Chance Me PLEASE. Transfer UChicago+other top schools.

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Schools I'm interested in: UChicago, Stanford(actually has a higher transfer acceptance rate than UChicago), MIT, UPENN, UCAL Berkeley, Duke.</p>

<p>Fallback: UWashington, USouthern California, and Beida(Beijing University, I have guaranteed acceptance.)</p>

<p>Highschool:
Graduated from Erie High School(Colorado)
37th in class rank with a 3.5 gpa(unweighted)
29 ACT.
AP's: APUSH(4), AP European History(3), AP Calc(never tested).
Attended University of Colorado through dual enrollment for last semester of senior year, received 11 credit hours.
180 hours of community service(120 in Dominica)
4 year Varsity Letterman(Wrestling, never qualified for state)
First Team All State Academic Team Wrestling.
NHS Junior and Senior year.
Rotary club student of the month.
Accomplished Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter/Grappler(2nd at IBJJF World Championships, Multi time Colorado State Champion, record of 29-5, 27 wins by way of submission, and I have never been submitted.)</p>

<p>Family Background:
Lowest income bracket, so <$35,000
No college graduates(don't know if it helps but two siblings had a child before 20)
White(whiter than white, no diversity in this area)</p>

<p>And here's where it gets interesting/hook(i hope) :
Fluent in Chinese.
Lived in China for a year and a half following high school. Beijing for one year, Kunming for one semester. Attended Beijing Language And Culture University while in Beijing and a small language school in Kunming, Roberts Language School. While in Kunming I attended school 7 days a week 6+ hours a day, and went from HSK 5 to HSK 6 in Chinese proficiency, effectively doubling my Chinese in 4 months, from ~2500 Words to ~5000. I have an amazing Rec letter from my instructor there. </p>

<p>Currently/Uni:
Major-International Affairs
Now I'm attending University of Colorado, taking 6 classes/21 credit hours, and have a 4.0. I'm planning on taking a 25 credit hour summer(half at CU, half at a community college) then 2 more 25 credit hour semesters before applying for fall of 2014. </p>

<p>I had an event(don't care to elaborate) that turned me into a machine between Beijing and Kunming, so I know I will have a 4.0 in the coming semesters. Lowest grade I've received at CU so far is a 91 for example. I can retake the ACT and reasonably score around a 33. </p>

<p>I'm hoping on banking on the fact that I come from a poor family with no college grads in a small white community in the middle of a white state(colorado), yet able to speak fluent Chinese and having a 4.0 since starting college while taking an intensive schedule. </p>

<p>Please let me know what you think and any tips you have for the upcoming year.</p>

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<p>Note that none of this is personal experience:
From what i’ve heard is that if you wait until the end of your second year of college to transfer, then your high school record is completely irrelevant (I’m doing this hopefully to transfer from UT Austin to Columbia/Harvard, had a friend transfer from UT Austin to Harvard two years ago). If you still want to transfer before your second year, make sure your college extracurricular activities and most of your honors come from the time you are in college to show adcoms that the majority of your accomplishments are recent and thus you can continue to make these accomplishments. MIT seems a bit of a reach, but UChicago, Stanford, and Berkeley seem great, just maintain a 4.0, and keep up those honors. Also, if you can somehow manage to scrape out a lab, internship, or any sort of teaching job at any of the schools you want to transfer to, that is a huge plus. Don’t bank too much on your socioeconomic background as transfers tend to care more about if you can provide something to their school. Socioeconomic is mainly for freshmen admissions to show any problems you overcame in high school. Just trust in your capability, don’t use excuses, work hard, and you will definitely get in.</p>

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<p>From what I hear you are correct, it’s all college forward for us. High school isn’t as important. </p>

<p>Would you recommend an internship over school. For instance, I could secure a pretty good internship(In China or Boulder) this summer or take 25 credit hours. Which would you recommend?</p>

<p>MIT has the higher acceptance rate than most of those schools. ~8% vs. UChicago’s 2.1%, or Harvard’s 1%. Don’t know if that affects your opinion but… just fyi. </p>

<p>Good luck on your transfer btw and thanks for the response.</p>

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<p>Thanks.
When i suggested a internship, i was meaning at the university/school that you want to apply to. Usually they have a program, or if you email a professor about your passion in one field or other that the professor teaches he/she might offer you a lab position with him/her.
For example, two years ago, my friend emailed a professor at Baylor about her passion for carcinogen studies and proposed a theory to him, and commended him for the work he was doing with his tenure regarding this. He didn’t respond, so she emailed him again with a proposed experiment. He then responded and said how he respected her courage, that a high school student could send him such a professional email. He then offered her a tour of the campus and eventually she started a lab/internship with him. Guess what university she got into.</p>

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<p>She didn’t go to baylor did she??? And alright, thanks for the advice. Would it be to late for this summer seeing as there is only another month in the semester?</p>

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<p>bump bump bump.</p>

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<p>I like your fall backs and I think you are doing great things right now. With inspiring essays and a show case of your accomplishments, I think you can also contend for spots at schools like Chicago and Cal. I am sure you will end up getting into one of those greats schools!</p>

<p>Respond to my thread?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1489944-your-view-affirmative-action.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1489944-your-view-affirmative-action.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;