Do I have a chance at Brown, Yale, and Stanford?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>It's almost the end of junior year (just a few more weeks!), and I'm supposed to be doing college research this summer. I was wondering if I'd be up for consideration at: Brown, Yale, and Stanford, given my stats. Of course, there are other schools on my list, and I'm not "in love" with any one of them.</p>

<p>TESTING
• SAT: 2190, CR + Math 1430. (I do not plan to retake.)
• ACT: took in April, will find out scores later (if composite is higher than 32, I will send ACT instead)</p>

<p>• SAT Subject Tests:
Bio - 650
Math I - 640
In the fall: Chinese, Math II, (Literature)</p>

<p>• AP exams: US History, English Lang & Comp this year</p>

<p>GRADES
• GPA: 3.9 (weighted; I don't know unweighted)
As and Bs</p>

<p>CLASSES
• APs:
-Junior year: AP US History
-Senior year: AP Biology, AP Chinese, AB Calculus, AP English Lit & Comp
Note: I'm only taking Lang & Comp exam because our school doesn't offer the class.</p>

<p>EXTRA CURRICULAR
• 5 years of viola (including private lessons)
• 5 years of school orchestra (currently principal of the highest level offered; our school has 7 orchestras for different levels of ability)
• 3 years of state youth symphony (currently principal of the most advanced youth symphony)
• 5 years, on and off, of chamber music (usually fill in for people who quit)
• 1 year of volunteer work at a musical therapy organization</p>

<p>P.S. I'm not too worried about the essays. I can probably pull something out. :-)</p>

<p>COLLEGES: In addition to Brown, Yale, and Stanford (though I'm thinking about dropping Yale) --</p>

<p>Wellesley College
Hamilton College (thinking about dropping this one too)
Smith College
Middlebury College
UChicago
Swarthmore College
Pomona College</p>

<p>I have heard these are all excellent schools and competition is fierce, so I'm a bit nervous. ^^; Thank you so much for reading!</p>

2

<p>Your GPA and SAT’s aren’t great. Your EC’s are pretty weak, all you have is music, but I’m not sure how big that will be. I think you should get into most besides Pomona and Brown, Yale Stanford.</p>

3

<p>@bobtheboy: Thanks for the feedback. I am a bit lop-sided, not well-rounded like most CC’ers. :-)</p>

4

<p>Would anyone else like to share opinion?</p>

5

<p>Brown: Reach
Yale: Huge Reach
Stanford: Huge Reach
Wellesley College: Low Reach
Hamilton College: High Match/Low Reach
Smith College: Not sure maybe Match
Middlebury College: Low Reach
UChicago: Low Reach
Swarthmore College: Reach
Pomona College: Reach</p>

<p>Your only exceptional EC is music but, in terms of the elite schools, it isn’t that exceptional. Basically, the problem I see is that you are not well rounded (a significant portion of these schools’ acceptances) and your ‘spike’ isn’t impressive to the degree these schools have come to expect from their music applicants (Carnegie Hall, International Competitions, Nationals, etc).</p>

<p>On the other hand, if you have a hook (URM or low-income), you can drop each predication by maybe a level. (i.e high match -> match).</p>

6

<p>@originalthought: Ah, I see. I’m not too thrilled about music competitions, but I know what you mean. I don’t have any hooks (legacy, URM, first-gen, etc.), but I’ll see what I can do. I appreciate your feedback!</p>

7

<p>Try ed to brown. It is the easiest of stanford yale brown. Your gpa is a bit week for your very light course load. Also I would retake sats if I were u 2190 is a bit too low</p>

8

<p>You need safeties. I do not see any on your list. I do not think you will get into Yale or Stanford with As and Bs and with those SAT II tests. Brown is even a high reach. Their admit rate has really come down. You may want to add Barnard to your list. You will have a better chance at all girl schools.</p>

9

<p>@traincat: I will think about ED.</p>

<p>@oldfort: I have safeties (state universities). I didn’t bother to include them because they are solids. And I have looked at Barnard, but it doesn’t look like a good fit for me. I appreciate the suggestion, though! :-D</p>

