<p>Gender/Ethnicity: Male/Hispanic Jew
GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.5ish weighted
Rank: 11/586, will probably go up
School: poor public school, but with lots of bright minds</p>
<p>SATs: 800 Writing (11 essay), 800 Critical Reading, 700 Math (2300 Total) without studying. I aim to get math up to 800 as well
PSAT: 236
Took a couple SAT IIs at my mom's urging but got low scores. Plan to take different ones and get in 750-800 range.</p>
<p>2 APs this year, will take 5-6 next year.</p>
<p>My ECs are really weak right now (projected through senior year):
Sci-Fi Club likely 9-12, officer 11-12
Vietnamese Culture Club 11-12, probably officer 12
Academic Decathlon 11-12
Debate 11-12
Model UN 11-12
Plan to do several hundred hours volunteering at hospital/courthouse.</p>
<p>I have a reputation for being a great essay writer (haven't gotten below 96% on an essay since 9th grade) so I think my essays will hopefully be great.</p>
<p>What do you think of my chances at:
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford
Columbia
UPenn
UCLA
UCB
USC (Have a huge legacy here, but it's probably my last choice out of all of these)</p>
<p>Heh, yeah it is. I meant more along the lines of essays at school. Man on that essay on the SATs, I didn't realize it would be the first thing we do, so I spent like 10 minutes totally blanking out before writing it.</p>
<p>About my ECs... As a freshman and sophomore I was really shy and afraid to step out on a limb basically. Finally as a junior I realized what a mistake I'd made and started joining things that interested me, like debate and Academic Decathlon. Still I didn't do the kinds of crazy things you see all the time on this board because anything I joined, I joined for myself, not for college. I would hope that colleges would understand this, but somehow I doubt it.</p>
<p>Your test scores are higher than mine (I had a 2230), but my rank is higher (2/957). I've taken 7 APs which will be about your total if you follow through. I'm also Jewish, but a female, and go to a public school as well. My essays tend to be my strongest point, although I was not completely satisfied with my common app essay.</p>
<p>Anyway, I got into UPenn ED. I had the same worrying as you. My ECs. Mine did not stand out by ANY means. I was a secretary of one club, member of three others, I danced, and did a bit of community service (excluding Key Club). My family and I were all positive my ECs would prevent me from getting in, but they didn't.</p>
<p>Case in point, we're pretty similar, but I would say you have a must better chance than me at UPenn. Considering the fact that I got in, I think you have a great chance. </p>
<p>As for the HYPS- I avoided them, so I do not know. lol. Best of luck :-)</p>
<p>Yeah just wanted to add that I am from California, in case it affects matters. I still have State Qualifiers for Debate and competition for Academic Decathlon, so I might actually have some awards to add to my list at some point.</p>
<p>what school from Cali? as my username probably reveals, i'm a huge academic decathlon junkie.</p>
<p>Harvard-reach
Yale-reach
Princeton-reach
Stanford-reach/maybe high match
Columbia-match
UPenn-high match
UCLA-match
UCB-low match
USC-match</p>
<p>tacking some awards on to those ECs will definitely help you out. you remind me a lot of myself; i also do AD, debate, and MUN. good luck applying next year!</p>
<p>I'll PM you my school name if you want; we usually do alright but we have a much stronger team this year. Hopefully I'll medal in at least one category.</p>