Junior chances at some colleges

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Thinking of applying to:
MIT, Cornell Eng., Columbia SEAS<em>, Duke Pratt</em>, Johns Hopkins, Washington U. @ St. Louis, Williams College, U. of Chicago, USC, Pomona</p>

<p>Attending one of top ten public schools in California (if that helps)</p>

<p>Asian American (Korean)
Academics
SAT 1500 780 M 720 V
2C 790
Writing 770
Physics, American, Bio (planning to take)
AP Euro 5
AP Stats 5</p>

<p>Weighted GPA = 4.75 out of 4.0 ; top 5% of 2006 class</p>

<p>9-11 courses</p>

<p>9th
Adv. Orchestra A, A
Hnrs Bio A, A
English 1 A, A
Hnrs Alg 2 A, A
PE A, A
Spanish 2 A, A
Regional Studies, Health A, A</p>

<p>10th
Adv. Orchestra A, A
Hnrs Precalc A, A
AP European History A, A
AP Statistics A, A
Spanish 3 A, A
Hnrs English 2 A, A
Hnrs Physics A, A</p>

<p>11th
Adv. Orchestra A
AP BC Calc A
AP Physics A
AP English A
AP Bio A
AP American A</p>

<p>Researching Swarm Engineering with Caltech PhD- working on publishing theory paper on swarms
Wrestling Team JV/V
Varsity Track and Field-Pole Vault and Long Jump
co-Founder/Vice president of Young Musicians Club
Science Club-Secretary
Communications Chair Key Club
Volunteer at Malibu Water Chemistry
1st Degree Black Belt in Taw Kwon Do
attended NSLC Medicine and Healthcare
teacher/co-founder of Oriental Mission Church youth services (helping inner city children in math, english, science, history)
500+ hrs of COmmunity Service
Violin for 10 years
2nd Chair Young Nak Youth Orchestra and member of Young Nak Adult Orchestrra</p>

<p>Pomona-Wisconsin Mathematics Award
Wrestling 140lb Silver Medal 2003 & 2004 (damnit)</p>

<p>My mom's been really anal about my SAT scores (she thinks they are too "low")</p>

<p>I'm been through some hard times. I'm not really the stereotypical "Nerdy" asian. Haha</p>

<p>You guys think I can get in at all?</p>

<p>I really can't apply to UC's because I don't want to take the New SAT</p>

2

<p>"Too low"? Your mom seems really harsh and overbearing. Your SAT score is solid for all of the school's you're applying too, as well as your writing,Math IIc score, and AP test scores.</p>

<p>The fact that you go to a competetive high school really helps, because the classes at a top public HS are much more challenging/stimulating than one you'd find at your typical h.s. Class rank and GPA are excellent.</p>

<p>Class schedule is pretty rigorous and your grades are great in all of them. I don't think that the fact that you weren't in Honors Eng. in 9th grade and had Spanish only up to 10th grade would hurt you much.</p>

<p>EC's: another strong point. You're well-rounded and committed to all of your activities, esp. Orchestra, wrestling, track, leadership roles in clubs, Tae Kwon Do, etc. Being the co-founder of the youth services at the Oriental Mission Church shows that you have the initiative to better your community, so that's a big plus. EC's and community service show that students have developed geniune interests that will serve them in college and later in life.</p>

<p>You have an excellent shot at all of the schools you mentioned. Here's my Reatch/match/safety breakdown:
MIT: R (don't take it personally--schools of this caliber are reaches for even the best students and college admissions are very unpredictable. My brother who now attends Harvard was actually waitlisted by MIT)
Cornell eng: M
Columbia: M/R
Duke Pratt: M/R
Johns Hopkins: M
Wash. U:M
Williams:M
U. of Chicago: S (high acceptance rate compared to schools w/ similar ranking)
USC: S/M
Pomona:M/R</p>

<p>Also, a significant factor in admissions are essays, recs, etc. Make sure you ask your teachers (one from math/science class, one from history/english class) EARLY for recs, preferably the middle or end of junior year. They really appreciate it b/c it gives them more time to write a glowing, articulate rec. for you, and not one that it rushed.</p>

<p>What classes to you intend on taking senior year?
Have you made cds/tapes/videos/dvds of your musical recordings or tae kwon do performances? You should def. send them to all of your schools.
Also, what are you going to do this summer? Taking classes at a cc, doing research or a summer internship would be good ideas.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

3

<p>haha
Thanks. My school didn't offer Honors English in Freshman Year, and my Spanish 3 teacher was literally a pothead, so I couldn't really learn anything.</p>

<p>SENIOR YEAR CLASS
AP Chemistry
AP Govenment/ECON (or regular depending b/c I heard my teacher has mental issues haha)
AP English
AP Computer Science
Stanford Online Multivariable CAlculus
Stanford Online PHysics E/M or Light/Energy</p>

<p>Uh. I had to quit Tae Kwon Do in 9th grade, so I really can't send in a tape.
I'll probably send in a tape of a violin piece that I was playing.</p>

<p>MY RECS ARE GOOD! My history teacher loves me and my Physics and Bio teachers love me also.</p>

4

<p>O yea I forgot.</p>

<p>I applied to NIH for an internship in Biophysics.
Cornell Nanobiotech
and RSI</p>

<p>I hope I can make it to RSI</p>

5

<p>SATs are great, but there are those Asians who get 1600's..so...not sure.</p>

<p>You're not the "nerdy" asian type, but all I see that sets you apart is your wrestling. And in my school, at least half the team is asian. </p>

<p>You probably know that many asians excel at Tae Kwon Do, Violin, and Math/Science extremely.</p>

<p>I don't see a Spanish 4 on your 11th grade schedule, did you drop it?</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
SATs are great, but there are those Asians who get 1600's..so...not sure.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Adcons view SAT I scores as compared to their 25th-75th %ile range, and albert123 is either within or above the range at many of these schools so a "low" (as his mom put it) score of a 1500 won't be an issue like it is for the 1000 SAT I score of "El Corozon" (who applied to several Ivy League schools, Caltech, and U of Chicago).</p>

<p>The fact that he chose a few "typical Asian nerd" extracurriculars like orchestra, martial arts, and Math/science won't work against him in any way. I'm surprised that half of the wrestling team in Tami's h.s. is Asian,because in my experience at least, that's pretty uncommon. albert123 is an artist-warrior-scholar in the truest sense.</p>

7

<p>Yes it is uncommon. i'm pretty surprised myself, but after one kid joined, all of his "group" joined.</p>

<p>I agree with Elbereth, but I wasn't saying that his SATs were bad, just pointing out that there are people with SAT 1600's. That's why I said "Sats are great" to begin with. </p>

<p>And yes, its true it won't work against him, I never said it would. I was saying that in some points, he was similar to a "asian nerd."</p>

8

<p>I take back what I said earlier...the lack of a junior and senior year language WILL hurt your chances.</p>

<p>If the Spanish teacher at your school is a "pothead" (lol :) ), I strongly urge you to taking Spanish classes at a local community college to get language credits.</p>

9

<p>OK! I'll take a spanish class at a community college. I was good at Spanish, but I just didn't learn anything in my class. All we did was talk about some stupid soap opera called Marimar</p>

<p>haha</p>