Just Another Asian: Chance Me? :)

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hey guys! So it's college list finalization season, and I'd really like some input on whether I'm viewing my list realistically or not. Here are my reaches/okays, along with my stats.</p>

<p>Reaches (aka where my mom wants me to go):
U Penn (applying EA)
MIT (applying EA)
Northwestern</p>

<p>Okays (aka where I think I can reasonably go):
Emory
USC
Brandeis
New York University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Boston University (possibly BS/MD program)
Lehigh University (possibly BS/MD program)
University of Miami (possibly BS/MD program)</p>

<p>~~~
Now onto stats so we can figure out whether this is a reasonable list or not!</p>

<p>Asian female, 16 (skipped a grade)
Class rank: 4/387. I go to a pretty average school, but lots of above average kids (four students from my city going to Stanford this year)
GPA: 4.0 (UW), 5.3 (W)
Classes at school: I don't feel the need to write out all of my classes, but I've never <em>not</em> taken an honors class when it's available, and I am on track to take all of the AP classes that my school offers. All A's, except for one Pass in 2nd semester of Stats last year :'( (in my defense, I got an 89.9 and the class is really quite hard!)</p>

<p>ACT: comp 34 (E 35, M 36, R 32, S 34, W 8. Superscored is 36, but that doesn't matter...)
SAT: 2310 :( pitiful, retaking this
SAT IIs: Math II 800, Literature 740, taking Chem test in the fall
APs: USH 5, Psych 5, Human Geo 5, Lit 5, Macro 4, Stats 4</p>

<p>EC's (still doing):
- Internship at Mayo Clinic, started in 2013. Researching cancer immunotherapy and developing practical treatments. Around 400 hours so far.
- Speech team, since 2011 (captain since 2013)
- Science Fair, since 2011 (multiple regional awards, multiple state awards in 2012 and 2014)
- Piano, since 2003. City, county, and state awards.
- Organ, since 2014. Recipient of a regional award and scholarship.
- Member of the National Mensa Society Teen Committee, since 2013
- National Honor Society secretary, since 2013
- Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, since 2012
- Ballet and salsa dancer
- Girl's State (this summer), multiple county and state positions
- National Spanish Exam: 2012, 2013, 2014: gold (level 1), silver (level 3), bronze (level 4) (respectively)
- National Merit Semifinalist (unless the national average goes up 15... hoping for Finalist!)</p>

<p>Past EC's that I've done in HS but debating whether or not to mention:
- Leadership Club in school, 2013-2014
- STEM society, 2012-2013
- Science Olympiad, 2011-2013
- Student government, 2012-2013
- Alternate for RSI this year >.></p>

<p>Volunteering:
- Board member, treasurer, marketing chair, and webmaster of the Rochester Chamber Music Society, since 2013 (organization in my community that provides free chamber music concerts to the public). 200 hours
- Pianist at Mayo Clinic since 2012 (part of the Music Therapy program, direct service to inpatients, family members, and doctors. This is what really pushed me to pursue medicine!). 150 hours
- Church piano accompanist and Sunday school teacher, since 2009. 250 hours</p>

<p>Work experience:
- Teaching piano lessons with five students, just started this summer
- Professional model. I don't know if that does anything for my application, but it's something out of the ordinary I guess!</p>

<p>Recs:
- Can count on at least four good ones from teachers, hopefully six...
- Another rec from a teacher who loves me but unfortunately is not the best in writing
- Counselor's rec is average. Meh.</p>

<p>Essays:
I'm not sure whether this will push me through or pull me back. I did well enough to get a 5 on the AP Lit test, but really not all that well in the ACT or SAT. But I like to think of my writing style as down to earth, with touches of humor and realness. (which probably does not work to my favor in the ACT/SAT) Good or bad? I've heard people say that application essays should be extremely formal, while others say make it as you as possible. Opinions?</p>

<p>~~
I'm afraid I suffer from "decent stats but nothing that really shines out plus Asian ethnicity = doom" status.
And sorry for the humongous post! ^.^;
What do you guys think? Is my list feasible? Let me know!</p>

<p>THANK YOU ALL.</p>

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<p>By the way, my family is in the spot where we won’t get any [helpful] financial aid, but cannot possibly afford college/med school at the sticker price. All of the colleges in my okays have some sort of merit scholarship that I feel like I could qualify for. Reaches don’t have any merit aid, but my parents are willing to pay as much as they can if I do make it in.</p>

<p>If anyone knows about merit scholarships for my reach schools, please chance me on those too! :)</p>

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<p>Solid stats. Don’t retake SAT if 36 ACT. Also, don’t send 6 recs. Most schools want 2 teacher 1 counselor. At most send 1 additional rec for something outside of school. I would send a piano supplement as well. You are cookie cutter and you don’t have sports, but if you apply ED to Penn CAS then you are in. MIT who knows. Don’t bother with USC/NYU because horrible aid and sub par education. Apply to BS/MD programs and more reaches.</p>

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<p>Most schools do not superscore ACT, so they will likely see it as 34. Your SAT is slightly better or at the same level as ACT (depending on how the school looks at multiple scores). i don’t think you need to retake SAT as there will be little increase in admission chance by further higher score. You probably should spend more time on essays and SAT2. Check carefully the SAT2 requirement as Northwestern has different requirement for different programs. You may need 3 SAT2 in Math and Sciences if applying to integrated sciences.</p>

