Chance me, please!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello, all. If you don't mind, I'd love to hear my chances for UCLA, Cal, and (most especially) Stanford. Actually, the last one is, by far, the priority. I promise to chance back, but I really don't know much about this, so I don't know if I'll do any good. Thanks!</p>

<p>Basics
Gender: Male
Location: California
School: Huge, suburban, public
Ethnicity: White
Notes: Lower middle class. Also, gay. Still can't figure out if either of those things will help/hurt/have no effect on my chances.</p>

<p>Scores
SAT: 2370 (800 Reading, 790 Math, 780 Writing)
ACT: 36
SAT II: Yet to take them...
Notes: For both the SAT and the ACT, I decided to take the tests very early without studying or preparing at all, so that I could then retake later for higher scores overall. Unfortunately, my parents refused to finance this plan after I got these scores the first time. Is it worth it to insist on retaking the SAT for the sake of Stanford?</p>

<p>Grades/Classes
Rank: 1
Unweighted GPA: 4.00
Weighted GPA: 4.33
APs: World History (5), U.S. History (5), English 3 (5), Calculus AB (5), Physics (4), Government (?), Economics (?), Psychology (?), English 4 (?), Biology (?), Calculus BC (?)
Other Notable Classes: 3 years of German
Notes: These are, sadly, all the APs my school has to offer, though, thanks to my wonderful naivete, I'm not sure if this is normal or not. For Physics, we didn't even come close to getting through all the material (long story) and I had never taken the regular course, so, even though that's my weakest score, I consider it a miracle. Calculus BC won't actually show up on my transcripts because my school doesn't offer it--I'm teaching myself.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars
Sports: water polo (4 years), swimming (4 years, probably captain this year but I suppose it's too late to matter)
Leadership Positions: Vice President of Freshman Class, Treasurer of German Club, Secretary and later President of the National Honor Society
Honors/Awards/Whatever: 1st place local and 2nd place regional in the VFW Voice of Democracy Speech Competition, American Legion Boys State Delegate, other things that I can't remember right now
Community Service: two summers as a volunteer swim team coach (before freshman and sophomore years), middle school camp counselor for one of those week-long-during-the-school-year deals, planning to get in another 100-200 hours working with either animals or children before application time
Notes: So, my extracurriculars aren't all that great. But I've got a lot of free time this year to pad them out. I'm a writer on the side, and my grandma has some (admittedly, small-time) publishing connections, so polishing up some of my stories and getting them published is always an option. What's the best way to use my time for the next few months in order to maximize my impressiveness?</p>

<p>Other
Essays: Writing is my "thing." I'm pretty confident about these.
Recommendation Letters: My English 2/AP English 3 teacher and my Algebra 2/Pre-Calculus/AP Calculus/AP Physics/TA teacher. Both of them love me to pieces.
Notes: I feel like I'm missing something... Oh, well. Feel free to ask.</p>

<p>Alright, please be totally honest. I know my ECs are kind of weak, I'm working on that. Any tips in that area are much appreciated. I also realize that LA and Berkeley are both pretty safe bets, but I'm really worried about Stanford and my chances for financial aid at all three schools. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Are you serious? Your at the top of your class, your GPA is sparkling, and your course load is rigorous. On top of that, you’ve done Boys State, you volunteer and you’ve done a sufficient amount of extracurricular activities.</p>

<p>I don’t know how you have the time to write books with all you do. But I wouldn’t worry about being a published author- save that for an employment resume, not a college resume. I would say spend the next couple months doing what your doing- volunteer, good grades for the first semester, and relax and pat yourself on the back for a high school career well-done!!</p>

<p>The only thing you’re missing is confidence- you have your pick of schools, dude. And I think you’d get into Stanford, but you know how it is with money at Ivies…</p>

3

<p>Thanks for responding! Just to be clear, everybody, I don’t actually have those 100-200 hours of community service mentioned, just the free time to complete them by November. Is it worth it, or should I focus on something else?</p>

4

<p>I feel filthy doing this, but: bump.</p>

5

<p>Your academics clearly are fantastic and your EC’s aren’t too bad (I mean, you have the leadership positions you need for Stanford - just nothing special there). </p>

<p>You have a solid chance for Stanford; I’d say 60% or so because indeed your EC’s aren’t as awesome as your academics. The number of hours of community service work doesn’t matter as much as what you do with those hours that make you a little different…</p>

6

<p>In at UCLA and Cal, probably regents scholarship.</p>

<p>You have a great chance at Stanford as well, make sure to write great essays and spend more time on ECs you are passionate about.</p>

7

<p>“60%”
That is ridiculous. His app is an average applicant, at best.</p>

<p>Your grades/GPA are good.</p>

<p>Your leadership positions are average.Your volunteering/awards are relatively terrible/nothing special.
Also, your course rigor is terrible compared to most top applicants.
Your homosexuality can be a URM if you use it enough.</p>

<p>Focus on your writing/publishing, the other things are all mediocre.</p>

<p>You’re probably in at UCLA/Cal.
If you were to give percentages,
about a 10-15% chance at Stanford, perhaps 40-50% if you show some major and unique passion/URM your homosexuality.</p>

<p>Stanford admissions are getting brutal. I think the admissions rate was 7.5% last year.</p>