Chance Me Please (Semi-weird situation)! Will Chance Back!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Grade: Rising Senior

Ethnicity and Gender: Asian Male

Schools: UPenn Cornell Williams Amherst Vassar Haverford Middlebury Colgate Hamilton Wesleyan U Pitt Bucknell F&M

ACADEMICS:

GPA: UW:3.5 W:4.08 (Honors: +.5 AP:+1)
SAT: Projected 2340
ACT: 35 (36W, 36M, 32R, 36S) Will take again and hope for 36.
SAT Subject Tests: Chem (800), Math II (800), US History (750), Physics (770- Know it’s a bit low for a physics major, so will take again)
AP: 4 in AP World History 5s in AP: Chem, Physics 1, English Lang, Stat, BC Calc, AB Subscore, and APUSH
Class Rank: School doesn’t rank—probably top 25%
Course Load: Honors and AP whenever possible except for Spanish in 10th and 11th due to conflicts with both APWH and BC Calc
Senior Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Bio, AP English Lit, AP Econ, Spanish 5, Band, Honors Linear Algebra

EXTRACURRICULARS (years calculated including Senior Year):
—Founder of Mu Alpha Theta
—President of Math Club/Mu Alpha Theta for 2 years; in math club for 3 years
—Marching Band for 4 years
—Physics Olympics for 3 years
—Photography Hobby
—Asian Culture Club for 2 years
—Hi-Q for 1 year
—Did FBLA Freshman year (Should I even include this?)
—Was in Crew Freshman year (Should I even include this?)

Awards:
—1st place in both regional Physics and Math Awards and got 2 Governor’s due to those
—AIME qualifier in 10th and 11th grade
— Highest AMC 10A in school (10th) and Highest 12B in school (11th)
—Part of SET and CTY due to 790 in SAT math in 8th grade.

SUMMERS:
—Interning at Temple University (3 years full-time including this summer)

RESEARCH
—Independently doing research on the Practical Use of Magnetic Fields in Treated Cardiovascular Diseases

VOLUNTEER/COMMUNITY SERVICE:
—Work in the Korean section of a nursing home with a large Korean population, since I can use my special multicultural skill of Bilinguality there
—Once a year, I set up a photo gallery of the residents in the nursing home. I take photos of whoever wants to receive one, put them in a frame, and post them on either a wall or the halls for a couple weeks.

Intended Major: Physics and Chem Double Major
Income Bracket: $500,000+
Location: Highly Ranked Public School In Pennsylvania (#1 in some cases)
Almost Useless Hook: Bi-Lingual (Tri including Spanish)
Special Case: I was sick for a month in each of my Freshman and Sophomore and Junior years (It was more of 3 weeks worth of absence and me popping in and out of class once in a while because I felt slightly better). This adversely affected my grades. Should I say that I was only sick for my Freshman year? I fear that colleges will not want a sickly child like myself. This is even further the case because my doctor was unable to connect the 3 illnesses, so I don’t have a way to name the illness I had.

2

your GPA is slightly lower than most applicants. However your extracurricular activites and test scores are quite impressive so I would not be surprised if you got into any of these schools.

3

Yeah I agree with the above. Some might be mid reachs like UPenn since your GPA is a bit lower than they get, but the test scores and ECs are quite nice. Chance me back please!

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1798258-chances-at-yale.html

4

GPA could use improvement but test scores are outstanding which will heavily help you.
UPenn-low reach
Williams-^
Amherst-^
Vassar-match
Haverford-match
Middlebury- low reach, you never know with this school
Colgate-match/low safety
Wesleyan-match
UPitt- safety
Bucknell F&M- match
Hamilton-don’t know enough about it

5

I can chance you for UPenn and Cornell. I agree. Your GPA is on the much lower side for these universities, and I’m not entirely sure they will accept the special case, since many weight Freshman year the lowest anyway. I wouldn’t worry about it so much. The past is in the past. Just work on making your senior year grades the best possible. Your ACT score is fine as it is. THERE IS NO POINT TRYING TO RETAKE THE ACT OR (EVEN WORSE) PROJECTING THE SAT. Colleges could not care less whether you get a 35 or a 36. That will never be the difference, I promise you. Please don’t waste your time on this. Same deal with the subject tests. Don’t worry about them. They are very good. You are wasting your time (like thousands of other perfectionists) with trying to improve the things that are least important. The fact of the matter is you are competitive enough with those scores. Your AP scores are solid. You made an interesting remark about your class rank. You seem pretty intelligent, but top 25% doesn’t look to good and doesn’t suggest good things to me even if it is not reported. Your course load seems to be good enough. Your ec’s in my opinion are rather weak for these schools. And your bottom 4 don’t seem to be worth mentioning at all as they present nothing about you as a person other than that a) you either lack commitment to the activities/don’t have a passion for it and/or b) that you are Asian and that makes mentioning the Asian Culture Club worth it (in reality, this doesn’t add anything to anyone’s application in my opinion (not just yours)). The bright spot is that you are an aspiring physics major and you have a few ec’s that relate. I highly recommend talking mostly about that. Your awards are fine, but would be typical of an applicant applying to these schools for physics. Now your work experience and research actually sound fascinating to me. Are you trying to get it published? That could be a huge help, as that might be the most unique thing about your application. Your volunteering is okay. It’s too bad that you didn’t pursue more of the photography service because that could have made your hobby seem more legitimate. Your trilingualness is not a hook. And you may already know this, but being a wealthy, asian male is almost an anti-hook, which kinds of sucks and is completely unfair but it’s true. As for your individual schools: UPenn - high/very high reach (high reach for CAS and very high reach for College of Engineering), Cornell - High Reach. Please chance me back! http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1796275-what-do-you-think-of-my-chances-are-at-these-universities.html#latest Good luck!

