Chances for an awesome NJ WASP

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey everyone, what's up? I'm trying to figure out where to apply and where my shots are. We send about 25 kids each year to Ivies or other top schools. As for myself, my mother went to Rutgers and my father went to Stockton (but was born in Thailand; he's white though). My uncle went to Cornell but I doubt that matters. I'm also a libertarian Evangelical, oddly. Anything else? Just ask.</p>

<p>Where I'm applying:
Definitely: Princeton (top choice), Harvard, Yale, Duke, Georgetown, Rutgers, TCNJ
Likely: Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, UChicago, Grove City
Maybe: Stanford, UCLA, Brown</p>

<p>Demographic: White, Male, Upper Class
Rank: 2/590 (decent public NJ HS)
Unweighted GPA: 95.45
Weighted GPA: 103.49</p>

<p>SAT: 2250 (710 CR, 760 M, 780 WR [10 essay])
--> retaking in Oct 09, can pull to 2300+
PSAT: 233 (soph), 229 (jr)
*SAT II's: * Math II (750), Chem (710), World History (?), US History (?)</p>

<p>Courses:
This is one of the hardest courseloads at our school.
I know of two kids who have done 11 AP's (I'm doing 10).
We have a regular schedule; no block scheduling.</p>

<p>Freshman:
English 1 H - 97
Algebra 2 H - 93
Biology H - 96
World History H - 97
Spanish 2 CP - 96
Freshman Band - 100
Gym/Health - 97
Year GPA: 96.54, 102.97
Cumulative: 96.54, 102.97</p>

<p>Sophomore:
English 2 H - 94
Math Analysis H - 93
Chemistry H - 94
US History 1 H - 94
Spanish 3 CP - 95
Geophysical Science H - 93
Gym/Health - 96
Year GPA: 94.00, 101.90
Cumulative: 95.27, 102.44</p>

<p>Junior:
AP English Language - 97
AP Calculus AB - 95
Physics H - 96
AP US History - 95
Spanish 4 CP - 95
AP US Government and Politics - 96
Gym/Health - 99
Year GPA: 95.97, 106.78
Cumulative: 95.45, 103.59</p>

<p>Senior:
AP Literature -
AP Calculus BC -
AP Physics C -
AP European History -
AP Spanish 5 -
AP Statistics -
Gym/Health -
Year GPA:
Cumulative:</p>

<p>Other courses:
Business Law (online) - 92</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
* Freshman Band & Percussion Ensemble
* Church worship orchestra - all 4 years, 1 hr/wk
* Sr. High Small Groups - all 4 years, Sunday nights
* JV Cross Country - freshman
* Math & Science Competitions - every month, regional competitions (bio, chem, etc.)
* Debate Team (Model Congress/UN) - Member (freshman), Secretary (sophomore), President (junior), Mentor (senior), every Wed. for 2 hours
* Mock Trial - Witness Sub. (sophomore), Attorney (junior, senior), every Tue. and Thurs. for 3 hours
* Likely to intern with a local prosecutor this fall
* Considering starting a Young Republicans club</p>

<p>Community Service:
Retirement Home - 80 hrs.
Anti-abortion Clinic - 30 hrs.
Food Bank - 10 hrs.
Vacation Bible School - 60 hrs.
Christmas Drive-Thru - 30 hrs.
Narnia Walk-Thru - 10 hrs.
Fundraiser Dinners - 5 hrs.
TOTAL: ~235 recorded hours
Except for the first, everything was done through my church, haha.</p>

<p>Awards & Distinctions:
Andrew Keiper Award for Debate Preparation
PennMC - Honorable Mention
RUMUN 08 - Best Position Paper
DUMUNC 09 - Best Delegate
RMC 09 - Best Delegate
AMC12 - 3rd Place Award
AMTNJ - 2nd Place Award
National Honor Society
Spanish Honor Society
National Merit Semi-Finalist
(so far)</p>

<p>Essays: Unique and well-written.</p>

<p>Interview: Obviously I can't comment on this yet, but considering my solid becakground in the art of oratory and persuasion, I have a feelign it will go very well.</p>

<p>Recommendations: Excellent - One from the teacher whose rec helped me get into Gov School, and one from the teacher who advises MC/MUN, Mock Trial, and teaches AP Gov. My guidance counselor also thinks well of me, haha.</p>

