I hate these threads, but I'm a self-professed hypocrite, so...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Well, here we go.</p>

<p>Rank: 2/367
Weighted GPA: 5.018/5.3 (5.3 = A+ in H/AP course)
Guidance dept. doesn't give out UW GPA</p>

<p>ACT: 34 (SAT... ehh... I had a bad math day. Retaking!!!)
Math IIC: 740 (retaking)
Chem: 800
US: 770</p>

<p>Grades Junior Year:
AP Chem: A+
H English: A+
H French: A+
AP Envi Sci: A+
H Math: A/A+ (it all depends on my final =P)
APUSH: A
H Concert Band: A+</p>

<p>(No B's on my transcript... except Gym, because my teacher had some sort of memory problem and didn't even remember that I was in his class. Hee, hee, hee. That was an experience).</p>

<p>Volunteering:
Council on Aging (manymanymany hours by end of summer!)
Mural in public school
Band stuff
Town Council Stuff
Habitat for Humanity</p>

<p>Job:
French tutor</p>

<p>EC's:
DJ on radio station (11, 12)
Producer (~co-director) of gigantic Senior show*
French Exchange 2007!
VP - National Honors Society (11, 12)
Workshop Coordinator - Town Council (10-12)
JV XC/Track ... hopefully Varsity XC senior year!!! (11,12 for XC, 10-12 for track)
[some leadership position**] - French Club (10-12)
Habitat for Humanity (10-12)
Chamber group (10-12)
Concert Band (1st clarinet all four years of HS) (9-12)
Marching Band (section leader junior and senior year) (9-12)
Student Council (9)
Destination Imagination (7-9, although of course middle school doesn't count!)
Literary Magazine (9, published in 10th grade)</p>

<p><em>the largest event Senior year is a giant comedy/talent show. The board works on it from the end of Junior year to March, when it happens. It is about three hours long, and requires an IMMENSE amount of work, from planning the skits to recruiting people to designing sets to perfecting the lighting to advertising the show to dealing with the economic aspects of the show...... basically, it's probably the most time-consuming, exciting, and biggest event of the average student's high school career!
*</em>elections will be held next year, but I'm 99% sure I'll get something, because I have a big role in the club as it is, and seniors always get the positions =)</p>

<p>Awards (almost done!)
High Honors every semester, every year (Gym doesn't count towards GPA)
Outstanding Achievement in Biology (9)
Outstanding Achievement in English (9, 11)
Outstanding Achievement in Environmental Science (11)
[Retired Teacher's Name] Award for Excellence in History (11)
Spirit of French Award (ha, ha) (11)
Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry (10)
Outstanding Achievement in Concert Band (11)
Gold Key RAL in Scholastic Writing Awards
National Recognition in Le Grand Concours (Nat'l French Test)
Commended (or Semi-Finalist) for PSAT
First female in my school to ever qualify for USNCO
Harvard Book Award
Nominated for NCTE Achievement Award in Writing (will find out if I won in October)
First Prize winner in school science fair (9)
Grand Prize winner in school science fair (11)
^research projects cannot compete at the state level, only experimental ones. However, I put an immense amount of work into both, and a judge even told me that I could publish my paper on my topic. That isn't meant to come off as braggy, by the way... I'm only trying to show that these were legitimate projects, despite the fact that they weren't experimental =)</p>

<p>Other Thing-y That's Worth a Mention:
My friend and I have been working for about two months on a grant application. We have met with several other "sources" to discuss our idea, and, if it is accepted, will also be working on incorporating this new activity into the curriculum (the activity will culminate in a large school-wide competition that we also will be running). I had to give a speech in front of the school board and get their approval. That last part probably isn't important at all, but giving a speech in front of the board makes me sound pretty cool, eh? Hopefully we get the grant =) If we do, it will require a lot of work and effort on our parts (it has already!)</p>

<p>Colleges that I plan to apply to:
Brown
Cornell
MIT
Vassar
Hamilton
Fordham
Juniata
UConn
Northeastern
Williams</p>

<p>Obviously, my list needs some work... but those are the ones that I am thinking of now!</p>

<p>If you've made it to this point: thank you so, so, SO much. I know how aggravating these threads are... yet, now, as a rising senior, I just can't resist. My apologies.</p>

<p>PS- By the way, I already know that my EC's are really, really weak. Feel free to mention this, but don't crucify me =)</p>

2

<p>Looks very good. MIT will be a big reach for you though.
And I would get rid of "Outstanding Achievement in.." if they are the awards which are awarded to students who got the highest mark in their classes. They will obviously see your "outstanding achievement" in your transcript.
What are you planning on studying in college?</p>

3

<p>Um... your ECs are "really, really weak" if a "strong" EC would be, say, being the prime minister of a small country. </p>

<p>So it looks pretty good. If pretty good means really good. :p I agree with mrclassicfreak that you shouldn't list your Outstanding Achievement awards... unless you're really desperate to pad your list of awards. I listed my school-awarded awards on my Stanford application, and that apparently was fine.</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
Student Council (9)
Destination Imagination (7-9, although of course middle school doesn't count!)
Literary Magazine (9, published in 10th grade)

