If you respond to this, I'll be your best friend!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi there! I'm new to this site, but I would be SO grateful if some of you could give your opinions on my chances of "getting in."</p>

<p>I'm currently a junior, and have not taken the ACT or SAT yet, but I'm registered for April and May, respectively. I took the PSAT and got a selection index of 205 (I expected higher) and 97th percentile.</p>

<p>I'm a white, liberal, female atheist in Texas. I go to one of the largest and most academically rigorous public highschools in TX, and I'm currently third in my class of over 1000 students. I take all honors courses and so far have taken 3 AP classes (4 next yr). I'll be taking Calculus as my math for senior yr. Also, I'm in Spanish 4 AP (Spanish 5 next yr)... not a native speaker.</p>

<p>ECs:<br>
-Have been practicing martial arts for over 8 yrs; I'm about 5 months away from my black belt. I won both a gold and a silver medal at the World Championships (of my martial art) for my division. I also won a bronze at the Texas Championships.
-National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, Spanish Club
-In addition to volunteer hrs req'd by NHS, I volunteer 4 hrs every Sunday at a local hospital (a Memorial Hermann branch, for those of you from TX), and this summer it will be 8 hrs every Sunday. I've already logged 120 hrs, since August.</p>

<p>Also, I will possibly be starting a club next yr for secular students at my highschool... I have to first consider whether or not my grades will be affected by super-religious teachers. The emphasis for the club will be on volunteer work, as well as a general feeling of acceptance.</p>

<p>I hope this is enough info for you guys to "chance" me on... I would like to know my chances for: Rice, Stanford, Pomona, and Yale</p>

<p>Advice is also greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>THANK YOU SOOO MUCH! :)</p>

2

<p>Reach, reach, reach, and reach, respectively.</p>

<p>You look as well-qualified as anyone...I'm definitely not aiming to insult. Your ECs are good (globally ranked...nice!), your ranking is awesome, and 97th percentile is hardly anything to worry over (for the record, my SAT went way up from my PSAT, though the opposite is obviously possible, as well). Just know that you're asking about four schools that are crapshoots for virtually every single applicant, no matter how stellar, so any advice you get here will be little better than totally arbitrary. </p>

<p>(This probably goes without saying, but I assume you're interested in more than just those four schools. Be sure to have a number of likely matches and definite safeties, as well. People might be able to make suggestions if you say a little bit about what you want in a school.)</p>

<p>Good luck, and congrats on your accomplishments :-)</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much!</p>

<p>Yes, I do have some safeties... TX has a system going where students that graduate in the top 10% of their hs automatically are accepted to any TX public university... the universities kinda hate it, but it's good for me! lol. Sooo... if I don't get accepted to any of those 4 schools, I probably will be headed off to UT (honors program, maybe) or A&M... not my dream, but not horrible. They might offer me a full-ride or something, who knows.</p>

<p>The sad thing is, I don't really have any "match" schools that I'd like to go to... I have my reaches, and the TX schools. I'm really picky. :(</p>

<p>I want a school where it's WARM (Yale is my only exception)... with great academics... I'm interested in dual majoring with two minors! ha! I think I'll have to narrow it down later. I want a good studio art program, as well as a good business program... and possibly pre-med? I'm all over the place. CA, TX, and HI are my fav locations. Also, I really need a school with great financial aid... even paying for in-state tuition will be hard for me/my family.</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>Que sera, sera!</p>

4

<p>If you like Pomona, I would definitely recommend looking around the rest of the Consortium, esp. at CMC and Scripps. Also, sort of smushing your Pomona and Yale interests together, perhaps you could look at some east coast LACs (not so much the <em>warm</em>, I suppose, but still). Maybe other southern-ish schools: Emory, William & Mary, Vanderbilt.</p>

<p>Try checking out the Princeton Review (I think...) lists of "Students often apply and often/sometimes prefer _______." The Pomona list, for example, will give you a rough idea of schools that people who like Pomona are also likely to like (a lot of "like" in one sentence, but hopefully it made sense). </p>

<p>Keep looking around for safeties, too. There are a fair number of lower-ranked LACs and small universities that, especially if you do well enough on SAT/ACT, will offer you great scholarships. I only recommend this because you don't sound very happy about state schools, and if you can find one or two safeties that you love, you'll be set.</p>

<p>It's also rather difficult to give you much advice without test scores. No, they definitely aren't everything, and at the top schools, they're no guarantee, but they can still really help structure a safety/match/reach list.</p>

5

<p>bump! :) </p>

<p>Oh, and thank you for the advice Student615... I've already done a booty-load (lol) of research. I don't think UT is that bad, I'd just rather go to one of the 4 reaches (duh) I mentioned. I test how much I really like a school by asking myself "If you got accepted here, and to UT, which one would you go to?" Usually my answer is UT, and therefore I cross the college of my list... less app $ to spend, at least! lol</p>

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<p>Fair enough. I have a sister who applied to four reaches and nothing else, and has so far been rejected from three of them. She has back-up options, but none that make her truly happy (or anything near it). But if you're okay with your list, then more power to you--just be very aware of what you could be getting yourself into. Another question to ask might be "If I got into UT and nowhere else that I applied, would I (perhaps ignoring feelings of rejection) be happy?" If your answer is no, then your search for a safety isn't over yet. If it's yes, then just ignore this post.</p>

<p>Again--and this is only a suggestion--I think that you should say more about what you're looking for (or just as important in your case, NOT looking for) in colleges. The four you list are all excellent, excellent schools, but are also pretty different from one another, which seems to suggest that you're not quite as picky as you think. People might be able to make suggestions, current students might be able to chime in re: your concerns, etc. </p>

<p>Your list right now (early, though it is), despite good stats, just feels...dangerous. And having been listening to my sister so much lately, I hate seeing that.</p>

<p>But good luck anyway, and it's good to hear you've done so much research. I hope it starts becoming a bit more fruitful, if only for peace of mind :p</p>