Do I have a shot?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm currently a junior at what is considered one of the two best public schools in the state. I'm currently taking:
Calculus BC
AP Latin Literature
AP European History
AP Chemistry
AP English literature
AP Statistics </p>

<p>GPA(uw): 3.8 (I think this is where I'll lose)
GPA(w): 4.67 </p>

<p>SAT: 1580 </p>

<p>AP tests: Biology - 5 ; AB calculus - 5; Microeconomics - 5; Macroeconomics - 5; Computer Science AB - 5; Comparitive Government and Politics - 4; Latin: Vergil - 5; Physics C - 5. </p>

<p>SAT II: Latin - 800; Physics - 800; Biology - 800; Math IIC - 800</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Competitively play squash at the national level
Various debate awards, did well at national tournaments, officer
Very active in quiz bowl, officer
Active in Model United Nations, officer
Writing club, editor of monthly paper
Assistant editor at newspaper </p>

<p>Academic awards:
Semi finals USAMO
Semi finals Physics Olympiad
National Merit Scholarship Semi Finalist
Internship at NIH, lot of research on biochemistry and genetics
Couple writing awards for articles </p>

<p>Other:
Indian(the asian kind) American
Legacy at Brown</p>

<p>Next year I'll probably be applying early to Yale, and then
Harvard, Princeton, Brown, NYU, Stanford, Berkeley, Bowdoin, MIT, Caltech, Dartmouth, Columbia, (University of Chicago), University of Pennsylvania(Wharton)</p>

<p>I'm mainly focusing on Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Wharton, and MIT. I'd say they're all reaches so far, so I'd like the evaluations of those more experienced than I. Any advice on what I could do in the future would be appreciatedI'm currently a junior at what is considered one of the two best public schools in the state. I'm currently taking:
Calculus BC
AP Latin Literature
AP European History
AP Chemistry
AP English literature
AP Statistics </p>

<p>GPA(uw): 3.8 (I think this is where I'll lose)
GPA(w): 4.67 </p>

<p>SAT: 1580 </p>

<p>AP tests: Biology - 5 ; AB calculus - 5; Microeconomics - 5; Macroeconomics - 5; Computer Science AB - 5; Comparitive Government and Politics - 4; Latin: Vergil - 5; Physics C - 5. </p>

<p>SAT II: Latin - 800; Physics - 800; Biology - 800; Math IIC - 800</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Competitively play squash at the national level
Various debate awards, did well at national tournaments, officer
Very active in quiz bowl, officer
Active in Model United Nations, officer
Writing club, editor of monthly paper
Assistant editor at newspaper </p>

<p>Academic awards:
Semi finals USAMO
Semi finals Physics Olympiad
National Merit Scholarship Semi Finalist
Internship at NIH, lot of research on biochemistry and genetics
Couple writing awards for articles </p>

<p>Reccomendations:
Absolutely oustanding, all three of them. </p>

<p>Other:
Indian(the asian kind) American
Legacy at Brown</p>

<p>Next year I'll probably be applying early to Yale, and then
Harvard, Princeton, Brown, NYU, Stanford, Berkeley, Bowdoin, MIT, Caltech, Dartmouth, Columbia, (University of Chicago), University of Pennsylvania(Wharton)</p>

<p>I'm mainly focusing on Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Wharton, and MIT. I'd say they're all reaches so far, so I'd like the evaluations of those more experienced than I. Any advice on what I could do in the future would be appreciated</p>

2

<p>quark: don't you have anything else better to do? haha how pathetic. let's make up crazy stats and make people think they're real!</p>

3

<p>and you posted your stats twice, because?</p>

4

<p>man..dos stats look a little too good to be true. if dey are true, i guess you can get in anywhere. but..yea ...to crazy of stats. these stats are like rigged or overexagerrated.</p>

5

<p>I think you have a great shot at your top choices, especially if you are good enough to play squash in college.</p>

6

<p>these stats arent that "too good to be true" the only "too good to be true" stats i saw was the native american in alaska with 2 1600.</p>

<p>LOL LOLOLOL.</p>

<p>btw, he is asian. how can it be fake</p>

7

<p>I really didn't expect to be accused of rigging my stats when the board has such a preponderance of stats that exceed mine. </p>

