Chances for a junior -much appreciated.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>I'm middle class and multiracial, from an extremely competitive public school in southern California with around 3,000 students. The school was ranked top 10 in the nation earlier (I honestly don't know what rankings were based on), and this year is sending 8 students to Harvard and counting (people are still deciding), and numerous to everywhere else in the country, including more Ivy Leagues. Class ranks aren't offered.</p>

<p>As for me:</p>

<p>GPA (unweighted): 3.8
GPA (weighted): 4.4
SAT: 2150 - Math 720, Verbal 710, Writing 720
PSAT: 225 (National Merit Semifinalist)
SATIIs: Math IIC 780, I'll be taking U.S. History and Biology later</p>

<p>APs, including planned: Biology, U.S. History, Economics, Government, Statistics, Environmental Science, English Language</p>

<p>My courseload is slightly lacking -while I'm taking all the APs and honors classes available to me in most areas, I'm only doing three years of a language, and three years of math.</p>

<p>The language (hopefully, please tell me if I'm wrong) should be okay, I took Latin 1, Latin 2, and Latin 3 Honors, when honors was available. I am not going on to Latin 4 AP. However, I achieved A's all semesters, and during frequent nationwide/statewide competitions, achieved numerous awards. Hopefully this covers it.</p>

<p>On math, however, I was placed one year ahead in math. So I took geometry in middle school, then Algebra II and Trig in high school. I'm not doing any math my junior year, then Statistics AP in senior year.</p>

<p>I got Bs every semester in algebra II and Trig, but should get A's in Stat. Is this really going to hurt? It's not that I'm bad at math -I should be able to raise the SAT Math to an 800 going by practice tests, I got a perfect 80 on the PSAT math, and have a 780 on the SATII math IIC that I can raise. I've also done well in math competitions, like the AMC and AIME.</p>

<p>How much will that affect me?</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<ul>
<li> Founder of the Palos Verdes Youth Organization, community service. I also created, pay for, and maintain the website. I've put in over 500 hours here, not counting the website, which has taken countless more. Here I've raised over $5,000, organize year round events and fundraisers, and work with numerous needy families in the area (work with as in help out financially, with appliances, with organizing Christmas for their kids and birthday parties). This is a large part of my life.</li>
<li> Internship at LTK Consulting, with computers and programming. I only spent one summer there, but put in over 100 hours.</li>
<li> I work for a Japanese translating company, and cleaned up and edited English translations. Paid work.</li>
<li> Junior Varsity tennis freshman and sophomore year.</li>
<li> Varsity cross-country and track junior year (and definitely next year). Running is extremely important to me, pretty time-consuming.</li>
<li> Model United Nations, I've won a lot of awards.</li>
<li> Math Club. I'm not ranked in the nation or anything, but I've done pretty well.</li>
</ul>

<p>Awards:</p>

<ul>
<li> National Merit Semifinalist</li>
<li> NHS</li>
<li> I'm not entirely sure if this counts, but the community service organization I created was featured in magazines, newspapers (not large, local) and such in my area.</li>
<li>Model United Nations, numerous Outstandings and Gavels (top delegate in the entire conference, at large conferences)</li>
<li> Math club, I'm not sure what the award is called, but I did well on the AMC and AIME, I think. (Is a 115 on the AMC and 6 on the AIME alright?)</li>
</ul>

<p>Both my parents went to Stanford for undergrad, my mother went to UCLA for graduate school, my dad stayed at Stanford for grad, so I have a strong legacy there.</p>

<p>Also, I'm considering doing SSP at Harvard for this summer. I don't know if this will help admissions, I'm really just planning on doing it because it sounds like fun. Will it be a factor in anything?</p>

<p>The schools I'm interested in are:</p>

<p>Yale (#1 choice, along with Princeton), Princeton, Stanford, Harvard, UChicago, Notre Dame, NYU, Georgetown, Berkeley, Notre Dame, Michigan (Ann Arbor), Duke, Washington University at St. Louis</p>

<p>Thanks so much.</p>

2

<p>Yale: REACH( it's to everybody)
Princeton REACH( it's to everybody)
Stanford SLIGHT REACH(legacy)
Harvard REACH( it's to everybody)
UChicago MATCH
Notre Dame MATCH
NYU MATCH
Georgetown MATCH
Berkeley MATCH
Michigan (Ann Arbor) SLIGHT REACH/MATCH
Duke REACH( it's to everybody)
Washington University at St. Louis MATCH</p>

3

<p>Yale: Reach
Princeton: Moderate Reach
Stanford: Match/Low Reach
Harvard: Moderate/High Reach
UChicago: Match
Notre Dame Match
NYU: Safety lol
Georgetown: Match
Berkeley: Match
Mchigan (Ann Arbor): Match
Duke: Match
Washington University at St. Louis: Safety</p>

4

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>Is Washington at St. Louis really that easy? I believe everyone who applied from my school got in there last year (14 applied), but the admitted rate is still pretty low.</p>

