Do I have any chance at all?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>I want to know if I have any sort of chance at Brown. Please be honest.
I’m a junior at an extremely competitive high school.</p>

<p>Citizenship: German (my first language is German, my second language is English)</p>

<p>GPA:
3.93 unweighted.
My school does not rank, but I would be in the top 10%.</p>

<p>Rigor of classes:
Toughest curriculum possible at my school. We have a minimal number of honors and AP classes offered (last year in my history class we got 3 hours of homework a night and that wasn’t even honors). We also can’t take APs before junior year. But regardless. Honors: Chemistry, Latin IV, American Literature. AP: US History, Calculus AB. PLanned courses for next year: AP Latin V, Honors World Literature, AP Biology, class at Princeton University in history (I need to apply, but usually all applicants from my school get in)</p>

<p>Test scores:
PSAT: 207 (69 critical reading, 68 math, 70 writing)
SAT II: 760 in German
I plan to take the SAT II in Writing, Math II, and US History.
I plan to take the ACT. I got a 30 on my first practice test, and the class is supposed to improve your score by 4 points, so I’m hoping for a 32-34.</p>

<p>Academic Honors:
New Jersey Governor’s School nominee (haven’t gotten results back yet)
National Latin Exam- 3 time gold-medalist
Red-Ribbon Certificate (akin to Honor Roll) received at end of the year- both 9th and 10th grade
Certificate of Outstanding Academic Achievement: Algebra II, Latin II, Biology, Latin III, English 10 (British Literature), Modern European History
Certificate of High Achievement for National Science Olympiad in Biology
Science Bowl- semifinalists in New Jersey in 2006 competition
We also get many more honors at the end of the year, as my school awards different university and subject awards, and I should get some of those.</p>

<p>Sports:
Tennis- 3 years on junior varsity team, including 2 as number 1 singles and doubles. “Most Improved Player Award” in 10th grade.
Tae Kwon Do- 1st Degree Black Belt.
Skiing- 13 years.</p>

<p>Music:
Clarinet- 6 years.</p>

<p>School Clubs:
Model UN
Red Cross Club (vice-president)
Science Bowl
Summer Reading Committee (co-chair)
Young Democrats</p>

<p>Academic Activities:
Academic Summer Associates Oxford Session (1)- 1 month program at Oxford, classes taken in Western Civilization and International Relations (transcript included)</p>

<p>Community Service:
Volunteer at Mercer County Geriatric Center- 2 summers (total of about 80 hours)
Volunteer at Summer Stars (outreach program that works with young children)- 2 summers (total of about 60 hours)
Volunteer at Loaves and Fishes (soup kitchen)
Volunteer at StuArts (program that works with young children)- 2 summers (total of about 50 hours)
Walked and raised money for New Jersey Alzheimer’s Walk</p>

<p>Financial Aid:
Not planning to apply.</p>

2

<p>Ok, seriously, can someone reply? 40 people have viewed. I don't care if you tell me that it would be the apocalypse before I were admitted. </p>

<p>I would like to mention that my school is seriously insanely competitive- this year so far out of 40 girls in the graduating class (Catholic all-girls school) about 10 have gotten into Ivies or similar (2 to Yale, 2 to Penn, 1 to Cornell, 1 to Dartmouth, 1 to Georgetown, 1 to Williams, 1 to Johns Hopkins, and some more that I forget). The majority of these girls have worse records than me, at least academically, I don't know everything that they are involved in extracurricularly. Also, because we have only 160 people in our high school, clubs are scarce and there are not many opportunities for leadership positions.</p>

3

<p>you are on the right track!</p>

4

<p>But you can't take the SAT II in Writing anymore. Did you mean Literature?</p>

5

<p>No offense, but how did you score a 760 in German? I thought it's your first language? I think you have a decent chance, but pray that you won't be in the German pool, because that will be very competitive. Also are you applying for aid? If yes, it will lower your chances.</p>

6

<p>^^Yes, I meant Literature. Silly me.
^I was sick on test day and made some very stupid mistakes. Also I am horrible at standardized testing compared to my grades, and I get very nervous. It's actually difficult when it's your first language because you don't really think about the grammar when speaking it, and then when it comes up, when you haven't learned grammar formally since 3rd grade, you make silly mistakes. There's a German pool? I want to demonstrate that I can really speak German extremely well, is it allowed to write two copies of your essay, one in German and one in English? No, I'm not applying for financial aid. I live in Princeton, NJ, and go to a prep school where the tuition is 25000 a year. I don't think I'd be a candidate for financial aid.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone! :)</p>

7

<p>Now that's awesome news!!! Unless you have the US citizenship you will be in compared to the German students since you're according to their definition an international student. This means that you have just increased your chances significantly. I am German and I assure you that almost all the German applicants will apply for aid, so you have pretty good chances! Don't take this as an offense, but if I were you, I would retake the German test. They know how easy it is and honestly I finished it in 20 min and got a perfect score. An adcom from another top school actually told me that they expect a perfect score on any SAT II tests that are taken in your 1st language (and she also said that it's not a good idea to take it in your 1st language, but it's too late for your now). You want to stand out in the crowd, but not in this way, :-D. And no, you can't submit one of your essays in German, but you could send in, say, a research paper in German. They would probably give that to some professor and he'd give them some feedback about your work's quality. So yea, you're definitely on the right track but consider retaking the German test.</p>

