Chances! Woo!

<h2>Some background - I moved from Tulsa, OK to McKinney, TX the summer before my junior year. Pretty much dropped everything and left to, frankly, an uber-uncompetitive school (approx. 50% go to state schools, 25% community college, 10% out of state/private, 15% don't go to college). my old school was fairly competitive - 15 or so to Ivies, many to privates, large majority to state schools, and a small percentage didn't matriculate or went to community college. keep that in mind..thanks. </h2>

<p>Gender: M
Location: McKinney, TX
College Class Year: 2012
High School: Public
High School Type: never sends grads to top schools </p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.90</p>

<p>GPA - Weighted: 5.1ish on a 6 scale - the scale here is indescribably weird - pre-APs (Texas equivalent of Honors) are weighted the same as APs. but, wait! there's more! they use the actual grade in the class (a 93, for instance) to calculate the actual gpa for that class (e.g. 6 x .93 = 5.58 GPA for AP English..then they average all the GPAs for the final GPA). </p>

<p>Class Rank: 19
Class Size: 420</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>SAT I Math: 650
SAT I Critical Reading: 760</p>

<h2>SAT I Writing: 670</h2>

<h2>these are from my last SAT, but i hope the writing to jump a 100 points or so (horribly messed up the essay..without it i would've gotten high 700s, from the PSAT, at least). math..will hopefully be higher, can't really peg an accurate estimate.</h2>

<p>SAT II U.S. History: 680 -> Taking lit and physics after summer.</p>

<p>Significant Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Debate - (9-12): Captain/President (11-12). I think this is my strongest point. I went from a strong program in policy debate to a nonexistent program in McKinney. While there, I tripled the enrollment for next year, qualified to state, won districts, etc. I pretty much jumpstarted/created the program - training novices, recruiting people exhaustively, etc. (I don't mean to sound haughty, but I'm listing accomplishments, after all..it's hard not to..)</p>

<p>Soccer - (9, 11-12): Played on a club team for 10 years; Captain of JV (11); Varsity (12 - not sure about captaincy).</p>

<p>Key Club - (9-12): Lieutenant Governor (11-12)</p>

<p>Newspaper - Editor in Chief (12), Opinion Section Editor (11): It's a nationally ranked newspaper (top 1% or so of the country); we regularly compete with private schools in the area (St. Marks, etc); awarded prizes by the Columbia Press Assoc.</p>

<h2>National Honor Society - (11-12): Member. Organized community events, etc.</h2>

<h2>Volunteering - I volunteer a few hours a week at a YMCA. But by the time I'll apply, I'll have around 300-400 hours through various activities.</h2>

<p>Summer:</p>

<p>Attended Michigan State U debate camp (Sophomore Scholars Lab)</p>

<h2>This summer, I'll be teaching at a debate camp as a lab leader for two weeks. I will also work (haven't decided where, though. any suggestions?). Also, I'll be taking 3 classes online to fulfill graduation requirements. If I'm done with those in time, I'm thinking of taking higher level English classes at a nearby CC.</h2>

<h2>4 APs by the end of junior year. Most Rigorous courseload available. </h2>

<p>Most likely applying ED.
Recs should be excellent (English teacher, Physics teacher, and debate teacher)</p>

<p>Sorry for the length, but anything will be highly appreciated.</p>

<p>Haha, class size is 420.</p>

<p>Yes, definitely bump up those two SAT scores. Take a bunch of practice tests. Think about taking Math 2 C and at the very least, Math 1.</p>

<p>
[quote]
High School Type: never sends grads to top schools

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
Class Rank: 19

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
SAT I Math: 650
SAT I Critical Reading: 760
SAT I Writing: 670

[/quote]
</p>

<p>all of these things are holding you back at the moment, does your school not send anyone to top institutions because noone applies or because those who apply get rejected?</p>

<p>i think it's a mixture of both: there are certainly smart/capable/talented/whatever people attending, but at the same time, there aren't many of them. and those who do have good standardized testing scores/gpas/etc choose the full-ride at an instate college over applying out of state. though not all do, i think one girl is going to vassar. rice is generally the highest anyone's gone, though (in terms of selectivity).</p>

<p>also, i'm confident i can increase my scores. i'm not too worried about them. writing moreso than math. math will just require some time spent studying. ditto for the SAT IIs. and as for the ranking - i hope this isn't too much of a big deal because there is a legitimate reason for my low ranking - the funky grading system (i was 6/710ish at my old school). i think my counselor rec may be able to sort that out.</p>

<h2>however, is there anything i can do to make myself more appealing to columbia as an applicant? i hope he doesn't mind calling him out, but denzera (others too, but i remember his specifically) offers some particularly valuable nuggets of wisdom (from what i recall of his older posts). anyone have anything similar to add?</h2>

<p>if it matters, i also have some awards:</p>

<ol>
<li>state winner of USIP Peace Essay </li>
<li>2 perfect papers on the national latin exam; one silver medal</li>
<li>a handful of top speaker awards in debate, first place in random events.</li>
<li>a handful of newspaper awards: best editorial article in the dallas-ft.worth metroplex, etc.</li>
</ol>