5

<p>I would consider taking SAT's again, finding a hook/ passion that you can convey .This year was very tough for IVY , my sons & classmates w/similar stats were dissapointed ,however your on the right track!</p>

6

<p>If anything, I'd like to convey a passion on community service, since I'd really like to eventually go business in grad school and go for nonprofit organizations.</p>

<p>So I don't have a lot of extracurriculars on the same thing, or much else, since the one extracurricular is the one that's important to me.</p>

<p>Much appreciated, I'll try to see if I can expand/develop on that. The essay will definitely be about part of it.</p>

7

<p>"Is Washington at St. Louis really that easy? I believe everyone who applied from my school got in there last year (14 applied), but the admitted rate is still pretty low."</p>

<p>it depends. it has one of the best med schools in the country, only a hair below harvard, jhu, etc., so science is really competitive there. depends on your major, but i'd say you're a match. good luck</p>

8

<p>I'd like to go into international relations, maybe international business eventually.</p>

<p>So I won't be dealing with the pre-med competition.</p>

9

<p>Bump. I apologize, I know it's a little annoying, but I'd love to see more perspectives, if it's not a problem.</p>

10

<p>Given that you are very good at math, it troubles me that you are not taking a traditional math sequence course now or next year. What did you take as a sophomore? </p>

<p>The fact that you got Bs in math does not bother me. But it troubles me that, seemingly, you got Bs and then stopped taking the courses. It might give some the impression that you are more interested in grades than in learning. </p>

<p>The AP Stat course (given no calculus) also could give that impression. </p>

<p>Why wouldn't you take calculus in high school? Are you planning to take it in college? Your GC is ok with your plan?</p>

<p>Our oldest son stopped Latin after junior year (Latin 5). That decision had no apparent effect on his results in the admissions process.</p>

11

<p>I see in another of your threads that you are now thinking about taking Calculus. Good move! If you need to drop a course, I agree that AP Stat would be a good candidate. All APs are not created equal! Imo, take statistics in college.</p>

<p>You seem embarrassed that you are getting Bs in nonhonors math. This does seem out of character. But don't, imo, necessarily take the path of blaming family problems. Are all of your grades unusually low this year? </p>

<p>imo, think carefully about your math course. Why are you getting Bs? Analyze your test results, are you consistently making certain errors? Think about the whole class, in all honesty. Is your attitude good? Are you able to keep up with the work? Etc. Anything that comes to mind. I think you can do better in math.</p>

<p>It wouldn't be bad to take calculus AB imo, if you ever get concerned about BC. See what your math department recommends or is willing to support.</p>

<p>Another thing I am wondering about: the PVYO. You seemed so proud of your website that I thought I would check it out. But I had no luck googling "Palos Verdes Youth Organization". Yes, I found pyco.net, but that site seems outdated, it has scheduling information from 2005. </p>

<p>I only mention this because admissions people can also google your organization, and you would want them to be able to find and see your best work.</p>

12

<p>Thank you so much!</p>

<p>As a sophomore, I dropped to Trig regular with a B. I did not take a science. I had Web Page Production, with a leadership position, but an easy class. I took Chinese 1, but dropped it after the first semester. I received a B.</p>

<p>Everyone else in the entire class was already fluent.</p>

<p>I took Latin 3 Honors (one B first semester), English 2 Honors (A's), and Psychology (A's).</p>

<p>So it really was generally a bad year.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice, I know I can do better in math -I wasn't able to study before, I couldn't focus. I did homework in the five minute period before class given for people to get to their classes. I only managed to finish it 90% of the time, even though it took everyone else much longer to do.</p>

<p>I think I'll try BC. The school is good, but the AB teachers aren't -or, they're certainly qualified, but the only one available now can't speak English very well. I'd have trouble.</p>

<p>On PVYO -yes, the website is outdated. I spent 200 hours making, setting up, and creating it (I know it's simple, but I didn't use anything, it was completely from scratch and raw coding). A lot was taken off, but it was full of everything before (now outdated, everything up is now outdated anyway).</p>

<p>This happened because, given how local it is (members from two high schools, now up to 90 total), it was easy to just tell people in person. The organization itself has only gotten more active.</p>

<p>I'll try to start up the website again though, I really appreciate the point.</p>

<p>I don't want to seem like I'm proud of nothing, since that organization really is the focus of my entire high school career.</p>

<p>Your son took latin 5 as a junior? We don't have latin 5 at our school, but even so. It's just latin 1, 2, 3 Honors, and 4 AP, with a year to each.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

13

<p>We have Latin 5 and 6 because Latin started in 7th grade (and now can start in 6th). There were no honors, but 5 and 6 were AP if I remember correctly.</p>

<p>If your organization really doesn't need to use the Website regularly, then imo don't sink a lot of time into it. Do other stuff that is more productive for your organization, or branch out into something else of interest to you. I don't think that you have to have a website, or that you have to tell about it, or that it has to rival a corporate website; I only think that if you are going to draw attention to it, then it should be up-to-date.</p>

<p>Good luck! (And I'd be happy to read your college essays if you are ever interested.)</p>