Chance me please?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm currently a sophomore attending one of the highest ranked public schools in Illinois. The only ones ahead of us are magnet schools. A portion of this is going to be plans and speculations, but I would really like some chances on a couple schools.</p>

<p>GPA: currently a 3.43 uw, 4.15 weighted. I am hoping to pull this up to around a 3.5 or a 3.6 unweighted by the end of junior year. I am currently on a slight upward trend</p>

<p>Courses: freshman year: Honors World History, Honors Geometry, Honors physics, Honors Spanish 2</p>

<p>Sophomore year: AP US history, Honors algebra 2 trig, honors biology</p>

<p>Junior year I will be taking: AP English, AP European history, AP computer science, honors chemistry</p>

<p>Senior year I will be taking: AP English, AP biology, AP economics, AP calculus AB</p>

<p>ECs
By the time I graduate I will have
Violin for 12 years, symphony orchestra 3 years, chamber orchestra 3 years, first chair in both senior year</p>

<p>Leading a small group for the 8th grade program at my church
Leading a small group for the 1-4th grade program at my church
^both for 3 years</p>

<p>Creating a part of the missions ministry at my church for North Chicago, raising money for instruments and getting volunteers to teach lessons</p>

<p>Mission trips, both 1 week long, to inner city Chicago and Memphis</p>

<p>Various other service projects over the years</p>

<p>Other things</p>

<p>Will have very good recommendations and essays</p>

<p>No financial need will be required</p>

<p>Asian, not sure how much this will count against me</p>

<p>Colleges I plan to apply to</p>

<p>Major interests: biology, business, possibly secondary education</p>

<p>University of Illinois at Urbana champaign
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
UC Berkeley
University of Chicago
University of Colorado Boulder
Indiana University
Duke University
Notre Dame
Northwestern
Vanderbilt</p>

<p>I know quite a few of them are very out there, but I figure I should be able to get into at least one of those. Please correct me if I'm wrong.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for reading!</p>

2

<p>My ACT score is currently a 28 and I am taking a prep class, so hopefully I will be able to bring it to around a 32-34. Can’t believe I forgot to add that. Sorry!</p>

3

<p>you have a rather low standardized testing score (as of now) and also a rather low GPA. Don’t emphasize the length of time you’ve played an instrument but that program you’ve initiated or leadership roles you have gotten. AP classes are rather weak also in a school that offers much more (if you’re school only offers that many or one or two more, disregard that). Do you have any hooks? do cool stuff, build things, passion (if its music, make sure you’re damn good at it, and have external validation for it–your innate love will not be enough, welcome to the dismal world of college applications) </p>

<p>UChicago, Duke, Vanderbilt, Berkeley, Northwestern are all stretches
You have a decent shot at Urbana Champaign</p>

<p>Don’t go exclusively by my analysis. i’m just a senior like yourself who has had luck with admissions thus far and is an incurable insomniac. Best of luck!</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the insight! While music is definitely a passion of mine, and I am pretty good at it, I don’t consider it to be my main priority. The kids I teach to at my church are probably the most important thing to me. I’m going to focus a lot on them in my essay. By the way, I’m a sophomore, not a senior, my senior year classes I listed are what I’m going to take. I have almost two years to bring up my ACT, so I think I should be able to bring it up a good amount. What percentage chance do you think I have at UiUC? That’s where I see myself ending up, so I want to get a good amount of info on it. Thanks!
Does anybody else have some input on this?</p>

5

<p>And weak APs? I count 8 up there. That’s not enough? Even though my school does offer quite a few, most kids don’t end up taking more than 4-5 their whole high school career. I thought 8 AP courses would be more than enough.</p>

6

<p>University of Illinois at Urbana champaign - match
University of Michigan Ann Arbor - high match
UC Berkeley - low reach
University of Chicago - reach
University of Colorado Boulder - safety
Indiana University - safety
Duke University - high reach
Notre Dame - reach
Northwestern - high reach
Vanderbilt - reach</p>

<p>I really hope the best for you. Asians are at a disadvantage at most private schools while many public schools are forced by the gov’t not to use race-based admission policies.</p>