Just a Good Ol' Chance me Thread (Top tier- you know the deal!)

They moved my other post so I’m reposting!

Hello boys and girls- its another round of judge my worth! Jk, anyways now that everything is pretty much set in stone, I’d like to see what I have a chance at. I’d like to major in Environmental Science or Environmental Engineering, and want to do something with renewable energies/ sustainability in the future! I’m white, from New York (Upstate reppin’). Just a heads up, I dont want to go to a ‘match’ school, thats why I have only one.

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown):1480
ACT (breakdown):35 (35 English 35 Math 34 Reading 34 Science)
SAT II:Meh probs 730+ on Math II and Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.9 (i think)
Weighted GPA: idk but I have a 96.2 with strong upwards trend (97.3 between sophmore junior years)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis): APES (5) AP World (5) AP Chem (4) AP Physics (3) AP Lang (5), AP Calc AB (4) AP Psychology (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):NA
Senior Year Course Load: Idk but probably 5 APs- Macro, Micro, BC Calc, Bio, Lit, self harp study and APES T.A
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None (This scares me lol) I might be getting NMSF tho

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

-Trained on the folk harp for 12 years now- it is my job, community service, and my passion. Have played at notable art galleries and venues within my area.
NOTE: Because I’m a folk harpist, not a pedal harpist, I could never join big-scale youth orchestras or participate in big-level competitions, That stuff is all reserved for pedal harpists… Idk if that’ll hurt me

-Partnership with a Top 30 University with a community outreach program I started this year. We also received substantial grant money. Program is to inspire underprivileged kids to love science by performing science experiments in the inner city. Have a solid group of 15 members, all top science students at school. We’ve done a couple of “shows” with a plan to do 7 more next year (11-12). We are doing physical/biological/environmental shows

-Speech and Debate (9-12): Have qualified for states twice, as well as Qualifications to National Tourneys (NCFL and NSDA once each)… captain next year of group of 40 kids or so… Also won districts and league in my event.

-JETS team (10-12) Its an engineering team. National qualifier this year, captain next year. Only team to qualify in New York Theme of this year’s competition was Environmental Engineering

-Habitat for humanity (9-12): I’m president this year, have organized a 5k and again this summer and raised some money.

  • Quizbowl 4 years

-Environmental Club (pres next year): 3 years- Will start Envirothon next year
Other less relevant stuff

Research/Internships (these are all 11-12):

-I am working on a project with undergrads and a couple high schoolers for a professor. Its purpose is to simulate DNA and epigenetics and the effects certain chemical properties have on it. It’s mainly coding-based. (Evolutionary Bio)

-I am researching the effects of nanomaterials on aquatic wildlife and ecosystem balance. My research will be presented at an undergraduate symposium as well.

-I am assisting a professor in her research for a report on how to market refurbished/ recycled materials to the public. The report will be presented to the United Nations international resource panel in just a few weeks!

Job/Work Experience:harp- have made around 5,000 bucks playing some odd jobs. I am a busboy at a restaurant and will be for 4ish months lol. I’ve tutored a little too.
Volunteer/Community service: 500 hours… 300 harp (I play in a group with 7 other harps and we’ve played at like every nursing home lol… this also includes my own stuff), 100 church, 75 inner city program, 25 misc.

Summer Activities: harp, internships, work

Reaches:

Stanford
Pomona
Cornell (CALS)
Rice
Tufts
Duke (maybe?)

Match:
Northeastern

Safeties:
RIT (Honors program?)
SUNY ESF (Honors program?)
Santa Clara (Honors program/ merit aid?)
WPI (eh why not)

Wow lost in the sea of Chance threads. Bump

Stat-wise, your profile matches up with all of the top schools that you listed. Submit that ACT instead of the SAT if you can! That 35 is awesome.

Your research experience will help you out and is very conducive to your major. The harp EC is pretty unique- I have no idea if it’ll boost your app significantly, but it’ll help you stand out from the crowd, which is always good. Spend a lot of time on your essays and make sure your they really show who you are.

May I ask why you’re not into match schools? Is SUNY guaranteed admission for NY? You might want to add a safety with a 70-80% acc. rate if not.

Overall, your profile looks like it’s in great shape for those schools!

@newkidnewtrix I’m not into matches cause I think I ought go to a school where I’ll get a lot of resources (research, aid, AP cred. Etc) or a brand name of a school - recognized and respected by employers. A match school doesn’t do either of these things so…

Looking in decent shape for your preferred schools. One thing I would say is, especially for Stanford, make it crystal clear what your passion is and prove how passionate you are about it. If you are able to do this, focus on it and get glowing letters of recommendations as well as solid essays I can see you having a good shot. I’m also similar with match schools, I love to aim high and am determined to get into my reaches, so I see where you’re coming from. Don’t worry, if you’re focused and really believe you can get into them and work hard for it, you will.
Good luck.