chances and suggestions......?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a junior right now at a very competitive private boarding HS. I'm on financial aid and I'm white. Courses over the years with appx. grades:</p>

<p>Freshman: 90.8 average
91 algebra 1
92 french 1
90 english 1
92 biology 1
86 religion
95 design </p>

<p>sophomore: 92.6 average
92 french II honors
88 english
96 geometry
97 algebra II
91 Intro to modern euro history</p>

<p>This year: 90 average
92 Honors precalculus
91 Chemistry accelerated
88 French IV
91 English
87 Honors (AP) US History</p>

<p>Taking AP exams: english Lit, english lang, and US history soon</p>

<p>Projected senior year:
AP Calc BC
AP Biology
Physics I Accelerated
English
French 5</p>

<p>Plan to take AP exams: Calc BC, Bio, Physics B, French</p>

<p>this is a pretty tough group of classes for my school since the school is very competitive. My "GPA" is about 90.8% overall. We don't rank but we do do quintiles and I'm in the first quintile (not by a whole lot though) </p>

<p>SAT Scores- first try: 620 CR + 740 M + 790 W = 2150.
I'm going to study up this summer and take them in October and I'm confident that with some work I can get 700 CR and hopefully hit 2250. I got 760 on Math I and I'm taking Math II and chem this June</p>

<p>ECs are:
nationally ranked in snowboarding; starting, teaching, won grant to fund camp that I started where I taught science to elementary school kids; starting a lawn mowing business; community service board at school, 1 of 6 picked out of 90 to represent school at student leadership/service conference in asia.</p>

<p>Work 40 hours a week summertime. Family doesn't have much $$... so I've funded a lot of this stuff myself (ex. raised sponsorship $ to go to snowboarding nationals, and paid for some of it out of my own pocket, received almost full payment to go to asia). Also investment club and I'm looking to start FBLA at my school.</p>

<p>So what do you think my chances are at MIT and the Ivies? How about at Penn engineering or at Wharton?
Do you have any other recommendations (i.e. safety schools)?</p>

<p>I am interested in engineering and business. My first 2 choices right now are MIT and Penn.</p>

2

<p>You have some great stats...however, realize it's going to be a crapshoot for everyone at MIT and Penn. Is it worth putting in the application, sure.</p>

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

3

<p>I live in MA.</p>

4

<p>a little more on the snowboarding: I'm ranked 8th nationally and 1st in state, I started the snowboard team at my school, and I am sponsored. However, I am worried that schools which don't have a snowboarding team (i.e. 99.9% of the schools in the country) won't really care about this..... :(</p>

5

<p>Well, the Big Ten schools are fantastic options for your majors and less selective. Check out:
U Michigan - Ann Arbor
U Wisconsin - Madison
U Illinois - Urbana Champaign
Penn State
U Indiana - Bloomington</p>

<p>Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Lehigh for engineering</p>

<p>For some more selective options OOS, check out:
Northwestern
Rice
Duke</p>

<p>For a real backup/financial safety, add a Massachussets in-state public.</p>

6

<p>Still your snowboarding dedication is impressive...top national ranking in any sport is good.</p>

7

<p>You may also want to look at some schools closer to the slopes.</p>

8

<p>yeah that's a good point my advisor told me to apply to U Colorado as a safety</p>

9

<p>^ That would be a good safety...and Boulder's a fun college town.</p>

10

<p>What would you say my chances are of getting into at least one of:</p>

<p>MIT, UPenn, Brown, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Duke, Stanford </p>

<p>with financial aid</p>

11

<p>^ Hehe...you'll probably get into one. If you play your cards right, and exhibit passion and high interest in something compelling that makes you unique among the pool of applicants, your chances improve.</p>

<p>The key is conveying this in targeted essays, with evidence in your academic stats and extra-curriculars.</p>

<p>Financial aid at any of those schools is need based.</p>

12

<p>alright hahah thanks. Hmm and about testing.........</p>

<p>just how important are AP exams? cuz mine this year are irrelevant to what I want to study in college. plus is it ok if i get a 4 or two?
Am I dead if I don't get my CR from 620 to >700?</p>

<p>annnnndd... can I feasibly get 2 majors at penn (wharton and engineering) while only applying to the school of engineering (less selective, lots less applicants from my school) through transfer or something?</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
just how important are AP exams? cuz mine this year are irrelevant to what I want to study in college. plus is it ok if i get a 4 or two?

[/quote]

Hmmm. Yeah, for some top schools, especially if applying for engineering, they like to see some AP classes in calc, chem and physics...and 5's are better of course. But the 4's in non-major courses shouldn't hurt you too much.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Am I dead if I don't get my CR from 620 to >700?

[/quote]

This is less important than the AP credit or SAT II scores, IMO.</p>

<p>
[quote]
annnnndd... can I feasibly get 2 majors at penn (wharton and engineering) while only applying to the school of engineering (less selective, lots less applicants from my school) through transfer or something?

[/quote]

I'm not exactly sure, but from what I've read on this board, Penn is quite flexible.</p>

14

<p>I'm taking AP Calc BC and AP Bio and Physics Accelerated next year (the actual AP exams won't be done till after applications though), so that should be good IMO. Plus, I'm thinking about biomedical engineering so AP bio would make sense that way. That penn thing will be worth pursuing.<br>
Thank you... you have been very helpful!</p>

15

<p>^ Dude, I just saw some of your other posts that you go to Deerfield...isn't that like one of the top prep schools in the nation?</p>

<p>You don't have anything to worry about.<br>
Good luck!</p>

16

<p>
[quote]
Plus, I'm thinking about biomedical engineering so it would make sense that way

[/quote]

I'm going to give you my standard rant on biomedical engineering.</p>

<p>Yes, it's quite an interesting field. But, it's also a very limiting field. Job opportunities are quite limited since it's a relatively new field/industry...It also seems like, especially reading this board, that everyone and their brother is going into BME. </p>

<p>If you want to pursue engineering, I strongly recommend pursuing a more traditional engineering major, like chemical, mechanical, or electrical - especially at the BS level. It will provide you a much broader employment base.</p>

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<p>lol yeah i do... thank you that is very nice to hear!</p>

18

<p>alright good advice on BME, I'm definitely not 100% on it so I will reconsider for sure. (AP Bio is in the books for next year's classes though...) maybe material science would be a good option. or, what do you know about biotechnology?</p>

<p>(Note: It's important to me that I combine with business)</p>

19

<p>Material science is good. You can also major in chemical engineering. Most of the bigger programs offer courses in biochemical engineering/biotechnology.</p>

<p><a href="Note:%20It's%20important%20to%20me%20that%20I%20combine%20with%20business">quote</a>

[/quote]

BS in engineering + MBA is a golden ticket.</p>

<p>Take some econ courses while pursuing an engineering degree.</p>

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<p>sounds good. hopefully i can get a minor or double major in econ/engineering. idk about chemical though because I've had a hard time understanding chemistry</p>