Chance Me! I didn't want to do this, but here goes!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I didn't want to do this but here goes...Please by honest. Everything that I have written is true, yada yada yada...</p>

<p>White Male (attends a good public h.s. in MA)
GPA (unweighted): 4.06
QPA: 4.784
Decile: 1
I've gotten nothing but A's and A+'s in academic classes, but got a B and A- in Madrigals/Mixed Chorus</p>

<p>SAT: Writing - 800, CR - 770, Math - 760, Combined - 2330
SAT II's: Biology E - 780, Awaiting Spanish and Math II November Scores
AP's: Biology - 5, English Lang. - 5, Calculus AB - 5</p>

<p>Have Taken:
3 AP's listed above
All Honors academic classes otherwise
Some College Prep Electives (ie: Mixed Chorus, Drama II)
Most challenging course load among my peers</p>

<p>Currently taking:
AP English Literature
AP Statistics
AP Psychology
AP Chemistry
AP Spanish
Honors Drama IV</p>

<p>Extracurriculars/Service:
Fall Play (Theater) - (9, 10, 11, 12)
Spring Musical - (9, 10)
Student-Directed One Act Plays - (11, They were only offered this one year.)
Honors Madrigal Singers (Entry by Audition) - (9, 10)
Mixed Chorus (9, 10)
Harvard Model UN Team (10, 11, 12)
Model UN Club (10, 11, 12) - Elected Treasurer
National Honor Society (12) - Treasurer
Student Advisory Council - (12, Elected as student school committee rep)
In-school BIP Volunteer (worked with autistic children in the classroom several periods per week) - 9 (approx. 40 hours)
In-school Media Center Assistant - (11, 12 - approx 60 hours total)</p>

<p>Honors:
Dartmouth Book Award Recipient
Choral Achievement Award (9)
School Service/Citizenship Award (9)
Honors Algebra II Achievement Award (10)
Honors Biology Achievement Award (10)
AP Biology Achievement Award (11)
Honors Spanish III Achievement Award (11)
National Spanish Exam (9th grade - 9th place state plaque, 10th grade - gold medal/99th percentile/top scorer in school, 11th grade - gold medal/99th percentile/top scorer in school)
Math Expo Winner (9, 10, 11) - My freshman project was selected for display at our local Museum of Science</p>

<p>Summer Activities:
Attended PROMYS summer math program at BU on a full scholarship. I studied accelerated Number Theory during my stay at BU. (Summer after freshman year)
Took Precalculus at UMass Boston, Final Grade: A (Summer after sophomore year)
Worked as an intern in my local Congressman's office (Summer after junior year)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Worked as a paid campaign aid for a local Alderman who was running for reelection (10 hrs per week -- July 07 to October 07)</p>

<p>Recommendations:
AP Bio teacher (should be excellent, as she liked me a lot and I ended up with a 104 average in her class 4th term)
AP Lang teacher (she liked me and is a greater writer, so this one should be pretty good as well)</p>

<p>What do you think? I am applying to HYPS, as well as some lower ivies including Cornell, Dartmouth, and Columbia. Other schools to which I plan to apply are NYU, Johns Hopkins, and Tufts.</p>

<p>Please chance me! I appreciate your taking the time to read this! :)</p>

2

<p>Anyone…? :)</p>

3

<p>No one? Any thoughts at all … ?</p>

4

<p>maybe you should add a safety to your list.. your sat scores are really good and im not sure what your gpa is out of so i don’t really know what it means.. but it could hurt you for HYPS that you havent taken any AP calc, like most people i know applying there have taken AP calc BC or at least calc AB.. but who knows, with those ivies its kinda crap shoot.. you could apply to every ivy and get rejected by all but one, and who knows why you were accepted to taht certian one.. but you may want a safety jsut in case things dont go as you expect</p>

5

<p>I already took AP Calc AB, and I got a 5 on the test.</p>

<p>I have not taken Physics, however. I chose to take AP Biology my Junior year, as I have a genuine interest in the subject.</p>

6

<p>Oh and I will be applying to UMass Amherst. I just didn’t put it down. GPA is out of 4.3, with 4.0 = A and 4.3 = A+.</p>

7

<p>I’d say you were in…maybe a rejection (for some odd reason) at one or two of the ivies but with those stats, you should be all set.</p>

8

<p>I already wrote my college essay on my grandmother and the lessons I learned from her … should I select a new topic? is this too trite?</p>

9

<p>Yes. Select a new topic. WAY too cliche.</p>

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<p>I think the grandmother essay could work if she is/was a truly unusual person and you write the essay really well.
Your grades and scores are terrific, but just so your head doesn’t swell up too much, your senior schedule looks something like what the top juniors take at our school. That makes HYPS less likely.</p>

11

<p>The only class that I am not taking that most seniors at my school take is AP Physics. Otherwise, I took Calc. as a junior; at my school, it’s offered only to Seniors. This is why I am taking AP Stats. Otherwise, AP Lit, Psych, and Spanish are Senior classes.</p>

<p>The course selection at our school is majorly screwed up. For example, the smart kids take Honors Physical Science (conceptual physics) freshman year, Honors Bio (sophomore year), AP Chem (junior year), and AP Physics (senior year). However, for those who enjoy Biology (as in my case), it is necessary to take AP Biology junior year. I didn’t want to take two lab sciences my junior year, so I decided to bypass Physics altogether.</p>

<p>Does anyone (preferably people already in college :)) want to read my college essay?</p>

12

<p>They will take into consideration your school’s environment and statistics as well, so don’t worry about your courses.</p>

13

<p>Your SAT scores and grades are great! I don’t know what to make of your EC’s, since I am new to this whole college application process and EC’s seem to be wicked important from what everyone on here says.</p>

<p>What do other people think?</p>

14

<p>Any other thoughts…?</p>

15

<p>I think HYPS is a stretch definitely. Some of the other ivies might be a possibility.</p>

16

<p>Well, in what ways can I improve my application to make HYPS less of a stretch?</p>

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<p>lightforce22, are you saying that HYPS are a stretch for everyone, or that they are a stretch for this particular applicant?</p>

<p>I think his/her stats are great and at the level of what these schools would want …</p>

<p>Edit: *his, haha, i just realized it says “white male”</p>

18

<p>Well, I got my other SAT II’s. I got a 750 in Spanish and 780 in Math II. Also, as of first term, my QPA (weighted GPA) is now 4.804.</p>

<p>Any new thoughts?</p>