First chance thread-NEED SAFETIES

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Okay, so basically, I think that my sat/act is a weakness, I think about 60-70 percent I can achive a 34-35 or 2250+ based on recent practice tests. I need some matches!!! and perhaps safeties, since I am mainly applying to ivy league schools and direct bs md programs</p>

<p>Please be honest and brutal, and chance me for HYPMS, and then cornell, brown, upenn, dartmouth
Also, I need safeties/matches!
and finally, I am probably ED to brown plme (which i understand is ridiculously competitive, but still assess my chance)</p>

<p>Rank: 1/2 of 653 (I have been one since 10th grade , but they are updating ranks this week, so Im not sure what it will be-most likely one)
GPA: 3.8 Unweighted
4.54 Weighted</p>

<p>32 ACT
2120 SAT-retaking in serious hoppes of a 2300+
SAT IIs: 750 Math IIC, 760 Chem, 720 Biology (too low?)
APs: 5 APUSH, 5 Biology, 5 CALC AB, 5 CHEM, 4 Human geo</p>

<p>Major Awards/Important things (First of All, I want to focus on my interest in both humanities/arts and science, I am not dominant in either-but I think that combined, I am I well rounded candidate</p>

<p>My main passions are research and debate-both I have had success in relatively</p>

<p>Debate: 9-12 VP-12, Policy Captain, 11,10, Treasurer-11
-Several First Place local tourneys
-National Qualifier (11th)
-Wake Forest Octos (this year, lost in bid round)
-3rd and 2nd place State competition
-Hoping to win a bid at meadows tournamenty (qualify to TOC)</p>

<p>Research: 9-12 -My biggest concern is that I havent made it to ISEF yet, I am hoping for siemens, but chance me as if I wont win that
State Science Fair: 1st place Bio, 2nd place Comp SCI, Yale Science and Engineering award, Sustainability Award, Intel award most outstanding comp sci project
-Spoke at Conference in local state (does this mean anything)
-pending publication but it wont happen before college apps (my mentor will metnion it in my rec letter)
-I have interned in two labs-a bio lab and a comp sci lab-both professors will give me extraordinary letters of rec</p>

<p>Karate: For about 8 years. I have a brown belt(with black stripe), I know that this doesnt mean much, but I am writing my essay on this or my instrument playing, so thats why I included it. It is that only thing that has been constant in my life literally since I have been 8 years old.
-Over the summer I assistant taught White-Blue stripe students (should I mention this)?</p>

<p>Tabla(indian classical instrument)-I havnet won any awards with it-cuz you cant, but I genuinely love playing this instrument and this may be the other topic I submit for my application </p>

<p>First Aid: Red Cross certified, and more importantly I have volunteered/started a free class at the library teaching first aid classes with a certified nurse for about 5 months (is this significant in any way)?</p>

<p>Internship With local senator (Im not playing this off as being cool bc of name factor, but I do a lot and it was a tought application process) I mostly do casework and am learning about campaign journalism and legislation formulation at the state level</p>

<p>School EC'S
Besides Debate, I have done academic decathlon and amnesty international (both of which I have leadership roles in for multiple years)</p>

<p>Volunteer
Hospital volunteering, first aid volunteering, Local disabled sports community</p>

<p>Random other awards
AP scholar with distinction
HOBY-leadership seminar
Boys state
Academic decathlon state competition awards</p>

<p>Questions and comments from me: I am interested in medicine primarily bc it encompasses all of my interests (research, journalism/debate, and of course science). In medicine, you can teach, serve, research, and write basically.
1. Is my application focused enough? Im not including cra p like nhs, key club, etc
2. Are there too many out of school ec's
3. Does it look like I do random things? I am very passionate about eveerything I have done and I dont do things that I am not interested in
4. Should I write my essays about karate or the ethnic instrument?</p>

<p>Rec Letters
My research letters (should I SUBMIT one or two)? will be amazing.
My APUSH teacher, who also teaches my we the people class will be good
My science one will be decent-meanign that he doesnt know me as well</p>

<p>the problem with rec letters is that I havent gotten close to many of my teachers( maybe bc I am reserved), will this hurt me significantly? I mean, none of them are negative, but my research one will be really good.
THANKS!</p>

2

<p>Good EC’s but test scores and GPA are low for Ivies. Look at schools like UVA, Emory and Haverford for better matches.</p>

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<p>really? I know that my test scores a lowfor ivies. But even my GPA? I mean, isnt the fact that Im ranked 1 put me in context of my school? Or am i wrong about this</p>

4

<p>SAT/ACT are a bit low, but im sure you could get them up if you re-took. everything else is very impressive, as far as i can tell.</p>

5

<p>what about gpa maraquin.</p>

<p>Also, how would you assess my chances at northwestern, duke, JHU, and maybe even Berkeley?</p>

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<p>^Your gpa is fine, because you are ranked #1.
Some safeties I would suggest…
UMich
Boston University
University of Washington
University of Miami
Penn St.
Your profile is strong but I suggest that you write your essay on something else. I’m sure theres something better you can write about. Try and be creative. This is just advice. Good LUck :)</p>

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<p>jeez! there are a crap load of these chance threads. Any more input?</p>

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<p>anyone else?</p>

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<p>Holy Cross and Tufts both great pre-med programs and science majors.</p>

10

<p>Ignore the comment about GPA.</p>

<p>HYPS.probably not. The only thing you list that would make you competitive is rank, but they reject the vast majority of vals. Same for Brown PLME.</p>

<p>Other ivies? You would need to really pull up all scores. If you do that and write a great app and are not from an overrepresented state, you have a shot. But they are significant reaches.</p>

