HYPS, Duke... yeah another chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys, I would really appreciate it if you gave me your two cents. Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Intended Major: Biology
Need-based financial aid: not needed
Location: Near Dallas, TX</p>

<p>I went to two different high schools: one public for Freshman and Sophomore, and another as a special program (TAMS) at the University of North Texas,
where we basically take college courses Junior and Senior years. </p>

<p>SATs: 800 R, 800 M, 760 W, 10 Essay
ACT: 36 E 35 M 33 R 33 S, 11 Essay
Sat II: 800 MathII, 790 Biology E, 760 Chemistry</p>

<p>TAMS:
Sends lots of people to nice schools. This year, 2 people got EA Stanford, 1 EA Yale, 4 EA MIT, 2 EA Cal-Tech, 1 EA UPenn, 5-6 ED Cornell, approx. 10 ED Rice </p>

<p>GPA: 4.0</p>

<p>Already Taken:
Calculus I
Calculus II
Biology Honors I & II,
Biology Lab I & II,
General Chemistry I & II,
Chemistry Lab I & II,
Writing About Literature I & II,
Intermediate French II,
Research,
Multivariable Calculus,
Physics Mechanics,
Physics Lab,
World Literature II,
American History II,
Micro-Economics</p>

<p>All A's</p>

<p>This Semester:</p>

<p>Physics Electricity and Magnetism
Physics Lab
World Literature I
American History I
Applied Stats
American Government
Behavior Analysis</p>

<p>Activities:</p>

<p>Community Service Club (Founded an opportunity for volunteering at the Dallas Science Museum), Mu Alpha Theta, Research Organization (Chemistry Chair), Ambassadors</p>

<p>High School (Freshman and Sophomore):
Competitive, lots of grade-devoted Asians</p>

<p>GPA: 4.2
H-Honors
Humanities I (Honors level)-92
Algebra 2 H-96
Geometry H-96
Biology H-96
English I Pre-AP/ H-93
Band-100
French II H-97</p>

<p>Humanities II (Honors level)- 93
Pre-Calculus H- 95
Chemistry H- 97
Human Geography AP- 92 (5 on exam)
English II Pre-AP/H-93
Band-100
French III H-97</p>

<p>No B's</p>

<p>Activities:
NHS, French NHS, Marching Band, Math Club, </p>

<p>Research:</p>

<p>Did research in Developmental Biology for my pre-Junior and Senior summers
10hrs/day, 5 days/ week, 3 months (I could afford to do this because of the extended breaks the program has in comparison to normal high school). I also submitted research abstracts, papers I wrote, etc.</p>

<p>Siemens Regional Finalist
Intel Semi-Finalist (Don't know if Finalist yet)
Competing in Intel International Science and Engineering Fair</p>

<p>Hopefully my professor will publish a paper with my name in it for me to add</p>

<p>Music:</p>

<p>I've played Alto Sax for 7 years now. All Region principal player, All area, Solo and Ensemble at State->got an Outstanding performer award from Dr. Harvey Pittel, professor of Sax at UT Austin (hasn't given one out in 3 years), recorded Creston Sonata and sent as supplementary materials </p>

<p>Principal sax at the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony, really competitive to get into, prestigious, closely affiliated with the Dallas Wind Symphony</p>

<p>Volunteering:</p>

<p>I haven't done much volunteering, about 170ish hours
Lots from random stuff, but a lot (120 hours) came from a leadership camp where I was an assistant counselor. Week long boarding camp, barely slept, had to do a lot of preparation for it, but it was lots of fun teaching 39 11 year olds</p>

<p>Leadership:
I'm kind of scared, because I'm not president of like 50124790187 clubs</p>

<p>Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra- Principal Saxophone (2006-2008)
TAMS Research Organization- Chemistry Chair (2007-2008)
TAMS HOPE- Committee Head (Founder) of Science Museum Volunteering (2007-2008)
Community Youth Leadership Camp- Assistant Counselor (2007)
Marching Band- Saxophone Squad Leader (2006)</p>

<p>Academic Awards (because I couldn't find a better place to put them)</p>

<p>The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program Candidate
University of North Texas President’s List 2006-2007</p>

<p>I couldn't read my counselor/ teacher recs, but I read the one my research professor wrote, and it was amazing.</p>

<p>I worked on my essays a lot, and both my parents and one of my friends (English major at Amherst, accomplished writer) helped me, worked on it until we were all very happy with them
Common app-wrote about how I had an accident in China that severely debilitated my left hand (nerves and ligaments cut), and how I struggled to recover, and how far I've come (playing sax, doing micro-dissections, etc.)</p>

