<p>GPA: 4.00 (UW), 4.93 (W) - most rigorous courseload
ACT: 34 (35E, 35M, 30R, 34S) - will not retake
SAT: 1470/2150 (740CR, 730M, 680W)
December SAT: No results yet, but possible scores: (780CR, 800M, 750W) - I expect high 2200s, at least, possibly 2300+
Rank: None officially, but unofficially tied for #2/385
SAT II: 750 Spanish, 750 Chemistry, 760 Math II
AP: 5 in Chemistry, 5 in AP US History (pretty much no other AP courses feasible until senior year)</p>
<p>Subjective:
Awards: National Merit SF, KY Governor's Scholar and Commonwealth Ambassador, 1st place in statewide chemistry competition sophomore year
National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society (11,12)
ECs: 12 years of piano, submitted a supplement (if you know piano, my repertoire includes Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and Chopin), 500+ hours of music ministry in church over four years, four years of drama club involvement, three years of school chorus
Essays and Recommendations: Amazing and very specific. </p>
<p>I would say you have a very good chance at all of them
but don’t quote me because someone from my school with similar scores but harder classes just got deferred from MIT</p>
<p>he took courses out side of school and “independented” AP courses that arent offered at our school… like Physics BC and a higher level of Calculus than BC?</p>
<p>In at vanderbilt and Swartmore. Ivies are a reach for everyone but I’d say you have a better shot at Yale and Princeton than at Harvard. Weakness: SAT scores</p>
<p>I would think that HYP are schools that can’t be chanced for anyone. That said, given your SAT as it stands, I would say H/Y are far reaches unless you go to one of those schools that regularly send 3-4 kids to HY. Swarthmore and Vanderbilt look like schools you should be able to swing. Not looking at any others?</p>
<p>Nope. No URM status. I’m a white male. Just really good at Spanish. It’s a tougher honor society to get into than the other languages, but colleges probably won’t know that/won’t care.</p>
<p>I think you definitely qualify for Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, but that’s all I can say because your essays will most likely be the determining factors.</p>
<p>You probably will have a slight edge because you’re submitting a music supplement, but seeing that a lot of Asians who apply to top colleges tend to play piano it might just put you in a pool.</p>
<p>you should have no problem getting into swarthmore and vanderbilt, but harvard, princeton, and yale might be a bit of a reach. your grades are great but your sat scores might be a bit low. your music supplement should help though.
did you apply to any lower ivies?</p>
<p>Academically (test scores, class rank, etc), you are extremely qualified for all of these schools. Extracirriculars look very solid and devoted too, that’s definitely a plus. I would say the only thing you can do now is write great essays to convey your personality and present yourself in good light for the interview!</p>
<p>Wow, I’d say you have a really good chance. You’re definitely Ivy League material. I’m assuming your GPA is on a 5.0 scale. If you have a 4.93, that’s incredible. ACT is looking good, most kids who get accepted into Ivies have an ACT score from 33-36. I don’t know about your major specifically, but based on what you have from awards and extra-curriculars, I’d say you have a high chance.</p>
<p>Differentiating yourself through essays is never enough. People keep emphasizing essays on this board. To really differentiate yourself on the non-academic side, you need proof. Your piano CD could be, if you’re good enough. Is there anything concrete that you can submit that demonstrates that you are unique on the non-academic side? That could be a newspaper article, an award that is recognized (that could be musical, or literary or any of a number of other things). Think of ways that can prove to admissions that you stand out. Anyone can write about themselves, and that only proves that you can write about yourself, or that you can write well. Adolph Hitler could write about how he was a kind and uplifting mentor - those are only unsubstantiated words. The essays should be good, but most essays are good. If you want to stand out from the crowd, find a way to prove that you are interesting.</p>
<p>For all of you out there who are thinking of applying to elite schools, think of something that makes you look unique when you’re pulled from the pile. There was a chapter in a book in 1995 that gave a behind-the-scenes view of the admissions office during an interview with Princeton’s Dean of Admissions (I think the book was called Getting In). He reached into the pile and pulled out an application at random. It was from a valedictorian who was also the president of his class, described as a fairly typical applicant (unfortunately, that’s fairly typical). Then he read the application, and learned that the student was a farmer and had to work 60 hours a week on the family farm. That was a differentiator. Too many other kids come from classic suburban backgrounds.</p>
<p>Academics being equal, a videotape of a kid turning cartwheels while whitewater kayaking (and I know 14-year-olds who can do that) is going to make that kid appear a lot more interesting than the captain of the math team. The kid from my high school (long ago) who was interested in solar energy did independent research in which he measured the amount of heat absorbed by a parked car with the doors closed. That was mentioned in Physics Teacher Magazine. He applied to one Ivy school (Cornell) and got in, and probably would have gotten into others had he tried, considering he was also the class valedictorian with a 780 math SAT. </p>
<p>That being said, your academic side as you’ve described it above should be strong enough if your non-academic side is viewed as interesting and compelling - remember that the admissions office ranks academics and non-academics equally.</p>