<p>Taiwanese male from Villa Park High School, CA.
SAT I: 2190, Math (690), Writing (800), Reading (700).
SAT II: Chemistry (770), Math IIC (750), Biology (740)
GPA: Weighted 4.87. Nonweighted. 3.97
Rank: Top 5%
APs Taking Senior Year: AP Gov, AP English, AP Calculus, AP Physics.
APs Taken: AP Chemistry (5), AP Biology (5), AP English (5), AP History (Score has not been received)</p>
<p>ECs
Pianist for 11 years.
Classical Pianist for 8 years.
-Won third place at a local competition.
Jazz Pianist for 3 years.
-Play often at a local jazz cafe (Steamers).
-Won Outstanding Soloist award at Fullerton Jazz Festival.
Play piano almost on a weekly basis for church worship.
Largely involved in church youth group.
Participated in California State Science Fair.
2 years track/cross country.
1 year tennis team.
1 year journalism story writer
1 year Jazz Band/Ensemble as Jazz Pianist. </p>
<p>Work experience:
Helped Dad start new medical practice. Largely involved in insurance billing, record-keeping, and accounting (basically type up excel spreadsheet with all his patients. It gets pretty long. It happens once a month and I usually have to type 200-300 patients and all their information). </p>
<p>Yeah I think my EC is unique but I dunno if thats good enough because its the only thing I have. But its something I really care about so Im hoping maybe that will make up for the fact that my EC list is relatively short. I jam with my drummer friend on a weekly basis and always look forward to playing jazz whenever. Im really hoping that Stanford will accept me based on that. There havent been that many competitions to prove myself in but I recently found one for high school pianists and Im in the process of competing. It should be all said and done by October so Im hoping maybe I can compete, get lucky enough to win something (haha I doubt Ill go all the way ), and still have time to write about it in my application. Tell me what you think and what my chances are. THANKS.</p>
<p>That's pretty cool! Being in one EC that you really care about and do well in is much much better than spreading yourself thin. From the above description alone you sound like a really interesting guy and you have really good stats so I'd say you totally have a chance. Make sure your essays are really you. If Stanford is your first choice it'd be worth it to really think about who you are and what is important to you and try to bring that out in an essay. You'll know you've done it when you read it. Work really hard on the essays and get good recs and I might see you around on campus in a year.</p>
<p>I didn't start playing jazz until freshman year and didn't find out about jazz band until sophomore year haha. Sophomore year I joined it. junior year (this year), I didn't have enough room for jazz band. I elected to take AP Chemistry during zero period instead of jazz band zero period. I'm considering joining senior year but I'm not really interested because frankly our band isn't that great and the last time I joined was kind of a drag. I didn't enjoy playing in the school big band at all (with like 20 brass instruments and all this noise where its hard to hear the piano), . The only part I enjyoed playingw as the smaller jazz combo (bass, drums, piano, and maybe one brass) but now all of the members who were apart of htat have graduated and the next crop of musicians for combos are all freshmen and I don't think they'd be able to keep up wtih me (not to be bragging or anything). Furthermore, playing iwth a bunch of people who can't keep time or are too conservative to really get into the music is the LAST thing i want to do. The reason I play music is for MY ENJOYMENT and MY ENJOYMENT alone. If people listening dig it, that's great but I'm not playing to impress them. I'm playing because I love to play, thats it plain and simple. Thus, I might not even end up taking jazz band next year. If I did, it'd be for college apps and maybe pity for the jazz band, reasons I'm not sure are strong enough for me to join. </p>
<p>Thanks to marlgirl for much-needed confidence-boosting review haha. I'll try my best to see you around campus next year, especially now that i know the students there are awesome like you.</p>
<p>Send in an audition of your jazz piano playing. It might help with admissions, and it does not commit you in any way to play in their jazz band.</p>
<p>Playing in the school jazz band will not have any effect on your college apps, so don't waste your time if you don't enjoy it.</p>
<p>Hm cause I'm bored and anxious to see what you guys think I uploaded my first ever jam with my teacher's trio. Tell me what you think because I'm thinking of sending this recording or something very much like it to Stanford so your opinion on how much it will boost my chances would be greatly appreciated. Haha I'm kind of hesitant about doing this because I feel like a show off but I'm really curious to see what you guys think it will do for my admissions. THANKS for your comments and dealing with my constant spam. </p>
<p>Note: Ack I forgot to edit it before I uploaded it but the first like 5 seconds it kind of freezes. It's not your computer thats frozen its the video! Thanks again.</p>
<p>Might have to disagree gently about the high school jazz band. Sure, it might not be fun for you - but what about giving back and teaching others? What if everyone had that attitude? I would bet that you have been invited into combos where you were the weak link, but the other players wanted to raise you up. Just something to think about.</p>
<p>Yeah I realize what you are saying dad4son and I was kind of thinking the same but honestly my last experience with the jazz band was really bad. I had to wake up at 6:00 am, buy all these expensive shirts/shoes/pants for ONE concert, waste alot of free time/weekends, and for what? I wasn't getting ANY enjoyment out of it at all and at some points I didn't even want to play the piano during the practice sessions because I honestly could not hear the piano at all. I was literally banging random notes and nobody could tell. It was pretty lame. </p>
<p>However, in a combo setting, I can see what you're sayinga bout the weakest link. Looking back, I am glad I used to be the weakest link in my combo. When you are the weakest link in a band, you learn the quickest because you are pressured by everyone int he group. That, is in my opinion, the way a musician matures the fastest. By bringing down teh group as a whole, he/she will eventually become much better, if he or she really wants to. I guess I'll reconsider taking jazz band next year to help improve the musicians there but I'm not even sure if I have enough class space at this point... Thanks for the input though (haha even if you didn't tell me about my chances to STanford, PUNK haha jk.)</p>
<p>hm actually thinkinga bout it now some advice on what i should do, what to improve, stuff like that would probably help me more since everyone is saying i have a decent chance (thanks).</p>
<p>Choose your teacher recommendations well, work hard on the essays, and keep your grades up 1st semester. That's all you really can do at this point. Feel free to PM me if you want me to read drafts of essays. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for advice. I was wondering if I should retake any of my SATs because they're all about 50-60 points lower than where I really want them to be (although I'm pretty content with them as is). And also should I apply EA or RD? Right now I'm considering RD because I heard the EA pool is harder (best applicants apply during EA or someting). What do you guys think?</p>
<p>If you think the SATs are a poor indication of how you should have done (you took the test and were sure you got everything right and were shocked you didn't get an 800) then you might consider taking them again. Otherwise that time would be better spent studying or working on apps. </p>
<p>If Stanford is your first choice, apply EA.</p>
<p>Well, I don't even have a regular BAND so yeah my teacher just lets me sit in because he has a monthly gig with Steamers every first Tuesday of the month and he told me I can basically walk in and play whenever I want. Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of EA and RD? So far, most people have told me that EA is better if I know I'm going to Stanford but I haven't heard anyone discredit the notion that RD might be better because EA has a harder pool of applicants.</p>