<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am a rising senior. I was wondering if someone could chance me.</p>
<p>ACT superscore: 35
SAT II: 800 Math II 800 Chem 800 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.65, 4.3 weighted
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school not ranking. probably Top 5%
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): USAPhO SemiFinalist, AIME Qualifier 2x, DECA state finalist, possible National Merit finalist, several state and regional math and science competition awards.
Volunteering Hours: ~200
Activities:Math Team - captain; Tennis - varsity etc.</p>
<p>what is my chance for RD?</p>
<p>Your unweighted GPA might hurt you, it’s a wonder to me you can even have a weighted GPA that high with an unweighted GPA relatively low for IVY standards (my unweighted was 4.0 and weighted was only 4.21). How many APs did you take? What area of academia did you receive the most Bs or Cs in?</p>
<p>Did you take the SAT reasoning exam? Your SAT IIs are great to be sure (mine sucked, 650s haha but Stanford doesn’t require SAT IIs so they didn’t hurt me), but really, you’re a pretty cookie-cutter applicant for them. So was I. </p>
<p>Your tennis helps, but to be honest with you, once you reach a certain GPA/SAT cutoff, it’s a crapshoot as to whether you’ll get in or not. Stanford’s acceptance rate for RD was about 5% this year, and they could probably have picked an equally qualified and completely different set of students about five times over. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, they’re pretty much the same.</p>
<p>Your best bet is to have something really different or remarkable to write about, and then write about it well. Both my Stanford and Harvard admissions officers mentioned that my essay was the deciding factor in my application. There are only a few students who have unlocked potential cures for cancer (cough-Angela Zhang-cough) or summited Mt. Everest. After that, they need some way to distinguish between the thousands of people with National Merit or state or regional awards, and their only real opportunity to do that is through your essay. </p>
<p>Stanford especially has a reputation for picking students because they’re quirky and diverse and will bring something other than intellect to the table. So if you have a passion for insects or the science of pillow talk, best get on that.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I got Bs mainly on languages and social science. I took 8 APs so far and will take 4 more.</p>
<p>Languages as in foreign languages and SS as in history? What’s your English ACT subscore? They watch for kids who may not be able to keep up reading/essay-wise even if they’re looking at a math or science career, so as long as you’re strong in all of the reading comprehension stuff, you should be ok. That doesn’t mean you’ll get in, but it does mean that you potentially won’t be siphoned off right away. </p>
<p>Apply to as many schools as you have the money and sanity to apply to! It may surprise you where you do and don’t get in. Harvard and Stanford were a yes for me, but Claremont McKenna and Pitzer, along with quite a few others (Princeton and Yale, which isn’t so interesting haha), were a no. </p>
<p>Good luck again!</p>