Chance me? Ivies and such.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm planning on either EDing to Brown or Columbia.
Please chance me for Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, WashU, and Georgetown?</p>

<p>Potential essay topics:
*How I have epiphanies when I listen to classical music while I drive.
*How I went from a low-class citizen in China to becoming a upper-middle class citizen in the U.S. (currently living in top 10 richest counties in the U.S.), and how it taught me the value of hard work.
*How I tried to give myself an English name, but I never did it, because I felt too attached to my Chinese heritage.</p>

<p>GPA: 4.563 weighted
GPA: 3.98 unweighted
Class rank: 3/500-ish</p>

<p>SAT:
-CR 680 (I don't wanna talk about it. but think of it as.. a 720 right now)
-M 770 (aiming for 800)
-W 730 (aiming for 750)</p>

<p>SAT II:
-Math II: 770
-Bio M: 790</p>

<p>Classes:
*9th grade:
- Honors World History
- Honors Algebra II
- Honors English I
- Honors Biology
- P.E.
- French I (only offered standard)</p>

<p>*10th grade:
- AP Euro (got a 3)
- Honors Pre-Cal
- AP Music Theory (got a 5)
- Honors English II
- Honors Chemistry
- Honors French II</p>

<p>*11th grade:
- APUSH (got a 5)
- AP Calc AB (got a 4)
- AP Psychology (got a 5)
- AP Biology (got a 5)
- AP English Language (got a 4)
- Honors French III
- Freshmen Mentor Study Hall (will explain later)</p>

<p>*12th grade: (signed up in these classes)
- AP Chem
- AP English Literature
- AP Stat
- AP Gov/Econ
- Honors Anatomy and Physiology
- Honors French IV
- Freshmen Mentor Study Hall</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-French Club (President)
-French Honors Society (President and founder)
-Windows of the World (the international club, Vice-President)
-Connect-R (Club dedicated to helping our foreign exchange students adapt to American environment, we help them with their homework and offer counseling. Founder and President)
-Environmental Club (just a member =])
-Freshmen Mentor Program (we help our freshmen adjust to the high school environment, we give up our study hall to make lesson plans and go into the freshmen homerooms and do team-building activities, offer academic help, and counsel them if needed)
- National Honors Society
- Mu Alpha Theta (math club, failed at running for secretary!!! D
- High School Swim Team (Captain, state championships team)
- Nashville Youth Repertory Orchestra at Blair School of Music of Vanderbilt (1st violin the first year I was in it, then promoted to Concert Master the second year)
- Club Swimming (Southeastern championships team, AAA times in 100/200 Breaststroke)</p>

<p>Volunteer work:
- Shelving books/helping the kids read at the local library 100+ hours</p>

<p>Work experience:
-paid internship at Vanderbilt stem cell lab, works 40hr weeks during the summer.</p>

<p>Awards: (not much)
-Varsity Letter in Swimming/Academics
-Scholar Athlete
-Coaches' Award in Swimming
-6th grade, I won a contest for designing a bookmark on energy efficiency. It was mass produced and I got $250.... But it was 6th grade.... Meh.</p>

<p>Others:
-Attended Governor's School for International Studies, received As in both classes (Political Science and Cultural Anthropology)
-Essay on the flaws of political science analysis published in The Diplomat, a journal at the University of Memphis</p>

<p>I think I'm really culturally-oriented, because I really like diversity. Although I do spend a lot of time swimming (4:30am practices twice a week!)</p>

<p>I have talked to the swimming coaches of Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, and WashU, so I may or may not go there with swimming. However, please chance me with disregard to swimming.</p>

<p>Please chance me!
Any comments/suggestions are welcome!
Thanks so much!!!</p>

2

<p>Out of those 3 essay topics I would not recommend doing the second or third one.</p>

<p>GPA is fine.</p>

<p>Your current SAT is bringing you down, and being an ORM won’t help either. Your SAT II scores are fine.</p>

<p>Judging from your current scores:</p>

<p>ED Brown/Columbia Reach
Dartmouth Reach
Vanderbilt Match
WUSTL High match/low reach
Georgetown unpredictable
Johns Hopkins High Match/low reach</p>

3

<p>A 2180 SAT I total as of now isn’t impressive, but if you have other things to make up for it, it’s forgivable. Class rigor is fine, but EC’s are only decent. I must say that you are a very well-rounded person, but you lack the “edge”. There’s not much that sets you apart from all the other Chinese immigrants I know (and I know a lot since my school is 60% asian). Sounds like you could easily get rec letters, and I presume you can write decently enough for an essay. GPA is solid as Meadowland said, but I would work on at least one thing that seperates you from the rest.</p>