<p>Summers:
After 9th grade: Worked at a Christian camp (6 weeks, 45 hrs/wk)
After 10th grade: Mostly EC work, lots of volunteering, but most plans fell through
After 11th grade: Boys' State, NJ Governor's School of International Studies, JSA Symposium @ Princeton, volunteering, and of course HW and apps, haha</p>

2

<p>Everything looks solid. You have good chances everywhere.</p>

<p>I found this ironic, though:</p>

<p>“but considering my solid becakground in the art of oratory and persuasion, I have a feelign”</p>

3

<p>If your school frequently sends ~25 students to Ivies, being number 2 should probably get you into some of your choice schools. Your resume definitely seems good enough to give you a good shot, and you will probably be accepted to most if not all of your sub-Ivy league schools. For Princeton I would say ~30%, Harvard ~20%, Yale ~25%. I would just make sure that you come across well to all these schools, avoid being pretentious at all costs (there’s a small hint of it coming across in your post, but it may just be your upbeat personality). Your time between now and applying seems pretty full, so I don’t think there’s really much other advice I can give. Good Luck!</p>

4

<p>silverturtle: Yeah, pretty stupid typos, haha.</p>

<p>Sirensong: Well, not all 25 to Ivies… I meant like upper-tier schools in general: the Ivies and places like JHU, CMU, etc. This year we are sending about 9 kids to Cornell, 1 to Princeton, 4 to UPenn, 1 to JHU, and the rest to other top schools, etc. As for the pretentiousness, I’m assuming that refers to what I said about my schedule, but I just wanted to make it clear that my schedule is tough – I’ve seen kids on here with APs as a freshman or sophomore, and that’s unheard of at my school. I am very upbeat, but I am a bit arrogant. I was just trying to give an accurate depiction of my activities, though.</p>

<p>To both of you: Thanks for reading my ridiculously long post, haha. To you two and anyone else… any suggestions on which of my “likelies” or “maybes” I should apply to? I’m already applying to 7 schools, and I want to know which 2, 3, or 4 from the “likelies” and “maybes” I should consider. Thanks again!</p>

5

<p>WASP? With a name like Casto I’m not sure you qualify.</p>

6

<p>your academics seem great, as do your test scores. the only thing is that to me, at least, your ECs don’t really stand out. Definitely start that Young Republicans’ Club. Being President of some club most likely won’t show a ton of leadership (although it will show some); starting a club/movement is the best way to do so.</p>

<p>It’s just that so many people are president of like 6 clubs nowadays, so you’ve gotta do everything you can to stand out. </p>

<p>That’s great about all the APs; our school doesn’t really offer any for underclassmen either.</p>

<p>It seems to me like you’re on the right track. Just make those ECs stand out a little more and you’ll have a good shot. Do you have any hooks?</p>

<p>(I hate doing this, but I doubt I’ll get replies any other ways. Chance me? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/717572-another-one-those.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/717572-another-one-those.html&lt;/a&gt; )</p>

7

<p>2013: It’s Casto, not Castro. I am 25% English (grandmother is Greenwood). The rest of me is 25% Polish (grandmother is Mierzejewski), 25% German (grandfather is Schadle), and 25% who knows (Casto haha… either French or Italian).</p>

<p>azwethinkweiz: Yeah, I barely lost election as NHS President (5 vote margin), and I decided against running for a Spanish NHS spot because I hate it.</p>

<p>As for the Debate Club, we do more than just run meetings. I helped run two concerts to raise $3K for our club (to defray the cost of trips) and helped run a schoolwide event that raised $10K for clean water in Honduras and Haiti. (Oh, and I’m Team Captain of Mock Trial, haha.)</p>

<p>And yeah, I am definitely going to help Chris Christie’s campaign in the fall, so I figured a good outlet for that would be starting a Young Republicans club to get others to volunteer with me.</p>

<p>Not sure exactly what you mean by hook… what’s listed above is everything about me. I was supposed to do a missions trip to Salt Lake City but I fell extremely ill. I’ve lived in the same town my whole life. Nothing exciting, haha.</p>

<p>I’ll reply to yours, haha.</p>

8

<p>Ah okay. I was just wondering about legacies, etc. I guess I overlooked it :p</p>

<p>That’s great about Debate club. And definitely start the club. But most importantly, when you start it, do something to stand out with it (as you probably will).</p>

