Chances at Harvard, Brown, Penn...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Alright, those are my reaches obviously. I will apply early to one of the three, but I am not sure which yet.</p>

<p>Others I am interested in include Princeton, UVA, Boston College...</p>

<p>I am a senior
Gpa: 3.9 UW, 4.2 W
Taken the hardest classes available to me, and have 4 AP courses this year.</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>JSA Princeton, Comparative Govt/speech
JSA Georgetown, Constitutional Law,
Congressional Page, Fall '05
Internship at local Congressional office, campaign work
Internship at National Constitution Center</p>

<p>Have a Red belt in Taekwondo
6 years of saxophone, 3 years of band/marchingband/jazz band, including leadership roles like section leader and drum major
Recently started guitar lessons (which are a lot of fun!)</p>

<p>Alright.. the tests aren't my strong suit</p>

<p>alright... SAT: (taken once, will retake)
math: 690
verbal: 600 (ahhh)
writing: 670</p>

<p>All my SAT subjects were mid 600s too... ACT, i got a 26 composite.</p>

<p>What can I do to be on par with these schools?</p>

2

<p>bummppppppppp</p>

3

<p>I hate to burst your bubble, but the fact is that your relatively low test scores will make Harvard, Princeton, Brown, and Penn almost impossible reaches. I'd say that Boston College and UVA are your good match schools. Now you need to find more matches and some safeties.</p>

4

<p>buy sat blue book, do 4-5 tests, 100pt increase right there.
harvard - low chances
i recommend penn, maybe brown
bump that sat up, the 600 range isn't top-school level. like i said, spend a week studying for the sat/sat ii's, and you'll get 700+</p>

5

<p>so is it just test scores I need to improve.</p>

<p>Also any other schools similar to those listed you recommend?</p>

6

<p>What's your class rank? Does your school send a high % to ivies.</p>

<p>As others said, your schools are virtually impossible with current scores. Try the ACT because you would nedd to raise math and cr a minimum of 200 points to be viable and 250 points to really be in the running as an unhooked candidate.</p>

<p>I don't know what JSA is, but if it's a paid for program, your ECs are weak. BC is a good reach/match for you. You should look at schools like Vandy, ND and that level as your current reaches.</p>

7

<p>Aren't you the one with the gradfather who's a major donor to Duke? If yes, go there. Did you see that a new book just came out that says Duke takes a lot of kids who wouldn't otherwise get in because their families give big bucks? The ivies are seriously out of reach here but it seems like you have a great option. If gramps is worth a couple hundred million or more, you can probably get into any school by interesting the development office according to this book.</p>

8

<p>I dont think you guys are correct at all.</p>

<p>I understand I have low test scores, and I also understand I have a test in a month. But saying I need to bring my SATs from a 2000 to a 2250 to get in is not true. To be on par with those schools a 2100-2200 is absolutely normal. Additionally, SAT scores are not the measure of one's intelligence to begin with.</p>

<p>Second, is not participating in the US Page Program a hook? I was chosen from thousands of applicants for one out of 66 spots to work in the House of Representatives for 6 months. That, actual Congressional internships (which are competitive for college students), campaign work, weekly internships at national museums (that position, btw, was offered by the President of the museum, a notable Penn alumnus), and two political summer sessions of school combine to make a STRONG political passion/hook. And I AM passionate about this. Sure, I didn't make my ECs fill up 50 lines, but read between the lines people!</p>

<p>I am in the top 4% of my class, mostly because of the workload that I had as a page. </p>

<p>I know Harvard is out of reach. However, a Brown or Penn ED choice seems reasonable for me... and I don't think that is out of line.</p>

<p>Ps. My essay will probably be about how a randomly chosen career day in eight grade led to my federal appointment just three years later... we'll see</p>

<p>thanks for reading, im sure that took a while</p>

9

<ol>
<li>If you're so sure of your own chances, then why are you asking us?</li>
<li>Yes, Harvard and Princeton are out of reach because of your test scores. You know that so I won't reiterate it.</li>
<li>You are still very much a reach applicant for Brown and especially Penn. How did I reach that conclusion? From examining the statistics on collegeboard.com:
First, Brown. According to Brown's profile on collegeboard.com, only 25% of accepted applicants had ACT scores below 27. You have a 26. Unfortunately, the bottom 25% of accepted applicants is for the most part composed of recruited athletes, under-represented minorities, and special connections. You are none of these, so your 26 ACT score does not cut it. What about your SAT score? The math score is fine--it is in the middle 50% range for accepted applicants at Brown. The verbal score is your downfall. The middle 50% range is 660-760, meaning only 25% of accepted applicants have verbal scores below 660. You are wayyy far off from 660--meaning you're at the bottom of the bottom 25%. Not good.
As for Penn: only 25% of accepted applicants had ACT scores below 28. So your 26 is even worse here. You're in the same boat with verbal SAT I as you were at Brown--but the math scores for Penn are higher so your math score doesn't look as good as it did with Brown. So with Penn you're still on the bottom, even more so than at Brown.
Brown is a better bet for you than Penn. You're not as bad test-scores-wise at Brown as you are at Penn, and the rest of your resume looks pretty decent. So go ahead and apply early to Brown. Brown will be a big reach but at least it's within your grasp.</li>
<li>Does this mean that you should not apply to Harvard, Princeton, Brown, and Penn? No. What someone says on an internet forum should not make you give up your dreams. But the facts DO mean that you are unlikely to get in. Best of luck wherever you apply.</li>
</ol>

