Chances at Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, please rate my chances. I had an injury this past season for water polo and my 100% chance at college polo is around 50/50. Please consider me as both a recruit and a non-recruit. If I am a non-recruit I plan to stand out in research and being an Eagle Scout (if that’s worth anything). Thanks in advance. Also, sorry if it’s kind of long.</p>

<p>COLLEGES (in order of preference)
Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Brown, Berkeley, Cornell, UCLA, UCSD, UCI</p>

<p>GENERAL
Asian Male
Attending National Blue Ribbon Public High School
Living in Southern California</p>

<p>TESTS
SAT I: 2330 (780V/ 770M/ 780W)
SAT II: 790 Biology 780 Math IC 760 Spanish
National Merit Finalist
5’s on 4 AP tests thus far (Euro, US, Bio, and Lit) and a 4 (Spanish)</p>

<p>SCHOOL
GPA: 4.57 (UW) 3.9 (W)
Rank: Top 5% (my school doesn’t rank). Otherwise I’d be at least top 10 out of 360.
Taking the hardest classes possible</p>

<p>Taking seven additional AP’s as a senior</p>

<p>SPORTS
Varsity Water Polo
- I may be recruited and may not be. Chances are probably 50/50 depending on course of my injury. Please consider me as a non-recruit.</p>

<p>CLUBS
Key Club 9-12 (Treasurer, Council, and President)
Science Club 9-12 (Head Scientist, President, Board)
Junior Statesmen of America 9-12 (International Counsel and Board)
National Honor Society 10-12</p>

<p>RESEARCH AND SCIENCE
Cancer Research Institute 9-10
Cancer Research Internship 11-12
Siemens Westinghouse Regional Semi-finalist
Participated in AACR (American Association of Cancer Research) National Meeting
Summer student at City of Hope National Research Center
Summer student at Children’s Hospital of LA
State Science Olympiad
Young Scientist Award (given to 1 junior every year)</p>

<p>OTHER
PSAT National Merit Finalist
Bob Thompson Athlete Scholar Award
All-American Scholar Award
AP Scholar with Honors
Eagle Scout
Piano for 12 years</p>

<p>P.S. I’m sure I will have AMAZING recs and my essay should be pretty good as well. Thanks again everyone!</p>

2

<p>y r u people sooooooooooo weird.</p>

<p>geez man, of course i know i'm in 2 of my safeties (thats why they are called SAFE-ties)</p>

<p>as a matter of fact, I would like random ppl to post on my chances, its what this entire website is about. </p>

<p>i think its a lot better than having a lot of OTHER random ppl reading this plus an essay and recs then deciding if you can go to their school.</p>

3

<p>bump...............</p>

4

<p>You have good stats.. just like all of the other applicants to those schools. No one can tell you for sure. Good luck!</p>

5

<p>none of your academics are really stand-outs. </p>

<p>What's remarkable is all your research, and plus your "OTHER" info, pretty impressive. </p>

<p>No one is an adcom here, so no can really tell you for sure. Good chance, in my point of view for most of the schools, except Harvard, which is always unpredictable.</p>

6

<p>Have you seen how the kids in your highschool with stats like yours have fared at the HPYS type schools? Don't focus on the ones who did get in, but what about the ones who have NOT gotten into these schools. </p>

<p>As you probably well know, you are an excellent candidate, a match for any of those schools but when you are dealing with accept rates in the single digits for RD candidates, a match does not an admit make. A lot of serendipity enters into the picture.</p>

7

<p>rshankar225 - I dont understand your point. The fact that I am not perfect does not deem me unworthy of Harvard. I feel offended on how you considered all of my accomplishments weaknesses.</p>

<p>"Only a 4 on AP Spanish, lost 70 points on the SAT and you were merely a regional finalist in Siemens"</p>

<p>Geez dude, thats pretty harsh. I'm sure every single college will be fighting over you since you have terrific people skills. Get a life man. While your at it: show me your stats.</p>

8

<p>Um, I'm pretty sure rshankar was kidding...lol, so sensitive! </p>

<p>On your chances: I actually think your academics are pretty good; certainly they won't be looked down upon at Harvard. The EC's are also good; however, no specific thing jumps out. I'm not saying that your research isn't very strong, because it is, but I've known two Intel finalists who didn't get into Harvard, so research is certainly no guarantee. At the same time, it's very cool that you did that research and still managed to become an Eagle Scout and be at the recruit-level for polo, which means that you must have devoted much time and effort in training. In short, I think you have good chances, so...be cautiously optimistic, but prepare for the worst :)</p>

