Chance me for UCs/Cornell/Carnegie/etc. please!

<p>Back again from anxiety, paranoia, etc.</p>

<p>Here's my dilemma - my stats are average, and my ECs are weak. Really, really weak. I plan to major in computer engineering.</p>

<p>I recently applied for QuestBridge's National College Match program. Of course, it's an extremely long shot, but the schools I've definitely ranked are MIT, Stanford, Cal-Tech, and Princeton (in that order). Problem is, those aren't really realistic, as you'll see. USC is somewhat realistic (though still difficult), but I'm not sure whether to rank it. After all, if I were to be matched, it be binding.</p>

<p>Its program is still ranked fairly high in comparison to many other schools, but Berkeley's seems that much better. Though, of course, Cal's EECS program seems really difficult to get into as a Freshman (or transfer for that matter), reading this forum. I'd rather go to Cal if I got into the EECS program, but I'm not sure if that means I should try ranking USC or not.</p>

<p>Anyways, my stats...</p>

<p>U/W GPA (9-11): 3.7778 (Academic: 3.7500)
W GPA (9-11): 4.3889 (Academic: 4.5455)
UC GPA (10-11): 4.409</p>

<p>Class Rank: 26/825 (9-12), 21/825 (10-12) (so top 3%)</p>

<p>APs Taken: English L&C (4), Chemistry (4), Psychology (4), US History (4)
APs Being Taken [this year]: English Literature, Spanish, Calculus BC, Physics, Economics, Government, Art History</p>

<p>SAT I: 1970 (600 CR, 690 M, 620 W) (not sure if I can superscore, but if I can, it'd be 1990 (620 on CR))
SAT II: 700 US History, 740 Chemistry, 650 Math Level II (retaking this October, was not demonstrative of my ability to understand concepts in math; predicting 750-800 score)</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Honor Guard 2011
~80 hours of community service (Interact 2011-present, Key Club 2010-2011)
Science Olympiad Competitor (so this/next coming year)
Peer tutoring after school each week as a job</p>

<p>California resident, Asian Male, $19,000 income (from 2011; this year it'll be around $10,000 (became unemployed)).</p>

<hr>

<p>So... basically, my questions are:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Chances of getting into UCs (i.e. UCB, UCLA, UCSD, and UCSB), Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, etc.? (with my intended computer engineering major) </p></li>
<li><p>Chances of getting into UCB, with intended major as CS in L&S?</p></li>
<li><p>If I were to retake the SAT I this November, would I have time to report it to UCs?</p></li>
<li><p>Should I rank USC as a college for QuestBridge? i.e., if you were to decide between Cal and USC for a computer engineering major, but knew that if you were to be accepted to USC you'd be forced to go there (but would get a full scholarship), would you rank it?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>If you can bump your SAT scores up a bit, you have a good chance of getting into Cal, which is a fantastic school for your major. </p>

<p>And yes your SAT scores should come in before the UC deadline (Nov 30)</p>

<p>Yeah - I might plan to take another one then, this November. I got another SAT Fee Waiver today (apparently we can use two - hooray).</p>

<p>Would appreciate more suggestions/thoughts too!</p>