Chances for Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Brown, and Columbia?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey, everybody. I'm new here and I decided to register after sending in applications. I wanted your opinion on my chances for the schools in the title.</p>

<p>Personal Stats:
Race: Filipino-American
Gender: Male
Rank: School doesn't, but I'm in the first decile.
High School: Parochial/College Prep
Location: New York City
Applied for Financial Aid: Yes
Languages (Speak, Read, Write): English (SRW), Tagalog (SRW), Ilocano (SRW)</p>

<p>Numerical Values:
GPA: 91 Unweighted <em>no weights in my school</em>
SAT Reasoning: 2030 (700 Math, 640 CR, 680 Writing)
SAT Subject: 580 Math 1 (Surprisingly), 650 Literature, 700 Biology M
AP Scores: 4 English Language, 3 US History, World History, Biology</p>

<p>Subjective:
Essays: Common App essay for Harvard and Yale was *Describe an issue . . . *, picked homosexuality. Came out pretty good, but robotic. Pick a topic essay was mysterious and somewhat dystopian; college friend in Georgetown loved it and other classmates were enticed by it.
Columbia, Brown (Common App), and Cornell (Common App) also received the dystopian essay.
Brown supplement essays were interesting (Major one was about how "The Kite Runner" inspired me, PLME 1 and 2 were about breaking the Filipino stereotype/Why genetics and humanity fit in with the program) Received approval from other classmates and college writers.
Cornell's essay was about taking advantage of their Asian American studies program (I tried to be funny as I am an Asian American)</p>

<p>Teacher Recommendations: Unread, but I know they should be amazing. One was from a Math teacher (said he wrote an amazing recommendation) and another from a Spanish teacher (he has a reputation for writing amazing ones).</p>

<p>Counselor Recommendation: I'm in her office everyday and we talk about everything. I'll assume it was a pretty good recommendation.</p>

<p>Hook: Homosexuality and Filipino-Americanism. Kinda interesting.</p>

<p>Other:
Extracurriculars: A really large amount, ranging from Foreign Exchange Programs to cultural clubs, many hours of community service, dramatics, intramural sports, science clubs, student events, playing instruments, programming . . . just a lot of interests, I guess. Leadership roles in a large portion of the aforementioned.</p>

<p>Awards: Honor Roll most of my high school career, in-school presidency award. AP Scholar. Not exactly a lot in this section.</p>

<p>Hope you guys can tell me that I have a small, glimmering chance!</p>

2

<p>Sorry if this is a bit harsh, but your scores do NOT stand out for these schools.</p>

<p>If you sold yourself well and can make the adcoms feel like they need you at their school, then you have a chance (as does any applicant who does the same). But I wouldn't guarantee anything.</p>

3

<p>Being gay and Filipino aren't hooks by the way...</p>

4

<p>^ totally agree! i have no idea how did you get the impression that being homosexual is a hook... unless your essays were so touching that the AOs were left crying after reading them. Also, your SATs are wayy too low (nothing >700). </p>

<p>Sorry buddy but people with your scores who get into the likes of harvard and yale usually have major hooks - no, i don't mean homosexuality - like winning some superprestigious international awards or being some bigshot's children. of course winning the nobel prize or finding a cure to cancer will help too.&lt;/p>

<p>My take on your chances (hope you aren't offended, and i hope you'd applied to a few safeties as well...)
harvard, yale, columbia - reject
cornell, brown - high reach</p>

5

<p>You better have some very strong ECs, as those test marks and grades are not going to be enough to impress the admissions officers.</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
Being gay and Filipino aren't hooks by the way...

