I've been waiting to post

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I've been waiting to recieve my SAT scores from my first test, January 28th, and now with them in hand, I finally can...</p>

<p>Junior
White Male
Upstate New York
Currently attending a poor urban honors high school. Everyone has to take an exam to get in and the acceptance rate after 5th grade (5-12) is below that of most ivies. Rated #1 Public School in Western New York for many years running.
GPA : 4.0 UW (2 A-'s but school counts all A's as same) and will be 5.22 after end of Junior year.
Rank : I believe 1/138 (I have the toughest possible schedule) but i'll just say top 5% for now. Also, school doesn't "officially" rank.</p>

<p>Course Load</p>

<p>9th
Adv. Algebra (Algebra II) 2 years advanced A-
Spanish 3r (regents) 1 year advanced A</p>

<p>10th
AP European History A+
AP English Literature A+
Pre-IB Math A
Pre-IB Spanish A+</p>

<p>11th (Currently with grades so far)
AP US History A+
IB World Lit A+
IB Physics A+
IB Economics SL A+
IB TOK S (Satisfactory, only Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory this year)
IB Spanish A+
AP Statistics A
I will be taking AP Micro, AP Macro, AP US, AP Stat, and AP Spanish at end of year.</p>

<p>12th (Planning on)
IB Math Methods
IB World Lit
IB Physics
Government (State Requirement)
IB TOK
IB HOTA</p>

<p>Standardized Tests
PSAT : 187 Frosh 202 Soph 217 Junior
SAT : CR 730 Math 710 Wri 740 (12 Essay) 1st time taken
APs : 5 Euro, 4 Lit, (3 Spanish but Retaking)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars
Class Treasurer (10,11)
Debate (9,10, Cancelled this year due to lack of funding)
Model UN (11) First Year at the school
Helicon Literary Magazine (9,10,11)
Varsity Crew (9,10,11)
Student Council Elected Representative (9,10,11)
School Newspaper Writer (11)
Amnesty International (9,10, 11 Treasurer) I also ran a landmine fundraiser this year that raised money and am looking at starting another landmine event.
Ski Club (9,10,11)
Highschool Foundation Junior Class Rep (11) Foundation is a non-for profit that helps provide things for the school
Masterminds (similar to Quizbowl) Varsity (9,10 All Star, 11 Capitan)
Worldquest (11) Regional champion and going to Nationals for this Geo/Trivia Competition</p>

<p>Volunteer
Worked at local political campaign's office (40+ Hours)
Helping to tutor 3rd and 4th graders in math (including some mentally disabled ones) at a local school (Ongoing, Twice a week)
Habitat for Humanity (10 Hours)
Helped run the school blood drive and donated (20+ Hours)</p>

<p>Awards (Most are given out end of Junior year but)
Helicon Poetry Awards (9,11)
Principal's List (9,10, Discontinued 11) Sort of like Dean's list
National Young Leader's Conference Nominee (10)</p>

<p>Summers
Lots of Rowing and some volunteering
This coming summer planning a backpacking trip through Europe and the Kenyon Summer Writing Program</p>

<p>Recomendations
Will be great. I have alot of teachers who are big fans and great writers.</p>

<p>Schools (in no particular order)
Princeton (Legacy)
U of Chicago (Grandparent legacy, I heard they count?)
Williams
Wesleyan
Middlebury
Haverford
Duke
U of Pennsylvania</p>

<p>I'm looking for some good safeties/matches if anyone can suggest. Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>I am looking for a solid writing program so any help on the list of schools with strong writing departments would be much appreciated.</p>

3

<p>One more addition, I am in the IB Diploma Program at my school (hence all the IB's)</p>

4

<p>It looks like your EC's and transcript are very strong; I hesitate because your SAT's are not phenomenal. Are you taking them again? I might consider it.</p>

<p>That said, here are my specific estimates:
Princeton, if you apply ED: Match
UChicago: Match
Williams: Reach
Wesleyan: Match
Middlebury: Match
Haverford: Match
Duke: Reach
U of Pennsylvania: Reach</p>

5

<p>I'm probably going to take them again to push the math up to 750 and hit 2220.</p>

6

<p>I'd say you're looking pretty good for most of the schools on your list. Your courseload is challenging (it took me a minute to figure out what HOTA was :)), your ecs are good (congrats on World Quest; it's hard!), and your GPA/rank are excellent. Write good essays, and you have a great shot at any of the schools on your list. Your chances would definitely improve with slightly higher scores, though. Duke has become very selective (over 19000 apps this year), so it's hard to tell. They favor IB, though, so it could be a point in your favor. </p>

<p>I suggest considering Dartmouth and possibly Swarthmore. It's difficult to suggest schools for you because your list is kind of random- Duke and U Chicago are almost opposites, and Williams and Wesleyan aren't very similar.</p>

7

<p>I would take the SATs again, you're below average there for the top schools, and as a white male, you should be closer ton 75%. Maybe Princeton if your parents are active, generous alum. Otherwise, with your SATs and no outstanding ECs, I'd add schools like Trinity, Colby, Vandy, Emory.</p>

8

<p>Any other opinions?</p>

9

<p>Also, thanks to those who have given obviously deep thought to my chances.</p>

<p>About the contrasting schools, for the most part, I am still in the selection stage based on reputation and secondary sources. I plan on visiting as many as I can as soon as I can and will most likely adjust the list from there.</p>

10

<p>The infamous. Bump.</p>