Chancey, Chancey, Will You Chance Me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey, it would be lovely if you guys could give me some feedback on my chances of getting into colleges, as well as my college list. First some information:</p>

<p>STATS:
-Senior, Male, Asian, Parents Immigrated from China
-Private High School
-Unweighted Grade: 3.6 (Our school has honors only, all APs will be officially gone next year even though there are only two offered. So...no idea how to calculate weighted)
-Honors/Advanced English classes, History classes, French class, Math classes
-SAT I (1st time): (610 W/ 670 M/ 530 R) = 1810<br>
-SAT I (2nd time): (540 W/ 690 M/ 630 R) = 1860
-SAT I (3rd time): A third set of scores in October to come...
-SAT I (Combined): 1930
-SAT II: 570 US History, 680 Math II, 520 French (English Score to come in November)
-Class Rank: ? I'll find out in a couple of weeks</p>

<p>EC's:
-Senegal Initiative with school: went to Senegal and did family stay with a village for 3 weeks. I mainly taught teachers in the Senegalese village to use computers that my school donated and helped them integrate the computers into the curriculum. Other initiatives that the group did (and that I helped in) includes fixing broken chairs and tables in the school, putting up solar panels, planting a community garden, building a chicken coop, and distributing medicine with our trip doctor. Really rewarding stuff
-Volunteered as a CIT (counselor in training) with local National Park, worked with kids for 160 hours total
-Painting classes every weekend: impressionist oil painting
-"Showcase" at school, sold a couple prints for charity
-France w/ school: Home stay in Toulon, learned about French culture first hand
-JV Lacrosse (Frosh and Soph year), JV Tennis (Junior Yr, first year playing ever)
-Writer of "One Act" play which was made and put into a school festival
-School Philanthropy initiative: Mural work (soph yr) + Woodcarving for local park (jr yr)
-In general: ART (drawing for 14 years, painting for 5 years, oil painting for less than 1 year, photography for 2 years, printmaking for 2 years, architecture for less than 1 year, wood working for 3 years), Guitar (4 years - won a local contest, played with Weezer)</p>

<p>My grades aren't the hottest, especially my SAT scores. I hope I'll hit at least 1900 in my THIRD time taking the test. Sigh...</p>

<p>Anyways, I want to be a Psych major, Art minor. Here is my school list:</p>

<p>-Bard College
-Boston U
-UC Berkeley
-UCLA
-UC San Diego
-UC Santa Cruz
-Lewis and Clark College
-NYU
-Northeastern
-U of Puget Sound
-Reed College
-Willamette U</p>

<p>"Safety" schools are UCSC and Willamette. Are they safe enough? My first choices are UC Berkeley and Reed (drool, Reed). Any feedback is welcome, no matter how harsh.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>Well, your scores and academics aren’t so hot, as you put it. But welcome to CC. That’s how things roll around here. You’re plenty impressive enough in the real world. I think your list is relatively realistic though. You’ll get into some of the UCs, but I can’t say which since I don’t know enough. NYU could be a stretch, and Boston University might be a high match; it’s not nearly as difficult as Boston College. Erm…sorry, but I don’t know too much else. Wait for a more qualified chancer.</p>

3

<p>Thanks! I’m just happy that someone responded, but yeah, good to know about BU and BC</p>

4

<p>bumpbumpbump</p>

5

<p>UCSC would not be a safety with current stats, it’s a match. Is Willamette a financial safety too?</p>

6

<p>Yes, not the hottest scores or grades. Berkeley, NYU, Reed, etc. will be high reaches unless you get your scores up. I’m assuming you’re from California, so you will be an ORM from an over represented state, slimming down your chances at the privates. Unless you improve the SATs, I believe some of the privates listed will be unrealistic.</p>

<p>Your ECs are okay. Are you planning on submitting an art supplement anywhere?</p>

7

<p>Likely to get into UPS and maybe Willamette. I wouldn’t say Willamette would be a safety though-- I think UPS is easier to get into than WIllamette</p>

8

<p>Hmm thanks for the feedback. I’m basing all my opinions of schools from Naviance, and it shows me stats of other students from my school from past years, which is probably why there seems to be a difference on opinion in terms of safety schools and whatnot. I heard Reed looks more at essays than grades, so hopefully its not THAT much of a reach (cause, again, I really want to go there). According to the plot of kids from my school, the average GPA for UPS is 3.44 while Willamette is 3.37 and 21/25 were accepted to Willamette. I guess its not really a safety school though. Would something like Humboldt State University be better? </p>

<p>Lastly, any recommendations if there are some impossible reaches? Which ones should I switch out?</p>

9

<p>Oh, and yes, I’m from California. I am planning to submit an art supplement but am pretty confused about the process. I heard it could actually hurt you. I put some old sketches and prints in the “Show your portfolio” thread, so hopefully you guys can comment on that too.</p>

<p>So far, I learned that I have terrible grades and OK ECs in the context of my list. I thought I had pretty matchy schools too. Thats unfortunate. Are the schools on my list really that superficial about grades? Which schools are more holistic in their app approach? Please keep the comments coming though, I’m learning a lot</p>

<p>& sorry for the double post</p>

10

<p>bumpbump…</p>

11

<p>Schools like UPS and Willamette are having a harder time trying to enroll full pay students in this economy. If Naviance for your school shows kids with your stats getting in the last several years, you should have no problem.</p>

12

<p>Sweet, most Naviance scattergrams for these schools were favorable towards me - one reason I picked them. However, I’m lagging behind in terms of Reed. Historically, on average, the kids who got into Reed were 3.8 students with SAT scores around 2200. It looks especially bad on the scattergram :(</p>

13

<p>Any more chancing? Please, I could really use it!</p>

14

<p>Babababump</p>