I don't have a catchy title; will you chance me anyway?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Alright, thank you for visiting this thread. :)</p>

<p>First of all, about me:
-Caucasian Female
-Lives in the Midwest (Ohio)
-Middle Class Lifestyle
-Rising Junior</p>

<p>School Info:
-GPA- 4.0 unweighted - my school doesn't weight but I have taken the most rigorous course load offered, including advanced math ever since 3rd grade, honors English all through middle school and high school, but only 2 AP's are offered (English and Calculus AB). I intend to take those AP's senior year along with several others that I will teach myself outside of school.
-High Honor Roll every semester
-1 out of about 250
-Most likely Valedictorian
-Medium size public school - Sends 5-10 students to top colleges each year</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>These are nothing too special... I assume that I will be doing them all through senior year but I didn't try to predict what would happen just yet.</p>

<p>Public Forum Debate - 4 Years
9th Grade - State Qualifier, National Qualifier
10th Grade - State Qualifier</p>

<p>Student Congress - 4 Years (we have one big tournament every year)
9th Grade - 6th Place
10th Grade - 4th Place</p>

<p>Cross Country - 5 Years (including 8th grade)
9th Grade - Varsity letterman
10th Grade - Varsity letterman
I have also run many races outside of cross country and received medals in several, but I wouldn't really say I'm good at running. I'm just average.</p>

<p>Quiz Bowl - 4 Years (including 2 years in middle school)
I didn't do this in 9th or 10th grade because of schedule conflicts, but my team was the runner-ups in 7th and 8th grade and will probably do well when I resume this activity next year.</p>

<p>Art - 3 Years
10th Grade - trophy winning piece (top 70 out of ~1000 pieces in art show), also all my pieces received some level of best in class recognition, maybe because the others in my class weren't very good..</p>

<p>I participated in many other activities that were only offered in middle school, I won't list them all in detail, only things that may be important.</p>

<p>Middle School (mostly 8th grade) - 2 time winner of school spelling bee, Runner-up in large regional spelling bee, qualified to state in Math contest both individually and as a team, qualified to state in Power of the Pen (essay contest)</p>

<p>I've also done some things outside of school, including a short time volunteering at the animal shelter (so few hours it's barely worth mentioning), I taught myself to play guitar in 9th/10th grade, I plan to get a part time job this summer possibly at Toys R Us, and some other things</p>

<p>Test Scores:</p>

<p>I took both tests in June of my sophomore year. I haven't taken the PSAT but I will take it early next year and I will most likely get some kind of National merit recognition.</p>

<p>SAT - 2130 (:( will retake in the fall for 2250+)
Reading - 700
Math - 710
Writing - 720</p>

<p>ACT - 34 (will retake in the fall just to get a scored essay and maybe a 35)
English - 35
Math - 33
Reading - 36
Science - 32</p>

<p>I plan to take 3 or more SAT II's and I'll probably do alright (at least 700's) on them. I plan to take: U.S. History, French, Math 1, and maybe some others.</p>

<p>I also plan to take at least Calculus AB and English as AP tests. I'm also looking into taking AP tests in French, US Hist, World Hist, and U.S. Politics.</p>

<p>I am hoping to pursue a career involving politics or law - I will probably be going to law school eventually, so to prepare for that I will most likely major in English or Political Science, or something like that.</p>

<p>Chance me for the following schools:
HYPS (the typical high reaches, chance me for early and regular admission)
Georgetown (possibly EA)
Brown (possibly ED)
Columbia (possibly ED)
University of Pennsylvania
Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
Boston College (Legacy – Dad)
Ohio State (in-state, safety?)
George Washington University (safety?)</p>

<p>Thanks for taking the time to read this and give me my chances. Also feel free to suggest other schools you see as a match for me.</p>

2

<p>Hey! I'm not really going to chance you for the ones that are obviously reaches. They're not reaches because you're not good enough -- they're just reaches because they're basically like that for everyone. But, I will say that you're a pretty good match for Cornell, CMU, BC, and maybe Northwestern. Ohio State should definitely be a safety. You should be fine for GWU, as well, but I would not classify it as a safety. Just a couple other things... first, you shouldn't assume that you're going to be valedictorian when you probably have at least three more semesters before that will be decided. And also, when you're doing your college applications (which won't even be for awhile now), don't put anything from middle school on them. For now, seriously just relax and continue doing what you're doing. You're on the right track and you have nothing to worry about.</p>

3

<p>Alright, thank you for reading! It's good to hear that I'm on the right track - I'm hoping I can continue improving and eventually get into a great college. In my school, there are usually anywhere from 3-5 valedictorians, and right now only 10 or so contenders remain in my class. I'm assuming that I can hold on, because whenever things get tough (math is a rough spot) I try to really crack down on studying. Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to consider my chances! :)</p>

4

<p>nice title ;)</p>

5

<p>lol, thanks. :-P</p>

6

<p>You are looking very good at the half way mark here. If you continue to do well with your rigorous courses, you would certainly have a good shot at those schools. You have a safety in place, so go to town!</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the advice from everyone. :):)</p>

8

<p>I read a lot of these chance me threads but rarely respond to them, but yours really caught my attention. Straight "A"s, on track for val, meaningful ECs, 2130 as a sophomore; those are all great.</p>

<p>But what really impressed me was your ACT scores:</p>

<p>English 35 and Reading 36 means you read like a demon - awesome.
Math 33 - as a sophomore, that's incredible.
Science 32 - before you retake, practice it a few times and you''l realize it's a glorified high speed reading comprehension test. You can improve on an already great score.</p>

<p>You will have many excellent schools from which to chose. You should be very proud of what you are accomplishing.</p>

9

<p>Thanks for your reply, sherpa.</p>

<p>So I'm generally on the right track to acceptance at a few of my colleges, at least? Any recommendations of improvements I could make (other than adding to my EC's, I'm working on that)?</p>

10

<p>You will be a competitive applicant at all of these schools. Keep doing what you're doing: UW 4.0, most rigorous curriculum, try to get the scores to 2250 and 35, but seriously a 34 ACT is great already.</p>

<p>Start thinking about preparing for 3 SAT Subject Tests; you'll need those for some of your schools.</p>

<p>Also, don't go overboard trying to add too many ECs; it can look like you're just trying to pad your resume.</p>

<p>Good luck. I'm sure you'll end up a very good college.</p>

11

<p>Thanks again for the critique, I've been trying to select which SAT II tests to take. Are there any specific ones that would be recommended with my preference for law/politics? Also, will the fact that my school offers only 2 AP's hurt me, or will colleges understand that I took advantage of every opportunity I had?</p>

12

<p>Take a few practice SAT II tests to see how you score and then choose your actual tests based on your highest scores. You are at a bit of a disadvantage for SAT IIs because you won't have the AP experience that can really prepare you well for some of the SAT IIs (chem, physics, bio, world, US), so prepare well and be sure to go for the tests you can do best in. I'm thinking Math level 2 and Lit might be good possibilities.</p>

<p>The colleges will understand that your AP options are beyond your control.</p>

13

<p>Thank you so much for all your help! :):)</p>

14

<p>Shameless Bump. =o</p>

15

<p>Another bump.</p>

16

<p>no need to bump, i think you have very good chances, but as always its a tossup</p>

17

<p>Okay, thank you.</p>