Chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey CC! I’d really appreciate people to give me my chances for Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and Columbia, along with other schools of the same rank!

TEST SCORES
ACT: 34 (35E, 33M, 34R, 33S) and a 10 on the Writing test.
1460 PSAT 10
Took SAT recently, haven’t received scores yet

GPA
Freshman year: 3.98 UW GPA, 4.53 W GPA end of freshman year (3.97/4.56 S1 and 4.0/4.65 S2)
Sophomore year–4.0 UW/4.74 W GPA S1. Currently in S2.

Courses:
9th grade:
Honors Ancient Literature–1st semester A-/2nd semester A
Honors Biology–A+/A+
Honors Latin V–A+/A+
Honors Classical Rhetoric–A/A+
Western Civ I–A+/A+
Algebra II–A+/A+
Comparative art (semester course)–A+; American Music (other semester)–A+
10th grade:
Honors Rhetoric of Style–A+/currently A+
Honors Western Civ II–A/Currently A
Honors Medieval-Enlightenment Literature–A+/Currently A+
Honors/CIS Latin VI–A+/Currently A+
Honors Chemistry–A+/Currently A+
Pre-Calculus–A+/Currently A
Health–A+/Gym currently B because my teacher doesn’t enter anything until the last minute and I missed a couple days. But I’m not worried about it.

Junior year
AP Capstone: Seminar
Honors American History
AP Bio
Honors Genetics
Honors/CIS/AP Latin VII
CIS/AP Calculus AB
AP Literature

Senior year
AP Research (this is outside of class time–my school requires a senior thesis so I would just get AP credit for it)
Civics and Economics
AP Calc BC
AP Stats
AP Physics C
Honors Anatomy and Physiology/Honors Literature Elective
Honors Latin 8 (as long as it gets enough people)
If that doesn’t run, I will probably take either an AP Art class or CIS Greek 1)
Honors Post-Enlightenment Lit and Honors Melville: writer in detail (or whichever class runs–I really want to take poetry but I don’t think it’ll get enough people)

AP Tests (J=Junior year, S=Senior year)
Seminar-J
Lang-J
American History-J
Bio-J
Latin-J
Calc AB-J
Lit-J
Calc BC-S
Physics C-S
Stats-S
(and research, but that’s just a senior thesis)-S

Extracurriculars

MOCK TRIAL 9th-present. Competed at a respected international competition and got 3rd/28 teams October 2017. Will probably make top team next year (this year our top team placed high at nationals so we are really competitive)

MODEL ASSEMBLY–basically a mock State Congress/State government. Was voted Steering Committee Chair for my delegation this year (basically captain). 9th-present

Student Senate–elected position. One of 3 representatives of my grade. Was voted into office last May but didn’t start term until this school year. 10th–

Science Club–co-founder and co-president. Not competitive–a bunch of nerds sitting around and discussing scientific ideas once a week during lunch. I love it. 9th grade-present

USABO Team co-founder and co-president. Well… not even sure if you can call it a “team” given that the other co-founder is the only other person in it. Yikes. Started 10th grade.

Volunteering at local hospital emergency room–I really love doing this, and I will probably rack up 200+ hours by the time college apps come around. I have around 40 right now and started a few months ago. Honestly it’s always one of the highlights of my week. Will be doing a volunteering camp through the hospital this summer. Started 10th grade.

NHS–not that special. I’m committee leader of the Blood Drive…? Hoping to have a leadership position senior year. 10th

Rowing/crew–I’m really terrible at it but I love my team. Seriously–I have an 8:56 2k as a lightweight girl. It’s bad. But I’m medium-tall so at least that helps I think? Started summer after 8th

Neuroscience summer camp. Week-long day-camp…Kind of selective, but not anything to brag about. But it was really fun. Not sure if I should include this on college apps. Summer after 9th.

Volunteering on political campaigns–attorney general and two congressmen–I haven’t actually done any work for these campaigns yet but hopefully I will at some point? I also intend to volunteer on presidential campaigns once the candidates for 2020 are set in stone

Students Demand Action–just got involved in this group. Students for gun safety–we talk to legislators, help organize protests etc. I haven’t done anything with this group yet though due to schedule conflicts.

Teacher recs:
should be glowing. I love all of my teachers (except freshman lit ugh) and have good relationships with all of them. Pretty sure I know who I’m gonna have write my letters already–one teacher even offered to earlier this year

Awards/certificates:

Varsity letter in Mock Trial 2017-18

My state’s Bar Association Certificate of Merit for 2017 Mock Trial

Outstanding Attorney Award at a trial invitational competition 2017

Member of a team that placed 3rd at that same invitational in 2018

3 Silver medals on National Latin Exam (took levels 2, 3, and 4 Prose). Took 5 Prose this year and got a gold.

My team placed 3rd/28 at that international mock trial comp I mentioned above.

