Chances?

<p>I am currently a junior and I’m looking at some very competitive schools:
Brown
UPenn
Yale
Cornell
McGill
Brandeis</p>

<p>As of right now, my first choice is Brown. I’m interested in microbiology/chemistry.</p>

<p>I don’t know how different my school’s GPA system is, so I’ll explain it. Our GPA is weighted on a scale of 5; we multiply the number of credits, which is the number of times a class meets per week, by a quality point index and divide by the number of total credits. If you receive an A (we don’t have + or -) for high honors and AP classes, the QPI is 5. The QPI for honors classes is 4.5 and regular classes are 4. The QPI drops a point for each drop in letter grade (Bs=4,3.5,3). Because we are required to take gym, which is a regular class, and other honors classes during freshman year, it’s impossible to get a 5.0. The highest GPA possible is around a 4.75/4.8, but that’s very rare.</p>

<p>Objective:
White male
GPA: approximately 4.74-4.75 weighted, 4.0 unweighted
PSAT: 228
SAT: 2300 (740W, 780R, 780M)
SAT II: Chemistry-800
I’m going to take Math II and Biology in June</p>

<p>Freshman year:
Honors Bio (no HH): A
Algebra II high honors: A
French 3 honors (no HH): A
World Lit HH: A
Global Studies honors (no HH): A
Honors electives: A
Gym: A</p>

<p>Sophomore year:</p>

<p>APUSH1: A
French IV HH: A
English 10 HH: A
Trig/Calc HH: A
AP Music Theory: A
Chem honors (no HH): A
Gym: A</p>

<p>Junior year:
AP Bio: A
Macroeconomics HH: A
AP Lang and Comp: A
AP Calc BC: A
APUSH2: I’m getting an A, but I may get a B
AP French V: A
Gym: A</p>

<p>Projected Senior year courses:
AP Chem
AP Physics C (I or II)
AP World History
AP Lit and Comp
Calc III HH (post AP)
French VI HH (post AP)
Gym: A</p>

<p>By the time I graduate, I will have (hopefully) taken 11 AP classes.
Rank: Top 5% out of 500 (our school doesn’t individually rank, only up to the top 5%)</p>

<p>Subjective/Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>School of Visual and Performing Arts: Our school is known for the performing arts. For about 5 months of the school year, I go to rehearsal for both a musical review/showcase and a musical for three hours, usually every weekday from 3-6. This is a very big part of my life.</p>

<p>I’m in a selective a cappella group; about 50 kids tried out this year and 6 made it. We have rehearsal twice a week and we perform in the local area for free.</p>

<p>Violin for a year
Voice lessons every other weekend
Science scholar program freshman year
Garden State Equality Community Service
Hopefully a job this summer
National Honors Society</p>

<p>Clubs:</p>

<p>Gay/Straight Alliance every Monday
Food Director of the Save Darfur Club (meets every Tuesday)
Secretary of Science Olympiad (meets every other Tuesday); we made it to states this year!
Math League once a month
Chemistry Olympics
Vice President and Cofounder of French Club</p>

<p>Other ECs:</p>

<p>Cooking:
I’ve been cooking for many years and for a while I thought I wanted to be a chef. I’ve made over 100 chocolate bars for a Yale a cappella group, catered school events, and directed the food preparations for an event that made almost $3000 dollars for the Darfur Genocide victims. I’m also a contributor to a project that is attempting to bake 400,000 cookies to represent those killed in Darfur.</p>

<p>I founded and still lead an organization in which high school students prepare homemade food and sell it for charity around my town. I also made a website for it. We’ve raised over $350 dollars.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Edit: Co-president of Science Olympiad</p>

<p>You are definitely a worthy candidate. But honestly, for schools like Brown, it’s a toss-up. There was nothing more you could have done, yet you still might not get in.</p>

<p>How competitive is your high school? Where is it located?</p>

<p>It’s in the northeast (rather not say where exactly) and it’s pretty competitive. My school offers around 20 AP classes and a few dozen people get admitted to top tier schools each year.</p>

<p>Oh and thank you HighSchoolDropIn!</p>

<p>Update:</p>

<p>Math II: 740 (will retake)
Biology M: 800</p>

<p>Why Brown? What makes it a great school for you? What do you bring to it as a community? What do you want to do at Brown? That’ll matter a lot for your application - Brown cares a lot about fit.</p>

<p>I have a lot of reasons that I’ll put on my application, and not just the fact that Brown has an open curriculum.</p>

<p>Please do not retake the math II exam. Your scores won’t keep you out.</p>

<p>I’m not retaking math because I think it’s a bad score. It’s more for personal reasons. I finished and did better on all the practice tests I took, but I got really nervous on the actual test and I psyched myself out. I ran out of time and I had to leave 7 or 8 questions blank. I’ll probably retake it just because I know I can do better.</p>

<p>^That would be a waste of time, time that could be used elsewhere on your application, but do as you like.</p>

<p>I may or may not retake it, depending on how busy I am next year. I won’t retake it at the expense of my application.</p>

<p>But thank you for the advice!</p>

<p>Update:</p>

<p>I know AP scores aren’t as important as other aspects of an application, but I got my scores today:</p>

<p>Biology: 5
U.S. History: 5
Lang and Comp: 5
Calculus BC: 5
French: 4</p>

<p>If Brown is definitely your #1 choice, I highly suggest you apply ED, you’re a strong candidate, but even a stronger candidate if you apply ED.</p>

<p>I’m definitely considering it. I’m deciding between Brown and Cornell. Thank you for the advice.</p>