Delusional or Doable? Ivy Chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I really don’t know what to make of D’s chances at some of the top schools. Are they in her reach or would she be wasting her time. I'm mainly concerned about her EC's. How about UPenn, Yale, Cornell, Vanderbilt, U Wash/St. Luis? Others? Also, are we too cocky to think U of Florida is a safety school? (She’s interested in Chem E.) </p>

<p>Rising Florida senior
Caucasian female
SAT I 2220 CR 760 M 740 W 720
SAT II’s Math II 730 Chem 790
GPA 4.791 Weighted 3.977Unweighted
High School does not rank students.
Very large public school (class of 582) with large IB population (140ish) and also medical magnet program. </p>

<p>With all these high achievers in the school there’s a lot of competition for “leadership positions” and a VERY shy person such as my daughter is at a big disadvantage in these popularity contests. Add to that we live 14 miles from the school and she had 2 sisters in 2 other schools in totally opposite directions and Mom was in nursing school at the time, so after school clubs/activities were not possible because of transportation until daughter got her own car Junior year. </p>

<p>She is an IB student and as such her course load is basically dictated and is as rigorous as they come.</p>

<p>EC’s
Varsity Diving 10th grade - Districts 4th, Regions 9th
Varsity Diving 11th grade – Districts 4th, Regions 6th (broken foot 1st half of season)
Varsity Diving 12th grade (pending…. and with the POSSIBILITY of making States this year)
Humane Society Volunteer - 75 hrs
Hospice Volunteer – 120 hrs (so far)
Summer job at Panera Bread between Sophomore and Junior year.
Spanish Honor Society
School Committee Member that tracks volunteer hours and informs students of volunteer requirements</p>

<p>She is spending this summer diving with her club coach 6 days/wk (three of them twice/day), volunteering for Hospice, and helping out (working for?) her Dad doing documentation/technical writing for his CAD software business. </p>

<p>What do you think?</p>

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<p>Vanderbilt and Wash U. St. Louis are good, IMO. I go to an IB school and tons of people apply to Wash U but very few go. Admissions begs our counselors every year for students, both to apply and to accept, but most don't. So I see your daughter's chances as good according to the information you've given.</p>

<p>Cornell is a little better than so-so. UPenn (my first choice!) and Yale are definitely so-so. This is because with the Ivies, unless you have a 4.0 and perfect SATs and tons of perfect APs, you can't be admitted simply out of "nerdyness." Your daughter doesn't fit the bill (I'm sure she's thankful for that!) </p>

<p>Since swimming seems to take up a lot of her time, and she volunteers at the hospice, those are strong ECs. If she doesn't have other school-oriented activities, though (read: clubs) then it gets a little shaky. She'll be competing with people who have tons of ECs.</p>

<p>Lastly, teacher/counselor reccs are super important. How is she doing on that count? If she's doing great there (participates in class, talks to the teachers outside of class about things other than HW, has kept "in communication" on some level(s)) then she's off to a much better standing. If not... Also, if she records working with Dad as a hobby/EC/whatever-you-want-to-call-it, be wary; colleges don't like it when kids get a leg up just because mommy or daddy could. I know it's not very fair, but it's true. If it has consumed a lot of time/energy, then mention in an essay or interview or recc would do her good.</p>

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<p>And I don't think you're too cocky to think of U. Florida as a safety.</p>