Chances for Harvard, Cornell, JHU, and Safeties?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Schools:</p>

<p>Harvard
Cornell CAS
JHU
NYU (both NYC and Abu Dhabi campus)
Lafayette
Lehigh CAS
Boston University (maybe, not sure)
PennState</p>

<p>Background</p>

<p>Race: White
Gender: Male
Location: Eastern Rural Pennsylvania
Socioeconomic: Low-Middle Class
Parent's Status: Divorced
Hooks: None</p>

<p>-Unweighted GPA (4-point scale): 3.63</p>

<p>Freshman Year UW GPA: 3.42
Sophomore Year UW GPA: 3.27
Junior Year UW GPA: 4.00
Senior Mid-Year UW GPA: 4.00</p>

<p>-Weighted GPA (5-point scale): 3.95</p>

<p># of AP/IB/honors courses:</p>

<p>8 AP classes</p>

<p>-Junior Year: US History (5), English Lang. & Comp. (5), Psychology (4)</p>

<p>-Senior Year: European History, Microeconomics, US Government, Literature, Statistics</p>

<p>My school only offers 14 APs and does not allow you to take them until Junior Year.</p>

<p>7 Honors classes</p>

<p>-Freshman Year: World Honors, Biology Honors</p>

<p>-Sophomore Year: English 10 Honors, American History 1 Honors, Chemistry Honors</p>

<p>-Junior Year: Pre-Calculus Honors, Physics Honors (AP wasn't offered at the time)</p>

<p>Class Rank/Size</p>

<p>-Rank: 33/424 (Top 8%)</p>

<p>SAT/ACT scores</p>

<p>-SAT I Superscore: CR - 690, M - 790, W - 740 (2220/2400, 1480/1600)</p>

<p>-Highest Single Score: CR - 690, M - 680, W - 740 (2110/2400, 1370/1600)</p>

<p>-Other SAT I Sitting: CR - 660, M - 790, W - 620 (2070/2400, 1450/1600)</p>

<p>-SAT II scores: Math II - 740, US History - 720, Literature - 660 (not going to send)</p>

<p>ECs</p>

<p>Marching Band: Lead Tenor (6 years)
-USSBA National Champions 2007, 2008, and 2010
-Highest score in USSBA history
-Many other notable awards</p>

<p>Percussion Ensemble: Member (5 years)
-Performed in the off-season of marching band</p>

<p>Wind Ensemble: Member (2 years)</p>

<p>Scholastic Scrimmage: Varsity Member (2 years)
-2nd place in our conference in 2010 and semi-finalists at IU tournament
-1st place in our conference in 2011</p>

<p>ArtsQuest: Volunteer (1 year)
-One of the first volunteers after its completion in early 2011. I usher concerts and help out in other various ways
-100 hours</p>

<p>Interact Club: Vice President (2 years)
-Raised thousands of dollars for local charities through school events</p>

<p>Young Republicans: Founder/President (1 year)
-First subjective political organization in my school</p>

<p>Creative Writing Club: Officer (3 years)
-Creates an annual book composed of our members' works
-One of the founding members</p>

<p>PMEA District Band: Percussionist (1 year)
-4th best percussionist in the district my sophomore year</p>

<p>Fellowship of Christian Students: Member (3 years)
-One of the founding members</p>

<p>Blue Eagle Ambassadors: Member (1 year)
-Student Government</p>

<p>Principal Student Advisory Board: Member (1 year)
-Student Government</p>

<p>Philosophy Club: Vice President (1 year)</p>

<p>Other Random Volunteering:
-Church Volunteering
-Performed at Concert for Cancer to raise money for cancer treatment</p>

<p>Honors/Awards</p>

<p>-2007 USSBA Grand National Champions
-2008 USSBA Grand National Champions
-2010 USSBA Group IV National Champions
-AP Scholar
-National Honors Society
-High Honor Roll
-2nd place in Scholastic Scrimmage Conference 2010
-1st place in Scholastic Scrimmage Conference 2011
-Semi-Finalists at IU Tournament 2010 (Scholastic Scrimmage)</p>

<p>Recs/Essays</p>

<p>Recommendations: From the three best teachers I know (my three AP teachers junior year). Also, I'm expecting a good one from my counselor.</p>

<p>CommonApp Essay: About my marching band experiences and what I learned yada yada...</p>

<p>Harvard Supplement Essay: This explains how my parents separated a week before my freshman year, how it turned me into a cynical, unmotivated kid for a few years, and how I got over it and now have a more positive perspective on my parents' divorce.</p>

<p>All Other Supplement Essays: Haven't started >.<</p>

<p>Additional Information</p>

<p>I have an extreme upward trend from a 3.3 GPA my freshman/sophomore to a 4.0 GPA my junior year. I'm anticipating a 4.0 senior year. </p>

<p>Also, I'm sending in an Arts Supplement to show my percussion and composition skills.</p>

<p>I got rejected from Penn ED, so I'm assuming my chances are dim for Harvard and Cornell. HOWEVER:</p>

<p>Please don't tell me not to bother applying to Harvard or Cornell. I know I won't get in, but please, I don't need another discouraging voice tell me what I can and can't do...</p>

