Chances for the Ivies- average Joe academically, good EC

<p>Ah, US citizen living abroad
Currently hyperventilating amidst you Academic Sons of Einstein. Great though, stellar SATs and 4.0 GPAs..Makes me feel stupid, but right now I suppose anything could too so hmm.</p>

<p>Stats, Ah
SAT 1, 2230
SAT 2, </p>

<p>Math 660
Lit 760</p>

<p>Didnt take a third one due to a genuine emergency but I doubt the Ivies would really care about me being on the verge of death as an excuse to not take my sat 2, yes? Yes. I thought so.</p>

<p>Anyhow, I played up my ECs in my application, but I also know that ECs dont guarantee anything.</p>

<p>Prefect of School, 2 years, Headgirl, Captain of the National Parliamentary Debate team, #1 Debator (ranked) in my country twice in a row, #1 National Under 25 Public Speaker with an international tournament under my belt, Won about 4 National Debate , Public speaking + Intrepretive reading tournaments, School athlete of the year, captain of best local volleyball team (which I may add, did abysmally in the national finals though ehehe), honors in track, field + high-jump, selected member of an international human rights organization selected to represent country in a conference and two summer camps. Lead actor in two professional productions + 3 school productions. oh and winner of local Commonwealth essay stuff. Interviewed by the BBC for a documentary a year ago..Sent college very little proof save the counselor report that attested to all my achievements + a few newspaper clippings. Recs should be good. Essays, I CANT grade my own, really cant. A lot of volunteer work that I cant say either.
My internal grades are alright. I'm in the most competitive school in the area, only As and Bs. But plenty of Bs. Mid year report for instance was two A's and two B's.
Hm. </p>

<p>colleges are insane. harvard, pton, brown, amherst, williams, nyu + midd.
I'm pretty screwed actually. especially thanks to my awful two sat 2s. I dont know..TRALALALA.</p>

<p>a lit 760 isnt bad at all... its actually good.. and i envy you (i got a 710). the 660 math.. i pray that is level 1? a level 2 math 660 isn't going to get you to those schools at all. whats your gPA? you didn't list it..</p>

<p>Well my school doesnt give GPAS but grade wise, im in the top 3 for Literature, Top for Economics but about Top 15 for Math. Taking my A levels thats a different system altogether</p>

<p>And yes thats Math 1c. But isnt a 660 in 1c WORSE? =S
AAAAAAAAAAH</p>

<p>despite the curve and all.
I'm SO bad at math, it kills</p>

<p>NO! its kinda hard to explain, but once u understand it, it's easy to figure out. The level 2 is a harder test. BUT, you need like a raw score of 44 to get a perfect on level 2 (ther are 50 questions.) on the level 1 though, yyou need a 49 or perfect to get a 800. It is easier to get a high score on level 2. average for level 2 is around a 710 i believe. average on level 1 is around a 580.
so basically, the level 2 is a harder test, but the scores ARE NOT comparable.. a 660 on level 1 is 70 pts above average, whereas a 660 level 2 is like <30 percentile. if you have A levels then that is good i guess but i dont really know how levels work.. sry lol, the only system i konw, and what most ppl use, is F=0 D=1 C=2 B=3 A=4. add up those points, and divide by number of classes u have. (a 4.0 means straight A's, a 3.5 is half A's half B's, and so on)</p>

<p>Aaaaaaah. haha, thanks for that! But good or not, I'm totally counting on my extra-curricular anyway..
Where all did you apply? Best of luck!</p>

<p>If you're targeted to get 2As and 2Bs - as well as not doing too great on your Math SAT II and not taking 3 subjects, then that may cause a problem.</p>

<p>Your extracurriculars are awesome, but it seems as though they lack focus: Getting in on them depends on if you presented one really clearly and followed through with it on the essay.</p>

<p>You seem like a really cool person, but it will be tough to get into the elite schools. I would really work on your essays and have an outstanding interview you might just get in. In the meantime try to get your predicted grades up so you can send them into the colleges. You seem like a borderline case to me - but thats a lot better than most of the English applicants I've seen. </p>

<p>btw you're a shoe in for NYU, Midd but I'd apply to Brown ED if I were you, as they seem to respond the best to great ECs.</p>

<p>If you're the #1 public speaker in England then I will change my chances for you from borderline to very good - I'd focus on that in the essays. But haven't you already missed all the application deadlines assuming you are in the upper sixth (unless you have a weird head girl system and you're in the lower sixth)? Are you planning on taking a gap year or something?</p>

<p>Already applied! did no ED's though its a coincidence now that you mention it that I DID have an application for Brown ready..but I was out of the country for a debates competition and missed the deadline. I'm careless like that.</p>

<p>My essay did deal with debates, but I did a spin on it..whihc once again is testament to my desire to be screwed over by pton + harvard!
In the context of the harvard presidents remarks about women having less aptitude in math + science etc, I talked about being a female in the male dominated world of debate. but i talked about reverse discrimination + an anecdote where being female was unfairly used in my advantage, and I rejected the award my national debate committee tried to give me a year ago. But I had underlying disdain for Mr. Summers speech. (who btw has resigned..hmm)..but then I'm a hypocrite for applying.</p>

