Chances at Big Schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So I'm a senior in high school, and I <em>just</em> finished my Yale application and sent it. I'd like to know your probability that I'll get into the following schools:
-Yale
-Washington University at St. Louis
-Northwestern</p>

<p>Let's break it down:
Male, Asian (technically, Indo-Pakistani), from Missouri</p>

<p>=ACADEMICS=
-GPA (as of end of my junior year): 4.00 unweighted, 4.632 weighted
-Rank: 1/398
-Current AP classes:
+AP Environmental Science
+AP Chemistry
+AP Economics (micro and macro)
+AP Psychology
+AP English Literature
+AP Art History</p>

<p>=STANDARDIZED TESTS=
-AP Tests Taken:
5-AP Calc AB
5-AP Stat
5-AP World History
4-AP Physics B
5-AP US Gov.
5-AP Comparative Gov
5-AP Comp Sci A
4-AP Physics C Mechanics
5-AP English Language
-PSAT: 219 (National Merit Semifinalist)
-SAT: 2130 (750CR: 690 Math: 690 Writing)
-ACT: 34 (32 English; 34 Math; 34 Science; 34 Writing; 9 on essay portion)
-Won a gold medal for Latin I and Latin III National Latin exam; bronze for Latin IV prose</p>

<p>=Other academic-ish stuff=
-Won some regional writing competition
-Yale Book Award winner (what is this exactly?)</p>

<p>Now here's the part that I'm scared about... non-academic things.</p>

<p>=Volunteering=
+ Volunteering at Marymount Nursing Home (15 hours for 1 year)
+ Campus Beautification (15 hours for 1 year)
+ Tutoring at High School (10 hours for 1 year)
+ Elementary Student Tutoring (10 hours a month)
+ Volunteered with my religious group to help hold fundraising events, help with community outreach projects, and social events.</p>

<p>=Extracurriculars=
+ National Honor Society:
-Junior Executive (Jr. year)
-NHS President (senior year)
+ Did research with a professor at Wash. U at STL over the summer
+ A bunch of Academic Competition awards-- at state and district level. 4th place individual at state, 5th at district, 4th place team finish at MSHSAA State [Class 4], 1st place team finish at District. We also won a bunch of other awards at smaller invitational tournaments.
-Co-captain for the team for three years.
+ Did FED Challenge for two years (it's a national thing)
+ Did FIRST Robotics for two years (it's also a national robotics competition)
+ Various other stints in different clubs, but none too worthwhile mentioning</p>

<p>Yes, I am flipping out.... >_></p>

<p>If it makes any difference, I'm going to get my undergrad. degree in Biomedical Engineering.</p>

2

<p>In @ NW and STL, I'd love to say in @ Yale but I've seen Einsteins rejected there.</p>

3

<p>Ah, well, Northwestern and Wash U are closer to me (I do live near St. Louis and all). I know interviews are optional, but how much do they help? Are they painful?</p>

4

<p>Do you have SAT IIs?</p>

5

<p>No-- Yale requires either SAT and SAT II or ACT w/writing, so I opted for ACT.</p>

6

<p>This is what I like to call a shameless bump. A bunch of my friends say I've got a shot at Yale, but I have a feeling they're just saying that because I'm a big fish in a small pond.</p>

<p>I feel my SAT is a bit lower than I'd have liked, and was wondering whether or not a higher GPA, higher ACT, and being a National Merit Semifinalist would be able to offset that. And as it stands right now, I got my first B+ in AP Chemistry this senior year. Meh.</p>

7

<p>In at NW and WUSTL, good chance at Yale but nothing can be guaranteed. You are just one of the many geniuses that apply to the ivies, so anything can happen. Good luck!!</p>

<p>Please help me out?
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/617625-please-give-advice-very-desperate-junior.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/617625-please-give-advice-very-desperate-junior.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

8

<p>You should be fine, and your GPA, ACT, and NMSF should help offset the SAT, and the colleges wil probably look at your ACT primarily since it is higher. You are in at WashU and Northwestern, and a match for Yale.</p>

<p>Chance me please! <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/621725-took-risk-blew-any-hope-left.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/621725-took-risk-blew-any-hope-left.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

9

<p>typical asian male...i sincerely doubt you will get in to any of those schools...but you have like a 20-25% shot at wash u</p>

10

<p>Here is the fact--absolutely no one without a hook has a good shot at Yale. No one. Not a 4.0, 2400 at Andover. Take your lottery ticket like everyone else and good luck!</p>

