Chances for a dedicated horse-back rider?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm most interested in Yale, Harvard, UPenn, and Swarthmore. I'm nearing the end of my junior year, so here's what I've had going on the last 3 years:</p>

<p>Horse-back Riding
I have owned my own horse for two years this May, and I've been taking twice weekly lessons since I was 14. Last summer, I had a killer eventing season and we went to nationals our first season out, which was awesome! (Google Eventing for an explanation :) ) It takes so much time to properly train and care for my horse, so this has prevented me from being more involved in school, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I will likely be selling my horse ( :( ) at the end of this summer to be able to focus more on my studies senior year. (I plan on taking 4 AP classes, and 1 class sponsored through a local college.) Although I won't have my horse, I still plan on taking lessons at least once a week.</p>

<p>Academics
I've always been able to get fairly good grades without much effort, especially through middle school and 9th grade, so 10th grade I had a bit of a GPA drop because I didn't feel much of a need to study. I've pretty much fixed that this year.</p>

<p>Class rank: 16/450ish
GPA: 4.1 (It's a 3.9 unweighted)
ACT: 29</p>

<p>My ACT is lower than I'd like at the moment, but I took it without studying at all. I've been hitting the review books really hard and I hope to get a 32+ when I take it again in April.</p>

<p>I took AP Euro sophomore year and got a three on the test; I had an awful teacher and I did not study for it at all, because apparently I didn't realize the test was real? I have no idea why I didn't study, ha ha! I was honestly surprised to get a three...</p>

<p>I'm currently in AP Bio / AP US / AP Gov. I've gotten A's in the classes, and I've been studying since February. Definitely learned from my mistake! I hope to get 4's on all of them, and I believe I can get 5's in Gov and Bio. </p>

<p>Other Activities
So, this is the area I'm most worried about...</p>

<p>Newspaper: Reporter 10th grade and Copy Editor 11th grade
Scholar Bowl: 11th grade
Young Democrats: 11th grade
Gay-Straight Alliance: 11th grade
Volunteering at a Theraputic Riding Center: Started this year, but plan to get really involved in this for the rest of my time in high school, especially over the summer. It's incredibly rewarding.</p>

<p>Scholar Bowl is basically like a trivia club, but we do go to competitions, although we aren't usually top-placed. I'm not an officer this year; I might be next year.</p>

<p>Young Democrats is very sloppily run; I attend the meetings and parties, but we don't actually DO anything; I might also be able to be an officer next year and hopefully get the club moving forward.</p>

<p>The GSA just started up; it's a brand new club and I most likely will not have an opportunity for a leadership post next year.</p>

<p>That's all I have right now. Next year, I plan on doing Mock Trial, which is exactly what it sounds like- pretending to be a lawyer or witness and "competing" by holding a mock trial. I plan on continuing with everything except newspaper, which I've decided to drop for a couple reasons: we can't write about anything interesting, and it's not weighted.</p>

<p>Also, my school does the National Honor Society, and I have just enough "points" to qualify and I should be admitted. Not sure if that's very important, but there it is.</p>

<p>And that's me in a nutshell! I really appreciate anyone's opinions.</p>

2

<p>Thought it was time for a bump…</p>

3

<p>Bumping again…</p>

4

<p>No one has an opinion? :(</p>

5

<p>Looks pretty solid!
Yale and Harvard seem like reaches.
UPenn is also a reach.
Swarthmore seems easy.</p>

6

<p>I’m going to be frank with you, which I assume you’d want considering you posted a chance thread.</p>

<p>I can see Harvard, Yale, and Penn possibly happening if you’re African American/Native American and have at least a 33 on your ACT.</p>

<p>Other than that, I don’t think it’s probable at all. Granted, HY&Penn can hardly be considered probably for even 2400/2400/4.0UW students, but let’s just say you have average chances - and by average, we’re looking at the typical 7, 8% acceptances. While you are no doubt a phenomenal horseback rider, your other ECs are significantly lacking, and a two year or one year stint with your extracurricular reflect poorly on your commitment and responsibility. Your ACT - whether you got a 29, or you’ll get a 32 - is too low for HYP-caliber schools.</p>

<p>If your heart is set on attending one of HYPSM, I’d suggest you take a look at Stanford. While admissions most certainly is as competitive as Harvard or Yale, I think Stanford tends to be more “quirky” in admissions and accepts students with lower stats, but have a more interesting backstory/lifestyle. </p>

<p>This is all just a suggestion, however; don’t apply to Stanford if you don’t believe it fits the criteria you want a university to provide you with.</p>

7

<p>Wait what is her ethnicity?</p>

<p>If your heart is set on attending one of HYPSM, I’d suggest you take a look at Stanford. While admissions most certainly is as competitive as Harvard or Yale, I think Stanford tends to be more “quirky” in admissions and accepts students with lower stats, but have a more interesting backstory/lifestyle.</p>

<p>really?
did you look at Stanford SCEA board?
They rejected SOO many well-qualified students + INTERESTING life stories.</p>

<p>I don’t know… but I ditto you, sir.
If she is an URM, she has great chances.</p>

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<p>Yale 3%
Harvard 3%
UPenn 8%</p>

9

<p>Not to bring the atmosphere in this thread lower than it already is, but the OP honestly has no qualities and/or achievements worthy of the three Ivies she listed. </p>

<p>Participating in a novel extracurricular will not compensate for a bad GPA and test scores.</p>

10

<p>How is her GPA bad?
Her test score is really bad, but I think her GPA is fine.
Her rank is mediocre, though/</p>