<p>Hardest possible courseload 11 and 12 years, also the years I did the best in</p>
<p>ACT: 35
SAT: 2340
PSAT: 225
SAT II:
Math IIC: 800
Biology: 780
US History: 800</p>
<p>AP Tests:
Bio, Stat, US (expecting 5's)</p>
<p>Class Rank: at the moment it's about 13%, should hopefully be under 10% by the time I apply RD to colleges(HOPEFULLY) chance both ways please</p>
<p>ECs:
AIME
JSA @ Georgetown
JSA at school - president
Key Club
Speech and Debate - NFL nationals
National Honors Society - secretary
Medical Club
Tutoring 5th graders =)
Stanford Debate Camp - Advanced Seminar
Intern @ Law firm</p>
<p>Don't be so hard on yourself - "wasting my time".</p>
<p>Assuming you're a great person, and you're able to show it in your essays and others can prove it in their recommendations, then you are a very strong applicant, I can almost assure you that.</p>
<p>Pick up ur class rank and your GPA and you'll have a decent shot.</p>
<p>edit: make sure you have something that you truly are passionate about that you convey on your application. that counts more than almost anything</p>
<p>Good stats but start thinking about what you want to write about during the summer and start. It'll give you plenty to time to get something that says "You"</p>
<p>Also make sure the recs from your teachers highlight your passions and compassion. Also note that your take academic risks and really put yourself out there.</p>
<p>Sorry about being redundant here but have not posted this in a long time -- at private schools the RECs are co-ordinated. I have read posts that say telling your REC teachers what to say is gaming the system. Well, then in private schools they are gaming the system.</p>
<p>Don't write the letter for them BUT give them succinct bullet points to address in the letter including any personal challenges you have overcome...</p>
<p>Not kidding, that needs to go in the letter from the teachers.</p>
<p>Also, intern at law firm ... hope you learned something that can help humanity and express that in your app.</p>
<p>I just posted the Harvard article on admissions. I think the pertinent point is that they are looking for that intangible 'personal qualities' that I think students often fail to convey or have conveyed by their teachers. The article states:</p>
<p>In both the early and regular action rounds, ... admissions officers start by assessing each applicant in four areas </p>
<p>academics,
extracurriculars,
personal qualities, and
athletics</p>
<p>on a scale of one (best) to six (worst). Those who pass this initial
threshold move forward to a second and sometimes third reader for
further appraisal; the rest form the first batch of rejects, their
folders marked with dismissive notes such as below the edge or case
falls flat.</p>
This is cooler than you realize. Top debaters are viewed as hot commodities because they've been trained to think at such a high level. This is probably more true for policy than LD/Extemp but certainly not untrue for those.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Tutoring 5th graders =)
[/quote]
if this is a sincere and long-term commitment of yours, it reflects very well.</p>
<p>In both cases, you should emphasize these elements.</p>
<p>And the advice to apply ED is a good one, it will make you stand out even more.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot to add a very high upward trend.
3.21(F), 3.79(S), 4.2(J), 4.35(Sr)
The trend would be higher, but our AP weighting is severely flawed. (not enough weight)</p>
<p>sorry this is off topic, but about_time, they rank you on specifically ATHLETICS? what happens if you get a 6? do you automatically not make it to the next round?</p>
<p>
[quote]
sorry this is off topic, but about_time, they rank you on specifically ATHLETICS? what happens if you get a 6? do you automatically not make it to the next round?