11

<p>It is absolutely not true that you need a hook to get into Yale, unless you have a <em>very</em> loose definition of the word "hook."</p>

<p>OP: Wait, did you submit your SAT score to Yale? It's definitely below average, but not prohibitively so... still, your ACT is obviously better, and more in accordance with your academics.</p>

<p>Your tiny pinches of volunteering are not going to help you. At all. They're not going to hurt, because (believe it or not) you're not required to have done tons of community service to get into an Ivy, but they're not going to help.</p>

<p>That said, even though you're obviously an ORM, I'd say you're in at WashU and Northwestern, and Yale depends solely on the strength of your essays.</p>

12

<p>lookbeyond:
As for the volunteering-- yeah, Yale mentioned something like that on their site ("Yale is primarily an educational institution" or something).</p>

<p>I did not submit my SAT scores to Yale for two reasons: one reason was that I thought it would reflect a bit negatively on me. Although now that I remember that I mentioned my score on my application, I think it was a sort of useless move. Ah well.</p>

<p>ORM=? </p>

<p>I personally think WUSTL is probably in, and NW is a maybe... Yale is... well, an Ivy.</p>

<p>
[quote]
typical asian male...i sincerely doubt you will get in to any of those schools...but you have like a 20-25% shot at wash u

[/quote]
I dunno-- I've been seeing who else got into Wash. U, and they seem to be roughly at the same level as I am... my essay writing can't be <em>that</em> bad.</p>

13

<p>NW and WUSTL should accept you. unless you havent showed ANY interest in Washington. they have a tendency of only accepting those who show interest. </p>

<p>like most said Yale is Yale. you have a better chance than most. </p>

<p>if you have the time <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/623569-interests-shifting-williams-amherst-pomona.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/623569-interests-shifting-williams-amherst-pomona.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>btw ORM=OverRepresentedMinority (haha i would know Indian)</p>

14

<p>would you happen to be ismaili?
if you have never heard of that ignore this post.</p>

<p>as for chances...
Both NW and WUSTL will take you if you show interest.
yale cant be chanced</p>

15

<p>-Yale REACH
-Washington University at St. Louis MATCH
-Northwestern MATCH</p>

<p>I was a Yale Book Award winner too! I see no correlation though between book awards and acceptance though. Accepted to Yale, but currently at Harvard.</p>

16

<p>I believe the Yale Book Award winners are selected by your school counselors/ teachers/ and a Yale Alum. I won a Harvard Book Award, but as far as I'm concerned, that does not improve my chances at getting into Harvard. It simply reflects that my Counseling department, my teachers, and the Harvard Alum that presented the book to me thought that I could be a good candidate for Harvard. So your Yale Book implies that your school has confidence in you at Yale. Confidence is a good thing.</p>

<p>In summary, your academics are extremely strong. Your standarized tests are fine for schools, but your SAT might be low for Yale. Your (mediocre?) ECs, however, might be a deciding factor for NW and Yale. Your volunteer hours will not help you, but I'm sure an officer wouldn't deny you simply because you have a spread of volunteering hours.</p>

<p>So on my part, I think I should just send your ACT (because it translates to a 2240+ SAT), and not your SAT, but that is completely up to you.
WashU and St. Louis is a match, Northwestern would be a high Match, and Yale would be a definite reach for virtually everybody.</p>

17

<p>To Crunkk-- no, I'm not, although I've heard of Ismailism.</p>

<p>Funny you mention that bit about Wash U admitting people with interest-- a friend mentioned that too. I mean, I went on a campus visit as a junior and did research with a professor at Wash U, so I sort of assumed that was enough "interest".</p>

<p>And no, I did not send my SAT scores over (for the same reason Sasoo mentioned).</p>

18

<p>-Yale- waitlist/ accept
-Washington University at St. Louis- reject (random rejection Tufts syndrome)
-Northwestern- accept</p>

19

<p>WUSTL rejection? Meh, I wouldn't have guessed that myself. Any more comments/"hah, you've got no chance at any of these schools" etc?</p>

20

<p>You're stats are good, but you won't be the only person with them. Even more, many people will have extracurriculars FAR better than yours, and because Asians are generally over-represented, that may hurt you too. As far as Yale goes, I would say your chances are average, nothing more. And do the rest of us a favor...don't post chance threads when it's clear you think you've already been accepted.</p>