Chances for a High-Scoring but "'Unspecial" Student?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>First off, let me say hello. I've been reading threads here for a while now, but I've never posted because, honestly, I'm pretty clueless on the whole college search issue. I'm really getting into it now, so any input you could provide would be great :)</p>

<p>Schools (to be narrowed down):
Ivies (except Brown/Columbia), possibly Wharton
UVA
Carnegie Mellon
U of Chicago
Northwestern ?
Wash U in St Louis
SUNY Binghamton as a safety</p>

<p>SAT: 2400 (complete shock, I still swear it was a fluke...)
Math 1: 720 (boo)
Taking Physics/US History in June, expecting upper 700s, possibly taking Math 2 next fall
PSAT: 222, with my SATs, should that make me NM Finalist?</p>

<p>3.98 UW, 4.23 W
All honors/AP classes whenever offered
APs: WH (5), awaiting grades on USH, Physics B, expecting to take Physics C,Gov, Italian, Comp Sci A, English, and BC Calc next year
No grade lower than 98
School stopped official ranking after Freshman year, but I was 1/500 at the time and should still be</p>

<p>ECs:
World Interest Club--Model UN--4 years, innumerable hours
Also served as mentor/head delegate on several occasions
Mathletes--4 years, 1hr/week, Secretary/some position next year (Pres?)
Qualified for All-Star County Mathletes Team, 3hr/week for 8 weeks + competitions
Key Club--3 years, hours varied
World Language Honor Society--2 years, 1hr/week, Treasurer/some position next year (Pres?)
National Honor Society</p>

<p>Volunteer:
Key Club events (fun run, egg hunt, etc.)
Peer SAT tutor (4 hours?)</p>

<p>Jobs:
Camp counselor every summer (needed personal income)
Babysitting
Math tutor</p>

<p>Awards:
Model UN:
Outstanding Delegate (2nd place) Rutgers Model UN
Outstanding Delegate (2nd place) Harvard Model UN
Outstandng Delegate (1st place)/Verbal Recognition (3rd place), U of Chicago Model UN
Math:
Gold Medalist Long Island Math Fair, Grades 9+10 (no room in schedule to continue afterwards)
AMC 10 School High Scorer
AMC 12 3rd in School
Qualified for All-Star Team (top 50 in county)
Italian: National Italian Exam Honorable Mention, Grades 9-11</p>

<p>White Female
Upper-middle class (probablya little financial aid but not much)</p>

<p>Note: I plan on majoring in Math despite the fact that some of my more impressive dedication was in debate. Any way I can reconcile the two in my essays?</p>

2

<p>You could possibly reconcile the two saying you have a passion for logical analysis and problem-solving regardless of the field.</p>

3

<p>P.S. I know my ECs are really weak by comparison to most people's. The main reason for that is that the Model UN club I'm in entails an unbelievable amount of work--research, writing position papers, attending events, trips, mentoring new members, etc.</p>

<p>Oh, and as a side note, that Model UN club is ranked as one of the top in the nation (we're typically about 3rd at Harvard MUN), one of the few public schools with such a spot.</p>

4

<p>Um. You're going to have to explain your definition of "special."</p>

5

<p>Ok, I realized afterwards "special" probably wasn't the best word lol. I just meant that hey, I haven't built a house, I haven't won an olympic medal, I haven't done much community service or the like.</p>

<p>Also, another side note, I've had to babysit my 7-year-younger brother for the past 2 years for about 8 hours a week while my parents work.</p>

6

<p>Is this supposed to be a joke? I am sorry for being negative, but to think that those extra-curriculars aren't that good is just wrong. Your scores are obviously excellent, I think you are 60-70% at all the schools you are applying.</p>

7

<p>I wasn't joking, it's really nice to hear something like that. I honestly don't think my ECs are all that great, I mean, compared to what I've seen on a lot of the posts here they seemed lacking.</p>

8

<p>Write a nice essay and you're definately in at Chicago. In at Northwestern, Cornell, UVa, Wash U.. You have a chance at Wharton, Harvard, Yale and Princeton. I would just work on writing killer essays; they will seal the deal everywhere.</p>

