Chances -- UPenn, Duke, Cornell, NU, UMich, etc

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey all,</p>

<p>Multiracial male (Asian + Eastern European)
Immigrant father (int'l schooling, MD) mother has masters, no fin. aid, only child, Chicago Suburb area, no legacy status anywhere
Applying to Duke, Cornell, Northwestern, UPenn, Univ. of Chicago, and UMich Ann Arbor, all for Biology/Pre-Med</p>

<p>ACT Comp: 35
No SATI
SATII's:
MathII:800
US Hist:750</p>

<p>3.75 Unweighted GPA
7.15 Weighted (8 scale for APs, 7 Scale for Honors, 6 for reg etc)
Ranked 12/640 (Began at 120+, have since moved 115ish ranks, yeah, i'm one of your slow starters, stupid jr high)
Public high school, decent rep at Cornell (4 in last yr), good w/ Northwestern (many in last yr and this yrs early decisioners)</p>

<p>1 AP Soph Yr (Econ, didnt take AP Test)
3 AP's Jr Yr (Calc AB (5), English Lang (5), US Hist (5))
4 AP's Sr Yr (Stats, English Comp, Psych, Biology)</p>

<p>Top ECs:
Varsity Golf 10,11,12 -- Co-Captain, Recipient of Several Awards (All-Conference, Scholar athlete, etc)
WHO(Community Service) Club 10,11,12 -- Group Leader, plenty of volunteer work in there (Chicago food depository, tutoring of middle school kids, food/toy drives near holidays, local nature centers, walk 4 hope) (300+ hrs)
Habitat for Humanity in Miami, FL 11 -- Group Leader (~50 hours)
Ethnic Clubs 9,10,11
National Honor Society
Span. Honor Society
National Merit Commended
Tutor for Math Center, Literacy/Writing Center, Foreign Lang. Center, also tutor math at grammar school every week
1 Strong Rec, 1 Outstanding Rec
Relatively Strong Essays, good in opinions of both of my AP Eng teachers</p>

<p>so whats the verdict?</p>

2

<p>wow you have a good shot at all of your choices...not sure how they will fare at UPENN though...I think its above the middle 50%</p>

3

<p>your gpa doesnt make any sense to me. that is an obnoxious scale. good luck with everything. should have done something more for your extra's for those ivies, imo</p>

4

<p>hey...well your ethnic status will give u a leg up</p>

<p>as far as ur EC's go...they are decent, but not impressive
Everything else looks really good, but for the schools you mentioned it's really a matter of making yourself unique and a stand out</p>

<p>Oh, u'll definitely be in to UMICH (did u mention that?)</p>

5

<p>the reaches would be duke and upenn in my opinion</p>

6

<p>50% for Duke and Penn RD
65% Cornell
65% NW
65% U Chicago
85% U Michigan</p>

<p>You probably need a safety.</p>

7

<p>thanks all --</p>

<p>i figure i'm pretty solid to get into NU and UMich, considering that i know several people who got in from my school w/ weaker grades/scores and relatively similar EC's. oh, and i have a safety.. applied to UIC's GPPA program and they first admit you into reg UIC, etc, then go through process to get you into their GPPA accel. program</p>

<p>i'm hoping to get into duke, and interviews have gone well from my perspective.. i understand the gpa looks REALLY funny.. its a strange mix of lousy grades in fresh yr in lower classes, followed by better grades in following yrs in higher classes.. my school has a really funny system.. but from what i've heard, fresh yr doesn't factor in as much so that's better for me</p>

<p>also wondering.. i have that "who's who" award.. ive heard some colleges actually frown upon that.. any input?</p>

8

<p>Why would colleges frown upon that award?</p>

9

<p>im not sure.. ive just heard things about colleges seeing that award as not fully valid.. as if they would rather see an application without it</p>

10

<p>quick bump</p>

11

<p>Duke- Reach
Cornell- Slight Reach
Northwestern- Slight Reach
UPenn- Reach
Univ. of Chicago- Slight Reach
UMich Ann Arbor- Safe Match</p>