<p>I am a high school junior in Sacramento. I have great ECs and have played at the varsity level in two sports (golf and swimming) since I was a freshman. I am good (all conference) and could play for the schools I would like to attend, but I am probably not good enough to be recruited by these schools. I scored a 2280 on my SAT I (790 math, 760 CR, and 730 writing). My dad is from Thailand and my mom is Caucasian. I two 5's on AP tests, one 3, and will take more this summer. I have a 750 on one SAT II. I have a 4.6 uw GPA and am ranked 3rd in a class of just under 1,000. I am pretty sure I have taken the most challenging course load possible. </p>
<p>I think I can do better on the CR and writing section of the SAT and perhaps get a super score above 2300, but that's not a certainty. </p>
<p>My reach schools are Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. My second category is Penn, Columbia, Brown, and Dartmouth. My third category is Berkeley, UCLA, and USC. My safety is Arizona (mom's alma mater). </p>
<p>What do you think my chances are? I will continue to play tennis and golf through my senior year. I will be an officer in clubs and the captain of the tennis team, with loads of volunteer hours. Is there anything else I can do? </p>
<p>To this year's senior class, I wish everyone success with their applications!!!</p>
<p>HYPS is a reach for everyone but you seem to have really good scores, awsome rank, good courseload so you have a great shot. I would say you're in as long as you have something fairly interesting in EC, like weird community service or something.</p>
<p>Wow impressive. You have a chance at any school in the world but when it comes to those schools you never know what can happen. but you have a real stong chance if nothing else.</p>
<p>Thanks Steven and Tobias!!! You guys were fast!</p>
<p>Does anyone have an opinion on my participation on athletic teams? If I am good but not quite good enough to be recruited by HYPS-type schools, am I wasting my time? I spend at least 20 to 30 hours a week at practice every month of the school year (our teams are very competitive (CIF champs/contenders each season) so we work really hard). I enjoy it, but it makes doing well in school very, very stressful. I rarely sleep more than 4 hours a night. If my chances at the HYPS-type schools would be increased significantly because of this participation, I would endure another year and one-half, but if these schools are relatively ambivalent about my participation, perhaps I should focus just on school. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Thanks!!!</p>
<p>Try and get on the recruitign radar if possible. It could be a boost if a coach at even takes a serious look. Your weakness is your ECs, w/o some sort of recruiting they might not be special enough for the reaches.</p>
<p>Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton- 30-35% shot ( a CHANCE at one)
Penn, Columbia, Brown, and Dartmouth- 50-55% Shot at all (should get into one or more)
Berkeley, UCLA, and USC- In at all
Arizona- In w/ money</p>
<p>I'm not sure how elite colleges view mixed race kids. You'd think that a mixed race kid would help diversify the campus, but since you are a combination of white and asian, you're probably not the type of diversity they are looking for. </p>
<p>I would retake the SAT. You've got a great math and cr score, but you can definitely boost your writing score. With super scoring, your chances of increasing your overall score are much better than someone with more balanced scoring. I think a 2300+ is much better than a 2280. </p>
<p>I think you qualify for HYSP, which means you'll have a 10 to 15% chance of admission. As for your second tier, I think your chances for all would be around 20%. I think you're a shoe-in for your third level and for your safety. </p>
<p>I would stick with sports as long as you're enjoying it. My sister (whose 20 years older than me) told me that she doesn't remember much about high school except for her basketball team experiences. In 20 years, you won't cherish another "A" in AP Chem or whatever but you probably would cherish another two years on your sports teams, especially since they are competitive. </p>
<p>I hope you get in to where you want to go.</p>
<p>Our sports team spend about 20 hours a week (I know, a lot right) for four months per season so we have tons of opportunities to get recruited. Definitely sign up for recruiting because there are kids who DO get recurited to Harvard,Columbia, Stanford bc of football and baseball and the only requirements besides playing for the school's team is like an 1800 SAT or something stupid like that. And that's for the Ivies! Imagine how easy it is for other competitive non-ivies. If you're really good at something (best in your school and conference) definitely go for it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement, Steven. </p>
<p>The problem is that most of the schools I am applying to are in the East, and they don't have the budget to recruit many tennis and golf players in California. Califonria schools like Stanford, Cal, and UCLA recruit tennis players and golfers who are better than me (they get the best in the nation). I also swim on a club team and have swam finals in the junior olympics, but I've been told that schools like Harvard and Princeton recruit only national-level swimmers. Again, I am good but I am not a national-level athlete. I definitely plan on filling out the recruitment forms, and I am very confident I could make an Ivy League team, but I just don't think I am good enough to catch any coach's attention as far as being someone whom he or she actively recruits, which is necessary to get a boost in the admission process. My understanding (and correct me if I am wrong) is that the Ivy leagues only recruit a couple of players each year. The rest of the team walks on.</p>
<p>If sports are taking a toll on you, you could try some academic extracurriculars. I would say that success in those would be perhaps more highly regarded by HYPS, but as others have said, you have great chances there regardless. I wouldn't recommend retaking the SAT, though.. in my eyes, there just comes a point where it's futile to keep going (I'm a junior with a 2290 and not planning on retaking, for what its worth, so I've given a lot of thought to the situation, lol). I think you should be a shoe-in for your 3rd category of schools, and you have good chances at the upper two as well. On the other hand, I feel like there's a huge drop-off between your 3rd category and your safety. Maybe add some more competitive safety-ish schools in there. I can't imagine that someone with the drive to go to Harvard could be truly happy at Arizona, but maybe I'm wrong there. Either way, this is all just my two cents. You can make your own decisions, but I hope I've given you some food for thought! :)</p>
<p>I'm from the East too and also play tennis. Of course anyone from Florida, California, Texas, Arizona etc. is bound to be better. Still, there's no harm in trying.</p>
<p>Thanks, Fearless. I am already an officer in three clubs (they don't take nearly as much time as athletics), and I won two regional speech competitions and finished 3rd in state last year, but I don't think there is much room for any more EC success in the clubs I am in. If I stop playing tennis or golf, I'd focus more on my classes. And I would get more sleep -- a lot more. I like playing, I just wish my life was less hectic. But we're probably all wishing that, huh?</p>
<p>Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Brown, and Dartmouth:
crapshoot. kids with your extracurricular activities and testcores get rejected left and right. but with your sat scores and extracurriculars, you have a good shot. just make sure you maintain your junior year grades.
Berkeley, UCLA: in!
USC: high match</p>