<p>SAT II scores: 800Math2, 720 Chemistry, 710 US History</p>
<p>ECs: Let's just say average. Daily swimming team... Learn computer stuff, chinese calligraphy, weiqi (go), basketball, teaching ESL for community service</p>
<p>Essays: The writing was pretty good. The content was awesome because I lived in China for three years and did a nice job in telling them how it changed my life - according to an english teacher - "the essay should get you to any school that wants diversity. if the school doesn't accpt you, it's not the school for you."</p>
<p>Recommendations: Awesome
GPA: 93, A-minus
Rank: top 5%</p>
<h2>schools</h2>
<p>Harvard(biological sciences)
Princeton (molecular biology)
Stanford (undecided)
Brown (PLME and neuroscience)
WUSTL (double major - molecular bio and english(writing))
Rice (Bio/Cell Bio)
UC Berkeley (computer science)</p>
<p>So that's a 2210 combined SAT. You forgot some other ivies too (Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, U Penn, Yale :P). Of course, that might just be because they don't have your field.</p>
<p>Your essay topic sounds lame to be frank. I'd be thinking about the bottom three or four of your list as possibilities. You don't have much going for the top HPS.</p>
<p>Yeah, to be honest, you need some safety schools. Those are some ambitious places to be applying to and there isn't really anything astonishing in your stats. </p>
<p>I knda agree with karot on the essay, not because it sounds lame, but that type of topic is used pretty often. I haven't read it, so I really can't judge.</p>
<p>I disagree with the people who've said that the essay choice is "lame." Something tells me that there isn't exactly an overabundance of students writing essays about the several years they spent in a foreign country and how it changed their perspective on life. There are tons of people who WISH they had the life experience to be able to write such an essay.</p>
<p>I do agree with the suggestion that you pick several safety schools (meaning schools who accept at least 50-60% of applicants) to apply to. College admissions - especially at top tier schools - are unpredictable, and you don't seem like the type of person who wants to end up at a community college in the event that you aren't accepted to your top choices.</p>
<p>I said it's lame because a topic about how much a trip has changed you or how you've matured and become a better person through overcoming a challenge isn't unique. When choosing these topics, you want your essay to be as unique and memorable as possible, because they the best reflection of the person behind the paper. Not every single person here has gone on a trip overseas but think about the thousands that do. It's just too easy for someone who writes an essay on that topic to comes across as cliched.</p>
<p>Let's compare these topic sentences:</p>
<p>"By visiting my ancestors and realizing the wealth of heritage that I come from , I have gained a greater perspective of myself and my passions"</p>
<p>"On Saturday, March 30, the entire Janitorial Staff at Rowland Hall St. Mark’s High School tentatively unlocked the doors at Seven AM. Brushed aside by a tall, gaunt-faced blonde woman, the entire janitorial staff stared in disbelief as a procession of blue, cubical filing boxes followed her like a paddle of ducklings. "</p>
<p>Of course, these comparisons are not necessarily fair. One has much more detail and concrete images, which is up to the writer. But, it's so easy to generalize with the first topic. Why give yourself that chance to be common when you can be concrete and distinct?</p>
<p>I certainly see where you're coming from, and yes, uniqueness is what one should strive for when writing the college essay. I just didn't think it was fair to assume the OP's essay was "lame" - cliche though it may sound - without having read the essay to begin with. I've always believed that the quality of the work, rather than the topic, is what separates stellar from average.</p>