Decent grades, SAT, not so good EC

<p>Edit:</p>

<p>Sex is... err... male, to the first poster</p>

<p>1st generation Russian immigrant; Born in Russia then came over, still fluent/literate in Russian, Dual Citizenship</p>

<p>Middle Middle Class income bracket (widowed parent, 60k b4 taxes, large family)</p>

<p>School: Relatively prestigious college prep, locally known to be far more difficult compared to surrounding public schools</p>

<p>Cumulative UW/W GPA: 3.885/4.332 (should go up come senior year to a 3.9/4.4 or so)</p>

<p>Intended Major: BioChem, Pre-med, off to projected General/Orthopedic surgery in Med School
Interests: Very much into reading (lit and philosophy, w/ occasional science thrown in), hiking, Biology, Number theory, math, animals, etc. etc. etc.</p>

<p>Course Load: Fairly Challenging; heavy emphasis on science</p>

<p>APs taken:
Chem - 4
US - 5
Engl Lang - 5
Euro - 4
Art (Drwaing) - 3
Bio - 5
Calc AB - 5</p>

<p>APs next year (projected 5s on all actual classes, mebbe a 4 on econ if I slack):
Calc BC
Micro/Macro Econ (self study)
Enviro (Self Study)
Psych
Lit
Physics B</p>

<p>Class Rank/Size: School doesn't rank but counselor says I'm def in top 5%, probably higher - Placement test taken at beginning of school year to get in had me at the top 5, w/ no higher brackets); Approx 240 students in grad class</p>

<p>PSAT: 220, expecting to be a NM finalist</p>

<p>-SAT I - 1 sitting
CR:800
M:800
W:710 (11, 67 subscores)</p>

<p>-SAT II scores - Taking Math 2, Bio, and some other one in Oct; math and Bio should be 800s, or pretty close</p>

<p>-ECs --
-Hospital Volunteering <a href="200+%20hours%20now,%20will%20be%20300+%20come%20app%20time%0A-Tutoring%20underprivileged%20inner%20city%20elementary%20school%20students%20%5B10%5D%20(40%20hours)%0A-St.%20Vincent%20De%20Paul%20Volunteering%20%5B11%5D%20(50%20hours)%0A-Frivolous%20clubs%20(NHS,%20NAHS,%20Environmental%20club,%20and%20a%20couple%20others%20-%20No%20leadership%20positions%20in%20them%20--%20eck)%0A-I%20should%20be%20a%20leader%20of%20two%20%22retreats%22%20come%20next%20year,%20wherein%20I%20and%20a%20couple%20of%20others%20will%20take%20some%20students%20north%20and%20give%20a%20bunch%20of%20talks,%20lead%20activities,%20host%20discussions,%20and%20plan%20everything%20in%20general%20-%201%20retreat%20is%205%20days%20long%20another%20is%204">10-12</a>
-Knowledgeable about Russian culture from living there (see summers for more info). Not sure if worth listing but hey, they want diversity, right?</p>

<p>-employment --
Going to a private school with a $13,000 tuition (I get an 11k scholarship to go there, no worries) requires that I participate in a "Work Study" Program by which I might work some of the tuition (usually about 1k a year) off. Summer before 9th grade I did construction and maintenance/repair, 10th grade I did odds and ends during the year (was a guide during conference nights, for example), before 11th I did Maintenance/Repair and worked at a snack bar, and before 12th (right now) I will again do maintenance and repair.</p>

<p>Summers - I also did summer school in the summers before 9th grade and 12th grade and went back to Russia for summers before 10th and 11th, where I stayed for ~2 months with my grandparents. This is in addition to the above work done during summers.</p>

<p>My essay will be killer, and my Recs will be very laudatory also</p>

<p>Ahem, this is where the colleges come in. Unfortunately, I haven't quite looked at very many colleges besides my in-state ones, and so was hoping for suggestions on what "tier" would be my reach, safety, and fit. So far, I've looked at:</p>

<p>The University of Arizona </p>

<p>Yep, that's pretty much it (I'm certain I'll make it in regularly, so I really want for this thread to be grounded in recommendations). I'm hoping to get the Flinn Scholarship, so maybe I'll rewrite that as:</p>

<p>The University of Arizona (Flinn)</p>

<p>Chance me? (and recommend prospective reaches, safeties, and fits)</p>

<p>OF COURSE YOU'LL GET IN!!!!
are you CURRRRAZY girl?!?!</p>

<p>Oh, and my most recent GPA (for Junior year) was a 4.0/4.7, next year should be similar. Freshman/Sophmore years don't offer m/any AP courses, so that kind of brings me down :(</p>

<p>honestly, you should got after some ivies
you DEFINITELY have a reallyreally good chance</p>

<p>Hmmm well it IS Oprah after all, so I'll agree with her</p>

<p>You got to be kidding me, you're worried....?!</p>

<p>WHOA. IS THAT A 1600 I SPOT IN THERE??????!!! >_<</p>

<p>amazing SAT scores. SAT 2's should be fine, too, and my advice: take Molecular for Bio SAT2 because the curve is better. :D And colleges like it better than Ecology, too. Shame about the 3 in Studio, it knocks the chances for the "AP Scholar" title but unless you're applying to an art/design school, it shouldn't matter at ALL. </p>

<p>Really, I think you can apply to anything...princeton, yale, you name it. the fact that you have a good GPA and amazing SAT scores is really great. EC's...hm, as long as you're not joining like 16 in your senior year I see no problem, as you have several that shows off the "leadership qualities" they're looking for. Great job on what you have done so far, keep it up, but make sure you hit the beach or relax during the summer! :)</p>

<p>p.s. dang, you're Russian? I'm so jealous. I love Russian accents.</p>