I listen to SoCo and these are my stats.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey all. I'm a junior right now at a very competitive public school. So far I'm thinking about applying to the following schools next year as an environmental studies major:</p>

<p>Brown
Carnegie Mellon (Mellon)
Chicago
Cornell (CALS)
Johns Hopkins (Krieger)
MIT
Michigan (Natural Resources and Environment) (OOS)
NYU (Gallatin)
Stanford (School of Earth Sciences)
UCB (College of Natural Resources) (OOS)
UCLA (Letters and Science) (OOS)
Yale (SCEA)</p>

<p>[Academics]
GPA: 3.96
WGPA: 4.75
No rank
Courseload: 5 college prep courses, 9 honors, 8 AP, 2 at Princeton University, 1 independent study on environmental studies; skipped 2 years of math, 1 year of programming, 1 year of chemistry, and 1 year of music theory; exhausted all bio courses at my school, so I'm taking 200-level classes with Princeton students next year --> hardest courseload in my grade</p>

<p>[Test scores]
SAT M: 800
SAT CR: 720
SAT W: 720
SAT II Bio: 800
SAT II Chem: 800
SAT II Math 2: 800
AP's sophomore year: Computer Science A 5; self-studied Biology 5 and Environmental Science 4
AP's junior year: Calculus AB, Chemistry, English Language; self-studying Human Geography, Psychology, Statistics</p>

<p>[Primary extracurriculars and TERMINAL officer positions]
Environmental Club - President (and founder)
Debate League - President
Tutoring Society - President
Amnesty International - Vice President
Model United Nations - Vice President</p>

<p>[Secondary extracurriculars]
French National Honor Society
Science Club
Soccer</p>

<p>[Recognitions]
USA Biology Olympiad semifinalist (top 500 in the nation)
NJ Science League qualification and certificates
NJ Governor's School on the Environment nominee, finalist, then the program was canceled
AIME qualifier (115 AMC 12)
Shore Bowl quarterfinalist and team captain
NJ Scholars Program (humanities focus) nominee, finalist, scholar
Princeton University Moot Court Tournament seventh place team/quarterfinalist
Colonial Valley Conference fourth place team
Varsity Policy and Lincoln-Douglas debate teams
JPMorgan Chase Lincoln-Douglas Tournament Award
AP Scholar last year, hopefully National AP Scholar this year
...And some other small stuff</p>

<p>[Summer activities]
2003 - travel in Europe and Asia
2004 - skipped 2 courses
2005 - skipped 1 course, worked as a tutor
2006 - NJ Scholars Program, Environmental Management course through Harvard SSP, JSA symposium on leadership and politics, maybe getting a job and/or a course or two at the local CC if possible</p>

<p>I've explored the fields of biology and public policy throughout high school, and they overlap nicely in the field of environmental studies, which I plan to major in in college.</p>

2

<p>Stanford=jtjz007 but i think you can go mostly anywhere</p>

3

<p>Brown - slight reach
Carnegie Mellon (Mellon) - match
Chicago - match
Cornell (CALS) - just between match/slight reach
Johns Hopkins (Krieger) - match
MIT - reach for everyone
Michigan (Natural Resources and Environment) (OOS)- safety
NYU (Gallatin) - match
Stanford (School of Earth Sciences) - reach for everyone
UCB (College of Natural Resources) (OOS) - match
UCLA (Letters and Science) (OOS) - match
Yale (SCEA) - reach for everyone</p>

4

<p>Apply to Duke...you know you want to...everyone else is doing it...you'll be cool if you do...</p>

<p>Seriously, I think it might be a good fit. The Nicholas School offers four undergraduate degrees (Environmental Science BS, Environmental Policy BA, Earth Science BS, Earth Science BA), so you have plenty to choose from. I'm a Biology/Earth Science double major, and Duke has wonderful resources in this area. The Marine Lab, Duke forest, Primate Center, Duke gardens, phytotron, etc. are <em>superb</em> for undergrad research, even as a freshman. There are very, very few schools that surpass Duke in this area. </p>

<p>You also might consider some LACs- Colgate, Bowdoin, College of the Atlantic, Davidson, Middlebury, Pomona, Carleton, Swarthmore, Reed, etc.</p>

5

<p>I think you have a very good chance of getting into Stanford. I wouldn't say "match" but I would have to say that I'd be surprised if they didn't admit you. However, these things are always strange...</p>

