Chances for McGill, Oxford, Stanford, Dartmouth and Yale?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Race: Caucasian
Grade: Rising senior
Gender: Female
State: CT
School Type: Public for freshman and sophomore years; private, coed, nationally-recognized for junior and senior years</p>

<p>A bit about me:
-My parents are divorced. Half of the time, I live with a low-income parent and the other half, I live with an upper-middle class parent. I have a stepmother and 6 year-old half-sister. This situation has been a struggle though I don't want to tell some sob story.
-I have traveled a lot more than the majority of my peers which gives me a unique view of the world. So far, I have visited France, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Spain, Denmark, Morocco, England, Ireland, Mexico, Italy, and Jamaica.
-I'm trilingual. Aside from English, I'm fluent in Spanish and French (mostly self-studied). In addition, I'm currently learning Latin. I love words and learning new languages.
-Besides my passions for the environment, writing and photography, I also love music and cooking. I've been playing the guitar since I was 15 and I'm currently learning how to play the piano.</p>

<p>Honors Courses: English 9, Ancient History, Spanish 3, English 10, Civics, World History, Geometry, Biology, Algebra II, Spanish 4, Chemistry [11 total]
AP Courses: Environmental Science, U.S History (11th) Biology, Euro, English and Spanish (12th) [6 total]
College-Level Electives: Research and Experimental Design, Bioethics, Poetry and Playwriting, Art History, Black Gold- Oil, Astronomy [6 total]
Summer Courses: Precalculus</p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.62 (Should be very close to a 3.7 after 1st semester of senior year)
Freshman: 3.4, Sophomore: 3.5, Junior: 4.0, Senior: 4.0
*The lowest grade on my transcript is a B.
Rank: My school does not rank or weight classes but as of now, I'm estimated to be #9/72. </p>

<p>Standardized Test Scores:
ACT- 35
SAT Subjects- Literature: 800, Biology: 800, U.S History: 780, Spanish: 770
APs: Environmental Science: 5, U.S History: 5, English Language (self-studied): 5, Psychology (self-studied): 5</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: *I don't include specific names for privacy purposes.</p>

<p>Sustainability-focused NGO (11, 12)
Outreach Coordinator and Member-at-Large (11)
Media Relations Coordinator (12)
Agents of Change program <a href="11,%2012">Connected to the NGO</a>
-Helped organize, attended, and spoke at numerous summits/delegations/conferences regarding biodiversity, climate change, etc. at the U.N and around the world.. I was one of the youngest, if not the youngest participant at most events.</p>

<p>Environmental Youth Corp. (11, 12)
-Founder and Chair
-Worked on a multitude of projects, most pertaining to environmental issues in my city/state
-Helped start more branches of the group in other parts of CT</p>

<p>City Waste/Recycling Department (10, 11, 12)
-Unpaid intern
-Made tons of presentations at summer camps and schools
-Created a composting program implemented at all of the city's public schools and in some parks</p>

<p>Green Team (9, 10, 11, 12)
-President (12)</p>

<p>Literary Magazine (10, 11, 12)
-Poetry Editor (11)
-E.I.C (12)</p>

<p>Newspaper (10, 11, 12)
-Art Section Editor (12)</p>

<p>Photography
-Photography Club member (11, 12)
-Blogger </p>

<p>Theater (11) [My school requires each student to play a sport or do theater for 1 season/year. I might do sailing next year..]
-Lead in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Titania)</p>

<p>Volunteer (10, 11, 12)
-Worked with an autistic child almost every Sunday morning</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Freelance writer (Published in local, state, regional and nationally-published newspapers and magazines)
Babysitter</p>

<p>Awards and Other Achievements: *I don't include specific names for privacy purposes.
Published an award-winning children's book about the environment
Finalist in an international environmental competition
1st place in a national environmental competition
Finalist in a national environmental competition
Semifinalist in a national environmental science competition
1st and 2nd place in state and regional science fairs
Local and state awards for my environmental efforts
Winner of three national writing awards (novel-writing, poetry, and creative nonfiction)
Winner of a regional writing award (playwriting)
1st place in two categories of a local literary competition (poetry and nonfiction)
Had photography utilized in my city's recycling campaign
Won local, state and regional photography contests
Had my photography shown in a gallery</p>

2

<p>You’re in at Dartmouth and Yale guaranteed. Oxford, Yale and Stanford are “reaches for everyone”, but I think you stand as good a chance as any. </p>

<p>People are going to say your GPA is weak, but you have an excellent ACT score, and your EC’s are very, very, very good. You seem to have a strong point of view, and clear interests, which will help differentiate you. Write a couple excellent essays and you’re set.</p>

3

<p>You’re in at Dartmouth and Yale guaranteed. Oxford, Yale and Stanford are “reaches for everyone”, but I think you stand as good a chance as any.
…</p>

<p>Uh,… no.?
Yale? Dartmouth?
Reach for everyone.</p>

<p>But I love your upward trend, do not worry about your GPA and your ACT is good.</p>

4

<p>There’s a big difference between Yale and Dartmouth. Yale has something like a 7% acceptance rate, while Dartmouth usually is around 17-18%. She has an amazing ACT, excellent EC’s, and appears to have a soul, unlike most applicants; I’d say she’s in.</p>

