Chance Me (IB stud.) for UCs, Gtown, JHU & more! Help and feedback on my choices greatly appreciated

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, I'm a senior at a fairly reputable high school in California that ranks amongst the highest in IB (International Baccalaureate) schools on the west coast. I am full IB diploma canidate. I'm Korean and was born in Korea. I am the first in my family to be going to college. We are not dirt poor, but our financial situation isn't great. Lower middle class. My extra-curriculars are fairly strong and shows leadership. I do varsity and club swimming and water polo.
I'd like to go to:(in order of preference)
1. UC Berkley
2. Johns Hopkins
3. Georgetown (EA)
4. UCLA
5. George Washington University
6. USC
7. UC San Diego
8. UC Davis
9. American University
10. University of Pacific</p>

<p>GPA:</p>

<p>Cumulative Unweighted (out of 4 scale): 3.7
9th Grade GPA (1st semester/ 2nd semester): 3.5/3.5
10th Grade GPA (1st semester/ 2nd semester):3.67/3.83
11th Grade GPA (1st semester/ 2nd semester):3.83/3.83</p>

<p>Cumulative Weighted (out of 5 scale): 4.4
9th Grade GPA (1st semester/ 2nd semester): 4/4
10th Grade GPA (1st semester/ 2nd semester):4.17/4.33
11th Grade GPA (1st semester/ 2nd semester):4.83/4.83</p>

<p>Class Rank: Our school no longer has class rank. But I know I'm in top 20%</p>

<p>• I have an upward improvement of grades following freshmen year, which considerably lowered my cumulative GPA
• My WEAKEST subject is Spanish. Every semester since freshmen yr, I received a B in Spanish. Except, 1st semester of Spanish my sophomore year, I received a C then brought it back to a B 2nd semester. Then my junior first semester I got it up to an A for the first time. Pretty much straight A student, minus freshmen year and Spanish.
• I went double science my Junior year. (IB Chemistry SL, IB Biology HL)I LOVE SCIENCE
• Took the hardest course my school has to offer.
• My Classes: (1st semester grade/2nd semester grade)</p>

<p>9th grade: MYP English 4(A/B), Algebra 2(B/A), PE(A/A), Honors Chemistry(B/B), Honors MYP World History(A/A), MYP Spanish 1(B/B)</p>

<p>10th grade: MYP English 5(A/A), Pre Calculus(A/A), MYP Drama(A/A), Honors Physics(A/A), MYP Honors US History(A/A), MYP Spanish 2(C/B)</p>

<p>11th grade: IB English 1(B/A), AP Calculus AB(A/A), IB Biology 1(A/A), IB Chemistry 1 (A/A), IB History of America (A/A), IB Spanish 1(A/B), Natural Resource Management Internship (part of schedule on my transcript)</p>

<p>12 grade: IB English 2, IB Math 2, IB Biology 2, IB Global Studies, IB Spanish 1, IB Theory of Knowledge, Natural Resource Management Internship</p>

<p>Testing:</p>

<p>SAT: 1920 (Reading 610 Math 750 Writing 560)
• I will retake in October: Planning on at least 2100 by increasing writing and reading score.</p>

<p>SAT Subject Tests:</p>

<ol>
<li> Math 2: 780</li>
<li> Korean w/ listening: 770</li>
<li> Chemistry: 740</li>
<li> Physics: 650</li>
<li> Biology M: 650 < Will retake in November. </li>
</ol>

<p>ACT: 28 (English 28, Mathematics 28, Reading 23, Science 31 Essay 9)
• Took very under prepared and ran out of time on every section.
• Will retake this September. Hoping for 32 or higher.</p>

<p>AP Testing:
Ap Calculus AB: 5</p>

<p>IB Testing:
IB Chemistry SL: 5</p>

<p>EC:</p>

<p>• High School Water Polo Varsity Team Captain- Varsity my sophomore year, captain my junior year.
• Club Water Polo- 18 under Junior Olympics
• Captain of Varsity/Club Swimming- Top 3 swimmer in my league, swimming since 6 yrs old. Captain of Varsity men's swim team. Our men's varsity swim won first in the league in 2014.
• Boy Scout Eagle Scout- got eagle Oct 1, 2013. Will have 3 eagle palms
• Jade Ribbon Club- Creator/president Club for raised awareness about Liver cancer and Hepatitis B virus. Made and organized Benefits concert for the Asian Liver Center, go to schools educating kids and parents about HBV and liver disease.
• Volunteer at Hospital
• Committee Chair of Key Club
• Science Olympiad (7th grade-10th grade)- several medals
• Worked as Lifeguard- 50+ hours during summer of 2014
• Secretary of HOSA club: competition club in health professions </p>

<p>Academic Honors:
• 2nd Place in 2014 KSEA National Mathematics and Science Competition & International Math Competition</p>

<p>I would really appreciated if you could give me a rating of chance of admission. I want to major in biology, so if you know a bit about the school and their biology program please do share about them. Thank you for going through this mess.</p>

2

<p>I think that you definitely have a shot in some of those schools; you have outstanding circulars and a great story. Make sure to raise your SAT score to at least a 2100, a 2200 would be ideal. While your grades aren’t bad, they’re not perfect (trust me mine aren’t either), and so it’s important to have an awesome essay that highlights who you are as a person, you want to make the admissions person love you!
In simpler terms:
you have a great story and ecs going for you
make sure to raise your SAT score
have an awesome essay!</p>

<p>Here’s what I think’ll happen for each school:
UC Berkely: yes, if you improve your SATs and have an awesome essay!
Johns Hopkins: no
Georgetown: reach but possible??
UCLA: yes
George Washington: yes, this is the perfect safety/match school for you!
USC: maybe, if you do the things I mentioned earlier
UCSD: yes
UC Davis: yes, good safety
American university: don’t know much about the school, but i think you should be fine? same with university of the pacific</p>

<p>Good luck!!</p>

3

<p>UCLA freshman admission profile.,They give the most detail. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof14.htm”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof14.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Other UC’s can be found here by clicking on the school, then the pdf for detail. </p>

<p><a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/profiles/”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/profiles/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>No for Georgetown, Hopkins and Berkeley</p>