Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, Duke, Johns Hopkins, UPenn
SAT 2280 (not competitive for my race)
ACT + Writing 33
Rank: 2/350
GPA: UW - 3.95, W - 5.28
1 B, rest As
APs:
5 - APES
5 - APUSH
5 - Art History
5 - AP Gov
5 - Psych
5 - Calc BC
5 - French
4 - Chem
4 - World History
SAT II: Math II 800, US History 760
ECs:
President of:
- Debate Team
- Model UN
- French Club
- French Honor Society
- Mock Trial
- DECA
- Academic Integrity Club
- Ethics Bowl
Member of:
Science Club
JV tennis - 2 yrs
Community Service:
- Pres - Local teen service board
- Teen Court
- Museum Advisory Board
- National Debate Leadership Committee
Awards:
- International Oxbridge Merit Scholarship
- Congressional Seminar Essay Winner (National)
- Rotary Leadership Award
- A National Language Immersion Scholarship
- Variety of Debate Awards
- Tons of Science Olympiad Awards
- Governors School Program
- National AP Scholar
Senior Course Load:
AP Euro
AP Stat
AP Lit
AP Bio
2 honors classes
1 free period
Asian Female (drawback, I know)
Income: ~$37,000/yr
I’m so nervous!!! Please let me know what you think, thank you so much in advance!
You have a good SAT, GPA and a stellar list of awards. Unfortunately for you that is the cliché application to the ivies.
You must show how you differ from other candidates in your essay and teacher recs. On that note,
Georgetown: Match
JHU: High Match
Ivy: Entrance into the lottery of app,ications
That GPA will go way down when colleges recalculate it. Nonetheless, this is a great application. The leadership in the various clubs is a huge plus, as are the awards. For Ivies, it is just such a guessing game. As far as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, I would say you’re a reach, maybe 20% chance or so. The next tier ones (Penn, Brown, etc.) probably give you a 30-35% chance. Finally, the lower ones like Cornell are probably a 40% chance or so. Again, just keep doing what you’re doing and keep up the great work.
Thank you for your response! 
The only thing that I don’t see is a clear passion. The EC’s seem to be a melting pot of sorts. Try to make the passion clearer and communicate that through essays, recs, etc.
What sort of activities did you do during your summers?
This “OMG, I’m an Asian, I need to have a 2600 SAT or a 38 ACT” stuff is way overplayed.
You are a well qualified candidate to all of the schools on your list in every way. They are very difficult schools to get into, so your application needs to be stellar and you need a bit of luck.
Harvard 5%
Princeton: 10%
Yale: 10%
Columbia: 11%
UPenn: 20%
Duke: 20%
Georgetown: 30%
Johns Hopkins: 30%
You’re lower income so it will be a boost. Are you applying through Questbridge? If not, you should try.
Are you applying for stem or for another subject?
Because of the low acceptance rate, those are all automatic reaches. What are your matches and safeties?
This being said, especially if you’re a QB applicant, your oddsodds are quite good relatively speaking 10% rather than 3at Harvard, etc.
Are you applying REA or SCEA anywhere?
I agree with @fuzzyorange and @MYOS1634.
Aside from your income, you are the prototypical “Asian female” applicant. You need to differentiate yourself. Your test scores are fine - you are deluded if you think higher test scores will differentiate you in any way. You are in the competitive range. Now you have to differentiate yourself.
Questbridge and emphasizing lower income status would help. EA would also help. Most of all you need to write essays that make you stand out, and that clarify who you are. You seem very well-rounded, but I don’t get a sense of what your priorities or passions are. What matters most to you? What do you want to do with your life?
@MYOS1634 I was definitely thinking about Questbridge, but I’m worried about being forced to go to a college lower on my list that I’m not fully interested in.
Although I eventually want to go into STEM for a career, my entire application is based around politics/humanities/international relations/communications because I think that will make me more competitive.
I’m currently debating between Princeton and Yale for REA.
Thanks so much for your response!
@renaissancedad Being “average” / “standard” for an Ivy is definitely what I’m most worried about. It seems like the competitive applicants will be equal or more qualified/specialized than me, so I’m trying to write outstanding essays.
I’m trying to build my application around an international relations interest (thus the language french + debate/MUN/Etc.) to seem more specialized.
Thank you for giving me your input! It’s greatly appreciated!
Put me down as another recommending Questbridge.
I honestly think that is definitely your best bet.
@NickFlynn Ok, thanks for the response! Based on what everyone has said, I’m definitely going to look into it further.
You don’t need to attend a college that’s lower on your ranking for Questbridge. First, you need to get selected as a Finalist. The application is a pretty long process, and the deadline is on September 30th, so start soon. You can rank the 4 non-binding schools if you want, which are Princeton, Yale, Stanford, and MIT. If you get matched into one of these, which is very very difficult to do, then you still do not need to attend them, but will have a very nice option. Then, you can just apply to the rest of QB partner schools which interest you in the QB RD round, and you do not have to attend any school.
@PartyNextDoor
Oh wow! I didn’t even realize that. Thank you for letting me know!
Do you know if I can apply for other schools through Common App while also applying through Questbridge?
Are you applying to any of those Ivies early?
@codemachine
Yes, I am going to apply to either Yale or Princeton REA - I haven’t decided which one though!