10

<p>i</p>

<p>am</p>

<p>taking</p>

<p>the</p>

<p>SATs</p>

<p>again</p>

11

<p>What is your problem? If you don't like what people are saying, you shouldn't have asked for chances. Your test scores are not competitive. Even if you take the SAT Reasoning again, assuming you even improve your score, your subject tests are still awful. But you obviously think you're a pretty big hotshot anyway...</p>

12

<p>I spent so much time researching my post and trying to enlighten you...and you completely ignored it. Wow...so much for making a difference...</p>

13

<p>i bet that even with a 2400 you would be deferred, then rejected.</p>

14

<p>Your GPA and courseload are great. It's just the test scores. Unless you jump 4 points on the ACT or jump to 700s on math/verbal SAT I, you'll probably be rejected. Taking the SAT I is not a guarantee of 100 point increases, though. Remember that before you post.</p>

15

<p>You may have strong passion, but college is first and foremost for academics. You don't think that out there, within the millions of high schools students, are thousands of students with strong academics, powerful ECs, great achievements in addition to amazing test scores? </p>

<p>The fact is that none of us know how those schools will percieve your subjective info such as EC and essays. But what we can verify is that you're on the low end of the student body in those schools using objective measurements. Don't complain about it.</p>

16

<p>IvyLeague14, i no its sad but unfortunately a low SAT score would give u a reason to reject u. So its best not u let them have ANY reason to reject u. And i no ur takin the SATs again so u dont need to repeat it. But what u said about not needing to bring ur SATs from 2000 to 2250 is probably not the smartest thing to say. There r probably several other kids just like u w/ the same exact stats but higher SAT scores who will probably get in over u. GPA, rank and all that crap (which you have) is the foundation, the SAT is just the next hurdle after that to equalize the playing field and see if u r "great" on their standards.</p>

17

<p>
[quote]
I dont think you guys are correct at all.</p>

<p>I understand I have low test scores, and I also understand I have a test in a month. But saying I need to bring my SATs from a 2000 to a 2250 to get in is not true. To be on par with those schools a 2100-2200 is absolutely normal. Additionally, SAT scores are not the measure of one's intelligence to begin with.</p>

<p>Second, is not participating in the US Page Program a hook? I was chosen from thousands of applicants for one out of 66 spots to work in the House of Representatives for 6 months. That, actual Congressional internships (which are competitive for college students), campaign work, weekly internships at national museums (that position, btw, was offered by the President of the museum, a notable Penn alumnus), and two political summer sessions of school combine to make a STRONG political passion/hook. And I AM passionate about this. Sure, I didn't make my ECs fill up 50 lines, but read between the lines people!</p>

<p>I am in the top 4% of my class, mostly because of the workload that I had as a page. </p>

<p>I know Harvard is out of reach. However, a Brown or Penn ED choice seems reasonable for me... and I don't think that is out of line.</p>

<p>Ps. My essay will probably be about how a randomly chosen career day in eight grade led to my federal appointment just three years later... we'll see

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I gotta agree with Mallomarcookie.</p>

<p>First of all, your SAT scores are all in the 600s. Most applicants have all 700+ scores, and 80-90% of THOSE are rejected. Just to put it into perspective.</p>

<p>Second, NO participating in the US Page Program is NOT a hook. It is an EC that will help you a little. It's not something everyone does. But so many applicants participate in all kinds of programs and ECs in which they are the top of something. A hook would be recruited athlete, or published book, or parents donated 10 million dollars, or Olympian. Or you are African-America/Native-American (I hate to say this one). A reason for them to take you despite the fact that your stats are below average. You don't have a hook, I'm afraid.</p>

<p>Onto your GPA. It's great, no doubt. But again to keep things in perspective, thousands of valedictorians apply to these schools. A majority of applicants are in the top 4% of their class, and 80-90% are rejected.</p>

<p>Anyway, if you still care about what we think, here are your chances:</p>

<p>Harvard/Princeton: don't bother. Sorry to be harsh. Hey I applied to reaches like these and now I wish I didn't bother.</p>

<p>Brown/U Penn ED: umm...a deferral seems reasonable to me. But you know, acceptance isn't impossible. You could certainly give it a try.</p>

<p>UVa/Boston College: these look like matches to me. I would also get a few safeties.</p>