<p>Do you plan on doing ED or EA anywhere?</p>

9

<p>The only people I know of who’ve gone to Ivies in my family are my uncle and my great-aunt’s son, who both went to Cornell.</p>

<p>I’m considering EA for Yale and G-town, but I still have to look into it. But no ED’s, because my top choices only have regular decision (specifically, Princeton).</p>

10

<p>Anyone else? Don’t want this to get buried haha</p>

11

<p>I suppose I should reciprocate, lol. Academically, you are practically stellar, with the exception of the SAT II chem score, which is more on par with the lower ivies and LACs than HYP. EC wise, I do not see how you could improve on it. All of this, on top of salutatorian status, would prob get you into one of the HYP and maybe three to four of the other highly competitive schools on your list. good luck!</p>

12

<p>forgive my unhelpful comment, but i agree with everyone above :D</p>

13

<p>I’d say you have a very good chance of getting into at least one Ivy. Obviously HYP is a crapshoot, but you have as good a chance as anyone else and you should get into a school you love. Good luck!</p>

<p>Maybe it’s just me living in a podunk part of the South, but a school that sends 25 kids yearly to top colleges is definitely more than “decent”. In my public HS, we basically throw everyone into UF with just a few chasing the prestige (me with Duke and two others with West Point and Johns Hopkins). And I’d consider our school one of the best in my region.</p>

14

<p>Well, remember, I’m from the 6th richest county in the Union, with basically the highest property taxes, so our school has a ****load of money, as do the students’ parents.</p>

<p>Our school is ranked 84th of 314 NJ public high schools.</p>

<p>Yeah, I bombed chem. I always sucked at it.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone!</p>

15

<p>I just found out my friend chose Columbia over Harvard and Princeton.</p>

16

<p>…you worked at an anti-abortion clinic?</p>

17

<p>Haha, it was the bluntest way to put it. Basically, they provide services to pregnant women and new mothers – instead of just protesting abortion, they help these women (mostly Latina), showing them that there’s an alternative to abortion. They provide free food, free toys, free clothes, and to some, free housing. I do very little with that, though; the counseling is left to professionals and those services are donated by churches (as mine has done). We mostly do renovations (painting, cleaning, lawnwork, building, etc.) to help the ministry out. For more information: [Friendship</a> Center For New Beginnings](<a href=“http://www.friendship-center.org/]Friendship”>http://www.friendship-center.org/)</p>

18

<p>Well, I can only hope it’s NOT one of those places that terrifies women and spews lies. I hope it’s all positive like you said. If so, good on ya. If not - well, you know.</p>

<p>ETA: Nevermind. I take that back. The “Your Health” section is a little out there. I’m all about preventing abortions. Unfortunately, I’m not all about twisted information. Anyways, good on ya for doing a good service (even if under the wrong people…).</p>

19

<p>…How is a scientific study twisted? And how is it not true that “Abstinence from sexual intercourse is the only certain way to avoid being infected with an STD”? Even if having sex with a condom reduces the likelihood to 0.01%, that’s still not 0%. Avoiding all sexual conduct is “the only CERTAIN way” to protect yourself from disease.</p>

<p>You can’t be serious, applicannot. It’s a fact.</p>

20

<p>What? I never said that “abstinence from sexual intercourse is the only certain way to avoid being infected with an STD”. I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. Relax. I also think that clinics like the one you work for are essential and that they provide an excellent service to women. This is the statement that is not correct:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>The statement is misleading. Here are a few of my sources. It says that there is no clinical evidence. That doesn’t make sense. Here are a couple of sources:</p>

<p>[CDC</a> - Condom Effectiveness - Male Latex Condoms and Sexually Transmitted Diseases](<a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/condomeffectiveness/latex.htm]CDC”>http://www.cdc.gov/condomeffectiveness/latex.htm)
[Do</a> condoms really protect against STDs? - Sexual health- msnbc.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8399212/]Do”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8399212/)
<a href=“http://www.ashastd.org/pdfs/KScondomeffectiveness.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ashastd.org/pdfs/KScondomeffectiveness.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
[Condoms:</a> history, testing and effectiveness](<a href=“http://www.avert.org/condoms.htm]Condoms:”>External (male) condoms | Be in the KNOW)</p>

<p>There IS research, and condoms ARE effective. Even 94% isn’t as effective as abstinence, though, which is why I have no grief with that statement.</p>