Chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Middle income, both parents
Ethnicity: Asian</p>

<p>SAT I (Old): 1510 760M, 750V
SAT IIs yet to be taken</p>

<p>AP:
US History 5
World History 5</p>

<p>GPA weighted (4.78)
Unweighted (3.98)
Class rank: 6 out of about 450 (above average high school in Lexington, Kentucky)</p>

<p>Clubs:
Mu Alpha Theta- 10, 11
Speech Team- 9
Academic Team- 11
French Honor Society- 10, 11
Orchestra- 9, 10, 11, 12
Math Honors- 12
Chess Club- 9, 10, 11
ASIA Club-12
Science Honors-12</p>

<p>Leadership:
Treasurer- Symphonic Orchestra
Vice President- Mu Alpha Theta</p>

<p>Awards:
Advanced Geometry Award
Advanced Algebra II Award
Advanced Precalculus Award
Mason and Hanger College Incentive Fund
Optimist Respect for Law Award
Academic Team-Governor’s Cup (social studies) 5th place district
5th place regional
State Top 20
4 distinguished solos- Kentucky Music Education Association
Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship</p>

<p>AP Courses:
AP World History-10
AP US History-11
AP Statistics-12
AP Calculus-12
AP Chemistry-12
AP English Language-11
AP English Literature-12
AP Physics-11, 12
AP Biology-11</p>

<p>Other:
Tutor for Mu Alpha Theta (2 years) and Math Honors (1 year)
Assistant Concertmaster of Symphonic Orchestra (2 years)
Violin private lessons (10 years)- also performed several times a year for different groups
Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra (5 years)</p>

<p>hopefuls:
MIT
Harvard
Stanford (EA)
Princeton</p>

<p>Safeties:
Vanderbilt
Berkeley
Dartmouth
Columbia
Brown</p>

<p>Comments? What are my chances?</p>

2

<p>Vanderbilt, Berkley, Columbia, Dartmouth, and Brown as safeties? You're kidding, right? Those schools are all huge, huge reaches for you, not to mention the other schools on your list which are super-reaches. Find some match schools and some real safeties... you'll thank yourself later. ;)</p>

3

<p>Also, you will probably need to take the new SAT as it does not look like you took the old SAT II Writing. Check your colleges for specific requirements.</p>

<p>And I agree - you don't have any matches or safeties on your list.</p>

4

<p>i think a 1510 and 6 out of 450 warrant her some matches.</p>

5

<p>Why the hell are those schools that he listed "huge huge reaches", are you like, seriously mentally slow koala, or is it that you honestly live on CC. They are not huge reaches for him. Out of the schools he listed, Vanderbilt, Berkeley, Dartmouth and Brown are all matches, yes MATCHES. Columbia and his hopefuls are all reaches, not huge reaches in any manner, just simply reaches. And he has no safeties, which he should get asap. But please, don't criticize him for being confident, and even that, his scores/ecs/course loads give credibility to his confidence. Super-reaches my a s s..</p>

6

<p>When you have a list of colleges with less than 25% acceptance rates, there is nothing "match" about them. I agree, he has the stats to be accepted, but nothing is guaranteed when these colleges have thousands of qualified applicants. I'll give him Vanderbilt as more of a match, but there are definitely no safeties on the list.</p>

<p>Goldfish, you will probably be accepted to some of the colleges on your list, but you would do well to add a safety to the list.</p>

7

<p>Ivies are matches for no one unless you have absolutely stellar credentials, which Goldfish does not have (no offense! they're great, it's just that unless you're an olympic athlete or national award winner, it's pretty dangerous to call Columbia/Dartmouth matches, much less safeties. In this case, those schools are definitely not matches). I stand by what I said... Harvard/Princeton/Stanford/MIT are super-reaches for most people, reaches for those with mind-blowing stats, and matches for no one. Read the acceptance/rejection threads for these schools if you don't believe me. It's really a wake-up call. And no, I am not criticizing... I am helping. This is going to be the hardest year for college admissions in history, and it's very, very risky to apply to only the schools on Goldfish's list.</p>

