Is BU a safety for me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston University
1

<p>My guidance counselor said that BU, along with Northeastern, is a safety for me–I was shocked considering I had BU near the middle/topish of my potential list. </p>

<p>BACKGROUND:
Male, live in NY, born in South Asia, moved to U.S. when almost three yrs old, English was my third language, household income is around 85,000 so about 55,000 net, I have two older siblings, both of whom went to college. Father is a pharmacist. Mother is a housekeeper.</p>

<p>STATS:
GPA: 103 weighted, 95 unweighted (weighting system: honors = +10, AP = +12)
Class Rank: 6/300
SAT Reasoning Test: M: 710 Cr: 670 W: 670 Total: 2050/2400 and 1380/1600
AP: Last year I took 3 APs, and got two 4s and one 3. This year I am taking 5 AP classes (6 if you count economics as macro and micro as separate since tests are separate) + engineering research class + phys ed + a graduation requirement class.
SAT II: Phys: 800 MathIIC: 800 Literature: 700
Essays: Good, meaning not super because I am not an extremely creative writer and I rarely use SAT words, but good in the sense that I feel I successfully expressed my personality
Letters of Recommendation: One of them was really good, and the other two were average good.</p>

<p>AWARDS/EXTRACURRICULARS/WORK EXPERIENCE:
–AP Scholar
–Varsity Tennis Team: 3yrs (I made counties once)
–Varsity Excellence Award (received twice)
–Two-time scholar athlete
–Distinguished High Honor Roll student
–Mathletes: 4yrs (county champion last year, captain this year)
–Science Olympiads: 2yrs, ever since it was offered (I entered all the physics and chemistry competitions)
–SWEEP (an environmental club): 2yrs
–Key Club: 20 hrs community service
–School Radio: 2yrs (journalist)
–Have been working hard at a convenient store 30hrs/week for 3yrs. I have been sales manager for 1.5 years. This is big for me since it took up a lot of my time on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
–Even though I am an atheist, I have been helping every year, for five years, to help set up the food and dining preparations during the four weekend community feasts in the month of Ramadan. My counselor told me this is community service. So it took at least 3hrs/day<em>2days</em>4weekends<em>4yrs(high school yrs)=96 hours.
–I volunteered to tutor two students, on math and chemistry during junior year, after school every day, 1 hr each session, for 32 weeks. So 1</em>5<em>32 = 160 hours.
–I gave tennis lessons to a couple of persons at my tennis club during sophomore year, once a week, three hours a week, for six months. So 3</em>4*6= 72 hours. Afterwards, she became my girlfriend, which indeed was the ultimate payoff!</p>

<p>RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:
–I have completed original research on two projects, one involving chemistry at a state university, the other involving a bit of physics, environmental science, and biology—mixed—at a prominent national lab. I will be sending my abstracts for both research projects. Neither project was published, but I am entering the second one into ISEF. All this research stuff is perhaps my biggest “hook.”</p>

<p>MISCALLENOUS:
–I have been privately tutored for Arabic twice a week, for about 2 years now.
–I speak four languages fluently: Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, English; I know there are some conflicts about whether Urdu and/or Punjabi are languages or dialects, it’s acknowledged.
–I have taken part in civil protests against the war in Iraq as well as against the Patriot Act for twice a month, for two years.
–I trained at an international tennis academy in Texas for 1 month. (But please note, I do NOT wish to play college tennis)
–I regularly play tennis at a local club
–I love to play chess with my friends; I tried to create an official club, but my school’s board failed to pass it in time to make it official this year.
–My favorite album is War by U2
–As subtly mentioned above, I am taking an engineering research class. This year is the first year ever that my school is offering it, and it is very unique. I doubt many other schools have it, so this may catch a second glimpse.</p>

<p>PERSONAL QUALITIES:
–Mathematically and scientifically inclined
–Extremely politically active (I’m somewhere between liberal and libertarian)
–Very outgoing, I love my closest friends with all my heart, and I like most everyone else (except for the cocky jocks, for they are so annoying).
–Theologically open-minded
–I like to get personal with small groups of people, rather than lead a huge pack, as evident in my tutoring and tennis-lessons providing.</p>

<p>ACADEMIC INTERESTS:
–Economics
–Philosophy
–Mathematics
–Physics</p>

2

<p>Not really. You should be in without a problem, but I wouldnt say it's a safety for you.</p>

3

<p>I thought so, it's probably because my SAT scores hurt me a bit. So then, what are some safeties for me?</p>

4

<p>I think you'll get in, but I wouldn't use it as a safety. A general guideline might be that you should apply to at least one school where you're in the top quartile in every major category. Northeastern would work.
What else is on your list?</p>

5

<p>BU, RPI, Fordham, and Northeastern are the four colleges at which I feel I have high acceptance chances. According to your criteria, Fordham and Northeastern would be the safeties, and BU and RPI would be probable acceptances, though not quite safeties.</p>

<p>And then I'm applying to Brandeis and Wesleyan, which are, I would say about 50/50 chances, from what people tell me.</p>

<p>And then I'm applying to five or six really, really good schools, all of which I think are anywhere from slight reaches to huge reaches, even though some people tell me some of these schools are matches, which I found quite shocking and very comforting.</p>

6

<p>Sounds like a very good approach. Best of luck.</p>

7

<p>Sounds like a solid match school. Definitely would not call it a safety though.</p>

8

<p>It's more of a middle school for you. A safety would have a higer admission rate, like sixty or seventy.</p>

9

<p>I looked at it this way:
If I was bothering to apply, it wasn't a safety. Treat every school as if it's your top choice, because it might be the one you go to!
But I think you're alright in terms of getting in. What school within BU are you interested in?</p>

10

<p>I think it's a safety. Along with the three other schools you listed.
Please aim higher than BU because you definitely could get into better places.
BU was my safety, and my stats were lower than yours and I received numerous amounts of scholarships from them.</p>

11

<p>BU is not a safety. It gets more and more applications each year, and they are competitive people like you. I think you have a great shot - but no one should consider it a safety school, especially after seeing some of the stats of people who got deferred for ED.</p>

12

<p>Besides mediocre SAT scores, I would say your chances for BU are excellent. Certainly someone unique! But then again, I wouldn't go so far as to call it a safety. You never know these days. I just got my rejection letter from NYU, and I thought I was very qualified. BU is a fall back for me, but I can't be sure of anything...</p>