Chances at Stanford, Penn, Duke with Low SATs

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Personal Stats:
- Ethnicity: Asian (Vietnamese) male
- State: South Carolina
- High School: Relatively competitive; sends a lot of grads to top schools
- IB Diploma Candidate
- 4.0 GPA = 3.962/SC UGP GPA: 5.090
- Rank: 10 out of 179</p>

<p>Test Scores
- Highest SAT: M =730, CR = 700, W = 740 (superscore = 2170)
- SAT II's: Bio M = 740; US History = 720; Math II and German w/ Listening in November.
- APs: So far, World History (4), CompSci A (4), Stats (4), US History (5), Psych (5), AB Calc (5), German (4), English Lit (4).
- IBs: None as of yet. All in senior year.</p>

<p>Courses
- Senior year APs = Biology, Chemistry. Will have taken 10 APs by the end of senior year
- Senior year IBs = Biology HL, German HL, English HL, Math Studies SL, Chemistry SL, Psychology SL. Will have taken 6 IBs by the end of senior year.</p>

<p>Awards/Honors
- National Honor Society (2 years) - as public relations officer
- National Merit Commendation
- National AP Scholar by the end of junior year
- Several placings at local and regional declamation contests (1st, 2nd, and 3rd in German)
- National German Examination Winner (top 99%)
- Roper Mountain Science Center Special Award in Chemistry</p>

<p>Extracurricular activities:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Varsity Soccer (4 years) - Captain/Co-captain for two years, starting player all four years, lettered, Region champions 2008-2009.</p></li>
<li><p>Academic Team/Quiz Bowl (4 years) - Captain 2009-2010, Three-time state champions, Two-time national qualifier, ranked 4th in the nation overall.</p></li>
<li><p>National Forensics League (3 years) - State champion, two-time state semi-finalist, national qualifier for the NFL Nationals Tournament; many local/regional level placings ranging from 1st to 4th.</p></li>
<li><p>Nursing homes (2 years) - The past two summers/school years, I have been working a local nursing home and have routinely interacted with senior citizens every day. I primarily work with Alzheimer's and dementia patients to ensure that they get physical and mental exercise each day. All in all - 200+ hours of community service.</p></li>
<li><p>National Honor Society (2 years) - Public relations officer; we work hand-in-hand with nonprofit organizations on charity events in the community. Recently, we co-sponsored a charity golf tournament that raised over $50,000 for a local literary program. That said, 100+ hours of community service.</p></li>
<li><p>Red Cross (2 years) - Worked in local events such as Fall for Greenville, Mauldin Fest, etc. to provide assistance in running community charity events. Also helped in soup kitchens, Relay for Life events, March of Dimes events, etc. Hours total 50+.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Summers:
- (2008) - National Forensics Tournament
- (2008) - German-American Partnership Program sponsored student exchange (really broadened my perspective of the world -- something to write about in my college essays)
- (2009) - National Scholastic Championship (quiz bowl) - top 8 teams
- (2009) - High School National Championship Tournament (quiz bowl)
- (2009) - Worked in at Furman University (local university) on neuroscience research (primarily the effects of various stimulants/depressants on mice)
- (2008-2009) - Volunteer work (nursing home)</p>

<p>With that being said, I feel as if my SAT score(s) are hindering my ability to get into these colleges. While my scores do fall within the middle 50% of scores accepted by these colleges, it seems that most CC students get rejected albeit having scores in the top 25%. That being said, I'd like to know how I fare against all the other qualified applicants out there. I do intend on taking the SAT again (for the last time) in December with the hopes of improving my scores to 2250+, but we'll see how that actually pans out. Hope this wasn't tl;dr. </p>

<p>Thanks for all the help guys.</p>

<p>Colleges to be evaluated:
- Harvard
- Stanford
- UPenn
- Duke
- Johns Hopkins
- UNC at Chapel Hill
- WUSTL
- Swarthmore
- Pomona</p>

<p>I just left off all the match/safeties schools for everyone. I just want to know how my reaches pan out.</p>

