Chance Me-Might Get In...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>Bioboy, though I am inclined to advise you to go and pick mainly the activities with an underlying theme that are of interest to YOU, I realize that the answer would not be a satisfactory one. </p>

<p>Therefore, here’s my advice: </p>

<p>First, the tests. there is no question about the SAT I, as that is a no-brainer and must be kept. I would appreciate clarification on the circumstances of the score - is the grade superscored? -, but it looks good. As for the SAT II’s, seeing as those subjects and scores don’t provide contradiction, they are also safe. AP exams, as you stated, are undebatable, and I think that you should attempt to subtly implement that reason into your essay, if possible. </p>

<p>There is really nothing unclear about the classes, as your transcript is required. </p>

<p>The class rank is very helpful, as it shows that you were proportionately superior in your class. In the case that your school was a very high-rated one, definitely note that in the application in whatever way possible. Remember, self-promotion is good! </p>

<p>So the majority of the disrepancies lie in your EC’s. Debate Team, while a good suggestion of public speaking, is rather less complementary to the whole of your application, and the time spent in it is not as long as many other activities, so I would consider removing that.</p>

<p>French Club is a keeper for sure. The title of President and time spent are apparant markers of dedication to the organization and maybe the language, and as we all know French is considered a potent international mediation language, it will be an appealing second language. This includes the National French Honors Society and the Grand Concours Exam, which reinforce the appearance nicely.</p>

<p>Math also seems to be a rather prominent theme, so keep that. According to your name, I would presume you to be interested in the sciences, and math as a fundamental part of science is invaluable. Keep National Math Honors Society and whatever awards you hold in math.</p>

<p>Now Key Club I’m not exactly clear about, but it appears to be a volunteer-oriented club. Unless you are shooting for med-school in the future, or any type of service to the masses, I’d drop it. Remember, you can still keep the hours. The name, while well-known, is not necessarily going to help you unless it keeps to your theme.</p>

<p>National Honors Society is a good keeper, because it is an all-around reminder of excellent GPA maintenance, and consistent results are what colleges love.</p>

<p>Chess seems like one more major theme in your application life. Keep all of the chess activities, as chess seems, to me at least, an epitome of leadership and strategy.</p>

<p>Peer tutoring, unless you plan to become an educator, is hardly that helpful to your cause, but it does represent in a way compassion, so if you think that would help you, by all means, keep it.</p>

<p>And of course, science. keeping with your name, science is the largest part of your application. Strong hitters such as internships at JHU (no matter how minor or because of relations) and research lab volunteering, give you a brand that stands behind your cause. Keep all of these activities, as it gives an extra “Oomph!” to your punch.</p>

<p>That being said, though, I am unsure whether the robotics victories suit your application. Are you interested in joining the technological industry? If so, great! If not, maybe a bit more of a detriment, as it helps reinforce the Asian/Indian stereotype.</p>

<p>Tennis is a must. College admissions officers love sports applicants, and even if you’re not going to continue it, keep it on your app! They have more sympathy for an athletic Asian, more so than for the stereotypical “weak, nerdy Asian”.</p>

<p>Service Hours and the PSAT/NMS are keeps for sure.</p>

<p>What exactly do you mean when you say rec’s are amazing? Make sure they’re not over the top, as those are very transparent to admissions officers, and make sure they sound realistic but at the same time hint at a high-value potential in you.</p>

<p>And I hope the essays are good, too!</p>

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<p>Gottahavawawa,</p>

<p>I sincerely thank you for your time and feedback. Just to put it out there, I wish to go to Medical School and become a neurosurgeon. I joined robotics club because my parents forced me, and I think it was detrimental to my high school experience because it took up about 3 hours a day. But would colleges like to see that I am well-rounded, not only strong in sciences, but strong in science,math, and technology?</p>

<p>Anyway, If I go by your suggestions, what would be my chance of acceptance? Also, I don’t know if this helps but my public school was ranked in the top 1% of all public schools in the nation. And just out of curiosity, if you don’t mind answering, are you in college yet, and if you are, what college? If not, what college are you interested in and how is your application? </p>