5

<p>Oops… I forgot - I’d also like to be chanced for UPenn, please!</p>

<p>Wow, thank you… I’m definitely not “in” at any of these schools but thanks a lot. </p>

<p>The fact that my GPA was so low at a public school worries me. Do you think that my 4.0’s at my private school will somewhat make up for this?</p>

6

<p>Yeah, definitely.
They like to see the upward trend.</p>

7

<p>

…
[TheDartmouth.com</a> | Acceptance rate hits record low](<a href=“http://thedartmouth.com/2009/04/01/news/admissions]TheDartmouth.com”>http://thedartmouth.com/2009/04/01/news/admissions)</p>

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<p>Yes, I agree. However, admissions game is random. No one should judge your chances.</p>

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<p>They like to see the upward trend, do not worry.</p>

8

<p>As a Canadian, I can say yes, you are definitely in at McGill. As for your grades, I think they’ll look at your ACT/SAT II’s and AP’s and see that you’re more than capable. If you can get 5’s/800’s on standardized tests, they’re not going to see any sort of grade inflation.</p>

9

<p>Great! I love Montreal…I was there the other day.
More opinions please?</p>

10

<p>What is it you want to study at Oxford? This is very important, as the UK system is nothing like the American one. You’re limited to Modern Language papers (in Spanish, or French if you take a subject test in it) and English ones. You might be accepted for History as well, but you’ve only done tests in US history which might be a kicker. For these you have as good a shot as any intelligent international applicant.</p>

<p>If you want to study outside these areas, you simply cannot be accepted (not a matter of whether or not you’re qualified), because you have not taken enough standardized tests outside of the areas you listed above. The only academic stats Oxford takes into consideration are 3 standardized test scores relevant to the papers you want to read and the ACT/SAT.</p>

<p>Are you planning to take any more APs? You also need to be aware of the interview process at Oxbridge schools. Be sure to read up on the subjects you want to study outside of class as well.</p>

<p>I also think you have a good shot at the other schools you listed. You might consider a French SAT test to validate your fluency.</p>

11

<p>Thank you for your response, Plymeth. I was actually thinking about studying English at Oxford. </p>

<p>I will have taken 6 AP courses and 8 AP exams by the time I graduate, as I noted in my original post.</p>

<p>That’s a great idea… I’ll take a French SAT Subject Test.</p>

12

<p>Upenn? Your definitely in there!
Dartmouth? yes
McGill? yes</p>

<p>Oxford? maybe, you should apply and see what happens. The fact that you live in the United States will give you an advantage over other students, because colleges like having kids from other countrys, so definitely apply! </p>

<p>Stanford? Maybe, be sure to apply.</p>

<p>Yale? Maybe, apply and see what happens! </p>

<p>Also try for schools like, NYU and Princeton </p>

<p>your SAT subject tests are unbelievably perfect! Your SAT score is amazing, your ACT is amazing too…</p>

<p>everything is perfect really. Dont worry about freshman year gpa and sophomore gpa. You could totally get into Yale and Oxford, its just that SO many people want to go there… and LOTS of people have perfect GPA’s, and a similar story to you. I do not mean to discourage you, SO APPLY APPLY APPLY you could definitely get in. </p>

<p>good luck :)</p>

13

<p>Be realistic people. She has a 3.62 UW GPA. She is NOT in for sure at any of the ivy leagues. They routinely reject 4.0 and 36 ACT students. She has a chance, but is in no way for sure in.</p>

14

<p>Another thought: Oxford offers English and Modern Languages combined. If you wanted to study English and continue your love of languages, this might be a good option. You could either continue French or Spanish, or begin Italian, Portugese, or a Celtic language from scratch. I believe you’re expected to have scores available if you want to study German or Russian, unfortunately; no ab initio. Just submit your 2 English scores and whichever language one is the highest and I think you would have a very good shot. :)</p>

<p>Also, with regard to setgoals claim that universities like international students, again UK schools are very different than American ones. Oxbridge is not concerned about diversity at all. They want academic potential; they don’t care if you’re the most one-sided introverted student there is, so long as you have the brains in the one area you want to study. In fact, they quite like the one-sided aspect. </p>

<p>International students have a heck of a time at UK unis. Cambridge only accepted 6 Americans last year, and I’m not sure what the Oxford stats where. So please keep this in mind. As an international you’ll probably have a harder time getting accepted at Oxbridge than at most Ivies because of that. It’s not that you don’t have the skills, it’s just that the numbers are against you.</p>

15

<p>Yeah, but she clearly has the EC’s + potential to write good essays. This forum always overvalues GPA + SAT/ACT.</p>

16

<p>I will have close to a 3.7 GPA after the first semester of my senior year and I fall in the top percentile of my class.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your opinions. I really appreciate them.</p>

17

<p>Stop worrying.</p>

<p>Just apply to schools you’d like to attend and go from there.</p>

<p>After this is over, you’ll realize how silly you were to worry and how impossible it is for anyone here to tell you your “chances.”</p>

<p>:D</p>

18

<p>Haha, it’s hard to stop! Thanks though :)</p>

19

<p>“This forum over values GPA and SATs.”</p>

<p>I’d like to nominate this for the CC quote of the decade.</p>

20

<p>So, would anyone else like to offer their opinion?</p>