<p>Ethnicity/Gender: Asian Male (most generic combo in southern california)</p>
<p>Aiming For:</p>
<ul>
<li>- USC (legacy through my sister who is a current freshman)</li>
<li>- UCLA (legacy through my mom, class of 87)</li>
<li>UC Irvine / UC San Diego</li>
<li>- UC Berkeley? (maybe)</li>
<li>- NYU</li>
</ul>
<p>Reach Schools:</p>
<ul>
<li>- Columbia</li>
<li>Northwestern</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Boston College</li>
<li>Brown</li>
</ul>
<p>Fallbacks:</p>
<ul>
<li>UC Riverside / UC Santa Barbara</li>
<li>- Pepperdine University</li>
<li><p>Boston University</p></li>
<li><p>top choices</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I'm currently a junior in the tech program at an extremely competitive IB/Tech School. it's a magnet school, as we were required to test in during the summer of freshman year. I live 2 cities away from the school, which requires me to make a 40 mile round trip (everyday!) just to get to school. That should show how much dedication it takes to go to this school, as well as to show the high standard of education that the school provides. It's a public school, but pretty much everyone understands that the curriculum and emphasis on academics is on par with prestigious private schools. For example, in Honors Biology freshman year (9th grade), we used their "honors" level bio book which was actually meant for actual college courses.</p>
<p>Why I'm telling you this is because attending this school has drastically dragged my GPA down. What I'm wondering is how much of a factor GPA plays into my acceptance into college and whether or not colleges will factor in the difficulty of the school I attend.</p>
<p>Academic GPA (9-12): 3.2500(W)/2.8125
Academic (10-12) GPA: 3.0526(W)/2.7368
Total GPA (9-12): 3.3056(W)/2.9167</p>
<p>Freshman - 4 Honors; Sophomore - 2 Honors, 1 AP; Junior - 1 AP</p>
<p>I still have this last semester of junior year to bring my GPA up more.</p>
<p>PSAT: 219 - qualified for NMSQT
SAT I: CR - 800, M - 750, W - 750: total 2300
SAT II: taking US History, Math, and English this summer
Completed AP's: AP Euro - 4, Physics B - 3
Currently taking: APUSH, AP Psych, Lang & Lit, and a few more
Next Year APs: AP Stats, AP Environmental Science</p>
<p>I'm fairly confident about the SAT 2's and AP's i'm taking this year.</p>
<p>Senior Workload: AP Stats, AP Environmental Science, Econ/Gov, World Lit/Brit Lit (Tech), Spanish 3. Also probably taking Screenwriting & Lit as well as Bible as Lit.</p>
<p>As you can see Im literally tripling my literature classes senior year.
Hopefully this makes a difference(?) as Im applying to colleges where humanities are emphasized; also Im an Asian-American, not the typical path for a Chinese dude.</p>
<p>Extra-Curriculars:</p>
<p>OC Acadec: Placed 2nd Overall in the Varsity Division in the 2010 OC Academic Decathlon, team placed 1st in div 2, 5th overall (including division 1). It was our first year too. Team captain of my division next year as well.</p>
<p>Overall: 2nd Overall Individual + $400 scholarship
Team: School won 1st in Division II, 5th overall. (1 spot away from going to state -_-)
Specific Categories: Math 1st, Super Quiz 2nd, Art 3rd, Essay 4th, Speech 4th, Economics 4th, Music 5th</p>
<p>Served as club president in a social awareness club I started, P.A.R.T.Y. Club (Peace. Agreement. Relationships. Teamwork. Youth.) 2008-2009</p>
<p>CAPAC Word Mania Hacienda Heights 2007
(Overall 1st Place, School 1st Place, Team 3rd Place)</p>
<p>Southern California Chess League Long Beach 3- Day Tournament 2007
- 1st Place in my grade (unrated)</p>
<p>Golden State Open (Tae Kwon Do) 2006
- 1st Place in my division for Poomse (Form)</p>
<p>other ECs:</p>
<p>6 years of Tae Kwon Do training (currently a Junior Black Belt 3rd Degree)</p>
<p>3 years in the Sound-sations Choirs in middle school- Served as both the Social Chair and on the Yearbook Committee in Choir</p>
<ul>
<li>our choir was actually very prestigious won many awards, i.e. Superiors at Heritage Festivals, First Place at Music in the Parks Festival, slated to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York (did not perform due to the massive east coast snowstorms during 2007- remember that? We were packed and ready to go at the airport
crushed dreams
), performed live during the annual Easter Sunrise Service at the Hollywood Bowl, etc. just to name a few.</li>
</ul>
<p>3 years of singing (Tenor) in the SCVA (Southern California Vocal Association) Honor Choir.</p>
<p>4 years of Chess training</p>
<p>3 years of league basketball at St. Marks Lutheran Church</p>
<p>3 years in Environmental Club</p>
<p>2 years in Best Buddies</p>
<p>Summer Teen Volunteer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center</p>
<p>Interning at a local newspaper or magazine this summer. (OC Register if I get accepted)</p>
<p>Teacher Rec will get it from my English teacher, who I had freshman year as well so its a bonus for me as Ive known her for 3 years and have always done well in her class.</p>
<p>Sorry this was so long, but if you guys could chance me for each school (especially the ones with asterisks) I would greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>Also:
- Am I aiming too high with the Ivies?
- Are there any other schools I should be considering?
- does legacy make a difference?
- importance of GPA, really?
- other EC or academics I can look into to help out that low GPA</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>