Chances at Columbia, JHU, BC, BU???

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Grade: Rising Senior
School: Competitve Parochial School in Massachusetts
Academics:</p>

<p>GPA: 91/100 UW, 104/100 W. (it's odd I know).
SAT: CR: 770, M: 790, W: 760, T: 2320
SAT IIs: 670 Spanish, 720 Lit, 790 Math 2 (taking Chem in October)
APs: Calc AB (5), US History (4), English Language (5 - self study)
Senior APs: English Lit, Spanish, Stats (only math class left), Biology, Chemistry (taking at MIT on Sundays).
Course Rigor: All honors and AP, hardest possible. I was the only junior to take 3 APs and will be the only senior to take 4 APs.
Class Rank: We're only told what decile we're in, and I'm in the top 10%</p>

<p>ECs: (only gonna write the important ones, not a laundry list)
Hospital Volunteer (I want to go premed, so I love the hospital atmosphere)
Varsity Tennis Team (been on Varsity since I transferred sophomore year)
Math Team
Academic Decathalon (Captain)
Peer Minister at Local Church (pretty much a youth leader)</p>

<p>Awards:</p>

<p>National Spanish Exam Silver Medal (10th and 11th grade)
Won a couple tennis tournaments but nothing major, not good enough to be recruited</p>

<p>Essays:</p>

<p>Should be good as long as I can convey the message I want to in my head. One will definitely be about how going to an uber-Catholic school and being gay has affected who I am today.</p>

<p>Recs: Will be really good.</p>

<p>Extra:</p>

<p>After transferring from freshman to sophomore year, I started having medical problems that resulted in my missing 37 days of school. Thus, my GPA dropped quite a bit. I've been bringing it up since, but it's been tough.</p>

<p>List of Schools: What are my chances at:</p>

<p>Columbia (maybe ED)
Brown
UPenn
Harvard (my guidance counselor is making me apply here, along with the rest of the top kids in my class)
Boston College
Boston University
Carnegie Mellon
Pomona College
Swarthmore College
Tufts
Georgetown
Johns Hopkins</p>

2

<p>bbbummpppp</p>

3

<p>Columbia (maybe ED) - reach (competitive shot though)
Brown - reach
UPenn - reach
Harvard (my guidance counselor is making me apply here, along with the rest of the top kids in my class) - reach
Boston College - safety
Boston University - safety
Carnegie Mellon - match
Pomona College - match
Swarthmore College - match
Tufts - match
Georgetown - match
Johns Hopkins - reach</p>

4

<p>Thanks welles! I don’t think BC is a safety…but match maybe? We shall see. Anyone else?</p>

5

<p>GPA: Considering your story, probably solid.
SAT: Solid
ECs: Good, but not spectacular like some of the applicants who will be applying to similar schools as you.</p>

<p>My question is: What is your hook? What is something so special about you that separates you from the rest of the application pool? </p>

<p>Columbia (maybe ED)- Reach
Brown - Reach
UPenn - Reach
Harvard - High Reach
Boston College - Match
Boston University - Match
Carnegie Mellon - ?
Pomona College - High Match
Swarthmore College - Low Reach
Tufts - Low Reach
Georgetown - Low to Mid Reach
Johns Hopkins - Match/Reach</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/746334-what-my-chances-these-liberal-arts-colleges-others.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/746334-what-my-chances-these-liberal-arts-colleges-others.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>@samsunimomo, there are only two things I think of as a hook. The first is really really lame, because it’s just that the highest level of education my parents have is my dad went to night school in his late thirties to get his BA. My mom has no degree.
The other “hook”, which isn’t a hook at all, is the fact that I am gay. Now, before people go tearing me apart about this because I know my sexuality is not going to get me in anywhere, it’s more the story behind it. I’ve gone to Catholic school since pre-k, which has really affected me. I rejected myself and my sexuality, which lead to a lot of issues and later, self-discovery. I know it sounds pretty cliche but if I write an essay about it I will work out the kinks. It’s just this has really shaped me and who I am today more than anything else I can think of.</p>

7

<p>can i just say that i love your essay idea? my essay is probably going to be about how i feel being a non-catholic at a catholic school, and how my classmates made it clear to me that i was being judged because of it.</p>

<p>your ECs are decent, SATs are 100% strong, and taking Chem at MIT is definitely something that will look good to colleges (hopefully/especially MIT :slight_smile: )</p>

<p>i’m not sure about some of these shools, but here are my guesses
Columbia (maybe ED)- mid-reach
Brown - mid-reach
UPenn - high reach
Harvard - high reach (for anyone)
Boston College - match
Boston University - match
Carnegie Mellon - dont know
Pomona College - match
Swarthmore College - match/low-reach
Tufts - dont know
Georgetown - dont know
Johns Hopkins - match/low-reach (your SATS make you a good candidate, but im not too sure about your ECs)</p>

8

<p>oh, and chance me, please? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/712633-what-my-chances.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/712633-what-my-chances.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<p>Thanks so much!</p>

10

<p>Anyone else??</p>

11

<p>@dreamsofivy</p>

<p>That is a very interesting essay idea! Hop to it!</p>

12

<p>Haha thanks. I like my topic, however I hope I can convey it the way I want to. I wrote one draft already but I did not like it.</p>

13

<p>If you leave your link here I will chance you back!</p>

14

<p>please???</p>

15

<p>Columbia (maybe ED)-reach
Brown-reach
UPenn-little lower reach
Harvard (my guidance counselor is making me apply here, along with the rest of the top kids in my class)-high reach(for everyone)
Boston College-low match
Boston University-safety
Carnegie Mellon-low match
Pomona College-match
Swarthmore College-high match
Tufts-match
Georgetown-high match
Johns Hopkins-high match/low reach</p>

<p>-The only thing I can say is that you could have shown a little more commitment to one or two unique EC’s but strong app, esp. if you really focus in those essays</p>