Coming from a small and lackluster private school, please chance me!

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>My main concern and thus primary reason for starting a thread like this is that I attend a very small Catholic private school in northwestern Louisiana. There are only roughly 130 students in the high school, and there is pretty much a dearth of teachers and the ones who are actually up to the task of educating are vastly underpaid. The students are fairly smart but no one really has any ambition (I am not putting them down, they are my dearest friends, but seriously, 90 percent of the graduating class from this school seriously applies to one or two schools, both of which being either Louisiana Tech or LSU) and I am pretty much the oddball in a class of 34. Ever since I was very young I have had an uncanny dream to attend Harvard, and that is no exaggeration, although now I understand such a feat is very difficult but that idea is evidence of how high I set my ambitious goals and how much I yearn to learn and challenge myself in doing so. Now I'm in high school, and although I absolutely can't live without the friends I have made since kindergarten, I just have a horrible feeling that my school is not preparing me for admission to an elite college. I am the number one ranked student in my class (it isn't hard to figure out in a class so small), and as much as I try to push myself, there isn't much I can do with the fact that we have no option to choose a more rigorous class schedule and we have only one AP class in all four years of high school, US History. I really hope that next year I can convince my counselor to let me take several AP classes online with the Louisiana Virtual School program, but right now the outlook seems quite bleak in regards to my college preparation. </p>

<p>Ok wow, I am so sorry for writing that extremely long paragraph but I really wanted to let anyone who had the patience to read it know that I am very concerned about my collegiate future based not only on the lack of academic options but also of extra-curriculars (the town is extremely small as well, Natchitoches... about 25,000 people, or less). </p>

<p>So as for my stats - </p>

<p>I'm a caucasian male, by the way.</p>

<p>OBJECTIVE
GPA: 4.0
Class Rank: 1/34
SAT I: Math - 740, Critical Reading - 760, Writing - 800 (2300)
PSAT: Math - 78, Critical Reading - 78, Writing - 800 (236)
ACT: Math - 32, Reading - 34, English - 35, Science - 33, Writing - 12 (34)
PLAN: Math - 31, Reading - 31, English - 32, Science - 30 (31, highest is 32)
Courseload: Taking AP US History, apart from that, I am taking the only other courses offered for graduation and TOPS (the Louisiana financial aid program) at my school, and there are no honors courses offered. I am taking an online dual enrollment Advanced Math however. i am taking the most rigorous courses offered but they are no different from more than half of my class (the other half does not take AP or the dual enrollment class)</p>

<p>NOTES: Not that it really matters, but my SAT I, PSAT, ACT, and PLAN scores are the highest in the history of my school. I know this because the counselor informed me, and while it surely gives me no right to brag I feel proud of myself nonetheless, I hope this doesn't make me seem boastful. She says my scores will most likely qualify me for National Merit Scholar)</p>

<p>SUBJECTIVE
Extracurricular: </p>

<p>Piano: (10 years, including all years of high school and next year)
Piano is possibly my greatest passion, and I devote myself to the instrument many hours every week, I compose my own music and have won awards at Local, District, and State Talent Shows.</p>

<p>Writing: (9, 10, 11, 12) I have written stories since I was very young and it has always been my dream to write and publish novels. My english teacher says my writing is the best she has ever seen from a student and has submitted several of my essays into competitions and has used the same essays as aids to teach her classes.</p>

<p>Art: (9, 10, 11, 12) I have taken private art lessons since I was six and it is yet another one of my passions. I have countless competitions schoolwide and locally, but nothing internationally monumental.</p>

<p>Student Council (9, 10, 11, 12) Appointed SADD club rep Freshman Year, Elected President Elect Sophomore Year, President Junior Year and Senior Year (President-elect means that I was was an apprentice to the President and would take her place until I graduated. I don't understand who started that system but that was how it worked. As president I had to do so many things and being a leader of such an important aspect of my school has taught me a lot about putting up with obstacles and hard work.</p>

<p>Beta (10, 11, 12) Inducted Sophomore year with 4.0 GPA with 9 other students in Sophomore class (Freshman cannot be in the club) Was elected President Junior year. Participated in district, State, and National conventions, winning several competitions. I plan on running for State Officer next year. </p>

<p>4-H (9, 10, 11, 12) Possibly my favorite club, it has taught me so much about learning while serving the community. Elected Secretary in 9th, Vice President in 10th, Vice President in 11th.</p>

<p>FBLA (9, 10, 11, 12) </p>

<p>YACA (9, 10, 11, 12) Participated in several Art Conventions and won several awards. Appointed Club Leader (no official officer positions)</p>

<p>FCA (9, 10, 11, 12) Go Christian Athletes! </p>

<p>Drama Club (9, 10, 11, 12) I am the head of set design and also the Stage Director of our annual school plays.</p>

