Chances at ridiculously competitive schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>These things usually annoy me but I couldn't resist, so...</p>

<p>White Female from very rural (farm) area in the Midwest, attending small public high school.</p>

<p>Applying to: (All RD)
Harvard (my first choice, I wrote a letter with my application detailing why I want to go there, mainly because they offer a major that I haven't found at any other school.)
Princeton
Yale
Stanford
Cornell Arch. program (attended Summer College there last summer, took courses in architecture and earned A's)
Washington University in St. Louis
Rice Arch. program
UC Berkeley
USC
Grinnell (my sister goes there)
(Iowa State is my safety, I'm already accepted there)</p>

<p>My stats:
GPA: should be around 4.0 uw, my only grade under an A was a B+ sophomore year, weighted I don't really know.
Class Rank: 1/20 (hold the applause, please :) )
Scores: ACT: 35
SAT: 2290 (760 math, 730 verbal, 800 writing)
SAT II: 790 (math IIC) 750 (literature) 690 (U.S. History)
AP's: My school only offers two AP's, US History and Calc AB, which I took last year and I got 4's on both. I'm taking four AP's online this year: Micro, Macro, U.S. Government, Psychology.
I also took 12 credits at a CC last semester, and I have 9 this semester, so far I have a 4.0 uw for the year.</p>

<p>Quick summary of ec's:
Training/showing horses-I only show regionally and at the state level, and I do about 10 shows a year so the awards are kind of too many too list. I have trained all my horses myself (that's what I wrote an essay about). I have received some state awards but nothing national, and I spend about 10-15 hrs/week on this activity.</p>

<p>Studio Art-I'm really into painting and drawing, and I've sent a portfolio with all my applications. Honestly, I think it's pretty good. Maybe not the best they'll see, but not bad.</p>

<p>Volleyball-3 yr letterwinner
Captain in grade 12
Honorable Mention All Conference in grade 12
Member of club volleyball team for four years (had to spend a lot of time on this since the nearest team was 90 miles away)</p>

<p>Speech-I have done group speech every year, and lettered in it every year. My team has gone to state in at least one event each year.</p>

<p>Drama-(9, 10, 12) Had to miss this one last year cuz it conflicted with another activity. Had the second lead my sophomore year, and this year has yet to be cast.</p>

<p>4-H - have done this one since third grade, it's mostly volunteer, and I show horses through this org. as well.</p>

<p>Student Gov. - Charter member of student advisory committee (10); class president (11)</p>

<p>NHS (11, 12) Just a member, we do a lot of volunteer work.</p>

<p>Dance (11, 12) School dance team.</p>

<p>Work:
I have had a job since my sophomore year, but I'm not working this past semester so I could focus on apps. It was just menial work at retail stores, nothing too impressive.</p>

<p>Other awards:
National Merit Semifinalist
Principal's Leadership Award
Nominated for a state All-Academic Team (finalists haven't been chosen yet)</p>

<p>I think my essays were good, and my rec's should be good too, though I haven't seen them. </p>

<p>So, finally, I know that no one can tell me if I'm getting in or not, especially with the Ivies, but if you could just give me some feedback as to whether I'm in the lower/middle/top tier of the applicant pool, that'd be great.</p>

2

<p>top tier, definitely...good luck, I'm sure you're gonna get in somewhere great!</p>

3

<p>kristin_1520:</p>

<p>UCB: Match (out of state)</p>

4

<p>Dude you have nothing to worry about. Your grades and test scores are terrific, and your ECs are pretty good too. The horse training thing is certainly interesting and might make you stand out. There's a great deal of luck involved in getting into Harvard, but you have as good a shot as most people. You're bound to get in somewhere great though. Good luck!</p>

5

<p>Hey, thanks everybody, that makes me feel a little better. This site can really f**** with your self esteem :)</p>

6

<p>UCB: Match (OOS)
USC: Match</p>

7

<p>class rank 1/20? jeezus you only have 20 people in your grade?</p>

8

<p>hehe, yeah, we do it big in the country. </p>

<p>Thanks for the responses so far, does anyone have any comments about the non-California schools, especially the "middle" ones like Wash U, Rice, Cornell ?</p>

9

<p>you have an excellent shot at everywhere. good luck!</p>

10

<p>Your SATs and GPA seem average or maybe even a little below at Harvard. I know it's not your fault, but you've been taking waaay less rigorous courses than the average HYPSM student would take. The small class might be a disadvantage also, since you're only ahead of 19 people.</p>

<p>I'd say Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford are all slight reach~.</p>

<p>Cornell: Match
Berkeley: Match (College of Engineering, which I'm not sure whether or not you're applying to, would be closer to slight reach)</p>

11

<p>Flippy, I can see your point about the less rigorous courseload, but do you think they'll hold that against me? I'll have a total of 6 AP's, 7 CC courses, and 2 courses from Cornell. Of the advanced courses that I've taken, only 2 were actually offered at my school, the rest I kind of had to show some initiative to take. I was hoping that they would look at my schedule as compared to the opportunities that I've had, but maybe not...</p>

<p>Also, I don't mean to be pretentious, but how is straight A's (with one B+, granted) below average? A 4.0 is pretty much the highest you can get in my school's GPA system.</p>