Check me out :)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I've posted this in a college specific thread, but I'm interested to hear what people have to say...comments and criticisms, so please take the 15 seconds to read and comment this!</p>

<p>Profile:</p>

<p>Area: Chicago suburb, IL
School: Large, Public
Ethnicity: Hispanic, born in the Dominican Republic but a US citizen
Gender: F
Projected major: Engineering/Science</p>

<p>SAT I: 2380 (790 Math, 790 Writing, 800 Reading)
ACT: 35 composite (33 Eng/Writing Combined, can't remember all the breakdowns)
SAT Subjects: Chem-680, US History-670, Math IIC-740...retaking!
GPA: 5.03 weighted, 3.9/4 unweighted
Class Rank: 4/870</p>

<p>Have taken 6 APs since Sophomore year (only Euro offered Sophomore year)
Euro History:4, US History:3, Chem:4, Comparative Govt:4, Spanish:4, English Lang:5</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:
English AP: Literature, Calc AB AP, Bio AP, Physics AP, Computer Science AP, Gym/Consumer Economics (graduation requirements), Macro/Micro Economics AP</p>

<p>Extracurriculars/Awards: I know I don't have a lot...
*Gymnastics- huge commitment (have taken classes since around age 4, competed club ages 9-14, practiced 15 hr/wk, now do high school classes in the off-season for about 10 hr/wk, and have been on the varsity team since Soph year)
*Operation Snowball- Committee chair this year, staff member leading participants since Soph year, focuses on healthy lifestyles and relationships for teens, also active in community service as a group
*Peer tutoring: special education group sophomore year, end of last year and this year: students who are struggling in math/english classes
*National Honor Society- hopefully an officer, the meeting for that is next week..
*Spanish Honor Society
*Bausch & Lomb Award, given to one junior at our school for outstanding science performance
*National Merit Semifinalist (as far as I know...)</p>

<p>Colleges I plan on applying to: Harvard SCEA, Penn (Fisher or Engineering), Wash U, Northwestern, UIUC, U of Michigan, and possibly Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>I'm worried that I won't have a hook or something special about my application, and I was also wondering if I needed more safeties? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>you need more reaches.
"Consumer Electronics" is this a HS class now? What are they teaching you how to program a VCR?</p>

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<p>hah, no it's Consumer Economics, the basic bank, shopping, etc guide. It's a huge blowoff class at our school, but a necessity unless you pass out of it (which I missed by a couple questions, unfortunately).</p>

<p>Do you have any suggestions on reach schools? I've pretty much ruled out CA schools and MIT in my research, which I know eliminates a lot of the top engineering schools, but I also want other options. Thanks again!</p>

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<p>...anyone?</p>

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<p>UIUC, Carnegie Mellon and U Mich would probably be safe matches.</p>

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<p>if I'm aiming for H or Penn, is there anything I could do to help my app? </p>

<p>UIUC is the state school that ~90 seniors from my HS go to a year, so although it's great for engineering, I'm not all too excited about it, and I didn't absolutely love CMU when I visited...</p>

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<p>Rateapix for college potential? Where is the voting meter?</p>

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<p>Uh, you have a hook. You're Hispanic (that is, a URM), with a 2380 SAT, a 35 ACT, and you rank 4th in your class with a GPA of 3.94. On your stats alone, you're a competitive applicant to any Ivy, Stanford and every other top school. Combined with your URM status, you've essentially got a golden ticket, and, as long as your essays are reasonable, you'll be accepted at almost any school to which you apply.</p>

<p>My suggestion: Use the URM status for all it's worth. Harvard, for example, has a minority recruitment group in their Admissions office that recruits URM kids (I think they may even be listed on the Harvard website). My bet is all the other schools you're interested in have a similar group. Use the College Board to send your SAT scores to the colleges you're interested in, wait a bit, then contact the admissions offices (you may be able to go through the school websites) and let them know you're interested. When they connect your SAT scores with your URM status, all of those schools will be knocking down your door to get you to apply.</p>

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<p>^Damn, I wish I was a URM...</p>

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<p>Thanks guys! I've actually gotten a call from the minority recruitment at Harvard....I called them back (I was on vacation and missed the first call), but my call was never returned. Maybe I'll call again...</p>

