<p>GPA: (UW) 3.9000 (W) 4.677 (5.1 at graduation)
Will graduate summa cum laude (with highest honor), top 5% (top 10/451 students), and with a "Laureate Diploma," which is the most rigorous diploma in my school district that requires a 10,000 word thesis (mine will be on either gay rights, bioethics, or censorship in film and literature) & powerpoint, and passing at least 6 AP courses.
AP's: 11 AP's total in just about every subject. I didn't pass one, and it's in a prospective major. :/
Grades: I received these B's... One in 8th grade (as a lazy student) in Spanish, and one in Geometry honors (I had a terrible teacher). And no, this isn't a self-serving bias, it's true. Also, my school screwed up its grading policy my junior year, so we switched to semester grading... I received one B for my final semester of APUSH (the rest was flawless).
EC's: president of Drama Club (a bunch of plays, performing arts department award, & various awards at district & state levels as well as eligibility for international competition), president of International Thespian Society sector at my school, president & founder of our Competitive Science Club (under consideration from MIT's prestigious high school science competition), president of the Gay/Straight Alliance (organized a regional dance as a safe haven for teens), historian of the Glee Club (performed at many baseball games, gigs), National Honor Society member, Academic Team competitor, Key Club member, Video Club member, GCHS film festival entry & nominee for best actor, volunteer at the local hospital (countless hours), acting director of a children's performing arts camp (many hours), library volunteer, surgical shadowing, volunteer for set construction of plays (years), tutor for students in every subject (many hours), and volunteer at fundraisers.
Recs: I will have great recs... My teachers are phenomenal, but I'm sure everyone will have them as well.
Classes: took regular courses my freshman year (no choice), but advanced to AP classes/honors the following year -- weakest point
ACT: 32 (superscored)
SAT: taking in June (better at the ACT...)
SAT II: American History (650) Math I (590)
Hook: 1st generation Cuban American in Florida, hard income situation, and I'm gay (the latter shouldn't help, but it explains a lot on my resume haha).</p>
<p>Also, this is for early decision…</p>
<p>Your chances look good–the weakest part about your application definitely seems to be your test scores. If I were you, I’d seriously consider retaking the SATIIs you took, and perhaps taking a third as well as a cushion. You should be aiming to get at least 700 for your subject tests. Your extracurriculars and grades look good. I’d also be careful to not seem too arrogant in your application (with your essay), as this posting seemed slightly arrogant, which can be off-putting.</p>
<p>@Nonsensical, thank you for the response. I apologize if I seemed arrogant…I honestly had no intention of doing that. Clearly, I seem a bit uneasy and unsure of my chances, so I definitely didn’t mean to sound that way. haha. </p>
<p>I see that we’re relatively the same age, so I wish you the best of luck at your college/university. :)</p>
<p>I think you have a pretty decent shot, with your URM status, socioeconomic, and first generation situation (all hooks). Some suggestions though:</p>
<p>1)your ec’s seem to be all over the place. I do see a trend in your acting though, focus majorly on that, emphasis all leadership and awards. Some stuff, like volunteering at hospital once, can be even left out.
2)Also focus on the gay/straight alliance thing, since that seems pretty important to you…at this point i would suggets writing your laureate paper on gay rights too, that emphasizes your passion for the subject
3)The science stuff seems great too. These 3 trends would be enough to make you seem like a well-rounded candidate. Remember, depth over breadth for ec’s…too many ec’s will raise a flag and admission officers will think you’re all over the place and isn’t focused on anything
4) In your case, I think your ACT score is good enough (what is your best one-setting score though?). If your AP scores are outstanding, it would boost your academic standing (what are your AP scores?), but if they’re bad (borderline 3’s), they can actually put you in a disadvantaged position, since you made almost all A’s in prospective classes (which means you technically should have made 4’s or 5’s on those corresponding AP exams). Do work on your SAT subject test though…those are just knowledge based (unlike SAT and ACT) so spending more time on just tested material can boost your scores a lot, take advantage of that.</p>
<p>Basically, I think if your AP scores were good (mostly 4’s and 5’), teacher recs are above average (which you say they seem to be), and essay is above average, I think you’ll get in! :D</p>