chances at columbia?

<p>hi guys. i ask for an honest evaluation of my high school activities and academics record. i would like you to lead me int he direction of what colleges i should be looking into. i am a junior now btw:</p>

<p>GPA:
unwieghted-> freshman and sophomore year probably around 3.5 out of 4.0, this year as a junior probably closer to 3.7/3.8 out of 4.0
weighted-> freshman and sophomore year is 4.96 out of 6.0 (i know i really screwed this one up...=(...), this year however i have around a 5.5 out of 6.0</p>

<p>SAT: 720 math, 700 reading, 680 writing (going to retake)</p>

<p>Extracirriculars:
Biology team (11, plan on doing it 12)
physics team (plan on doing it 12)
academic decathalon (11, plan on doing it 12)
jazz band (11, plan on doing it 12)
tennis (jv 9, varsity 10/11/12)
football (jv 9 and 10)
national honor society (11, 12)
latin honor society (11, 12)
Volunteer at hospital: 50 hours this past summer, plan on 50 more this summer
Volunteer for PEC organization: 8 hours last year, plan on 8 more hours this year
I plan on attending a summer science program at UPENN or Columbia or Clark University this summer for 3-4 weeks.
I also have been cleaning up my local beach every fourth of july (and believe me, thats no easy job...-.-, so i guess thats comm service</p>

<p>in my free time i spend plenty of time playing the saxophone. i can pretty much confidently say i am the best saxophonist in the school (or at least one of the best). i also would like to say that i know, that i am aware of how badly i screwed up my freshman and sophomore years. i pretty much realized what a mistake i made at the end of sophomore year and thats when i really started picking my grades up. i havent let my grades drop since. it should also be noted that i am the youngest kid in my class. i just turned 16 this year where most people are turning 17 or 18.</p>

<p>i dont know how my chances are of getting into penn, but that is going to be one of the schools i apply to. ever since my mother went there for vet school i have been fascinated with it (thats since i was like...2 years old i think...).</p>

<p>aside from columbia i plan on applying to:
UPENN
Johns Hopkins
Carnegie Mellon
New York University
Rutgers (backup)
Stevens Institute of Technology (backup)</p>

<p>i would really appreciate any responses to this thread. i need to know exactly where i stand in terms of admission to penn (and all the other schools i mentioned if you dont mind and you have the time to tell me). whatever you answers are, i thank you for the time you put into your review. god help me...</p>

<p>haha i see you've posted here as well.</p>

<p>yea actually i posted this same thread in the forum sof UPENN, columbia, NYU and johnshopkins...hoping to maximize the amount of replies i get as well as possibly get diversified opinions from students that have already gotten accepted into those universities^^</p>

<p>dude yeah, i wish more people would comment on these chances posts because sometimes you just need a little more affirmation, you know? hmm, i would say get your SAT and GPA up. Have a good excuse for why frosh grades sucked. do something interesting over the summer--not those generic summer sessions. and your balance of sports among other things is impressive. arrgh will i be more dead after aps this year or after apps next yr? hmm</p>

<p>with your current stats, Penn is a huge reach (unless...do you have a legacy there?)
jhu- big reach
carnegie mellon-reach
it depends on where you apply at nyu. stern will be hard to get into
rutgers will be a match</p>

<p>yes i have a legacy at penn. also, i know for sure, out of the academic summer programs i apply to this summer, ill get into at least one. i am applying to columbia's, penn's and JHU's. i might also travel abroad with the ASF organization to learn languages in italy. would these attributes along with EXCEPTIONAL essays and recs greatly improve my chances at penn and columbia? i have decided im applying to columbia or penn ED, not sure which one yet. btw, im applying the NYU CAS, not stern. i am also going to take the entrance exam for columbia's science honor's program for my senior year. provided i maintain my current GPA (5.5-5.8 out of 6), go to a summer program (preferably columbia's or penn's) and get into columbia's science honors program, how much better would my chances be at those schools. i am also predicting getting good scores on my SATII: MathII and Biology and Chemistry and Physics. i also plan to raise my SAT writing score to at least 730 and my math to 750. will all of these improvments greatly increase my chances of getting into columbia/penn/JHU?</p>

<p>Edit: i would also like to add that my courseload is just about the toughest it can possibly be in school (with the exception of english, and thats because i stink at english). senior year my ourseload will be: AP's-> physics/calc/comp sci 1+2/euro history/chemistry. i am also taking english 4A (bleh =(...)</p>

<p>but ya, i am also positive i will get 4' and 5's on most of my ap tests (bio/physics/chem/calc/history)...</p>

<p>now, give me another opinion on what my chances are if you dont mind?</p>

<p>bump, really would like a few replies...</p>

<p>btw i have reconsidered my ED option and am now considering penn because i know my mom is an alumi there and that will help my chances of admission slightly. i have also reconsidered my summer program options and am now looking specifically at enrolling in a 3 week course at penn engineering school (a for-credit course) that will allow me to do actual college level classwork. im positive that if it is a graded course, i -WILL- recieve an "A" in it, no doubts. do you think this would help my admission chances at penn ED?</p>

<p>bump, just lookin for a few more opinions on this thread</p>

<p>what does bump mean?</p>