Chance me UCSD, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Yale, CalTech, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi everyone!</p>

<p>I'm new to College Confidential, so I don't know how this is supposed to work.</p>

<p>Chance me for UCSD, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Yale, CalTech, Harvard, MIT, and (last but not least) Stanford.</p>

<p>My school is a bit queer when it comes to graduating. It's a charter school in SoCal. Most of my peers graduate in three years (because we take 8 classes a year). So basically, my "Freshman year" and "Sophomore Year" will be the sole factors in determining whether or not I get into a four year (we call it "year one" and "year two"). The school ranges from third grade to 12th (although the latter year usually has approx 1/4th the students as any other year). By the way, if it makes a difference, my school changes one semester of AP or Honor grades with a 5, 4, or 3 AP Test score to an A, B, or C (if it improves the grade). Basically, my GPA wouldn't be as high if my school hadn't implemented this policy (I'd probably be applying with a 4.5 instead of a 4.875. I'm a year two student applying next year (sophomore applying my junior year).</p>

<p>Me:
Caucasian
First Generation (parents didn't graduate; dad from state school, mom from community college)
Intended Majors: Physics and Engineering
Intended Minor(s): Mathematics and/or English
School Size: 880 (class size: 107)</p>

<p>Year One (4.75)
• (AP) Biology
• (AP) World History
• (AP) Art History
• (AP) Psychology/ (AP) Human Geography
• (H) Math Analysis
• (H) American Sign Language III
• (H) English
• (P) Surf Physical Education w/Health</p>

<p>Year Two (5.0)
• (AP) Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism
• (AP) Physics C: Mechanics
• (AP) Chemistry
• (AP) United States History
• (AP) Calculus bc
• (AP) English Language
• (AP) Computer Science
• (H) American Sign Language IV</p>

<p>Year Three <em>next year</em>
• (AP) Environmental Science
• (AP) Physics I
• (AP) Physics II
• (AP) European History
• (AP) English Literature
• (AP) United States Government/ (AP) Macroeconomics
• (AP) Statistics
• (CC) Calculus III <em>local prestigious state school teaches on our campus</em></p>

<p>SAT I: (2380) <em>perfect math and reading #marchSAT</em>
Rank: "very high" (my school's ranking scale is "very high, high, competitive, and nice")</p>

<p>SAT Subject Tests:
(800) United States History
(800) World History
(800) Biology E
(760) Biology M
(800) Math Level II
(780) Literature
(800) Chemistry
(800) Physics
(750) Modern Hebrew (I speak four languages, I'm guessing I shouldn't retake it?)</p>

<p>AP Tests: as of now, all 5's.</p>

<p>Extra-Curricular (1, 2 = year 1, year 2) <em>I'm in a lot of clubs, I'm not going to list them, though</em>
• (President) Point of Poverty (1, 2)
• (President) Debate Club (1, 2)
• (Treasurer) Poetry Slam (1, 2)
• (Beginning) Peer Counseling (1)
• (Advanced) Peer Counseling (2)
• CIT at Jewish Summer Camp (2)
• JCIT at Jewish Summer Camp (1)
• President Jew Club (1, 2)
• <em>team captain</em> JV Football (1) <em>first string quarterback</em>
• V Football (2) <em>I play right AND left bench quarterback</em>
• DJ Club (1, 2)
• Vice President of School's FBLA (1, 2)
• Relay for Life Team Captain (1, 2)
• BBYO Chapter Chair/ Chapter Board (1, 2)
• BBYO Chapter Gadol <em>president</em> (2)
• Announcer, Varsity Baseball (1, 2) <em>didn't make the team, that's why</em>
• I've been a magician since first grade
• I've been performing at my city's comedy club weekly (1, 2)
• Regularly, I write for my city's newspaper (1, 2)
• I walk my local Animal Shelter's dogs on a daily basis (1, 2)</p>

<p>Community Service: 480 hours</p>

<p>Awards: (some only have a "1" on them because I haven't had a chance to get the award again because a lot of these are only given/done at the end of the school year)</p>

<p>• "Most Likely to get with Kate Upton" (school newspaper, lol) (1)
• "Most Likely to become CEO of a fortune 500 company... then burn it to the ground" (same with above) (1)
• Eagle Award (albeit didn't get much action on the field, "by far" the most enthusiastic, best sport) (1, 2)
• Club with most school involvement (1, 2)
• First Place at my county's science and humanities competition (1)
• I'm was eligible when taking the NMQST/PSAT
• AP Scholar with Distinction (as of now, 5 AP tests).
• National AP Scholar (just speculating)
• Valedictorian (Again, just speculating. I'd be Valedictorian with 3 other people. This is because of my school's AP policy, and because my school is full of geniuses and music prodigies)</p>

2

<p>Oh, and I suck at the clarinet (by that I mean that I played well in third/fourth grade, but I couldn’t care less about it now <em>I do it to be a part of band</em>).
And, I’m “Commissioner of Education”: I attend and am part of the education board’s school awareness meetings in Florida every June; I also promote AP/SAT tests at my school. For example, I’m the reason why year two students are allowed to take AP English Language, instead of having to wait until year three to take AP English Literature.
Lastly, sometimes, I fly weather balloons.</p>

<p>*band (1, 2)
*commis. of education (1, 2)
*weather balloons (1,2)</p>

<p>Also, I sell bikes on ebay (I’ve been averaging at 15k a year since eighth grade) and am working on a novel.</p>

3

<p>Good lord, nine SAT IIs?</p>

<p>You should be a shoe-in at the UC schools, and I’m certain you’ll get into at least one of Yale/Caltech/MIT/H/Stanford.</p>