2

<p>As I’m sure you’ve heard, your SAT scores are low for the schools you’re applying to due to your ethnicity. However, you have great extracurriculars, and I’m sure that your scores will increase after the December test.</p>

<p>Harvard - reach
Stanford - reach
UPenn - reach
Duke - high match
JHU - reach
UNC Chapel Hill - high match
WashU - reach
Not sure about Swarthmore and Pomona.</p>

<p>Would you mind chancing me back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/801305-first-rule-college-confidential-you-dont-talk-about-college-confidential.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/801305-first-rule-college-confidential-you-dont-talk-about-college-confidential.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Thanks for the chance, btw. I gave you your chances already, but I’m sure you already noticed.</p>

<p>For some reasons, I seldomly get feedback on my application. Hopefully more people will reply this time =D</p>

4

<ul>
<li>Harvard - Reach</li>
<li>Stanford - Reach</li>
<li>UPenn - Reach</li>
<li>Duke - Reach</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins - High Match/LR</li>
<li>UNC at Chapel Hill - High Match</li>
<li>WUSTL - High Match/LR</li>
<li>Swarthmore - High Match/LR</li>
<li>Pomona - Low Reach</li>
</ul>

5

<p>Bump, any other opinions?</p>

6

<p>I hate to say this, but you’re probably wasting your time on Stanford/Harvard/UPenn unless you write some really slam dunk essays.</p>

<p>Your negatives:
ORM
SAT Scores
Bland ECs</p>

<p>Positives:
GPA
AP Scores
School?</p>

<p>I’d say you have a shot at the rest (you’re in at the safeties, obviously).</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the feedback. At least people are honest =D. Anyone else?</p>

8

<p>You have quite a list, but your SATs aren’t too low; 2250 is the median score about, so there probably are students in Harvard and Stanford with high 1900s, provided they have stellar essays and a focused passion demonstrated through ECs. I kinda see that in your passion for the German culture, but your ECs are all over the place. Try to bring out a specific passion.</p>

<ul>
<li>Harvard - reach</li>
<li>Stanford - reach</li>
<li>UPenn - reach</li>
<li>Duke - high match</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins - reach</li>
<li>Pomona - low reach</li>
</ul>

<p>I dunno about the others. Chance me too please! :slight_smile: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/800382-what-my-chances-stanford.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/800382-what-my-chances-stanford.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<ul>
<li>Harvard:reach</li>
<li>Stanford:reach</li>
<li>UPenn:reach/high match</li>
<li>Duke:high match/match</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins:match</li>
<li>UNC at Chapel Hill:low match/in</li>
<li>WUSTL:low match</li>
<li>Swarthmore:in</li>
<li>Pomona:in
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/803462-my-chances-brown-4.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/803462-my-chances-brown-4.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
</ul>

10

<p>This is kind of random but… </p>

<p>Are Vietnamese students as competitive as Korean and Chinese students collectively? Of course, there is going to be one or two of each race that are geniuses. </p>

<p>Pewpew, how is his SAT Score bad? He has 700+ in all three sections. </p>

<p>I think you have a good chance at all of them. </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

11

<p>And why are you taking AP/IB of the course?</p>

12

<p>im applying to a large portion of the schools you are, and from what I year, schools like Duke are receiving tons more applications this year; i know someone who didnt get into Duke ED even though he had 2340, 2nd in class, music supp, and ECs like Tae-kwon-do</p>

<p>i know that the economy is bad, but why are more people going to TOP schools? …they shud just go to Brown Mackie</p>

13

<p>Just because your SATs are low does not mean there is no shot in heck for your schools :-). Your summers are amazing as well as your ECs so capitalize on your strengths in your applications. Also, write some good essays and receive some get recommendations. You will be fine. Don’t sell yourself short :-). Chance me? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/816473-chance-aa-female-elite-schools-updated-stats.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/816473-chance-aa-female-elite-schools-updated-stats.html&lt;/a&gt; <–Include Yale also!</p>