chances, please -- Penn, Columbia et al.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I come from a good public high school in New Jersey. We usually make the top 30 in the state, and most of the students are pretty competitive. About 5-8 get into Ivies and another dozen or so in other Top 20 schools. I am a Canadian Citizen, born to Chinese immigrants, and not yet a U.S. Permanent Resident.</p>

<p>GPA: 4.45 W, 4.02 UW
Rank: 6/302
SAT I: 2180 (690 CR/740 M/ 750 W) - commended, not that it matters
SAT II: 740 (U.S History), 760 (Math IIC), 660 (Physics)
APs: 11th grade -- French, U.S History, Calculus BC, Art History, 12th grade (planned) -- European History, Physics B, Statistics, English, U.S. Government and Politics</p>

<p>Curriculum is MRA, out of everyone in my school. </p>

<p>Notable Extracurriculars:
National Honor Society president
Literary magazine editor-in-chief
French Club (VP) and French Honor Society
Gay Straight Alliance
repertory theatre
select and women's choirs
math and science leagues, and a few math contests. </p>

<p>I moved to NJ from Canada in 9th grade, so I don't really have any sense of community outside of my high school, which is why I spend so much time there.</p>

<p>I know a lot of you guys "frown" upon NHS because so many people get it that the applicant is no longer unique, but NHS at my school is really difficult to get into. Just grades won't cut it; you also have to show outstanding leadership and community service. We just planned an event to raise money for a local cancer foundation and have been helping with school events throughout the year :)</p>

<p>The literary magazine is also a huge job. We just finished it after hours of hours and sacrificed spring break days. I spent the first three-quarters of the year picking submitted work to read at the meetings, and the last quarter finally putting it all together.</p>

<p>I'm also a piano accompanist in all the choirs I sing in. I'm not really a stand-out singer, but I'm good at blending in dynamics. I fell short of All-State but I've made Region's for the past three years. </p>

<p>I'm also in a smattering of other clubs, but the ones above are the ones I pay a lot of attention to. I'm not just a kid who lists clubs on her resume for the sole purpose of impressing colleges. I honestly don't give a damn whether or not a certain college wants me, I do it because I like doing it. I'm an extremely committed person, I will show up early on Saturday morning to set up and I will stay till past 11 pm for cleanup. I will come every Thursday afternoon for science league and will ignore the pizza until I understand the questions. Granted, I'm not a stellar test-taker as you can see by my SAT scores, but I do all right.</p>

<p>Other activities:
- I am a Girl Scout (yes, I am) though I'm pretty unconventional as a girl scout goes. I'm not really in it for the badges or the hardware, I'm in it because I honestly believe conserving our resources and helping others. I have completed all the pre-requisites for my Gold award, I'm trying to manage my time to get that done, but we'll see how it pans out
- I volunteer at the recycling centre because I am tree-hugging pseudo-hippie
- I spent a summer being a camp counselor for middle-school girls, helping them transition to high school (it's probably one of the toughest times in their lives)
- I spent another summer T.A.ing English in my relatively poor hometown in China where I was born. Wow, it was an experience, those kids go to school for an unfathomable 12 hours a day. </p>

<p>As for majors go, I am interested in Industrial or Systems Engineering. I'm good at managing people and problems, and as cheesy as it sounds, my ultimate goal is population control and quality of life (better air, etc.). My career focus is environmental issues. I also have an interest in political science. </p>

<p>I also have really good relationships with my teachers (hopefully they write me good recommendations!) I am a true scholar if you peel off all the layers of my personality. I like writing and will probably slave over my essays because I believe in good impressions and capturing my personality. I'm expecting my recommendations, essays, and interview (I don't care if they don't count for much, I'm great at interviews) to be my strengths. </p>

<p>I'm only applying to 4 schools because I've done a lot of research and this is what I want: a university located in a metropolitan area, with lots of internship opportunities and great study abroad. </p>

<p>I'm looking at:
University of Pennsylvania
Columbia University (Fu Engineering)
George Washington University
McGill University</p>

<p>Sorry this is so long, I tend to ramble when you get me started. Thank you!</p>

2

<p>You're 4.02 UW is very impressive :)
In all seriousness though, you're GPA/Rank are very good, and your test scores, while on the low side, will definitely not hurt you much (if at all). What you really need to do is to let your colleges know who you are through your essays. You say you're not just another person who participates for the sake of filling his/her resume? Fine. Don't tell us about it. Talk about it in your essay. The colleges want to know about the passionate person that you are. I think that you have a shot at all of these colleges if you write good essays.
UPenn/Columbia: Slight reach
George Washington/Mcgill: Match/safe match
Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thank you, Meatlovers, for your insight :D Sorry if I got a little heated in the "I'm not just another transcript-dresser!" kid, there are lots of those at my school and I always feel the need to defend myself against them. </p>

<p>I guess I'm just a little nervous because I, too, have heard stories about applicants with perfect scores not getting into their schools, despite being qualified with grades, activities, etc. I admit I do not know every aspect of their application, but geeze, it's intimidating o.o</p>

<p>EDIT: one last question... will the fact that I'm Asian/from New Jersey affect me negatively in the admissions process? I know there are a lot of Asians in New Jersey trying to get into the same schools.</p>

4

<p>"About 5-8 get into Ivies and another dozen or so in other Top 20 schools."</p>

<p>This is the best indicator of your chances. Based on what you have posted, you seem to be a borderline Ivy candidate and will likely be accepted to a top 20 school. Probably no on Penn and Columbia (still possible though), but I'd say GWU and McGill are in the bag.</p>

5

<p>Do you need finacial aid?
If so you have a much better shot at schools that treat Canadians the same as Americans for finacial aid.</p>

6

<p>I do plan on applying for financial aid, but my parents saved up a lot of money for this sole purpose (sending me to college). They're able to pay tuition, room and board without fin. aid, but not comfortably and that's the last thing I want my parents to do. But if it will hurt my chances if I do apply for financial aid, we're prepared not to.</p>

<p>I found out that both Penn and Columbia are need-blind for Canadian students, but GW gives merit scholarships whereas the two former do not. I probably will not get any aid from McGill.</p>

7

<p>You're definitely in at GW and most likely in at McGill.</p>

<p>You have a decent shot at both Penn and Columbia (but I'd suggest ED for one of them...)</p>

8

<p>I guess this is a shameless bump? I was wondering if any of you guys could answer my previous question in #3 :) Thanks!</p>

9

<p>how can you have a 4.02 unweighted? the unweighted scale is 0-4</p>

10

<p>Drew00, that's not always true. At my school for example, a 95 average is a 4.0, so your uw GPA can be over 4.0 if you have a 96+ average.</p>