CHANCE ME! PRINCETON, YALE, HARVARD, UPENN, GEORGETOWN - International Relations

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I have applied to the above listed schools. I'm actually pretty sure I'll get into all of them as I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA, 2280 SAT (perfect 800 Verbal), Student Council President, got 5s on 6 APs (French, Latin, World History, US History, Government, and Literature - the rest were 3s, Calculus, and 4s, Language, Psychology), and spend the last two summers volunteering with orphans in Cambodia and going to invited leadership seminars. (I have a pushy Asian mom... and an American dad who went to Harvard Med School so I might get grandfathered in regardless.)</p>

<p>However I don't know which to pick because, admittedly, I didn't really think about it at the time and just mindlessly applied upon my mother's suggestion (plus UVA so I have a state school fall back option). </p>

<p>I am interested in studying International Relations - specifically International Development, Aid, and Human Rights. </p>

<p>I know Princeton has the Woodrow Wilson school but how good is the undergraduate program? I've heard it's very selective and I don't know if I would be better off going with Georgetown or Yale or Harvard where there is not selection process to get in to the major. Does anybody have any insight into Princeton's undergraduate international studies program? If I don't get selected, can I still take courses in the program or should I just transfer schools at that point? </p>

<p>Yale is revising theirs and that concerns me as I might get caught up in a messy program - but I love how many languages they offer! How many would I be able to realistically take? As for Harvard, I didn't really like it on my visit, the other students seemed so haughty, but they do have a Human Rights study and I am very interested in that. </p>

<p>I know very little about Georgetown's program other than their graduate school is phenomenal. But it's also about 30-40 minutes away from my house so I'd rather go to college further away... However, I'd reconsider this if their study abroad program is really good and tied into the international relations major.</p>

<p>UPenn has the Wharton School, but I have not applied to that. I know they have an International Relations Program that works within the Wharton Program, so how difficult would it be for me to transfer into Wharton? I am fairly good with math but my liberal arts are better. However, I wonder if I shouldn't just suck it up and get better at math and econ since I eventually want to go to SAIS which is econ heavy. </p>

<p>Please advise me! Or point me in the direction of where I should seek advice :) I've very new to the site and I'd really appreciate the help from much more knowledgeable individuals!</p>

2

<p>You’re choosing schools without getting accepted yet?
Maybe you have a good shot at Harvard because of legacy, but seriously, you think you can get into every single one? What makes you so sure you’ll be accepted to every one? I say you get into 2/5, one being harvard. Don’t be too overconfident</p>

3

<p>Your arrogant attitude is very unnerving. First off, I will point out some simple weaknesses in your application in order to crumble your utopian microcosm. Your SAT score of 2280 is best described as “average” among the applicants to your schools. In fact, mifune, a current Harvard attendee, meticulously wrote a page long post debunking common misconceptions about the actuality of the numbers offered on collegeboard.com and the Harvard website. Based on his statistical analysis, your score would place you roughly in the 50th percentile of applicants, no where near stellar. Your 4.0 GPA is at best, misleading, without the context of your high school. Same goes for the amount of AP’s you have taken. While I will admit that is respectable number, that degree of rigor in context of your school is more important than the actual figure. For example, had you taken those in a rural school, much more weight would be given to them than had you taken them in say, an affluent Eastern coast private high school. Your two years of experience building homes in Cambodia is best described as insensitive. Since you were pushed by your parents to do it, those experiences meant nothing to you as a person, and by using working experience in an impoverished nation as a boost to your admissions is disgusting.</p>

<p>I can go on and on about the other lacking aspects of your applications, but I will not, both for my time’s sake and yours. I only hope that your patronizing attitude was not displayed in your essays. While you are a competitive candidate, know that that is pretty much it. You are not a “shoo-in” for your schools. Based off of your description of your parents, I assume you live in a relatively affluent family, and has had no “challenges” you had to experience throughout your life. This only makes your application even more futile, for it is only mediocre in terms of other well-off families. </p>