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I wouldn't include these on your application, because since they only went up to 9th or 10th grade, it doesn't really show an ongoing commitment. They like to see activities you've stuck with throughout high school. Even if there is some reason for this, like it wasn't offered the following years, you'd have to take the time to explain it in your application and it'd be better just to not include it. You have some solid leadership positions, although you're right that it isnt your strong point in your application. And also, that fact that you participate in sports, which is a big time commitment, even for JV, is good as well.
As far as your college list goes, it's not bad but you seem to have mostly reaches and safeties, i would get more matches (schools maybe within the 35-50% acceptance rate range), these schools are often the most important. Anyway, good luck with your applications! :D</p>

5

<p>Thanks for all the feedback! Ehh, yeah, I'm having some problems finding matches (finding reaches and safeties seems so simple...!), but hopefully that will be resolved by the end of this summer (I will be going on many, MANY college tours. Heh, heh).</p>

<p>I realize that the "Outstanding Achievement in Blahblahblah" awards look pretttttty stupid, but I thought that they were worth including (for now. I doubt that I'll include them in my actual application).</p>

<p>WARNING: Unintentionally long rant ahead!!!
I also had a question. I do realize that including my activities for 9th grade seems to detract from my overall application, because I didn't stick with them. But, would a complete absence of activities in 9th grade look worse? I had no idea what I would be interested in during 9th grade, missed the "Club Fair," and just signed up for clubs that seemed "interesting." I didn't really enjoy these, though, and got involved in completely different clubs sophomore year- clubs that I actually had an interest in.
Student Council was the only school-run club that I really wanted to participate in (I was selected as a rep). But, the year after that, a new policy was created: the losers of the officer elections were given positions as reps (separate application processes didn't take place). I didn't realize this, so I lost my position in the club.
As far as Destination Imagination goes (it's a theatre-y EC... it's very difficult and sounds silly, but it's a very rewarding program), I was very involved in it, and my "team" had always made it to states in past years. Freshman year, though, no one else on my team did any work, and I had to design/build/paint the set, write the script, sew the costumes, design and create the technical aspects ("special effects"), and compose the songs myself. It became too much of a burden, and we decided to stop participating in the program.</p>

<p>UGH! I did not mean for this response to become so long. Sorry! As if my incredibly boring lists of stats and EC's wasn't boring enough.... =)</p>

6

<p>Eh... I hate bumping but... (see thread title =P)</p>

7

<p>haha "Les Os" - dare i say that's from The Unicorns? :P</p>

<p>um, i'm basically repeating what others said - and what you also acknowledge - your ECs are obviously the weaker part of your application. you've got the numbers in terms of your very high rank; your ACT score - a 34 is a VERY good score, about a 1480-1510 SAT score out of a 1600; and your high SAT II scores. however, if i were you, i would not waste time retaking a 740 unless you are very confident of getting an 800. otherwise, i'd focus my time continuing the ECs and strengthening that part of the application. </p>

<p>make sure you get good teacher recs and make your essays shine.</p>

<p>as far as your college list goes:</p>

<p>Brown - reach
Cornell - reach
MIT - reach
Vassar - safety
Hamilton - safety
Fordham - safety
Juniata - safety
UConn - safety
Northeastern - safety
Williams - reach</p>

<p>you definitely need more matches. personally speaking, your college list has reaches and safeties, stark ends of the spectrum. what are you interested in majoring in college? </p>

<p>some colleges to consider: northwestern, duke, uchicago, unc-chapel hill, uva; liberal arts ones: middlebury, carleton, amherst</p>

<p>it really depends on what you're interested in, then you can vastly narrow down your college list.</p>

8

<p>I would say Hamilton and Vassar are more match/safeties, not safeties.</p>

9

<p>For just about all of your schools you look to be a fantastic candidate. If you pull up your SAT Math score as you said you planned on doing, you'll have a better shot at MIT, however, it would still be a definite reach for you due to the ECs you have.</p>

<p>Chances on a scale of: high reach, reach, semi-reach, good fit, likely, safety.</p>

<p>Brown University... REACH.
Cornell University... SEMI-REACH.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology... HIGH REACH
Vassar College... GOOD FIT.
Hamilton College... GOOD FIT.
Fordham University... SAFETY.
Juniata College... SAFETY.
University of Connecticut... SAFETY.
Northeastern University.... SAFETY.
Williams College... SEMI-REACH.</p>

10

<p>I agree with littleathiest on everything.</p>

11

<p>"haha 'Les Os' - dare i say that's from The Unicorns? :P"
You are correct =) Les Os is one of my all-time favorite songs!</p>

<p>I'm probably going to face some problems, because I'm planning on majoring in biochem... but my best subject is, by far, English. The academic, competitive, diligent side of me loves science- pushing myself to comprehend concepts, researching topics, drawing conclusions, all of that great science-y stuff... but in my free time, I write and read. I'm certainly a contradiction... that's why my colleges tend to be either English-centered colleges or ones with a focus on science (it depends which of my personalities was dominant when I was doing my college search... haha.)</p>