Chance me, please! Stanford #1

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Ok, so I'm new here but I'm wondering if I have even a chance at getting into the schools I applied to. My counselor says that I'm "competitive," but you know how that is.</p>

<p>Caucasian Female
GPA: UW 3.96 (Rank 5/658)
W 4.6
Classes:
9th grade: 1 IB, 5 Honors
10th: 2 IB, 3 Honors
11th: 4 IB, 1 AP, 1 Honors
12th: 4 IB, 1 Honors</p>

<p>Main issues: The only time I got a 'B' was in AP Calculus, so I'm hoping that's not a problem. The real problem is that I don't have a science this year (the schedule wouldn't work out, but I think it'd be hard for admissions people to see that), so I ended up taking Computer Graphics, Photography, Dance and Health (required). These seem to easy, so I feel like the colleges may think I'm getting lazy.</p>

<p>SAT II Literature: 770
SAT II Maths lv. 2: 700
SAT II Japanese: 670</p>

<p>SAT 1: 2270</p>

<p>Activities:
-Japanese Club President
-Key Club President (have been VP)
-Anime Club Co-Founder and VP
-Archery competitive team member (but I've only been doing it for 2 years, so I'm not accomplished or anything)
-NHS member</p>

<p>The problem with activities is that I have like at most 50 hours for in-school and 100 hours for out of school (per year). I guess that's on the low side, I don't know.</p>

<p>And I have your typical other stuff, like National Merit Finalist and AP Scholar, etc.</p>

<p>I really want to get into Stanford. So, do I have a chance? The more I look at stuff, the worse it seems. Also, please chance me for:</p>

<p>Brown
Columbia
Georgetown
Swarthmore
UC-Berkeley </p>

<p>If at all possible. And yes, I do have a safety that I've already been accepted to.</p>

<p>Thanks for wading through this!</p>

2

<p>Sorry, but I really think you will not get in. It is pretty much a crap shoot for anyone because of its 10 percent admissions rate. I know plenty of candidates more qualified than you and with more consistency and harder classes. Your ECs look like they are on steriods it seems like you are an artificial student only aiming to get into an elite college and it is quite apparent. You will not get into Stanford. Your japanese SAT 2 is very weak. You'll likely get into georgetown and berkeley, but no way an elite school like stanford or even brown. Overall not an impressive student, I can sense the fakery it is very obvious. No way you'll get into stanford. Sorry</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the opinion.</p>

<p>If you don't mind, what about it seems fake to you?</p>

<p>Because the irony with that is that I didn't start any of my extracurriculars with college in mind at all.
And I actually didn't even want to apply to the elite schools to begin with, but I determined that the environment would really be right for me after extensive research/visitation. </p>

<p>If that's what it's going to look like, though, I can't do anything about it. Sad day. :(</p>

4

<p>I'm not going to be so harsh, but I am going to say that Stanford will be a high reach for you. Your SAT I score is really good and you obviously have leadership. However, because you are a pretty mediocre applicant in Stanford's eyes and you dont have something that blatantly stands out, the chances of an acceptance are very low. </p>

<p>You have to remember that Stanford accepts only a fraction of its 4.0 GPA, 2400 SAT applicants. You should not let Stanford affect any of your other choices.</p>

5

<p>Yeah, I realize it's pretty much a reach for everyone, more so if you weren't like in the Olympics while inventing the cure for cancer, or something. xD</p>

<p>Thanks for replying! Just wondering, do you have any thoughts on the other schools I applied to? Oh, and do you think the month I spent teaching English in Japan over the summer would help me stand out at all? Or is that just kinda-blah?</p>

<p>Sorry for the crazed question-asking. xP</p>

6

<p>Just a parent here;
I think your grades and scores will definitely get you looked at. What no one here can evaluate are your essays and short answers. Perhaps you have a sense of humor or a reflective insight that came through. Maybe your letter to the roommate would make everyone want to room with you.
Good for you for only doing the activities that were particularly interesting to you. Staying true to yourself is more important than jumping on the hamster wheel of high school competetiveness.</p>

7

<p>I taught English in Japan too. Its definitely something that stands out because (no offense to those this affects) most white kids - majority of applicants - dont do stuff like that. </p>

<p>You should pretty much add whatever you feel that others will not add; make yourself sound sweet while your at it too. If you like to play the violin but sound like a drowning duck, just say that you specialize in animal sound effects. You get my drift?</p>

