<p>Hey, I was hoping everyone could please chance me. I am a white male attending a competitive public school in Texas.
GPA: Unweighted: 4.0/4.0; Weighted: 4.5ish/4.0
SAT: 2110 (First Time) - 740 CR, 720 W, 650 M (will def. be raised June 2nd)
SAT II: 780 USH, 720 IIC, 710 Lit.
AP: Took Statistics, USH, and Eng. Lang. - no results yet (surely at least 4s)
Rank: was: 1/50; now: 1/550ish
Special Circumstances:
Had to switch from a private school end of sophomore year because would not be able to offer enough challenging classes and tuition was a bit much. Financial problems because parents are divorced - no contact with father and mother has no college (could I say first generation to attend college because no support from father?); have to care for grandfather at home as well
EC's are listed from old then new school:
Founder and President - Chess Club (9,10)
Founder and Vice President - History Club (9,10)
Vice President - Student Council (9,10)
Member in other clubs - not as important to me
New School:
President - Chess Club
First Leader, then Vice President, now President - school volunteer organization (850+ members, about 10,000 hours of service a year)
Librarian - Band
Again, member in others, but not as important
Awards:
At first school, always won top awards in every class (attended on partial academic scholarship); advanced to state competition in various subject test scenarios
New school: Top student in english and spanish classes; NHS; will attend Texas Boys' State program
Comment:
Also worked previous summer to save money for summer school program (40+ hours a week); plan to attend Yale Summer School (will this possibly help at all....I heard it doesn't but I plan to enjoy it at least)
Colleges:
Yale
Dartmouth
Duke
Unv. of Penn. (Wharton)
Tufts
UT Honors and Business Honors
guaranteed UT admission because of state top 10% rule</p>
<p>Please comment on anything - chances, ways to improve, whats good/bad, etc....anything would REALLY be appreciated. Thanks</p>
<p>If you write good essays you look good for Tufts. And you've got a pretty good shot at Duke, too. Beyond that, it gets a little iffy. For anyone. But your scores are good. Just be aware the competition (especially for Wharton) are going to have perfect scores, great essays, and great recs.</p>
<p>Make sure that the supplementary parts of your application are great and you're definitely in the running.</p>
<p>Oh, yea....I forgot to mention I will have REALLY good recs. I've worked really hard in the school volunteer organization and plan to talk about that in my college essay(s). As for the SAT, I'm going to study this time so that should go up. Thank you for your advise, I appreciate it :)</p>
<p>a) I wouldn't write about the Volunteer thing in the college essay. Not only would it be a waste, but it would make your application boring and you need a good essay to get you in. I would suggest that you talk about a unique life experience that showcases your positive traits. Essays about EC's are boring and ADCom's don't like them.</p>
<p>b) Good GPA and okay test scores. Are you taking the most AP Classes possible?</p>
<p>c) Your EC's are ok. Will you expand on the "volunteer organization"? Besides that your EC's are typical and won't help you.</p>
<p>Duke - reach
Yale - super reach
Dartmouth - large reach
UPenn - large reach
Tufts - match
UT Business Honors - High Match</p>
<p>b) Yea, test scores (especially SAT I) and IIC need to go up. This year was my transfer year, and I thought I was taking the most advanced courses, but supposedly I could have taken Chem2 instead of honors Physics. I hope that won't be held against me too much.</p>
<p>c) The volunteer organization takes up a large portion of my time. Worked really hard to get president (especially as I was a transfer). Basically, I help plan a bunch of activities around the community, manage the different aspects of the group, and attend a lot of the functions. I would say I spend about 10 hours a week on it. As for UT business honors, I am instate which I thought helped me, but maybe thats just McCombs not their honors program.</p>
<p>Some questions for ppl that I've been looking for. I'm sure others are interested, so if you could either link me to an answer or tell me what you know I would appreciate it:
-Will being a first generation help me a lot?
-Will switching schools be held against me - or show that I am responsible, if I did it partially for academic reasons even though economic as well?
-Does it matter that I have a single parent or have to stay home to watch my grandfather?</p>
<p>Just some intangibles I was thinking about when looking at my own chances. Hoping some ppl could reply and not just read, lol.
Thanks</p>