Chances at Ivies for a typical preppy?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>My "hook" will probably be debate--I'm going to a 7 week camp this summer, and I really want to debate for Dartmouth.</p>

<p>Detroit Country Day School (small private school where a lot of APs are offered; in suburbs of Detroit, MI)
Gender/Race: Male Asian</p>

<p>Class size: 200
Rank: Top 10%</p>

<p>GPA: 3.83 -UW (btw, can someone tell me how to weigh?)
SAT: 2360 (760 Math, 800 CR, 800 Writing, 12 essay) (one sitting)
ACT: 36 (10 essay) (one sitting)
SAT II's: Math IIC, Chem, Physics - taking in May</p>

<p>AP's: 5: AP Macro, Micro, AP Euro
Current year (probably 5's on all of them): Physics C, Chemistry, Calc BC, World History, Human Geography, Chinese
12th grade: AP English Lit., AP Bio, Spanish</p>

<p>**IB's<a href="full%20IB%20diploma">/B</a>
Current year: SL History, Physics
Next year: HL English, Math, Chemistry; SL Spanish</p>

<p>Math/Science
Michigan Math Prize Competition, Top 200, 11th
AIME Qualifier, 10th + 11th
TEAMS engineering competition, 1st in state, JV 10th + Varsity 11th</p>

<p>**EC's<a href="in%20order%20of%20estimated%20importance">/B</a>
Varsity debate captain (2007 Division I State Semifinalist, 7 weeks of camp this summer), 12th
School orchestra, Concertmaster, 11th+12th
DSO Civic Orchestra, 4th stand, 1st Violin (top youth group in the Midwest), 11th+ hopefully higher seating 12th
School Tutoring service, Board Member, 11-12th
Hospice Volunteering (20+ hours so far, 40+ by application time), 11-12th
Varsity Track, 10th-12th
Science Olympiad, regional medalist, 10-12th</p>

<p>Summer
before 11th - 4 weeks Spartan Debate Institute at MSU
before 12th - 7 weeks Debate at U of Michigan</p>

<p>Misc
Recs - average to good
Essays- good to very good</p>

<p>Chances at: Dartmouth, Columbia, UPenn, Wharton, U Chicago, Stanford?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Not bad. I'd say you have a good chance for Dartmouth, as well as the other schools. As for Stanford or Columbia, you never know.</p>

3

<p>a very highly qualified, nationally ranked debater from a nearby highschool got waitlisted at dartmouth so i dont know, its tough, but your scores and academics appear to be superior to this person's so i'd say you have a pretty good chance there. chicago looks good especially if your essays are unique, columbia if you do early i'd say you have a strong chance but regular i'd say its a big crapshoot. wharton and stanford are also very tough and unpredictable regular. good luck though.</p>

4

<p>watch out about the service hours. It looks like you just picked up any random place to volunteer and went for it so that you could have some hrs come application time. I would personally recommend not putting anything at all in terms of community service. So few hrs show little devotion and colleges hate to see you doing something you did for the sole purpose of impressing them (but that's just my honest opinion, take it with a grain of salt if you wish).</p>

5

<p>If your essays are fresh and interesting I would say you have a solid chance.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the feedback! College admissions officers, however, have said that they compare within schools, and not really amongst. Therefore, because my school offers so many APs while other schools might not, my taking 10 APs by the end of junior year would equate with someone else taking 3 APs at a school that only offers 3. Is that true? Also, my classmates are all pretty amazing, and I'm guessing that would put me at a unique disadvantage.</p>

<p>prospectiveMD: Is 0 hours really better than 40? The unique situation of the place where I volunteer makes it impossible to volunteer, say, 200 hours at a hospital. I go to nursing homes and play violin/piano, and visit dying patients. There's only so many hours you can do that each week. Will putting that really make colleges think I just did it for the resume bonus?</p>

7

<p>Wow, you're a great student! Amazing standardized test scores.</p>

<p>I say at least one of these schools will accept you, but the Asian male status is gonna work against you, so.... :(</p>

8

<p>Well, based on your stats, you SHOULD get into one or more of the schools you've listed. When you're considering Ivy League schools (Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Wharton, and Columbia in particular) and MIT+Stanford, however, everything is pretty much up to chance, luck, fate, God, or who/whatever else you believe in (which is why I've rated them reaches for you below). You're stats are awesome... just be sure that you have two to four likelies/safeties you'd be happy to go to if things don't go your way with the schools you've listed in this thead.</p>

<p>Now on to chances. Scale of: high reach, reach, semi-reach, good fit, likely, safety.</p>

<p>Dartmouth College... SEMI-REACH.
Columbia University... REACH.
University of Pennsylvania-CAS... SEMI-REACH.
University of Pennsylvania-Wharton... REACH.
University of Chicago... GOOD FIT.
Stanford University... REACH.</p>

9

<p>wow!! (10 char)</p>

10

<p>how in the hell do you get a 36 on your act</p>

11

<p>I disagree with the fact that you should volunteer at one place with commitment, and disagree more so with some statements saying that you should volunteer according to your intended major. Volunteering should be wherever they need you for, whether it be a blood drive or a understaffed library. Hours shouldn't matter. Just put your volunteering on your application.</p>

12

<p>I disagree. I think that if volunteering can go along with your passion, why not do it? Now, subjecting yourself to many more difficulties to get that might not be so wise when there are other volunteer projects readily available. But volunteering in something that relates to your passion shows furthers the focus of the application, which, I find, is best.</p>

13

<p>snake13: You have to be fast. It's not like I'm that much smarter than everyone else; it's just that I'm an amazingly fast reader. Ken Jennings gets the jump on every "Jeopardy" question because he reads the question before everyone else; likewise, I can finish almost every section on the ACT w/ 1/3 to 1/4 of the time remaining, and check over everything. Given enough time, it's entirely possible to get 36 on math and science, and hope that you 35'd the other 2 things.</p>

14

<p>talk to the debate coach at dartmouth about writing you a rec and pushing for you in admissions-- he is amazinggg with getting kids he wants to be accepted. i would think though, that you need to prove yourself more than state semis to have him push for you.</p>

15

<p>darcy I agree with you that doing well on the act is really just a matter of time but how do you finish so quickly</p>

16

<p>Incredible test scores and nice EC's-</p>

<p>Dartmouth: Slight Reach/Match (40%)
Columbia: Slight Reach/Match (40%)
UPenn: Match (50%)
Wharton: Reach (25%)
UChicago: Safe Match (65%)
Stanford: Reach (25%)
I'm not entirely sure, Darcy, but I am reasonably certain that you can only apply to 1 undergraduate school at Penn. So, if you apply to Wharton and are rejected, you have no shot at the College of Arts and Sciences. Call Penn and ask them, though. Good luck.</p>

17

<p>Yeah, you can only apply to one undergraduate school at UPenn. So you'd better make sure it's the right one! Otherwise- good chances. Nice SAT/ACT scores and ECs, and GPA is good, too. </p>

<p>U Chicago- match
Stanford- reach
UPenn- semi-reach
Wharton- reach
Dartmouth- semi-reach
Columbia- reach</p>

<p>The reason i'd say columbia and stanford are reaches is because of the huge flood of applicants they typically get. Wharton is also a reach, because it's crazy hard to get into. U Chicago you should get into, and I'd say at least one of the ivies.</p>