8

<p>Berkeley OOS: slight reach (50-50), though it'll depend on your essays</p>

<p>If your essays are great, I'd say Swarthmore is a match. You have a good shot at the rest. For Stanford, I'd say it could go either way, as long as your essays are unique and strong; I see no visible weaknesses. I definitely wouldn't say it's a "high reach." I'm assuming the above posters were being sarcastic.</p>

9

<p>I don't understand what whatiscollegeokk is trying to say. I think that your ECs are very modest and are definitely not "fake" or "on steroids". I think that was a very untactful personal attack.</p>

<p>I think that they are nice and focused on your interests. Just wondering: what did you put as your intended major?</p>

10

<p>As probably everyone has told you: Stanford is a reach for everyone. It is superhard to get into Stanford. However, it really comes down to what you put in your essay.
Your SATs are great. I also agree with the person above me, your ECs are very nice. They are focused and I think that it is unique to have a caucasian girl learn Japanese. You also deserve a pat on the back for only getting one B in your high school career. Good Luck! :)</p>

11

<p>
[quote]
They are focused and I think that it is unique to have a caucasian girl learn Japanese.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It isn't.</p>

<p>My picks:</p>

<p>Rejected at Stanford, Brown and Columbia
Accepted at UCB, Swarthmore, and Georgetown</p>

12

<p>I agree with Bandtenhut's picks</p>

<p>You have nice EC's but they don't show enough leadership, or a genius prodigy hahaha</p>

<p>Don't worry though, Stanford has such a hice acceptance rate, it is soooo hard to get in, bascially the rich legacies, the 'under-represented' and some amazing geniuses get in...don't judge yourself on it at all, and feel proud that you had such awesome grades and helped people in japan :)</p>

13

<p>Hey I want to go to stanford too! I haven't taken the SAT's yet.</p>

14

<p>i completely disagree about getting into georgetown but good luck anyway...i think you do have a good shot at stanford</p>

15

<p>yeah i'd say you're in at georgetown, and probably swarthmore if you're esseys are good. I do know someone at my school 1/605, really strong school, really high SAT scores, all honors/Ap etc taht got flat our rejected ED, but then again, schools like this are total schitzophrenic when it comes to addmisions, you have a shot, and almost as good of one as you can have, but it's still gonna be tough. good luck though!</p>

16

<p>
[quote]

Quote:
They are focused and I think that it is unique to have a caucasian girl learn Japanese.
It isn't.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The fact that the caucasian girl got a high 600 on the SAT II Japanese is a feat indeed; not only are the language SAT IIs hard for non-natives, but the native speakers of Japanese screw up the curve. I think it is somewhat unique that the OP has taken her interests beyond just reading manga.</p>

17

<p>Well, I guess learning Japanese is not as unique as I thought. The schools around my area don't offer anything but Spanish and French, so that's what I based my opinion off of. But I really do think you'll get into a great school.</p>

18

<p>

Double major for Japanese Language and Linguistics. </p>

<p>Thank you to everyone who responded! It's good to know that my extracurriculars don't come across as contrived to at least some of you, because I'd rather not have my passions and whatnot be seen as just a way to get into college (sort of devalues them, you know?).</p>

<p>I guess from this point I'll just assume that I have some kind of small shot and wait for the email.</p>

<p>Oh, as far as the Japanese discussion goes, is the Japanese SAT II score ok, then? It was like in the 30th percentile, but I sort of assumed that colleges would at least take into account that mostly native speakers take that. With the Japanese, I guess I was trying to show that I'm really committed to learning it - the score was a disappointment, but my school doesn't have AP Japanese and I learned most of it through going to a tutor since 7th grade, so I'm hoping that will show...something. xD I know that a lot of kids take Japanese because it's "cool" right now, but at least at my school most of them quit pretty early.</p>

19

<p>You have very good stats. But, I am afraid that you don't have stellar ecs or other stuffs that make you stand out from other bunces of applicants with similar or better stats as you. 2 of my close friends got into Stanford last year and are students there right now. One of them raised like 50k from charity events and wrote very compelling essays about his leadership and his desire to contribute to the humane cause of the society...But, I would say that you have good chances at Georgetown, Swarthmore, and Berkeley. (if you are in-state) Brown: Reach. Columbia: High reach. Stanford: High reach.</p>

20

<p>You're plastic. The typical azn fo sho</p>