Keep going or in need of a quick turnaround?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Yes, this is slightly early.</p>

<p>I'm going into my juinor year in the fall. As you all know, GPA is beginning to solidify and I'm not sure how much damage-repair I can do. My school is fairly competitive and although my grades might look okay, comparatively they are not on a HYPS level (of those four I'm only interested in Yale, but still).</p>

<p>I want everyone to give me a fair opinion of how my chances look so far. Traumatic things have happened that dragged me down, but I'm ready to start afresh. I'm only asking you guys to give me an idea of how much I need work harder to attain my goals.</p>

<p>Will apply to,
Yale (Impossible dream...)
Duke (Second choice)
New York University (Realistic, I think)
Emory
UChicago
UCLA
UC Berkeley
University of Texas (Austin)
Rutgers
Brown
Cornell
Dartmouth
UPenn</p>

<p>GPA: 5.5 / 6.0 (Regular 5.0, PreAP/Honors 5.5, AP 6.0)
Rank: 30 / 848
PSAT: 217 (Sophomore)
SAT I: 2270
SAT II Chinese: 800 (Just ignore that)</p>

<p>AP Courseload (so far, does not include senior year; almost everything else is Pre-AP/Honors):
AP Human Geography
AP Biology
AP World History
AP English Language
AP Calculus BC
AP Physics C
AP US History
AP Psychology
AP Spanish Language
AP Art IV 2-D Design</p>

<p>Extracurriculars / Awards:</p>

<p>Freshman Class Council President
Nominated Most Involved Freshman Girl
Business Professionals of America Member
-Human Resource Management (Regional 1st Place, State Qualifier)
-Video Production Team (Regional 2nd Place, State Qualifier)
Youth Orchestra (Concertmaster (For like, 1 season because I was never there, haha))
All-Region Honor Orchestra (10th, 9th Chair)
Duke University Talent Identification Program Grand Recognition (Top 1 percentile; 7th grade, but would this win any points with Duke? Probably not.)
Heritage Club Historian
Teen Court Program (Attorney)
Mock Trial
Visual Arts Scholastics Event (4 being highest rating)
-Regional 4 (2 pieces, 1 State Qualifier), State 4 (Superior Rating)
-Scholarship workshop winner
-DallasSymphony Orchestra Creativity Award
National Art Honor Society Treasurer
Shutterbugs Photography Club Secretary
Founded music group which performs for charity purposes
National Honor Society
National Spanish Honor Society</p>

<p>Work Experience:</p>

<p>Camp Invention counselor
Violin private instruction (self-employed)
Intern at Shanghai Trademark and Patent Law Office (paid, albeit not well...oh well, it's the experience, right?)</p>

<p>...That was tedious. Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>bump</p>

<p>At least a few responses? Maybe?</p>

3

<p>Your GPA is great, SAT stellar, and ECs also unique. I don't think you have anything to be worried about. Just keep up the work junior year, and I think you'll be all set. All of the schools that you have listed are more or less very possible for you at this point.</p>

4

<p>Really? I mean, with my rank, normally people do not get into most of the schools I have listed. I know my scores are fairly decent, but my grades are really not top-notch. And the thing is, look at everyone on CC. They have just as good of credentials. So I'm...skeptical.</p>

5

<p>You're in the top 5% of your class, that's great even for the most selective schools. And don't compare yourself to everyone on here. They only represent a small percentage of all applicants in the world. A percentage that is well, very extraordinary.</p>

6

<p>What about, let's say, Yale (which happens to be my dream school)? I try to think that my grades don't reflect my potential, but it's hard to believe that anyone lower than top 10 people will do. Also, our school produces a meager trickle of Ivy Leaguers every year (maybe 3?). With these facts, would you still say that my chances are good?</p>

7

<p>Getting into the Ivies isn't so much about doing everything perfectly as about doing one thing really well. If you can convince them that you're extremely intelligent and passionate in one or two areas, I'd say you have as good a shot as anybody.</p>

8

<p>As you can see, I am more of a well-rounded person than a person who is sharp in one or two areas. My interests are broad, but genuine.</p>

<p>That being said, is there anyone who can errr, what do they call it..."chance me"? Besides that, any advice is appreciated.</p>