Ivy Dreams... One year sooner than planned

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am a Junior this year and have exhausted all the class options at my school (have reached the highest math, english, history, and science) and was going to do dual-enrollment or try to implement an independent study program at our school for next year. But then, after receiving information from some programs such as USC's RHP I started considering applying to college this year (although I would be a bit behind in apps...) </p>

<p>So I was wondering you could possibly chance me for this year so I could get a sense of whether it was feasible for me to apply this year or if I should just wait until my senior year. Also, any tips on improvement/skipping senior year would be great.</p>

<p>Vital Stats:
GPA: 4.0 UW
Rank: 1/130
SAT IIs: 790 US History, Taking Math II next month and predicting ~800, will take Bio E or M later on
SAT I: 2320
APs: Micro (5), Macro (5), US (5), Human Geo (5).....Lit, Bio, Euro, and Calc TBD</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Academic Decathlon....second in state as sophomore; captain; MVP; third at nats in my division (9,10,11...will cont. 12)</p>

<p>Quiz Team....co-captain (9,10,11..will cont. 12)</p>

<p>Mentoring Group...Founder and President (9,10,11..will cont. 12)</p>

<p>Track and Field....Varsity (9,10,11...will cont. 12)</p>

<p>Orchestra...First Chair (9,10,11...will cont. 12)</p>

<p>Spanish Club....President (9,10,11...will cont. 12)</p>

<p>Candystriping...Over 400 hours (10,11...will cont. 12)</p>

<p>Charles Dickens Fan Club...founder; president; only member (read every Dickens novel!) - haha yes, that was me in the hidden EC thread</p>

<p>NHS and Student Council - have officer positions this year, but would most likely be president my senior year</p>

<p>Miscellaneous Volunteering such as Candystriping, Pentathlon Coaching, and Gifted Elementary Education (taught Econ and a few other classes to grade schoolers) </p>

<p>And then some more ECs that I probably won't list (don't have leadership positions) </p>

<p>Class Rigor:
(most APs ever taken at my school & first person to win an AP award)
Junior Year: AP Lit, AP Bio, AP Calc, AP Euro, Spanish, Physics, AcaDec</p>

<p>Misc. Background:
Small, Rural Town
Female
White
Income Bracket: $100,000</p>

<p>My major concern is that I don't really have anything special to set me apart, besides (maybe) Academic Decathlon - that's a huge part of my life... Maybe I should just wait until my senior year... Thoughts????</p>

<p>Chance for: HYP, UChicago, Rice, Brown, Dartmouth...as an applicant this year, compared to next</p>

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

2

<p>I am in awe of your work! However, i think your should wait until senior year to apply. Live out your high school years and explore other classes that you wouldn’t of taken if you applied this year. You have truly outdone yourself and should use your senior year for fun and enjoyment. Live life up before plunging into the ivy system :slight_smile: Bonne Chance
(P.s Chance me)</p>

3

<p>you have a really good chance at all of those schools:
HYP: reach, but they’re reaches for everyone
UChicago: match
Rice: shoo-in
Brown and Dartmouth: low reach-high match</p>

4

<p>i would strongly advise you to wait. You are behind in the app season. But my advice would be to take CC classes or independent study next year and stay for senior year. Don’t miss out on your high school junior year. Plus at this point you’ll be rushing everything, essays, test scores, and juggling many ap’s. Just wait till next year when you can be ready for everything. And you could go for acadeca state this year and next year. And enjoy track and field, its awesome:). Plus, you want to walk for graduation with all your friends, not a lot of people you probably don’t know. And you’ll probably end up being valedictorian so I would stay for that too. You have a good chance at some top-notch universities, just wait it out and things will turn out fine. Good luck :)</p>

5

<p>^ I meant don’t miss out on your high school SENIOR year.</p>

6

<p>I think you should stay in school one more year. If you can pull off maintaining all your extracurricular activities while doing independent study, you can for sure get into a great school next year. </p>

<p>Good luck though…</p>

7

<p>Thanks guys :slight_smile: I really appreciate all the help! I’m still considering the decision, but I am leaning towards staying in HS… </p>

<p>You all made some really great points…I would be rushed for apps this year and I do feel like I would miss out on my senior year (@ theRADtomato, you were right on about AcaDec…it is definitely playing a large part.) </p>

<p>If anyone has any ideas for improvement regarding my stats, that would be great and thanks again to everyone who has helped me so far!</p>

8

<p>I have three friends that applied early in their junior year (coincidentally, all three of them applied to MIT). Two of them got in their junior year and said applying early was the best decision that they ever made. The third one got waitlisted and ultimately rejected so he stayed in high school for his senior year and got rejected from MIT again senior year. </p>

<p>I would say the main difference between the two candidates that got accepted and the one that got rejected was the potential quality of their senior year. They are all exceptional, but the one that got rejected was attending a fantastic public high school with options to enroll at a prestigious local university when he exhausted the high school curriculum. The other two had no option to do so and I’m guessing that is what MIT based their decision on. </p>

<p>I would say go for it and apply early! You don’t lose much (except maybe a few hours of sleep, but hey, that’s what Starbucks is for, right? :)) and if you get in, well, you get bragging rights for the rest of your life! However, UChicago might have a high school graduation requirement. </p>

<p>And you should have a better than 75% chance at Brown/Rice/Dartmouth/UChicago and HYP is probably hovering around a 50% right now, but it could swing in your favor if you spend your summer doing something exceptional.</p>

9

<p>^^ Actually, the person who got rejected got too many B’s during freshmen/sophomore year. And he didn’t make USA(J)MO.</p>

10

<p>but he did accomplish something with usaco, right? and i’m pretty sure his excuse of a being transfer student could’ve mitigated the effects of those B’s</p>