Chances at Harvard and other Impractical Schools

<p>Well I just got my March SAT scores and decided it's time to start scoping out my chances. So here are my stats!</p>

<p>Current Year: Junior</p>

<p>GPA: 3.9-4.0 W, 3.8-3.9 UW
SAT I: 710 M, 730 CR, 800 W Total 2240
Rank: 4-5/300
AP: Bio-4, World-4, Taking 4 Ap's this year
Courseload: Hardest Possible </p>

<p>Awards:
Rotary Youth Leadership Award
Black Achievement Award
Distinguished Key Club Member
2006 International Key Club Oratorical (Public Speaking) Competition: First Place
2006 New York District Key Club Oratorical Competition: First Place
2007 Rockland County Debate Forensics League: First Place</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Debate Team- Captain
Mock Trial- Lead Attorney/Captain
Model UN- Founder and President Elect
Science Olympiad- 2nd and 3rd Place (Robotics) Regionals
Robotics Club for Middle Schoolers in Marginalized School District
Key Club Member/ Executive Board Event Chair
Academic League
Tennis Team
Science and Technology Program- Saturdays at New York Medical College
Junior Honor Society
Math Team
Social Studies Honor Society
English Honor Society
R.E.P.S- Student Representation Program
Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society</p>

<p>Status: African American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 100K-150K?</p>

<p>Chances At:
Harvard
Stanford
Wharton
UPenn
Emory</p>

<p>I'd appreciate any comments, ratings, or suggestions.</p>

<p>well your application pretty much mirrors mine except for a few ec's and the fact that yer african-american. I was rejected at harvard....but idk, its pretty much all luck at alla those schools, so you might have a chance. AA might help you a little tho.</p>

<p>Yeah, milk your minority status. It's actually a huuge advantage and you should use it. Your scores and stats sound great; I'd say you have a good chance everywhere. =D</p>

<p>And since you're into forensics, you know what I'm going to say, New Yorker. =P It might not be as prestigous, but JH is the place to BE for criminal science.</p>

<p>Can anyone provide an brief but objective analysis of my chances, at least for Stanford and Harvard? The comments so far are somewhat helpful, but contrary to popular belief, I am aware that I am a minority.</p>

<p>ok then:</p>

<p>harvard 25%
stanford 25%
wharton 15%
upenn 35%
dunno enough about emory</p>

<p>Harvard 40%
Wharton 25%
Stanford 45% (very strong + AA = VERY VERY GOOD CHANCES)
UPenn 30%
...congrats on your successes</p>

<p>pdef... don't you think that those numbers are a little inflated? Don't Ivy leagues reject 75% of minorities. Albeit it is a generally weaker pool, but 40% Harvard...</p>

<p>Derrick, why aren't you looking at John Hopkins?</p>

<p>I've never really considered Johns Hopkins mainly because I don't know much about the school. Right now I have an inclination towards business and law, but I really am not sure which of the two I want to do. So I base my college choices on my own vanity.</p>

<p>bump (10chars)</p>

<p>Do you have any significant community service outside of Key Club? That might be the only weakness in your application...otherwise, you seem to be as good as anybody else.</p>

<p>Outside of Key Club, not really. Im starting an engineering program for middle schoolers in a marginalized school district, and I plan on volunteering this summer.</p>

<p>u have a great chance considering you're black, but i think its pretty much a crapshoot still for harvard. good luck</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice, I appreciate all the answers, and am open to any more criticism/comments.</p>

<p>You have pretty good chances at wherever you apply. I can't really give you percentages or anything to help you out, but you are definitely qualified to go to any school on your list. However, there is a big difference between being qualified to go to a school and actually being accepted to a school.</p>

<p>This has nothing to do with the OP, but I wish people would stop overinflating URM's chances when they are applying to colleges. It's not like these colleges accept all qualified URM's; the fact is they still have to have fantastic stats, and it is just as much of a crapshoot as it is for White and Asian students. I'm not saying that URM's don't have a slightly higher chance of getting into college, but I think that many people think that it is more of an advantage than it actually is.</p>

<p>That sounds like a great idea for a volunteering EC, and really original as compared to the regular hospital/library volunteering.</p>

<p>Any thing that I should work on, any conspicuous gaps, anything I should focus on emphasizing?</p>

<p>consider taking a look at Northwestern and Duke as well. All of the schools your are looking at besides Emory are reaches.</p>

<p>Yes I definitely need some practical choices, but what's life without outrageous goals? :)</p>

<p>Anyone else have any analyses?</p>

<p>Harvard-Reach (black and high income...theres more than one of you.)
Stanford-Reach
Wharton-No idea.
UPenn-High Match/Low Reach
Emory-Again, no idea.</p>