Chance Please NYU CAS

Colleges & Universities A-Z New York University
1

<p>Thanks for taking the time, I'm sorry to burden everyone with yet ANOTHER chance thread, I just got rejected from my number one choice, and I'm feeling a little down</p>

<p>ACT: 29 Composite (31R 30E 28M 28S)</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0/4.0 </p>

<p>Rank: 2/69</p>

<p>Other stats: I've taken only 3 AP courses, but a few honors (9) </p>

<p>Essays: Awesome</p>

<p>ECs: Pretty good - heavy volunteering, multi-cultural student association president</p>

<p>Teacher Recs: Excellent</p>

<p>Counselor Rec: Great</p>

<p>Hook (if any): First generation college student </p>

<p>State or Country: USA</p>

<p>School Type: Private (very rigorous) </p>

<p>Ethnicity: Romanian</p>

<p>Gender: Male</p>

<p>Varsity Cross Country Captain, I have a really strong work ethic and i would love to go to NYU, i just hope my ACT isn't too low. I'm Applying ED 2</p>

2

<p>Hi, doctorje,</p>

<p>First of all, let me say that I am very sorry about your not getting into your first choice school. I know it feels lousy now. Hopefully, you will get into another school that will turn out to be an even better match for you than your first choice. :)</p>

<p>Your statistics seem to be right in line for NYU, if not even a little better. I am referring to the “better” aspects, such as your GPA and your high rank in your class. Take a look at the College Board statistics for NYU:</p>

<p>[College</a> Search - New York University - NYU - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>

<p>Note that your ACT score is right smack in the middle of the ACT scores achieved by NYU students, so this should not be an area of concern for you.</p>

<p>My two main concerns or questions for you:</p>

<p>1) You mentioned you go to a very rigorous private school. Yet does your school only offer a few AP courses? You wrote you took 3 AP classes. Is that what most of the students take on average or is that lower than average. I am trying to figure out if you indeed took as rigorous a program as you could in the context of what is offered in your school. For instance, my son took 7-8 AP courses and 2 college level courses. His high school is very competitive and offered a lot of AP courses beginning in the 9th grade.</p>

<p>So, I am not sure how you compare to the peers in your school in this regard. </p>

<p>2) You mentioned that your ECs are pretty good. Then you noted one leadership position and “heavy volunteering.” Based on the information you provided, I am not sure how impressive this is. Unless you had to do a variety of very substantial and meaningful tasks in your leadership position in the multi-cultural Student Assn. Also, what did your volunteer experiences show about you as a person? Were they just mundane volunteer activities performed for the sake of beefing up your resume for college applications. Or were they somehow meaningful and reflect strongly on your strengths as a candidate?</p>

<p>I hope you have elaborated on your motivations and strengths in a strong and unequivocal manner in your essay, as well as received support for your positive qualities through the recommendations received.</p>

<p>OK, that is my feedback to you. I hope it helps in some way. I do wish you the best in moving on to the next step and in finding the right niche for yourself.</p>

3

<p>Wow Evolving,</p>

<p>Thank you very much for your well -written and thought out response, it really means a lot to me. </p>

<p>To answer your questions: </p>

<p>1) The Director of Academics at my school does not allow students to take more than 2 AP courses per year (3 if the child is brilliant). The honors courses at our school are pretty tough, and the regulars would correlate to something like the honors classes at public schools (I’ve experienced both public and private schooling). Scheduling also plays a huge role because we have such a small class, 69 kids in the senior grade. Thus, not a whole lot of AP’s are offered, maybe about 10 in total. Some of the APs are in areas that i have not focused in, such as music theory or AP sciences. I’m more interested in history and English (surprising to me as English is my second language), which are the subjects that i’ve taken my AP courses in. Also, i should note that AP courses in my school are only offered to juniors and seniors (one of the setbacks of going to such a small school). </p>

<p>2) I did not get a chance to get into my volunteer work, but I go back to Romania each year (when i visit my family) and i do volunteer work with an orphanage over there, I’ve been doing so for the past 5 or so summers. Additionally, for the Multi-Cultural association, I helped (with one other person) to organize a very nice holiday fair to raise cultural awareness (it was a huge success!!). I’m a very compassionate person, I haven’t forgotten where I’ve come from, and I like to give back.</p>

<p>I can assure you that my essay not only spoke to me as a person, but particularly, to my determination and my courage to get through arduous situations. My recommendations also were very positive and my counselor told me that they were excellent. </p>

<p>Thank you again for taking the time to help me out, it is much appreciated. I wish you the best as well for both you and your family. Happy Holidays!</p>

4

<p>doctorje,</p>

<p>Your answer to #1 was what I was hoping for you. Then you really took the most APs you could in your areas of interest (most rigorous curriculum offered by your school). Your counselor should have noted this in his/her letter in support of your application.</p>

<p>Your years of staying with the same volunteer work (concern #2) also sounds good because it showed your commitment over time, indicating true dedication and interest in the volunteer work. Your ECs do seem to have quality (if not quantity). Oops, sorry, I just re-read your post and realized I had glossed over the Varsity Cross Country Captain position. So that is another plus for you, with yet another leadership position in a different endeavor altogether from the “compassionate” human services you performed over the years.</p>

<p>It now probably comes down to how the admissions people react to your essay, short answers and recommendation letters.</p>

<p>Your statistics, ranking, GPA, difficulty of course work, (and I will add ECs) all seem to be very competitive. </p>

<p>I too wish you happy holidays (hoping you will be celebrating soon after upon hearing “positively” from NYU. :slight_smile: ).</p>

5

<p>Thank you again, Evolving. I sincerely mean that! I will be sure to post once i find out from the school!</p>