Chances at Yale, MIT, Cornell, NYU Gallatin, and more

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hellooooooo everyone. =D</p>

<p>I'm a junior from a very competitive, and very well known high school (to colleges, not as much to other high school students) in the northeast. I guess I'll get right to it...</p>

<p>Note: some things (like Gov School and Harvard SSP) haven't happened yet, but I'm including them anyway... I'm also estimating some AP scores cause I have a very good idea of what I'll get... same for senior year officer positions</p>

<p>Academics
GPA - 3.96/4.00
WGPA - 4.79/5.00
Courseload - absolutely the most rigorous possible - skipped 1 year each of of math, sci, and comp sci, 5 AP's junior year, 2 bio courses at Princeton University senior year + independent study (environmental studies) + 4 AP's...
SAT - 800 M / 670 CR / 720 W
SAT II - 800 Bio / 800 Math IIC / 800 Chem
AP - 5's on Bio<em>+, Calc AB, Chem, Comp Sci A+, Lang, HumGeo</em>, Psych<em>, Stats</em>, and US; 4 on Enviro<em>+ (</em>self studied, +10th grade)</p>

<p>EC's
Debate League - President, VP, President
Environmental Club - President, President, Co-founder
Tutoring Society - President, VP
Amnesty International - VP, Secretary
Model United Nations - VP</p>

<p>Awards and Recognitions - two plaques for NJ Science League qualification, regional finalist for an oratorical contest, AP Scholar, National AP Scholar, Varsity Policy Debate team, Varsity LD Debate team, 12th place in National French Examination, NJ Governor's School on the Environment school male nominee (only 1) and state finalist, NJ Scholars Program (three juniors per hs), AIME qualifier (115 on AMC 12) this year, National Ocean Sciences Bowl and NJ Envirothon teams, nominated for NJ Boys State by hs, chaired at two middle school and one high school MUN conferences hosted by school club, first NFL member in my hs, NFL District Tournament qualifier, Certificate of Appreciation for community service from local Lions Club, Certificate of Excellence in Teamwork from Debate League, a few MUN awards, and some more debate stuff.</p>

<p>Summer Activities
2006 - NJ Boys State, NJ Governor's School on the Environment, Environmental Management through Harvard SSP, research with a prof at Rutgers or Princeton (maybe)
2005 - worked as a tutor 15 hours/week and skipped Precalc Honors
2004 - skipped Chemistry Honors and Intro to Programming
2003 - saw the world (haha)</p>

<p>I plan on applying as an Environmental Studies major, a combination biological science and public policy.</p>

<p>I plan on applying to Yale (SCEA), MIT, Cornell (College of Life and Agricultural Sciences), NYU (Gallatin School of Individualized Study), Columbia, Princeton, Georgetown, plus some safeties and more matches.</p>

<p>What do you guys think?</p>

2

<p>In at NYU, Georgetown and Cornell.</p>

<p>Yale, MIT and Princeton are unlikely, as is Columbia b/c they won't like that CR score (unless you're applying for Fun Engineering, then you're in).</p>

3

<p>SAT's gonna hurt for yale, but outstanding everywhere else.</p>

4

<p>I'm sure the OP can retake the SATs and do much better.</p>

<p>Raise your CR to 770 and (2290) and I think you'll get into Yale EA (definitely at least a deferral).</p>

<p>Yale (SCEA): Match
MIT: Slight Reach
Cornell: Safe match
NYU:Safety
Columbia: Match
Princeton: Slight Reach/Match
Georgetown: Safe match</p>

<p>Besides that single B (which won't hurt you much at all), I don't think you could have done anything to improve yourself.</p>

<p>Congrats. I don't think there's a single person like you at our high school.</p>

5

<p>Alright guys, I just got my January SAT score back, and now my highest scores are 800 M / 720 CR / 720 W --> 2240. How much will that help me? I'm almost definitely going to retake this fall for a better writing score - I'll aim for a 2300.</p>

6

<p>Bumpppppp</p>

<p>How much will my 2240 help me over the 2190?</p>

7

<p>How do people get to be President of SIX clubs???!!!!</p>

<p>newb, you're smart enough to know how much it'll help.</p>

8

<p>Not much has changed. NYU is still your safety. Cornell and Georgetown are now safer matches (I'd be very surprised if you don't get into both). Yale, MIT, Columbia, and Princeton are reaches (I think Flippy was being overly optimistic about your chances).</p>

<p>The problem is, Yale, MIT, Columbia, Princeton and all the schools on that level are reaches for just about every one. You do improve your chances of getting in by getting higher SATS, SAT2s, GPA etc., but even vals with perfect SATs and solid ECs have, at best, a 30% chance of acceptance at these schools. With your good SAT scores, your really excellent SAT2 scores, and good but not great ECs, you're a bit better than an average applicant to Y, M, C, and P. Consequently, you probably have, at this point, a bit better than an average chance - which is about 10% - of being accepted at any one of these schools. Let's call it 15%.</p>

9

<p>hideANDseek - haha I'll only be Pres of 3... unless if something clicks with the current officers of MUN haha.</p>

