<p>So here are my vital stats, with the understanding that I'm not a bad writer and my essay should be pretty good, and that I will have two GREAT recommendations.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.991/4.0
Rank: 24/499 (Rank at my school is unweighted and a large number of the kids ahead of me are taking basketweaving as their hardest class)
ACT: 33
SAT I: 700 CR, 740 M, 680 W. I took it again last week and felt a lot better.
SAT II: 750 US History, 750 Physics, 800 Math II
AP tests: 4 Euro History, 5 US History, 5 Physics B, 4 Calculus BC, 5 Calc AB Subscore. In AP Gov, AP English, and AP Stats this year.</p>
<p>ECs and Summer Stuff:</p>
<p>US Senate Page
JSA (politcal club) summer school at Yale and Georgetown
JSA chapter founder and president
Newspaper Editor-in-Chief
Debate Co-Captain (Region--7 schools--champ in Policy in 1st year of debate)
NHS Treasurer
Youth City Council
LDS Seminary Council
Junior and Senior Class Committees
Volunteer Coach, Junior High National Academic League Team
School Sterling Scholar, Social Studies (1 student)
Close Up Congressional Seminar in DC</p>
<p>Now, I would love an evaluation of the info above, but there's also another question. Last May I was voted as school Prom King out of about 750 boys. It blew me away--it's not exactly the height of my aspirations--but I thought it was funny nonetheless. A big strength of mine is that, beyond how I look on paper, I get along with people well. That should come through in the interview, but I'm wondering if including Prom King in my application could help. Suggestions?</p>
<p>If you're a great writer and are pretty funny, you could work it into one of your main essays. You could do something tongue in cheek like "How Being Voted Prom King Made Me Realize My Life Calling Was To Be A Male Model" or something like that. But remember, the best way to make humorous essays work is to make sure you don't offend any particular person or group of people (er...male models aside) and to make sure your personality comes through. Are you a comedian? Do you see yourself joining the Princeton Triangle club? Another good thing is to close a funny essay with something real and poignant. My favorite example of this is Catullus' Carmen 12, in which he starts out making fun of a dinner guest who steals napkins (how trivial!), but then takes a more reflective turn and talks about how the napkins have sentimental value to him, as they were presents from his best friends. (Sorry for the Latin example, it's just that I absolutely adore Catullus. If you know Latin, another example of this is Catullus 22. It's on Wikipedia if you want to look.) </p>
<p>As for chances, I'm a high school senior so I'm not all that qualified to say...but...the only thing I will say is that there are an awful lot of 4.0er/Debate Captain/EIC/Senate Pages out there who want to major in Woody Woo and be the next Barack Obama (or go make a couple hundred thousand at Hogan and Hartson). So not to sound cliche, but try to stand out--make sure the admissions office knows what's different about you. Your essays are the ONE aspect of your application that are completely within your control until the last minute you send that app in (unlike test scores, grades, awards, and even leadership positions). It should be YOUR voice coming through in your essays, so if you want to write about being Prom King, write about it; if you want to write about your small aquatic turtle named Ned, write about him. As long as it's you. Just try to relax and enjoy the opportunity to HAVE CONTROL over at least one part of your application!</p>
<p>Sorry, that probably wasn't helpful at all...I'm sure you've heard all that.</p>