6

Opinions count but only to a limited extent- in that they are what you choose to make of them. And where is the beef, anyway, if you don’t mind me asking? I mean, how is Colgate a “match/low safety” relative to Bucknell and F&M which have lower GPA and scores when you look at their self-reported statistics?

Rather than obsess or distract yourselves with this “chance me” indulgence-activity, may I recommend you refocus your efforts on your applications’ details and the quality and sincerity of your essays, preparations to make the most of your campus tours/engagements with college representatives, and your dealings with those who will prepare your recommendations.

That would be a sensible and worthwhile approach to the challenges ahead.

And best of luck with your efforts and college search!

7

And on a different note: on what basis have you chosen these colleges?

I get: Williams Amherst Hamilton Wesleyan Middlebury Colgate and even Penn

I get: Vassar Haverford Cornell

I get: Bucknell F&M

But I don’t get how the same person would like U Pitt AND Bucknell. Or Vassar AND Bucknell. or a bunch of other combinations.

Are you sure you know enough about these colleges to know that they would all suit you?

8

Pretty good ECs, esp. the nursing home, pretty good test scores, low GPA. The low GPA might be a problem, and you’re an unhooked Asian. If you want to maximize your chances of getting into a good school, apply ED to UPenn or Cornell, Williams, or Amherst. Just out of curiosity, why are you applying to so many LACs? Nothing on your app suggests a predilection for the arts besides photography. I’ve heard Williams is very athletic. Are you good enough at crew to get recruited?

Chance back?: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1778302-chance-an-asian-yale-duke-williams-p1.html

Some updates from when I first posted: got a 780 on the Latin SAT subject test and accepted for publication in four lit mags.

9

Seriously? do you really not know anything about LACs?! Liberal Arts Colleges is not the same thing as “art college”!

10

@collegemom3717 Oh boy that is funny.

@supercilious That is pretty bad lol.

11

@collegemom3717 I know LAC doesn’t mean “art college”. When I said “arts”, I meant the humanities, since LACs tend to emphasize the humanities and/or a well-rounded education. Some LACs are also known for the sciences and produce many PhDs/have a good record of getting students into top graduate schools, but they don’t usually have the resources or wide range of course offerings that large research universities have. Naturally, everything I said was predicated on the assumption that the OP wants to study science (based on all the math/science ECs) but I could very well be wrong.

12

@collegemom3717 I do not hope to attend U Pitt; I’m attempting to set it up as my state safety. Bucknell and F&M are two of the four schools I haven’t visited yet, but I’m going soon, so I’ll know if I’ll truly want to go there when I visit. Cornell was a bit of a unique situation because I really like the school when I visited it. I just wish to know why Haverford and Vassar are in a different category from the other LACs since those are the other 2 schools I have not visited yet. Could you explain that to me?

13

@supercilious I do plan to study science. Since LACs generally don’t have Grad students, I believe that I can start my research from an earlier point of my Undergrad studies. I was a bit worried about the course offerings, but I always asked if I could somehow forcibly make an unoffered course for a semester if a couple friends and I wanted to, and most the colleges I went to said yes.

14

Two things. First, LACs:

@supercilious, your view of LACs (

) needs some expanding. Try this definition:

Like @TToDSkeith, many students prefer to study science at an LAC, then go to a research university for post-graduate. Since most careers in science require grad school and all of the top tier LACs have prepare their science graduates for that.

Then, schools.

To be a bit simplistic,

U Pitt is a bit gritty, not a defined campus, integrated into Pittsburgh. Bucknell is your classic picture-perfect college campus nestled into the Pennsylvania countryside. Most people will prefer one environment to the other.

Vassar and Haverford are intensely academic and very proud of their efforts to be as diverse as possible; there is no Greek life, and the student body is very individualistic. Bucknell and F&M (which have active Greek life) are conspicuously more homogenous and notably more conservative student bodies. I don’t know many people who would be equally happy in both environments.

15

(sorry for the mangled syntax above…editing without proofing…argh)

16

@supercilious:

By percentage of math majors:

Williams: 13%
Hamilton: 10%
UChicago: 8%
MIT: 6%

Nothing about these figures, or other available statistics, would indicate that LACs categorically emphasize the humanities in disproportion to other fields.

17

UPenn- reach for everyone
Cornell-reach
Williams-reach
Amherst-reach
Vassar-match
Haverford-match
Middlebury-match
Colgate-match
Wesleyan-match
U Pitt- safety
I don’t know enough about Bucknell or F&M to match, but I’d bet they’re safeties.

Chance back?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1803083-chance-me-please.html#latest

18

To @merc81 and @collegemom3717, I stand corrected. I don’t know what else to say, but please refrain from addressing me after this.