<p>Could I get chances for:
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford
Duke
Johns Hopkins
WashU (Also Combined Medical program)
Rice (Also Rice/ Baylor)
UT (Accepted)</p>

<p>I'm really nervous since I wasn't Valedictorian at my old high school, might be even too low (16th/ 1000). Also, I'm nervous about my grades at my old high school, since I think they're kinda low. I'm really anxious right now, even though there really isn't anything I can do.</p>

<p>Lastly, could you guys tell me what weighted and unweighted GPA are? Thanks all!</p>

2

<p>to be honest, i think you will be fine for most of those places.</p>

<p>Your test scores and grades are quite good.
You do lots of extra stuff.</p>

<p>=) I don't really truly know, but I think you have good chances for all of them probably. I know somebody who is less amazing than you are and got accepted EA to Yale, so =) You'll probably be fine.</p>

3

<p>Wow if you don't get into those schools than I don't know who will. You def. have better chances than I do.</p>

4

<p>16/1000 is low!?</p>

5

<p>agree with the last 2 posts. you have better chances than most people.</p>

6

<p>your app is 10 times better than mine...great chances.</p>

7

<p>Very nice stats, I would say you are competitive at everyplace you mentioned. However, Rice/Baylor really looks for some kind of clinical experience. It seems as though you have virtually no exposure to the medical field, but you have done some pretty impressive research, so it would be interesting to see if you get accepted. Good luck!</p>

8

<p>you'll get rejected from maybe 1, 2 max colleges on your list.</p>

9

<p>To be brutally honest, your grades (freshman/sophomore) aren't the ideal situation for Ivy League acceptance, but your test scores COMPLETELY make up for that because they are so high. (And by the way, your class rank of 16/1000 is not that bad and not too low to get in, either.) Also, considering you went to TAMS with all A's, are musically talented, and are somewhat involved, I say that your chances of acceptance are pretty decent. I would expect some acceptance and some rejections. As for the non-Ivy-League schools (excluding Stanford - I consider that school as good as an Ivy) you are more than good enough, so no worries there.</p>

<p>About TAMS, I am currently a sophomore applying to TAMS. I'm just curious, did you like it there, and also, what additional opportunities were you given there (apart from the college credits) that you did not have at your public school?</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
I'm really nervous since I wasn't Valedictorian at my old high school, might be even too low (16th/ 1000). Also, I'm nervous about my grades at my old high school, since I think they're kinda low. I'm really anxious right now, even though there really isn't anything I can do.

[/quote]
i know, i'm intense too, but honestly, take a DEEP breath, go jogging or something, and just -forget- about it all.</p>

11

<p>
[quote]
To be brutally honest, your grades (freshman/sophomore) aren't the ideal situation for Ivy League acceptance

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Um, sorry, but that is utterly ridiculous. I believe the OP's lowest grade is a 92...in an AP class...where he went on to earn a 5 on the exam. </p>

<p>@OP: From the looks of it, you've done absolutely everything you can (in a good way). I'm sure you'll be pleased with the news in April.</p>

12

<p>"From the looks of it, you've done absolutely everything you can (in a good way)."</p>

<p>is there a bad way to do everything you can?</p>

<p>village idio, i wouldn't worry at all. of the five schools in the thread title, you'll likely get into duke, and at least two of the others.</p>

13

<p>accepted at 7, rejected at 2, that'd be my guess.</p>

14

<p>Wow, thanks a lot everyone! I wasn't expecting this much feedback. </p>

<p>And to sgk1234, TAMS is whatever you make it. You're given a lot of "free-time" to do what you want. It's up to you to decide. I spent a lot of my time doing research, taking electives, and weight-lifting. I didn't do much volunteering however. But don't be like our seniors, who crammed like 10 people/ 10 computers in a room second semester senior year and played WoW, skipped class, etc.</p>

<p>Oh, and lastly,</p>

<p>Could you tell me the difference between Weighted and Unweighted GPA? Thanks!</p>

15

<p>Some schools weight grades (for us, honors classes are .3 and AP classes are .5). So an A in a regular-level, unweighted class would factor into a GPA as a 4.0, while an A in an AP class would factor in as a 4.5. Someone with straight As with a rigorous curriculum typically winds up with a weighted GPA of ~4.2 and an unweighted GPA of 4.0. But several schools do it differently.</p>

<p>If your school doesn't weight, then don't worry about it. Your GPA will be out of 4.0. It's not going to count against you or anything, since like I said, different high schools have different policies.</p>