How to better my chances for Ivies and other alike schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am a girl going into my junior year in high school. I’d really like to go to schools like Yale, Stanford, Brown, and Princeton (those are my favorites, but I’m applying to more). I know as a junior, (and even afterward) you can’t give me a comprehensive chance. </p>

<p>So I’m asking, what should I do to better my application? Am I looking like a competitive applicant? If I wrote good stand-out essays, how much would that help?</p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.93
Rank: 8 out of 380
(It will rise, because my grades have increased.)
I haven’t taken the SAT yet, but I’m around the 2200+ area. I got a 219 on my PSAT, but have been working on getting it higher (will take it in May). </p>

<p>Throughout high school, I plan to take AP: Calculus, US History, French, Biology or Chemistry, English 3, English 4, Government, Economics, Psychology, and Music Theory.</p>

<p>EC’s:
President of French Club
French National Honor Society
National Honor Society
Student Council
A program where upperclassmen go to underclassmen dens and take a “leadership” role there
Varsity Tennis (Quitting senior year for complicated reasons)
Played piano for eleven years (But only taken lessons for eight of those)
Taken drum lessons for three years
Have a part-time job at my church as a child-care worker
Shadowed a doctor (20 hours)
HOSA
Leadership Group in Church</p>

<p>Volunteer Work:
A camp where we fix houses for those in need. (Freshman and Junior Year Summer)
Bible School (Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior Year Summer)
A mission group at my church (Year round; we have gone to Galveston and helped serve food to homeless, things like that)
A program for kids, in my church (for part of freshman year)
Random things for NHS</p>

<p>Awards/Honors:
Tennis Freshman Girls Singles District Champ (I might have been JV last year, but I tore my ACL) and 3 other 1st Places, and 2nd Places
I have had perfect attendance nine years of my life (Probably irrelevant).
I’m in the G&T program.
Possibly NMS (If not, I’m pretty sure I made NAF; 219 in Texas)
French Symposium Sophomore Year: Poetry Semifinalist
French Symposium Junior Year: Poetry, Prose, and Guided Speaking Semifinalist, 3rd Place Scrapbook (Group Event), 5th Place French Movie (Group Event)</p>

<p>I don’t know how much of a difference this makes but I am a black female. I was born in England and moved here when I was about five.</p>

2

<p>You are on the right track, but, there’s the “standard” problem. Your ECs and course selection are way too cookie-cutter. HOSA, Student Council, NHS, etc. are all clubs that everyone who wants to go to a good college joins.</p>

<p>You do not seem to have any state awards, and no real focus on your ECs.</p>

<p>If I was an admissions officer, I would (and I presume they do) give less of a hoot about how many clubs you’ve been in, but, rather, on how concentrated you were in your devotion to those activities.</p>

3

<p>So what should I do? What can I do to make myself less “cookie-cutter”? Should I shed a few EC’s. I could probably let loose of Stuco and HOSA. But I don’t know if I really have a specific PASSION. Some of the people who go to college already have themselves figured out, but I’m still trying to figure it out, and I get stressed because I’m afraid that because I don’t have a passion evinced by my EC’s, I’m not going to stand out.</p>

4

<p>I actually really do like making music, but I don’t see how I’m going to stand out with that. There’s nothing I can do with that.</p>

5

<p>yes you can with music. Join a band outside a school, join some music clubs in school, raise money for your schools music program (leadership opportunity), coordinate a concert at your school, etc. Have to think outside the box, especially if you wish to be “top tier” material.</p>

6

<p>Passion doesn’t have to be something you want to do for the rest of your life. Maybe it could be building model airplanes - just ANYTHING that you care about that stands out from the rest.</p>

7

<p>You are who you are. You should be happy with your academic achievements and not to worry wherever you end up going. Just prepare for the SAT thoroughly and you should be able to get ~2300 as you got 219 in PSAT already. Take at least a couple subject tests that are relevant to your career goal and your current AP classes. You are on the right track, although a little late for taking your first SAT. After all, you only need one great test score. If you get great score on your May SAT, spend the summer on writing great essays for school applications. There may be some books in your local or school library about that.</p>

8

<p>You have a very good chance, but keep in mind that being admitted to an Ivy is a crap shoot, so even though you have the stats, there is no guarantee.</p>

<p>Make sure you have plenty of matches you love on your list, as well as a safety (that you love). Also, think about the financial aspect when choosing colleges to attend. So many students are having a difficult time choosing the college to attend, because they forgot to take into account how they would pay for it, and all of their acceptances are too expensive.</p>

9

<p>88keys</p>

<p>You are on track to be a competitive candidate at any school in the US, people with your stats are the group they choose their class from and not everyone accepted has a WOW on their application. That’s the good news. Now, here’s the bad news. There are more students with stats and activities that are similar to yours than there are combined slots, so no one is guaranteed.</p>

<p>In your case, I think you can be hopeful. Top schools, such as your favorites, actively seek out qualified URM’s. Given your stats, which clearly make you a highly-qualify candidate, without regard to race, you should be a highly sought after candidate. You might not get into all of your top choice schools, but I think it very likely you’ll get into at least 1 of them.</p>

<p>Also, what do you intend to study? If STEM, for a female, that’s big plus.</p>

<p>So, what can you do:</p>

<ol>
<li> Keep up the good work.</li>
<li> Score well on the SAT’s, SATII’s and ACTs. This is key.</li>
<li> Passion is nice, but if you haven’t found your thing – well, that’s ok too, you’re young.</li>
<li> Think about your essay – what makes you, you.</li>
</ol>

<p>Other than that, if you keep on your current path, you’ll be fine at the end of the day.</p>

10

<p>I probably will major in Psychology, but more science based, as I want to be a Psychiatrist, which requires me to go to medical school. If I went to Yale, I would do psychology with the neuroscience track.</p>

11

<p>I would like to disagree with zephyr15. What she is saying may be true for other top 25 schools, but, form what I’ve seen, acceptances to HYPMSC usually have some kind of “WOW” factor to them.</p>

12

<p>88keys – neuroscience is certainly part of STEM, I honestly don’t know whether Psychology is. Psychiatry does require an MD – going for a PhD in Clinical Psychology or a PsyD (each of which are working degrees for therapists) do not (I assume you knew that already).</p>

<p>engarde – is your “C” Chicago or Columbia? Just curious. (and we can respectfully disagree re WOW) – I believe that while the WOW’s stand out (and is preferable), there are many solid students, such as OP, who are admitted to these schools. (And this is certainly the claim of the admissions departments) Honestly, URM-F-STEM, with top grades and top SATs, and good (but no WOW) ECs is a very strong candidate anywhere.</p>

13

<p>So is there anything specific that could help me stand out?</p>

14

<p>I’m gonna try to bump this…</p>

15

<p>Your grades and test scores are certainly high enough for the Ivies. I would say your best bet is to work on more extracurricular in depth, and most importantly write an AMAZING essay. I know a girl with much lower scores and grades who will be attending Brown due to her unusual essays and extracurriculars.</p>

16

<p>So a good essay could raise my chances a lot? And I don’t really know what to do about extracurriculars, as I don’t know what to delve into.</p>