECs. To address the concern for my 3 on the AP Comp Sci A AP test, I will say that I had a bad teacher. Only one person got a 4 from our class, and he was really good at programming already. The others all got 3s because it was more or less self-teaching. I know this doesn’t fly well for an excuse. Either way, AP tests are supposedly not even considered for admissions, unless you don’t even report a score for an AP class you took, which will raise eyebrows.</p>

<p>@sgballsta >90% is an A, so it doesn’t matter how much of an A you had. Thus, A=4.0. I guess I got lucky with the way my school grades? I got >95% for like a third of my classes, and between 90% and 95% for the rest, but shh… the colleges don’t need to know that. :P</p>

17

<p>Well your GPA and ECs seem really good. Your test scores a bit on the low side. Try to get them up. The ivs and top schools are reaches, as they are for most people, so make sure you have solid essays. Other than that, you are a good applicant, so good luck!</p>

18

<p>I think you’re grades are great, but they are pretty across-the-board, which to me would be sorta boring. but also your ec’s are super varied which is great! also nice scores. I’m sure wherever you get in will be great!</p>

19

<p>HYPS, Duke, Columbia, Penn and Brown are mid/high reaches. </p>

<p>Dartmouth, NU, Georgetown, Emory, Cornell are low reaches/high matches.</p>

20

<p>For a top 15 school I feel you are right at home. With some good essays I would admit you. For the top 10 schools of the upper ivies and stanford + caltech etc. You need significantly higher SAT scores. I would aim for upper 2200s and not settle for anything less than 2200. This is just my opinion I do not know everything.</p>