Chances @ UPenn, Dartmouth, Cornell

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I am currently a hispanic junior and am curious for my chances at (Please respond with reach, match etc. for each school):
UPenn,
Cornell,
Columbia
Dartmouth,
Tufts,
Vanderbilt
(Kinda a lot, I know :) )</p>

<p>Academics (My weakest Part):</p>

<p>UW: 3.78-3.81
W: Not really sure, but maybe around a 4.2-4.3
Rank: Not sure about this either, but top 20% without a doubt (could lower, I have no idea)</p>

<ul>
<li>I had a bit of a drop in my Junior year grades, from all A's and only 1 B Fresh/Soph, to 3 B's first semester Junior year. Eek! I will try for all A's next semester though.</li>
</ul>

<p>SAT: 2050 (Kinda weak) - Will retake for hopefully a 2100+
SAT II Math: 740
SAT II Chemistry: 700</p>

<p>EC's (By far the strongest part)
- Started my own computer programming club since no programming classes (AP Computer Science) are offered at my school.
- Have released 5 mobile apps to the Android and Apple "App Store". Have turned a small profit, but I was doing it for the experience and fun!
- Started a company with a friend where we built our own gaming computers with a unique feature to it. We turned a considerable profit. Learned a lot about the gaming community.
* I will probably focus my essays a lot of my business experiences.</p>

<ul>
<li>I am also a rated fencer. I've been fencing for maybe 5-6 years.</li>
<li><p>I do community service for the little kid fencers in my club. Every Saturday for 2-3 hours.</p></li>
<li><p>I also had the chance to get an internship last summer @ a small tech startup (most tech start-ups don't hire high school kids because they don't have experience. However, I proved myself that I would do well and not just sit there). The CEO and COO of this company went to Cornell, so I'm hoping to get a really good letter of rec from one of them.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Essays:
- Like I said, rec from CEO probably
- Strong letter of ref from a teacher who has seen me grow as a person since I was 10 years old. Good relationship, will be a fantastic letter!
- A good rec from a math teacher who I really like, and he really likes me too.</p>

<p>Let me know, thanks! And good luck</p>

2

<p>Did you get National Hispanic Scholar? What state are you from? Family income level? Did your parents go to college? What country is your family from and how long have they been here?</p>

3

<p>get your sat 100 points higher and all A’s in your next semester and you’ll have a competitive chance</p>

4

<p>@Doener. So if I am able to achieve all A’s next semester and get a 2150, when you say “competitive”, do you mean that I will make it until the “final round” of admissions where luck will hopefully fall into my favor? Or do you mean competitive as in similar to the rest and I MIGHT have a chance?</p>

<p>I’m from California, income level ~100,000. I am 75% Spanish. Parents born in America, however, their parents were born in Spain. So I’m still considered a minority. I did not make National Hispanic unfortunately. I don’t want to make an excuse, but I had a bad cold that test day felt just awful. I came very very close though (even though it doesn’t make a difference). But my counselor told me that these top tier schools see the national merit as a: “Cool. Nice job. You did well on 1 test day. But what else?”</p>

<p>And could you list my chances for the schools I listed so I have a sense where I will apply ED next year. Thank you!</p>

5

<p>Your academics are weak but you definitely have strong extracurriculars. Try your hardest to maintain an upward trend and get that GPA up, and retake your SATs, aiming for 2200+ if possible. You may also want to consider retaking the SAT II Math for an 800 because math is closely related to computer science so you want to show your strength there.</p>

<p>As for chances as they stand now:</p>

<p>UPenn - Reach
Cornell - Low Reach
Columbia - Reach
Dartmouth - Low Reach
Tufts - Match
Vanderbilt - Match</p>

6

<p>You don’t fit the Hispanic definition that gets a boost in college admissions. The ivies are a substantial reach, Tufts and Vandy more realistic reaches.</p>

7

<p>@quciksilver. Thank you for your suggestions. I will try to get that SAT II to an 800.</p>

<p>@Waverly. What do you mean I don’t fit the Hispanic definition? Because I didn’t make Natinoal Hispanic Merit? Or do they, unfortunately, expect all minorities to come from a low income family? How does this not apply to African Americans? My mother is 100% Spanish and my father is 50%. Sorry if that sounds a little abrasive, but I’m curious how being 75% hispanic doesn’t actually count for being hispanic in admissions. Thank you.</p>