<p>@SWeLLT It’s called sarcasm.</p>
<p>Sarcasm contributes to the entertainment provided in this forum. And is entertainment not all that it is. The Chance Me is just ridiculous and futile. Few here are interested to hear how wrong they are in their approach. They simply want to hear how their application might belie the brute statistics of single digit admissions’ rates. </p>
<p>By the way, writing an essay about a game is no different from writing about sports. It takes an original twist and great writing to pull it off. Why students keep trying to make it work is baffling as there are tons of simpler and more powerful subjects to pick. </p>
<p>I say they are all reaches except for the UC’s and USC (match). Vanderbilt might be a high match. UCI and UCSD are safeties.
You have great test scores and a good GOD to be a competitive applicant. The only thing shining for your ECs is the internship. Honestly, even if you have outstanding credentials, a school with less than 20% acceptance is a reach for everyone. </p>
<p>Chance me back! <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1663581-my-chance-at-engineering-schools.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1663581-my-chance-at-engineering-schools.html#latest</a></p>
<p>Sorry, GPA not GOD. Autocorrect on my phone. </p>
<p>@bluberaptor You’re SAT scores are amazing, I’d recommend just sending the SAT (along with the subject tests of Math II and Bio). As everyone has said previously, you’re ECs are lacking, which makes the Ivies incredibly hard to get into. That being said, here is my best guess:</p>
<p>Harvard- High Reach
Yale- High Reach
Princeton- High Reach
Stanford- High Reach
Cal Tech- High Reach
UC Berkeley- Match
Vanderbilt- Low Reach
UCLA- Low Match
UCI- Safety
UCSD- Safety
Brown- Reach
Cornell- Low Reach
Amherst- Reach
USC- Low Match</p>
<p>Chance me back:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1662544-chances-at-harvard-yale-princeton-mit-brown-columbia-dartmouth-tufts-duke-amherst.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1662544-chances-at-harvard-yale-princeton-mit-brown-columbia-dartmouth-tufts-duke-amherst.html#latest</a></p>
<p>Bluberaptor, I rarely read WAMC threads as I think this forum is the cesspool of CC. I also think that students who post here are utterly clueless. I will not judge what you have posted here because conveying information is difficult. Your problem started with your title that was … arrogant. But I do not think you are. You are simply not very polished in terms of expressing yourself. This is not a debate society. </p>
<p>You have done all you could, and excelled in many areas. You cannot do much better in terms of academics. Your ECs are not original, but that is the case for 99.9 percent of applicants. </p>
<p>What I will now say might look surprising, but you need to spend some of your resources on professional help. With your income, adcoms will THINK you received assistance. So go get some because you have received extremely poor guidance here and elsewhere. Your presentation is a mess. Your choice of essay is horrendous. An analogy? You bought an expensive diamond but set it in a nickel ring. </p>
<p>Go find someone with proven college experience. Go find an essay expert. Look around the uber selective colleges in your area, and start a dialogue with the adcoms. You will learn a lot from LISTENING to them. Hint? Drive along Foothill! </p>
<p>Keep your focus on your dreams. Learn WHY some if the schools you listed are right for you. How much of an effort do you need for your … safeties? Not much as those include ALL the UC as they are mostly numbers driven. You would have to screw up massively to be rejected by the likes of Cal, UCLA, or UCSD. Fill the blanks and you are done with the California public schools. This frees your mind and should let you dedicate your time to polishing the essays for the selective private schools you listed. You NEED to work on showing what the REAL you is. Not the robot who did very well in school and ran through the usual HS motions. Find what makes you tick! It is inside you.</p>
<p>But again, the first step is to realize you could use competent help. Your parents might be cheap, but it is clear they understand the value of investments and consultants. </p>
<p>Harvard: reach
Yale: reach
Princeton: reach
Stanford: reach
Cal Tech: reach
UC Berkeley: high match
Vanderbilt: high match
UCLA: match
UCI:safety
UCSD: safely
Brown: reach
USC: match
Amherst: reach
Cornell: low reach</p>
<p>By the way, Neil DeGrasse Tyson went to my high school! He also gave the graduation speech this year (I wasn’t there b/c I’m a junior, but still).</p>
<p>Chance:<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1663258-chance-me-liberal-arts-some-ivies-some-sunys.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1663258-chance-me-liberal-arts-some-ivies-some-sunys.html#latest</a> </p>
<p>You better hope Tyson doesn’t browse the internet and stumbles upon this thread. He may not like the crass exploitation of his name to get you in college.</p>
<p>@235423 How did you possibly come up with that response? USC and UCLA as low matches?</p>
<p>@AnnieBeats I gave those rankings because I think the OP has a pretty good (about a 65% shot) of getting in. The OP has great test scores, putting him well above the 75th percentile of attending applicants at those schools, has a pretty good GPA, is an in state resident, and has okay (not great, but not atrocious) extracurriculars. Those combined led me to that assesment.</p>
<p>This thread is so entertaining.</p>
<p>I just read through the entire forum incredulously. I don’t think the OP realizes that he has much more privilege than he believes. </p>
<p>I was raised in a low-income family. My father was too old to work, thus unemployed, and my mother was in the hospital through my middle school –high school years. I had to support my family by running 2-3 jobs during the weekdays, instead of being president of 6 clubs. Right after school I had to tutor kids, and after that I worked nightshifts wherever a job was available. In the winter we didn’t have heat so I had to run to the library or stay in school to study. Sometimes I skipped meals because I was too busy. I delivered newspapers before coming to school, and I was always tired in class. During the summer, I got accepted to multiple prestigious summer programs and was offered internships, but I couldn’t fly across the globe as you did because I couldn’t afford a plane ticket. I instead had to settle for jobs that weren’t interesting but paid higher. </p>
<p>Still, I was the youngest person in my country to get a perfect score on the SAT, and received 5’s in 7 APs. I also had a 4.0 unweighted GPA, and got a full scholarship from my school. If you think your privilege extends as much as your summer SAT tutoring, you are wrong. I’m guessing you live in a rich neighborhood—being in a safe, warm home with successful parents, not having the burden of your whole family on your shoulders—not sneaking peeks at your APUSH notes at 12 a.m. behind the counter–not having to apply for financial aid and significantly decrease your chances— being born in the U.S. itself—is a privilege, and although you might take it for granted, not many students have the same opportunities as you do.