2

<p>Please? Anyone?</p>

3

<p>Why are you posting? You don’t want the truth so what do you want?</p>

4

<p>^No, no, no. I want the truth. But saying “Don’t bother applying.” is different from saying “You have no chance at these schools, some chance at these schools, and a good chance at these schools.” I want constructive feedback. Not hostile or crass comments.</p>

5

<p>Harvard - Reach
Cornell CAS - Reach
JHU
NYU (both NYC and Abu Dhabi campus) Slight reach
Lafayette
Lehigh CAS -Reach
Boston University (maybe, not sure) - Slight reach
PennState - Easy admissions im 99% sure you can get in</p>

<p>You will most likely get accepted into at least 2 of these schools. I dont know much about some of these schools but a guy i know he got into Lehigh with sub perfect scores 4.0 gpa and 4.5 weighted and playing varisty at my school and going there to play both. Just thought id tell you what the guy i knew had for getting in there.</p>

6

<p>Harvard - Reach
Cornell (CAS) - Reach
JHU - Reach (I believe, I don’t know much about JHU)
NYU - Mid Reach/Accepted
Lafayette - N/A
Lehigh (CAS) - Mid Reach/Accepted
BU - Slight Reach
Penn State - Safety</p>

<p>If anything, your GPA is the only thing holding you back from Lehigh, your SATs are great for NYU! </p>

<p>Chance me back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1259452-college-recommendations-chance-me.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1259452-college-recommendations-chance-me.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>Ah, I forgot to change my school for Lehigh. I’m actually applying to the Business School. Does that change anything? I didn’t realize it was actually that hard to get into it…</p>

8

<p>Samonuh,</p>

<p>Your profile is very puzzling. You have a really nice score in math on the SAT, but no AP Calculus B/C (or even A/B) or Physics C. Sorry, but Statistics AP is not equivalent to these classes, and it looks like your school offers Calculus since you took pre-Calc your junior year. In my view, you shot yourself in the foot for the Ivies by not taking a more rigorous curriculum. I do think, however, you have a good chance at NYU, Lehigh, Lafayette, and BU.</p>

9

<p>With the business school in Lehigh i think you have a decent chance the guy i know he applied for engineering which is Lehighs bread and butter so ya but youll still get into at least 2-3 of these schools i think. Best of luck</p>

10

<p>Well, unfortunately, I couldn’t take AP Calculus AB (we don’t offer BC) this year due to scheduling issues. I am, however, planning on self-teaching myself Calculus. Don’t know if I’ll try to take the exam or not…</p>

11

<p>Tbh, you probably do have a good chance of Lehigh considering it is in PA. I can’t say it’s a safety solely because of the GPA, but it’s definitely easier to get into than NYU. I think you’ll be accepted.</p>

12

<p>Well i wish you the best of luck with self teaching yourself Calculus and trying to take the exam. That will be a feat id love to hear about afterwards.</p>

13

<p>Samonuh,</p>

<p>Calc is a class you make room for because it is often used by top colleges to asses rigor of curriculum (along with Physics C and 4-6 years of language). Still, I do not want to be too negative. You have a nice profile for 95% of the schools in America, including most of the ones you listed, and I am sure you will get into a really good one.</p>

14

<p>^If I had taken AP Calc, I would have had to drop French III and AP Literature, which would automatically disqualify for some schools (3 year language requirement), and would have thrown me into an Honors English 12 class. Yea…I wasn’t going to do that. Math comes ridiculously easy to me (My 740 on Math II is only due to the fact that I took it 6 months after Pre-Calc). I think I can successfully teach myself Calculus AB. Also, I’m not trying to brag or sound elitist. I’m just saying the truth. Nevertheless, I suppose it makes no difference to colleges…</p>

15

<p>Well teaching yourself Calc is not easy. Even if math comes naturally to you. Taking past ACT maths i get a 32-33 on most all of em and I get As in Math. Looking at some of my friends who take Calc AB who are roughly the same they struggle with it but you still will do well and teaching yourself Calc AB would be something to say on your app as i personally think thats quite a feat but yea. Teach yourself Calc AB and best of luck.</p>

16

<p>Assuming Harvard, Cornell, and JHU are big reaches (bad class rank, weaker SAT scores), NYU Abu Dabi seems to be the toughest while the rest are well within range. Don’t worry about not taking Calc…for the schools within your range it shouldn’t matter. For ivies however it does.</p>

17

<p>

Well, I believe going into any college without any knowledge of Calculus is a disadvantage. I want to teach it to myself for my own benefit. I don’t do things solely for the purpose of impressing colleges.</p>

18

<p>Unless you have self-studied calculus and have gotten a 5 on the exam (for example) it won’t be obvious that you decided not to take Calculus to learn it on your own.</p>

19

<p>I suppose you didn’t understand my comment. I don’t really care if a university knows or doesn’t know that I taught myself Calculus. I’m teaching myself Calculus because frankly, I like to challenge myself and I believe I would benefit from it.</p>

20

<p>Oh sorry, good for you then.</p>