Chances at Stanford, Princeton, Georgetown

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Currently a junior (Caucasian female) from KS at a relatively competitive public high school</p>

<p>SAT: 750 CR, 780 W, 590 M (from early sophomore year--retaking for a higher score)
GPA: 3.99 UW
Rank: 1 of roughly 400
Will <em>probably</em> be a National Merit semifinalist (although of course no one knows for sure yet)</p>

<p>Taking (or am planning to take, in some instances) the most rigorous courseload offered at my high school
APs: Bio, USHistory, Lang&Comp, Lit, Calc AB, US Govt
I also have consistently taken night classes at the local community college since my freshman year.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-Debate (heavily involved; consistently ranked as one of the top 2-3 teams in the state of KS as juniors; national qualifier this year)
-Forensics (heavily involved; competitive public speaking; regularly places at tournaments, national semifinalist in Student Congress)
-Music (part of the top treble choir in the state--we are frequently asked to perform at state & regional choral conventions and recently completed an international tour in England)
-Writing (have won several creative writing awards; copy editor of the school newspaper and will probably serve as editor-in-chief next year)
-Volunteering (250+ hours a year, also planning to intern/volunteer on a local political campaign next year)
-Leadership (class president for three years running; debate/forensics president; lots and lots and lots of other stuff)
-Summers: last year I competed at forensics nationals, attended a 3wk debate camp at UT-Austin, and toured England for a week with my choir. This year I'll be competing at debate nationals and attending a 7wk debate camp.</p>

<p>I'm also planning to debate in college, although I doubt this factors in at all.</p>

<p>Essays will be solid (with any luck). Letters of recommendation should range from good to excellent.</p>

<p>I know that I do a lot--at least, it certainly keeps me busy. But is this the kind of thing that these schools want to see? Have I spread myself too thin and not focused enough in specific areas? Most importantly, is there anything I can do (besides improving my test scores) that will make me a more appealing candidate?</p>

<p>Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read all this-- I know these can get pretty dry sometimes.</p>

2

<p>Your GPA and class rank are impressive. Your ECs are first rate, and no, you're not spread too thin, especially considering you're very good at all the things you're involved in. But...</p>

<p>There's that SAT math score. You've got to get it up. Median M+CR at Stanford and Princeton was above 1430 last year and above 1390 at Georgetown. If you don't get the Math score up to at least 700, and have a total SAT score of at least 2250 (2300+ is better), it's unlikely you'll be a competitve candidate at S and P. Georgetown is a slightly different story. In total, your SAT score is probably sufficient, but if they only look at CR+M - which is what most schools did this year - then, again, it's clear you've got to get the M score up to be competetive.</p>

<p>What you should do, I think, is take an SAT prep course or get some tutoring in the Math portion of the SAT. As for all the other stuff, just keep doing what you're doing. Everything else looks good.</p>

<p>I should add that I did a prep course, then got tutoring in Math after my first Math SAT score bombed. It helped. I went from a 1350 CR+M to a 1450 and ended up with a 2210 total. Not good enough to get into my Ivy top choice (I applied ED to UPenn and was rejected), but good enough to get into my co-top choice, WashU in St. Louis, ED2.</p>

3

<p>yea, impressive ec's, but in order to even be considered for schools like stanford and princeton, i think the sat's need to be higher</p>

4

<p>try to raise that math to ~650 and you have an excellent chance everywhere</p>

<p>BTW being from kansas really helps</p>

<p>also a 2120 as a sophmore is really good</p>

5

<p>Okay. I just got my SAT scores back, and my new composite is a 2200 (800 CR, 780 W, 620 M). Does this increase my chances? I think I'm going to try to take it again for a 700 in math. Is this wise?</p>

6

<p>I would focus more on SAT IIs and the rest of your application form here on out</p>