From Harvard to Alabama!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Harvard
Stanford
Yale
Princeton
Wharton
Columbia
Dartmouth
Cornell AEM
Duke</p>

<p>U Miami (FL)
Indiana U Bloomington (Kelley Business Scholars Program)
U Alabama (full OOS tuition guaranteed)</p>

<p>BACKGROUND + ACADEMIC
[ul]
[<em>]First-generation college student. Caucasian and in Los Angeles CA
[</em>]Family income = $20,000/year. Single parent household (Mom is a widow)
[<em>]French, Corsican, Persian ethnicities; fluent in French
[</em>]GPA: 4.06 Weighted, 3.6 Unweighted; Top 10% of high school class
[<em>]SAT: 2080 (740 M, 670 CR, 670 W, 10 essay)
[</em>]SAT Subject Tests: 800 French, 750 Math 1, 730 US History
[<em>]Total AP courses to be completed by graduation: 9
[</em>]AP Psychology: 5; AP French: 5; AP European History: 3; AP US History: 4
[/ul]</p>

<p>EXTRA CURRICULAR
[ul]
[<em>]Cross Country (3 years) "MVP", Varsity
[</em>]Track (4 years) 1600m, 800m, long jump; "Most Improved", Varsity
[<em>]French club (3 years) (President, Treasurer) Organized events; in charge of coordinating dates, finances, trips...
[</em>]FBLA club (2 years) 3rd Place in State competitions
[<em>]Debate Team (2 years) Oratory speeches; head defense attorney for Mock Trial
[</em>]Service Club (2 years) "Respect Campaign Organizer", raised awareness for drunk driving, raised funds for leukemia, held raffles, assemblies, invited guest speakers. We raised over $15,000 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.
[<em>]Church youth leader (5 years) Organized camping events, movie nights, service opportunities...
[</em>]Jr. Scholar's Academy (3 months) Was selected among 50 students in our school district for two courses from the Gilder Lehrman Institute: "A Historical Perspective on Lincoln" and "Founding Fathers, The Revolutionary Generation".
[li]Internship at Zion's Bank (2 weeks) Shadowed one of the top credit administrators in the bank.[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>AWARDS / HONORS
[ul]
[<em>]Questbridge "CollegePrep Award" Recipient
[</em>]Cross Country: "MVP"
[<em>]Track: "Most Improved"
[</em>]3rd place in FBLA State competitions. Team event: "Business Decision Making"
[<em>]High School Academic Letter I; and consistent Honor Roll.
[</em>]AP Scholar with Honor
[li]Nominated by high school teacher for "Keys to Success"[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>WORK
[ul]
[<em>]Educated an autistic boy for a family (1 year) I educated a 9 year old autistic child, Spencer during all of 10th grade on my own time twice a week. I taught him how to speak correctly, write, think and express himself.
[</em>]Digitized ~thousand slides, neighborhood project. (2 months) Summer of 2009: scanned over 1000 old picture slides of the 35mm type.
[<em>]Designed, created, and maintain the e-commerce website located at earthcrossroads.com.
[</em>]Drew vector computer graphics for a small Los Angeles real-estate company. (2 months)
[/ul]</p>

<p>MISC NOTES</p>

<p>[ul]
[<em>]I'm retaking SAT in October and aiming 2250+.
[</em>]I'm taking Math level 2 in October and aiming for 800.
[/ul]</p>

<p>[ul]
[li]All of my bad grades were from Sophomore year, we didn't have a place to live and were living in family friends' houses etc.[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>[ul]
[li]My entire Junior year is filled with straight As in 8 courses, no exceptions. We had moved to suburban Utah for this year.[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>[ul]
[<em>]I have spent my entire life in Los Angeles, the only exception is Junior year.
[</em>]My grandma has a big house that we live in when it's not being rented, but as far as legal guardians go, we have no assets/equity over $1,000.
[/ul]</p>

<p>[ul]
[<em>]I'm applying to several schools through the Questbridge process for low-income students.
[</em>]Intended major: Economics + Political Science / Finance, depending on the school.
[li]Excellent essays and teacher recommendations.[/li][/ul]</p>

2

<p>Every Ivy league is a reach (but then again, it’s for everyone)</p>

<p>Duke is a match. '</p>

<p>Everything else is probably safeties. </p>

<p>Excellent stats. But Ivys are picky =/ I’ll guarantee you an admission spot in one of the Ivys if I had to bet on it.</p>

