<p>Gender: Male
Resident: Honolulu, Hawaii
Race: Pacific Islander/White (Half Filipino, Half White)
School: Bad public school in Honolulu. It's very old, nobody goes to HYPS let alone any other top colleges
Grade: Senior
Rank: 1/342</p>
<p>GPA: 3.97UW, 4.35W</p>
<p>AP Grades: * = Self Study
Euro History - 4
English Composition - 5
World History - 5
Physics B - 5
Statistics - 5
Biology - 5 *
Environmental Sci - 5 *
Psychology - 5 *
Human Geography - 5 *
Comparative Government - 5 *</p>
<p>Senior Year APs:
English Literature
US History
Chemistry
Calculus AB</p>
<p>SAT: 2270 - (800 Math, 750 Writing, 720 Reading)
ACT: 33 First try
SAT2:
MathIIC - 800
World History - 800
Physics - 730</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
- Band Major; Section Leader; 6-7 years of Clarinet
- Marched in the 2006 Rose Parade
- Interact Club; 100 hours of community service
- Varsity Baseball
- National Honors Society
- National AP Scholar
- National Merit Semifinalist (hopefully Finalist)</p>
<p>*I realize this is the weakest part of my application. Unfortunately, I moved between my Sophmore and Junior years from California to Hawaii. I was not able to continue some of the clubs I was doing in California and I also was not able to get "lots" of leadership positions (my only one is Band Major). Hopefully the adcoms will cut me some slack due to my move in this department.</p>
<p>Chance Me At:
Stanford (SCEA)
Harvard
Princeton
Duke
UCBerkeley
UCLA
Washington University STL
University of Virginia</p>
<p>They honestly don't look that much into geographic diversity; if it helps at all, it would be a very, very small difference (pretty insignificant).</p>
<p>academically speaking, you're good to go. EC-wise.. you're sort of lacking. Do you have any academic disctinctions/awards? national awards? If so, then your chances at HYPS will be pretty decent if you write good essays and get good recs (Harvard esp. puts huge emphasis on recommendations, since its the one part of your app you have no control over).</p>
<p>If your school doesn't send anyone to top schools then it means that it's probably over-inflated and colleges know that. Due to a lack of significant EC's, you're an automatic reject at most of your schools (surely there must be a few other people in Hawaii with better credentials and, since top colleges only take a few from your state each cycle, you don't have a chance). Sorry.</p>
<p>As others have said, your EC are really lacking. It is definitely worth applying to all the schools you listed, but realistically it will be an uphill battle for you because of that. Also, your school doesn't send people to elite schools, which leads me to believe that this trend will probably not break...talk with your guidance and/or college counselor to find out what type of stats other students have had in the past. APPLY TO SAFETIES!</p>
<p>Wow I didn't realize that my extracurriculars were that bad. :( The EC's I'm involved in actually take up quite a lot of time. Band Major (which is the leader of the school's band) takes up about 10-15 hours per week and Varsity Baseball also takes up about 10-15 per week (2-3 hours in the offseason). I also self studied a lot my Junior year and did extremely well (I was really interested in taking those courses, but unfortunately my school does not offer them). Hopefully colleges will take that into consideration :)</p>
<p>The reason nobody from this school goes to HYPS or other top colleges is because NOBODY cares. Nobody in this school tries at all let alone would try for HYPS. There are only about 10-15 kids in each of my AP classes this year (with about 700+ kids eligible to take AP classes) and out of those 10-15 I'm the only one getting all A's. Most of the kids in my AP classes get C's or at best B's (every once in awhile someone other than me gets an A). </p>
<p>Another reason nobody gets into HYPS is because over 70% of my school are military dependents (like me). I believe my school has the highest transfer rate of anywhere in the United States actually (1/3 of the student population transfers out every school year). I believe that moving high schools really messes with kids learning experiences and they just can't continue getting high grades. And whenever we do get someone really smart that has a chance at HYPS, they move.</p>
<p>Well I'm hoping these top colleges will realize my situation with moving every 3 years and how it's hard to really get invovled in things. </p>
<p>On the 20th I'll be going to an "Exploring College Options" presentation at the downtown Hilton which will be held by Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Penn, and Stanford. Hopefully I can ask them about how they would view someone in a situation like mine.</p>
<p>And I will be applying to some safeties, this list was just my "dream" schools :)</p>
<p>This year I'll be trying out for the equivalent of Hawaii's All-State Band (they call it something else). How good what that look on my resume if I made it (which I'm VERY certain I will)?</p>
<p>It shows that you have a passion for music, so of course it'll look good. If it's especially competitive to be selected then it'll be a plus.</p>
<p>Looking at what you typed regarding your school, I will reconsider what I said earlier. If that is really the case at your school (no one cares, military dependent), I think you might have a shot. The thing is that the schools you are applying to are extremely competitve, so there is no guarantee you will get into any of them. If you are looking for a top tier school why don't you consider University of Michigan as a match. Also, look for some safeties. I'm assuming you are applying to lower tier schools, but you wanted your chances for the super competitive schools. If you weren't planning on applying to other schools, then please do or you might end up without any acceptances.</p>
<p>That being said, none of us are adcoms. We're college students (some people are in HS and really shouldn't be giving chances), so by all means take our advice as a grain salt. If you can afford the application fees, by all means apply.</p>
<p>I was looking at UMich but I'm not sure if I'll apply there. And yeah, this is just my list of top tier colleges. I've already picked out the safety and matches I'll be applying to.</p>
<p>I'm sure your ECs take up a lot of time, but the reason many people on this board find them lacking is the fact that they are too common. Most students are involved in some kind of music or sport, and though they require a great deal of dedication, they will not help you stand out among other Harvard or Stanford applicants.</p>
<p>I'm surprised that so many people are pessimistic on your chances. It's an impressive achievement that you were able to get those high scores coming from a poor school, and self-study all those APs and get 5's to boot. You may also get a URM advantage. I think you are very competitive everywhere.</p>