Chance Me: High Schooler with THREE political internships! Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, etc.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

General Comments:
ACT: 34
SAT: n/a
GPA: 4.055 (unweighted)
Rank: School doesn’t rank

About my internships:
As only a sophomore in high school, I gained a fellowship in my US Senator’s campaign office. I was the only high schooler ever, and through this fellowship I got in contact with two other candidates (one for congress, and one for governor). The Senator’s old campaign manager and my boss both said they would write me a letter of rec.

HONORS / AWARDS:
-National History Day Regional Qualifier
-National Honors Society
-2nd Place at State Math League Tournament
-School Writing Scholarship
-First Student to test into Honors Pre-Calc in the history of the school

-CLUBS / EXTRACURRICULAR / LEADERSHIP:
-Captain/President of Math League (3 years)
-Captain of Knowledge Bowl
-Captain of Robotics ( and Lead Programmer)
-JV/Varsity Soccer and Club Soccer (+10 years)
-YMCA Youth in Government
-University of Minnesota MiniMedical School Class
-ECO-FREAKO (environment club)
-Second Degree Black Belt in Karate
-3+yrs. of Leadership Institute, Soccer Referee
-First Place at First Robotics Regional Competition
-Participant in the First Robotics World Championship in St. Louis
-Participant in the First Robotics MN State Competition
-Student Council
-Page Program
-Mock Trial
-Relay for Life/Am. Cancer Society Leadership Committee Member

SERVICE: National Honor Society (20+ hours a semester), Feed My Starving Children, Simpson House (serving the homeless, 4 years), Relay for Life (3 years), Volunteer at Library (1 year)

WORK: Dishwasher and Busser at a local pizza place to help pay for my internships (all are unpaid)

AP COURSES (all 3+):
-AP US Government and Politics
-AP Calculus AB
-AP Calculus BC
-AP US History
-AP Chemistry
-AP Computer Science
-AP Spanish
-AP Statistics
-AP Human Geography
-AP English

What I’m asking…

What are my chances of getting in to the top schools (Harvard, Yale, Stanford, any Ivy)? And also my chances of the next tier, even though still good, such as Georgetown?

Or my chances of the smaller schools such as Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin?

2

I think you have good chances for the top tier, but of course these schools are reaches even for people with perfect scores and ECs. I would say you have great chances for places like Gtown.

3

Another question I have is do you think the three political campaign internships are a really good or just ok part of my application? And what about the letter of rec from the campaign manager or my boss, or even the US Senator?

4

Do recalculate you r uwGPA in 4.0max scale.

5

I know for a fact at ANY school, there is no chance you took all those AP courses considering you just started your sophomore year. I know that in 7th grade or 8th they aren’t offerring AP Calc either, so something is up here. Are these classes you are planning to take, also are you in a public or private school? You also can’t have a 4.055 GPA on an unweighted scale, I’m not one qualified to judge you, but it seems like you’re bluffing a bit. As a senior in high school, you have to go through 4 years of math before taking either AP Calc AB or BC. There is no possible way that you have taken or are taking either of those courses, that would mean you’d have to be taking Honors/CP Algebra 1 in 5th grade with what you are proposing.

6

First, I understand what you are saying, but I think you misunderstood me.

I got my first internship as a sophomore in high school, I am no longer a sophomore.

In my middle school, I tested into Algebra I in 6th grade, then Geometry in 7th, and Algebra II in 8th, and I tested into Hon. Pre-Calc as a Freshman.

I have a 4.055 GPA on an unweighted scale because, at my school at least, and A+ is worth 4.333.

And for my AP Classes, I am assuming some of those are going to be 3 or up since I am still taking them currently

I understand your confusion, hope this helps for clarification!

7

Frankly political internships are not the ticket for admission. Paid internships and jobs are more valuable. Letters will not help much either. Focus on your academic achievements and try some humility.

8

If you have a 4.055 on a 4.0 scale it is by definition a weighted GPA. If your HS uses a 4.333 scale (ie, what your GPA would be if you had the top possible marks), then you actually have a 92% average.

The ONLY people who should write you a recommendation letter are people with whom you have worked enough that they can actually speak to you, your strengths & weakness, potential as a college student, etc. Letters from big names are more likely to hurt than help: it just shows you have contacts, not that you have the makings of a good student for their college.

And, not to be unkind, but it seems likely that contacts had a role in how you got to be the “only highschooler ever” on the campaign. That said, you clearly impressed enough to roll it forward into two more gigs.

Three internships is a strong part of what will obviously be a very strong application, but in itself will not be what gets you over the line. You are a mathy sort, so you should know what a 5-7% success rate implies: a 93-95% failure rate. All of which is to say that you are a credible candidate, no more, but no less.

9

@collegemom3717 I understand most of what you are saying, however, I applied for the internship the same as any other applicant. (they didn’t even know I was in HS) I have ZERO contacts in the political environment, I got the internship through my application, and ultimately my interview. And as for the letter of rec, I drove my 45 minutes each way to the campaign office 4 days a week, 7 hours a day, the whole summer. Since the campaign is still getting started for reelection, I worked closely with the finance department, fundraising, outreach, event planning, etc. And I even went on a trip with the campaign over the fourth of July weekend. These incredible people have can certainly speak about my strengths, weaknesses, and potential.

But, I completely understand where you are coming from, thanks!

10

It seems you still don’t understand what uwGPA in 4.0 max scale means. Just treat A+ as A and give it 4.0 in the calculation. For schools that do not count subgrades, all As are 4, all Bs are 3, all Cs are 2, etc. With subgrades, +/- are 0.3 higher or lower except for A+.

11

Ah that makes more sense. I misread, looked like you were saying you were a sophomore. If a A+ is worth 4.333 then its weighted, it’s a standard for an unweighted GPA to be on a 4.0 scale.