<p>I wish you best of luck in your applications, but in the future, do not let your attitude get in the way of reality. There’s a reason why Harvard rejects over 93% of their applicants, and I see no reason why they should accept or deny you.</p>

4

<p>@JudgmentDay My 2280 breaks down into 800 Verbal, 800 Writing, 680 Math. Math is my weakness. I debated retaking the SATs to boost my math score but I didn’t have the time.</p>

<p>I attend one of the top ranked prep schools in the country and take advanced/honors courses in every academic subject. My 4.0 is the result of lots of hard work.</p>

<p>I volunteer in Cambodia because that is the region I was adopted from. I wasn’t adopted until I was almost 7. I have a younger brother who I was adopted along side - if not for him, I don’t know that I would have been adopted. Please don’t talk to me about not knowing about the hardships of life.</p>

<p>My pushy Asian mom - is actually my pushy Asian dad (I have two dads but my “Asian mom” aka my Asian dad jokingly calls himself that because he says he nags me about Math just like his mom did and frankly we both get weirded out by having to call him “daddy” or “father” as my American dad has always been “dad” so we’ve settled on “Asian mom”). And he pushes me academically not in extracurriculars. </p>

<p>Yes it’s true my parents are upper middle class, but they both came from middle class families and worked hard to get to where they are and I worked hard for my academic successes as well so I don’t see why I should bat my eyes and pretend to be coy about them.</p>

5

<p>Is this a joke?</p>

6

<p>A statement like “I’m actually pretty sure I’ll get into all of them” is just ridiculously arrogant. You’re aware that they reject candidates that are more qualified than you ALL of the time?</p>

7

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<p>Seriously? And you’re the one making the assumption that the likes of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, three of the best universities the world has ever seen, are essentially safeties for you? I think you have a decent chance at Harvard, if only because of the legacy (otherwise you’d be an average candidate at best), and Georgetown, and you’re probably in at UVA. Also, without your class rank at the private prep school, we don’t really have enough information. Next time, please come back with more information about you as a candidate; you’re certainly not guaranteed to get into any of these schools (including UVA, although you have a very good chance there), and to assume that you’ll be accepted at HYP, Penn, and Georgetown is simply foolish.</p>

8

<p>@lilyjames</p>

<p>I grew up in the rural countryside of China and worked the fields as a little boy, so please don’t come telling me how I can’t “make judgments on hardships of life.” My parents also grew up in the rural countryside, and through their hard work were accepted into the most prestigious Universities in China, an almost unheard of story. Relocating over 10 times through 4 states and 2 countries add to the difficulties I have experienced. So, yes, I have been through much more “hardships” than you have.</p>

<p>Your attitude is still extremely patronizing. Even if accepted into the top schools, I worry about your future in this world.</p>

9

<p>Cambodian?
Harvard legacy?
Gay parents?
Snotty attitude?</p>

10

<p>Unfortunately, a parent who went to med school at harvard does not make one a legacy at Harvard college or confer any advantage.</p>

<p>Not sure if this post is serious, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. They are all great schools. Wait and see where you get in and then the choices will become easier. Very few unhooked students get into all 3 of HYP.</p>

11

<p>Sorry, not a ■■■■■ and not Cambodian. And yes my parents are gay, I fail to see how that makes me a ■■■■■ though… You realize I was adopted in 2000? It wasn’t the dark ages, but still not perfect.</p>

<p>Well I got interview invitations for Princeton and Yale so I’d say my chances are fairly good…</p>

<p>Of course I could be wrong, but all of the students I know from years above me who got interviews got in or wait listed at their schools of choice. </p>

<p>I’m within the Top 5% of my class. Actually I’m pretty sure it’s Top 1 percent because my school picks the Valedictorian from 5-10 candidates and I am one of them. </p>