<p>Finally, are there any competitions that I should have participated in? Or any scholarships that I should have applied for?</p>

<p>Once again, thanks for all of your help. I really appreciate it.</p>

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<p>What medical schools are you considering? If you want to study undergrad and medical school at the same school, such as Harvard undergrad and Harvard medical school, you would obviously want to present yourself as a strong science student in your application to Harvard undergrad. You might also want to consider the combined undergrad/med school program at Brown, if you’re sure about your future. </p>

<p>I am sure you would want to present yourself as a well-rounded individual, but judging from the fact that your parents forced you to go, and the fact that you don’t seem to value technology as much as other subjects, I would think that you are not interested enough in it to wring out all its potential in a college application. However, viewing the situation from the perspective of a prospective medical student, if you were to apply to the combined program at Brown, or JHU undergrad, for that matter, the technology would not only show your interest in and understanding of medicine, as it is a field reliant on ever-changing technology, but also avoid lowering your chances of admittance by announcing your interest, thus negating the appearance of the robotics club as something to impress admissions officers. However, if you really wanted to get into HYPS etc., and trust me, many, many people change their minds about thier future after seeing the opportunities there, the robotics club would do the exact opposite of its impact on admittance to say, MIT, if you catch my drift, because HYPS (well, maybe Stanford is an exception) do not value such things as highly, whatever they may say, and will likely view it as simply a gimmick to impress admissions. Therefore, at HYP, maybe Stanford, the robotics might negatively impact your admission to undergrad, but would help your med school application (to the med school affiliated with the HYP undergrad) by showing impressie grasp of changing technology. It’s short term+long term for JHU, Brown combined program, etc., or long term only at HYP. So I would recommend the former options, but if you really wanted the great prestige that comes with HYPS, then by all means, try for those. It’s basically, in my mind at least, a very cost-efficient way (JHU/combined programs) vs. higher risk slightly better long term rewards plus prestige (HYPS), so it’s your choice, really. </p>

<p>Well, obviously, since your public school is very highly ranked, basically one of the best from what you say, you should definitely include that in your application somewhere. </p>

<p>Although I’m rather inexperienced in terms of chancing, I’d put your chances as follows (with the app info you originally included):</p>

<p>Harvard~8%
Yale~25%
Princeton~7%
Brown (normal undergrad)~30%
Brown (combined program)~35%
Stanford~25%
JHU-50% (Yes, I’m serious, as long as you don’t seriously mess something up)</p>

<p>All in all, I’d say pretty darn good chances for these top-notch schools (above average for most, very high for some), considering Harvard and Princeton are really harsh on anyone, really, and Yale is known to accept students with stats similar to yours (same ethnicity group, too). Brown is a bit more lenient with people with complex apps like yours, and the combined program will love the internship and research, etc. Stanford is basically just an average chance, don’t know much about the school. JHU, for some reason, seems to accept quite a few applicants, and I am almost sure you’d get accepted, but the objective projection would fall into the 40’s-50’s range.</p>

<p>And for your last question, I am, in fact, a sophomore in high school (I’m not kidding)! I only know this stuff from speaking to many HYPS admissions officers, financial aid officers, professors at JHU and Harvard, including Harvard Medical School, and many, many older friends who have basically been admitted to all of these schools. Oh, and seminars. You gotta love those seminars.</p>

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<p>Wow that was a long post.</p>

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<p>Hello, the future silverturtle. :)</p>

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<p>Ahh… silverturtle. I remember enjoying some friendly debates with him.</p>

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<p>Gottahavawawa, you seem to have some really good advice. I’m a bit surprised that you’re only a sophomore. And now to the questions :). The combined program for undergrad/med takes 6 years right, as compared to the original 8? And if I want to go to med school, do I take the pre-med program or do I have a choice of anything? Also, I have heard from some people that if you are in the JHU Undergrad program, then you have a lower chance of getting into JHU Medical School. Is this true? Finally, how is JHU for undergrad and for medical school as compared to the ivy league schools? Thanks in advance.</p>

