Chances at Ivies (not HYP)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Not interested in HYP, but more in Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell.</p>

<p>SAT: 2160 (CR 800, M 690, W 670)
Retaking it.
ACT: 35 (34 E, 35 R, 34 M, 35 S, 35 W)
Retaking and hoping for a 36
SAT II: Math Level II - 770, Biology- 750 (Out of 780)
I'll take Lit and U.S.History, comfortable that I can do 750+ on both.
AP Exams taken: Biology, Language and Comp, Art History, European History (I plan on taking Physics B, Calculus BC, Macroeconomics, Literature and Comp, Government and Politics, Psychology, and U.S. History next year)
GPA: 3.77 (4.4 weighted)
I received 3 B+s in Spanish. All from the same teacher. A few A-s.
Class rank: Top 5%, approximately rank 18, out of ~790</p>

<p>Clubs and Activities: Editor of the school Newspaper, which usually receives many awards, and 3 of the last 4 editors have all gone to Harvard.</p>

<p>Speech and Debate- Received several Top 10s in Student Congress. Got 1 ToC bid :)</p>

<p>Designed web pages for local organizations, American Legion and Optimists and some others.</p>

<p>Captain of men's varsity volleyball, 3 year varsity, ran XC 4 years.</p>

<p>Founded Junior Statesmen of America chapter, President of Spanish Club, several other random clubs that I did for fun (Including Philosophy, Octagon, College, History, and Republicans/Democrats)</p>

<p>Interning at a Clinical Research Lab, doing research on a new ADHD drug, atomoxetine. Did it because I enjoy psychology. No pay, not interested in medicine. Research will hopefully be published in a professional journal.</p>

<p>Worked at Subway (Sandwich artist)</p>

<p>Took some community college classes.</p>

<p>I have about 100 recorded volunteer hours with the India Association's cultural events and giving free school tours at a local museum (completely free, including transportation.)</p>

<p>With the Boy Scouts I've done 300+. I can possibly provide evidence, but it is not registered with the school, and I would have to go to about 20 different people to get verification for all of it. I'm not going to use it just in case I get audited.</p>

<p>Awards :
National Merit Scholarship Qualifier
I should be an Eagle Scout by application time, just have to finish my project
I received 4 Gallup Awards (Awarded by Quill and Scroll Society for well-written articles.)</p>

<p>I'll have one very good letter of recommendation, possibly two. My journalism adviser is well known for his fantastic letters of recommendation.</p>

<p>I am also very confident in my writing ability, especially in terms of admissions essays.</p>

<p>Location
State or Country: Southern California
School Type: Public, semi-competitive (6 Ivy-bounds this year)
Ethnicity: Indian (Not Native American)
Gender: Male
Parent's Education: Both have Master's from universities in India. Did not go to school here.</p>

<p>Applying to Penn (Possibly ED), Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell, JHU, U of C, Northwestern, Brown, UCLA, UCBerkeley, Rice, and some backup schools (Most likely UCSD, UCI, PSU)</p>

2

<p>Good shot at all of them. Your awards are somewhat weak, but your ECs are strong. Don't bother retaking the SAT, since your ACT is strong enough. On that note, don't bother retaking the ACT, since it's already near perfect and retaking it for a 36 would only make you seem like a neurotic perfectionist.</p>

3

<p>Ha, neurotic perfectionist... me?</p>

<p>Yeah, parents want me to retake it so they can say one of their kids got a perfect score. Living vicariously through their children is how South Asians roll. I'm also the last college applicant in my extended family, and we have very successful kids, but none of them have ever been Ivy material, so I'm getting pressure from everywhere.</p>

<p>Do all Ivies accept ACTs?</p>

<p>I sort of burned out this last semester, and my GPA went from a 4.64 to a 4.4 and from a 3.85 UW to a 3.7. I had 45 period absences in the last 3 weeks of school, which means I missed about 1/2 of my classes. Will that be visible on the application? Is the transcript colleges receive any different from the one I can get from my school? This is sort of scaring me, as nobody outside of the top 10 in the class of 08 was accepted to an Ivy. I dropped from 12 to 18 after last semester.</p>

<p>Finally, is there anything I can cram in to make my Awards stronger? I'm doing a sociology project on Diversity vs. Community Interaction in suburban areas. I'm going to try to enter it in the Intel competitions.</p>

4

<p>Why did you skip class so much...?</p>

<p>Agree that your awards are weak, your SATs are average, but your ACT is great. I don't think you should retake it, unless it's mandatory from your parents. lol, I debate Congress too-- did you go to state this year?</p>