<p>amptron - I think I get what you mean by "good but not great ECs" - you mean they're common, right? I really hope that my extensive community involvement and leadership/initiative make me stand out.</p>

<p>Oh and I forgot to mention that I've played recreational soccer every year... though I doubt that makes a difference? lol.</p>

<p>Anyway, so what do you guys think about Brown, JHU, CMU, and Brandeis?</p>

10

<p>well with those SAT scores its hard to say...</p>

11

<p>Are you referring to the 2190 or the 2240 (updated as of yesterday)?</p>

12

<p>Yeah, it's VERY unusual for someone to have such high stats and low SATs.</p>

<p>Take SAT prep classes is what I recommend. They helped me 300+ points.</p>

13

<p>Whattttt? Uh I don't think my SAT score is low... are you guys being sarcastic or something?</p>

14

<p>Bump... so confused...</p>

15

<p>2240's low for Yale/MIT.</p>

<p>CC's definition of "low" means "not exceedingly high".</p>

16

<p>If it's any comfort, I got deferred from Yale with a 740 CR, 780 M, and 680 W. Chin up, junior! You got a year to make yourself even more wonderful than you already are for college app season 2007! ^<em>^ Good luck for Yale SCEA! Oh yeah, I'm a Filipino female from Texas if that helps explain...(maybe with the quota stuff and whatnot...???....I don't know.) (-</em>-) Anyway, just trying to help enlighten the crowd!</p>

17

<p>Erm, getting deferred isn't exactly enlightening. But, I think the 2240 is probably good enough for Yale/MIT. Your SATs are good, your GPA is good, your extracurriculars are good...now you just have to worry about all the other geniouses applying.</p>

18

<p>Your biggest problem is the 1000's of kids in your region with better stats that are all applying to those schools. Why would Yale take you over them? SSP will not help your admissions chances at all. Spend the summer doing something productive and prepping for the SAT.</p>

19

<p>Let's clarify something here: 2240 is a damn good SAT score, especially with an M+V of 1520. It would make you a very competetive candidiate at almost any college in the country - except colleges like Columbia, Princeton, Yale, and MIT, where it would put you in the middle of the pack. Now, I'm not saying don't apply to these schools. In fact, you should do it. Just be realistc about your chances. They are reaches. Hope to get in, but don't expect to get in.</p>

<p>You should also apply to other very good schools that are a little less selective where you'd have a better chance. You mentioned CMU and Brandeis above, both good schools that I think you'd have a very good chance of getting into. You might want to take a look at WashU in St. Loius. A great school that's just a tad less selective than HYPS etc. JHU also may be a good choice. Good rep, good academics. A bit less selective than the top Ivies. Brown is a tough call. Stat wise, you'd be a competetive candidate there, but because so many kids apply, the acceptance rate is down around 10%, so it's tough to get in. You might want to consider UPenn. With your stats, it would probably be a low to medium reach, but it's a great school, and UPenn accepts about 20% of its applicants, so it's not as tough to get into as most of the other Ivy level schools.</p>

<p>Here's a list of other good, not quite as selective schools you might want to consider:</p>

<p>Northwestern
Wesleyan (in CT)
Carleton
Vassar
Tufts
Washington and Lee
Emory
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Bowdoin
Haverford
Macalester
Davidson
Colby
Univer. Of Southern CA
Colgate
William and Mary
Oberlin
Bates
Tulane
Hamilton
Grinnell
Bard
University of Virginia</p>

20

<p>Umm ok I'm just going to go ahead and ignore all that about my SAT score. In my opinion, anyone who calls a 1520/2240 not competitive is incredibly misinformed. I don't want to start a flame war about it or anything, so I'll just drop it here.</p>

<p>amptron - thanks for the list, but I've already gone through all those schools and they're either too far, too small, or in rural areas. Well, except for CWM and UVA, but I see no reason to drive 6 hours to a public school in Virginia when I could go to Rutgers for a fraction of the cost. Plus, I visited CWM and absolutely hated it.</p>

<p>Aretsuya - thanks for the comfort haha. Good luck with RD and the rest of your schools!</p>

<p>bandit_TX - the only two reasons why I'm taking the SSP course are because 1) I'll most probably be at another boarding program(s) over the summer and Harvard is one of the only schools I know of that offers courses ONLINE (I'm taking it online) and 2) it's very focused in my field of choice - environmental studies, and I might not be able to find another similarily focused course anywhere else. In fact, the ONLY reason why I'll even be applying to Harvard is because of the prestige (it's only an extra essay, so why not?). I have little/no interest in going there otherwise. I'd rather go to NYU than Harvard.</p>

<p>By the way, a good friend of mine went to Yale SSP and just got into Penn ED this year. I doubt it would hurt me at all. I might even explain the circumstances somewhere on my app, but merely the fact that I'll be applying early to Yale should show them where my interest truly lies.</p>

<p>chocolateluvr88 - actually, getting deferred from Yale IS enlightening. They reject more SCEA applicants than you'd think, and deferred applicants have a higher admission rate RD than non-SCEA RD applicants, so a deferral from Yale carries more weight than a deferral from, say, Harvard.</p>