Junior Worried About College - Chance Me Please!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello, everyone! Although I am new to being a CC member, I've been looking at this website for years on and off since the beginning of high school. Since I've been worrying about college in my junior year, I want to know my (admittedly variable) chances for my top college choices when applying senior year. My definite first choice is Columbia University. The following other choices are in no particular order: Brown, UChicago, UC Berkeley, UCLA, MIT, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, & Pomona. This is by no means my definite list, just simply the top choices I can currently think of. Also, I know it would be really hard to categorise me considering I have yet to take any national standardised tests so far. I have taken both the PSAT and PLAN though, and my state requires ACT testing in April. I then plan on taking the SAT late spring or early summer; if my scores aren't high enough, I might take it again late summer or early fall. The biggest thing I worry about now are my extracurriculars; I'm most definitely certain they are sub-par, especially with the schools I wish to apply to. Could somebody please give me some helpful tips for this semester & next year in preparation for college applications? I would appreciate it! Oh, and my (planned) major so far is in computer/software engineering, such as the coding & design for websites, computers, phones, etc. Do not hesitate to ask me for more information if you need it. Many thanks in advance!</p>

<p>Here are my high school courses:</p>

<p>Freshman:
- Algebra II/Trig Honors
- Biology Honors
- English I Honors
- World History I
- Chinese III
- Drawing & Painting I & II
- Adventure Experience I (rock climbing, belaying, knot tying, etc.; PE credit; 1 semester)
- Intro to Engineering (1 semester)</p>

<p>Sophomore:
- AP Physics B
- AP US Government
- Chemistry Honors
- English II Honors
- Pre-Calculus/Calculus A Honors
- Chinese IV
- Drawing & Painting III (1 semester)
- Adventure Experience II (PE credit; 1 semester)
- edit: also forgot to mention AP test scores; they're 4 for Physics & 5 for Gov.</p>

<p>Junior (concurrent):
- AP Calculus BC
- AP Chemistry
- AP Chinese V
- AP Lang/Comp
- AP US History
- Competitive Speech & Debate (1st semester class; currently in club 2nd semester)
- Drawing & Painting IV (currently in class 2nd semester)</p>

<p>Senior (already signed up):
- Calculus III/Differential Equations
- AP Physics C
- AP Chinese V (re-take)
- AP Lit/Comp
- AP Economy
- Competitive Speech & Debate (1st semester class; 2nd semester club)
- AP 2D Drawing & Painting</p>

<p>More Academic Info:
- Current GPA: 3.9167 UW; 4.1667 W
- Class rank: 28/548 UW; 4/548 W
- Percentile: 94.89% UW; 99.27% W
- Note: At my school, the AP weighted grade scale is +1 grade, so an AP A=5, B=4, C=3, D=2. Exception is F=0. respectively. Regular weighted courses & unweighted scores are in the regular 4-point scale.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
- Speech & Debate club orator (starting this year 1st semester; won 2 ribbons in novice tournaments)
- Tennis (JV 3 yrs, possible Varsity senior yr?)
- Academic Letter last semester (for juniors & seniors, plan on getting it all four semesters)
- NHS Inductee (plan on continuing senior year)
- ~30 volunteer hours at local museum (20 hrs graduation requirement; plan on doing more hours)
- ~10 hours other nominal volunteering throughout the years (plan on doing more)
- National Chinese Honor Society (starting this year, plan on continuing senior year)
- used to go to Chinese weekend classes from elementary up till middle school</p>

<p>PSAT Score (from Dec 2013):
- Total 196
- Reading 66
- Math 71
- Writing 59
- Note: I actually got a 197 my sophomore year; how ironic that last year, I barely studied but this year I profusely studied and got a lower score as a result.</p>

<p>PLAN Score (forgot specifics but I remember my projected score):
- Projected Score 32-35</p>

<p>Perks?:
- Not URM but minority (Chinese American; this isn't exactly a perk per-se, is it?)
- First-generation immigrant (immigrated at infancy, but I speak only my native tongue with my family)
- First-generation college (does it count if both parents didn't go to college, but my sibling currently is?)
- Low-income (way below $60k/yr family income; receive free lunch)</p>

<p>P.S. Sorry for the exorbitantly long post.</p>

2

<p>Well academically, your GPA is very good for top tier schools. You’ll need to get a 2200+/32+ on your tests to fall within their averages. Your ECs are good but a little scattered. nothing really stands out, and that’s the most important thing to do when applying to top schools, stand out. There are hundreds of people that get rejected with 4.00 and 2400s because they dont shine in their essays and ECs so, and i cant stress this enough, do something that makes you appealing to the schools.</p>

<p>My thread (chance pls): <a href=“Chances for Vanderbilt, UNC, NYU, UF, and Duke? - Chance Me / Match Me! - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1610985-chances-for-vanderbilt-unc-nyu-uf-and-duke-p1.html&lt;/a&gt; </p>

3

<p>Thanks for the advice! I admit my ECs are quite scant at the moment; I’m planning on getting a job soon for experience since I heard colleges look upon that sort of thing favourably. I am hoping to letter in speech and debate next year and maybe even win some awards in varsity tournaments as well. I’ve also asked my counsellor for a list of clubs to join, but to be quite honest I’m not very interested in most of them. I’d rather join something I find enjoyable than something I think will impress colleges. My friend is currently in the process of making a film club, and I might join that sometime this semester or next year once he starts it.</p>

<p>I’ll be frank with you and say that I honestly don’t know much about college apps chances. I saw your thread and think your grades and ECs are good, but it may be a slight reach for Vanderbilt, Duke & UNC (assuming Chapel Hill). Considering the average accepted student in UF and NYU, I’d say you have a pretty nice chance of being accepted at these two schools. Again, this is coming from a newbie, so take my word with a grain of salt. I’d rather you get chanced by someone who knows what they’re talking about than someone uneducated on such matters like me.</p>

4

<p>Anyone else willing to give me advice?</p>

5

<p>I agree with the first poster. First of all, make sure your SATs are great. Also, focus on an area of interest. Start or join a club relating to that area. Become a competitor (Awards) or leader (official titles) within that club or area of interest. After grades, that needs to be your most important activity, and hopefully, it is something you truly love. </p>

<p>UCLA would be a match, UCB just a little in the reach area. The others are fairly high in the reach area, on current info. I’m also assuming that you like many Asians in the Bay Area (where I live) will study hard and get a good SAT score. I believe if you pursue your interests, you will get into a great college.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Chance back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1613118-chances-for-brown-u-of-rochester-amherst-and-u-of-michigan-ann-arbor.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1613118-chances-for-brown-u-of-rochester-amherst-and-u-of-michigan-ann-arbor.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>Thanks for the input; I’ll get right to chancing you!</p>