Class Rank
My school doesn’t do class rank, but I’m the only person in my class of 64 people to take 5 honors (the maximum amount sophomore year) so I think I am probably the #1 student bc of that.

Essays: I’m generally a pretty strong writer so I think they’ll be good. I plan on starting them this summer.

Schools I’m interested in:
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Stanford
Boston University (mostly because Robert Pinsky is a professor there and his translation of Dante’s Inferno changed my life, and I’m not even religious)
Georgetown
George Washington
Fordham
NYU

I’m a sophomore so I still have time for improvement. Please give me tips!! Thanks! Please don’t post hate or judgment for my goals–I have my own reasons for the goals I set for myself and I really just want honest opinions on chances, not my lifestyle :slight_smile: I understand that some may have issues with a sophomore thinking about college admissions but I honestly genuinely love learning and education and do not feel that I’m putting too much pressure on myself. <3 Also I don’t want to sound pompous lol I just want an accurate representation of what I’ll submit to these schools

2

You are obviously a very talented student with a multitude of extracurricular activities.
But, what is the goal beyond gaining admission to a prestigious university?
Do you see a unifying theme emerging central to who you are and who you hope to become? Or are you just “checking off the boxes” to appease an admissions officer?
The former is greatly preferable.

3

FWIW: Colleges understand that students taking a rigorous course schedule must spend 3 to 4 hours a night on homework. That leaves about 20 hours a week to devote to extracurricular activities. When you complete your EC list, college’s ask you to list your EC’s in order of importance to you – and they prefer students who have a passion for an activity and spend 3-6 hours each week on several activities, rather than students who have a laundry list of activities that they spend one or two hours a week on.

Here’s something you should BEFORE completing your Common App: spend a week adding up the time you spend in the bathroom, including showering and using the toilet. I guarantee it adds up to more than one hour a week. Bottom line: you should not list an EC that takes up less time than using the bathroom.

IMHO, an Admissions Officer at any of the colleges on your list is going to look at your EC’s and wonder how you possibly could do them all. Don’t believe me? Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96XL8vBBB7o

4

Your course list: are you in a private school? If so, your GC is your best ally.

I don’t think it’s too long an EC list. Clealy, you aren’t doing all this simultaneously. And you don’t need a “theme.” But we can’t judge the effectiveness without knowing what you’re headed for - humanities or premed?

But the bigger reality: you only have two years, no scores to back up the grades, some rigor yet to come.
Are you showing the right energies? Maybe. But other than classes and a few school-related ECs, you’re yet to be really tested.

There is no point starting essays after soph year. (I’m not sure why we’re lately seeing so many kids starting this so early. Iersonallt think starting them in junior spring is too early.) You haven’t had the growth spurt and various realizations that come in the next year. The essays are not a usual school or research project for teachers that you can get the jump on. Not before the attributes and experiences are formed.

And so, what you really need to do now is be looking at what your possible college targets look for, what they say, not hearsay, blogs or forums. Then you can start the process to understand how you will match, a year from now. And then see how your scores (including AP) turn out.

5

@Questar @gibby I was hoping that the “spike” I have would be law/politics. Mock trial, model assembly, and Student Senate all take up the most significant amount of extracurricular time out of these (during their respective “seasons”). I probably won’t list USABO because we do basically nothing there. Science Club is pretty time-consuming as well, as I have basically taken on all leadership there. A lot of these extracurriculars have different seasons so they work out rather nicely although they are mostly pretty time-consuming. Of course, if the campaigns I signed up to help on don’t get back to me, I won’t include them.

I don’t mean to shape my being around these specific schools, but I would like to get in because I do think they show a high level of academic drive and ability. If I don’t get in, it won’t be the end of the world! I have a dream of becoming a lawyer (probably… still considering medicine…) and I do all the extracurriculars and classes I have listed because I really crave knowledge (lol not in a Faustus kind of way, but I like to be “in the know” and my school has great teachers).

Thank you both!

6

Not just school clubs, despite awards. The campaign work would be good for pre-law/poli sci, but as you say, it’s not started. And you can’t expect to work for 3 people plus the presidential work. (Of course, this sort of engagement is good for this interest and, imo, should be done. But also some advocacy, in the community, the sort where you roll up your sleeves and have some effect.)

It’s not an issue when an applicant has disparate interests. Nor is the quantity of activities the issue, per se, but the role and impact one is having, (not just “titles.”) In the video, she notes a string of “pres” titles, without any indication of the substance. It’s the number of those titles that raises questions, not the variety or quantity of efforts. As you’ll learn, when you start to research colleges, leadership is a quality, more than just a string of titles.

7

That comes through.

Of course one has to try a variety of activities to find
those of special interest, and it certainly is beneficial to demonstrate that you have skill and enthusiasm in more than a few facets.

