Chances at some elite institutions?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey everybody! Would you mind chancing me for some really good schools? I have other safeties on my list, but some I've gotten into already and I'm honestly not too worried about them.</p>

<p>Georgetown
Boston University
Notre Dame
Harvard (-:
Tufts
Cornell - CAS (biochem) & HumEc (Bio, Health, Society)
UPenn (BBB at CAS)
Boston College</p>

<hr>

<p>Gender: M
Location: NY
High School: Public HS of around 1500
High School Type: Usually sends a handful to tops, but this year sent many to tops so far.<br>
(My class is VERY competitive and VERY successful compared to others)
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>My dad is Puerto Rican, no high school. He is noncustodial and missing.
My mom is Puerto rican, no college - single mom.
so Hispanic, 1st generation, income ~64k all that jazz.</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 4.0
Class Rank: 32 (Don't laugh, Harvard explicitly told me this was OK given the class size)
Class Size: 450</p>

<p>[li]APs: Chem, 5, USH, 5, Bio (now), Calc AB. My school only offers 9 AP's, and most overlap during only 2 periods of the day. There isn't really an opportunity to take more than I have, and I explained that to my schools.</p>[/li]
<p>all honors where honors could fit, and all A's.</p>

<p>Major in Biochem/Premed (Biological basis of behavior at UPenn)</p>

<p>2000 SAT (bad) 650M/670W/680CR
SAT II! - 690Math 2, 710USH, 770 Chem
31 ACT (better...) 35Eng, 31Sci, 29Math, 30 Reading, 32 Writing+English 9/12 Essay</p>

<p>recommendations:
1 GREAT from AP Chem teacher (TAing with her now)
1 GREAT from counselor who knows me VERY well
1 unknown, presumedly great from english teacher who knows me well
1 Awesome from Superintendent of Schools- knows me very well. Huge emphasis on how I did this process all by myself, including FAFSA/CSS/IDOC since my mother works too much to give any support other than $, which I'm grateful for.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
I think this is where I'm strong...</p>

<p>-Academic team (varsity) co-captain
-Track & XC scholar athlete
-Was on quiz bowl TV show competing for $10,000 for charity
-Manager, coordinator of charity event to raise $20,000 for hunger causes globally and in the community with the superintendent, 2 other students, some community members. Inaugural year of an annual project. The project goes off on 4/2. I'm responsible for media management & event planning.
-I'm a mentor for freshman through the guidance dept.
-National Honor Soc., Math Honor Society, Lead Prosecutor of Mock Trial
-Was assistant JV XC coach when I was out hurt from XC.
-Head of public relations for shark club (we raise & donate money to shark saving charities)
-Freshman tour guide
-Teaching an AP Chemistry lab class. We meet 2x/wk. I set up, coordinate AP labs to demonstrate everything a teacher would. It's on my transcript as Independent Study - Teaching Lab Science Methods.
-Safe School Ambassador: we work with administration to keep the school safe and happy through watchdog efforts, reports on the student body. No, we don't rat people out.
-Clean up crew for XC/Track meets, football games all 4 years.</p>

<p>Hooks: URM (Hispanic) (Idk what else?)</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure that my essays were great, I tend to be a great writer and english teacher-editors had all good remarks after some major overhauls.</p>

<p>Thanks guys! Let me know if any more info is necessary...</p>

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<p>Will chance back, I promise!</p>

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<p>bumpbump?? please? :-)</p>

4

<p>I can’t think of much wrong with your app, honestly. I’m usually pretty critical and have a pretty good resume myself, but you’re definitely set for most of your schools. Harvard will always be a reach for everyone, but your chances are definitely higher than average. It’s your SAT score that detracts from your overall image. If you can take it again, PLEASE do so. If you can’t, still be ready to be accepted by most of your schools. The URM status helps tremendously as well.</p>

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<p>chance me back btw? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1093513-upenn-mit-columbia-harvard-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1093513-upenn-mit-columbia-harvard-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Will do right now. Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. Anyone else?</p>

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<p>Yeah your SAT is kinda low, but honestly, I can’t see someone rejecting you just for that. Get it higher if you can, but otherwise you have one of the best chances possible for these “elite” institutions. I think the reason I like your thread so much is that there’s not a hint of pretentiousness :)</p>

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<p>Thanks buddy…someone on another thread basically told me that all hope is lost. Is there a way I can repay you for your input?</p>

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<p>Uhh, I know that the normal repayment on here is to chance back, but a) I’ve already been accepted to my ED school, b) I don’t really believe in chance threads, haha.</p>

<p>I know you might be thinking “Matt, why do you post here if you don’t believe in chance threads?” Well, I know that other people might be stressed, so why not offer my opinion? To be honest, I believe people should find validation within themselves, since it’s the most secure and most honest validation you can have.</p>

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<p>:) where are you going?</p>

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<p>Reed College! Small, elite LAC in Portland, Oregon.</p>

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<p>Is 450 considered a large class size?</p>

<p>Georgetown - high match
Boston University - match
Notre Dame - match
Harvard - high reach
Tufts - match
Cornell - reach
UPenn - reach
Boston College - match</p>

<p>One question: How is your SAT that low, yet you have a 4.0 unweighted? Seems like there’s some major grade inflation going on there…</p>

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<p>I really, really don’t take standardized tests well I guess.</p>

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<p>And for anything north of NYC, 450 is an extraordinarily large class size. Warwick, NY is a “rural” town of 36000 or so people. It reminds me of the quaint towns in MA and stuff.</p>

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<p>hey! steve jobs went to reed! but he dropped out :P</p>

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<p>He’s not the only one who dropped out/transferred XD It’s a tough school.</p>

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<p>36,000 is quaint?? My town has around 5 or 6 thousand!</p>

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<p>It’s odd. There’s a town center in warwick with only a couple thousand…and then the town spreads out this ridiculous area where most people live. very sparse. we’re like the 2nd largest district in ny based on area. it’s very pretty and very rich–unfortunately, the latter of which does not apply to me.</p>

<p>CONGRATS ON REED!</p>

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<p>Thank you! :smiley: Although this is your chance thread, so I’ll back off now.</p>

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<p>No no, it’s cool! Everyone should be celebrated.</p>

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<p>How important is urm? I never thought much of it.</p>