<p>Man, the people I see on here make me like a failure haha</p>

4

<p>@tegauntt</p>

<p>Yeah, my parents are helicopters. Except for my ECs, my parents make me do everything.</p>

<p>Like, if it were up to me, I’d only take AP English and AP Sciences (excluding Biology). My hardest classes are “easy classes,” like Psychology, History, Geography, Sign Language, and everything else (other than English) that doesn’t require a calculator. I’d have a few Bs in these classes (psychology, geography, and a semester of world history and art history) if it weren’t for my school’s AP test policy.</p>

<p>I may only submit Physics, Chem, Math, and English as my subject tests, mostly because I don’t want to be deemed as a testing freak.</p>

<p>And to be honest, I only care about Stanford. I hear they have a major party scene there. But obviously, I’d love to get into Harvard, MIT, Princeton, etc… (just to say I got in; and in case I don’t get into Stanford).</p>

<p>Btw, my parents income is 1 million+, they are pretty big in the music industry (a few Grammy nominations). </p>

5

<p>A few Grammy nominations?!? WHO ARE THEY?</p>

<p>Dude, with your Stats and your money, you’re a shoo-in into any of these colleges but just work at your EC’s and get more leadership opportunities.</p>

6

<p>“And to be honest, I only care about Stanford. I hear they have a major party scene there. But obviously, I’d love to get into Harvard, MIT, Princeton, etc…”</p>

<p>MIT is probably not what you’re looking for then. Maybe look at a school like Duke that’s also really prestigious but has a stronger greek life and social scene?</p>

<p>That being said, if you keep up your current pace you have a great chance at Berkeley, LA, the other UCs, and USC. HYPMSC are all reach schools for practically everyone (see the sticky), but I’d say you have a great chance at getting into at least one of them.</p>

7

<p>Thanks everyone!</p>

<p>I wrote MIT mainly because I’m pretty good at Physics, and they’re number one (and because my parents are pushing me in that direction). </p>

<p>I love Palo Alto. I think that it’s an amazing city, and I’d love to spend four years there. I think Stanford would be perfect for me. My older brother got into Harvard and Stanford with similar grades, leadership positions, and classes under a fencing scholarship (he didn’t take AP English Year Two, because I hadn’t lobbied my school yet :wink: ).</p>

<p>Would my older brother’s admittance into Harvard and Stanford help me out? He chose Harvard, by the way.</p>

8

<p>You’re only going to make it to community…sike! Not even Jesus has those stats!</p>

9

<p>Yeah, but Stanford and Harvard would most likely reject Jesus, just to prove a point :p, lol.</p>

<p>Is there any way around HYP’s love for rejection? I don’t want their bs “rejects most valedictorian” angle get in my way. hahaha</p>

10

<p>I think you’ll get in most places, congrats on having great parents. A lot of people work harder but don’t get nearly as far :(. If your brother got into Harvard and Stanford with similar stats then there’s a good chance you will. Good luck.</p>

11

<p>@BBanks</p>

<p>Thanks! But my brother got in through a sport. He fences, so he got in EA Stanford, but Harvard recruited him early, too. I can’t get recruited because I suck at FB. He was more athletic than me, yet I do other things, like comedy and debate.</p>

12

<p>@EuroHistorySucks: I think your chances are pretty good.</p>

<p>Based purely on what you wrote, your profile seems quite a bit stronger than mine was. Your SATs and grades are higher than mine were. I might have had more extra-curriculars / academic competitions than you. Also, I came from a less competitive high school.</p>

<p>For my part, I applied to and was accepted at:
MIT, Caltech, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Columbia, and Purdue (my safety school).</p>

<p>I was rejected by:
Harvard, Rice, and Duke.</p>

<p>If I can get accepted to these schools, I think you will do even better than I did.</p>

13

<p>Thank you, everyone.</p>

<p>I really appreciate the insight.</p>

<p>Would it help that my grandfather’s grandfather was, I believe, Old Gaurd at Standord? He was a professor in, I believe, English from the VERY late 1800s to the VERY early 1900s ('98-'07?). I’d have to make sure, though. It may have been UChicago. I’d have to ask my grandfather.</p>

<p>Lastly, should I self-study AP Physics B? I have a 98 in Mechanics and a 94 in E&M. I think having 5 AP Physics would demonstrate concrete knowledge, even though I haven’t participated in or won any competitions (other than my county’s science fair): like quiz bowls, or anything. I can still sign up for late testing. Would Hippocampus and solid Physics knowledge (AP Physics Cs and 800 on SAT Subject Test) give me a solid background by early May? I’d only do it if I could get a 5. As of now, I get low 4s on practice tests.</p>

<p>I’m going to graduate year three having self-studied AP Music Theory, too. My school’s band adequately prepares us for the AP Music Theory test. Should I pick up another AP? When I wrote that I know four languages, French is the fourth. I got a 580 on the SAT Subject Test in eighth grade; mostly because of the vocab. Should I pick it up again, self study, and take the AP exam? That’d put me at 23 tests, possibly enough to make me the AP State Scholar, or whatever it’s called. I heard that a few years ago, someone in NorCal got the award through 28 AP tests. Would 23 give me a shot? </p>

<p>Thank you, all.</p>

14

<p>Wow. I was wrong on both accounts. My grandfather says that his grandfather was a professor at Boston Tech, now known as MIT. So basically, I have a high chance at all of my schools? What about MIT? Am I basically “in” if I could prove kinship?</p>

15

<p>mit doesn’t consider legacies. with your stats you have a great, great chance though. </p>