<p>Organize your ECs so that they clearly show your passions (to me, they seem kind of randomly scattered), and you'll be fine (especially if you apply ED to one of the Ivies). Just remember that whether or not you get in is definitely not an indication of self-worth, since the 2009 app year is supposed to be the hardest yet. Good luck.</p>

5

<p>I skipped classes because school is boring. I didn't get along with a few of my teachers, so I didn't got to those classes, and AP tests were over, so no real reason to go. </p>

<p>I didn't got to districts, I had a volleyball tournament the same day. I went to Nat Quals and got 7th. I hate the voting thing though, it really goes against my strategy of being a pretentious jerk. I always go to the final round, but I always get beat by the "I use abnormally large words in situations that could be much more concisely expressed with normal words" people or the "I actually write my case beforehand, with or without my coach's help" speakers. How did you do? Did you go to Stanford, Berkeley or other big tourneys?</p>

<p>Oh, another question, how bad are minor disciplinary actions? Could they be dealbreakers? These are really stupid things, like setting up a slip and slide on school grounds, wearing a gorilla suit (to chase a kid in a banana suit), and having a food fight. They show up on my disciplinary record in the school database, but I am far from a trouble maker. Nothing on my transcript. The administration still loves me.</p>

<p>I'm pretty comfortable with getting into UCLA and Berkeley, so I'm not putting all my eggs in the Ivy basket.</p>

6

<p>All Ivies accept the ACT.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I'm pretty comfortable with getting into UCLA and Berkeley, so I'm not putting all my eggs in the Ivy basket.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Well, a 3.77 is very slightly weak, and each year competition to these two gets fiercer, so GPA, already an important factor, is being emphasized even more and so subtleties in GPA--a 3.77 and a 3.9--are being noticed. I'd say UCLA is a match and Berkeley is a high match (~60%).</p>

7

<p>Applying to Penn (Possibly ED), Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell, JHU, U of C, Northwestern, Brown, UCLA, UCBerkeley, Rice</p>

<p>GPA's low
ACT- wow
SAT- meh
Rank- good
ECs- not bad</p>

<p>Penn- ED- moderate reach
DM- reach
Cornell- reach<br>
JHU- dunno, ur SAT isn't that impressive for an east coast school
Northwestern- Dep on your SAT score and GPA vs. EC's and ACT
Brown- Reach
UCLA- match
UCBerkeley- slight reach
Rice- match</p>

<p>Bad attendance + poor relations with teachers, if taken into account= high risk of rejection.</p>

8

<p>Your SATs are moderate, but your ACT is pretty amazing.
To me, your ECs are good, but look scattered. I think if you organized them to show some passion in a couple areas, they'd be more helpful.</p>

<p>Penn- ED- reach
DM- reach
Cornell- reach
Northwestern- slight reach
Brown- Reach
UCLA- match
UCBerkeley- reach
Rice- match</p>

9

<p>The two that I invest the most time in are journalism and volleyball. Speech is probably the next most important. Everything else is secondary, although I do enjoy clinical research.</p>

<p>I didn't get along with my teachers, but I know they still gave me good comments, and almost any of them would write a recommendation. There were a few "Not working to potential" comments, but I still pulled off good grades.</p>

<p>So my GPA and awards are weak? My GPA is set, there isn't much I can change, unless teachers decide to count AP tests in our grades. How can I improve my awards, though? I'll enter writing competitions.</p>

<p>I also decided that I'm going to retake the SAT in October, just to do as well as possible.</p>

10

<p>You can probably get into Dartmouth and Cornell... You won't get into UPenn. I think your absences will be visible on your transcript and that will definitely hurt you.</p>

11

<p>Don't retake your ACT to get a 36. A 35 is great for any school.</p>

12

<p>Why would someone not get into Penn but into Dartmouth? According to the stats Dartmouth is more selective.</p>

13

<p>@ jptoor: We're only in our third year for debate so we didn't go to any major tourneys, but next year we're going to Stanford's (yay :) ).</p>

14

<p>^^^ I don't even know what that means.</p>

<p>@ivycmm: Stanford was a blast. But mark my words.
Do not do LD at Stanford. Do Congress. Easy ToC bid. Everyone is a prewritten caser or has their coaches write their cases. Everything is easily dismantled.</p>

<p>LD is wack there. It feels like every other person is on the national circuit. Plus, LD has gay starting times, and while everyone else has fun, you debate.</p>