3

<p>I scratch my head every time I see your list llama. There are so many wonderful schools that meet full need where you would have a much, much better shot, yet you’re stuck on the tipy top schools without having the stats.</p>

<p>If you were a URM with your “story” you’d be into some, but you’re not.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the replies</p>

<p>These are the schools I really like… do you think at least one of them will accept me? Any of those reaches would give me a full ride, and I need it. I’m applying to many schools but if just one of those reaches accept me, it’s worth it. And if I hit 2300 by December, would that change your opinion? BTW, I heard first generation / low-income helps a little (though not as much as URM)… is that true?</p>

<p>Oh, and 90 views but only 2 replies? Haha come on, speak up! I want to hear your honest opinions</p>

5

<p>Oh I want to ask a question.</p>

<p>I’m going back to Los Angeles for this year from Utah. My rank in Utah school was Top 40%. (no weighted GPAs here).</p>

<p>However, Utah is underrepresented and might have helped my chances. Is it better to be in CA, top 10% or UT, top 40%?</p>

6

<p>Numbers don’t tell your stoires.</p>

7

<p>The unfortunate fact is that an unhooked applicant with a 3.6 unweighted and a 2080 has poor chances at any top school.</p>

8

<p>I’m studying the SAT and I learn quickly. I think I can hit 2300 in December. With a 2300 and two 800s for subject tests, wouldn’t my chances look better? Again, all I need is just one school to accept me; finances would be taken care of and they’re all a fit.</p>

<p>I appreciate the honesty though, really I do</p>

9

<p>bump</p>

<p>any opinions would be appreciated</p>

<p>oh and i’m cutting some schools…</p>

<p>shorter list =</p>

<p>Stanford
Yale
Wharton
Columbia
Dartmouth
Duke
USC
Alabama</p>

10

<p>how do you know that you’ll be in the top 10% in cali? cali schools are pretty competitive. And IMO, moving back to Cali is probably not the wisest move since the competition from Cali is intense.</p>

11

<p>^ Well here in Utah I’m top 40%… I know that at the school in CA, I would be top 10% because I called the counselor and he said he was sure. Utah doesn’t rank by weighted GPA and there is huge grade inflation here.</p>

<p>Is it better to be in Utah, but only top 40%, or CA at top 10%? What do you think?</p>

<p>And chances for the schools in post #9 would be welcome too…</p>

12

<p>If you have a choice, I’d apply from Utah. It’s not a miracle and the top colleges will remain unlikely, but you’ll get into a considerably better college applying from an underrepresented state if you add some realistic ones to the list.</p>

13

<p>But isn’t being ranked top 40% like death? At least in CA I have a good ranking. And isn’t USC somewhat realistic?</p>

14

<p>well anyway apparently i used to have better chances haha…</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/734400-hypsm-others.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/734400-hypsm-others.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

15

<p>I find that there’s a pack mentality here on CC among the kids. You get one person who doesn’t know what they’re talking about at the top of the thread and then others follow. Also, check the stats of those who respond, often they are applying to the same schools with lower stats! If they don’t think you’ll get in they have to accept they have no chance!!</p>

<p>This is way a close read of common data sets will tell you way more than a chances thread. The facts are all there. After that, if you want knowledgeable opinions, head for the parent’s board.</p>

16

<p>Thanks for your input</p>

<p>Bumping this thread. If anyone has opinions I’d really like to hear.</p>

17

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<p>Here is my opinion. You could very well get rejected from every one of these schools. Applying to many schools doesn’t increase your chances of getting into one of them. Statistically, the events are independent. I would echo the words of hmom5 in post #3, trim down your list of the HARDEST schools to get into and add schools where acceptance is more likely, (like Duke).</p>

18

<p>Alright well I’ve trimmed it slightly. How about this?
and from now on, just ignore the list from my first post.</p>

<p>BTW the only school on this list where I wouldn’t be basically guaranteed a full ride is USC.</p>

<p>Stanford
Yale
Wharton
Columbia
Dartmouth</p>

<p>Duke
Emory
USC</p>

<p>Alabama</p>

19

<p>That’s better. I add one more into the Duke, Emory section.</p>

20

<p>I have to agree with other posters. Focus on schools that aren’t quite as selective as HYSPM. Schools like Vanderbilt, WashU, etc are all within reach, whereas you would need a lot more to get into your top options. As inspiring as your story may be, your stats put you at a severe disadvantage for the very top echelon of schools. No matter what level of selectivity, grades and test scores are the most important factor.</p>