Chance me (Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m wondering what my chances are for getting into schools such as Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Cornell. Compared to other applicants I have seen I feel like I have a very very small chance of getting into any of these schools unless my essays are extraordinary. Don’t sugar coat your responses please, and College recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Im in a pretty competitive high school. It’s in the top 10 for all boys schools in the United States, and also top 10 for Catholic schools in the United States. I didn’t do too well freshman year; I got three B’s per semester. This saw a dramatic change my sophomore year when I ended up getting straight A’s for the first time all year. This trend continues throughout my junior year and is predicted senior year.

Ethnicity - Asian and White (Not sure if this makes things tougher or not since I’m half and half)

Intended Major: Biology

3.83 Unweighted GPA
4.25 Weighted GPA
- AP/AC Courses Give +1.0 Towards A Traditional 4.0 GPA Scale
School doesn’t rank us
1540 SAT

No AP/AC Courses Freshman Year (Offered World History)

Sophomore Year AP/AC Courses:
AC Geometry/Trig
AP Computer Science Principles (5)
(School also offers AC English II, AC Chemistry I, and AP U.S History)

Junior Year AP/AC Courses:
AC Spanish III
AC Algebra II
AP English Language And Comp (4)
AP Chemistry (5)
AP Macroeconomics (5)
AP U.S Gov and Poltics (4)
(Took maximum amount of APs/ACs after realizing I Improved drastically sophomore year with all A’s)

Predicted Senior Year AP/AC Courses:
AC Pre-Calculus
AP English Literture and Comp
AP Physics I
AP Physcology
(School also offers AP Spanish Literature and Culture / Lang and Culture) <— Not yet decided if I should request it or not

Extracurriculars:

NHS
Altar Server since fourth grade
Started playing lacrosse freshman year
- Most Improved Player Freshman Year For “Beginner Team” (Good story about hard work, facing hardships etc.)
- A Team Captain For Division Two Varsity My Sophomore Year
- A Team Captain For Divison One Varsity My Junior & Predicted Senior Year
150+ Volunteer Hours At A Homeless Shelter, Retirement Home, Bible School
Volunteer At Memorial Hermann Hospital For Seven Weeks During The Summer
- Served Total Of 70 Hours, Recieved College/General Recommendation Letter

I feel like my lower gpa(s), freshman year grades, and possibly the lower number of extracurriculars compared to other applicants will be my downfall. Although I understand that Stanford pays more attention to sophomore, junior, and senior year.

2

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2095312-generic-chance-answer-for-super-selective-colleges.html

3

@ucbalumnus pretty much nailed it. Your application is going to look at lot like the other applications they get. Most top students think that their essays are going to be stellar (and most are probably correct).

I don’t know if there are universities that recruit for lacrosse. I played a bit in high school and am very impressed by anyone that can play this game well (I never could). However, I will assume that it doesn’t serve as a “hook”. If there are schools that actively recruit for lacrosse, and if you are good enough to be recruited, then my estimate will be wildly too pessimistic.

I don’t think that your freshman year hurts much given that it wasn’t that bad, and you have a solid uptrend.

A significant number of students admitted at each of these top schools have some sort of “hook”, which you don’t seem to have (unless lacrosse counts). As such, I would guess that your chances are probably somewhere roughly around half the published percent of students admitted to each school.

Somewhere like McGill would be a safety for you, but if you are premed (I am guessing from your major plus volunteer time in a hospital) might not be a good match due to their grade deflation. For most very strong students their in-state public flagship (or #3 through #8 in California) might be a safety and would give them a good shot at medical school if that is your goal.

4

You should apply to some Ivies. But, given that admission can be such a crapshoot at that elite level, you would be very well served to think about colleges and universities a tier down, where you’re going to have a much better shot. I can’t give you specific suggestions without knowing more about you and your goals. Could be Vassar, could be University of Michigan. But if you make good choices about the spread of colleges you apply to, you will definitely get in to a great school.

From one hapa to another, the only way being 1/2 Asian and 1/2 white is going to help your admission is if you have a story about how your personal experience has turned you into a person with a unique perspective to offer a school.

5

Have you taken a Biology class yet? And although your standardized test scores are good, most applicants to your choice of schools will have completed 1 or 2 AP math classes (Calc AB or BC + Stats) while you’re taking Trig-Precalculus as a senior.

There aren’t many schools that explicitly state that you need to complete math up to Calculus in order to apply, but most competitive applicants to HYPS + Cornell will have taken/completed Calculus by senior year.

6

Also a competitive school generally wants their students to complete up to Level 4 of a foreign language so I would advise taking your school’s equivalent of Honors Spanish 4 (or AP Spanish) in your case.

7

Yes I have taken biology 1 which was one of the courses I got a B in freshman year. Ive recently looked back into it and have taken the course on khan academy and have an interest in it. I believe the Bs I received freshmen year were more due to the drastic change into an all boys school rather than my inability to understand the courses.

At my school since I took AC Algebra II (Honors) I believe I am able to skip pre cal and go straight to calculus. I’ll make sure to email my counselor and ask if I can make a course change.

I’ll definitely be taking another year of Spanish then.
Thanks for the advice.

8

Yea I will definitely be applying to lower tier colleges. I live in Texas so I will be applying to Texas A&M, Rice University, and UT Austin. Im almost certain I will get into Texas A&M and obviously Rice and UT Austin are a bit more challenging.

9

Yea I dont really have any hooks so Im not expecting to get into any of the top tier schools. Its pretty much luck of the draw for me. Although since I live in Texas I will be applying to colleges such as Texas A&M, UT Austin, and Rice University along with colleges like USC and UC San Diego. Im definitely considering pre-med so I figured UT Austin is a pretty good school for biology which I believe I have a decent chance of getting into. Stanford would be the dream school, especially since it has a really good biology program and location but like you said without the hook I am probably too similar to other applicants and will be rejected.

10

If pre-med, staying in Texas would make it easier to get to medical school interviews at Texas public medical schools, which are relatively inexpensive for Texas residents (compared to what medical schools typically cost).

11

I second staying in Texas. Texas has a lot of medical schools and they give priority to residents. That’s your best shot of getting in.

12

I think you need to look at the stats in college confidential from the schools on this list, and specifically for those who didn’t get in. It’s a sobering read, but important as you choose your college list. You have great stats and ECs. So you’re in the conversation for all those schools. But will you get in? Do you have a better than 50-50 chance? No one can answer that.

You might want to look at some top-notch LACs, unless you want that big university experience.

13

“Stanford would be the dream school”

Apparently Stanford does have a lacrosse team (both men’s and women’s):

http://stanfordlacrosse.org/

UT Austin and Rice are also great choices.