Chances at Brown and some other schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>im an indian kid, who goes to a pretty competitive catholic school in new york.</p>

<p>academics:
g.p.a - 3.97uw, 4.43w
top 3-4% if class.
sat- 750v 700m
sat2's- writing: 780
math 1c: 750
us history: 760
chem: 740
bio: 740</p>

<p>taken 7 ap classes, maxed out the ap program at the school. Only other kid in school to do that.</p>

<p>ap chem: 4
ap us: 5</p>

<p>National Merit Commended</p>

<p>ecs:
*research 2 years: Yale Science and Engineering award
Siemens Westinghouse semifinalist
Im doing INTEL too.
Team Leader for both of my projects.</p>

<p>*on editorial board for an international science research journal </p>

<ul>
<li><p>volunteered 2 years in India with orphaned children and at a hospital for the visually challenged </p></li>
<li><p>Tennis: JV capatin
Varsity for 3 years
All- League
2nd place in league torunament for 2 years in a row</p></li>
<li><p>memeber of USTA and am ranked 20th in the region</p></li>
<li><p>some inane school clubs and NHS.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Essay and recs:
all my recs are pretty good i think, esspecially my guidance counselors.
my essay i have been told is also quite good.</p>

<p>*if it makes a difference i have contacted the chairman of the physics dept. at Brown and the tennis coach. I am going up to met them sometime in the next 2 weeks.
- i most likely wont get recqruited</p>

<p>As you could see i have applied to Brown ED and my chances seem mediocre.
I would appreciate it if u could tell me what my chances are at:</p>

<p>Cornell
Yale
UPenn
Darthmouth
Amherst
NYU
Georgetown
Stony Brook
WashU in St.Louis
George Washington</p>

2

<p>bumpppppppppppp</p>

3

<p>Here is my take on your chances at:</p>

<p>Yale...Iffy
Brown (ED)...Okay
Darthmouth...Okay
Amherst...Good
UPenn...Good
WashU...Good
Georgetown...Good
Cornell...Very Good
NYU...Very Good
GWU...Excellent
SUNY-Stony Brook...Excellent</p>

<p>Just my 2 cents. Hope this helps. :)</p>

4

<p>There is some pretty strange advice being given here. I'd say no to the ivies. You have a shot at WashU and you're OK beneath there. Competition among asians at the ivies is stiff.</p>

5

<p>wtf. i'd say you are a lock for Yale if you applied early. My opinion.</p>

6

<p>A 1450 is below Yale's average . How on earth can that make this a lock? The below average candidates are prodigies, minorities, athletes and legacies. Whites and Asians have stats way above Yale's average.</p>

7

<p>anyone else have an opinion, hopefully better than canuckehs :)</p>

8

<p>Yale is definitely not a lock. The only people who can say that are legacies and underrepresented minority athletes and prodigies. However, you can still get into Yale. As anyone on this post will agree, with the exception of maybe a few Vancouver hockey fans, ivy-league admission is sporadic. Even though you are not the most phenomenal candidate, your test scores are not stellar, and you have little leadership from what I can see, I think you have:</p>

<p>Yale-Slim chance
UPenn-Slim chance
Brown-Slightly larger chance
Dartmouth-Same as Brown
Cornell-Decent Chance
Amherst-Pretty good
Georgetown-Pretty good
Washington St. Louis-Great
NYU-Excellent
Stony Brook- Lock</p>

<p>Good Luck</p>

9

<p>Are you good enough to play at an Ivy? That makes all the difference. IF not, Yale likely no, decent/reach chance at Brown, Dartmouth, Amherst, Penn. Good chance Cornell, Gtown, WUSTL. In at the others. I love your list BTW- add Northwestern. I applied to almost exactly the same schools as you and I liked it alot when I visited. It is a match and like WUSTL and Gtown, buffers the difference between your safeties and reaches (YDBPA).</p>

10

<p>He's rated top 20 in the USTA. AND he did all this science competition crap. My opinion stands.</p>

11

<p>Canuckeh, like I posted earlier:</p>

<p>I believe that you may be biased, and might want to watch that--don't know if it's intentional.</p>

<p>You definately are making assumptions about URMs. It does not necessarily follow that since 30% of students at Yale are minorities, that they ALL scored lower than non-URMs. That is a false assumption. That is that IF A (URM+ Other Categories), then B (<1400), according to you. The truth is that IF A, then sometimes B. Or, to take another tact, If Z (non-URM), then sometimes Y (>1400).</p>

<p>Other things come into play at Yale, Namely things like national origin (like yours--Canada), geographic region, state residency, athletic ability, special talents, URM status, legacy ties, developmental candidates, academic prowess, etc...</p>

<p>Private schools use a holistic aproach to all applicants. And, if you want the truth, Asian (statistically) score higher on tests, have better gpas, and class rank than any other group. I would argue, however, that it does not by itself make them better students or applicants than those who are white or URM.</p>

<p>It is the admissions office that determines what a good student is, rather than here on CC. And, Yale's acceptance rate is no advantage to ALL applicants. </p>

<p>It is disengenuious to say that URMs + special admits drag down the averages and take spots from more deserving students. Again, be careful...they has been much discussion about this. Give it a rest.</p>