<p>Varsity Golf (9, 10,) The coach quit... and I was the only one who still wanted to be on the team and the principle simply said that there would no longer even be a team. I fought it but there isn't really anything a golf team can do with one player who wasn't really good.</p>

<p>Class President (9, 10, 11) I don't know if I will get it senior year but I love trying to make my class happy even though it is hard work.</p>

<p>Yearbook (11, 12) This is so much fun. I couldn't do it in my first two years because the graduation requirements and class scheduling disabled me from doing otherwise. </p>

<p>Community Service: I think I have calculated roughly 50 hours total. I know, not so hot.</p>

<p>Tutoring (9, 10, 11, 12) I've tutored peers in several subjects as well as this awesome little elementary kid that made me see how cool little kids could really be :)</p>

<p>Ok so there is pretty much all the important things I could think of, and I hope everyone who reads this realizes that I have not fabricated or exaggerated anything. I know it is risky trusting people on this site, but all I can say is that I am being honest. I don't really have any outstanding international recognition, so that is definitely my main weakness. Please let me know if you think I am on track for having any kind of chance at the following schools based my stats and situation: </p>

<p>I am extremely interested in Stanford, Harvard, Notre Dame, University of Southern California (USC), Columbia, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Duke, Yale, LSU, Rice, Northwestern, University of Michigan, and Boston University, as well as Boston College. </p>

<p>I am definitely wanting to apply to Stanford, Harvard, Notre Dame, USC, Vanderbilt, Tulane, and Duke.</p>

<p>Thank you so much everyone, sorry if this is SO LONG. I really am.</p>

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<p>haha kinda opposite from me. ALOT of clubs but not too much research stuff.</p>

<p>I would say that ur GPA, and SAT and ACT are very stellar and are a definite plus. and your commitment in clubs is also very impressive. I would say you have a decent shot at all your listed colleges except for perhaps</p>

<p>Stanford,
Harvard
Yale
Columbia</p>

<p>which i think is a reach for EVERYONE so apply away and hope for the best. write a kickbutt essay.</p>

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<p>but I would also warn you that for the common app there is only 7 slots for extracirricular stuff… so pick the ones that you feel are most important to you and/or most impressive</p>

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<p>Harv/Yale/Stanford-reaches, but they’re like that for everyone.
Colom-low reach
ND/USC/Dupe/NW-low reach/high match
BU/BC-low match</p>

<p>I can empathize with that feeling, that no one else has ambition.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/816994-chances-will-return.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/816994-chances-will-return.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Duke - Match/High Match
Columbia - High Match/Low Reach
Stanford- Low Reach
Harvard - Low Reach
Yale - Low Reach
Notre Dame - Match
Tulane - In
LSU - In
Vanderbilt - Match/High Match
Rice - High Match
Northwestern - High Match
Michigan - Low Match
BC - Low Match
BU - Low Match
USC - Low Match/Match</p>

<p>Maybe you can look into self-studying some AP exams. Considering you are taking advanced math courses then maybe you could self-study an easier AP like Stats or something like US Government which is generally considered easy. Psych I’ve heard is easy as well.</p>

<p>Also, for the common app, while there are only 7 slots for ECs there is also an area to list any excess ECs, so you aren’t definatley limited to 7. Out of the ones you have I would probably put Piano, Golf, Class Prez, YACA, Drama Club, Student Council, Yearbook/Tutoring as, at least to me, they come off as depicting you as well rounded and committed. Definatley mention you didn’t continue with golf because the school did not offer it anymore.</p>

<p>Also, try and get those community service hours up. If you can get around 100 hours then it won’t be looked upon as a negative when you the application gets through. Obviously if it interferes with other ECs then it is understandable, but shouldn’t you be getting Comm. Service hours for tutoring?</p>

<p>Hope this helped, chance back if you can: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/806870-senior-worried-about-chances-top-southern-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/806870-senior-worried-about-chances-top-southern-schools.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>i would say that to put Harvard, Stanford yale, Columbia as match to low reach… is not accurate at all… i think its a high reach for almost everyone</p>

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<p>Yeah when it comes down to it I will have to choose the ECs that I am most passionate about, no doubt. And I’ll have to look at where I was calculating the hours, I may have considered the tutoring with it, if not, I can probably add another 35 hours +. </p>

<p>Thank you so much for the advice and chances so far! I was mostly worried about the rigor of my coursework, because I am confident that I am applying myself as hard as I can in everything I do, so I was afraid the school I go to would hold me back. Does my lack of any very prestigious awards and honors hold me back as well? </p>