[/quote]
I agree.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Languages (Speak, Read, Write): English (SRW), Tagalog (SRW), Ilocano (SRW)

[/quote]
Hmm... just for curiosity's sake, do Adcoms look at that? I mean, that would mean Asians would have a distinct advantage (for instance, an Indian friend of mine speaks English, Spanish, Hindi, and Gujurati!) and I too have experience with 4 languages. Does that pull much weight?</p>

<p>I dunno. I asked a friend, and he said what people on CC say-- Ivies are crapshoots. Seriously. However, my SAT is 100 points higher than yours, and I still fall in the 24%-tile or so for Yale, and quite a few people here on CC Yale is probably not gonna happen for me. So yeah, I doubt it will happen, unless you completely WOWED the admissions.</p>

7

<p>@all posts: Well, didn't exactly mean myself, but the essays were about being Filipino and homosexuality as an issue. Anything that you wrote your essays on could be "hooks" from what I was reading across the forums. Sorry for the misunderstanding, I guess? But yeah, I'm new, so don't be harsh about me not exactly knowing what everyone meant by hooks over here.</p>

<p>@byucko: I have some pretty good ECs, I suppose. My major ones would probably be Cadet Major in JROTC, Pioneer Student in Denmark Exchange Program, President of Asian American Cultural Society, Vice President of Oesteichthyes Society, Officer in Medical Science Club, and Counsel for Dramatics. I'm hoping colleges notice the fact that I have well rounded traits.</p>

<p>@AShoaib: I don't know if they pull weight, but they ask for that on some of my applications, so I put them down.</p>

<p>Edits and Clarifications: </p>

<p>1st Generation in my family, I suppose (Mom went to college in another country, Dad only completed high school). </p>

<p>Hooks (according to the definition here): Well known in Brooklyn-East Flatbush for community service work? Talented in fine arts? I don't know, really. If I don't have hooks, then oh well.</p>

<p>Other Information: Accepted into Fordham with a Grant, Accepted into NYU Gen. Ed for ED (respectfully declined, so not on my list anymore), Accepted into SUNY Stony Brook, Deferred for Georgetown. So yes, 1234d, I did apply to some good safeties. Also, I have an interview for Columbia, so that may or may not help.</p>

<p>Let's be honest, though. If you guys looked through the ED posts, a good amount of kids were deferred or even rejected even with high scores. That's why I agree with AShoaib that Ivy League schools are crapshoots. I have a friend with similar scores as mine and he got into Cornell on ED and I'm happy for him. Scores aren't everything, and as far as I know, they show nothing spectacular about me. That's why a lot of my efforts went into my essays, college recommendations, and extracurriculars.</p>

<p>Thanks for the honesty. Here's a post to reply and a bump to see other opinions.</p>

8

<p>Well, the Ivies (as every already mentioned) are very hard to chance for. To be honest, the scores are on the low side for them, but it seems like you have a lot of good extracurriculars. If you wrote really good essays, you might have a shot at them, but I'd also have some safeties just in case.</p>

<p>Thanks for chancing me and Good luck!</p>

9

<p>Well lets see. Your foreign knowledge and experience including language knowledge is a very big plus. Your GPA is very good. Now with regard to your SAT's i dont know. Honestly these schools are very selective with regard to stats and the SAT scores are erratic at best. Otherwise you are pretty solid. Hope for the best man thats all i can say. GOOD LUCK!</p>

10

<p>When people here use the word "hook," from what I've gathered it refers to a few specific things that are not subjective and flag applications in an obvious manner.</p>

<p>Under Represented Minority (URM)
1st Generation College
Recruited Athlete
Legacy (maybe?)</p>

<p>Hooks aren't what you do to make yourself stand out - that's just individuality/personality.</p>

<p>Though, I could be wrong about "hook" as it's used in many different manners, probably.</p>

11

<p>ur not getting in, no way with that gpa and test scores you gay filipino (not an insult!)</p>

<p>and 91 on a 4.0 scale</p>

12

<p>@loveboat1: Okay, that can totally be interpreted as an insult. To clarify, I didn't say I was a homosexual. I just referenced sexuality in my essays. It continues to be a topic that I feel strongly about, so there was no reason not to mention it. Watch what you write on the internet. Insulting, nonetheless.</p>

<p>Also, 91 on a 4.0 scale is a 4 in my school, but unless the college asks for it, it's going to say 91 on my transcript.</p>

