Chances at Yale, Stanford, and Cal

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a junior and really worried about next year (and procrastinating in studying for APs), so I've decided to post a chance thread too. :)</p>

<p>I would really love feedback!</p>

<p>Chinese female; dad went to Grad school at Stanford (does count as legacy there). Should I apply EA to Stanford or Yale?</p>

<p>SAT: 800V, 670M (haha...)
SATII: 770 World History (have only taken one)
APs: 5 for AP World History, Euro. History, and Statistics. Am taking Chemistry, Physics C: Mechanics, and US History this year.
got 225 on PSAT; expecting Semi-Finalist for National Merit.
AP Scholar.
Weighted GPA: 4.28
Unweighted GPA: 3.97
Rank: 1/512 (school doesn't really do rank, so guessing, but have taken most honors/AP - definitely in top 1%)
Prospective Majors: History, International Relations/Studies, Political Science, Rhetoric</p>

<p>Pretty competitive school - Woodbridge. California people should know Uni better, though. Will probably qualify for ELC. </p>

<p>Freshman:<br>
Honors English 9 ~ A, A
Honors Algebra 2/Trig. ~ A, A-
Honors Biology ~ A, A
Honors World History ~ A+, A+
Computer Literacy ~ A+, A+
Science Fair ~ P, P
IS: National History Day ~ P, P
Teaching Assistant ~ P, P</p>

<p>---Transferred Schools (1st was private in Anaheim), now am at Irvine School District, pretty competitive ---</p>

<p>Sophomore:<br>
Honors English 2A ~ A, A-
Spanish 2A ~ A, A
AP Statistics A ~ A-, A-
AP European History A ~ A, A
Psychology (semester class) ~ A
Beg. Photo A ~ A, A</p>

<p>Junior:
Honors British Literature A ~ A, A+
Spanish 3A ~, A+, A+
AP Calculus BC – A ~ B, A+ (I got my first B ever in this class, but I have 100% this quarter...so, that shows...improvement!)
AP Chemistry A ~A, A
AP Physics C A ~ A, A
AP US History A ~ A, A</p>

<p>(2nd grade for Junior year are all Quarter grades...)</p>

<p>E.C.
Volunteer at local library, about an hour a week.
Very active at my church, about 9 hours a week
I only have one major extracurricular activity, but I'm really involved with it:
I debated minorly in Policy Freshman year (co-founded Debate Club at small private school), but for since Sophomore Year, I've debated for Irvine Valley College - the JC near my school - on the collegiate circuit (NPDA) for Parliamentary Debate. Won a bunch of regional awards in Novice and Junior; won a 'best debater' and 'team sp last year' (my school in debate circuit is "South Orange County" and we were 1st Community College in the nation last year, and 4th among all Universities).
Only one really worth mentioning is a Gold Award at Phi Rho Pi (Community College Nationals) in Impromptu Speaking last year. (highest award; equivalent to National JC Champion, I guess)
Also, I was 6th speaker at the largest tournament of the debate year (Pt. Loma) in the Junior divsion; some consider this a 'National' tournament.
Last year, I spent more time at debate than at my actual high school. :)
This year, I only went to two tournaments, as to preserve my eligibility (can only debate for 4 years on college circuit), but still active particpant. Depending on partnerships for next year, I may get really involved as well. </p>

<p>Have been told that I'm a pretty good writer. Won 5th place in state for a Police essay contest in 9th grade, haven't done much (except debate, lol) since then. My English teacher this year is a Yale alum though, and he will vouch for my writing skills. He gave me his first A+ on a paper (99/100, 1 point off for a citation error) and said that it was one of the finest he'd seen, and of advanced collegiate level. Yes, I am still happy about it. :)</p>

<p>Essays will probably end up mostly about debate, which I am very passionate about. WILL NEVER TOUCH MATH AGAIN AFTER THIS YEAR. who else is w/ me on that? lol. </p>

<p>I'm applying to University of Washington as a safety because I hate UCI (sorry, not to offend anyone, but I live in the city and want to get as far away as possible) and SoCal in general. So no other UCs. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You have a pretty decent shot at Stanford. Yale is probably a reach. Your ecas are a bit week.</p>

3

<p>you have a great shot at stanford with legacy.. dang, i thought all asian parents went to "top" FOB schools -_-.</p>

<p>when did you take calc AB/precalc, or you just skipped
i have almost exact same stats except i have 2 AP;3AP (no physics)..</p>

<p>i heard stanford/etc has a cut off for SATs for around 700 each.. so the math might need a boost.</p>

4

<p>A good friend and Stanford legacy was turned down this year with a 1550 SAT, top grades and great ECs from one of the most competitive high schools in the country. The moral of the story is don't count on it. Stanford took only 22% of legacy applicants last year while all the ivies take about 50%.</p>

<p>Yale is a lottery, you have a chance but your verbal SAT score and ECs are weak points. No clue about Cal. Look at this year's decisions and add some more safeties unless you love Washington.</p>

5

<p>One of my friends just got into Yale. He had similar stats as you(number 1 rank, all APs, 5s on his AP tests), except he did a sport for every season for 4 years, along with being a minority. He also went to governor's school...</p>

<p>He also had a 1510 SAT...you got a 1470, which is solid. I think you got a good shot...but yes, Yale can be a lottery at times.</p>

6

<p>your ECs are weak (but you do very well in what you are doing now). try to get leadership positions, and i would say youre pretty much set.</p>

7

<p>Cool.</p>

<p>asfsamurai - I took Precalc at the JC last summer...it was horrible. </p>

<p>mashimaroban - what would you define as 'leadership' position? as in ASB, or just found a club? </p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback, and yeah, I'm definitely taking the SAT again. I'm going to study Math over the summer....--;</p>

<p>And what can I do to strengthen my ECs? Maybe found a club (won't be that hard), or...? I'm only really interested in Debate, have dabbled in Mock Trial and MUN, but they weren't really that intense compared with debate. I definitely could do Science Olympiad/Academic Decathalon/etc. but my school never does that well in those events, and the farthest they've gotten is about...8th at state. Besides, I think its better to have ECs that back up my interest...</p>

<p>Yeah, I really like Washington. I used to live there, so I would go to UW. But I am counting on Cal if I don't get into Yale or Stanford. Cal accepts about 20 people from my school each year, so I'm really pinning my hopes on that. :)</p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback! (Keep it coming...lol...)</p>

8

<p>leadership positions, as in president, vice president, treasurer, secretary... usually thes positions do receive some recognition from the colleges. if you founded a club, thats awesome. just make sure that it appeals to a lot of people, so it becomes successful later on. =)</p>

9

<p>I'm Treasurer for the T-Shirt Design club at my school (we design T-shirts for school activities - Science Olympiad and such). Does that count?</p>