Chances: an unusually strange situation

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys. I'm in a strange (or maybe not so) situation; I think I have okay ECs/GPA but my standardized test scores are despicable. Here are my stats:</p>

<p>GPA: 4.76 (w), 3.98 (uw)
Rank: 1/453, public school in the U.S.
SAT I: 2010 :(, retaking in Nov.
SAT II: 750 USH, took bio and chem in October, plan to take Math I and World History in December
Race/Ethnicity: bi-racial (asian and caucasian), I am a Canadian citizen and do not hold U.S. permanent residency :(
APs:
Bio-5
Chem-4
World History-5
Psychology-5
United States History-5
Statistics-5
Environmental Science-5
Human Geography-4
English Language-4</p>

<p>*National AP Scholar by end of junior year</p>

<p>Senior Year schedule:
AP Micro, AP Macro, AP U.S. gov, AP Calculus AB, AP European History, AP Art History, AP Physics B, AP English Literature</p>

<p>Extracurriculars</p>

<p>Sports:
Varsity Cross Country, 3 year letterman, injured this season
Varsity Track and Field, 2 year letterman
Varsity Lacrosse, 2 year letterman (moved to new school), state champs frosh year</p>

<p>School Organizations:
Student Body Vice President
Model UN President
National English Honor Society President
Florida Junior Academy of Sciences President
Cum Laude Society (Summa)
Newspaper Editor-in-chief
State National History Day Finalist</p>

<p>Science/Research
Third Place Intel International Science Fair
First Place State Science Fair (junior)
Second Place State Science Fair (soph)
Siemens Competition semifinalist
BioGENEius state winner, and regional finalist
Youth Science Foundation Executive Committee Member
ScienceDays Inc. district director
National Biology Olympiad Finalist
USA Chemistry Olympiad Semifinalist
Intern at National Lab (will get rec from mentor)
Will present my research at an international conference in January
Co-author on a published paper and published abstract proceeding :-)</p>

<p>Service
767 service hours donated to American Red Cross and some labs.
President of Youth Corps at ARC
Presidential Volunteer Service Award (Gold)</p>

<p>Music
Orchestra/String quartet for four years
Royal Conservatory of Music First Class Honors with Distinction
First Place Kiwanis International Music Competition
I've been to a couple of international competitions and have placed</p>

<p>Schools I'm considering (in no order):</p>

<p>Vanderbilt
Emory
University of Florida
Dartmouth
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Williams
Wellesley
Middlebury</p>

<p>Study: Double major in cellular and molecular biology and either philosophy or slavic studies (am having a hard time to decide..)</p>

2

<p>I think your ECs are pretty phenomenal and your SATs are okay, not terrible. I definitely think you have a shot at the Ivies -- well at least as good a chance as (if not more) someone with excellent stats and okay ECs.</p>

3

<p>By the way, 2010 SATs are 94th percentile. <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/highered/ra/sat/composite_CR_M_W_percentile_ranks.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/highered/ra/sat/composite_CR_M_W_percentile_ranks.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>BioGENEius is awesome, and so is ISEF. PM me because we probably know each other from these competitions.</p>

5

<p>Thankyou for your encouraging and thoughtful responses! But wow i was too discouraged when I received my report to even look at the percentile. But bad will anything below the 2200s (given that I am also part Asian) hurt?</p>

6

<p>What state do you live in?</p>

7

<p>I live in Florida. Hope you got my message!</p>

8

<p>haha how ironic, we're facebook friends and you wrote on my wall two days ago.</p>

9

<p>If you think your SAT scores are despicable, mine must be beyond horrendous. But I'm not worried, and neither should you. All the other great stuff you have on there should totally cancel all the bad stuff out. ;)</p>

10

<p>Any chance you could try the ACT before apps are due?</p>

11

<p>How much time is needed to prepare for the ACT in order to get a solid score (>33)? I'm focusing on the SAT for now, so probably not..</p>

12

<p>your stuff is pretty good.. why are you soo worried?</p>

13

<p>Hey, I also competed at ISEF and am Siemens Semi from Florida. PM me!</p>

14

<p>It's the SAT I score that's really bugging me, also given that I'm Asian.</p>

15

<p>Did you just mess up in one particular section? Bad day maybe?</p>

16

<p>Your EC's are so good it's actually discouraging for me to read.</p>

17

<p>Eh, for studying it depends on the person.</p>

<p>I didn't prepare at all and got a 33 (after getting a 2070 sat).</p>

18

<p>was it a bad day, or are your scores always low when you practice?
your ECs more than compensate for the test score, though. Be optimistic. You'll definitely stand out of the crowd. If you can take it again or the ACT, go for it. But don't be discouraged, because your EC's are totally phenomenal.</p>

19

<p>your SAT's are great! no worries, besides, colleges don't even care about test scores all that much these days. Take a breather, I think you have a shot anywhere you want to go!</p>

20

<p>Oh I miss the days when I was that optimistic.</p>

<p>But the reality isn't so. Using Duke as a comparison (because I know their stats like the back of my hand), the middle ACT is 30-34 for trinity, 32-35 for Pratt. Between being in that range (for Pratt) and having a 30 ACT reduces your chances by about 20%. I'd say that's fairly significant, even if standardized testing isn't the number one factor.
While having a low sat (anything below the middle 50% of accepted students) doesn't necessarily mean you'll be rejected, it certainly will hurt your chances</p>