<p>Other clarifications:</p>

<p>All Honors and APs since my Freshman Year (one of the few who continued to hold this feat at my school)
Current Schedule:
AP English Lit (92)
AP Calc AB (92)
AP US Gov (91)
Spanish 4 Honors (92) - Dropped out of AP because it was pretty difficult for me to keep up.
Ignatian Perspectives (Humanities) - (97)
Physics (Regular because I took AP Bio last year) (97)
JROTC LET 4 (97)</p>

13

<p>Hi CLR,</p>

<p>Harvard: High Reach
Yale: Reach
Cornell: High Reach
Brown: Reach
Columbia: High Reach</p>

<p>Is my best guess based on your stats, extracurriculars, and other information. As mentioned above your SATs are your weakest point, but they aren't so low that you will be automatically out of the running, but you are at the mercy of adcms being hooked to your personal story. Which branch of JROTC are you under? I'm a cadet Colonel and multiple group commander of AFJROTC in Florida. Its always nice to see a cadet on here!</p>

14

<p>Haha, I am in Army JROTC in NYC and my school's system is very weird because of the large (and growing) number of cadets we have. Generally, my highest rank will be Cadet Major. I did Drill Team for about a month and Rifle Team for about a year. Great to see another cadet here!</p>

<p>However, being a cadet does harm my chance for Harvard (last year, someone in my school almost didn't get in because of JROTC and I'm not sure of the whole story). I just hope for the best. Thanks for the opinion, Poisonous!</p>

15

<p>Thanks for chancing me. I'm sorry but your SAT scores are a bit low for these universities. However if you have a high amount of ECs and your essays are good I still think you might pull through. Ivies are very unpredictable, who knows, you could get lucky.</p>

16

<p>In all honesty I do not think that you will get accepted. Mostly your 580 Math 1 score means that you have either not taken Algebra 2 which means that your curriculum may not be tough enough to get into the Ivies. </p>

<p>Also your ECs seem to be diverse but don't tie into who you are as a person so I do not get a sense of "passion" that many remark is a must for Ivy League.</p>

17

<p>uhhh, how can taking a position on homosexuality be considered a hook, maybe you were terribly inspired after watching Milk (awesome film), nonetheless its not a hook, and essays are suppose to show u as a person, but u talk like u designed it to attract the schools to you. the reference to you as gay is obviously what I and every1 here interpreted ur statements to mean. lol good luck with a 580 Math1 score, ur "college prep" school must be the greatest, wish i could have attended.</p>

18

<p>Well actually, I only got like 4 wrong on Math 1 and I didn't omit and got a 580. I don't really mind, either. Kids in my class who are taking vector calculus scored in like the high 500s/low 600s. So, it was the grading spectrum for that test. SAT IIs are requirements but they only look at them for placement in classes (if you get in). They won't be like "Oh, his SAT II takes preference of his Math on SAT I" I know that much. Also, my math curriculum has been pretty tough.</p>

<p>Algebra 1 Honors - 92
Geometry Honors - 96
Algebra 2/Trigonometry Honors - 92
AP Calculus AB - 92</p>

<p>@Loveboat1: Now you are just being condescending and your attitude towards homosexuality is very negative. Also, insulting my school? That's just really not necessary. It is a difficult school and I'm happy to have went there. There is more to school than just the academic aspect.</p>

<p>Regardless if I get into an Ivy League school or not, I do have backups that I am happy to go to. I'm just looking for some straight up honest opinions (that aren't insulting). For those who have given them, thanks. Bumping to hear some more.</p>

19

<p>Filipino helps some what, but not your orientation. Ur scores arent really that great for Ivies, ur ECs cud possibly put u in tho, you never know. Good luck.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/623727-chances-would-appreciated-chances-back.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/623727-chances-would-appreciated-chances-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

20

<p>let me rephrase then, a filipino who is gay................hope u get into at least one, really random assortment of colleges you got there</p>

<p>(how come im the only JUAN getting attacked for this lol)</p>