<p>And no, I am not mentally slow. :p</p>

8

<p>Um...so how about these safeties?:</p>

<p>UC-Berkley
Northwestern
Emory
Johns Hopkins</p>

9

<p>Anyway, take a look at this person and tell me what chances he has:</p>

<p>"Education James Madison High School (JMHS) - Vienna, Virginia
Academic Honors Current GPA: 4.109 (unweighted 4.0)
SAT - 2290 (Reading - 740; Math - 740; Writing - 800)
PSAT (Junior year) - 229 (Verbal - 80; Math - 69; Writing - 80)
AP Scholar with Distinction (World History - 5; Biology - 5; US History - 4; Statistics - 4; Spanish - 4; Government - tbd; Chemistry - tbd; English Lit. & Comp. - tbd; Calculus BC - tbd)</p>

<p>Honors/Awards Year (9,10,11,12)</p>

<p>International and National
Best of the Microbiology Category Award at the 2005 Intel International
Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona 11
(recognized in Science News magazine)
First Place Award in Microbiology at the 2005 Intel International
Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona 11
First Presenter from VA at the 2005 National Junior Science and Humanities 11
Symposium in San Diego, California.
Finalist at the 2004 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in 10
Portland, Oregon.
MIT will name a comet after me in recognition of Microbiology research 12
Indiana University Award for Outstanding Project at the 2005 Intel 11
International Science and Engineering Fair
Oregon State University Award for Outstanding Project at the 2005 Intel 11
International Science and Engineering Fair
University of Sciences in Philadelphia Award for Outstanding Project at 11
the 2005 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
AP Scholar with Distinction 12
National Merit Semi-finalist 12
National Young Leaders Conference Youth Leadership Award 11</p>

<p>State
First Place across all categories at the Virginia Junior Science 11
and Humanities Symposium
Silver Medal in the Remote Sensing category at the Virginia Science 11
Olympiad State Finals
Silver Medal in the Dynamic Planet category at the Virginia Science 11
Olympiad State Finals
First Place in the Microbiology Category at the Virginia Science and 11
Engineering Fair
United States Army Grand Prize at the Virginia Science and Engineering 11
Fair
Certificate of Excellence in Chemistry from The Chemical Society of 10
Washington
Virginia Biotechnology Association First Place Award at the VA Science 11
and Engineering Fair
Naval Science Award at the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair 11</p>

<p>Regional
Grand Prize at the Fairfax County Science and Engineering Fair 10,11
First Place in the Soils category at the Northern Virginia 11
Envirothon Competition
Third Place in the Aquatics category at the Northern Virginia 11
Envirothon Competition
Virginia Dental Association 2005 Regional Science Fair Science Talent 11
Award
Virginia Dental Association 2004 Regional Science Fair Grand Award 10
Patent and Trademark Office First Place Award in Biochemistry at the 10
Fairfax County Regional Science Fair</p>

<p>High School
First Place at the Madison High School Science Fair 9,10,11
Certificate of Outstanding Achievement in AP Biology 11
(awarded to the top 2 AP Biology students at Madison High School)
Certificate of Outstanding Achievement in the 2004-2005 Fairfax 11
County Math League (awarded to the top 2 performers of Madison
High School)
Madison Science Award 11
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Award for Leadership and 11
Innovation in Math and Science
George Washington University Medal for Excellence in Mathematics 11
and Science
Madison High School Outstanding Scientist Award 10
First Place Award in Madison High School Spanish Speaking Contest 9</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities
Activity Position Held Year (9,10,11,12)
Genetics Research Winner of numerous awards - listed above 9,10,11,12
Fossil Research Collector of thousands of marine fossils, 9,10,11,12
donator of specimens to the Calvert Marine
Museum, participator in digs with the VA
Museum of Natural History
Environmental Club Madison Representative to 10,11,12 the town of Vienna
Student Government Chairman on the Executive Board 11,12
Envirothon Team Specialist in Aquatics on the A Team 11,12
Spanish Honor Society Tutor 11,12
Science Olympiad Team Specialist on the A Team 11,12
(ranked #2 in VA)
VA Biotechnology Assoc. Honorary Member 11,12
Howard Hughes Medical 1 of 2 Madison High School Representatives 11
Institute Lectures on Science
Spanish Club Member 9
Music Violinist, Concert Orchestra (9) 9,10,11,12
Sports Tennis player (recreational) 9,10,11,12
Snorkeling Observer of marine life 9,10,11,12</p>