9

<p>So how does that SAT I work? Is the writing in fact the SAT II test? I thought the new SAT is just being offered in March.</p>

10

<p>You guys are so critical. My girlfriend got into harvard ED with a 1440. Scores aren't everything; being unique is what really makes you stand out. You've got as good of a chance as anyone kenli792.</p>

11

<p>I agree with what most of you are saying. Everyone on here is critical. I'm the only one taking an AP class as a sophmore in my school and people tell me "that's not that great." So I just have selective reading. I only listen if it's constructive criticism or praise. None of that "sorry you're not a genius like me, forget it."</p>

12

<p>I added my writing SAT2 to my SAT1 score because that's what my college counselor told me to do.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]

I agree with what most of you are saying. Everyone on here is critical. I'm the only one taking an AP class as a sophmore in my school and people tell me "that's not that great." So I just have selective reading. I only listen if it's constructive criticism or praise. None of that "sorry you're not a genius like me, forget it."

[/quote]
</p>

<p>No offense or anything man, but taking APs as a sophomore really is not a big deal. From the way you describe it, it really doesn't sound like that great of a school if you are the only one in the school taking APs sophomore year - no offense, but in many cases APs freshman/sophomore year are almost a given if you are seriously considering ivies. </p>

<p>If you expect to get into a decent liberal arts/ivy league school don't compare yourself with the kids that are expecting to go to a community college at the end of their 4 years, its a whole different ball game.</p>

<p>I personally know of several kids who finished their maths up through Calc BC before highschool, the majority of the kids at our school already take a heavy AP courseload by the time they get to sophomore year, I think one of my friends will have all his APs finished by the end of this year(school classes). </p>

<p>I'm a sophomore too, I'm forced into APs just so I can stay in the top 50 ranks lol. Again, I'm just being honest with you, don't compare yourself to other kids at your school, compare yourself with the kids that you will be competing with to get into a good college.</p>

14

<p>sentient89 made a good point, but IMO, you're focusing too much on "the heavy load" of your classes.</p>

<p>Just because you have Calc BC finished, or just because you have all APs does not necessarily mean that it puts you above anyone, don't make that mistake. Lots of other people have steller EC's work experiances, sports, journalism, and theatre skills that many ivies also look for, WITH a balance of academics. Just being strong in academics is not going to get you anywhere great. And, since some people are so into their school work, they don't have time for these things. </p>

<p>Also, you say you were "forced" into APs just so you can excel? That doesn't sound too good. </p>

<p>Just had to point that out.</p>

15

<p>Yeah, I understand that taking such a hard course load isn't the only thing you need to get in. However, in order to be competitive with ivies your grades should be excellent, which means challenging yourself and taking extremely demanding courses. </p>

<p>I guess the "forced" came out the wrong way. I meant that I didn't really have a choice either way, I didn't have the leisure of saying "I'll take it next year." In order to remain competitive GPA-wise I had to take the courses, that being said, I enjoy my AP classes immensely, more than my normal classes. I enjoy it more because the teacher is usually more understanding, the students are more serious, and the learning environment is generally much better.</p>

16

<p>Overall Consensus:</p>

<p>Your stats are good. Very good. Your resume is impressive. Very impressive. I for one am sure you'll get into at least 2/3 of the schools you apply to (most likely more), but unless you're a famous celebrity or your parents are exorbitantly wealthy and donate a library, consider it all up in the air. Keep working (not that a student of your caliber would ever NOT work) and apply to a few safeties, just to be modest. Fallbacks are just that: fallbacks. Don't be ashamed to be a bit nervous. We all are. All in all though, a student of your caliber is going to a good school, and you're going to be successful, and you're going to go far in life, because obviously you have innate talent. Don't worry too much about college admissions; in three years, undergraduate admissions will have seemed like a joke, because then you'll be competing with students who are all coming from big name colleges with amazing GPAs and amazing reccomendations, and the big name school factor ALWAYS comes into play. All in all, good luck, man.</p>