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<p>This is not a chance thread. This is a thread where you are trying to get us to approve of your grades and extracurricular activities in order for yourself to feel better about yourself. You should stop relying on what others think of you and start thinking about how you feel about yourself. Don’t let a stereotype influence how you feel about yourself. If you think you are only decent compared to others, you will only perform decently. Obviously this is not true since you show many outstanding qualities (No, a 2310 on the SAT is not even close to “Pitiful”. Any school will look upon this score greatly). Like many others have said, once you get up to the top level of schools, there is no guarantee that you will get in based on grades and scores since virtually all of the students applying there are similar. What you really need to show them (this is most likely shown through your extracurriculars and essay) is what makes you “you”. Showing a college that you are truly passionate about a subject is worth more than any 2400 on a SAT.Whether that be your Research internship or your involvement with music, you should show what you truly know yourself to be. With that being said, you should also apply to schools that YOU want to go to, not just prestigious schools that would make any mother proud. My rant over, I think if you truly express your inner passion for whatever you are interested in you have a good chance of getting into any of these schools. And if the admissions officer is having a bad day and decides not to accept you, go to the school that you feel the best at and try again for graduate school. I wish you luck in your college endeavors and in the future as well. </p>

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<p>I agree with you on your reaches except nu which I’d say is a match. </p>

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<p>You’re okays are also matches except I’d say Emory is a low reach.</p>

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<p>To be on the safe side I would go NU ED, I think that you will probably get in NU ED.
chance- <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1669822-chances-for-business.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1669822-chances-for-business.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>NU has admission rate below 13%. It is not a match for anyone. ACT 34 can be a low reach though.</p>

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<p>This is a ■■■■■ post. Are you kidding me? Poor you and your 2310 SAT. </p>

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<p>Thank you guys for your responses!</p>

<p>@yodude51, thanks for your advice! I’m just kind of freaking out because other students may have things that really set them apart (i.e. ISEF, patents, published in Science, international pianist etc etc etc), while all I have is a really strong base with no peaks. But if I can get my essay to show passion, I think I should be able to catch up with them! :)</p>

<p>@AnnieBeats, this is not a ■■■■■ post. 2310 is considered below average in my city, where 2400s thrive happily without abandon. Anything below 2350 is considered subpar, unfortunately!</p>

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<p>Sure. </p>

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<p>@anniesunshine‌ you seem like a strong applicant, but as I’ve said before in other posts, where’s the WOW factor for Penn ED (not EA you might want to think about if you want to be binded). You do a lot of things well, but why not focus on doing 1-2 things really really well?</p>

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<p>Are you aware you can’t do EA to Penn? It’s ED only</p>

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<p>@anniesunshine‌ - Well, since they publish the number of 2400 scores (single sitting) every year and there really aren’t all the many (about 1,000 for the entire country) it is highly unlikely that 2400’s “thrive happily without abandon” (although the correct phrase is with abandon) in your city, although talking for the whole city is rather odd as well. If your place of residence is small, then it is a town, not a city. If it is a city, I am not sure how you could know how many great SAT scores there are, and a larger city would just naturally fall closer to the national average. In any case, there is no place on earth where below 2350, or 2310 for that matter, is below average or subpar. Saying things like that and calling 2310 “pitiful” just invites ridicule. You should really stop it. Also, very few high school students have patents, none have cured cancer, and i bet I can count on one hand the number that have published in Science. False modesty really doesn’t look any better than bragging. At the same time, watch out for the overstatements. You have not been “researching cancer immunotherapy and developing practical treatments”. You have been working in a lab that is “researching cancer immunotherapy and developing practical treatments”. There is a big difference.</p>

<p>So on the odd chance this is real, take credit for what you have done but don’t try to stretch it. There are plenty of schools that are quite good where you can get big merit scholarships, but your top choices are not these schools. A couple after your top 3 do have these available. I would absolutely add WUSTL to your list and apply for one of their full tuition scholarships.</p>

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<p>@WhartonnotHYPS I’m afraid that’s my biggest challenge! My mom always points out that I don’t excel in any specific area. While I am good at academics, I’m not the best. Research opportunities are fantastic, but ISEF is missing. Piano skills are decent, but no amazing national/international results.</p>

<p>Do you have any tips for becoming fantastic in one specific area in the next three months? XD</p>

<p>@pmmywest, totally just realized my mistake! Thank you for your correction! :)</p>

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<p>Wow thanks for basically stealing my title. It’s forgivable, though, since the Asian life is so hard (jk).</p>

<p>In all seriousness, just write good essays and you’ll be fine especially with your modest-like list. Don’t do 6 letter of recs… that’ll just annoy the person reading your app. There’s still some competitions (STS, Siemens, ISEF) involving research senior year, so try that. Maybe try to get your research published. It doesn’t have to published in Science… any publishment is very prestigious especially first or second author. There’s also the Olympiads (affects RD only) if you really want to.</p>

<p>There’s also a chance this post could be a ■■■■■. Since I didn’t ■■■■■ in my chance post despite the title, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.</p>

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<p>Hi, I think you will be fine :] hello fellow asian (^_^)/</p>

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<p>Trust me guys, just the stereotype puts a lot of pressure on you. if you fail, you feel like you failed everything and everyone. She just wants reassurance because sometimes even I myself go mad even when everything is obvious and in my favor. Just having people say you can do it means so much and is super helpful.</p>

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<p>you should try applying to Harvard and Yale too ;)</p>