I hope your sense of entitlement doesn’t shine through your application essays. Otherwise, good luck.</p>
<p>Although my dad does not make as much as OP’s parents, my dad is a surgeon and makes above the national average. But what really pisses me off is how everyone believes that “rich kids” are spoiled and feel entitled to everything. My dad came from rural China farming with his three siblings while living off barely anything but the crops they farmed. Yes, OP and I are from rich families but it doesn’t mean we are like the stereotypical rich kid. Apparently me giving myself haircuts isn’t what “rich kids do” (according to my so called friend). Many successful and rich people came from nothing. I don’t think you guys can judge OP just by his post. But I do agree he doesn’t live up to his post title but everyone has faults like being prideful (and he admits to that, too!). </p>
<p>How do you giver yourself haircuts? Do you have a mirror to look at the back of your head. If your using scissors, is it annoying. The commoners must know of these extravagant lifestyle.</p>
<p>@jumpingstar no one is accusing you for being rich, it is entirely not your fault that you were coincidentally born into a rich family, just as it is no one’s fault for being born into a war zone. I agree when you say that it pisses you off because everyone think all rich kids are spoiled, because not all are. However, in some posts the OP clearly implies that he feels that he should get into most schools on his list, when admissions are so unpredictable nowadays, and when people offer him their opinion, he doesn’t seem to like it. And I think what people are saying is that he won’t admit to a lot of privileges he has enjoyed, although unintentionally. Being prideful is O.K. The OP is clearly a briliant student and should be proud of what he has achieved…but he should still remind himself that admissions are hard for anyone, so that just in case the worst happens he will understand it’s all a game of chances.</p>
<p>@ooohcollege wow. That was really unnecessary. I was only giving that as an example. It’s the same as people assuming rich kids always drive Porschs. </p>
<p>@ccstudent101 Thanks for your insight. I really do mean it. You actually have something intelligent to say unlike the poster before you. I didn’t read all of OP’s posts, but I just felt like everyone was bashing on him for being rich. </p>
<p>@235432 Being in the 75th percentile of test scores doesnt translate to having a 65% chance of getting in. You practically called USC and UCLA safeties. That’s absolutely ridiculous. The OP could have a 2400 SAT and 4.0UW, but that doesn’t make them low matches or safety schools.</p>
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<p>If you can’t rein in your attitude when you fill out your applications and essays, it will hurt you. Ivies are a reach for everyone, so make sure you have safeties on your list.</p>
<p>I think when posters mention privilege and opportunities you may have received due to money, they’re not saying your parents bought your way in. However, kids from poorer districts don’t have the same opportunities. Someone whose parent is a director at a Fortune 500 company has a lot more contacts than a kid whose parent works in a small business. I’m not saying your parents are the reason you were able to score the interviews you got, but I can see where a college administrator might not value them as highly as you think. Also, you were able to take a lot of AP type courses because your school can afford to offer them. (Not all can.) Colleges won’t count that as remarkable; they’ll expect that you made full use of the resources available to you.</p>
<p>There are MANY bright kids just like you vying for very limited spots at these schools. Think about what each school has that you particularly want and figure out how to express what you would add to that campus. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Wow, this thread is still going. </p>
<p>"I drive a 2012 Prius that I had to earn myself. Stop presuming that just because my parents are rich, I’m rich. "</p>
<p>That car is worth about $20K. Insurance, registration, and gas, how much are you paying? And you earned all that yourself working part time at Kumon last year? I’d better get my daughter to work there, I didn’t realize the pay was so generous. </p>
<p>People are jumping on your attitude because you do seem a bit unaware of the extent of your privilege.</p>
@xiggi @theJHUenthusiast @skieurope I am the person that posted this thread a while back and I have some results to share.
Stanford SCEA: Deferred
JHU ED: Accepted
UChicago EA: Accepted
USC (merit interview): Accepted
UCR: Accepted with Regents.