<p>GPA: 3.92 unweighted, 4.68 weighted
2360 SAT (760 critical reading)
subject tests: 730 bio 770 ush 800 math 2 800 french
AP: gov-,5 psych-5, stat-5, ush-4, russian-5, calc-5, french-5, lang-5, macro-5, micro-5, physics c mech - 5, euro-5</p>
<p>Extracurriculars: awards at state and national piano competitions, varsity swim team, president of model un, model un awards, national geography olympiad placed 56th, winner of poetry competitions (published), newspaper editor, music/math/national honor societies, head of out-of-school volunteer program for nursing home patients, team awards at quizbowl competitions, placed in le grand concours (french competition), paid internship at national cancer institute with author in a published paper, national society of high school scholars, mock trial team president, president of geography club and russian language club.</p>
<p>all are probably low reaches, just because I don’t like saying matches for such high colleges. I do think you have a really high chance of making it in every one, even with regular decision.</p>
<p>Come on, what’s with all the people saying HYPSM are “low-reaches.” I don’t mean to be so critical/cynical, but OP’s stats/ECs are not very impressive at all. There are of course quite a few students who I would call matches for HYPSM, but OP is not one of them.</p>
<p>Small shot at UPenn since it’s an Ivy it should still be considered a reach and UChicago has an acceptance rate in single digits so that should also be considered a reach. The Columbia admission is a tossup and Stanford is a high reach for everyone so that’s already a given reach. You should have a few safeties just in case.</p>
<p>I think you’re looking pretty good. I honestly believe stats aren’t everything. I think your personality really shows with your ECs, and that’s what colleges are looking for more than anything (aside from your academic rigor of course). If you can show them your personality and your passion, then show them. Show them who you are as a person.</p>
<p>Assuming all those numbers are right(pardon me OIFIO1, we get trolls here), I agree with Jmoney, OP has shown enough so far (11 APs with 5s), near perfect SATs, and enough ECs to qualify for above colleges. Mind you. he stayed away from HYPM. These are no Citadels that are unattainable, at the end of the day they can’t turn away OP caliber students.</p>
<p>I know a lot about Penn and I can say with about 95% certainty that you’ll get in. I know kids with like 3.7s but near perfect SATs who have gotten in.</p>
<p>Stanford I don’t know so much about but you have amazing everything so it’s probably a good match.</p>
<p>I think you stand good chance since you have some unusual accomplishments (poetry, geography Olympiad) and great scores but you don’t really have a clear passion for anything</p>
<p>What do you mean by passion. Look at her/his AP scores, isn’t that enough passion for college? OP has enough credentials to show that she/he is ready for any college and that college will be fortunate to have her/him.</p>
<p>@fatherofm: I’m guessing he means passion by a specific focus in one field, which I can sort of agree with. Anyone can take a million APs, but if they don’t mean anything to you, what does it mean to anyone? (other than college credit)</p>
<p>colleges are not looking at your AP scores to give u credit, they are mainly using it to see the college preparedness in you:
Guttentag said" the bar for acquiring a top score in each of the categories is continually increasing. Seven or eight years ago, five Advancement Placement exams with a score of five would warrant the top score in Dukes achievement category. Today, about half of the applicants meet this standard".
That is Mr.Guttentag, admissions director at Duke commenting on how they look at AP scores. If you plan on getting into a very good college start paying attention to AP scores and don’t expect them give you any credit for it if it is a good college.
And this was in 2012</p>
<p>Yes, most of the prestigious schools are accepting less and less. This is because just about everyone has them, decreasing their importance. More than anything, colleges see AP courses and see a rigorous courseload, and that’s about it. For the passion bit, however, anyone could take 15 AP courses, but it doesn’t mean they’re passionate about it, which is what CB553311 was indicating</p>
<p>Passion is abstract, you can’t put a number to it. Rest, you can put a number and compare and ultimately judge. Passion is different for different people, eg. Golf.</p>