<p>Best safety if you’re headed for med school? Your state flagship. </p>

<p>I would not write about tabla, you will sound like a stereotypical Indian candidate. Indian dance and tabla is to Indians what tennis and math club is to Chinese and Koreans.</p>

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<p>^^^lol, okay, thanks. Well, I mean, for HYPS, I get that I probably wont-since its so unpredictable, but im from a SW state-not cali-so its underrepresented. I mean, other kids I know here get into UPENN, Yale, Brown, cornell, etc with mediocre stats. In other words, TOC bids are national awards, correct, same with nationals in policy? What i mean to say is that for other ivies, is it most peopel with a significant reach, or just me?</p>

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<p>I was just curious, where do you go to school redroses ? Also, do you think that if I raised my SAT score to 2300 plus then I would have a better chance at HPYS, what Im saying is that are my EC’s weak? And does publishing acomp sci paper look average or good. In other words, your basically saying, unless you win ISEF,Siemens, or are a URM or something, then HYPS is hard for anyone, correct?</p>

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<p>also, why are they significant reaches as opposed to just high reaches?</p>

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<p>When you say your ‘essay’ will be about tabla or karate, do you mean your main essay or your EC essay? I think we are all assuming you mean your main essay. If that’s the case, be especially cautious if you go with karate. With any essay about a sport it is tough to be unique. If, on the other hand, you mean to use one of these for your EC essay, either of these would be reasonable choices, but highlighting your contributions and successes in a more academic EC might serve you better with top schools.</p>

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<p>well, actually, I sort of did mean my main essay. My EC essay will be about research or debate, any suggestions?
Thats a good point, does anyone else have feedback on what I should write about. When I say tabla(its not atually tabla, its a south indian instrument but i figured more ppl would know what a tabla is) or karate, i dont mean,“yay, heres what I learned and what it means”. On my instrument essay, I sort of added a cultural difference and talked about my lack of creativity and how playing the instrument for so long gives me that intangible feeling even though Ive never performed in front of anyone or won an award. The karate essay is about how I failed my brown belt test and I am in the process of getting my black belt-and about sort of the intangible feeeling that makes you want to continue the sport-im not mentioning anything specific in the sport, so its not as cliche.</p>

<p>Do you think these topics are cliche? I thought that I should focus on something non-academic in my main essay, bc most of my app, including resume, teacher recs, main activities are focused on debate/research/first aid so I thought I should bring out a different side. What are your thoughts></p>

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<p>There are thousands of essays that top colleges receive every year. I don’t think there’s a single topic that hasn’t been done before. Don’t go for “unique”, go for what is you. Don’t take something you’re not and pretend to be it: I’ve experienced that kind of backfire before. If you feel it is worthy, and you will be proud of the finished result, then go for it. Once again, there’s next to nothing that hasn’t been written about before.</p>

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<p>^^oh exactly thats what my thought process is. Wait, are you suggesting that I dont write about something like that then? I mean, I am def. not trying to come off differently, I am merely showing a different side of me that is not apparent simply through the main portion of my app.
I 100 percent agree that there isnt really anything “unique” per se, considering that, like you said, EVERY topic literally has been written on. I hope to make it unique by relating it to my personal views and stories.</p>

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<p>kbbm24, your tests scores are quite low. Your class rank is, well, unbeatable. EC’s are ok, but I don’t really get the synthesis of these activities into a “why does kbbm24 want to do medicine?”. Let me put it this way: If I read your app, it would not become automatically apparent to me that this kid wants to be a doctor. Intangible feelings are probably spoken about in 50%+ of applications, because in most it’s coming from kids who are trying to BS significance in activities. Not saying you are one of these, but it’s just something to consider.</p>

<p>What about medicine makes you want to choose it over being a scientist? What about it makes you tell PLME that you will NOT drop out of the program and decide to become something else? Is there anything specifically in medicine (and only medicine) that can’t be found in any other profession? These are the questions I think (pretty much know) we (I’m applying as well) will be up against.</p>

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<p>chemwiz, thanks for the feedback, but this chance thread was primarily intended for reg Undergrad schools, not for direct programs. The synthesis of my application will be different for direct programs, ie: shadowing, etc-while you and I both agree that this isnt the ultimate means to express interest in medicine, I believe that a combination of my shadowing, volunteering, medical research, first aid teaching and international volunteering in sri lanka demonstrate my interst in medicine. </p>

<p>im not trying to argue with you, considering that Ive talked to you before, but I actually have to disagree with you regarding PLME. They, in my opinion, are not looking for kids who have done everything except perform surgery. In other words, they want to make sure you are mature to stick with a decision, but also they want to read your essays-which, in my opinion, is the predominant feature of the application. The essay will explain how all my interests fit together. I also think that PLME wants more well rounded people-who have a interest in medicine, but realize that medicine is not solely based on science (thats why i dont get how I come off as perhaps wanting to be a scientist) since my app isnt really focused on science. A doctor is a leader in the health care field-someone who is supposed to relay information to the public through perhaps journalism, teaching, research, etc
Do you agree or disagree with me?
Anyways, thanks and yes I do agree that my SAT/act score is low. But, what about my sat subject tests?</p>

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<p>I agree with you on almost all points, Kbbm24. I totally agree with the essays thing - so therefore it doesn’t make sense that you would write about karate or the instrument??? Please correct me if I’m missing a point of yours.</p>

<p>Subject tests are fine.</p>

<p>Sorry about replying as just a high schooler. Just throwing out some questions that I think about when I’m preparing my apps, essays, etc.</p>