<p>I’m sure HYP do reject candidates with higher or equal academic qualifications than me, but they also accept candidates with equal or LESS academic qualifications than me. Not to mention I’m Pacific Islander, adopted, from an unconventional family background, and had to raise my infant brother when I was just a child myself (well obviously I couldn’t actually raise him, but I was and have always been protective of him). </p>

<p>Whatever you think of my “arrogance”, I am a competitive student applicant at all those schools. What I wrote was just an overview so let me briefly elaborate:</p>

<ul>
<li>Student Body President </li>
<li>Volunteer Society President, Vice President (soph), and Secretary (freshman)</li>
<li>Swim Team Varsity Co-Captain </li>
<li>National Honor Society </li>
<li>GSA Vice President </li>
<li>Girl Scouts Troop Leader</li>
<li>Big Sister Little Sister type of program working with a wonderful young autistic girl</li>
<li>President’s Service Award (I’ve had a great desire to volunteer my time, especially in hospices and community outreach centers, ever since I was young because I am so grateful to my parents for adopting me and only too aware of how difficult life can be when you’ve been dealt a bad hand)</li>
<li>10 regional Piano competition wins (I have been playing since I was 8)</li>
</ul>

<p>But the most satisfying, grueling, heart breaking, and worthwhile “accomplishment” that I put on my app is volunteering at an orphanage in a remote area of Cambodia for 3 months for 2 summers. I wrote my college essay about that experience and my own hazy memories of being an orphan and trying to raise my baby brother before we were adopted. I think the essay is what tips me into the “accept” pile.</p>

12

<p>This thread is laughable. I will be quite surprised if you get into one of HYP. Considering your boasting of getting a 4.0 at “one of the top ranked prep schools in the country” in Virginia, as well as your half-baked math score, I assume you go to Maggie Walker (eye roll). Looking at the number that actually get into HYP from my school, and their qualifications, it is ridiculous to assume you would get into any. Interviews are given to everyone who applies, regardless of competitiveness. I hope you are a ■■■■■, otherwise the sheer idiocy of this is unjustifiable.</p>

13

<p>@2college2college</p>

<p>So what do you think my chances are?</p>

<p>Does that make me legacy at Harvard med school? If only I could go back in time and tell dad to pick Harvard over Dartmouth…</p>

14

<p>"Not to mention I’m Pacific Islander, adopted, from an unconventional family background, and had to raise my infant brother when I was just a child myself - it has imbued me with a certain sense of responsibility and a strong work ethic. "</p>

<p>That settles it. Cambodia ("the region I was adopted from"in post #4) is not a Pacific Island.</p>

15

<p>Tjkid2011 is right. <a href=“http://www.tjhsst.edu/curriculum/dss/docs/tjprofile_2010.pdf[/url]”>http://www.tjhsst.edu/curriculum/dss/docs/tjprofile_2010.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Because of his school, affluent Virginia kids have intense competition.</p>

16

<p>@tjkid2011 Um no. My family lives in Virginia, I don’t go to school there.</p>

<p>Hmm I guess I should have retaken the SAT to get a better math score - but I didn’t want to go down on my Verbal and Writing…</p>

17

<p>@schmohawk I meant region as in Asia…</p>

18

<p>Oh, OK. :)</p>

19

<p>Even if you don’t go to school there I am dubious that your acceptance rates are stronger than TJ. Only 5 schools match our matriculation to HYPSM, Exeter, Andover, Stuyvesant, Bronx school of science, and Trinity (sorry if this comes off as being arrogant, but you are annoying me). Even if you go to one of those, acceptance to such a university is not even slightly close to guaranteed. I just read Harvard received 35k apps. You do not have a legacy there either. You are an ORM. I am not that impressed.</p>

20

<p>@tjkid2011 Sorry I am annoying you. My school is the quality of schools which you mentioned and it’s gotten it’s fair share of HYP alums and hopefuls. </p>

<p>What would have been impressive then? What does make a shoo in HYPSM candidate in your opinion? I’m genuinely curious because I though my accomplishments would be enough! :\ Alas~</p>