<p>And I have an application essay written about being Hispanic, because my father is 100% Hispanic and my mother isn't at all (but she's fluent in the language and teaches at at 97% Mexican inner-city school; she absolutely loves the culture), but I haven't had regular contact with my father since he moved to the Dominican Republic, where I was born, about 10 years ago. So although I am very proud of my heritage, and am obviously Hispanic, I've had a very different experience than most URMs they're looking at. </p>

<p>Will this hurt my hook as a URM? I think my essay is very well written, it needs a little tweaking, but I've written about 3 essays already, and this one is my favorite so far....</p>

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<p>UCLA/UCB would be good safe matches for you.
UCSD would be a definite safety. So would UIUC and UMich (I very highly doubt you'll get rejected from either).
Johns Hopkins would be a high match.</p>

<p>HYPS, you're at a slight reach.</p>

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<p>thanks for the suggestions...I actually have thought about all of those schools. UIUC and UMich are the two safeties I'm applying to, but I've decided because of the distance and the weather/proximity to the ocean (meaning I would never be able to concentrate on my work :P), I'm not going to apply to any CA schools. Johns Hopkins I visited, but just didn't enjoy.</p>

<p>And I figured Harvard/Penn would be a reach, but when they admit such a low percentage of applicants, those schools are a reach for almost anyone, right?</p>

<p>Does anyone else have suggestions, or opinions about my essay topic?</p>

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<p>Alal438 - </p>

<p>If you got a call from Harvard's Minority Recruitment office, they are trying to recruit you. Really. And if Harvard is where you want to go, follow up on the phone call until you make contact. There's a catch here, though. Harvard, despite it's overall reputation, is not rated very highly for engineering. Here's what I wrote about that to another kid:</p>

<p>If it's engineering and physics you want, Harvard and Yale, for example, probably should not be on your list. You need to take some time and do some research, and select schools that fit your interests, style, size requirements, location requirements, and so on. First thing, find a copy of the August 28, 2006 edition of US News - the college listing edition. In the very back, there is a list of schools with the top undergraduate engineering programs. Here's the top 10 whose highest degree is a doctorate:</p>

<p>MIT
Stanford
UC - Berkely
Cal Tech
Georgia Institute of Technology
U of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
U of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Carnegie Mellon
Purdue - West Lafeyette
Cornell</p>

<p>Princeton is ranked 11th, in a tie with U of Texas, Austin...Harvard is rated 30th and Yale 43rd. </p>

<p>Of the other schools on your list:
Northwestern - 14
Penn - 30
Wash U - 39</p>

<p>I'm not sure how any of these schools stack up for science in general. MIT, Cal Tech, Standford, UC-Berkeley, Michigan, and Carnegies Mellon are very strong in the physical sciences. Wash U is very strong in bio sciences and has one of the best pre-med programs in the country. Other than that, I don't know.</p>

<p>On your URM status - </p>

<p>The fact that you haven't had any contact with your father for 10 years will not, I think, have any impact on your URM status. It's you the schools are interested in, after all, and if you are, as you say, obviously Hispanic, proud of your heritage, etc., then your relationship with your father is not germaine.</p>

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<p>alal438:</p>

<p>UCB/UCLA: Match (out of state, Engineering)</p>

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<p>A URM with your stats has a good shot anywhere.</p>

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<p>thanks guys! flopsy, I did mention earlier that I'm really not considering CA schools, although UCB and UCLA did interest me earlier in my college search.</p>

<p>and amptron, thanks for responding to my URM question, that makes me feel better :) And yea...I know that Harvard isn't ranked as highly as many other engineering schools...I just went there and absolutely loved it. For some reason, even though I think (I'm not certain though, that's another thing) I want to go into engineering, through visiting and looking at schools, I've eliminated so many of the top ones on your list for some reason or another. Schools like Harvard, Penn and WashU, minus the only good engineering programs, are the ones I feel as though I would fit in and enjoy the most...</p>

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<p>in everywhere</p>

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<p>hmm... knew it was fishy... only 1/2 URM... still... URM... but i wonder... how many 100% URMs score as high??? I'd like to see those numbers... same with national hispanic recognition... and national achievment... how many of them are 100% and not 1/2. or 1/4..? the only person at my school that got nat'l achievement is 1/2 black herself...</p>

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<p>fishy...but still good chances? and I have a feeling that at least at my school, very few, if any, of the 100% URMs come close to my scores (not to be conceited...)</p>

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<p>...<em>crickets</em> any one else have any opinions? :)</p>