9

<p>your math awards isn't that great, being first on AMC in your school is like nothing, considering there are so many top scorers cuz there is one in every school
AIME? USAMO? MOP? those would show more math skills
i mean my school (it's public school)
we got some perfect scorers on AMC almost every year. last year we had 4 for the AMC 10 and this year we had 1 for AMC 12. like if you are really good at math, then you shouldn't put high scorer from your school as an actualy math award, cuz that's only your school, not even regional or state level.
try reporting specific scores for AMC and AIME and USAMO (MIT has a place just for the AMC and AIME)
just try have more things that makes you look like you are really interested in math. cuz taking calc BC senior year isn't gonna cut it, considering everyone in my school that's REALLY interested in math takes it junior year at the latest</p>

<p>and SAT2 math2c you should work on that
but the rest are good
but you have a pretty good chance to all your schools except the Ivies, which are reaches for everyone, and unpredicable, i would say</p>

10

<p>I agree with darkrulerII on this one. Essays mean a lot!</p>

11

<p>If you think you aren't "special" enough, I don't know what I should do XD
I mean, I see you are pretty into Model UN, and I think that alone is a big plus sign for you.</p>

12

<p>Thanks for the input thus far. I realize my math awards are lacking, though I will note that AIME participation is extremely low for my school (we have one student who's reached it in all of 10 or 15 years I believe?). Also, BC calc is offered only for seniors in my school, and it's a class of about 18 out of 500 students. </p>

<p>Any more ideas on how to tie in my debate awards with my math focus? And any schools that I should be considering which I'm currently not?</p>

<p>More views/opinions would be great, positive or negative.</p>

13

<p>Any more chances please? No one's given me a "safety/match/low reach/high reach" analysis yet.</p>

14

<p>Yeah. You're pretty well qualified. However, I'd caution against appearing to be one of those super-applicants who has to do everything perfectly; ironically, your SAT score may even put you at a disadvantage here. The best way to prevent this from happening is to write essays which focus specifically on a single extracurricular or two; make it seem as though you're very passionate about Model UN even, and indeed especially, if you're not; not, however, by simply listing what you've done there, but by illuminating specific experiences and awards through an essay or two. Don't focus on math; your resume does appear to be geared more toward the UN thing, and you won't really have room to describe your passion for both in detail without losing some passion for either one. This is unless, of course, you feel that you're truly better in math, in which case you should make the most of your math extracurriculars. I dunno; I suppose you could just try to make a case for a dual passion thing, but they're in such disparate fields...</p>

<p>Also, as a fellow Long Islander, I can tell you that 222 will probably make you a National Merit Finalist. Last year's qualifying score for NY was 218, I believe.</p>

<p>Anyway, chances:</p>

<p>Ivies (except Brown/Columbia), possibly Wharton
HYPS are always reaches (though Harvard does accept 3/4ths of perfect SAT scorers), and UPenn's a good fit for someone of your caliber.</p>

<p>UVA
Almost certainly in.</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon
Almost certainly in.</p>

<p>U of Chicago
Almost certainly in.</p>

<p>Northwestern
Almost certainly in.</p>

<p>Wash U in St Louis
Almost certainly in.</p>

<p>SUNY Binghamton
You don't even need to apply. Just walk into the front office and sign up.</p>

15

<p>Thanks for all the input thus far!</p>

<p>Add to my initial post:
-Vice President of Mathletes for next year
-Most Outstanding Student Honorable Mention Concert Chorus (school award)
-Dartmouth Book Award
-St. Michael's Book Award
-Team High Scorer in ARML (ok, a bit of a dubious honor since I was on the B-team, but hey, I'll take it)</p>

<p>Also, it has come to my family's attention that we probably won't qualify for any need-based financial aid. Dad wasn't too happy about that. With this in mind, any other suggestions concerning schools I should consider that could provide merit money?</p>

16

<p>U of M has merit scholarships</p>