Chance me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys, what's going on? I'd like to see where I stand. I've been thinking of a range of universities. Here's the deal with me:</p>

<p>I was an exchange student for a year in an American IB school in Morocco, and ended up sticking around there for the full 4 years of high school.
The school is generally well respected, we get a lot of recruiters from good schools coming and making presentations, including a lot of the Ivy League, and a few kids every year get into some really good schools.</p>

<p>Grades (our school does 1-7 for the trimester grades so I'll give a rough conversion):</p>

<p>9th:
English: A
Math: A+
US History: A
Integrated Science: A
French: B+ to A-
Computer: A</p>

<p>10th
English: B+ to A-
Math: A+
World History: A
Chemistry: A
Physics: A
French: B+ to A-
Computer: A
Business: A</p>

<p>11th (so far, I'm still in the second trimester)
IB English SL: A to A+
IB French ab initio: A to A+
IB Economics HL: A+
IB Chemistry HL: A to A+
IB Math HL: A
IB Physics HL: A</p>

<p>Our school does not do GPA or class rank, but I estimate a GPA of about 3.8 and it's almost a general consensus that I'm on top.</p>

<p>The bad things in my schedule:
A few grades of 5 (B+ to A-), and I took French ab initio after two years. Could I make a case though? Since:
The first year my french teacher did not really teach, so I only really had one year, and
My English teacher did not teach or read the assignments. He just gave a 5 without paying attention (my shitty one deserving an F got the same grade as one that deserved an A).</p>

<p>SAT: 2090 (reading 640, math 760, writing 690 with essay 6)</p>

<p>I took it early, so I have a shot at improving. My math probably not since I got a single question wrong. I'm equally likely to get the same grade next time. In writing I got a really good multiple choice. I learned the real essay format so I could bring it up. On my PSAT I got a 66 on reading (higher than SAT) so if I study I can improve it for May</p>

<p>My teachers all like me and know me pretty well, so I have a good shot at getting some good recommendations.</p>

<p>ECs (weak part)
9th:</p>

<p>10th:
People to People, member</p>

<p>11th:
Amis des Ecoles, member (out of about 4 serious and 3 that are not)
Debate Team, cofounder and copresident
Chess Club, cofounder and copresident
Yearbook, member (out of about 3)</p>

<p>The colleges I'm thinking of applying to (not going to apply to all of these, just what I'm considering):</p>

<p>Macaulay Honors Baruch
NYU
UCLA
USC
UC Berkeley
Boston University
Northeastern University
UT Austin
SUNY Binghamton
and if I'm feeling stupidly ambitious, I might try something in the range of the Ivy League ones.</p>

<p>I don't know exactly what I want to do, but probably something related to either science or business. Could you guys chance me for those universities. Also, could you guys give suggestions for others you think would work. Preferably urban environment, smaller classes (under 30), not too conservative. Thanks in advance guys</p>

2

<p>your ECs are not even close if you want to go to schools of that level because lots of applicants have the same grades as you… bring your SAT up to 2200+ and your chances will be much better because you have a solid GPA</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1631318-what-should-i-do-to-get-into-these-colleges.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1631318-what-should-i-do-to-get-into-these-colleges.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Macaulay Honors Baruch: Match/High match
NYU: High match (Stern is a reach)
UCLA: High match (can you pay full-freight?)
USC: High match
BU SMG: Match/High match
NEU D’Amore-McKim: High match
UT-Austin McCombs: Reach (OOS is going to hurt)
Binghamton: Low match/Match</p>

4

<p>Guys, I’d like to ask about my ECs. It’s a pretty bad list, but there are some things which I’m not sure that I could include on my applications. If I can, they’ll help my EC list.</p>

<p>Over the full 3 years (so far), I was being something of an informal technology advisor for the administration at my school. Not a formal position with a title, but I would generally help out.
In 10th grade, I was (effectively) logistics coordinator for athletics at my school.
In 11th grade, a friend and I acted as organizers (sort of) for PTA events. </p>

<p>In addition, I did a bunch of one-time things (Origami making, etc). Could I count those? Again, my EC list is weak, so I’ll need to bump that up.</p>

<p>I have Texas residency, as I am only in Morocco as an exchange student, so is that going to help my chances for UT Austin? As for cost, my dad said to be reasonable, but if it’s worth it to pay full freight then he will. If we have to take out loans, he’ll pay them off at the same rate that he’s paying college, so they won’t drag on for more than 3-4 years, and we won’t get slapped so badly by interest.</p>

<p>For the SATs, my college counselor said that what I did wrong on the essay was focus too much on content. Just BS but with the right format and my writing score will be in the mid-upper 700s. Math is 760, which is one question wrong. That won’t change much. Reading was 640, so I’ll study and improve that. My PSAT was a 66 so if I concentrate more and study I might be able to bring it up to the upper 600s to lower 700s. </p>

<p>My 2nd trimester 11th grade is all As, except for French and Economics where I got an A+. Total estimated GPA holds at ~3.8</p>

<p>On top of what I mentioned, is there anything I can do to increase my chances of getting into some of the colleges on my list?</p>