Extremely nervous, please help me.

Chance Me / Match Me!
21

<p>I have had very significant achievments at the local and state levels. There's nothing national level about my extracurriculars ... but while I can expect that getting into Harvard or Princeton is a big reach, I'd still like to get into a place like Duke, Columbia, UPenn, or Dartmouth. I would hope that I could do a lot better than Washington University in St. Louis, Emory, and Case Western. I do have schools that fall in that category on my college list, however.</p>

<p>I realize that the performance of a musical instrument may sound trite, but when you actually have significant achievements in it, and recognition from competitions, I think it's not just a bs extracurricular. I understand that many parents will merely put their kids in an orchestra, and that those kids will not achieve any distinction whatsoever. I have not achieved at the national level in those areas, but I certainly have achieved in a measurable manner.</p>

<p>75 kids go to RSI. Very few kids are MIT's MITE's, or NASA SHARP participants. Approximately ten thousand kids will matriculate as freshman to Ivy League schools this year. There's a tremendous disparity in this number. Yes, I know that there are miniorities, legacies, and recruited athletes. But even these people must have acceptable statistics. I can't see how everyone that goes to these schools falls into one of these categories.</p>

<p>At our number one public school in the state of NJ, I can think of only one person who has done something on the level of RSI. That person is, in my view, a shoo-in at Harvard.</p>

<p>I realize that Harvard may be either luck or fated, but I don't think it's fair to automatically stamp someone out of the Ivy League because extracurricularly, they haven't achieved on the top national level.</p>

<p>In any event, if one doesn't try, one certainly can't succed. If there are any more comments, I'd be glad to hear them.</p>

<p>And one more thing about my extracurriculars, they do take a tremendous amount of time. That's well documented on my application.</p>

<p>Joey</p>

22

<p>don't worry too much. you will get into at least one of them. If you have stats that high you will definatly not be thrown away.</p>

23

<p>ok Joe, seriously, chill the F out.</p>

<p>We are just messing with you.</p>

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<p>Yeah. I am too high strung -_-.</p>

<p>Joey</p>

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<p>Was not saying you have no chance, was saying you don' thave chances (60% etc as mentioned above).</p>

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<br>


<br>

<p>You say that as if those were bad schools...</p>

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<p>jpnrencipe, if you already believe that you're going to get into all those universities... and you're going to argue with anybody that attempts to say otherwise, then what's the point of this post....</p>

<p>You just want an ego-boost. If so, then here's some advice: Get over yourself.</p>

28

<p>
[quote]
jpnrencipe, if you already believe that you're going to get into all those universities... and you're going to argue with anybody that attempts to say otherwise, then what's the point of this post....</p>

<p>You just want an ego-boost. If so, then here's some advice: Get over yourself.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>ROFL. Clearly, you have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on or what the situation is like.</p>

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<p>By the way the Ivy's are not the best in everything. For example, if I wanted to major in Chemistry I'd much rather go to Purdue than say Princeton.</p>

<p>Also, Wash University etc. are like GREAT schools. Sometimes people die for Ivy's, in my opinion, the Ivy's only take a few ppl, now look around you. There are successful people all over, are they all from Ivy's? NO, in fact more than 3/4 aren't.</p>

30

<p>
[quote]
jpnrencipe, if you already believe that you're going to get into all those universities... and you're going to argue with anybody that attempts to say otherwise, then what's the point of this post....</p>

<p>You just want an ego-boost. If so, then here's some advice: Get over yourself.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I don't just "already believe" that I'm going to get into all of these schools. Admission at these schools is hardly guaranteed for anyone. I wanted to see what people thought my chances would be like.</p>

<p>I also happen to know a couple of people that posted on this thread IRL. I think you took what I posted in reply to their comments just a bit out of context ... since as they said later, when they said I had no chance ... they were messing around.</p>

<p>
[quote]
>>I would hope that I could do a lot better than Washington University in St. Louis, Emory, and Case Western.</p>

<p>You say that as if those were bad schools...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I wasn't saying Wash U was a bad school. I am merely suggesting that I should perhaps aim for colleges that are more of a reach.</p>

