Chances ED or Regular?

<p>Any chance?</p>

<p>About me:
3.55 GPA UW (Inc. freshman year after junior year)
SAT: 2150
Either top 10 or 20 percent of class (not sure)
AP Chem
AP US History
AP Spanish
AP Calculus
AP Physics
AP English
+Mostly honors classes</p>

<p>EC/Athletics:
Varsity tennis 9-12
Fencing 11-12
Stage Crew
Southern Youth Symphonic Orchestra (First chair)
South Youth Symphonic Jazz Band (First Chair)
Tae Kwon Do (Martial Arts, black belt)
Volunteer at Yale-New Haven Hospital 100+ hours (Also a trainer for new volunteers)
Mostly honors classes, 8 APs
Class Council Officer
Student Council
Honors Jazz Band
Marching Band Squad Leader
Asian American Club
Commended Student (PSAT)</p>

<p>Opinions+suggestions?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Would I have a good chance with regular decision or should I apply early decision?</p>

<p>The deadline for Early Decision 1 & 2 has passed, so you cannot apply under those plans.</p>

<p>What college(s) are you applying to within CMU? Each college is different in selectivity.</p>

<p>Yes I know, I will be applying to the school next year, I’m looking to take premed classes, probably the scienece college correct? Do you think I have a good chance?</p>

<p>Your GPA is a little on the low end for a MCS sure admit (MCS is the Mellon College of Science, which hosts Bio, Chem, and most other premed courses). However, your other stats are very good and your volunteering at New Haven is an excellent EC for a potential premed candidate.</p>

<p>I’d say you are a solid match. You aren’t in for sure, but it seems likely that you will be admitted provided that your essays are solid and aren’t the cliche “I want to be a doctor because I want to save lives/biology is interesting because it’s like science magic” topic. Steer clear of those two essay topics and your chances seem very good. :)</p>

<p>Little late reply, but thanks for the thorough reply Kate!
I’d like add the activities to consider:
Vice President of the Student Council
National Honor Society
120 hours at Yale new Haven</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Yes, your GPA is low and you’ve got too many activities. You clearly aren’t very involved in ALL of them so it seems like you’re just racking up clubs. good luck but I don’t think your strategy will fly.</p>

<p>How do I have too many activities? And contrary to your belief, I am involved in ALL of them… Only “club” I’m in is Student Council and Stage crew?..The rest are out of school organizations. Isn’t the average gpa for accepted students 3.6? No “strategy” here…I actually enjoy the activities I partake in so I’m a bit offended at your accusatory tone.</p>

<p>The Asian club is not a club? :stuck_out_tongue: I’ve also never heard of an out-of-school marching band. Where would you play? NHS is also a club.</p>

<p>emmalin does have a point in that your current list of activities, presented in that form, tends to give the reader an impression that you are engaged in them a “mile wide and inch deep” as the saying goes. Which ones are the activities you focus on the most? Some things could be cut out. If you only did something for a year or a few months, cut it. </p>

<p>Paring the list down to a few activities that you are most passionate about vs. a long list of scattered things would probably do you some good. If an admissions committee suspects that you’re the kind of kid who joins groups and organizations just to impress colleges, then you’re royally screwed. (I’m not saying you are one of those kids at all - just that having a ‘laundry list’ of ECs makes it look that way.)</p>

<p>Secondarily, combined with your somewhat lower-than-average GPA, adcoms may look at that list and say, “gee, it seems like he’s over-committing himself. Maybe he should’ve spent more time studying and less time playing jazz.” Having a smaller, more focused list will prevent that from happening.</p>

<p>Additionally, cut activities which you did before high school. Are you engaged in ALL of those activities currently, or were your commitments to them scattered throughout your high school years? You should mention which years go with which activities. It seems kind of weird that you are claiming you were on the varsity tennis team while simultaneously earning your black belt, fencing, tending to the sick, doing community service for NHS, staging drama productions, playing in four bands and running the school’s student council. There’s just not enough time in the day for those to all be current activities. Even if you only allocate 2 hours to 50% of those activities on any given day (which is unlikely given that all the middle/high school sports teams I’ve been on practice daily), 2 hours for homework and 6-ish hours for sleeping, it’s literally impossible.</p>

<p>Thanks for the more effort evident response. I didn’t realize NHS was a club there was a high chance of rejection not to mention only the top 20% being able to apply… I appreciate the good advice regarding activities that I did for a few months (Stage Crew). I am currently engaged in all of the activities listed. I have been on the varsity tennis team and earned my black belt freshman/sophomore year but still do martial arts. I volunteer at the hospital on weekends and the summer and my NHS at the school only requires members to tutor other students along with a slim list of other tasks. I haven’t been inducted yet, but have been accepted (Induction on the 25th of May) Stage band (The honors band) is actually considered a class at my school and is held after school (tryout required). I don’t know how I’ve managed but I guess I’ve done the literally impossible? Do you have any other suggestions that would better my chances at admission? (What do you think my chances are?)</p>

<p>Ok, so, no, you’re not participating in all of those activities at the same time. Being in a club or band is not the same thing as participating in it. IE - you’ve been inducted into NHS, but you aren’t actually doing the tutoring yet. Same with Stage Crew and Tennis. You did participate in those things for a few months. You’re not currently participating in them. Important difference! :slight_smile: That accounts for a lot of holes in your logic here.</p>

<p>You mention the honors band, but what about marching band, the symphonic orchestra, and the symphonic jazz band? Those are three other bands you’re supposedly participating in. If they are all the same band, don’t mention it four times. On the other hand, if they’re different bands… how committed can you possibly be to each band? (The clear answer is ‘not very’.) </p>

<p>The reason I am placing importance on this is because when you’re applying, you’ll want to make it very clear that while you’ve done all these wonderful things, you’re not currently doing them all at once. That would be absolutely humanly impossible, and there -are- students who can (and do) try to lie on their college applications and claim they’re invested in clubs that don’t exist or whatever. Right now, you look like one of those applicants, so if you follow the advice given above, you’ll look like a dedicated hard worker as opposed to… someone trying to game the system (or worse, someone who has literally no social life, which probably isn’t the case, right? :P)</p>

<p>To better your chances at admission, stop trying to participate in so many activities and focus on your grades. I have several friends like you at CMU - they’re in every club and love what they do, but their grades aren’t so hot. It’s not serving them well in terms of academic success. </p>

<p>Additionally, focus on clubs which are relevant to your area of study. You’re going into MCS/HSS in the sciences and from the looks of your other posts you’re trying to study premed. That’s cool. Now focus on your hospital volunteering and drop the Tae Kwon Do and stagecraft. Seeming diverse to adcoms is different from seeming like an ADHD patient who can’t figure out what they want to do. Keep robust activities such as your bands - it seems like you are very invested in music, and that’s an excellent activity that ‘rounds out’ your application. Keep NHS and your leadership roles. Drop the excess baggage.</p>

<p>Lastly: you’re trying to go into premed and you haven’t taken AP Bio. I recommend you sign up immediately. It would be a poor decision to declare yourself a premed applicant and then have no AP Bio under your belt.</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply Kate I appreciate the time taken to write up a long response. Sorry I have not responded (Usually check when I get an email notification but didn’t get one?) I am currently participating in Varsity tennis but not the Stage Crew thing.
I will take your advice and concentrate on my work at the hospital. I also got inducted into the Student Leadership Board at the hospital and will be doing genetic research at a Yale Laboratory over the summer so maybe that will show my interests in science better. Do you think I should apply ED if I really want to go? Or would I have a good chance regular decision anyways?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>