Chances at LAC's

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Russian Immigrant white male (U.S. citizen now)
Attend the most competetive private high school in Washington state (really deflated grades and all classes are basically honors/ap without being called them)
Lots of applicants making into top schools every year, even though school is only like 450 ppl 9-12.</p>

<p>Came from public middle school, made it a very tough transition to private school.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.7
SAT: 2340
SAT II: 760 Math IIC, 740 Physics, 730 U.S. History</p>

<p>AP
World History 5
US History 5
Chemistry 5</p>

<p>Will take a couple more senior year</p>

<p>classes are basically honors, only "intensive" class was chemistry (probably my weakness that I didn't take 'intensive' math classes)</p>

<p>National Merit Semi-finalist (will be finalist)</p>

<p>EC</p>

<p>150 hours of community service (animal shelter, summer camps, other)
9-12 soccer team (will be varsity senior year)
9-12 xc team (varsity this year)
Science Olympiad team 10-12
- various awards there, state level also, made it to nationals with team sophomore year
Outdoor club 11 and 12
- one of the leaders this year
Earth corps 11, 12
Student Awareness Council (activist group) 11,12
- participated in three day diversity leadership conference junior year
SAVIE (diversity of viewpoints organization) 12</p>

<p>Very good teacher recommendations, one from intensive chem other from history elective</p>

<p>Very good counselor recommendation</p>

<p>Essay should be good/solid, not-difference making</p>

<p>What are my chances to the following schools RD</p>

<p>Stanford
Pomona
Carleton (one of top two choices) (might interview)
Haverford (one of top two choices) (had a good interview there, visited, showed my interest, etc.)
Grinnell (safety)
Bowdoin
Whitman (safety)</p>

<p>Thanks a lot!</p>

2

<p>No school, not even Stanford, should be a reach for you. Great resume and best of luck to you.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the optimism! Although I would have to disagree with the fact that stanford and pomona aren't reaches. Luckily though, those aren't my top choices!</p>

4

<p>bumpppppppp</p>

5

<p>You look great for Haverford and Carleton. Both are excellent schools. Visit Carleton and decide.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>(P.S. I personally vote for Carleton... Great campus. But Haverford is not to be kicked out of bed for eating crackers!)</p>

6

<p>"But Haverford is not to be kicked out of bed for eating crackers"</p>

<p>lol what do you mean by that?</p>

7

<p>last time i checked grinnell has higher sat scores than carleton, haverford and bowdoin and yet you make it your safety... what's the logic?</p>

8

<p>I didn't look at the average SAT scores when determining it as a safety - the factors that went into that are its overall acceptance rate, and especially the comparison of my stats with the students that have made it into grinnell from my school over the last few years (college counseling office at my school provides students with that kind of past senior admission info). That taken into account, my counselor agreed that it was a safety for me, although a borderline at that. Basically, my chances of getting into it are better than the other lac's</p>

9

<p>while harvey mudd has the highest acceptance rate among top 15 lacs it also has the highest sat scores, does this make it a good safety school?</p>

10

<p>it has the highest acceptance rate because the applicant pool is self-selecting. no one applies to mudd unless they are really into math/science/engineering...not to mention that the only people in "the know" are those who are in the caltech/mit crowd.</p>

<p>no, hmc is not a safety...for pretty much anyone.
average sat: 1490/1600. math2c: 790.</p>

<p>acceptance rate is currently around 33% and dropping due to a large increase in applicants.</p>

11

<p>i still encourage you to apply, though. they look for real passion, so they are willing to admit those slightly under the mark if they have something else to contribute.</p>

12

<p>Wow... Harvey Mudd as a "safety" school.... That concept just flat-out makes me dizzy!</p>

<p>And BTW -- Haverford is not such a "bad" school that it should be rejected without serious cause -- i.e., Haverford is not so Medusa-ugly that it would be "kicked out of bed" merely for eating crackers.</p>

13

<p>your numbers are ok for stanford (the subject tests are really low in the competitive pool. math ii of 760 translates into like an 80% percentile. same thing for the other two)</p>

<p>bland ecs</p>

<p>reject from stanford. good chance at the others</p>

14

<p>Carleton is a great match! They are supposed to have a wonderful chemistry department and they are known to really favor merit finalists. If you really want to make it a lock, interview and you might ask to meet with the chem dept head, write a follow up thank you and note that in your application as a reason why you want to go there. I think you are practically a shoe in for Carleton in any event unless they think you won't go there. Show a lot of interest!</p>

15

<p>Carleton is a great match! They are supposed to have a wonderful chemistry department and they are known to really favor merit finalists. If you really want to make it a lock, interview and you might ask to meet with the chem dept head, write a follow up thank you and note that in your application as a reason why you want to go there. I think you are practically a shoe in for Carleton in any event unless they think you won't go there. Show a lot of interest!</p>

16

<p>Carleton is a great match! They are supposed to have a wonderful chemistry department and they are known to really favor national merit finalists. If you really want to make it a lock, interview and you might ask to meet with the chem dept head, write a follow up thank you notes. I think you are practically a shoe in for Carleton in any event unless they think you won't go there. Show a lot of interest! Good luck.</p>

17

<p>I'm more interested in molecular biology at this point rather than chemistry, so for that reason I'm leaning more towards Haverford. Plus, I got a good impression of Haverford when I visited it. </p>

<p>I think Haverford is my first choice. Any additional tips for getting into Haverford plus how my chances look for it?</p>