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<p>Bioboy: Thanks! And now, as you have said, to the questions. I am not sure how the length of the program varies. If you are referring to the Brown program, I am reasonably sure it is 7 years, 6 years otherwise. Of course, 1-2 years difference is huge, especially considering you’ve got a perilous residency ahead of you if you continue down the neurosurgeon path.</p>

<p>In regards to your second question, no, you do not have to follow any specific program. Major in whatever you want and you only need to take the prerequisites for entrance into Medical school on the side, or over the summer.</p>

<p>For the third, I am not sure how that would occur. Following the general trend, and logic, you would have a better, if not equal chance at entrance to an affiliated medical school. This rumor may have surfaced due to JHU undergrads expecting favor in JHU medical school admissions but being sorely disappointed by their rejections which were
the results of objective or only semi biased in their favor.</p>

<p>JHU undergrad, as far as I am informed, is rightfully renowned for its scientific education, but only a tad a above, or only average in most other subject areas. The medical school, as we all know, is basically the best, with the number one affiliated hospital in the nation, losing out occasionally to that of harvards, reason being in my opinion because of the Harvard brand name.</p>

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<p>Highly doubt this. Harvard and Yale admissions have standards too similar to warrant a 17% chance difference.</p>

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<p>@Nikkor-I am basing those predictions mainly off of experience, meaning what I’ve seen of applicants with much the same stats as OP, as the admissions for those two colleges have acceptance rates that are much to unpredictable. I guess you can imagine it as a pie chart, with the percentages of all schools added together, to see which school OP has a better chance of getting into.</p>

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<p>Frankly that makes no sense whatsoever, since the use of a pie chart insinuates that admissions for each school inversely affects the others; basically, you’re saying that if you have a better chance of getting into college X, you have a worse chance of getting into college Y. </p>

<p>To each his own. If that model works for you in your head, great.</p>

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<p>^^ Nonsensical rambling.</p>

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<p>Wow, I suppose that was bad imagery on my part.</p>

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<p>@Jersey: I’m sorry, but I am currently at a loss as to whose post you are referring to. Perhaps a clarification would be in order?</p>

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<p>

Just no. A leadership position and four years of participation in a club negatively impacting his chances at HYPS? I don’t even see where that begins to make sense. </p>

<p>

First of all, the disparities between his chances at HP and YS/Brown are just stupid. Exactly what lead you to assume that his chances at Yale are nearly quadruple his chances at Princeton when they practice virtually the same holistic admissions process? Secondly, you’re saying that with his credentials, his chance of admission is actually lower than the generally population at Princeton (which has a ~10% acceptance rate)? Exactly what kind of stats merit a chance higher than the overall acceptance rate? Then, you give him a higher chance of being accepted into Brown PLME when compared to Brown; do you know what the PLME program is?</p>

<p>

^^ denotes two posts above, aka yours.</p>

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<p>Maybe you should go easy on him. I think he’s a sophomore lol.</p>

<p>Jersey: ARGHHHHH COLLEGE APPS ):</p>

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<p>Regarding your first point, no, you do not see, because you are not an admissions officer. Do you know how to argue an applicant’s case? Perhaps to the applicants themselves, the 4 years+leadership position appears appealing, simply because that is a general formula for success in applications. However, there is the problem of theme. If you were to write an essay (on any subjesct), and the sentences were simply extravagant, beautfully written, yet did not have a cohesive theme in the context of the entire essay, you’ll still recieve a bad grade. The same applies here. Admissions officers can clearly see the line between dedication and piling up of EC’s for a more “appealing” application, appealing meaning to the students more impressive, which they think to achieve by adding as many activities as possible, no matter how random. But as
Nikkor stated, “To each his own”, and so it is ultimately up to the OP.</p>

<p>Your second argument is very much subjective. Seeing as you’re not an admissions officer, your opinion is moot. As is mine. Which is why you should not have ignored the remainder of that section of the post, in which I stated that I am not as experienced in predicting chances myself, and in a later post, in which I confessed that my projected chances were a product of experience with such matters. From my prior experience, Yale is more likely to accept “stereotypical Asian” applicants that HPS etc. </p>

