Chances for Yale, Rice, Wesleyan, Duke?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Top Tier Schools Applying To:
Yale University
Rice University
Wesleyan University
Duke University</p>

<p>I'll be a senior in high school next year. I'm tentatively planning to major in one of the natural sciences, likely Astronomy or Chemistry, but it's just tentative. That's what I'm listing on everything I fill out, though. I'd really appreciate what advice and suggestions everyone can give me. I'm the first child in my family to go off to college. My mom and dad both are... kindof old, and they're really out of the loop as far as college goes. Basically, I'm in the blind here. I don't really know what I should be doing. My college counselor is in her first year as a counselor, and she's not in the know yet, either... I just need some help and some direction.</p>

<p>I apologize for most of the test scores being estimates at the moment, but the scores probably won't come in for another month or two, and I think I need to get started before that.</p>

<p>Thank you in advance for your time!</p>

<p>Female
Income ~80,000/year
Caucasian
Texas
Financial Aid: Yes</p>

<p>Class of 2010
UW GPA: ~3.8
W GPA: ~4.4
Ranking: 3 of 250
High School rarely sends students to elite universities.</p>

<p>3 AP Classes in 11th Grade (AP US History, AP Chemistry, English III AP)
4 AP Classes in 12th Grade (Spanish IV AP, AP Calculus, English IV AP, AP Biology)
I'm pretty much taking every AP class offered by my school, except AP Physics because I didn't take Pre-AP Physics this year, since next year will be the first year it will be offered. I'm kindof bummed about it, actually.</p>

<p>Test Scores:
SAT I: 2100
Math: 750
CR: 640
Writing: 710
PSAT: 215
Chemistry AP Test: Estimate 4 or 5
English Lit AP Test: Estimate 4
US History AP Test: Estimate 3 or 4
ACT: Estimate 32
SAT II Chemistry: Estimate 760
SAT II Lit: Estimate 650
SAT II Math IC: Estimate 720</p>

<p>ECs (all with the presumption of continued involvement in 12th grade):
Church Handbell Choir for 7 years
Church Choir for 4 years
School Choir for 3 years
Summer Swim Team for 8 years; 3 years as assistant coach
School Swim Team for 2 years (Self-coached as my school has no pool)
NHS for 2 years
Tutoring in Math once a week for 2 years
To Participate in NASA Summer Internship for 1 week this summer.</p>

<p>Awards:
Perfect Attendance 10th & 11th Grade
All A's 9th, 10th, 11th Grade
National Merit Commended Student</p>

<p>Volunteer Experience (HS):
Mostly Church Activities: VBS, Pumpkin Patch, Craft Day, Office Voluteer, etc. I'd estimate about 125 hours at church
Outside Church: In the community, about 25 hours of service thus far.</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Lifeguarding during the summer for 2 years (approx. 16 hours/week during summer only)
Church childcare year-round for 3 years (approx. 8 hours/week)
All earnings have gone toward savings for college.</p>

2

<p>I will be honest with you, serenefire. No matter how great your stats are, most of the elite schools will always be reaches for everyone. Start thinking about some matches or safeties.</p>

<p>But however, out of all of those schools, Wesleyan looks good, although it is still a reach.</p>

3

<p>You should use UT as a safety because you are guaranteed admission. They admit anybody in Texas who is in the top 10 percent of their class.
As the guy before me said, its basically almost random with the very top schools. But if you can get your SATs up then Rice and Wesleyan should be matches for you.
Some other “safeties” you should look at are like USC and Wake Forrest.</p>

4

<p>Make sure you get your SAT’s to a 2150+ for competitive schools.</p>

5

<p>I know that I need a safety. I’m planning on applying to UT as well as A&M, but I didn’t think I should list them because I know I’ll be accepted.</p>

<p>So you guys suggest I focus on upping my SAT score?</p>

6

<p>This is a bump.</p>

<p>If someone happens to read this, I just realized that I typed my CR score wrong. I actually made a 660 on it. I mean, 20 points more isn’t much, but I’m pretty happy, because for the past month I’ve thought I made a different score on the test. xD</p>

7

<p>That’s cool that the score was higher then you thought!
But as for chances. Everything looks fine and dandy, but that is exactly what makes it a crapshoot. Tons and tons of high schoolers out there have similar stats and they’re hard to get, like all A’s is great, but it won’t make you stand out. You are definitely in the ballpark at these schools, but it’s really a crapshoot unless you have a major hook.</p>

8

<p>The importance of SAT scores at Ivies/equivalents is highly overrated on CC. You seem like a solid applicant, but so are the people you’re competing against. </p>

<p>Anyways, chancing is pointless, but I think you’ll probably be in at one or two of the four you’ve listed.</p>

9

<p>lol your joking^?? Look at the SAT stats sheet/percentages that get admitted to top colleges. The fact of the matter is that a 2300 is significantly better than a 2100. I seriously recommend taking that again in October.</p>

10

<p>you guys are kidding. Awards are terrible lol.</p>

<p>“perfect attendance”</p>

11

<p>Thanks for all of your input, guys. I see that it would be a waste of my money to apply. Thanks for making me see that!</p>

12

<p>Girl don’t let these fools put you down. You would be an AMAZING applicant to any school, and I am sure that with hard work, you WILL get into one of your top choices. It is great that you are challenging yourself with all your classes and that you will be the first in your family to go off to college! A 2100 on your SAT is a dam good score, and I am sure it took a lot of effort. Congrats to you. </p>

<p>My best advice is: Keep up your grades senior year. Work on improving your test scores. Continue working hard but don’t forget to have fun. Find some way to make yourself stand out: Start a club, maybe dealing with Astronomy. Talk more about that NASA internship because that sounds interesting. When writing your essays, make sure your passion shines through. It seems like you volunteer a lot, which is GREAT, so keep that up. Become good friends with your teachers, because they will be writing your recommendations.</p>

<p>Good luck! I know you will get in to where you want to go!</p>