<p>I was wondering how "good" of a school I could get into with these stats:</p>
<p>SAT:
M: 790
CR: 750
W: 770</p>
<p>ACT: 33, but retook and might get 34</p>
<p>Rank: 6 out of class of 727
GPA: 3.97 (UW), 4.64 (W)
I've taken the most rigorous course load my school allows</p>
<p>ECs
My ECs are horrific and this is my biggest regret.
Freshman and sophomore year I sort of flitted around and joined a bunch of clubs but never went through with any of them.
Frosh: Art Club
Sophomore: Newspaper, Service Club, Speech
Junior: French Club, Service Club
At the end of the year I was chosen for Service Club Executive Board and French Club VP
I have 100-ish hours of volunteering which I've been doing for 2 years at a hospital, and a year of volunteering as a teacher's assistant</p>
<p>Why do you guys have to be so mean? Stupid CC sarcasm....=P</p>
<p>Seriously, you can go just about anywhere you want. You might have a hard time at the top of the top (HYPS) because of your ECs (which really aren't that horrific at all), but beyond that, plenty of top 50 Universarys and LAC will be glad to have you (you might even get aid from them b/c of your kick butt awesome SAT acore).</p>
<p>I agree with Bobert_McCloud. i think you have a chance Regular decision at less prestigious Ivies as well. If you are looking at top LAC's in california, UCberkeley and LA would be solid matches or even match/safties. As for your Ec's, well i think we could all see where you spend your time, so it's not horrible. I am in somewhat of the same boat as you are. My academics are quite competitive, but I just lack that extra "umpth" in ECs. I would say apply to your reaches/dream schools and don't sell yourself short. Not everyone has to be special to get in. There's room for us normal (but smart) people as well.</p>
<p>and Bobert_McCloud, sophomore year I took AP US, junior year I took AP physics, AP macro econ, and AP government. Senior year I will be talking all AP classes: 5, plus Art for CA schools.</p>
<p>Look, if your ECs aren't that good you shouldn't apply to the Ivies. Pick schools slightly below the Ivies like Univ of Chicago, Rice, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, WUSL, Emory, Carnegie-Mellon, or Georgetown.</p>
<p>Here's a statistic that most people don't know that will indicate my point--UPenn, which is considered the 6th toughest of the 8 Ivy league schools had an admitted class last year with 81% of the class consisting of students that ranked #1 in their high school class. Of the other 19%, most were either URMs (under represented minorities, recruited athletes, or legacies--meaning their parents went to the school). And like I said, this was at one of the "easier" Ivies.</p>
<p>Here's the site where UPenn posted this statistic:</p>
<p>valedictorian does not mean #1 in class man. More like top 10%.
Also Calcruzer, please no more trying to intimidate applicants out of applying. If you actually read what the chart is. </p>
<p>It says the acceptance rates for certain groups. In other words, 46% of the Valedictorians that applied were accepted. Not 46% of UPenn is valedictorian.</p>
<p>Two things--yes, you are correct that the numbers relate how many of those that fall in this category were accepted. I am mistaken in this regard--I simply misread the chart since I was in a hurry. However, valedictorian does not mean top 10%--check out this link:</p>
<p>where you will see that the definition of valedictorian is:
"The student with the highest academic rank in a class who delivers the valedictory (address) at graduation." At the same site:</p>
<p>"The graduating student with the second highest academic rank; delivers the opening address at graduation exercises."
At my son's school, this included everyone who had a GPA of 4.0 U/W, but didn't take the hardest courses--and I believe this is standard at most American high schools.</p>
<p>So if these people are being accepted at rates of 46% and 35%, and the others listed are being accepted at rates ranging from 23% for students in the top 5% of their high school and 1% for students in the third quartile--this still means that probably a minimum of around 40% of the class ranks in the top 1% to 2% of their high school class. But as you point out--not 81% ranking as #1 in their class.</p>
<p>P.S. Who's trying to intimidate people out of applying? I think it's funny you should say that because of all the feedback I've received on my posts--particularly relating to the Ivy league schools and MIT, about 3/4ths of the people say I'm being way too easy--and only about 1/4th think I'm being too tough. Go back through some of my previous posts and read the threads they are on if you don't believe me--you'll see the comments there for yourself.</p>
<p>Hmmm... Maybe, but I think CCers tend to try to intimidate each other and tell people not to apply when they have a chance to improve their own. :)</p>
<p>Hikaru, that's not my situation--I have my MBA from UCLA and have been working in the business world for over 25 years--and I only have one child and he's starting at Indiana Univ Bloomington in August--so I have no reason to wish anyone on here bad luck. In fact, on the contrary, I hope the people who are smart enough to come to this site are the ones who do get into these schools;--but I do understand your point.</p>
<p>Does it help if I include a CD with the hobbies I've pursued? I've done oil painting, and web design. I also did an independent project sophomore year involving a small business which I think I should include too.</p>
<p>Also, my mom is bent on having me apply to Harvard because she has this "my-child-is-the-best!" mentality. I'm trying to convince her that it's pointless and that I shouldn't be wasting any ED decisions on a school I know I can't get into. Any ideas on how to prove to her that it's much smarter to apply ED at a slightly lower school?</p>