Ivy League Chances? I will chance back!

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hello everyone!</p>

<p>I'm interested in attending any ivy school. I realize that they will all probably be reaches for me, but I would still love to hear what anyone says!</p>

<p>I already have a list of "safety schools" that I am almost 100% sure I can get in to. (Don't worry-- I'm not banking on getting in to any ivies!!!) I am trying to figure out some good "reach" schools. I would love to go to Penn, but I don't think I can get it. I need some advice!</p>

<p>Here are my current stats:</p>

<p>Personal: Caucasian, male, KY</p>

<p>GPA: 3.98 (One B+ freshman year)</p>

<p>ACT: 31, with a 10 on writing. This was my second attempt. I plan on taking the ACT 1-2 more times. I have not done any tutoring for it, and I am about to start a one on one ACT prep class focusing on math and science. (my subscores are 35 reading, 32 English, 29 Math, and 27 science). I think that with this tutoring, I will be able to raise my score to at least a 33/34.</p>

<p>SAT 2: 600 Chemistry, 700 US History..... Planning on taking Math II in October (Yes, I realize Chem is low).</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Coaching a youth baseball camp - 9,10.11,12
Volunteering/Shadowing at a local hospital (approximately 50 Hours) - 10,11,12
Cofounder of a business/website (check it out: <a href="http://h2oworldwide.org/"&gt;http://h2oworldwide.org/&lt;/a&gt;) - 12
Baseball team captain (varsity player since 7th grade-- I go to a small school) - 12
Kids to Kids facilitator (A mentoring program within my school) - 11,12
School Honor Council member for 11th and 12th grade
Senior Class Vice President - 12
Volunteering at Church youth group - 9,10,11,12
Cofounder of the Spanish Club - 9,10,11,12
Math Club - 9,10,11,12
Pep Club Senior Member - 9,10,11,12
Young Republicans - 9,10,11,12
Cofounder of the Lawn Club (Basically and outdoors club)
National Honor Society
National Spanish Honor Society</p>

<p>Side note: My family is from South Dakota, and I am thinking of writing my common app essay on the moment when I was accepted into that culture. I have traveled to South Dakota quite a bit, and I think that it is certainly an underrepresented area as far as the ives go.</p>

<p>AP Scores: 5 AP US History, 5 AP English Language and Composition, 4 AP Chemistry (I think this means I am an AP Scholar?)</p>

<p>Please give me some feedback! Even if it is probably not what I want to hear, I need to hear it now! If there is anything else I left out, or that anyone wants to know please let me know!</p>

<p>Also, I know these nearly impossible for me to get in to... As I said earlier, I am not counting on getting in! I am just a dude tryna figure some stuff out! (Haha, sorry for that, my friend says it all the time).</p>

<p>I know that all of these schools listed are probably pretty big reaches, I just want to get some feedback from y'all!</p>

<p>Thanks,
LazyBonez</p>

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<p>Forgot to list senior schedule! </p>

<p>AP US Government
AP Spanish
AP Physics
AP Calculus BC
AP English (literature)
and an independent study in AP Microeconomics.</p>

<p>Also potential majors = Economics, physics, math, and accounting (I also want to minor in spanish!!) </p>

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<p>The bigger issue is why “any Ivy” will do. You should be spending your time now thinking about what colleges or universities might be the best fit for you, not how you can mold yourself to fit some elusive idea of what they might want. There are literally dozens of schools that could be great for you, and they are not all ones you’ve heard of.</p>

<p>P.S. Plenty of kids applying to college are from the midwest (including South Dakota), so I wouldn’t try to position it as a foreign country or anything. It’s just another place.</p>

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<p>@sally305‌ Just realized what I said – I didn’t and don’t mean that I would go to any ivy upon admittance, despite what I said. I have a list of schools that I think would be really good fits for me, and a few of them are ivies. Specifically: I would consider Penn, Cornell, and Dartmouth to be the best fits for me, because I have some extended family in that area, and I have checkout out the campuses and I love them! I said “any ivy” just to see what people would think about my stats, and schools of that prestige/selectivity. I also was not trying to say that South Dakota is a 3rd world country where no one goes to college. I was just saying that statistically amongst ivy league schools, I would say that South Dakota is an underrepresented state. I didn’t mean anything disrespectful or negative about people from that part of the country – That’s where my family is from! </p>

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<p>If Penn, Cornell, and Dartmouth are the three you could best see yourself at, then apply to those three as your reach schools. They will be reaches for you as for anybody, but if those are your top three schools, then go for it. As long as you have good safeties and matches as well, applying to those three can’t hurt!</p>

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<p>@Ranza123 Thank you so much for the feedback! I feel like unless I cure cancer/perform heart surgery/start a hedgefund there is no way I can get in to these schools haha. I really hope I am admitted though, it’s just kind of hard to remain optimistic when everyone else applying has a 36, speaks 3 languages, and started a company when they were like 9.
Thanks again,
LazyBonez</p>

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<p>Haha don’t worry! There are plenty of “unextraordinary” kids who get into Ivy Leagues. I haven’t done anything particularly noteworthy either. Most people haven’t. </p>

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<p>I think you have a fairly good chance at Penn, Cornell, and Dartmouth. Might be a bit of a reach for HYP, but your scores are good and you have a nice range of ECs. Milk the South Dakota thing for all that it’s worth. Knock the essay out of the park and you’ll greatly increase your chances. Best of luck to you! Penn is my first choice as well. Hopefully, we’ll see each other there! :)</p>

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<p>@ranza123 haha well hopefully I can pull this off </p>

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<p>@ranza123 haha well hopefully I can pull this off </p>

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<p>@meggy2414 awesome! The only ivies that I am really interested in are penn, Cornell, and Dartmouth. Out of of all of my schools, I would also like to go to penn the most. Good luck to you, and hopefully we both get admitted !!!</p>

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<p>Penn is my first choice too! I think that as long as you maintain good grades and write a really good essay, and have excellent recommendations, you will have a good chance!</p>

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<p>@empanada‌ Awesome!! Hopefully I can get in! Maybe i’ll meet you some day if we both get in!</p>

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<p>Is your state of residency SD or KY? You may not want to milk it as much if you don’t even live in SD. But you have as good as chance as all of the typical candidates.</p>

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<p>@premedbound‌15 It’s KY. I’m not milking it too much, I was just kind of wondering if it could/would help at all!
:slight_smile: By the way, just wondering, when you say that I have as good as chances as all of the typical candidates, what do you mean? </p>

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<p>"…I know these nearly impossible for me to get in to…" Yeah you’re right…</p>

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<p>Hi! So your myriad ECs are relatively impressive but somewhat mundane. Do you have any awards or recognition? those look great on college apps since they reaffirm your talent in your Extracurricuars. Also, you do really need to raise the ACT to at least 33, work on reading fast. A few schools I would recommend you look into are Tufts, Vassar, and Carleton. Chance me back? Thanks and best of luck!</p>