Easily in at Harvard, Right?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>J/k about the title.
Okay so tell me about my chances to be accepted to these schools: Harvard, MIT, Yale, UPenn, Duke, and UT. And beside the chances can you offer like a tip or two of your own to tell me how to boost my chances?</p>

<p>I want to major in chemistry.</p>

<p>Rank:13/476
GPA:3.86 UW, 5.54 W
SATs: 2070 (790 CR, 650 M, 630 W) (worst part of my app )
Ethnicity: Black</p>

<p>Work Experience</p>

<p>6/1/07-7/25/07 Target (Missouri City, TX) 30 hrs/week
6/7/08-8/22/08 16 hrs/week
Employee Food Ave.
Mitigate customer relations problems
Provide high-quality food service </p>

<p>Activities</p>

<p>10th-12th Elkins Forensics Team 30 hrs/week
Member(10th-11th), Team Captain(12th) 25 weeks/year
Participated in Lincoln-Douglass Debate and Extemporaneous Speaking
Instructed novice debaters </p>

<p>9th -10th Elkins High School Football Team 20 hrs/week
Linebacker, Kickoff, and Receiving Team 36 weeks/year
Directed the Defensive formation
(Quit because of wrist surgery) </p>

<p>11th-12th Science Honor Society 6 hrs/week
Member(11th), Parliamentarian(12th) 15 weeks/year
Judged local science fairs
Participated in community service for science related endeavors </p>

<p>11th-12th English Honor Society 6 hrs/week
Member(11th), Treasurer(12th) 6 weeks/year
Financial management for the society</p>

<p>11th-12th Mu Alpha Theta 6 hrs/week Member(11th-12th) 5 weeks/year
Competed in General Math and Science </p>

<p>Athletic Awards </p>

<p>9th District Runner-Up Football
2nd Place in district
10th District Champions Football
1st Place in district </p>

<p>Debate Awards</p>

<p>10th State Qualifier in Lincoln Douglass Debate
5th Place Team Texas Forensic League State Tournament
1st place UT Longhorn Classic Tournament
1st Place Aldine Debate Tournament
National Forensic League Distinction Honor </p>

<p>11th State Qualifier in Lincoln Douglass Debate
State Quarterfinalist Extemporaneous Speaking
3rd Place UIL District Extemporaneous Speaking
6th Place NFL District Extemporaneous Speaking
National Forensic League Special Distinction Honor </p>

<p>Science Fair Awards</p>

<p>9th Fort Bend Outstanding Achievement in Science Award </p>

<p>10th Fort Bend Outstanding Achievement in Science Award
Elkins High School Top Chemistry Student Honor</p>

<p>11th Evaluation of Photon Tunneling Probability by Spatial Variation published by The Society for Amateur Scientists
4th Place American Physics Society-Texas Chapter
Jacobs Technology Science Research Award
4th Place Science and Engineering Fair of Houston
Fort Bend Outstanding Achievement in Science Award
Elkins High School Top Chemistry Student Honor </p>

<p>Distinctive Research:</p>

<p>9th Quantitative Analysis of Electron Transition in Helium </p>

2

<p>What are your SATII's?</p>

<p>Assuming those are good, in at all except MIT probably--I doubt they will like the look of that SAT math score.</p>

3

<p>I have not taken the SAT 2s yet. But I am taking Literature, Math 2, and Chemistry.</p>

<p>I will probably get like 750 on Lit. and Math (my advanced math skills are pretty good), and like a 680 or so on chemistry.</p>

4

<p>You have a good shot at just about everywhere. Not to sound racist, but you ARE black and you also have a nice resume.</p>

5

<p>^^^Yeah I know about being black. My SATs are my concern, they are kind of like my kryptonite, my weakness.</p>

<p>Can you think of any schools with good financial aid that also have good chemistry programs to suggest?</p>

6

<p>Hi Dbate!</p>

<p>You had me there for a moment with that title of yours! It reminded me of some international applicant who was on the Chance thread a few days ago ... that kid was seriously a jerk... anyways, onto your eval: </p>

<p>You have done very well in high school with a UW 3.86. However, I don't see anywhere on your app about whether you took any AP classes or not. These days, most people do take AP classes in their HS years. Not having APs would make your 3.86 look ... well not as good. However, considering the fact that most people do take APs, I will eval you based on the assumption that you have taken APs. Your SATs are decent at a 2070; however, for a prospective applicant applying to the schools of your caliber, I do like to see at least a 2200. Whether you want to retake this or not is up to you; I personally would consider retaking it if you want a better shot at the top schools --- but you also need to keep in mind that senior year SATs aren't looked very highly upon by admission officers (admissions game is so complex!!!). I will note that chemistry does use math --- so having a good math score may be to your advantage. </p>