<p>I DO realize that at schools like Harvard and Princeton, saying that one's chances are 60%+ is overindulgent. I would, however, hope to recieve acceptance letters from at least some schools on par with the Ivy League.</p>

<p>Hope I haven't offended anyone here too much.</p>

<p>Joey</p>

31

<p>JP, do you go to Milburn?</p>

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<p>Nope ... I go to West Windsor.</p>

<p>Joey</p>

33

<p>oy. if you're nervous with THOSE stats i don't know what i should feel with mine. good luck!</p>

34

<p>Well, I looked at yours, and all of your GPA/SAT stuff seems really outstanding, and your ECs are interesting, so I wouldn't worry either!</p>

<p>Joey</p>

35

<p>jprencipe,</p>

<p>Im curious...
what kind of music competitions have you won?
Are they state, national or international?</p>

36

<p>State and local achievements.</p>

<p>Nothing national or international.</p>

<p>Joey</p>

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<p>Any other comments?</p>

<p>Joey</p>

38

<p>Anything else?</p>

<p>Joey</p>

39

<p>i read from somewhere that harvard uses a 1-5 scale (where 1 is the highest) to rate personal, academic, and extracurricular factors while princeton uses i think the 1-6 scale (or it may be 1-9), where 1 is also the highest. </p>

<p>an academic rating of one (which is rarely awarded) describes an applicant who achieved a 1500 or greater on the SAT, who is ranked #1 or 2 in the class, who has taken the most rigorous courseload, and who achieved scores of 800 on three SAT IIs, and scores of 5 on 5 or more AP exams (and/or, if applicable, the highest scores on at least 3 IB HL level exams). an extracurricular rating of one requires national recognition in something such as siemens, intel and the like. a personal rating of one is based on the student's contributions to the community and on the teacher recommendations (whether it says "best in teaching career" or best in so so years). if you care to average the academic, extracurricular and personal ratings, most admitted students will land a 2...in borderline cases even a 3. note that membership to many different clubs will get an applicant only a 4 but state or local recognition (depending on how prestigious it is), will get him/her a 2 or 3 being school president is a 3, which is the equivalent to being president of three clubs.</p>

<p>your ratings:
academic rating: little basis for judgment (please state rank, rigor of courseload)
extracurricular rating: 3 on harvard's scale. "passion" (for lack of a better word) not clearly shown.
personal rating: no basis for judgment</p>

<p>what ratings would you assign yourself, since you know yourself better than anyone does?</p>

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<p>I'm an academic 2 borderline on 1. By the end of my high school career, I will have taken 10 AP's, I've taken 4 SAT II's and gotten an 800 on 3 and a 790 on the last, got a 1520 on the SAT I's, and our school does NOT rank. But I have a 4.0 in a number of extremely difficult courses, I'll have taken 10 AP's by graduation. Unfortunately, I've only taken four AP exams. I also have recieved out-of-school academic recognition, which could perhaps bump me up, but I'm not 100% sure.</p>

<p>I thought when I listed all of my AP classes, and curriculum, and GPA (we don't rank, I should have said that), I was specific. But I certainly should have included that our school did not rank. Teacher reccomendations at our school are going to be looked upon differently than they are from most schools. Every year, we send multiple kids to Harvard. Not every one of these kids can possibly be "best in career". Perhaps I should recieve some of that special distinction in my history teacher's reccomendation, however. Rather, most of the very top of a particular year will go to a truly excellent school. We're #1 in the state, so the best in career bar is set much higher.</p>

<p>My extracurriculars in music have been very strong. I've been awarded numerous distinctions, state and locally. I think I'd get a 2, perhaps borderline on a 3, but I don't think I would just get a plain 3, since I've spent 15+ hours a week on music. Perhaps I wasn't as specific on the time committment as I should have been, but I have shown a significant passion for that area. Obviously not a 1. That's so hard to get, even for many Harvard admits.</p>

<p>Personal rating ... my teachers who wrote my recs and my counselor like me a lot, I think I'd get a 2. Certainly no lower than a 3.</p>

<p>I really appreciated your comments. This was very helpful for me, I really appreciate your time :).</p>

<p>Keey them coming :).</p>

<p>Joey</p>