<p>I'm a junior finalizing my college list before doing serious visits. I'm less interested in what's a reach/match than what's a safety/match, primarily because I know my reaches. I'd also love advice on what tests to take. My school offers no AP classes, so I am currently studying for Latin Vergil, Latin Lit, Physics C EM, US Govt. and a fifth TBD (probably English) on my own. I want to have 10 tests by graduation; next year I know I will do Calc BC and Chemistry, but the rest are uncertain.</p>
<p>Basics:
White F
Arizona
Public school, some grads to top schools
Parents are professors--I hear this hurts chances
First language is Spanish (not good now though)
Lived Michigan, Boston, and San Juan, Costa Rica
Read English, Latin, Classical Greek, German (learning but hope to be AP level by senior year)</p>
<p>Stats:
GPA: 4.0 UW, no APs but all classes are Honors (school doesn't offer AP)
Rank: 1/57
SAT II: soph year- 800 Literature, 800 Biology E, 740 American Hist (will take Latin, Math IIC, one TBD)
SAT I: took SAT-1600 in 8th grade for 1450 (800V/650M), anticipate 2350-2400 from test prep results
ACT: none yet, not sure if will take</p>
<p>Major ECs:
Very strong speech and debate (state finalist in 2 speech events, numerous high places/wins in debate)-cocaptain now
Very strong Junior Classical League (26 time individual state top scorer/champion)-twice VP, now P, and 2 years state office
College level Classical Greek since 8th grade
6 years violin lessons
Orchestra- first chair second violins
Model United Nations
Regional Science Bowl</p>
<p>Athletics:
Varsity cross country 2 years (All-Region) (walkon level)
Varsity track 1 year (All-Region and All-State) (recruited at small schools, walkon level above)</p>
<p>Service:
Wrote, organized and directed church Nativity play
Currently organizing production of Greek tragedy 80% in Greek, 20% own translation
About 250 hours peer tutoring in Latin
About 50 hours volunteering junior high/charter school track and XC meets</p>
<p>Honors:
4 summa cum laudes (incl 1 perfect score) National Latin Exam
Top 10 in nation CAMWS translation exam (repeatedly)
Never been to National JCLs, but 26 time top in state JCL
Won several local history essay contests
3rd place state spelling bee (8th grade)
National Forensic League Quadruple Ruby (after soph year, one of ~100 sophomores nationally)</p>
<p>Summer:
Center for Talented Youth (Johns Hopkins)-Ancient Greek intensive
same-History of Disease
Internationales Theologisches Institut (Austria)- Law and Politics of the European Union
Debate camp (not prestigious)</p>
<p>I'm mostly worried about my ECs/community service. My main activities are speech and debate and JCL, but due to schedule issues I have never been to nationals in JCL and never qualifed in forensics. How important would attending a national event be? My state is fairly competitive and I have done extremely well, but I think something is lacking. Also, how is my service? Most of it is school-focused; should I try to get something off campus?</p>
<p>As far as summer goes, I'm applying to TASP (alum referred) and entering 18 essay contests this year (2 down, 16 to go), some of which are national. If I don't get into TASP I will likely go to an intensive college course in either Albanian or Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian. </p>
<p>So, chance me for these schools, to major in classics:</p>
<p>Cambridge (UK)
Harvard
Brown
Barnard (legacy, just a back road to Columbia)
Bryn Mawr (would be impact athlete)
Chicago (would be athlete)
UC Berkeley
Michigan</p>
<p>I also keep taking Yale on and off my list just below Harvard. They have a great program in my area, but admissions officers are adamant that Yale undergrads should not expect to take grad courses (I would place out of all but 2 Yale undergrad classics courses). Does anyone have experience with language depts at Yale and their being silly about this?</p>
<p>Also, is Cambridge a realistic option for an American student from outside the prep school system? I'm sure I'm qualified, but it's unclear to me how selective the university really is for international applicants. I would prefer Cambridge to Harvard, since the former is both a better program and substantially cheaper, but I don't want to spend on flying to an interview in Canada if I'm an unlikely admit.</p>