<p>Wahoo: Yale is never a lock!</p>

12

<p>Look Blaineko, I'm new to CC, but I've been horrified by a lot of the advice given here. Kids who don't know post opinions as though they did. All my posts are just that, my opinion. My opinion is based on getting rejected from ivies as a freshman applicant, getting accepted as a transfer because I then knew what it took and working in an ivy admissions office and talking three times a week with adcoms. I feel I have something to share, that's all.</p>

13

<p>And btw, "special" groups do drag down the average. Fact. Not to say that every minority has lower scores, but as a group their average is significantly lower. Same with athletes. Not true of legacies at my school and I suspect other top collegesa, however.</p>

14

<p>I agree with Althalius about you having a chance at the Ivies. Good luck and keep your chin up. As long as you get very good to excellent recs and have excellent essays, you should be competative. Just my 2 cents. :)</p>

15

<p>An average is different than an individual. Fact is, where is your data for the Ivies?
Yale would disagree with you, as you are not looking holistically at an individual applicant but rather at their group affiliation, which is misguided. And, making blanket statements that people who score below a certain score being URMs + special admits is incorrect. Most students have tip factors, including Asians.</p>

<p>And making judgements based on group affiliations is similar to judging whole groups (like URMs) without recognizing their individuality. What maybe true with respect to sociology (without recognizing the cause of performance differences) is not necessarily true of a particular applicant on the micro level. Thus, since this CCer asked as an individual, what his chances were, it is strange that you would assert that he has little chance at the Ivies (especially given that different Ivies use differeing methods to choose a class). </p>

<p>Since not all UPenn admits get into Harvard, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Princeton, and Yale, your analysis seems a bit mis-directed. Before I took a couple of years off from applying to college (I had already been accepted at Yale & Columbia, but was rejected from UPenn and waitlisted at Carleton out of high school), it was smart not to make such judgements. I don't think things have changed so drastically as what you have painted.</p>

<p>Sounds like you want people not to apply to the Ivies. What is upsetting is that I'm a Republican, and even I am aware of how private schools use a holistic approah to choosing a class, as well as a student.</p>

16

<p>Canuck:</p>

<p>Like I said on another post:</p>

<p>I have friends who are admissions officers at several Ivies and liberal arts colleges, as well as family members, and family friends who have gone to them as well. Some are involved with alumni interviews, as well as fund raising. The dis-service is that kids here get discouraged from apply when people make blanket statements about particular groups--even those who are just lurkers. Obviously, some groups score lower, but that does not immediately rule out that there are high scores in the group.</p>

<p>By saying that ALL within a particular group recieve a boost because of a specific characteristic is making an assumption that it is the defining characteristic. Are you saying that Yale (and other good schools) do not use a holistic approach to judge applicants? That people who have great scores or grades do not get a boost? Weird, how you can discourage high scorers and people with great grades. Yale has never been a lock for anyone. It is Yale that deturmines its needs and its admits.</p>

17

<p>Given your lack of logic, you must be a music prodigy or something! It is a simple FACT that minorities as a whole have lower stats at ivy schools. "Asians have a tip factor?" Can you explain? Asians have higher stats as a group than any other group. Top schools quota Asians. This means they compete against each other and it becomes harder for them to get in than any other group. And about your buying that ivies look at the whole individual, that is certainly true above certain stats. To keep their SAT averages in the high 1400 and accomodate athletes, URMs, prodigies and other special groups like the rich and famous, anyone not fitting into one of those categories almost always has higher than average stats. Simple fact.</p>

18

<p>Canuck: </p>

<p>Even guidebooks say that if you are in the middle 50%ile with respect to scores, that you are competative. The middle 50% at Yale is 1380-1580. Schools (read "The Gatekeepers") look twice at those who score above the middle 50% or below it. It is your lack of knowledge {ie. If A (URMs) then B (always <1400)} rather than mine. Many parents on CC would disagree with you. Many admissions counselors would disagree with you. Some teenagers would disagree with you. And, I disagree with you based on inside knowledge, personal experience, and outside reading (ie. "The Shape of the River", "The Bell Curve", "The Big Test", etc...).</p>

<p>That you would know better is debatable, and a diservice to applicants that are in the middle-50%ile, who have a chance at the Ivies and better LACs. Funny, but I think you got it wrong.</p>

<p>PS--then 2 Ivies were wrong about me being a good, logical candidate (Yale & Columbia) while another was right (UPenn). Goes to show you that even Ivies could be wrong. Thus, you could be wrong in your absolutist assumptions about URMs and the like. Maybe Ylae made the same mistake with you. Funny, very funny. :)</p>

19

<p>It is not a simple FACT, with respect to a college applicant that ALL URM score lower, unless you view them as a group. As in 'us' versus 'them". Judging by the music comment, you assume that it was not my academic performance that got me in. Even better.</p>

<p>BTW, what was your SAT score? My highest single sitting was 1490, my highest combined 1540. U?</p>

20

<p>Surfer:</p>

<p>Sorry about the rant. Canuck, with his race-based prejudice makes me cross-eyed. In his estimation, no one derserves to be at the Ivies except for people like himself. Wow. :)</p>