<p>I'm an upcoming senior in high school and I've got my eyes set on Stanford, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Brown(in descending priority in case you're wondering). I would really appreciate it if you could let me know what you think my chances are of being accepted into each. c:</p>
<p>Vietnamese-American Male. Neither of my biological parents completed college but my stepfather has, not sure if that qualifies as a first-generation hook?
Rank: 7/600 (Should move to rank 5 or 6 by beginning of senior year)
Unweighted GPA: 3.98 (one B freshman year hehe)
Weighted GPA: 4.65 with a slight upward trend
AP Classes: 1 sophomore year (World), 5 Junior year (USH, HUG, Calc BC, English Lang, Psychology), and 5 AP classes scheduled for senior year. I scored a 5 on AP World History, and I'm predicting 5's on all the rest of my classes.
SAT: Only once so far: 2160 (750R, 740M, 670W). I've been prepping and I've been scoring 770-800 on Math and Writing lately though, so I'm fairly confident I'll raise my score to at least a 2300. Please chance me with a 2300 SAT
Subject tests: 800 Math II, 750 US History
Recommendation letters would be above average, but with such a large class size I doubt I will have any extraordinary ones.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars
3 years varsity swimming. Can't swim senior year due to a knee injury, so no recruiting for sure.
Knee injury displaced me into Art - I've discovered that I love it. Taking art classes over the summer and AP Art next year, but I assume that my late entry into the program will not help.
National Honor Society President (senior year)
Cofounder of a cheer club (freshman-present).
Have tutored at a local middle school for over 200 hours.
Founded tutoring groups at all four middle schools in my town for grades 6-8.
Founded "Art day" - A day at 4 low-income, local elementary schools where students may stay after school to participate in art activities.</p>
<p>I like to think of myself as a funny kid with a unique personality but I'm pretty sure a lot of Stanford applicants think the same thing of themselves... Let me know what you guys think. Thanks</p>
<p>As long as you get your writing scores up, honestly you are a great canidate for all of these schools. I also think you can still be recruited for swimming, if your times are up to par. Just start sending out emails to coaches and explain your injury</p>
<p>For top schools, your ec’s and SAT are weak. Remember you are competing with hoards of Asian males with 2350+ sat’s and nationally recognized EC’s</p>
<p>I have a friend who was accepted to Stanford with comparable stats to yours. I think he was a little more involved in terms of leadership though (President of a few service clubs, involved in Red Cross county-wide, Science Olympiad, NHS board, ASB for a few years, etc.). However, he was also rejected by every Ivy League school he applied to. If you raise your SAT score to 2300+, I’d say you’d be around equal footing with him. At that point, your essays would probably be the determinants. Is there something you could do between now and the time you send in your application that would stand out significantly on your application?</p>
<p>iabass - I don’t think so (but i’m open to suggestions!). An extracurricular that stands out is something along the lines of nationally ranked violinists and I can’t come up with something that prestigious in a matter of months. I’m very confident I can raise my SAT score to a 2300 though, and am shooting for a 2350+. I’ve scored well enough during my practice tests, it’s just a matter of performing the same on test day.</p>
<p>I was just recently elected for NHS president, but I’m starting all that I can as soon as possible. I will be doing a lot through NHS, can I qualify those activities as separate extracurriculars? For example, the tutoring program I’m beginning will use kids from National Honor Society.</p>
<p>Also, I forgot to mention - I will be attending RYLA camp over the summer. I’m not sure how good that looks. I’d assume it’s not that great but it’s worth mentioning.</p>
<p>Most likely, like you and me and 90% of people on CC, you will most likely get rejected from all but one or two of HYPSM, as well as the other Ivys. This is why the essay comes into play. Like you, there are people like me who have similar statistics. Your writing will be very important towards which schools accept you. Maybe you are not a Stanford guy, but maybe Columbia sees something in you that other don’t. That is not indicative of either the Ivys or yourself, that is just how it works. Make sure, whatever you write, that the same guy comes out on every essay, because most likely the only schools that accept you from this bracket will be the best ones for you.</p>
<p>GiveMeReason - Thank you so much! I’ll apply to all the ivies then. Since I haven’t visited, maybe where I’m accepted would be the best fit for me. I would be more than satisfied at any of them I’m sure.</p>
<p>imo, the value of essays is overrated. Relatively few essays are good enough to save an applicant from wait list/rejection.</p>
<p>I think you can put first-gen? You’ll provide information regarding your parents’ education on the common app so it may fly as first gen…also I think being honest and identifying as “mixed” is the way to go.</p>
<p>Academically, for a school like Stanford, your rank/predicted SAT assuming <2350 doesn’t make you top top, but keeps you in the running. For the other top choices, though, it should be ok (higher the SAT the better).</p>
<p>ECs-wise you’ve done fairly ok. You have the leadership, and the initiative shown with the Art fair/organizing the tutoring group is notable. These are things to highlight on your app. Hopefully, you can convey your enthusiasm/personality through the writing supplements.</p>
<p>Hopefully the first-gen thing works out, but otherwise, you seem to be in decent standing for at the very least either of Dartmouth, Columbia, or Brown. Stanford is of course a tough one, but you have a fighting chance (slight boost if in-state) assuming your academics are up to what you plan/hope.</p>
<p>I just found out that my stepdad has no legal custody over me… I’m honestly shocked that I had no idea before now, but it’s good to know. I’d assume I qualify as a first-generation student now? How much of a boost will first-gen give me?</p>
<p>It’s the next best hook after athlete, urm, and legacy; if you’ve made it to the borderline, it could be the thing that could tip the admissions decision in your favor. Top schools are looking for diversity and first gen is always something they can tout. Also, they tend to be more sympathetic because they know that you may not have had the same background to succeed as those with well-educated parents so their standards may be marginally lower.</p>
<p>About the essays: I think schools look not so much at the quality of the prose–as many applicants are fine writers I’m sure–but rather on the content. Will this student fit in? Can this student contribute positively to the school? Etcetera.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t think first-generation provides a huge boost, but if your family around or less than 60,000 a year, you should definitely consider applying to Questbridge. That could potentially be a good hook if your Questbridge essays reveal something that isn’t stated on the Common App.</p>