Ivy League and Top Tier School Chances (Rising Junior)

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I had previously posted this, but have made updates</p>

<p>I go to a pretty good public school, known mostly for athletics, but above average academics.</p>

<p>I have not taken any standardized tests except the SAT 2 Chem (720, could be better), so i know it will be hard to judge my chances so far. I was wondering what else I need to do next year to boost my chances.</p>

<p>Btw my top choice would be Columbia. Other places I'm interested in are Duke, UPenn Wharton, UChicago, NYU Stern, and Northwestern.</p>

<p>Asian Male (shouldn't be difficult at all)
NJ</p>

<p>GPA UW: 4.0
GPA W: 4.49 (this will go up, Frosh and Soph get bad grading inflation)
SAT II: Chem (720)
AP results: Stats (5)
Class rank: Most likely top 3 out of 290 students; possibly valedictorian (i have not confirmed)</p>

<p>Course load: (7 total academic classes per year)
Freshmen Courseload- 2 Honors classes (Maximum available for Frosh)
Soph Course load - 6 Honors Classes; 1 AP class (Stats)
Junior Course load - 4 AP classes (Economics, Programming, Calc AB/BC (don't know yet, but strong candidate for BC), US History); 3 Honors classes</p>

<p>Extra-Curricular Activities:</p>

<p>PIANO
State-level Piano Audition Honors 6 Years in a row
Cecilian (private prestigious award) Piano Award - 1st place Honors
Crescendo International Piano Honor Award
Performed in Lincoln Center and Carnegie Weill Recital Hall
IMPACT young virtuoso Piano Honor Award
A few other small piano awards- I am planning on submitting a recording when its time to apply</p>

<p>SCHOOL CLUBS
JV Tennis (9,10) Don't know about JV or varsity next year
Red Cross Club (9, 10, 11)
Red Cross "Operation Smiles" Branch co-head (11)
Red Cross "Alexia Foundation" Branch co-head and founder (11)
Spanish Cultures Club (10 ,11)
Spanish Cultures Club President (11)
Model UN Club (10, 11) not available to Frosh
EMS Club (9,10,11)
Debate (10,11)
Entrepreneurship Business Club Co-Founder and treasurer (11)
Newspaper Business Staff (10, 11)
Stock Market Club (10, 11)
Freshmen Ambassador (a leadership position for helping incoming freshmen) (11)
*Note: Juniors rarely get leadership positions in my school, so come senior year I might have a couple more. For example, I have an incredibly strong relationship with the Model UN adviser.</p>

<p>I am interested in starting either a Mu Alpha Theta charter, or an FBLA charter at school; if anybody knows about starting one of these, PLEASE let me know.</p>

<p>SUMMERS:
Summer SuperStars Camp CIT (a camp for intellectually gifted and talented kids) (9)
Taking Advanced Pre-Calculus at Private school Dwight Englewood (10)
Research internship at NYU Research Lab in Tuxedo Park (10)</p>

<p>OTHER:
Counselor said I'm getting into national honor society next year (frosh and soph not eligible)
Self-learned Javascript and Psuedocode for programming
High Honor Roll all semesters
My dream career: anything wall street related, preferably economics, finance, administration, etc. Don't mind coding too</p>

<p>I pride myself in my ability to communicate well with others and I am rather social. My writing is definitely a big strength of mine (I am especially good with creative writing), so I am looking forward to the application essays and making them unique.</p>

<p>VOLUNTEER WORK:
I started and am leader of a new program at the library that helps senior citizens learn about new technology; should definitely get a lot of hours from this.</p>

<p>Am in the process of starting a local organization that provides cheap music theory and creative music lessons to children. My friend is part of a national-touring band, and another one of my friends is an active member of our school's rock band club, so we can get guest teachers and free performances. Proceeds go to organization that helps underprivileged schools afford instruments.</p>

<p>FUTURE:
So if you didn't notice, I kinda slacked in Freshmen year in terms of extra curriculars (my grades were fine though). I sat down with my parents one day and I realized I needed to step up my game. That being said, I think I have an upward trend, not based on my grades but based on my other activities. Also, I expect to win more piano awards and continue to excel in my classes and gain more leadership positions, since I am really starting to improve. I am well-liked in school and have a really popular friend, and we plan on running for Student Govt President and VP (I'll probably settle for VP, unless you guys think I should try to persuade my friend to give me the Pres. position).</p>

<p>As far as standardized tests go, I am planning to take at least 4 SAT Subjects, including chem. I'm preparing already this summer, and I really didn't prepare well for chem, so I expect higher than 720s on them. I took the practice SAT and ACT: based off these exams, I'm projected a 2200 on the SAT and a 34 on the ACT. I am already preparing for both tests, so I expect to do rather well on them.</p>

<p>For Tennis, I'm really torn: It is a time-consuming spring sport, and during the spring I have the ACTs and the SATs and some piano competitions, not to mention AP exams is in May. I have a (slim) chance at making varsity, but most likely will be JV (where we don't have captains anymore). I don't know if I should consider quitting, I'm afraid I have too much on my plate.</p>

<p>My biggest concern is that I am a cookie-cutter applicant, but whatevs.</p>

<p>Thanks guys!</p>

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<p>Also, be as critical as you want. I’ll stay strong, I promise </p>

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<p>At this point I would suggest that you maintain focus, in terms of preparing for those subject tests, maintain your GPA, and write the greatest essays. You are DEFINITELY competitive. </p>

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<p>Thanks for the feedback</p>

