Competitive college chances??..screwed up 9th grade

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am a rising junior and I am hoping to apply to MIT, Caltech, Stanford,and Duke. Since those colleges are extremely competitive, my "safety" colleges are UVA, Roanoke College, VTech, and William and Mary (which are all in-state).</p>

<p>General Info-
Female
live in VA
Junior
Intended major(s): At the moment, I am bordering between various areas that are in realms of of mathematics, biology/chemistry and physics (such as cryptography...).</p>

<p>Test scores:
SAT: I am planning on taking it in October but I took a practice one and had a 2210 my freshman year.
PSAT: 59CR, 70M, 60W =189 (I was sick the that day and actually fell asleep during the reading section, but I'll raise it this year)
SAT II: Math I (expecting a 700+) | Math II (expecting a 700+)
SSAT-2240
AMC (9th grade)- 81 (really low but I'll work on it over the summer)</p>

<p>Grades/Courses Taken/Class Rank:
GPA: 4.21 and 3.88(uw)
Class Rank: in the top 5%(my freshman year REALLY brought me down) although if I get straight A's in all the classes I plan to take I should be ~#2-5 at my school.
I've taken the most rigorous classes offered in my school and I think that I definitely got a 4 or 5 on the exams that I took this year (calc BC and physics b)</p>

<p>My freshman year: I had transferred schools and had,well, slacked off as well as not managed my time well. I have taken almost all honors/pre-ap and ended up w/a total of 4 b's in spanish 2(non pre-ap),english(pre-ap), world geography, and calculus(college). The sad part is that I missed the A by less then a point on 3 of them and if I had not transferred school's in the middle of my freshman year... Even though I've sucked it up and dealt w/it, it's still a bit disheartening.</p>

<p>Sophomore: All A's: Pre-AP Chem, AP Physics, AP Calc BC, Pre-AP english...</p>

<p>Junior: enrolled in AP Bio (debating whether I should take AP physics C instead though),AP Chem, AP language, AP Computer Science...</p>

<p>Extra Curricular:
Tutored and volunteered at orphanages and family homes in Russia(~150hrs) I am also planning to go to either Nepal or Thailand at the end of my Junior year for ~ 2weeks to teach at an orphanage there.
Debate& Forensics- was the co-captain at my previous school
Math club
Band and music in general- ~8-9 yrs experience
Quiz bowl-Varsity
I am planning to attend a summer math camp next summer such as ROSS, USA/Canada/ Matchcamp, or PROMYS
I am also currently undertaking a research project, to put it simply, in the fractal nature of changes induced by electromagnetic waves on cells and other living organisms. Once I finish though I'll probably start a new project to enter in the Intel Science fair( maybe along the lines of application</p>

<p>Getting into one of my priority colleges would be amazing (although not my main focus, I just want to study, learn and teach) and I would love to be surrounded by the energetic atmosphere of Caltech or MIT. Do you think I have a chance of being accepted? And what about my "safety" picks? Should I look for some with lower qualifications as well? Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>You are macromanaging your application too much. From the beginning, you have a lot of “expecting to raise” kind of stats. You shouldn’t trust yourself too much when it comes to these things, and its detrimental to just assume you’ll get certain scores. Next, you have no leadership. Co-captain for one or two years at your old debate team isn’t going to cut it. Also, keep in mind, “breadth not depth”. You should be very familiar with this phrase if you do debate. To turn something like debate into an EC, you need to be good. Not much else to say. Take it from a state champion policy debater. Your volunteer experience, to be quite frank, seems fake. 150 hours building homes in Russia and just 2 weeks teaching at Nepal OR Thailand? It doesn’t sound like you have a vested interest in the well-being of either Russians or any type of oppressed asians from your app. Don’t worry about your GPA, colleges will forgive your freshman year. Ask your GC to write your rank and GPA without your freshman year to show colleges your true worth. I wouldn’t waste time off of your junior summer to go to math camp. At that point, you need to be wrapping things up, I suggest investing time into that (admittedly impressive) research resume you got going there. Also, just a general comment. I am worried at the fact that you put UVA and W+M as your “safeties”. I think you are either highly underestimating those colleges or highly overestimating yourself. Do not set yourself up for failure; your standards are too high and I don’t think you have a full grasp of your position yet. That being said, I suggest spend your junior year finding your passions, rather than just building up accolade after accolade. You are too top heavy in your math and science ECs, and it will place you in a position where you are competing against people who have a better version of your stats; more and better math competitions as well as better science qualifications. Find something that reflects who you are and that will set you apart from all the rest of the science+math candidates.</p>

3

<p>I really enjoy math and teaching though. I have been tutoring and helping children since I have been in elementary school (I have family in Russia that I “visit” every summer and most of my family helps out at the orphanage(teach,cook,etc) since it nearby. I remember at one point there was an accident and we,as well as most of the village/town, had to help out for a whole week.) and I was actually looking forward to attending a mathcamp so that I could find out about the various topics (camps like USA/CANADA have guests speakers and students in a multitude of areas,such as game theory!!) and enjoy the atmosphere of being surrounded by people who have similar interests. Do you think I should focus on finding what exactly I like? The only thing is , the sciences are so inter-depended that I honestly don’t know if I can *settle down (although math is most definetly the foundation for my interests. Maybe look for a specific branch that fascinates me the most?)
When I said both Nepal and Thailand, I didn’t mean to sound as if I was planning my sunday brunch(quite the opposite, my family has been debating it since I was in middle school), it’s just those are the only two countries that I,we, have the opportunity to go due to group that my family helps out with.
I didn’t think I was focusing on any accolades except in math and science(which I have won awards such as 1st place,naval award…) and I have been involved with the arts,such as the piano and dance, for most of my life for the purpose of being purpose-less, in the sense of rigid structure, and just enjoying the arts. If I am not proficient with debate and forensics(I created the debate team at my school,w/my partner, for the purpose of learning how to speak publicly and it has definitely taught me much), should I just not mention it and just focus on the research and science-math? In response to your general comment, I have heard from many people that if you have good grades(mostly A’s and B’s and are in state) UVA and W+M aren’t hard to get in. It may seem ignorant but I judged it from there, and I actually took a more in-depth look at UVA and I didn’t realize it only a 1/3 acceptance rate. I haven’t looked at the specific stats for any colleges except Caltech, MIT and Stanford yet. Thank you! I would definitely take your advice on the talking to my GC, I didn’t even know you could do that, about my freshman grades, as well as focusing more in depth and taking a leadership positions in my areas of interest! Also, do you recommend that I put every research project that I have done or just the ones thatI am the most interested about?</p>

4

<ol>
<li>You’re in the wrong section (try What’s My Chances and College Search and Selection).</li>
<li>Even if you weren’t in the wrong section, you’re in the 10th grade and you have yet to take the SAT’s. There’s no way any of us can give you a remotely accurate prediction about your likelihood to get into the schools you posted.</li>
</ol>

5

<p>Thank you!</p>