<p>Let me just elaborate a bit: My GPA, weighted and unweighted, is actually higher than it should be, primarily due to the system my high school uses. I'd actually expect it to be around 3.5 unweighted and maybe 4.5 weighted. I was never really that exceptional of a student, I spent most of my time on independent research in math and the sciences. In addition, I'm merely a good test taker, and the large amount of AP classes listed is again, a product of how the school allowed me to progress. </p>

<p>The physics and math stuff I did were really just me doing what I love to do. I have a passion for research and learning, and the school accomodated me in that aspect. </p>

<p>The extracurriculars aren't too great, anyway. Becoming an officer merely means that I was in the club for three years. Debate, MUN, and the quiz bowl were easy to be active in, since I just had to go to the occasional tournament or conference. I have a knack for public speaking, so those went well for me. </p>

<p>Oh yeah, most sorry about posting it twice. I had typed it up in Word and copied it in, apparently I copied it one time too many. Again, most sorry. </p>

<p>I hope I didn't aggravate anyone; my intention was certainly not to be facetious.</p>

8

<p>You'll definitely get into at least some of those schools. However, I highly recommend that you apply to one more safety school (just in case).</p>

9

<p>Your essays are really going to need to be good only because with so many accomplishments, your stats seem fabricated, really. When I say "good" I mean that they're going to need to make you sound more human and less like a well-oiled machine. Really, you're active in a lot of ECs, debate, model un, quiz bowl, writing, tons of research....but there's only so much time in a day. You need to emphasize what your passion is, and to avoid suspicion, you might want to acknowledge in one way or another that you don't spend as much time on the other stuff. (I'm guessing that's debate, model un etc because you have the science awards and internships)
just my opinion...</p>

<p>You're lucky your high school offers that many APs...AND allows you to take them in both your freshman and sophomore years...I had to go through a whole of trouble just to get myself into AP Bio and Calc AB sophomore year....</p>

<p>anyway...you'll be perfectly fine I'm sure.</p>

10

<p>Dude, do you ever have fun? seen any good movies lately?</p>

<p>anyways. Your stats are near perfect. Just show the college people that you're a real person because it seems like you are a study machine. Write a witty essay and have good recs and you're on your way! =)</p>

11

<p>kitkato.. ur new to the forum. there are stats even perfect than this. well not many. but everyone here has a 1400 plus</p>

12

<p>Heh, actually, it took me a lot of work to get into AP Bio and AP Physics my sophomore year. I actually had to study AB calc on my own time, they only let me take pre calculus last year. The AP Economics and Computer Science classes were taken freshman year, primarily because the content isn't exactly the toughest stuff in the world. The AP Latin stuff is there because they had nowhere else to put me, due to the fact that I moved to a new school after taking Latin for a considerable amount of time in junior high. And for whatever reason, most good students take AP Comparitive Government and Politics sophomore year. </p>

<p>Many thanks for the advice on the essays, that was more or less what I was planning to do. My first love and passion is research, I've spent countless hours of extra time reading books on quantum physics and biochemistry. As I said, the other stuff never really took much time, maybe an hour after school each day, and the newspaper stuff was actually during school hours. </p>

<p>And any advice for any other safety school I should apply to? Aside from the top tier of schools, I've never been particularly sure of which school ranks where.</p>

13

<p>My school would never let anyone think of taking AP classes freshman year! And self-studying...? That's unheard of! </p>

<p>I'm planning on applying to JHU as a safety-ish. That might work - not to mention it's reputation in the biosciences is amazing...
Why exactly are you planning on applying to Wharton? Are you thinking about business?</p>

14

<p>Actually, I've had a real liking for economics and econometrics ever since I took those AP economics classes freshman year. Especially econometrics, it manages to combine my love for science, math, and pure data analysis. Wharton has excellent economics and finance courses to that end. I've also read the entire corporate finance textbook inside out, becoming an actual trader of stocks utterly fascinates me, working with a constantly fluctuating system and manipulating economics for the sake of pure profit. I think I get that interest from my father, who did his PhD in economics at Harvard, and got his undergrad degree at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He's currently a really successful consultant, and expects me to follow in his footsteps to some degree.</p>

<p>In addition, becoming a pure research sort alienates me from reading classical literature, which is basically how I cool off. I've pretty much read Princeton's entire set of books for English majors, primarily during vacations in India. </p>

<p>But yeah, my interests are far too varied. </p>

<p>I like the idea of JHU, its reputation in the sciences is among the best in the country. It seems a bit too good to be a safety, though, don't you think? </p>