<p>All in all, yes Pton, Harvard LONGG shots. But i did them. I have neurotic, ambitious but yes, lovely, parents. I hold them responsible.</p>

<p>No no, I'm in A-2. That is the year I apply. Ie Senior Year. As you might have guessed I'm terrible with this american-high-school-british-system conversion.
Oh and my predicted grades are 3 As and one B. HMMM. but my MID-year report was 2 A's and 2 B's. Not that its an excuse but I had two plays in January, (proof of which i sent to my colleges) that I coudnt get out of because I'd committed to them by contract- same time as my exams. One of them happened to be Westside Story by the way.. and I broke my leg during the last performance which happened on the 26th of Jan. And I had my third SAT 2 on the 28th. </p>

<p>NOT in my defence however is that I committed to them in the first place.
Did i mention I'm careless like that? Because I AM. and right now, I'm SO nervous.</p>

<p>Did i ALSO add that I asked for AID and tonnes of it? I'm from a very low-income family.
I think I'm going to shut up now. My heart has officially sunk. AHAHHAAH.
Anyhow..</p>

<p>Aid doesn't matter at all for elites, at least in admissions. Your essays sound really, really unique and cool - their concept sounds incredible and it not only shows your personality but your level of attainment. 3 As and a B is fine w/ your hook - what subjects are you doing btw? </p>

<p>I actually think that you have an amazing shot at any school - even Harvard and Princeton (after all, you're a shoe-in being a woman and all ;) ). The only thing that might hold you back is, again, that 3rd SAT II - if they just reject you outright without even looking at your application on the grounds that it is incomplete (I have heard of it happening - but suprisingly not every time). I would get a doctors note about missing the SAT II just to make sure that they know it was a genuine medical problem.</p>

<p>All in all, I'm becoming more and more impressed with your application the more I look at it - I think you have a great shot and I'd be suprised if you didn't get into s Brown w/ your unique essay - I also think you'd be a great fit there.</p>

<p>all of the ivy league schools are need blind admissions. that means they dont see your FAFSA (your form saying how much money ur gonna need) they actually put it in a different sort box.
I am going to apply (i'm a jr) to Georgetown, Duke, Columbia, Cornell, BU, NYU, Uconn, Umass, American, GW.. basically those are in order of reach/match/safety and kinda in order of interest in attending.
btw her SAT2 math is not that bad when you consider her abilities in other areas (writing and speaking!) and it is level 1, not level 2. she is at ~75% for level 1, which is not GREAT but not BAD for an ivy-who wants to presumably major in literature/somthing like that</p>

<p>Thankyou youre great! haha, consider becoming a college advisor. Mine told me I needed to stop hopping around with my 'debating + theatre hobnosh'. But she loves me I suppose, because I sit in her office and moan for hours about not getting to college and moving to Sweden to reap off the welfare state.
Anyhow subjects are Math, Econ, Lit and Physics. My predicted grade includes the B for Math, but an A for all else. And last I heard from Pton they were reviewing my file but I know better than to get my hopes up - review could just as well mean HOLY oijdiojd what was she THINKING. Harvard hasnt sent me ANY notification and Harvard was the LONGEST SHOT anyway..my counselor told me before applying that unless I had straight A's throughout, or a near-perfect SAT score Harvard wasnt happening. Also I fee-waivered all my schools..save Princeton. (Princetons been my dream school) I dont really know why I know it technically shouldnt affect my app, but?
Also, my counselor sent a letter explaining the no-3rd sat 2s situation + the mid-year report when they sent the package but I really dont even know how shes put it. BROWN would be fantastic, I know and I wish but theyre quite cautious with aid, I've heard and Im a walking financial drain!</p>

<p>I just got a likely letter from Middlebury an hour ago in the mail..super pretty letter, but Likelys dont mean a guarantee, yeah?
But what a coincidence, and I'm SUPER thankful. I'm a little less anxious now atleast</p>

<p>Likely letters most definitely do mean a guarantee as long as you don't drastically mess up (go down a grade in every subject, get arrested etc.) </p>

<p>Congrats - but I'm confident you'll get into an even better school as well.</p>

<p>Likely letter = You're In!!!!! :) I'm pretty sure, as my daughter got a bunch of likely letters, and 2 to 4 weeks later got acceptances.</p>

<p>Congrats on Middlebury! You're in. Great school. </p>

<p>Regarding your other schools:</p>

<p>Harvard, pton - Unlikely.</p>

<p>Brown - Hard to say. They'll like your debate ECs, but your SATs and grades are just average for their app pool and they've got lots of other kids with equally impressive ECs. Probably not.</p>

<p>Amherst, Williams - Williams likes athletes and Amherst likes debaters and your #1 ranking is impressive. My bet is you get into one or the other. </p>

<p>nyu - Very likely.</p>

<p>wow those extra curriculars are AMAZING....there is no freakin way I'm getting into Columbia/Penn.</p>

<p>thanks arctic monkey but they came at such a huge cost..B's and not-perfect SAT scores..(which until I joined CC I thought were the norm..but theyre obviously not!) so many deserving kids</p>