Chances at Princeton SCEA?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey everyone, I'm a current junior and I was wondering what I could do to improve my chances at Princeton and these other schools:</p>

<p>MIT
Stanford
Columbia
Cornell
Duke
Northwestern
Johns Hopkins
Carnegie Mellon
Tufts
Rice
U of Texas
U of Michigan
U of Rochester</p>

<p>Personal:
Male from Texas
Middle Eastern
Attend a competitive private school (unranked)
Applying as an Engineering major</p>

<p>Objective:
UW GPA: 4.2 on a 4.3 scale (A+ is a 4.3)
ACT: 36 Composite (35/35/36/36/11)
SAT II: Taking Math II and Physics in June
APs: Taking English, Spanish, Physics B, Calculus AB, and US History</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-Doing research this summer under a professor at UT
-Helped organize a 20 school wide TEDx event
-Part of school's tech crew and participated in school musical this year
-Founder of the Math Club and Math Help Center at my school
-Varsity Cross Country, Track, and Soccer
-Co-captain of Science Team
-Founder of Pokemon Club
-Community Service: Built water way for a community in Nepal, raised money for a school in Africa, volunteer work at soup kitchen</p>

<p>Awards:
AP Scholar with Distinction (predicted)
Various Science awards
Various Math awards</p>

2

<p>Oh I also run a Pokemon website that has about 2000 members.</p>

3

<p>Here’s my schedule:</p>

<p>Freshman
H English 9
H History 9
H Algebra II
H Biology
H Spanish III
H Tech Theater I</p>

<p>Sophomore:
H English 10
H History 10
H Precal AB
H Physics
H Spanish IV
H Tech Theater II</p>

<p>Junior:
H English 11
H History 11
AP Calculus AB
AP Physics B
H Chemistry
H Spanish V (I could have taken AP Spanish, will this hurt me?)</p>

<p>Senior:
H English 12
AP Euro
Advanced Calculus
AP Statistics
AP Biology
AP Chemistry</p>

4

<p>do well on both sat 2’s and i think your good.</p>

5

<p>Any other opinions?</p>

6

<p>I feel like not take AP Spanish really hurts me. As long as my counselor check the “most rigorous” schedule box, will I be fine? And for sake of argument, what happens if he doesn’t?</p>

7

<p>I feel like you have a solid shot everywhere, best of luck!! Also can you tell me why on my post you said JHU was a low reach?</p>

8

<p>Does it matter if I don’t do well on a couple of APs?</p>

9

<p>Any answers to the previous question?</p>

10

<p>I think as long as you don’t get 1’s and 2’s on your APs you’ll be fine. I think your extracurriculars would look very appealing to colleges.</p>

11

<p>AP scores aren’t really used THAT much in admissions, although I know that a lot of schools will look at them. My Harvard interviewer asked for my AP scores, although it’s vague how much that’s weighted. Like Mosper said, it’s not something you really need to worry about as long as you don’t outright fail it, because the rest of your application would more than complement that minor flaw.</p>

<p>Also, a lot of colleges regard the continuation of language studies in High School as very vital, so keep that in mind. I would recommend it.</p>

<p>You have very good chances of getting into Cornell, Northwestern, CMU, JHU, and the state schools you listed. I won’t comment on other schools because I’m not too familiar with their admissions statistics.</p>

12

<p>I could take post-AP Spanish VI next year, but I REALLY don’t want to. Should I stick it out and take it though?</p>

13

<p>Re: AP scores, if you get A+s all year in Calc and then get a 3 on the test, it shows the adcom that your class was too easy and says something about your school’s grading. If you’re getting A’s and B’s in US History (more subjective) and then get a 3 or 4 on the test, that’s not as bad. But they CAN make a difference.</p>

<p>Don’t worry about AP Spanish, it doesn’t really matter. And don’t worry about taking Spanish VI if you don’t want to; nobody is going to think less of you as a scientist because you didn’t take six levels of Spanish.</p>

<p>I don’t know much about these schools except for MIT, but here you go:</p>

<p>MIT: High reach
Stanford: Mid to high reach
Columbia: Moderate reach
Cornell: Moderate reach
Duke: High match/low reach
Northwestern: High match
Johns Hopkins: Mid to high reach
Carnegie Mellon: Match
Tufts: Match
Rice: Match?
U of Texas: Match?
U of Michigan: High match
U of Rochester: Low match</p>

14

<p>How are Duke and Northwestern on the same level as Michigan?</p>

<p>Also chances for Princeton SCEA?</p>

15

<p>Any other chances?</p>

16

<p>I would say your chances are pretty good, especially given your 36 ACT score. Just make sure you write good essays. I would say that your demonstrated interest in Pok</p>

17

<p>You have a great shot at Princeton. You are a urm and make sure you put some time into those essays and Ur good</p>

18

<p>I’m pretty sure Middle Easterns are consider white for college application purposes.</p>

19

<p>your grades are great, just u need something that pops or a hook to get into princeton. if you work on that then youll have a great shot</p>

20

<p>Princeton (SCEA): Reach
MIT- Reach
Stanford- Reach
Columbia- Low Reach/ Reach
Cornell- Low Reach
Duke- Low Reach
Northwestern- Low Reach/ Reach
Johns Hopkins- High Match/ Low Reach
Carnegie Mellon- High Match
Tufts- High Match
Rice- High Match/ Low Reach
U of Texas- Match
U of Michigan- Match/ High Match
U of Rochester- Match</p>

<p>There are no real weaknesses in your application, but I think a majority of your list fall within the Top 20 in national universities. As such, there will be obvious difficulty in getting in. Your perfect ACT and awesome grades do help out a ton. Your volunteer work is excellent, and although your extracurriculars are good, I’m not sure I can see on that you are super passionate about. Do you have awards and the like for Science and Math teams, and how has your team done? Your extracurriculars fit with your intended major, it just always helps to be really good at them, too.</p>