Chances at Stanford?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>What are my chances at...
Stanford
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Johns Hopkins
Harvard
Princeton
???</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Asian
Sex:Male
Public High School</p>

<p>UW GPA- 4.0
W GPA- 5.00
Rank- 2 of 510, will probably get 1 this year</p>

<p>SAT I- 780V, 800M, 740W (2320)
SAT IIs- 790BIO, 730USH, 800MATH2</p>

<p>ACT- none taken</p>

<p>APs- 5 in: Eng. Lang., Bio, Chem, Calc AB, US History
4 in: Euro History, Spanish
Senior Year Courses
-AP Literature
-AP Government
-AP Calculus BC
-AP Environmental Science
-AP Statistics
-Teacher's Aide for Earth Science</p>

<p>Extracurriculars
-Science Olympiad, competed in State every year
-Science Bowl, went to nationals in 2006 in Washington, D.C.
-National Honor Society member
-CSF (California Scholarship Federation) member
-about 150 hours of community service at library
-about 200 hours of community service at hospital
-Varsity Cross Country and Track sophomore year
-Varsity Swimming and Water Polo in junior and senior year following a knee injury from running
-Teen Advisor Council for city
-Key Club member (this is a community service club)
-Academic Decathlon - medaled in almost all events and won first in my regional division
-Link Crew member (aids freshmen each year around campus and w/ conflicts)
-awarded Student of the Month in 2007</p>

<p>Summer Activities
-lots of summer school at community service: took classes in Alg. 2, Intro to Chem, Intro to Piano, and Intro to Physics to complete high school requirements for AP classes eligibility
-summer cross country of freshman/sophomore year
-summer water polo of junior/senior year</p>

<p>Work Experience
-spent summers teaching kids how to swim
-attend an annual Chinese New Year celebration for the elderly where I aid in preparation and set-up of festivities and food</p>

<p>What I really think will kill me is the essay portion of the application because I'm not that great of a writer. I'm usually better at writing like analytically (like AP class essays) rather than the figurative topics for college apps. Do you guys think that despite this weakness, I still have a chance at getting into Stanford? I'm also from a first-generation, very low income family, so hopefully this will help.</p>

2

<p>I think that you have a great chance at making it into Stanford. As for the essay portion, be true to yourself. I recommend reading this book with 100 essays that got people into Harvard (don't remember the title).
This will give you an idea of what to aim for.</p>

3

<p>I think you have a decent chance. You have great grades, great SAT. </p>

<p>However, what might kill you is your lack of leadership positions. for your activities, I see a lot of "member." Maybe you should try out for some positions, like president, VP, treasurer, etc. Remember that a lot of people can get great grades and wonderful SAT and be a member of different clubs. You might want to try to set yourself apart from the "bright well-rounded kids" status.</p>

4

<p>You have a really good chance, your profile looks strong.</p>

<p>Good luck in college!</p>

5

<p>I think you need something outstanding - Stanford wants the extraordinary. All your ECs are sort of weak ... You need more community service, too.</p>

6

<p>Ok, thanks guys. I forgot to mention that I was a swim coach during the summer for volunteer work. Does that at least strengthen my leadership/community service section a bit? I was the vice president of CSF last year too, if that helps. What about my chances at the other schools I mentioned?</p>

7

<p>^ That all helps :)
At Cal and UCLA you should be in, especially if you are instate.
You're in at Hopkins.
Harvard and Princeton are anyone's guess.</p>

8

<p>smart.cookie, would you mind if I sent you one of my application essays later this week for review? I need as much help as I can get on this essay.</p>

9

<p>In at Cal UCLA and JHU. Toss up for HPS.</p>

10

<p>you have a good shot ant Harvard and Princeton
Pretty good shot at stanford. Your prolly in all the others cuz ur instate.
How did u get a 5.0?
what is ur GPA out of?
Also dont list to many activites, mainly ones that are at state level are good.
others ad coms generally dont bat eyes at in terms of competitions.</p>

11

<p>Feel free to send me the essay. I'm happy to take a look.</p>

12

<p>Test Scores and Grades: Very good. Puts you in the ballpark.
ECs: Impressive awards, but not a huge amount of leadership, and nothing catchy</p>

<p>Honestly, I have to say that I'm not sure you have good chances at HPS. Try your best though!</p>

<p>Stanford - Reject
UC Berkeley - Reject
UCLA - Accept
Johns Hopkins - Accept
Harvard - Reject
Princeton - Reject</p>

13

<p>Well leadership hasn't really played a prominent role in my ECs in high school, so I haven't really mentioned it. Here's what I did do for leadership though:</p>

<p>1) captain of frosh/soph team in cross country, led team to subsections</p>

<p>2) vice president of CSF, aided in fundraising money for an annual christmas donation to needy children</p>

<p>The problem with my high school is that many of the leadership positions were taken by the "popular" kids, and since I was one of the higher ranked kids, everyone pretty much voted against me, lol. Also, the work ethic and attitudes of the students at my high school signified to me that my leadership in any of the clubs would not have been productive at all.</p>

14

<p>This guy is OBVIOUSLY in at UCB in state...I don't know why anyone else would say differently.</p>

15

<p>@ MC99, sorry I didn't read your post, lol.</p>

<p>My school's GPA system is out of 4.0. AP/Honors are 5.0, and regular classes are 4.0. My GPA each year, so far, has been 4.16, 4.5, 4.83, and 5.0. So a 5.0 represents an all ap classes schedule.</p>

<p>I really hope I'm accepted into either Stanford or Berkeley, as I live close to the two and am not sure if my parents would want me going anywhere else. Thanks to everyone for the replies.</p>

16

<p>Sorry, I missed the in-state part. Yeah I'd say in at UCB.</p>

<p>You need to explain your leadership situation somehow in your application!</p>

17

<p>Do you think that I will have a better chance at Stanford if I am in-state?</p>

18

<p>No, it might even be a disadvantage</p>

19

<p>Why would that be a disadvantage?</p>

20

<p>Because a LOT of people in Cali apply. Maybe more competition?</p>