Help me out with my college list? - Ivies, UCs, etc.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>As summer break's ending for me pretty soon, I'd really like to get my college list finalized (I'm almost there!). Chance me for what I have down so far?</p>

<p>Current List:[ul]
[<em>] Ivy League: HYP, Cornell, Columbia, UPenn (?)
[</em>] UCs: Berkeley, LA, SD, Irvine
[<em>] Stanford
[</em>] Duke
[<em>] Harvey Mudd
[</em>] Pomona
[<em>] WUSTL
[</em>] Johns Hopkins (?)
[li] Carleton (?)[/li][/ul]
Statistics:</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2300 - (CR) 730, (M) 770, (WR) 800
[</em>] SAT II: Chinese w/Listening 760, World History 740, Math II 740/800 (retake), Chemistry 740 (planning on retaking); taking Biology in October
[<em>] Unweighted GPA: 4.0
[</em>] Rank: 1 out of around 650 students
[<em>] AP: World History (5), Chemistry (5), Calculus BC (5)
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP English, AP Government and Politics, AP Statistics, AP Biology, Journalism, Psychology, Western Philosophy[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars: American Red Cross Club (Co-President), Science Olympiad (Parent Liaison), Girl Scouts, Piano (won a few medals at US Open Music Competition), California Scholarship Federation, Math Club
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: None.
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Counselor at Chinese culture summer camp for kids, taught English in North Thailand for about a week, tutor for young children at the local library during the summer
[/ul]
Other[ul]
[</em>] State: California
[<em>] School Type: Large public school; a few get into top schools each year
[</em>] Ethnicity: Chinese
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Income Bracket:$80-$100K-ish
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None. :(
[</em>] Intended Field of Study: Chemistry, possibly pre-med[/ul]
I modified the list format from the decisions threads, so hopefully everything should be there. :D</p>

<p>Let me know which schools should rank as my safeties/matches/reaches? I'd like to know if I should be adding more safeties, matches, etc. And if anyone has any more suggestions, that'd be really awesome too. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Assuming you know Thai (since you taught English there), you should definitely mention that on you application! It’s definitely unique (:</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>HYP, Stanford are mid reaches due to lack of hook, Duke is mid-reach, Cornell, Columbia, and UPenn are low reaches, don’t really know about liberal arts schools but the rest are matches</p>

4

<p>Your EC’s could use a little focus (maybe tie it all in with your essay) but otherwise I think you have a great shot at most all of those schools. Congrats :)</p>

5

<p>I’s put HYPS as very high reaches-very competitive pool (Chinese from CA) and CR is quite low for these schools.</p>

<p>I’d leave Penn on as a reasonable reach. UCs look good.</p>

6

<p>Yes, an Asian applicant from California is by a default going to set you back. Your test scores and Val status will definitely be adding a good amount of weight to your application, but your extracurriculars are largely unimpressive. </p>

<p>I think it would be in your best interest to discount HYP from your list, and instead focus on Duke and Penn.</p>

7

<p>I’d recommend that you think a bit more about what type of school you would like to attend. I understand the UCs and including some Ivies. But other than being great schools, what do some of those have in common? Pomona vs. Columbia? One is on 116th St. in New York, the other…somewhere east of LA. Carleton and Johns Hopkins? One is a major research university in Baltimore and the other a SLAC in rural Minnesota. Again, all great schools, but you might go beyond reputation and consider rural vs. urban, research u vs. LAC, academic programs that interest you, etc.</p>

8

<p>Thanks guys!</p>

<p>I do understand that I’ll have very slim chances at HYPS. I’m not really expecting much from applying, but I figure it’s worth a try. Should I consider taking them off my list, or is it more of a “don’t expect anything, but I’d still give it a shot” kind of thing?</p>

<p>As for the specifics about the schools I chose, I do agree that they seem pretty random in most aspects. I honestly think that I’d be comfortable with either a rural or an urban environment, so that’s never been a huge ruling factor for me (Carleton’s on there because the academics and feel of the school appeal to me, from what I know of it, but then again, I’m not 100% sure yet.) Columbia stood out to me because of the Core.</p>

<p>I’ve been struggling with the whole LAC vs. research university thing for a while now, and I was planning on just applying to a mix of both, seeing where I got accepted to, then deciding from there. I guess I really might have to rethink that now though.</p>

<p>Good food for thought. Again, thanks for your replies. (:</p>

9

<p>you’d be a strong cadidate for Berkeley as Berkeley loves students with very high GPA and won’t mind that you’re Asian. You should apply there.</p>

10

<p>Ivies are worth a shot.</p>

11

<p>I agree with Copterguy. Each of my two sons picked the right college. One is at Columbia and one is at Carleton. They are about as different as two colleges can be (and my two boys are also different from each other). Neither college is better than the other, but I can’t picture my Carleton son at Columbia, and I can’t picture my Columbia son at Carleton.</p>