<p>On the other hand, your ECs/honors/research seem to be the golden part of your application. Following your football accident, from which you seem to rebounded really quickly by finding new ECs, you demonstrate great dedication and leadership in many areas. You are also a very accomplished debater and science student. I will note that school-wide honors do not account for much in college apps especially at Harvard/MIT etc so don't even bother listing them. Your research does sound very interesting and unique as well ... you should attach at least one of them to your app and provide them a summary of your research and why it's so important to you. </p>

<p>Any recommendations for apps?
Yes.
-Since you're interested in Chemistry, I highly recommend that you talk to your chemistry teacher about whether the school offers the US Chemistry Olympiad. It's a very worthwhile experience if you want to experience chemistry outside of the classroom. You'll start at the regional level (after nomination by school) then advance thereafter if you are a top scorer. (They also offer cash prizes ... we all love cash!)
-If you want to sharpen your math skills, I recommend that you take the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) 12. Check with your math teacher to see if your school offers this highly prestigious test (It's very highly regarded by MIT). All I can say about this test is that it's not your typical HS math test.
-Last minute options? Do well on your essays. Reveal to admission officers about your true passions and what you truly like to enjoy doing. (This may also include working at Target LOL ... anything!!!) They want to learn about who you are ... because they want to make sure that the person they accept is human ... not some machine earning good grades and high test scores. Be yourself and be genuine. If you don't like anything and you pretend to like something, they'll know.
-About your research: Which research do you like best? If you find that a piece of research you did is especially interesting, feel free to submit it to Intel STS or Siemens Competition (google it!) ... they're highly prestigious competitions that give out scholarships of up to $100,000 and MIT does really like this competition. </p>

<p>As for chemistry schools, the most respected programs here in the USA are: Caltech, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, Cornell, Northwestern ...</p>

<p>Texas-Austin also is a very good school in chemistry.</p>

<p>Overall, you're a pretty strong student who has obviously expressed a clear interest in school work especially in the sciences. Your inquistive nature will not go unnoticed. Also, you are also an URM, so your chances of admission will be alot better compared to other people here on CC. (heck, this is why I want to be a URM)</p>

<p>Chances:Your chances will be higher because of your URM status
Harvard: Reach (Hey it is for anyone right?)
MIT: Reach
Yale: Reach
UPenn: Slight reach
Duke: Match
UTexas-Austin: Safety match</p>

<p>Good luck!
-ab2013</p>

7

<p>^^^Thanks that was probably the most detalied chances I have ever seen.</p>

<p>About APs, I will have taken 11 by the time I graduate:English Lit, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Statistics, English Lang., Comp Sci, Government, Economics, Calculus, and US History.</p>

<p>About all the science stuff. My school is not good in science competitions, in fact I am the only person at my school who goes to science fairs, because of this I have had to go through the process of registering and everything all on my own (I even had to drive my submission to the place myself). I have done it all on my own. I also do not have connections at labs, so I taught myself everything (I have been researching every year since 8th grade, so over the years I have taught myself alot). </p>

<p>My biology teacher who went with me to the competitions is going to write one of my recommendations. And she has already told me she can not wait, so I know it will probably be good.</p>

8

<p>You remind me of a guy I know from the Science Fair of Houston. :) Is your name J by a chance ? :)</p>

9

<p>My name is Jordon. Was it the physics section?</p>

10

<p>Oh man cindy, how was state? Did you place?</p>

11

<p>I didn't go to state because I had another major commitment on that day. I did go to the International Science Fair though. :)</p>

12

<p>^^So how did ISEF go? Did the person who got third go to state in your place? I wish I could have placed :(.</p>

13

<p>Bump anyone else have any suggestions or comments?</p>

14

<p>Wow ... I can tell you're really hard core in physics/science ... </p>

<p>But the fact that you go to such great lengths to register science fairs and stuff like that shows alot of dedication and initiative ... that's a really outstanding job on your part. </p>

<p>Anyways, you're welcome!!!</p>

15

<p>Does anyone think I may fair better at Stanford? I hear that they are less test score oriented and maybe therefore I have a better chance. What do yall think?</p>

16

<p>*fare better.</p>

<p>just kidding who cares its the Internet.</p>

<p>You have a good chance at all those places. I do not think that Stanford is any less score oriented than Harvard, yale, or whatever.</p>

<p>also, you should definetely get into UT, as they have a top 10 percent rule lol and not that high sat ranges.</p>

<p>chance me too please</p>

17

<p>Elkins forensics?</p>

<p>Say hi to Cockroft and Joey for me.</p>

18

<p>^^Wow, that is wierd. Do I know you?</p>