<p>And if anyone wants to reply, if you want could you maybe suggest any other colleges that might be right for me. I understand without a doubt that getting into Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and even Columbia pretty much always comes down to things that really make a particular candidate stand out, and I just don’t think I have that quality :(, and I just don’t know what more I can do to attain such a quality. Maybe I could I try to get a book published, but the chances of that happening or less than getting accepted into these colleges hahaha! </p>

<p>I just needed so assurance that I was on the track to break a trend in my school and go to a dream college (not necessarily Harvard or Stanford, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, and USC are considered dream colleges to me as well,) and not just LSU. I don’t know what else I can do to make myself more attractive to Stanford (which is my ULTIMATE NUMBER ONE CHOICE DREAM COLLEGE) and Harvard, but after these months of worrying I’m starting to think that it would be better just to do what I am doing, work hard, and send in my application and hope (pray) for the best. Has anyone else found that this approach to applying to such selective schools actually works? Hahaa…</p>

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<p>I put the hardest of the three as Low Reaches, which, in my mind, signifies around 30%. That is where I feel he falls. Sue me.</p>

<p>To the OP. Your interests seem broad in scope and indicative of a more wholistic approach to the college process, so I would definatley recommend some of the smaller top-notch liberal arts colleges, or at least that you visit them. Each has something different that they hang their hats on, whether its Centre and their study abroad, Colby (I think its Colby), and their lobster dinners. I’m not even sure thats what your aiming for given your college list however. I recommend that with your stats you take some time out and visit as many colleges as possible to try and get a feel for where you want to go because over 95% of colleges will accept you no problem, and you have the luxury of finding a fit that isn’t necessarilly HYPS.</p>

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<p>Ahhh don’t fight! Haha, I’m honored that you even consider those schools a low reach for me. Thanks :)</p>

<p>And to YOU OP, I will be sure to keep that advice in mind and I certainly do need to look deeper into what college I want to attend.</p>

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<p>You may also want to consider U. Chicago, Brandeis, or Bowdoin, all of which I would say are high match/low reach for you.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/816994-chances-will-return.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/816994-chances-will-return.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I have definitely taken into consideration University of Chicago. Obviously I haven’t really thought about smaller liberal arts colleges, but I am completely open to doing more research on them. I can’t thank any of you enough for all this advice!</p>

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<p>I’m just letting anyone know that this is still open for more advice and chancing, so please continue and thank you again for the help.</p>

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<p>I have a friend, similar to you, who attended a dinky little Catholic school in Wisconsin that had no more than 140 students or so. He wasn’t even top of his class, but he had a 34 on the ACT and some other decent credentials. He got into Princeton. Sometimes I think that those schools occasionally actively seek exceptional students from dinky schools, though I haven no evidence to back that up.</p>

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<p>That’s promising…hahaha.</p>

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<p>Of course, there’s really no validity in anecdotes on here… my friend may have been one of the few people who get accepted for no reason at all. He certainly doesn’t understand why he was accepted, but he’s not complaining.</p>

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<p>I understand. Thanks for sharing. I think that might be one percentage point of hook for me, the fact that I come from a very small school in a very small town in a state that is not know for academic excellence. I don’t mean it is enough of a hook to even make a difference to these colleges, but it is something nonetheless. Slightly better than coming from more competitive states like California and Texas.</p>

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<p>I’m pretty sure Harvard requires two SAT II’s, have you taken those yet?</p>

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<p>Yes already registered for them but haven’t taken them yet, so who knows…</p>

<p>If anyone is willing to answer this particular question, please do. After reading about my situation and stats, is there anything you recommend I do to make myself more attractive to these extremely selective schools, or should I just keep doing what I am doing? Or, should I just not worry and hope for the best while still doing the best I can in everything I do? The websites for these elite colleges want me and everyone else to think they just want people who are ambitious and extremely passionate about academics and their activities, but thirty thousand of these ambitious, passionate people apply every year, so what, in your opinion, do you think it is that truly sets these people apart?</p>

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<p>The only thing you could do is to drop some ECs and focus on others, but I can’t ask you to do that because you have a right to enjoy yourself doing what you find appealing. The idea would be drop certain ECs to dedicate more stuff to others so maybe you can get elected into leadership positions in all of them or something, but again, I don’t recommend this.</p>

<p>Outside of taking college classes at a local community college the one thing I can recommend to you is to try and do some sort of research. In what or how to get it accomplished I have no idea, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about people who have research with a some credible organization in terms of application status. Either that or get a job.</p>

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<p>I think I’m going to really focus on my writing and try to something with it, I don’t know what but when I think about it writing is my greatest passion. Does that not seem as impressive as those who are passionate about the sciences? Agh, I just don’t know. The thing that I am best at is something that doesn’t really seem as impressive as being a math or science genius. Maybe my essay will be good for something… but I just can’t count on anything with these kind of acceptance rates. Phewww…</p>