Great EC's, Not as great academics - Chance for Duke, Stanford, USC, Penn

<p><b>Applying to:</b>
-Stanford
-Duke
-USC
-Penn State</p>

<p><b>Basics:</b></p>

<p>33 Composite ACT
2130 SAT: 720 M; 700 R; 710 W;
SAT II: 780 M</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.73
Weighted GPA: 4.25</p>

<p>Class Rank:unknown
Class Size: Approx 650
School: Popular Colorado School, well known throughout the state for its business program</p>

<p><b>Extra Curricular:</b></p>

<p>-Vice President/President of FBLA Club - Participated in Club for 4 years
-Second Place in District and State for Desktop Application Programming through FBLA. Competed at Nationals. (Advanced Computer Science/Programming Knowledge)
-Eagle Scout : Boy Scouts for 7 years
-Volunteer at nearby hospital and nursing home - 2 years
-Volunteer to teach an elementary science club - 2 years
-Own a small business deejaying for parties - 4 years
-Organized and carried out a large service project to renovate the courtyard at a nursing home.
-Organized and carried out a free community Halloween event for kids. - 2 years
-Employed by US Dept. of Commerce as Physical Sciences Technician for NOAA - Summer Internship
-Baskin Robbins - 1 year</p>

<p>Well, my GPA is your range, and all my SAT scores are perfect scores, but the people on CC say I shouldn’t even apply to HYPSM.</p>

<p>Well, your SAT and ACT are on the lower side, UW low, and ECs average to mediocre.</p>

<p>Stanford- Very high reach
Duke- high reach
USC- match
Penn State- match/low reach</p>

<p>average to mediocre? I’m not trying to argue, i’m on here because I need help. But I always thought my EC’s were really great, and would be the strong point on my applications. I’ve done tons of other stuff, I just listed the ones where i’ve played a significant role…</p>

<p>This is a little upsetting.</p>

<p>What other schools should I be looking at that would be a better match for my portfolio?</p>

<p>Maybe I should also put that I am an NHS Member.
What are my chances for Case Western and Boston Uni?</p>

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<p>Too bad, get over it. There are a lot of others who have better ECs than you.</p>

<p>And you have to raise your SAT first- ECs are the second part of the application.
If your SAT is already too low, you will be “weeded” out.</p>

<p>Your test scores (both SAT and ACT) are in the range for the schools you’re applying to. So you won’t be “weeded” out immediately. I think your EC’s are fine. They show dedication, consistency, and some leadership. If there’s a particular EC that you’re passionate about, you could play it up on your application.
Stanford is a reach for everyone, but you have a good shot at the other schools.
Good luck in your application process :)</p>

<p>junior and senior year course load?</p>

<p>Maybe I should also put that I am an NHS Member.
One single line on your app.</p>

<p>NHS= nothing.</p>

<p>You have excellent chances to Boston, and Case Western.
Stanford seems to be in your range (if you improve SAT)
and your ECs are not that strong, once again.</p>

<p>^Misinformation, not to mention unnecessarily harsh. </p>

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<p>No one in your chances thread said you “shouldn’t even apply to HYPSM.” They merely remarked that those schools would be mid-reaches because of your relatively low GPA (in comparison to other applicants), which is a perfectly valid comment that you took way too much offense at. Secondly, every applicant is different, and the fact that you’re using a “if I don’t have much of a chance, then you must not either” argument to describe the OP’s chances is erroneous.</p>

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<p>I found this remark ironic, seeing that in your thread, you emphasized (in all caps and bolded letters) that admissions reviews at top schools are now holistic – which means they look at more than just numbers; yet, here you seem to assert that it’s all about SAT scores, which it isn’t anymore. A 2130 is admittedly somewhat low for Duke/Stanford/Penn, but it doesn’t mean that once the admissions officers see the OP’s SAT score he’ll be rejected right off the bat without any other consideration, as you implied. Furthermore, ECs are just as important as SATs in admissions, as they give adcoms an idea of who you are as a person and what you would contribute to their school were you accepted, and therefore should not be viewed as the “second part” of the app.</p>

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<p>The consensus in CC is that if you are not a part of IMO, you have weak chances.</p>

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<p>The problem with NHS is that each school has a different charter.
I agree that numbers do not define a person. But a lazy slacker with under 1500 SAT and a 3.0 GPA can still gain a spot in NHS.
Not to mention that NHS is a “trite” EC.</p>

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<p>Well great, admissions are holistic nowadays. But still to gain a spot in colleges the OP has listed, his/her SAT is way below average.
Check out Stanford’s common data set.</p>

<p>SAT=2130 range is very, very, rare.</p>

<p>Here’s my Course load:
*indicate weighted courses</p>

<p>Junior Year:</p>

<p>*Honors Pre Calc 1: A
American Lit-Comp: A
*AP Biology: A
*AP Computer Science: A
Physics: A
US History: A</p>

<p>Senior Year:</p>

<p>*AP Physics
Senior Lit-Comp
*AP Calculus BC
*Anatomy and Physiology
*Student Research Seminar</p>

<p>I definitely believe I can get my SAT Score higher this October; I took a prep course last month. The highest I received in that class was a 2240, but I aim to do much better.
As far as AP Courses, by the end of my senior year I will have Taken AP World History, AP Human Geography, AP Biology, AP Computer Science, AP Physics, and AP Calculus.</p>

<p>I’m filtering out some schools based on Abet.org accreditation, If I got my SAT Score up, would I stand a chance for Vanderbilt?</p>

<p>First rule of CC Forums: If you put it in a chance thread, no matter how good or bad you look, someone will find fault with it. Second Rule of CC: If you can’t take the heat (or separate insight from noise) then you probably shouldn’t post a chance thread at all. That said, statistically you’re within the 25-75th%-tiles SAT/ACT for Stanford, Duke and USC. Good ECs will help your cause potentially changing a Maybe into a Yes, but are unlikely to reverse a No.</p>

<p>Stanford - 8% admit rate - it’s reach for everyone; the link below shows that statistically your numbers have about a 7% admit rate, not dramatically lower but hardly encouraging.</p>

<p><a href=“Page Not Found : Stanford University”>Page Not Found : Stanford University;

<p>Duke - according to their webpage ACT 33 is near the 75th%-tile and I suspect a 3.7 is 50th-ish%-tile, so I’d guess you have a fair chance</p>

<p>USC - Your profile is very close to that of the average admit, combined with your ECs I think you’re very likely to get accepted.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0910/FreshmanProfile2009.pdf[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0910/FreshmanProfile2009.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Penn State, Case-Western and BU are safeties.</p>

<p>Schools with similar statistical profiles as USC: Boston College and Emory.</p>

<p>You have a decent courseload, and by 2240 on your SAT you have good to great chances.</p>

<p>Just wondering, why not apply to more schools?</p>

<p>I disagree with the ECs comment. I’m sure they don’t have many guys coming out of NOAA (I only even know what that is because I did remote sensing for Science Olympiad). You’re obviously a pretty good leader, or otherwise a pretty good organizer. FBLA is nice, but you’re not so successful in that that you can simply bust through the door, at Stanford at least.</p>

<p>You definitely have a chance at Stanford, and their admissions pattern can be puzzling (I sure was puzzled), so apply. Duke you also have a reasonable chance. USC and Penn State should be little problem for you.</p>

<p>I plan on applying to other schools, these are just the ones I needed an opinion on</p>

<p>What is your ethinicity, sex,…etc?
They can also play a major factor.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>male, asian indian, upper middle class</p>