8

<p>Yay. No, I would never consider applying for financial aid. I have a green card. Does the international definition still hold? No, I get that. I'll talk to my parents about it. Do they then see the original score as well? Do you have any advice for how to study- I went through one of those guide books, but it honestly didn't help much. No, I meant that I submit the same essay in both languages (and of course the supplement as well). My guidance counselor had one German girl who did that to get into Princeton and apparently it impressed the admissions committee that she made the effort to do that, and he believes it is one thing that really set her apart from other applicants and helped her get into Princeton. I haven't done any research papers in German (trust me, with the workload at my school there isn't even much time for outside reading), but I suppose I could write one over the summer. Thanks for all your help.</p>

9

<p>In my humble opinion: The German score is fine as is...it seems unnecessary to retake it (?); I think your stats and activities all look very good. You have as much of a chance as anyone can have. :) I'm sure you already know, but I suggest working on your essays to try to make them stand out.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

10

<p>Thank you.:)
Oh, I should mention that I want to study history. Thus wanting to take a history course at Princeton next year in addition to International Relations (my school is being stupid and isn't offering AP Euro)
I figured I should post an explanation of my extracurriculars.
Tennis, Tae Kwon Do, and skiing are pretty self explanatory. So moving on:
Model UN: prepare for and attend Rutgers Model United Nations and Rutgers Model Congress events. The preparation includes researching a country or state and it's views on a particular topic (I've at this point had nuclear weapons, landmines, extraordinary rendition, and transparency of the budget). It's hard to win awards there as you only get them for getting the most resolutions passed. While I have helped write some resolutions, I've had bad luck in my country and state for the two times I've attended (other things such as college trips have conflicted the other two times)- Syria for the nuclear weapons and landmines, and New Hampshire (a Republican state) in a committee dominated by Democrats. Thus, there was not really an opportunity to distinguish myself there.
Red Cross- I teach first aid to young children, am on the fundraising committee of the Youth Council, help raise awareness for the club in my school by putting up signs and talking to people, am my school's representative for this year's Dance-A-Thon (the New Jersey youth council's biggest event), and help coordinate numerous other smaller events.
Science Bowl- I practice for the Science Bowl competition, make notes for my fellow teammates on special topics to prepare for the competition, and participate
Summer Reading Committee- put together the entire high school summer reading list, research each book, categorize each book, write anotations, come up with summer reading projects, and presented the new book list to the high school last year.
Young Democrats- this is my new club this year, and we really haven't done much- we discuss current political issues, and we had all these protests and vigils and so on planned, but somehow they haven't materialized yet. The president is my best friend, and I hate to be mean, but she is more of the person who does things that look great on the surface (such as being president) but then never actually does much beneath the surface.
Mercer County Geriatric Center- I can get a great recommendation here. I talk to the residents (I've even skipped my own lunch hour on many occasions to talk to the residents and comfort them), feed Alzheimer's patients, play games, lead them in aerobic exercises, lead Mass and prayer services and even do the sermon on occasion, and I'm currently planning a clarinet concert for the residents.
Summer Stars- I taught young children from Trenton math, reading, science, art, clarinet, etc.
StuArts- assist teachers in teaching young children art, music, drama, tennis, etc.
I think the others are pretty self-explanatory. I just found out today that we won the "Most Spirited Team Award" on the Alzheimer's Walk.</p>

11

<p>w t f you made the exact same post in the Yale forum.</p>

<p>just calm down and have fun your junior year.</p>

12

<p>I know I did. They happen to me my ideal colleges, and I want to know if I have any shot. At least I'm not someone who is going to apply to all Ivies. They are the only ones (of the Ivies that is) that I want to apply to.</p>

<p>Believe me, I'm actually a well-balanced person. Last year I was absolutely insane, did hours on end of pointless studying (I mean that I got up at 4 to do unrequired study guides that served no purpose because I had already studied before making the study guides and didn't learn anything by making them, resulting in a loss of sleep and actually worse results because I was slowly going insane). Since then, I've mellowed out. I realize that there is only so much I can do. I have a strong inner calm, I'm not incredibly stressed out about college, I accept that everything works out the way it is meant to. I actually have a lot of fun doing everything I do (even the homework), and I enjoy life.</p>

13

<p>"I know I did"- Lol, for the OP good chances, I guess but it's still a "crapshoot".</p>

14

<p>Why is that so funny? It was an acknowledgment of a fact. I'm probably missing it because of my lacking sense of humor. Well, I believe I have no sense of humor, others actually tell me that I am funny at times. I suppose I am oblivious to this. :D
Thanks. :)</p>

15

<p>Anyone else? Please? :)</p>

16

<p>Bump.........</p>

17

<p>Bump, again, sorry...</p>

18

<p>I think SAT2 German score will not help you if not hurt you. However, you probably can cover it with CR scores if it is high enough.</p>

<p>I don't think you 1st Dan in Taekwondo will influence the admission decision. You should stick with tennis since it is the activity that you have participated longest.</p>

<p>Last thing I want to say is that you cannot chance Ivies. High scores and good ECs do matter but it is essays and recommendations that show your personality.</p>

19

<p>try not to sound so boring and narrow-mined in the interview.</p>

20

<p>^^Thanks. I do love tennis a lot more and dedicate more time to it (well, now I've broken my wrist and am out for 3 months, which really sucks), but I still view my blackbelt as an accomplishment because it shows hard work (3+ years of Tae Kwon Do), discipline, fitness, mental strength (both to defeat people in sparring and simply in memorizing the forms), and dedication. It won't influence in that they will recruit me for Tae Kwon Do or anything, but it is dedication to an EC.
Thanks!:)
^Oh, I'm nowhere near an interview yet. But I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!:)</p>

<p>Oh, right, I forgot to put on there that I've volunteered at the Special Olympics for 30 hours also. Oh, and I'm now a finalist for the governor's school.:)</p>