10

<p>The reason I like my score of 2190 is that it’s the exact same score as my PSAT one. lol 219</p>

11

<p>Your GPA is good, but your SAT could be higher. Brown is one of the more stat-driven Ivies so it may be tough to get in their with that SAT so I’d call it a reach. Stanford is pretty similar in that regard and Yale is a high reach. </p>

<p>Wellesley College: High match
Smith College: High match
Middlebury College: Reach
UChicago: Reach
Swarthmore College: Reach
Pomona College: Low Reach</p>

<p>I think some colleges will admire your dedication to your music. There comes a point - and I think you’re at it - where “lop-sided” becomes “dedication.” That should help you to an extent. Good luck.</p>

12

<p>Thanks, msteiny1212! The SAT score does look low, but I’m not too worried about it because: 1) all section scores are above 700, and 2) my scores meet all of the schools’ averages.</p>

13

<p>This is in response to msteiny1212’s post.</p>

<p>Brown is actually less likely to look at stats than the other ivies. It loves lots of community service. All in all, you have to be well-rounded. But that’s the way it is with almost all other colleges, too.</p>

14

<p>Brown: High Reach
Yale: Huge Reach
Stanford: Huge Reach
Wellesley College: Low Reach
Hamilton College: High Match/Low Reach
Smith College: Reach/Low Reach
Middlebury College: Reach
UChicago: Reach
Swarthmore College: High Reach
Pomona College: High match/low reach</p>

<p>I’m basing this on stats from CP (a website like college confidential with good stat breakdowns but CC doesn’t let you post the name. lol), as well as the stats that Naviance showed for the admitted kids at my school. The averages for kids from my school accepted for all the colleges you posted are higher than yours, but you may be able to make a few of them if you get your GPA up a tiny bit more, try to do a few more ECs, do more volunteer/community service work, pull up your SAT I a tiny bit, pull up your SAT IIs (or have future ones be a bit higher) by around 50 points, do something meaningful this summer (get a job/start a small business/community service/internship/research), get great reccomendations from teachers and your guidance counselor, and write some really great essays! This may all seem like a lot to take in, but if you break it down and create some clear goals, you can most likely get into at least a few of these.</p>

<p>Good luck! And just remember: no matter where you end up, as long as you really work hard and try your best, you can do really well in life! If you do really well at a slightly lower college you can get into an amazing graduate school, and in the world nowadays, where you go to grad school is more imporatant than undergraduate college.</p>

15

<p>@born2dance94: I appreciate your thoughts. :-)</p>

16

<p>No problemo. Good luck again! And either way, the world is gonna end in 2012 so our grade will only ever attend one semester anyway. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: SENYAHS APOCALYPSE!!!</p>

17

<p>One poster mentioned being more well-rounded, which I definitely don’t recommend! Most top schools are now releasing information about how theya re trying to create a well-rounded student body, but are looking for students like yourself who are “well-lopsided”. You are a decent applicant, but like myself, not necessarily the cream of the crop. Just keep working at it. Maybe try to write your essays about something other than music, or get involved in at least one other thing. I would take the SAT again with some study time…you’d be surprised at how much you can improve with just a little bit of reading those self-study books!</p>

18

<p>Depends on how good your musical ability is, if you are the best musician ever, send a piece of your music in and see what happens, other than that your scores, gpa, and EC’s sort of suck really badly. apply to a public ivy, and I’m sure you’ll get in.</p>

<p>chance back please!!!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1159533-yale-ea-chance.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1159533-yale-ea-chance.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

19

<p>Honestly, those SAT I & II scores aren’t up to par w/ those very top schools. And gpa/class rank does’nt seem optimal. Before music, grades should be priority. So I wouldn’t be too hopeful.</p>

20

<p>Are you considering retaking the SAT IIs? Both Bio and Math 1 are under par. You said you’d be taking more, but also considering retaking the two or Math II to get those numbers into the mid-700s if you’re considering the Ivies.</p>