Chances@Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, Tufts, Northwestern, Penn, berkeley

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I go to a boarding school in New Jersey that uses a 6.0 scale. 6.0 is virtually impossible to get and is equivalent to an A++ or a 4.0++, 5.5 is A+ or 4.0+, 5.0 is A or 4.0, etc. Getting above a 5.0 is pretty difficult.</p>

<p>Anyway...freshman year I had a 5.0 GPA, sophomore year I had a 5.3 GPA. Took all the honors I could. Junior year I studied abroad in China on the SYA (School Year Abroad, based out of Phillips Academy) program...lived with a host family, became fluent in Chinese, took classes at a Chinese high school but classes were taught by American prep school teachers (except Chinese, which was taught by some of the best Chinese teachers, 12 periods a week). This was the best year of my life, I learned a LOT, and I'm trying to emphasize this in my apps and write my essays about my experience in China.</p>

<p>Anyway...I got a 5.4 GPA this semester. The valedictorian in my class had a 5.7 and he got into Yale. I'm in the top 5% or 10% of my class of 128 (my school won't give us our actual ranks). As for SATs, I have a 2290 on the reasoning test (760V/760M/770W) and 770 in Chinese, 720 in Literature, and 640 in Chem (A+ in the class, but we all seemed to do not that great on the SAT II).</p>

<p>I do ECs like the school paper, literary magazine, model UN...and I have some activities like film production, after school chemistry, rec squash, cross country, basketball. I also started playing guitar half a year ago. I don't have any really big leadership/community service things.</p>

<p>I'll have two outstanding recs, one from my Chinese teacher and one from my Asian Studies teacher, whose classes I got 6.0s in. They love me and they think I'm one of the best students they've ever had.</p>

<p>I think my essays were pretty damn good, interesting, and original. I've been told I write well.</p>

<p>I think that's basically it. We don't have any academic competitions or really big clubs and societies that bigger public schools have. I regret not doing more freshman and sophomore years, but I can't change that now.</p>

<p>Do you think I have a chance? I'm applying to Berkeley, Georgetown, George Washington, Princeton, Penn, Tufts, Harvard, Columbia, and Northwestern.</p>

<p>(I'm a legacy at Columbia, my dad graduated class of '70 at the college)</p>

2

<p>are you asian or white</p>

<p>If your white, being fluent in chinese is a hook</p>

3

<p>I think you have a good chance.</p>

4

<p>I'm white :P Thank god for that.</p>

5

<p>Errr..sorry bout that, not that being Asian is bad (obviously, if I lived there for a year), I meant thank god that I'm white so that it's a hook</p>

6

<p>being white was a hook a few decades ago too... but that's just cuz they didn't let anyone else in</p>

7

<p>and also, i think you have a decent shot.... what boarding school are you at? i'm at lawrenceville</p>

8

<p>Blair :D That's cool, lawrenceville is a great school. I go to Blair because it's 15 minutes from my house and I wanted to be a day student. I think I would have gone to Exeter, Andover, Grotton, Peddie, Lawrenceville, etc. if I had wanted to be a boarder because I think they are better schools academically. Blair is more sports oriented.</p>

<p>Also I visited princeton today and I noticed that John Insley Blair, Trustee of Princeton 1867-1899 was inscribed somewhere on campus. That's pretty cool. I wonder if they like Blair?</p>

9

<p>As long as you worked with your college counselor at Blair to develop the list, you are probably going to do very well come April. Your counselor will have a pretty good idea as to which colleges like Blair - so even if P'ton doesn't come through, some other wonderful offers will. Your year in China sounds fascinating - wonderful that you had the chance to do that.</p>

10

<p>Well, my counselor did think my list is a bit top-heavy, but meh, I have extremely high standards for myself and I'm pretty ambitious.</p>

11

<p>Princeton - High reach, but u could very well get in
Harvard - " "
Columbia/Penn - reaches
Gtown/Northwestern - match
Tufts - IN, make sure u show interest
Berk - in</p>

<p>if i were u, i would add 1 or 2 more Gtown/Northwestern schools like JHU and Cornell and Chicago to boost ur chances</p>

12

<p>Too late, deadlines are already past.</p>

<p>What makes Harvard and Princeton different from Columbia?</p>

13

<p>Also, I REALLY appreciate all the replies I've gotten. I'm very anxious and stressed out right now and you guys are helping me calm down. Thanks ^_^</p>

14

<p>Your list may be top-heavy, but I don't think it's all that unsafe - GW and Northwestern look pretty solid. I never guess UC admits. I agree with the poster that thought Columbia looked a bit likely than H and P. Columbia is a bit more reliable on admitting on straight academic credentials (which you have) and less on credentials + god-knows-what.</p>

<p>The school that comes to mind - with a deadline of 1/15, would be Macalester, if you wanted to add another common app school.</p>

15

<p>How much do you think legacy status will help? In my interview, the old guy (class of '56) who interviewed me was very surprised/impressed when I told him I was a legacy and said he would definitely notify the AdCom.</p>

16

<p>I missed that about the legacy status. Yes, I think its a nudge in your favor especially since the fit between you and Columbia is there anyway. I've just got tea leaves, though, no numbers. Did you apply anywhere early or do you need to suffer until April?</p>

17

<p>I dunno...to me, you are very smart obviously, but the ECs don't pull through to the level that the ivies require. But, then again you go to Blair and you have a very high GPA so...yeah...i dunno</p>

18

<p>Unfortunately, several factors contributed to my inability to apply early. The main one was probably my rather late start in the college process--I first met with my college counselor in September 2005, did research at the end of the month into October, and started doing apps in November. I also had to take the SAT IIs in November and wanted to retake the SAT in December. My grades in China were also not ideal (Bs in English and Chinese history, B+ in Adv. precalc, As in both Chinese classes), so I wanted to get some truly excellent grades down for my senior year to show colleges that my grades only suffered in China because I was more focused on language and culture.</p>

<p>Of course, I would have loved to apply early, but I think it definitely would have guaranteed a rejection or a deferral at best at say, Princeton or Harvard, thus rendering the entire point of early decision pointless.</p>

19

<p>Tyrant007:</p>

<p>UCB: Match (out of state)</p>

20

<p>I don't know about Berkeley. My counselor told me about a girl who grew up in California, went to Blair, got into Columbia but was rejected from Berkeley. Weird, eh?</p>