6

<p>warblersrule86 - thanks for the advice, but I'm not a big fan of the south and I've heard some things about Duke (concerning heterogeneity and prejudice) that totally turn me off. I realize that Duke may be a great fit for me academically, but, to me, my social environment is a slightly higher priority. I wouldn't be happy if I felt like a minority (I'm Asian, btw) or discriminated against even if I was receiving a top-notch education in my field of interest. Plus, I feel like Cornell's environmental studies program is as good as, if not better than, Duke's, and I'd much rather go to Cornell.</p>

<p>On that note, the size and location of a school are very important to me, and most LAC's are either too small or too isolated. I really want to live in a city (with only a couple exceptions).</p>

<p>Ozzyb14 - I'm sorry but... what?</p>

7

<p>Well, how rude. My high school was 30% white, 30% black, 20% hispanic, and 20% international (over 70 countries). It was in a rough neighborhood, ranked somewhere in the 500-600s, and went on lockdown at least once a month. So yes, Duke was a culture shock. Asians are VERY prominent at Duke, tend to form large groups of friends, and seem to be quite fine. However, if you prefer to just go by stereotypes or go to Cornell and be one of 13,000, feel free. ;) :p</p>

<p>Ah, well. I guess I'll promote Chicago instead. You have a very good chance there provided you write great essays (they put a lot of stock in them). U Chicago is a great school, with a top-ranked ecology program. I came very, very close to matriculating at Chicago, and I plan to go there for grad school. Class sizes are much smaller than you'd find at comparable research universities, and the lopsided undergrad:grad ratio means it's pretty common for undergrads to get research experience. The dorms are great, and location is definitely good (esp. Jackson Park and Lake Michigan for an Env. Science major!). The student body is somewhat "quirky," and they have a passion for learning that can be hard to find at some places. It's not for everyone, but for the right person it can be a great experience. </p>

<p>If you want to be in a city, why don't you look at Columbia? Their environmental science program is very good, and you can't go wrong with NYC.</p>

8

<p>jtjz007, if you are taking courses at Princeton, why aren't you planning on applying there?</p>

9

<p>Hm. Maybe I'll reconsider Duke. Hell, I still have a few months to decide anyway. I was just explaining my current opinion.</p>

<p>As for Chicago... those are all the reasons why I want to go there... it sounds like the PERFECT school for me (IMHO) except that it's all the way in Illinois.</p>

<p>Columbia... it's on my list. But I didn't include it here for two reasons: 1) I know it's incredibly random in its decisions (as are Yale and Stanford, but I included them anyway for the hell of it), and 2) it isn't very high on my list. I'm definitely going to apply just because it's a good school and it's in one of my favorite cities, but it seems to have no campus and an unbalanced focus on its graduate programs, which don't appeal to me for obvious reasons. Plus, my tour guide was really dumb and the admissions officer giving the info session was totally full of it. But I will apply there anyway.</p>

10

<p>exigent - I'm only taking courses at Princeton (or rather, will be next year) because I live next to it, which leads me to explain why it's not my first choice (but, as with Columbia, I will still apply). As a high school student living 5 minutes away from Princeton, I visit regularly and I'm very familiar with the area. I'm looking forward to college being a DIFFERENT experience, not a repetition of the last 10 years of my life. If I go to Princeton, I'll be eating at the same restaurants, shopping at the same mall, and seeing many of the same people, as many people from my high school go to Princeton Township. Plus, I really want to go to a big city where I can get lost in. And I don't want to have a car on campus (though that wouldn't be a problem since my parents would be a bike ride away, which itself is a problem haha).</p>

11

<p>jtjz007:</p>

<p>UCLA: Safe Match (out of state)</p>

12

<p>Thanks, flopsy.</p>

<p>Anybody else?</p>

13

<p>SoCo as in Something Corporate?
If so, I love SoCo!</p>

14

<p>Haha. Yeah, Something Corporate. I was listening to one of their songs when I titled this thread. And I went through like a three month SoCo phase in which the ONLY music I listened to was SoCo.</p>

15

<p>hahaah i think everyone has SoCo phase. I prefer Jack's Mannequin these days though :)</p>

16

<p>Bumperoooo</p>

17

<p>Ok. Last bump.</p>