chances with fresh SATs, app list

<p>just finished junior year
location: enid, ok
School: mid-level public, kids don't look much beyond ou, osu, lower echelon privates.
Gender: male
Ethnicity: white
I plan on majoring in poli-sci or something similar</p>

<p>GPA: cumulative should be a little over 4.0, weighted, dragged down by ninth grade. enriched classes are 4.25, aps are 4.5.</p>

<p>Class rank: 24/459, before re-ranking after current semester, which should push it into the teens. I'm not saying my school in general grade inflates, but some teachers do, which makes people's grades at my school all goofed up and not really correlate with how smart they are. our class' current val is a pure grind, got a 199 on her psat. in this year's graduating class, around 25-30 people were given "valedictorian commendation" for a 4.0 plus overall gpa. that class had no merit finalists, 2 semi-finalists, and 3 commended students. what i'm getting at is my rank should and probably will be higher.</p>

<p>SAT Scores
Critical Reading: 800
Math:670
Writing:800
2nd attempt
feels like i backed out of a 2300, should i take again or is that high enough?</p>

<p>ACT scores
English:35
Reading:35
Math:30
Science:33
Composite:33
3rd try</p>

<p>SAT IIs
math 2-760
literature-720</p>

<p>AP Scores:
Euro history-3 (highest score of anyone at my school last year, and only a few others got it. we have a terrible teacher and hardly anyone ever passes [around 4/20+ the year i took it)
Calc BC-took this year, got consistent 5s on practice tests, but misread an frq, so i'm not sure what to expect now.
Lit and comp- should be a five
physics- should be around a four, maybe five </p>

<p>Freshman Year
Enriched Biology-B,B (teacher did not like me, but i recieved higest grade on end of instruction, but can colleges see that?)
Contest speech-A,A
ok history/am govt (would have taken enriched, but did not fit in schedule)-A
yearbook staff-A,A
Enriched algebra 2-B,B
Enriched world literature-A,A</p>

<p>Sophmore Year
Enriched american literature-A,A
AP european history-A,A
Spanish-A,A
Enriched chemistry-A,A
precalculus-B,A
Astronomy 1 and 2-A,A</p>

<p>Junior Year
AP calc bc-A,A
AP physics-B(teacher 1st sem might have grade deflated. i had the highest grade),A
Spanish-A,A
AP lit and comp-A,A
Botany-A,A
Zoology-A,A</p>

<p>Senior Schedule
AP US Gov
Coop PE (no worthwhile academic classes that i haven't taken were available here. i also wanted to take this class, where we help out with our school's special olympic team)
AP Environmental Science
AP US History
Shakespeare
AP Chemistry</p>

<p>i've taken the hardest schedule i can.</p>

<p>ECs:
Student council rep(9th)
Yearbook staff(9th)
Academic team MVP(9th)
Contest speech (member of National Forensic League) (9th)
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Conference (RYLA), District 5750 Attendee (11th)
Winner of RYLA Integrity Award (11th)
JV cross country (9th)
JV track (9th, 10th)
Varsity track (11th)
JV football (10th)-never played a down of organized football in my life before sophomore year, and started at JV free safety. i was only 5'6" 130 at the time, so it wasn't like i just naturally fit. this experience will be my essay topic
Member of church and youth group (9th, 10th, 11th)
Church technichal volunteer (9th, 10th, 11th)
Volunteer junior high tutor (11th)
Church mission trips to Florida, Alabama, and Mexico
i go to a 6A school, so varsity letters aren't anything to sneeze at.</p>

<p>Work:
Radio sports board operator (10th, 11th)</p>

<p>All honor societies, honor rolls as long as possible</p>

<p>recs will be great, pm me with your email and i'll send you my essay.
i'm going to the stanford summer college this summer.</p>

<p>i'll apply to all these schools:</p>

<p>SMU (safety)
Columbia
Georgetown
Northwestern
UChicago
Penn
Rice
Stanford
Swarthmore
Yale</p>

<p>don't make me beg...</p>

<p>Add more safeties. And most of your ECs are JUST 9th or JUST 11th, which doesn't bode well. </p>

<p>Your scores are good, but I'd be interested in your unweighted GPA. Your class rank isn't great either. Especially in a school with only 2 semifinalists and 3 commended students. Schools are more willing to look deeper in a school that's competitive. Because yours isn't, not being at the tippy top will hurt you.</p>

<p>In addition, your 3 on the European History AP (a class where you got an A) implies a lot of grade inflation at your school.</p>

<p>You need safeties. Apply to two (at most) Ivies/New Ivies and revamp your list. </p>

<p>Rice is probably a good bet. And SMU is probably a good bet too. But you're out of state for both, so your chances do diminish a bit. The others are big reaches for everyone, but given your rank and lack of hook, they become super reaches. Swarthmore, Columbia, UChicago, and Stanford are super picky about their applicants. And your ECs just don't put you in the thick of it.</p>

<p>You have no chance for Stanford if you're out of state. I've seen much more accomplished kids (accepted to HYP, national merit finalsts, presidential scholars) rejected by them.</p>

<p>Do research. Look at LACs: Kenyon, Rollins, Rhodes, Vanderbilt. They'll love your test scores but be much more forgiving about your ECs.</p>

<p>i hate to sound unappreciative(believe me, i'm not), but i have a hard time believing my outlook is that bleak. you really think i can't even count on smu? any other opinions?</p>

<p>My UW GPA is 3.8.</p>

<p>SMU (safety): 80%
Columbia: 10%
Georgetown: 15%
Northwestern: 15%
UChicago: 30% if you write amazing essays
Penn: 12%
Rice: 50%
Stanford: 5%
Swarthmore: 15%
Yale: 5%</p>