<p>Why can’t his chances at Princeton be lower? From my viewpoint, Princeton, in medieval Western education terminology, would be focused more on what is called the Trivium, or english, history etc. It would follow logically that an applicant obviously mainly focused on the Quadrivium, or maths and sciences etc, would have less of a chance of getting into Princeton than say, an applicant who is clearly dedicated to the arts. The overall 10% admittance rate does not in and of itself address issues subjective, it only provides the most shallow level of observation. </p>

<p>I can not and do not boast to be able to define the stats that merit a higher chance of admittance, because it is only too dependent on the individual in question.</p>

<p>And yes, I did indeed project a higher chance for Brown PLME. Perhaps you should reword your last sentence, as the clause “do you know what the PLME program is?” is rather clumsy and misleading upon first inspection. But to answer your rhetorical question, yes, I know what it is, and I will stick to my prediction. Why wouldn’t OP have a better chance with PLME?</p>

<p>Overall, while I enjoy conversing with you on this thread, perhaps you should contribute to the OP’s plight rather than target and assault my attempt to help him. If you are looking to seem smart by attacking someone else, then I have truly lost much respect for you. </p>

<p>Regardless, thank you for the clarification.</p>

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<p>@Nikkor: Perhaps you should respond to my overall theme in general rather than selecting a miniscule excerpt and trying to attack it despite the fact that I have already explained quite clearly that it is only my personal opinion as to what his chances are at those schools. Also, as I said to Jersey, please stop wasting space with these pathetic attempts at insult and add something useful, eh?</p>

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<p>

Four years of participation and a leadership position is the general formula for success because it is the best indicator of participation/dedication/leadership etc. If I am reading correctly, you’re attempting to say that a student who explores various interests is looked upon unfavorably by admissions, and that ECs should have a cohesive theme to them, which is entirely false, as any admissions officer will tell you. While a laundry list is obviously bad, actual dedication to many different ECs isn’t seen as negative by any means.</p>

<p>

My second argument is that your chances are completely insane, which isn’t really subjective. Unless you have factual support to back those claims, all evidence and experience shows otherwise. What exactly is your prior experience? You know a “stereotypical Asian” friend that was accepted to Y but rejected from HPS? As far as stereotypes go, Princeton is commonly thought to be more numbers based, which is supported by many schools’ naviance systems. Yale is also commonly stereotyped as a very artsy school, which seems quite antithetical to the traits present in a “stereotypical Asian”.</p>

<p>

His SAT scores are above the 75th percentile in every single section, and his overall score falls into a category of students with a 26.3% acceptance rate. [Princeton</a> University | Admission Statistics](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/). His GPA falls into the category of students with a 16.3% acceptance rate on that same link. Just from these objective criteria, one should already be able to safely assume that his chance of admissions is higher than the overall percentage. Moreover, from what do you draw these conclusions that Princeton is more humanities-centric? Do you know anything about the Princeton mathematics department? In any case, you’re basing the chances you give on these supposed stereotypes which no one else has even heard of.</p>

<p>

A 2390 SAT, equally good subject tests, dedication in several ECs, a 4.0 and great rank would usually be the stats that would lead one to assume an applicant has a higher than average chance of admission.</p>

<p>

Arguing over grammar on an internet forum is incredibly annoying and ultimately pointless. If you know what the PLME program is, why would you give him a higher chance for it when all data shows that PLME is far more selective than admissions to Brown as a whole? A cursory look through past application seasons at Brown on CC will further support what is already seen as common knowledge, PLME is much more difficult than Brown to gain admittance to. </p>

<p>

By preventing the dissemination of spurious information, I am in fact helping the OP. I’m not sure how pointing out the errors in your advice constitutes an attempt to “seem smart” either.</p>

<p>

Corrections do not equate to insults. I would argue that your classification of my responses as “pathetic” is an insult, eh?</p>

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<p>I apologize for not correcting the multiple fallacies in your argument and only pointing out one of them. In my defense, I have an Micro chapter test, psych chapter test, and some Lit reading to do (not to mention the perpetually looming college apps) so Jersey will be fielding this one. Maybe if the thread is still alive by the weekend I can throw something in.</p>