Chances, and recommendations?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>BIO:
I am a rising senior of Hispanic descent, 50% Mexican to be specific. I am from Texas and I am the second-oldest of six kids. My mother went to college, did not finish and is unemployed, and my father is currently working toward his bachelor's degree. He has enough for his associates but has yet to actually receive a college degree. My dad makes 54K a year, low income for a family of eight. So I will be applying for financial aid. I'm looking into a Biology major, eventually I would like to become a veterinarian but I would be content with most jobs in the field.</p>

<p>And this may or may not be relevant, but I was homeschooled 5th through 9th grade. I now go to a public high school of 2000+ students. It's also a heavy military community.</p>

<p>ACADEMICS (comparing with #2 in class for reference; don't have #1's specifics, sorry)
Class rank: 44/516
UW GPA: 3.6111 (number 2 has a 3.9268)
12.3889/18 Weighted GPA (Number 2 has a 14.66) Here</a> is the scale used.
90.6111 Numeric GPA (Number 2 has a 95.29)</p>

<p>PSAT (207)
70 CR / 65 M / 72 W</p>

<p>1st SAT (1990)
690 CR / 650 M / 650 W</p>

<p>2nd SAT (2120)
770 CR / 670 M / 680 W</p>

<p>Should I try again this fall and try to superscore my Math and Writing scores?</p>

<p>I plan to take SAT subject tests once the school year starts, I expect to do well.</p>

<p>AP EXAMS
WH 3 (challenged the exam sophomore year)
APUSH 4
English Lang 5</p>

<p>Schedule for next year:
AP: English Lit, Stats, Macroeconomics, US Govt, Biology
PreAP (honors): PreCal
Electives: Theatre Production, JROTC III</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS
Columbian</a> Squires
-Membership Chair 3 years
-Chief Squire (President) Beginning 3rd year
-Deputy State Chief Squire 1 year
-State Bursar Squire Beginning 1st year
-Organized a Parish Youth Day attended by 100+ youth
--Submitting this as my Squire of the Body of Christ project (currently only 84 worldwide)</p>

<p>4H
-Vice President 1 year
-President beginning 3rd term
-County Ambassador 1 year
-Won 1st in District Leaders 4 Life competition, qualified for state (could not attend due to prior commitments)</p>

<p>JROTC
-Won Superior Cadet Sophomore year
-Citizenship Award Junior Year
-Our program is top 1% nationwide (590/600 CFI)
-Platoon Leader during our CFI inspection
-Block Member of Drill Team
-Member of Honor Guard
-Led a collection drive in my company to support an orphanage in Mexico and local homeless families</p>

<p>National Honor Society
-Elected President for this coming year (my Senior year)</p>

<p>Interact Club
-Working to start one at my high school, so a charter member.</p>

<p>Church
-Altar Server at Church 7 years (considered a "Senior server")
-Member of the youth missionary/service group
---Member for years, traveled to Cambodia for two weeks and volunteered at an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS
-Helped to start a high school youth group at the Parish (attended meetings with potential adult leaders, Knights of Columbus representative, and the parish priest)</p>

<p>OTHER:
-Texas Boys State Delegate
--Ran for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and won party nomination, lost general election however.
-National Hispanic Scholar
-AP Scholar
-Venture Scholar
-Organized and led a collection drive (clothes, food, etc.) for local homeless families through my AP English class.</p>

<p>So now for the schools I am looking at:
Cornell University (applying early action)
UPenn
University of California Davis
Colorado State University
North Carolina State University
Ohio State University
TAMU is my safety school.</p>

<p>Recommendation letters would come from:
AP English III teacher - Expect a strong recommendation without a doubt.</p>

<p>PreAP English II teacher - she is also the sponsor for our NHS club, expect a strong letter.</p>

<p>JROTC II instructor - Wants me to apply to West Point but that's not an option sadly. His spelling/grammar isn't the best due to the education he received (not great as a black man in Alabama) but he could vouch for me as a strong leader and my work ethic. Should I ask him?</p>

<p>Chief Counselor of Squires - West Point grad, med-level recommendation at worst.</p>

<p>Possibly my APUSH teacher - She retired this year, but I did well in her class; I had a B+ average. I think she knows I was one of the only students who didn't cheat throughout the year considering almost everyone with a high A in her class made a 1 or 2 on the AP exam whereas I made a 4. So I think it's reasonable she would write a strong recommendation for me.</p>

<p>I'll be happy to answer any other questions, and I would love to have other college recommendations if you have any. Thank you for your time!</p>

2

<p>Five page bump.</p>

3

<p>I think you have a good chance at basically all of those schools. Ivy Leagues are always reaches, but I know a girl with similar stats with you that got into Penn and a guy with similar stats as you that got into Cornell this year. </p>

<p>You should just try and get your GPA a little higher. </p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

4

<p>Thanks, I’m glad to hear those with similar stats get in. I just hope that my ECs are good enough to get me in. Any opinions on those? I feel like they might be unique enough in some areas but I’m not entirely sure.</p>

<p>And as far as raising GPA goes, definitely. I honestly feel like this will be my easiest year yet since these will be classes I enjoy and I’ve only heard great things about these teachers from my peers. It won’t help much with early decision, but in the case I get deferred to regular admission at Cornell it will definitely help.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

5

<p>You sound really strong and are very well rounded so you should be able to get into everything with upenn and cornell being reaches bc they are reaches for everyone</p>

6

<p>Sorry if bumping an old thread is taboo here, but I’d like some more input from my peers now that we’re in application season.</p>

<p>Update to the Rotary Interact club; we’ve gotten it approved and I am the Vice President. And though I cannot say with 100% certainty, it appears I will be my JROTC company commander this year.</p>

<p>Also, I am looking at expanding my applications to the other Ivy League schools. Definitely on the low end for HYP but I’m interested in hearing thoughts on getting in to the Ivies regardless.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

7

<p>Cornell is ED binding remember, not early action! You’re GPA is still on the low side due to your class rank for the Ivy League. You’ll likely be accepted into all the other schools. Make sure to do well on the sat subject tests! Applying ED Cornell is your best shot at a fantastic school, good luck!</p>

<p>Chance me if you can?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1537738-my-one-only-chance-thread-need-advice-will-chance-back-penn-ed-hyp-etc.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1537738-my-one-only-chance-thread-need-advice-will-chance-back-penn-ed-hyp-etc.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>Oh, didn’t even realize I had put early action in my original post. </p>

<p>Now as far as GPA goes, how much will it affect me? I ask because cheating is rampant in our school - kids passing APUSH with a 100, but making a 1 or 2 on the exam for example. Essentially the only way to get into the top is by cheating which I haven’t done. The teachers know these students cheat, but do nothing and/or are too lazy to switch from the test banks with full answer keys readily available online.</p>

<p>I’ve been an honest student, so now my big concern is that because I’ve chosen not to just use the answer key, it’s going to hurt my chances.</p>