Help!!! Stanford, Harvard, Duke Chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Greetings everyone,

I am hoping you guys can help me attain a realistic assessment of my chances of getting into my top three university choices of Stanford, Harvard, and Duke, as well as give me some advice on how to bolster my application to either of the three. Forethoughts: I am currently in my junior year of high school and plan to EA to Stanford alone, as it is my top choice but has restrictive early action policies. Also, I intend to major in International Business. Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to help me out.:)

-As aforementioned, I am currently a junior in high school. I attend a public school in upstate New York.
-I have one alumni connection between all three of these schools: my grandpa graduated from Harvard.
-At this point in the school year (early January) I am the only valedictorian in my class with a ranking of 1 in a class of 386 (for the purpose of this assessment, let’s assume that this will be the case when I EA and apply.)
-I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA
-I have a very rigorous schedule geared towards business (intended major) and am enrolled in all International Baccalaureate classes
-I have a 2170 SAT score (not super scored) Reading: 760, Math: 680, Writing: 730 with a 7-essay on this particular test I know Stanford doesn’t super score SATs
-I am a highly involved and accomplished soccer player, with interest from Cornell University at this juncture. I spend 100s of hours throughout the year playing travel and high school soccer. Past honors include being the captain of my JV soccer team, being the captain of my high school soccer team, the Chevron captain’s award, First Team All-Conference (twice), All-State team, and qualifying for the National Presidents Cup Tournament for my club team.
-My other EC’s include having a leadership position in my school’s Future Business Leaders of America Club (FBLA), having hundred’s of volunteer hours, being a member of the volunteer’s club for my local SPCA, and having participated in baseball and track. I will seek an internship over the summer leading into my senior year but I truly do not have time for any other EC’s while maintaining my class rank and playing soccer.
-I will have plenty of FABULOUS recommendations from guidance counselors, coaches, etc.
-I am attending a soccer ID camp at Duke this MLK weekend, where I will show great interest in the school.
I know that the top schools are relying on the intangibles (essays, interviews, etc.) more and more for determining whether or not applicants get admitted, but with that said, how do you think I will fare based on what I have given you? What advice can you give me on making my application stand out from the rest?
Thank you so much!:slight_smile:

2

I would try to bring that SAT up, or ACT if you prefer to take that. Yours is a little low for schools you’re looking at. Also, make sure that Harvard actually cares if your Grandpa is an alumni (some schools only care if it’s parents).
If Cornell is looking at you for soccer, maybe look into getting other schools to recruit you?
Try to play up your other ECs as well though because you need to get that volunteering in there somewhere.
Really truly spend time on your essays, and get those scores up to have more of a fighting chance, since most applicants will have 2250+…good luck! :slight_smile:

3

GPA is definitely top notch. However, your SAT score is definitely on the weaker side. But then again, you never know how college decisions can turn out. Make sure you have something special that can make you stand out from the rest of the applicants. At this point, focus on your Ec’s and how they can make you stand out from the rest of the applicants. Best of Luck!!

Chance me back please if you have time?

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1849167-cornell-class-of-2020-regular-decision-chances.html#latest

4

Your Academic Index is currently 222.5. That’s fine for a recruited athlete. You should reach out to coaches at Harvard, Stanford and Duke by letter and phone message, showing your interest. They are not allowed to contact you under NCAA rules until this summer, but you can contact them. As soon as possible this summer, make contact - this should be easy for Duke, as you will hopefully get some face time with them at the camp.

If you are recruited for soccer, you don’t need any help. Coaches won’t have any trouble making the case that you are qualified.

If you are not recruited, you need to bring your text scores up, but you are otherwise very competitive.

Good luck!

5

Fishgill, MrIvyLeague, and renaissancedad, your advice is greatly appreciated. I will certainly take all of it into account moving forward.
Additionally, is anyone aware of whether or not I could super score ONLY an essay from one SAT to another? I got an 8 on the other SAT I took…if I super scored that essay to my 730 writing with a 7 essay, what difference would it make? Is it even possible? Thanks!

6

Sadly, you can’t superscore the essay of the SAT. It doesn’t separate from the writing score you have it with. (disappointing, I know!)