<p>I should probably regret my transgressions toward the end of this year, but I don't. The last 2 months have been the best of my life so far. My GPA took a nosedive, and my academics were in the hole, but I learned alot more than I usually do, and I enjoyed it.</p>

<p>Slacking off is rewarding in its own way.</p>

<p>I think I'll be fine. Thanks for all the advice so far.</p>

<p>Awards help will earn you delicious cake.</p>

15

<p>In general-Awesome ECs. Your newspaper must be very strong, and the awards are strong in that they help to authenticate and establish the strength of your newspaper, which I'm sure will also be explained in your newspapers rec. Your test scores are more than sufficient. Excellent ACT, no need to retake that or SAT I, unless you think you can get into the 2300 range. Your GPA is very good, but won't help you too much at ivys. Although it is, again, very good, it is in some ways one of the weaker parts of your app. (Which is unfortunate, because it's very good, and better than mine).</p>

<p>The absences, unfortunately, may freak out colleges a little, and it might be just enough to tip the scales against you when they compare you to another applicant on the border between acceptance and not. </p>

<p>Penn (Possibly ED)-I'd encourage you to apply ED, because it will really improve your already strong chances. I'd say ED your chances are around 30-40%</p>

<p>Dartmouth-Slightly easier to get into than Penn. You've got a decent shot. </p>

<p>Columbia-Harder to get into than Penn. It's a possibility, but given that you're applying RD and Columbia admits a HUGE percentage of their class ED, this is the most difficult reach on your school. But due to your strong ECs, it's possible. </p>

<p>Cornell-About the same as Dartmouth, I'd say, although Cornell might have a slightly higher admit rate. I'm not sure. </p>

<p>JHU-This is a tough school, and possibly still a slight reach, but probably a match. I'm sure your ACT will look very good here, and your ECs will as well. It's not a guaranteed admit nonetheless, but your chances are good. I'd say at least 50%, probably better. </p>

<p>U of C-Write good essays and I think you have extremely strong chances here. This is sort of the UChicago cliche, but essays count for a lot at UChicago. With good essays, you've got at least a 50% shot, probably closer to 60%</p>

<p>Northwestern-Well.... it depends. If you're applying to Medill, then it's a reach, because Medill is really hard to get into. Otherwise, about the same as Chicago. Maybe a low reach, probably a high match. </p>

<p>Brown-An unpredictable school, but you've got a shot. Perhaps slightly easier than Columbia, and since you've got so many strong ECs, perhaps you'll fit what Brown is looking for. Still, almost as difficult at Columbia, so it's a reach. </p>

<p>Rice-This is probably the easiest to get into of the ones I can comment on. Again, not quite definite; I know a sal with ECs not quite as good as your and about the same GPA that got waitlisted. But you've got a very good chance. Definitely a match, but not a certainty.</p>

16

<p>I talked to my counselor today to see the transcript they would be sending. Nothing about absences. The only bad things is that I lack a rising trend. I had a 4.4 9th grade, 4.7 10th grade, 4.3 11th grade. I'll get a good gpa this first semester.</p>

<p>I know I can get a 2300 superscored, but I'm going to at least pull up my math score. I think 690 is too low for me, and I hate math. Writing, I don't care about. I just always overthink the Sentence Improvement questions. Those were the only type of questions I missed in the Writing section.</p>

<p>I'm going to do ED to either Penn or Columbia. I'll try to do the rest under EA, or at least the ones that allow it. </p>

<p>Still, I don't know what I can improve over the summer. Is there anything that can change my chances?</p>

<p>I'm about to send in a research proposal to the NIH. I hope that will be good. It is going to be on the addition of yoga or meditation to depression treatment regiments.</p>

17

<p>Bring
Up
My
Post</p>

18

<p>silverchris9 why do you say Columbia is harder to get into than Penn? and slipper1234 what stats indicate Dartmouth is more selective than Penn? according to USNews.com, Penn is ranked higher than both Columbia (9) and Dartmouth (11) in the national universities list.</p>

19

<p>'Living vicariously through their children is how South Asians roll.'</p>

<p>haha, i hear you. South asian here as well and parents are kind of the same . Nothing too annoying tho. Anyway, i have similar stats to you and i have been told i have decent chances at some of the places you are applying to . So good luck!</p>

20

<p>Just randomly found this. Dang dude. we have very similar stats! I had 51 class absences last semester X[. But as long as they don't show up on the transcript, we are fine.
I'm also going up to Penn next Thursday and Friday, hope to see you around?</p>