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<p>Your stats look fine, however you are in the toughest demographic (Asian Male in NJ). I will be applying to the same schools as you, and I’m assuming you want to major in Econ/Financial Engineering/Finance. Just letting you know that North-Western is not that great for undergrad on the Street, better than average, but definately not up there. And also I would add UVA as well if I were you. They have a good 2 year undergrad program that has really good recruitment.</p>

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<p>thanks, can you also chance me for Dartmouth?</p>

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<p>My friend got into UPEnn and she didn’t have any impressive stats like these. Unfortunately, I have to agree that you are part of an extraordinary competitive demographic (NJ Asians). Best of luck!</p>

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<p>bump? and chances for dartmouth as well?</p>

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<p>Dartmouth: reach/high reach</p>

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<p>Dartmouth: Reach
Columbia: Reach
Duke: High Match/Reach
UPenn Wharton: High Match/Reach
UChicago: High Match
NYU Stern: High Match
Northwestern: Match</p>

<p>Dartmouth and Columbia will be reaches for everyone- but you will definitely get into one! Your ECs are stellar and I think you have a very good chance at all of these colleges. You are a very competitive applicant! Best of luck to you</p>

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<p>Assuming you do get over 2200/34
Columbia. low-mid reach
Duke high match
UPenn Wharton, low-mid reach
UChicago, NYU Stern, Northwestern. match-maybe high match</p>

<p>All of these schools are very competitive and will get a bunch of great apps like yours but I think you have what it takes to make most of these schools. Just keep it up and you should be fine cause you’re doing a lot and you’re doing it well. </p>

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<p>Columbia- Waitlist (so hard to predict for Ivies…)
Duke- Accept/Waitlist
UPenn Wharton- Waitlist/Deny (Wharton is so, so selective. You could be perfect and not get in)
UChicago- Accept/Waitlist, Booth I assume? (Friend was accepted to HYP and denied UChi- Booth)
NYU Stern- Accept
Northwestern- Accept/Waitlsit (agree with @CollegeGoer789‌, not great for The Street, better for admin though)
Dartmouth- Accept/Waitlist</p>

<p>Have you considered any of these for targets?</p>

<p>U of TX- Austin (McCombs has top ten undergrad B-School)
Babson- (They only have business related majors so its incredibly specialized of you REALLY know what you want to do)
U Mich
Carnegie Mellon U- (maybe a reach but Tepper is amazing)
U of Wisconson- Madison- (stellar risk management program)</p>

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<p>CollegeGoer789 and textocali, </p>

<p>I don’t think you guys know what you are talking about.
<a href=“http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/certificate/career-development/jobs-internships.aspx”>http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/certificate/career-development/jobs-internships.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>That is just a small program, not a formal school. But, interesting find nonetheless. </p>

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<p>You honestly look like every other Asian male from the northeast (plays piano, strong academically, good test-taker). </p>

<p>Here are the PROs that I see: took AP stats as a sophomore and got a 5. Nice score. Keep up the good grades for grade 11. SAT 2 chem score of 720 is fine (don’t repeat it). Course load looks good, take as many AP classes as you can get into.</p>

<p>CONs: I don’t know much about Piano, but are the awards that you listed below recognized nationally or internationally? Will a piano teacher at any of the schools you are interested in swoon over you? If not then I would focus my energy on something else besides Piano for next year. Your list of school clubs make me wonder if you are a dabbler. Do you join clubs simply for the sake of adding them to your list? I see someone who is interested in Red Cross and Spanish but not much else. What else is special about you that will stand out?</p>

<p>For a dose of reality: Go to the Ivy forums and find profiles of Asian males who applied to Harvard, Yale, Duke, Columbia, etc. Format your profile in the same way. Then print them all out. Then hand the stack to a neutral third party (your aunt or uncle) and ask if they can pick out your profile from the other students. My bet is that they will not be able to! </p>

<p>The point I’m making is that you need to distinguish yourself, and find something interesting about yourself to talk about (The pianio and ECs that you list here is not going to cut it). Once you find something that you are passionate about, pursue an EC outside of school this year to demonstrate your independence and motivation. You need to ooze your passion for this one unique thing. </p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the advice. @ChaChaanTeng‌ @CollegeGoer789‌ @textocali‌ I also heard northwestern was so-so for the Street, very good MBA program for graduate studies (Kellogg). @sgopal2‌ thanks for the down to earth realistic post, but I think I will continue with piano. My piano teacher is nationally-renown, and has a great track record with sending kids to Ivies and went to Columbia herself so I want her to do my rec. And my piano awards are not too shabby (IMHO) and I have yet to enter the big competitions that my teacher sends juniors and seniors to. …not to mention I love piano and will do it because I love music. But thanks for the honest advice and to all!</p>

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<p>Best of luck! Follow your passion and you can’t go wrong</p>

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<p>One note: you seem to be a dabbler. All these clubs. But who cares? What is the meaning in them? How do they relate to you? You could have just signed your name off on those sheets, and left. If you’re not dedicating at least an hour a day to a club (which I’m feeling would be an impossible feat for you) I don’t think a club holds a close place in your heart. President? When there’s 5 members, that’s truly amazing. How can you tie these clubs to fit an image for yourself? What do these clubs do? Walk around and hang up posters to spread awareness…? WOW!! How can they help your image?</p>

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<p>^That was purely constructive, I mean no insult</p>

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<p>Not to sound defensive…Im in 8 clubs and love all of them. Some only meet twice a month. Others (like Model UN and debate) are only active before a competition. But I am active in each one. But thanks though, I guess. </p>