<p>I would work on getting SAT to 2300ish (doable) and showing your passions in some form or another. I would still mention the bookmark thing in your app though.</p>

<p>Conclusion:
ED Brown/Dartmouth/Columbia - moderate reach
Johns Hopkins - low reach
Vanderbilt - match
Not sure about the rest.</p>

<p>Chance me: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/963572-chance-average-asian.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/963572-chance-average-asian.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

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<p>First of all, any of those topics could be turned into a dynamite essay if written eloquently and powerfully. That said, I think you should use either the 1st or 3rd one for your CommonApp, and whichever one you don’t use as your supplement essay. None of those are “bad” topics. Their effectiveness will be determined by their content, prose, and effect on the adcoms.</p>

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<p>For URMs and even White applicants, you’re right. But for Asians, a 2180 will hurt you significantly. You need a 2250 or higher. That should be your goal. And preferably a 700 or higher in critical reading. Not to sound like a jerk, but almost no Asians who are accepted to schools like Columbia and Brown have SAT I scores below 2200.</p>

<p>My predictions:</p>

<p>ED Brown/Dartmouth/Columbia - Mid-to-high reach
Dartmouth - Mid-to-high reach
Johns Hopkins - Low-to-mid reach
WashU - Low-to-mid reach
Georgetown - Low-to-mid reach
Vanderbilt - Low reach</p>

<p>I feel safe saying you’ll get into at least one of these schools, maybe more if your essays are great. Don’t count on Brown or Columbia ED though, because, although it’s certainly possible, the odds are against you.</p>

<p>Good luck. :)</p>

5

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<p>I know, but the last two ideas are overused/unoriginal and would be difficult to make it sound unique to the reader which is why I said I would not recommend doing them.</p>

6

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<p>Adjusting to an upper class life in the United States after being lower class in China? Sounds like a riveting essay to me. If it was written in a semi-narrative fashion and gave true insight into the OP’s life, it would be a great essay. I will concede, however, that the last two will be a little more difficult to make unique since other Asian applicants have probably used them before.</p>

7

<p>The probem with that essay is the parents achieved the lifestyle, not the student. The essay should focus on the student’s passions and give an idea of what he will bring to campus.</p>

<p>I agree the the ivies are all considerable reaches. They will be with a 2250 too. I would be tempted to ED at WashU or one of the schools below the ivies as an ORM from an affluent area.</p>

8

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<p>Remember this.</p>

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<p>And consider this.</p>

9

<p>Oh not this ****ing ■■■■■ again. Ignore Hannibalxx.</p>

10

<p>^lol Meadowland. Watch that profanity :P</p>

11

<p>Have you guys been considering my E/Cs and sports?
I feel like that although I probably won’t be swimming varsity for Columbia or Brown, the fact that Dartmouth and some other DI schools have shown interest should show that my swimming stuff strengthened my resume greatly.</p>

12

<p>

I’m late to the party here, so I’ll just jump in to say…probably not, since in your OP you specifically asked people to disregard your swimming.</p>

<p>I’ll comment on your essay topics, too. I like all three if done well. To those who say the topics are overused or unoriginal, so what, what topic hasn’t been tried many times already. Even the most trite topic, done well, can make for a compelling essay.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

13

<p>Unless you’re recruited for swimming, you have an average chance. Average being the admit rate at Columbia.</p>

<p>As for the essay topics, stay away from the cultural heritage themes, because they are overdone. Really. Unless you can write a compelling essay focusing on how you developed as an individual and your unique perspective of the situation, I highly recommend that you choose idea #1. How many applicants are going to write about the “cultural diversity” that they’ll bring as Asian-American students? Yeah. While this is a very potent theme for a URM (if written correctly), ORM applicants should steer clear of the cultural background emphasis. Basically, it’s like putting a spotlight on a “weak” part of your application because there are unproportionate amounts of Asian apsirants.</p>

<p>With the other parts of your app in consideration, you seem like a typical busy applicant. Sure, you can handle lots of clubs and activities…but have you achieved anything stellar? How have you influenced your school or your community? Not by shelving books at the library to day the least. Colleges want high-impact people who are the movers and shakers on campus. Have you contributed anything significant to your high school community with your talents? What differentiates you from the other kids? If you can’t answer those questions with thorough examples, seriously consider other colleges that desire applicants with your abilities and level of involvement.</p>

<p>I’ll leave it to you at that.</p>

14

<p>I think you’ll get into Vandy :)</p>

<p>Help me out</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/966020-help-me-out-chance-me-few-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/966020-help-me-out-chance-me-few-schools.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;