<p>Hello Everyone,
I was hoping to be chanced.
I am a rising senior who will be applying next year to Yale, Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton. (crazy family :O)
Anyways I was hoping people could give me like a percent chance of those schools kindof thing. </p>
<p>My SAT scores: 2250 (800 writing; 740 CR; 710 Math)
SAT II: 710 Lit, 690 US History ( I will take math I at the beginning of the year next year and use that instead of the US History)
4AP history & 5AP lit</p>
<p>I go to one of the top 5 prep schools in the country, however, we don't have GPA. It is simply done by normal grades. Above 86% (B+) is considered good. Above 90 is really good. And the highest averages in the school are high 93 or low 94s. I have taken reasonably hard classes and next year I am taking on a hell of a schedule and doing 4 AP classes including one which is the most difficult class to get into at my school *(you have to apply and write essays for it and I got chosen)
Freshmen Year: 86.7
Sophmore Year 88.8
Junior Year: 92.6 (with a 93.4 high honors for spring term)</p>
<p>My teacher recs will be very good as will my essay (Writing is my strength)
I am spending this summer as a research intern at Open Society Institute working on issues of State Impunity in Pakistan and Afghanistan and I'm hoping to get a reccomendation letter from my boss at the end of the summer. </p>
<p>Additionaly I am legacy at Yale and will probably apply early action there.
Finally: My father has spent the last 5-10 (can't specify for identity purposes) being the president of one of the top 5 liberal arts colleges in the country. He has worked closely with the admissions offices and presidents of many of these top schools. He has now moved on to an equally (if not more) prestigous job. I dont know if that helps a bunch or not. </p>
<p>Please chance me!</p>
<p>Also my mother is a tenured professor at Columbia University.</p>
<p>bump bump bump bump</p>
<p>First of all, calm down. Not getting replies in 20 minutes is not a big deal.</p>
<p>Your SATs are fine, and while your average looks low, if you are truly a top student at a top school then that ought to be fine also.</p>
<p>My concern is that I don’t see anything that makes you outstanding. They get plenty of applicants with great grades and test scores, and take the outstanding athletes, musicians, activists… I don’t see that in your description.</p>
<p>Unless your father can call in a favor (and he would know that better than I) you had better start looking a bit lower.</p>
<p>I would think that my summer internship would place me in that elite category. It is not an internship anyone else has been offered at this young age and right now I am working on some pretty cool things. I get to read through grants from the Pakistan/Afghanistan area and give my opinions on whether to accept or not. Also, I am doing research on the issues of State controlling the media and ways in which OSI can promote free media.
I also play the piano and the guitar, however, I am no prodigy.
Also I have spent alot of hours volunteering at my local soup kitchen type thing which I was spurred into because a friend of mine’s family had to get food from there and I wanted to help.</p>
<p>Also, I am in the top 10% of my grade (at least for Junior Year). Being in the upper half of the 1st Quintile. However, because its in massachusetts and super liberal we don’t do class rank.</p>
<p>bump bump bump bump bump</p>
<p>Sorry, forgot I was legacy at princeton as well.</p>
<p>Also, Why so many views but no comments. I was referred to this site because I was told it would be extremely helpful and friendly.</p>
<p>I find that it’s best to not check on your topic for at least a day and then come back to 6-10 helpful replies rather than constantly checking and bumping it…</p>
<p>The problem with the schools you mention is that there are MANY MANY students who have tremendous grades/boards, etc. For every qualified student who gets in, there are two who don’t.</p>
<p>Your SATs are fine – they’re not going to blow anyone away at those schools, but they shouldn’t land your application in the slag heap either. With grades, your junior year looks good (based on your explanation of your HS grading system). By your assessment, your Fr. and So. grades are good – but again, not overwhelming. B+ is certainly below what the schools you mention usually take, but admissions officers should understand the grading policies of one of the top 5 prep schools in the country.</p>
<p>As far as essays – everyone thinks they write great ones (sorry, but I’ve rarely seen someone who says – ‘my essays suck’ applying to those schools). We have no way of evaluating yours. If they’re as good as you think they will be, that’s a help.</p>
<p>You’re a legacy at Y and P, which should help some. Overall, my gut says you’re chances based on your stats are average at best (but for these schools average means much less than 50-50) – worth applying, but don’t count on it.</p>
<p>The biggest hook is that your parents are prominent in academia. Your parents obviously know people in the schools you’re applying to. Is it ethical of them to call or write someone on your behalf. If so, how much weight will this have. </p>
<p>If someone were to say to me that your family connections make you a slam dunk to get in, I’d believe them. Similarly if someone said, it really won’t make much difference, I’d believe that too. I don’t really know.</p>
<p>My advice – find out how much the family connections are worth (no one here can tell you that – but I bet your folks can); apply to the schools you want; also apply to several ‘match’ schools with somewhat easier admissions criteria; and make sure that you have a safety school or two in case disaster strikes.</p>
<p>Being a legacy, and one with connections, I think you have a good shot. Not to mention you come from a prep school in which the counselors are excellent and work specifically to matriculate you to the best colleges.</p>
<p>That being said, I don’t really see anything on your application that stands out. Truth be told, I doubt you would get into any of the mentioned schools (based on what you’ve told us) if not for legacy/connections.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>how I wish I went to prep school…</p>
<p>why do you say that?</p>
<p>Because the teachers and admissions counselors at the type of school you mentioned go out of their way to ensure that the class matriculates to the top colleges. You have benefits that others cannot even imagine. </p>
<p>That being said, applying to top colleges from a pool of prep school students is FAR more competitive, and might even hurt the applicant. For the top kids at each top school, though, an admission is all but guaranteed.</p>
<p>I am among the top 25 students (for junior year at least) in a class of 150.</p>
<p>we are very helpful and friendly</p>
<p>but in your other thread, for example, i replied and instead of saying “thanks, man!” or “happy for some input!” you said “bump bump bump”</p>
<p>you have to be friendly back</p>
<p>To be honest, the students with rich parents going to expensive prep schools are going to be going against all the other students with rich parents. It’s only fair that you received the highest quality education while the people going to neighborhood public school because of their financial situation did not recieve the best of education. What I’m trying to say is that your scores and gpa should be higher than usual to compete because there are students going to really terrible schools getting better scores than you and they stand out more. Not only that but there are students also going to expensive prep schools that have higher scores than you and stand out wayy more. All im saying is that you have a Chance but its unpredictable. You seem qualified but a large portion of hyp candidates are qualified just like you.</p>
<p>Like I said, you have a serious shot at the schools you mentioned. However, your grades and scores only validate the part of the application that might actually get you in–an excellent support system including legacy, prep school, and a connected father. </p>
<p>This is not to discredit your application insofar as quality is concerned. However, with what you have mentioned there isn’t enough on your application to truly put you apart from the other 30 thousand applicants.</p>
<p>Also remember being qualified will only get your application looked at, being extraordinary will get you an acceptance and that unfortunately you aren’t. But it looks like you have a legecy status that you should take advantage of that might actually improve your odds</p>
<p>^He has certain qualifications that are a massive help at such schools. Legacies get accepted at four times the normal rate, part of the is certainly that legacies are better qualified, but it also is true that “Ivy grad begets ivy grad”.</p>