Chances at top schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I've posted here before, but now i've got more information and can give you a more complete picture. I'm a white male from massachusetts and am not recruitable in any of my sports. Here are my stats:</p>

<p>GPA: 3.6uw 3.8w but good grade trend (3.5 frosh... 3.6 soph... 4.3 junior)
Class Rank: 20/210</p>

<p>SAT I- M: 670
CR: 790
W: 750</p>

<p>SAT II- US: 790
Bio: 750</p>

<p>AP- US His: 5 Bio: 5</p>

<p>ECs:
Basketball: 9-12 (20+ hours per week)
Cross Country:10-12 (captain 12, 15+ hours per week)
National Honor Society: 12</p>

<p>Jobs:
Comm Rec Basketball (7 hours per week the last 3 winters)
Job at a Doctor's office (25 hours per week for just this summer. Basically just grunt work like scanning.)</p>

<p>I have taken the maximum number of AP classes offered at my school (4) and have taken a very rigorous courseload, although not "most rigorous." </p>

<p>I am planning on applying to: Duke (ED), Cornell (legacy), UVA, UNC, Georgetown, UCSD, Emory and Michigan. </p>

<p>So there it is. I would love to here your feedback on my chances and really appreciate any imput. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>and just for good measure, i'll add UConn as my safety. If you guys think that it is a safety, that is.</p>

3

<p>Poor ECs, poor GPA, but good trend, very good writing and reading and SAT II scores, poor math scores (all in comparison to Duke and Cornell). Duke, Cornell are pretty big reaches because nothing really stands out.</p>

4

<p>Are you sure you don't want to use the ED at Cornell?</p>

5

<p>yeah i can't use the ED on Cornell. It's probably my 5th or 6th choice. Nothing about it really appeals to me except the fact that it's ivy league.</p>

6

<p>Well, you probably won't get into choices 1-5 if they're all on the same level as Duke, so at least you have a shot if you apply ED to Cornell.</p>

7

<p>35 hours per week on sports isn't "poor EC"! </p>

<p>Duke, UVA (out of state), Georgetown, and Cornell will be reaches. The rest should be matches or slight reaches. You can probably get Cornell to a match if you apply ED, since its ED acceptance is rediculously high, you have a legacy (which holds weight in ED), and your SATs are good for Cornell.</p>

8

<p>He doesn't have any academic ECs or anything that really stands out though. The ECs are far below standards of Duke and Cornell.</p>

9

<p>Might check out Colgate or Holy Cross.</p>

10

<p>"He doesn't have any academic ECs or anything that really stands out though. The ECs are far below standards of Duke and Cornell."</p>

<p>In my own defense, my school has very limited academic ECs (no model UN, Debate, or anything like that.) Math team is the only one i can really think of and if you look at my SAT I math score, you'll see why i'm not a member.</p>

<p>Also, no to Colgate and Holy Cross mainly because of the weather. I'm definitely looking for a warm climate in my college.</p>

11

<p>Ummm...that means opportunity!! If you FOUND a club its stands out 10 times more. I am sure starting things got me into the Ivies.</p>

<p>Duke is not going to happen, but Emory should.</p>

12

<p>is my 670 math really hurting me or is that the least of my worries?</p>

13

<p>It depends on what you want to study in college. If you're not going into Engineering, economics, or physics, then it shouldn't be a deal (It won't break your application, even at Duke). But still, I would try to raise it as high as possible. If you can get in the top 15 percentile in SAT score for the university, chances raise substantially. If it's between 30-70 percentile, small changes won't mattery very much.</p>

14

<p>Yeah I'm much more of a humanities guy so hopefully it won't be too much of a problem.</p>

15

<p>only setback that I see is GPA</p>

<p>for some reason i feel that EC's (although the more the better), if lacking, can be compensated with really good letters and essays</p>

<p>good luck</p>

16

<p>hmmmm...670 on math...I don't think it will hurt if you are more english oriented and are pointing towards that direction as a career.
Otherwise, you could also take Math IIC (or level 2 is it?) </p>

<p>Anyway, not really hurting.</p>

17

<p>You seem to not care nearly as much about the quality of the school you end up at as you do about the weather. When that's the priority, well, I guess you take what you get.</p>

18

<p>Yeah, climate is a huge factor in my decision. I guess i'm just sick of New England winters. Also, its not that i don't care about the quality of education (i'm guessing you mean cornell.) Its just that you need to give me a pretty compelling reason to live in upstate new york for 4 years and just to say "I went to an Ivy League school" isn't compelling in my opinion.</p>

19

<p>To whoever said that 35 hours a week on sports isn't a poor EC needs to also realize that basketball and cc are different seasons.</p>

<p>You really should add one or two more safeties.</p>

20

<p>hmmmm that didn't come out right. Kind of sounded like i was bashing Cornell's academics. Sorry if it comes across the wrong way.</p>