Chance me for top Universities (Ivies, Stanford, Duke, Georgetown)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Currently a Junior from the USA
Upper Middle Class South Asian Male
Intended Major: Political Science/ Government/ History
GPA: 4.8 (4.0 UW)
PSAT: 1440 (Hoping to get 1480+ for National Merit this year)
AP’s: Sophomore: AP Bio (3 :() AP Euro (5)
Junior Year: AP Seminar, AP Calc AB, AP Spanish, AP Lang, AP Chem, APUSH
Senior Year: AP Macro econ, AP Gov, AP Lit, AP Stats, AP Psychology, AP Research
Awards: Nothing major yet
Extracurriculars:

  1. Founder and Executive Director of a Nationwide nonprofit that helps to register voters and increase civic participation. Have impacted over 21,000 voters through this (Grades 10 onward)
  2. Martial Arts: Third degree black belt, have been doing martial arts for 12 years. I am also a certified instructor and teach the kids class every Friday. I am also the leader of the youth demo team, which puts on martial arts performances to raise money for causes such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
  3. Legal/ Policy Research: Worked with a Professor at Harvard Kennedy school of Government over this past summer to examine the implications of the Shelby v. Holder Supreme court decision on minority voter turnout and voting practice law. Hope to get this published!
  4. Speech and Debate: Captain of the team and have been competing since freshmen year. I have done PF for the past two years, but I am switching to Extemp for this year, trying to get to TOC this year
  5. Mocktrial: Captain and Founder of the team, hoping to expand it (Grades 11 onwards)
  6. TEDx: Spoke at a local TEDx conference on the importance of being an active citizen
  7. Stanford Pre-collegiate Legal Studies Program (Post Freshmen Year Summer)
  8. DECA, have done since freshmen year, have placed 3rd at state and have gone to international level competition

Recommendations: English teacher who is my Debate coach, knows me super well. APUSH teacher maybe. Harvard Professor who I worked with promised me a letter of Rec, so him and my Martial Arts Instructor (I have been training with him since the age of 5, so he knows me pretty well)

Hopefully you see my interest in Law/ Government, I want to be a Lawyer hopefully!
I totally understand that at the Ivy level, no test score nor extra curricular truly means much, and that it really is just the luck of the draw, but any insight would be helpful.

2

Which Ivy League schools would you want to apply to, and why?

They are not all the same. Knowing which one(s) are a good fit for you and why is likely to improve your chances of actually getting to attend one of them.

3

Georgetown strongly suggests taking 3 SAT Subject Tests. So it’s advised that you take them if it’s a school that you’re interested in.

The course rigor is definitely there. Even though you’re a potential history major, take a Physics class instead of APES.

4

@DadTwoGirls I definitely will take that into account. My top picks are probably Columbi and Harvard, because both have large cohorts ast the law schools I want t go to and have a strong liberal arts curriculum, which is what I want.

@Hamurtle I am taking SAT Math II in a few days, and want to take Chem and US History subject tests as well as World History and Spanish. I don’t know if taking AP physics is worth the stress, especially during senior year with awards and applications and all. Especially because math/ physics is probably my weakest subject. However, I was considering taking AP Comp sci instead of AP Psych. Thanks for your help!

5

@gluestick2 at most 3 SAT Subject tests should be more than enough. Math 2, USH, and Chemistry will show a good balance. I would still take regular Physics over APES if possible.

The University of Chicago also has a highly rated History program. Consider that as well, even though it’s a reach. And depending on your home state, include your in-state public school as a safety.