Chance me, please. Aspiring to go to Ivy League.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Please chance me. I don't exactly know what I want to do in life, and I'm sure there are many people who feel the same. Nevertheless, I am leaning towards Engineering and Business (Investing). Please let me know about my chances at MIT, Cornell, Duke, UPenn.</p>

<p>Schools</p>

<p>MIT, Cornell, Duke, UPENN.</p>

<p>About me:</p>

<p>Ethnicity: White. (Ukrainian)
Sex: Male.
Residency: Pennsylvania.
School Type: Large Public 2000+
legacy:One of the top 100 schools in the nation. Definitely top 5 in state.
intended major: Engineering/Business</p>

<p>Grade Information</p>

<p>GPA: 4.06 Weighted.
SAT: 2230 (690CR, 800M, 740W)
SAT II: Didn't take them yet, but I will probably get an 800 in MathII and 780+ in Physics. Chance me based on those stats.
Class Rank: Top 5%. Around 15th in a highly competitive school.</p>

<p>APs:
AP us history: 5
AP english language: 4
AP Physics: 4</p>

<p>Senior year future AP's:
AP Spanish
AP Calc BC
AP Gov and Politics
AP English and Comp
AP Env Sci</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Varsity Soccer Captian (Senior Year)
-Captain of prestigious soccer club outside of school.
-3rd place in World Soccer tournament in Orlando, Florida with club team. (Freshman year)
-This August (22nd-29th) Going to World Tournament in Moscow representing the USA.
-Martial Arts Black belt.</p>

<p>Awards/Achievements:</p>

<p>-National Honor Society
-Not too many awards, was beaten by one kid for school Mathematics and Physics Awards. I was 2nd. Barnacles.</p>

<p>Community Service:</p>

<p>-Head counselor and cook at summer soccer camp (2008-2010)
-Counselor at my childhood Day Care center. I remain the only student who visits regularly and helps with anything and everything they need. I am extremely grateful for everything my teachers there have tought me.
-Volunteer at Free Library of Philadelphia.</p>

<p>Jobs:</p>

<p>Summer Philadelphia Youth Network. Program that is mainly offered to provide students with work experience.
Advanced Carbide Auto Company- Worked with labeling parts and cleaning up facility.</p>

<p>Teacher recommendations:
AP Physics teacher: Should be excellent.
10th grade Spanish 2 Honors teacher: She thought I was one of her best students. Should be awesome.</p>

<p>counselor recommendation: Barely know my counselor.</p>

<p>essays: Haven't started on them yet. Knowing me, should be very creative. They will definitely catch the attention of the reader, instead of being thrown aside with all of the other ones. I've realized an essay should withdraw passion from the reader, in order for him to reevaluate your whole application and provide you with a greater chance.</p>

<p>Some last words</p>

<p>I consider myself a highly intelligent individual who didn't exactly give it his all in school. I believe I could have been any rank I wanted to be, but I do not consider sitting on my butt too long extremely important. I'd rather get outside and play soccer. With all of this in mind, I think my grades are alright.
Please give me your straightforward opinion.</p>

2

<p>You’re going to need some back ups… I’m not sure what you mean by legacy in your post, but that generally refers to an alumni relation… If you have that type of legacy, then I would say you could be accepted at at least 1 of those schools… Otherwise, your ECs aren’t all too special and really won’t make you stand out, but best of luck in any case</p>

3

<p>Bump. And I accidentaly put my school info in legacy.</p>

4

<p>Are you being recruited for soccer?</p>

5

<p>I’m not being recruited for anything. I’m in the summer after my junior year, I haven’t applied anywhere and I don’t think scouts go to our games. My school team isn’t ranked too high in the state as a whole. In the city, its pretty good.</p>

6

<p>IF you don’t have the athletic hook, then I feel your w GPA and SAT scores are too low for MIT and Penn and your SAT is (barely) okay but your w GPA is too low for Duke and Cornell. Your short list of EC’s, of basically just Soccer and Martial Arts, could hurt your chances also in what will be an extremely talented and competitive applicant pool at these schools. Hope you have some good A- and B+ schools on your list as well, because this is where I believe you’re headed. You’re an excellent candidate but your top-tier schools are too ambitious, given your stats and resume, without an athletic hook.</p>

7

<p>Let me just point out that my school doesnt give too much weight on GPA’s. I believe the top weighted GPA in my school, which is among the top in Pennsylvania, is around 4.08. Mine is 4.06. Its actually very good. I’m not even close to worried about my GPA. And from what I have read and checked, it looks like my SAT score is alright…isn’t it? I’m not trying to be a writer. The 690 in CR shouldn’t be that bad, right?</p>

8

<p>If you’re already so confident in yourself, then you don’t need to ask for our opinions. A 690 CR is good, but not enough… Sure it’s in the range, but there’s way more to it than that… And also, realise that adcoms don’t care as much about your weighted GPA as they do unweighted with regards to course rigor… Also, you’ll have had 8 AP classes which is good, depending on how many are offerred at your school. If it’s as competitive as you claim, then I’m sure that there are a great amount of APs offerred in which case 8 might not suggest too rigorous of a curriculum…</p>

9

<p>Sorry if i sounded a little too confident. I actually really appreciate your opinions. I was just pointing out a few misconceptions. At my school, 9 AP classes is huge. Also, about the soccer, don’t colleges really like that you focus your time on and are passionate about one thing?</p>

10

<p>Top colleges really like when you focus on one thing and achieve significant success. For an athlete at an ivy that would mean being recruitable or being Olympic level. Many athletes are not scouted, they reach out to coaches to get the process going.</p>

<p>I’d have to agree that the 690CR is quite low for the schools you list with the possible exception of some of Cornell’s land grant schools. They don’t care if you plan to write, note that MIT and Caltech have among the top CR scores of any college. Top schools want, and get, it all.</p>

<p>Being white and from the mid Atlantic puts you in a very competitive pool as does attending a top high school. Others applying from your school will be the first line of competition and you’ll probably find that several will be legacies at these schools, especially Penn, making getting in that much harder.</p>

<p>So I would strongly consider an SAT retake and/or contacting coaches if you’re good enough to play.</p>

11

<p>Haha I’m Ukrainian too. ECs are too weak though, especially without some kind of athletic hook. Also, unweighted GPA is more important than weighted, some colleges don’t even consider the latter. Also that summer youth thing, if it isn’t a selective position than don’t bother putting it on the application. Colleges know the differences between joke programs and real internships. That being said, you have a rigorous course schedule and good scores, you might get into some of the schools you listed. Good luck.</p>