Chance Me Please - Rising Senior

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey Guys,
Here are my stats:

Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Upper Middle Class

Transcript: All Honors, Total of 4 APs thus far(very challenging in terms of the school curriculum), and on track to do 4-5 more APs Senior Year(AP Calc AB, APUSH, APLit, APEcon, APEuro)
GPA: 4.229 W, 3.77 UW
(Note: 1 B in Freshman Year, 2 Bs in Sophomore Year, 1B+, B and a B- Junior Year)

Test Scores:
SAT: 1540
ACT: N/A
Subject Test Scores: (waiting till July 11)

Summer Activites:

TASP

Harvard Summer School Program
Received a Harvard University Recommendation Letter

Volunteered 160 Hours at local science center;
A summer teen docent

ECs’:

Mock Trial President(11th-12th)

Anthology Collection,
Have done over 20 poems thus far, have even posted some on poetry forums, and am awaiting a response from the Poetry Foundation for publishing
(10th-12th)

YouTube Channel
To help kids in my town with elementary math topics. Recent firings of teachers inspired me to lend my own helping hand through one of my passions.
(11th-12th)

National Economics Team (Founder)
1.5hrs/wk
Like many students in school, I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of Economics despite the fact that it is not a big part of our curriculum. I provided this club with a purpose to diversify and assist the student body by exploring their passions. We also compete on the state and national level through the David Ricardo Division.

Computer Science Entrepreneurship(Chief Accountability Officer)
2hrs/wk

As part of MIT Launch X's after-school programs, I was tasked to generate a solution for environmental issues. I’ve led my team to focus our app on raising environmental awareness on nearby community projects through implementing aspects of social media and friendly competition.

Mock Trial Club(Junior Officer)
2hrs/wk

I find this club very important as it exposes me to courtroom debate and American Law. This year, I've assisted students in Harvard Model Congress and generated club fundraisers, including a Mock 2020 Presidential Campaign, which, of course, includes actors like Kanye West and Dwayne Johnson.

Anthology Collection (Published Author)
1.5hrs/wk
Starting in my sophomore year, I’ve begun pouring my creativity and personal thoughts into poetry. In fact, I’ve published two of my works on TeenInk!

Awards and Recognition: NEC Competitor, Mock Trial Debater, County Competition
(^kinda weak in awards. Will definitely apply for more)

Chances @ Top 25 and HYPS?
Thanks!

2

So hard to say. You’ve done some great things. Solid gpa and scores. Really good ecs. Essay and recs will be very important. Just remember this group of schools declined and wl lots of students with perfect gpas with 13 plus aps and higher scores. But you’re ecs are unique and you have a strong profile.

3

Thank you @privatebanker for that input! I will definitely keep those things in mind.

4

Interesting… you are a pretty good applicant, especially because of your summer programs (TASP and Harvard). Test scores are great, but I am a bit concerned about the UW GPA, it’s a little low for the Ivies. You are very diverse in your interests, which I am very intrigued by, but I am also a little concerned because I can’t identify your major interests. You are a bit too well-rounded. You can counter this by highlighted one portion of your ECs that are a bit more focused and then complement these ECs with your other ones, saying how they benefitted you towards reaching your main goals. Does that make sense? If you write your app well, you have a pretty good chance because your an Asian male with substantial work in fine arts, especially poetry (which is quite rare). GL! You can chance me over here: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2087371-rising-junior-wamc-for-ivies-upenn-lsm-what-should-i-be-doing-better.html#latest

5

GPA looks worrisome to me - ECs and scores are pretty good, however. You would be a competitive applicant at some of the lower-tier Ivies IMO, but I wouldn’t really put you up for major consideration at HYPSM. Your downfall seems to be your diversification of your ECs - it’s always better to have a clear emphasis on a certain category (ex. STEM, humanities, etc.) for ECs than to be a “jack of all trades, master of none”. It’s good to have ECs in different areas, but in your case, you seem to have 1-2 in a bunch of different areas. With a 3.77 UW GPA, in addition to this, HYPSM would be very high reaches, with the Top 25 schools as reaches. Never go strictly based off of rankings though for schools - if you find a school that you really like ranked #32 or something, go there and make the best of it! GL!

6

Hey Guys! Thanks for the input! @nvb123, basically, I should just mainly highlight my main ECs and use the other ones as complements? And, I am assuming that this can be done on the description box for the ECs at the Common App? Also, I am getting quite worried at the GPA UW. Tbh, I am actually not sure what it is, it was a guesstimate since my school only does Weighted. Should I just ask my counselor how to convert it to the UW or should I do it personally? How do you guys know your GPA UW? Thanks as well to @DJCURRYBEATS19. Any suggestions to counter that well-roundedness? I am aiming for someone who wants to improve educational opportunities through humanities and leadership.

7

@Acortez122 leadership is basically a given. Regardless of what field you’re pursuing, you want to be a leader in that field. However, the humanities has a bit more you can work with and highlight specifically on the app (things like your anthology, TASP, and Mock Trial).

Regarding GPA, you have approximately a 2 B average per year. Based off how many classes you take (my school offers 7), your GPA will change. If your school also offers 7, your UW GPA would actually be a 3.71 (given that all B’s are considered a 3.0 and A’s are 4.0). Your school might be a bit different, so if you may have to do it a little differently. It will probably be in the 3.7-3.8 range though.

8

The Harvard avg GPA is a 3.85. A 3.75 will put me as bad? Im getting worried
https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=444

9

It puts on the slightly lower end of the spectrum, especially as an asian applicant. However, I think you counter that well with your focus on humanities, as it is quite rare to have Asian humanities applicants. Overall, work with what you have to show you’re unique and unlike every other candidate regardless of GPA. Plus, your W GPA is fine.