Junior looking for Chances at Top Colleges

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Gender: Male
Resident: Hawaii
Race: 1/2 White 1/2 Filipino
School: Bad public, about once every 4 years someone gets accepted to the top schools. 2 years ago a kid got accepted to Stanford, but then chose to go to the Naval Academy. About 70% of the school are military kids like myself.
Rank: 1/274
Courseload: Hardest Possible</p>

<p>GPA w/ Freshmen:
3.96 UW
4.375 W (highest I could go with the APs my schools offered)</p>

<p>GPA w/o Freshmen
3.97 UW
4.5 W</p>

<p>Junior Year Schedule: first semester / second semester so far
AP English Lang - A/A
AP World History - A/A
Advanced Band - A/A
AP Stats - A/A
Trig (no honors available)- A/A
AP Physics B - A/A
Self Study: AP Psychology
Self Study: AP Comparative Government</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule (tenative):
Advanced Band
AP Chemistry (independent study)
AP Calc AB
Spanish 3 (no honors available/I'm going to try and test into Spanish 4 just so I don't have to spend a period with a bunch of sophmores/juniors lol)
AP English Literature
AP Biology
Online: AP US History</p>

<p>(I had massive schedule conflicts when signing up for this. Originally I wanted the 5 APs and band, but then APUSH, AP Chem, and Band conflicted with first period. Luckily I was able to convince my AP Chem teacher to let me independently study it during her prep period and I'll be taking AP US online.)</p>

<p>*SAT: *
2300 CR:760 M:800 WR:740</p>

<p>ACT:
34</p>

<p>*SAT Subject Tests: *
Math IIC: 800
World History: 800
Physics: 750</p>

<p>EC's
Band - Clarinet
- 7 years
- 4 years private lessons
- Clarinet Section Leader
- 2 time Hawaii High School Honor Band
- Hawaii All State Marching Band
- 2 time Tournament of Roses Parade participant
- For frosh and soph years, I attended a high school that was named "one of the top 3 high school band programs" in the nation.
- Solo in my band's field show for Junior and Senior years</p>

<p>Political Forum Club
- 2 year member
- Vice President select (moved before serving)</p>

<p>Philosophy Club
- 2 year member</p>

<p>Mu Alpha Theta
- 2 year member
- President</p>

<p>National Honors Society
- 2 year member
- Secretary
- 50 hours of service</p>

<p>Interact Club
- 2 year member
- 40 hours of service</p>

<p>Awards:
- Bausch and Lomb Honorary Science Award
- Probably an AP Scholar w/ Distinction by the end of this year</p>

<p>Hooks/Why I'm Unique:
- Valedictorian
- Great test scores
- 2 self study APs, 1 AP online, 1 AP independently studied during school hours
- Leadership positions even though I transferred schools between soph/junior yeras.
- Music longevity, honors, and experiences
- Marched in the Rose Parade twice
- I have received great grades through unusual circumstances? I've gone to over 10 schools from K-12 because both of my parents are/were US Navy officers. </p>

<p>Chances At (in order of preference):
Stanford
Harvard
Princeton
Yale
Duke
Pomona
U Chicago (EA)
UPenn
Washington University at STL
UC Berkeley
University of Washington - Seattle / Honors (Match)
UC San Diego (Match)
University of San Diego (EA, Safety)</p>

<p>Thanks for your chances.</p>

2

<p>In at USD, UCSD, Berkeley, UWashington. In at some but not all of ivies and decent shot at Duke and Stanford. I have a hard time judging Pomona since it is such a small school and its admissions are really subjective.</p>

3

<p>bump, any other opinions?</p>

4

<p>Stanford 5%
Harvard 5%---at least u have a chance
Princeton 5%
Yale 5%
Duke 5%
Pomona 60%
U Chicago (EA) 50%
UPenn 50%
Washington University at STL 60%
UC Berkeley 10%
University of Washington - Seattle / Honors (Match) 100%
UC San Diego (Match) 100%
University of San Diego (EA, Safety) 100%</p>

5

<p>You have the hooks of coming from a state that's not overrepresented at top colleges and are a URM.</p>

<p>My guesses:
Stanford - reach
Harvard - high reach
Princeton - high reach
Yale - high reach
Duke - match
Pomona - match
U Chicago (EA) - match
UPenn - match/slight reach
Washington University at STL - match
UC Berkeley - match
University of Washington - Seattle / Honors (Match) - safety
UC San Diego (Match) - safety
University of San Diego (EA, Safety) - yeah, safety</p>

6

<p>IMO 5% for Stanford is a little harsh. What's the reasoning behind that?</p>

7

<p>bump again</p>

8

<p>I would say you have a much better chance than most at all of the colleges you want to attend. Disregard what "LondonIsCold" said, as it is impossible for you to have less of a chance than the actual acceptance rate. You will probably get into at least one of the HYPS. I would say you are in at Duke as well, along with all of your other choices.</p>

9

<p>Being from Hawaii helps.</p>

10

<p>bump again</p>

11

<p>bump again</p>

12

<p>bump again</p>

13

<p>Your stats are great, the only thing that might be bad is that your ECs (except for band) seem a little unfocused. You should get into at least half of the schools you listed.</p>

<p>And hopefully, being from Hawaii does help a lot :p</p>

14

<p>Sure, Penn is less selective than HYPS, but I wouldn't say you have a 50% chance at a school with a 16% acceptance rate (close to 11% for RD). You're probably an above average applicant at Penn so I'd put you in the 16-35% range at best. Penn is a reach for you.
I think you have a better shot at Pomona than has otherwise been indicated.</p>

15

<p>bump again</p>

16

<p>if anything is to be learned from the most recent admissions cycle, it's that you shouldn't expect anything. Don't make the mistake of submitting yourself to an attitude of entitlement. Apply to your schools, cross your fingers, and (even if you are rejected) realize that it means very little.</p>

17

<p>bump again</p>

18

<p>1 more bump!</p>

19

<p>None of your hooks are really hooks. The fact that you independently studied some APs and endured a lot of educational transitioning is pretty cool, though. I think that proves two awesome things about you: a) you are intellectually self-driven and b) you can adapt well to almost any environment. Make sure your counselor mentions those two things in his/her recommendation. That could be extremely helpful.</p>

<p>Overall, there's nothing about you that's particularly unique. The fact that you come from Hawaii is helpful, but it won't be enough. Over the summer, work on crafting your own idiosyncrasy-- demonstrate in your essays that you are passionate or humorous or something else that's sweet. I think if you really give your essays some thought and have some good recs, you have a great shot at any of the schools on your list. Best of luck with your journey!</p>

20

<p>Yeah I didn't really mean "hooks", just things that make me me. Also, how would I make sure that my GC/teachers wrote those things on their recs?</p>

<p>Thanks for your great post!</p>