Hey, I’d just like a little diagnosis of my problems and what level colleges I should apply for.
2nd generation Korean American, grammatically near-perfect and stylistically sound English, halting but somewhat fluent French, horrid Korean
3.7/4.0 unweighted and 4.5000/5.0000 weighted GPA; Rank 14/650+
Mostly low to mid A’s, but 2 B’s on 1st and 2nd semester of freshman, 1 B on 2nd of Sophomore, no more B’s expected
Expecting 3-4 5’s , 1-2 4’s on AP (out of 5 tests this year)
4 on AP World History
1520 on old SAT 800V 720M
222 PSAT 71V 80M 71W (National Merit Scholar hopefully)
800 on SAT II Writing
~2300 to 2350 expected on New SAT
800 expected on SAT II Biology (my best and favorite subject)
~750 expected on SAT II Math IIC
Taken all the hardest courses, have the highest number of credits in Junior class because I’m the only Junior who will have skipped 3 years of lunch for classes next year. In fact, I’m taking Cal III next year- there’s not even an AP Exam for a math that high. I’m also going to have taken AP Biology, Physics, and Chemistry.
Not very competitive school, though there are some very tough people I’m competing with. Afterall, how could I be top 2% with 5 B’s otherwise?
<h2>Pre-Med + English Major, Music minor expected in college</h2>
EC’s (By next year with (hopefulls) next to them)
UIL (University Interscholastic League) 1st Place Biology District
UIL Academics Science Team Captain and member, 4 years for both
UIL Academics Mathematics 2 years
HISD Silver Key for Art, 10th Grade (digital media)
HISD Gold Key for Writing, 8th Grade (short story, but still competed with highschoolers)
700+ volunteer hours at M.D. Anderson, West Houston Medical, Houston Museum of Natural Science, and at my church youth group with cello and bass guitar
450+ “intern” hours (all unpaid), at University of Houston (self-made opportunity) in Chemistry and at University of Texas Arlington with the Welch Scholar Chemistry Internship and at Washington D.C. in Bill Archer Student Intern Program (big- saw and met 30+ Congressman, 2 Senators, and Justice Scalia, the only program of its kind in the U.S.)
8 years of Cello, 2nd chair freshman-junior, 1st chair senior, Region Junior year
2 years Houston Youth Symphony Philharmonia, (hopefully) 1 year Houston Youth Symphony (top group)
President of Quiz Bowl Club (helped to create it, recruited most of its best members personally, made arguably one of the ten best teams in Texas for QTBA Quizbowl)
Treasurer of French Club (one of original members)
Westside Howler (School newspaper) Political Cartoonist- 3 years
South 2 House Senior Representative (equivalent of Student Body Vice President, no real overall Class President)
3 years NHS
Will have led at least 5 NHS projects
(HOPEFULLY) NHS President (I’ll post in a week, when I’ll know)
5 years of Tae Kwon Do, expecting 2nd Dan Black Belt before applications sent
<h2>Great grammar and essay writer- never got below 790 on practice SAT II’s except for on that PSAT (I knew there were too many C’s !)</h2>
Recognized weaknesses- only sport is Tae Kwon Do, too much is hypothetical (hey, I’m only a junior), and I’m Asian.
Recognized strengths- I believe my standardized tests are pretty good and my EC’s aren’t bad (I’ve never known an idle summer). Hopefully, I’m showing pretty good leadership positions, though what I do with them is obviously more important.
How far a reach do you guys think Harvard would be for me?
Any other college match and reach levels suggested? I’m looking for a research institution pretty high up in the ranks with a great medical or bioengineering/biophysics department.