Chances/App Presentation Suggestions? Will Return The Favor.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi everyone. One year ago I promised myself that I would never, ever post a chance thread. given my unusual circumstances however (my low UW GPA) I would like to see what everyone thinks. My current list of non-safety schools is listed below - could you please provide chances/suggestions to clean up and improve my application?</p>

<p>(First Choice) Yale SCEA
Harvard
MIT
Brown
Columbia
U Chicago
Stanford
Princeton
Dartmouth
Cornell</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>SAT I : 2400
SAT II: 790 USH, 800 Math 2, 780 Bio (m)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.75 (school is relatively grade deflating)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): currently 8/~350
AP (place score in parenthesis):
US history - 5
Euro history - 5 (self study)
World History -5 (self study)
US Gov - 5 (self study)
Psychology - 5
Lang comp - 5
Biology - 5
Macroecon - 45(self study)
Microecon - 5 (self study)
calc AB - 5
comp sci A - 5 (self study)
physics c (m) - senior year self study
physics c (e) - senior year self study
Art history - senior year self study
statistics - senior year self study
chemistry - senior year class
literature - senior year class
enviro sci - senior year self study
comp gov - senior year self study
human geo - senior year self study</p>

<p>Senior Year Course Load:
AP chem
AP literature
AP gov (even though I got a 5 on the AP test I'm required to take the class for credit), multivariate calculus (at local college)
linear algebra (at local college)
microeconomic theory (at local college)
Advanced Methods in Analytical Chemistry (at local college, I will be the only non-PhD student in the class)</p>

<p>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):</p>

<p>Placed @ ISEF, national finalist @ JSHS as well as a few other science competitions
State finalist for debate (unofficially I was 6th or so, but they didn't rank beyond top 5)
Mock trial, lead atty. 2nd in state sophomore year, 3rd junior year. 12th at the international championships
state MVP witness in mock trial sophomore & junior year</p>

<p>+minor stuff like AP national scholar and national merit.</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):</p>

<p>Big one - From 8th grade through the first half of junior year, built a large online community focused around a game with ~200k members and ~1m users.
Science Research (with 0 connections and little guidance, my project was much more independent then everyone else I saw at the competitions)
mock trial (head attorney sophomore and junior year)
debate
glassblowing with some metalworking</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience: Work for my parents small business building statistical models for pricing warranties in this past year, general grunt work in the years before that. (Intended major is probably statistics or engineering)</p>

<p>Summer Activities: Glassblowing every summer
after sophomore I did Harvard summer school (how I met my ISEF mentor)
after junior (where I am now) I am working as a lab intern at a local university and working for my parents business on some statistical modeling, plus taking AP calc online.</p>

<p>Teacher Recommendation: 1st should be good, 2nd is excellent - I asked for it for a scholarship competition so I have already read it. Went something like "20 years teaching, had ~50 kids go to ivies over that time, best ever."
Counselor Rec: We get along well. Should be fine.
Additional Rec: Harvard prof who advised on my ISEF research, it should be excellent.</p>

<p>Other
School Type: Competitive public, 3 to ivy league schools per year
Ethnicity: Whiter than a sheet
Gender: Male
State: OH</p>

<p>Overall I think I have a decent application, but for one thing - my unweighted GPA. I don't know how everyone on here has a perfect 4.0 as in 30 years that's only ever happened once at my school, and our probable val only has around a 3.9. Will this kill me?</p>

2

<p>I’m still a little unsure of how you came to have the 3.75 - what courses were troublesome, specifically? That said, taking AP & SAT I scores into consideration, you have as good a shot as anyone. In my opinion, your scores are awesome, but what’ll seal the deal for any high-scoring applicant are ECs and personal qualities.</p>

<p>I’d love to hear more about your ISEF project - you should PM me! I went this year, and it was a humbling experience, to say the least. :)</p>

<p>[Chance</a> back?](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1187753-chance-country-bumpkin.html]Chance”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1187753-chance-country-bumpkin.html) Thanks.</p>

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<p>Nothing was ever particularly difficult, it was just a matter of distracted priorities. I was spending ~50 hours a week building my website during my sophomore year on top of my EC and school responsibilities, and my grades suffered as a result (just taking junior and freshman year I would have a ~3.98 & would easily be val - our valedictorian will probably end up with a low 3.9/ high 3.8).</p>

4

<p>Return the favor, br0? Thx.</p>

5

<p>Unless you totally blow it on the essays, I think that you’re almost guaranteed acceptance into all of the above schools. You amaze me. Also, I’m a rising senior, and I want to go for Siemens/Intel this year (this will be my first year). Could you pm me with any advice you may have? It would be much appreciated :)</p>

6

<p>Heh, thanks Peacegal - I have PM’d you.</p>

7

<p>You have solid chances. Just don’t screw up your essays. Your glassblowing is very interesting, and your ISEF placement is impressive. Chance me back (also on chance forum)?</p>

8

<p>You have very solid chances; Your gpa may be relatively low, but your ec’s and ap test scores are great, especially considering you self studied many of them. I doubt your gpa will kill you, especially if your val only got 3.9 and if your class rank is still high. Good luck!</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1188763-chance-me-please-terribad-gpa-ok-ish-sat-ecs-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1188763-chance-me-please-terribad-gpa-ok-ish-sat-ecs-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<p>Pretty damn solid chance for all the schools you listed, nice work.
Chance back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1189227-chance-my-friend.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1189227-chance-my-friend.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>sure is solid in here. Any more suggestions?</p>

11

<p>bump. C’mon everyone - 200+ views and only ten posts?</p>

12

<p>You seem to be a very good candidate for these schools, but you have to realize that A LOT of other students that applies to the schools you are applying to are just as impressive as you, and believe me, you have a very impressive resume. I had a college list like yours at one point in terms of prestige, but it is very important to find some safety schools that you would still enjoy attending. Seeing that you are a science person, one such school I would recommend is Georgia Tech, with your stats, you are pretty much guaranteed admission, and they have a VERY good science program for not being as much of a well known or prestigious school as an Ivy. I would do some more research to find more schools like Georgia Tech. Another one like it is Penn State, where you could apply for their honors college, which is very good, and the school also has a very good math/science program.</p>

13

<p>Heh, don’t worry - I have plenty of safeties, I just don’t have them listed here. I am not looking at OOS public universities however because I need substantial financial aid, and they are far too expensive to consider.</p>

14

<p>Those schools are always going to be crap shoots but with your experiences your essays will truly standout.</p>

15

<p>No other ideas?</p>

16

<p>WICKED app… seriously exhausting list of AP self-studies+ISEF+web design+glassblowing </p>

<p>If you can’t get in I don’t know who could top you…</p>

17

<p>bump .</p>