<p>Community Service Hours Committed Year (9,10,11,12)
Volunteer webmaster 10 hrs./week 11,12
Childcare provider of disabled children 5 hrs./2 months 9,10,11,12
Runner in the Relay for Life 30hrs./year 10</p>

<p>Work Experience Volunteer computer programmer for geneticist Dr. Michael Coble of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (June 2004 to present); have completed alpha version of web-based Java program to analyze input mitochondrial DNA sequences.</p>

<p>United Way Webmaster: Volunteer for Habersham County United Way, Georgia (September, 2004 to present)- designed, developed, and maintained informational web site for information exchange and annual fundraiser.</p>

<p>Cashier, host, fountain worker: Friendly's Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant in Oakton, Virginia (June-October 2003)."</p>

10

<p>goldfish, regarding your friend:</p>

<p>The long long list of credentials is in a way impressive, but take note that there is limited space on most applications.</p>

<p>Unless the person decides to include an obnoxious resumee.</p>

11

<p>Goldfish - those are still match/reaches.</p>

<p>Here's some examples:</p>

<p>Match:
Tufts
Boston College
Notre Dame
Georgetown
UNC-Chapel Hill</p>

<p>Safety:
Lehigh
American
Rutgers
Franklin and Marshall
Connecticut College</p>

12

<p>Might look at Duke.</p>

13

<p>Goldfish, that's "tupac"'s list. What's your point?</p>

<p>
[quote]

Um...so how about these safeties?:</p>

<p>UC-Berkley
Northwestern
Emory
Johns Hopkins

[/quote]

Ya those are still reaches for you</p>

14

<p>Goldfish, I don't think you are understanding what everyone here is telling you, you need real safeties, and now that I think about it you are quite ignorant in your approach to all of this, be realistic please. Koala, I'm sorry for my earlier remarks, it was just a bad day and sometimes I just get sick of people telling me that I can't get into a school just because it's too good, but that has nothing to do with you, so again, my apologies. As for Goldish, buddy you need to rethink your approach to this, you have a shot at these schools if you play the game the right way, or else you'll end up with no school to attend next fall.</p>

15

<p>please not another tupac chances thing.....</p>

16

<p>Vanderbilt, maybe is a match. Dartmouth and Brown? Forget it! Reaches. Reaches no matter HOW outstanding you are. 1600 valedictorian, still a reach.</p>

<p>If you don't live in California, Berkeley is also a MASSIVE reach.</p>

<p>You need to take the new SAT, because many schools will require either the new writing section or the writing SAT II, which you can no longer take. (Berkeley is one of them, I believe all Ivies do.) </p>

<p>You are setting yourself up for disappointment if you continue with this hubris. Yes, you are a very good math student. So are a lot of other people, who maybe have done math research, taken college level math courses, invented new math theorems, gotten 800s on their math SATs, etc etc. Do yourself a big favor, and get some real safeties.</p>

<p>You don't want to end up like Andi's son.</p>

17

<p>MIT- Rejected
Harvard-Rejected
Stanford (EA)-Rejected
Princeton-Rejected</p>

<p>Safeties:
Vanderbilt- Accepted
Berkeley- Rejected
Dartmouth- Accepted
Columbia-Rejected
Brown-Rejected</p>

<p>WAAAAYYY too many REACHES!!! Find some more matches/safties</p>

18

<p>Alright thanks for your advice guys</p>

19

<p>xindianx - it's all good. :)</p>