Keep the breadth you can - it’s not too much - but also use the coming years to continually hone in on the depth, so you have that unifying and genuine narrative to talk and write about: that is what will distinguish you from the kids who aimless participate in a scattershot
of activities because they think it will “look good.” It doesn’t, it just looks like they are robotically trying to get
accepted to college.

8

Your chances at Princeton are lousy :slight_smile: With a 5% acceptance rate, it’s going to come down to luck. OK, here’s my 2 cents. Your first consideration above anything else is cost. If you can’t afford it, you’re not going there no matter how prestigious the school is. Second, you can’t depend on generous financial aid from private schools. If they were generous to everyone, the school would run out of money. That’s Economics 101. You need some real safety schools that you know you can afford, like a school offering a scholarship. Also keep in mind that most kids don’t get their first pick on a college. Either they get rejected, or they find that they can’t afford it. That’s just life. If that’s the case, take what you have and be happy for your educational opportunity. That attitude would do you well in the career world.

9

I think that your chances for admission at BU, Fordham, and NYU are very good. The issue for them will be the cost. You need to run the NPC on each of them and see what it says, and find out whether your parents are okay with whatever the NPC says.

Your chances at “Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford” are probably not much different than the overall acceptance rate at each school. Your stats are excellent, but each of these schools gets a lot of applications from a lot of students with excellent stats, and most likely the majority of spots goes to students with various “hooks”.

MOST students are constrained by costs in terms of where they are able to attend university.

10

What will your personal statement include?

11

@coolguy40 In reference to the comment, "if they were generous to everyone, the school would run out of money, " Princeton has about $22 billion in its endowment and could in fact pay for all students if it so chose. Why they don’t remains somewhat of a mystery, but they have very deep pockets to be sure. Certainly it is important to run the numbers (the financial aid calculator was very close to the amount my son actually received) and I believe Harvard’s aid is similar. I am not familiar with the other schools the OP listed.

12

@Cantiger I would agree about the mystery part. That’s why I don’t generally trust elite private schools ability to provide a great education. There’s far too much money with far too little accountability. Public schools are almost as bad, but at least you get great football :slight_smile:

13

@margeu
This first question each interviewer will ask you is “Why do you want to attend X?” You want to be able to answer that question with more than “It’s a good university.” BU, Fordham, Columbia, NYU are all in large cities. Princeton is in a small town. Harvard, Columbia, and Stanford have large grad schools. Princeton is undergraduate focused. What do you want to major in? What are the strengths and weaknesses of that department at each university.

I disagree with coolguy40 on financial aid. Princeton’s policy is that Princeton will provide sufficient financial aid so that every student can graduate debt free. Students that I personally know have paid less to attend Princeton compared to our state universities. I expect that Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and perhaps Columbia have similar policies. I had read on CC that students have been disappointed with their FA from NYU. I think that it is great that you have started seriously thinking about college. Reading the online version of the student newspapers might be one way to understand the vibe of each university.

If you can visit the campus of each university in the summer. On one one trip visit Georgetown and GW. On another trip visit Princeton, Columbia, NYU, and Fordham. On a trip to New England you could visit Yale, Harvard, and BU. I can almost guarantee that you will feel that several universities seem “just right” and you will drop several from consideration. Good Luck!

14

I’m just a HS junior, so take everything I say with an infinite quantity of salt. That being said, your stats look great — however, I’m not really sure what definitive, singular, overarching passion holds you together (and from what I gather, colleges prefer more specialized applicants). Good luck — but don’t forget to enjoy your time in high school!

(On another note, I’m trying to teach myself Latin. Any tips?)

15

@dragonfury29 Copying down charts is great for memorizing Latin parts of speech! Honestly, knowing the grammar is the most important part—understanding constructions instead of memorizing vocab will really give a much more thorough understanding of the text. :slight_smile:

Also thanks for the feedback; I’ll try to work on developing a spike.

16

I think that you stand a very strong chance at all of those schools.

17

@margeu Thank you! That’s a great idea! (I LOVE grammar and hate the inanity of rote memorization!)

18

One potential hook you might have is crew. You said you’re not good at it. But somehow from now until the spring of your junior year if you significantly improve enough to catch the interest of the college coaches, it will be a very strong boost to your admission into the schools you listed. You have the grades and scores that will show to the admissions officer that you will be able to handle the academic workload in college. But there will be thousands of other students will similar outstanding stats as yours. Athletic recruitment offered by the coach offering you one of their slots will almost near guarantee you admissions. But it will take a lot of hard work, dedication, and personal sacrifices to be at a Division 1 level recruit. It certainly will not be easy, especially if you find yourself doing crew to just to get into a school. Any sports, (and any other activities and ECs for that matter), you will have to love what you are doing in order to excel and become among the best.

19

I remember you from last year and, as you predicted, would still tell you this is too early.

And essays should be done with the added maturity another year or more will bring.

20

You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are great. Write good essays and you could get accepted to any of these schools