<p>And to the guy who commented on seeing good movies lately, yeah, I have. Sideways, Aviator, Million Dollar Baby, Downfall, and Oldboy were all great films. I generally stick to the classics though, I'll never leave Dr. Strangelove ;) . </p>

<p>And I do have a lot of fun doing what I do. I'm only a study machine insofar as I do a lot of studying, it's not like I do it purely for the sake of going to a good college or university. Surprisingly, I do have a pretty good amount of friends, because so many kids at this school are similarly motivated and active. And I have a lot of fun during out of state debate or MUN conferences, or squash tournies. Meeting such a variety of people with interests that are similar is a great experience.</p>

15

<p>I've been told by many taht JHU is a safety for me (my SAT is 40 pts lower than yours + ECs are far less extensive though somehow, my schedule is always full). I have my doubts, but I know people who currently attend and others recently accepted whose stats are far lower than mine. I'm probably going to end up with a list similar to yours (it scares me to think I'll be competing with that type of perfection) safeties being probably 4 of - NYU, BU, UTexas- Austin, UChicago, UMich-Ann Arbor, JHU - the latter three being more iffy.</p>

<p>Your interests too varied. My problem is similar. I'm interested in economics as well, I'm also very much cut out to be a biochem student. I spend 20-25 hrs a week on debate, so I have that public speaking background too. I have to find something that combines all that...I've been thinking a lot about patent law, but I bet I wont be sure till I get there.
I've been thinking about self-studying for AP Econ (school doesn't offer it), but I'd have to find out about the policy for that and whatnot. </p>

<p>Vacations to India = reading classical literature? lol... My trips to India consist of waking up early to run around Calcutta visiting relatives I don't even know and buying clothes, books, food, trinkets to stock up on the waning collection at home. But maybe that's because my trips are about 2 weeks long, once every 4 years.</p>

<p>I've never enjoyed studying and I'm not very efficient at it anyway. I really don't understand why anyone would read a quantum physics book cover to cover. But I suppose one has to do what he likes.
Which out of state debate tournies have you gone to? Any big ones? Tournaments, I guess, are what you make of them. They can be stressful or fun depending on whom you're with and how competitive you are.</p>

<p>I'm always out of date on movies mainly because I like to watch more bollywood than hollywood. I havent seen any of the movies you mentioned. I saw Hitch, which was cutsey, but pleasant nonetheless...</p>

16

<p>The crazy thing is that i actually know a guy with better stats than you...and he got deferred from Harvard EA!?!?!?</p>

17

<p>Hehe, only one kid I know got into Harvard early from my school. He was actually the older brother of my best friend, so I knew him pretty well. He was the best type of genius, kind, offbeat, likeable, and incredibly, incredibly brilliant. He had attended RSI and was in the semifinals for the Intel talent search, Siemens Westinghouse, and won some other national science competition. He was one of those rare kids who never did a thing he did not want to do, and still got in. </p>

<p>On the other hand, I can't say I'd really want to go to Harvard, I'm just applying to see if I have what it takes to go to the most exclusive school in the country. The undergrad program seems pretty neglected there, I think I'd find myself much more satisfied at Princeton or Yale. </p>

<p>Anyway, I'll definitely apply to JHU, as a safety, if nothing else. I really liked the University of Chicago when I visited there, and University of Michigan - Ann Arbor was great as well. </p>

<p>I've been visiting India every summer and most winters since I was 7. I come from an old Brahmin family that moved to New Dehli and Goa from Allahabad a generation or so back. There's only so much time I can spend reading Sanskrit scrolls for my relatives. So, while we're in Goa (which generally takes the most time, it's just so nice to be there), I just go out back by the pool, dip my legs in the water and read until someone yells at me to come back in. I'm just that nerdy :)</p>

<p>I've been to a few out of state debate tournies, one at Princeton, Yale, and Harvard each, and then a bunch of local ones. I tend to be competitive once we're actually debating, but aside from that I'm pretty relaxed and goof off as much as possible. </p>

<p>I'm a pretty off beat guy with movies myself. Most of the movies I saw weren't seen by most people; I'm one of those fans of small, character based movies(though that hardly fits the Aviator). I could never stomach Bollywood, actually, it was always too long, drawn out, and overacted. Some people just love it, though, and far be it from me to reproach them.</p>