<p>I love the random discussions on this forum sometimes</p>
<p>this may be prying too much but ivies give a lot of aid and have mostly needblind admissions, so in many cases applying early may actually be beneficial? But really I have no idea about your financial situation so im sorry if this is intrusive or what not.</p>
<p>I don’t have cats D: but I have a friend who has the nicest cats everrr <em>^</em></p>
<p>Aiminghigher - I don’t know what my financial situation is, either! My parents don’t want to discuss these things with me, which is understandable. All I know is that they definitely won’t be able to pay 50k a year and don’t want to risk ED with insufficient FA.</p>
<p>As much as I like cats, I’m still open to chancing. At this point, I’m curious if I have a fair chance at getting into at least one of the slightly more competitive schools on my list (e.g. Dartmouth, Brown, UPenn). Also, does it matter if my school severely lacks resources? For example, I have no chance at advancing to nationals because my team is tiny and only competes at NJFL tournaments?</p>
<p>Andrew was largely correct. In my experience (collected both from here on CC and from observing the 10 or so people from my regular ol’ public, suburban high school that made it in to top schools) admitted students to places like, say, Yale tend to fall into one of three categories: (note that all have high grades and test scores)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Those that have substantial achievements in major competitions that objectively put them at the top of the pack. These activities include making camp at the Olympiads (USACO, USABO, USAMO, and to a lesser extent USAPhO). Being successful at international level music competitions, recruit-level athletes, national finalists at the NFL national debate tournament, and national-finalist level finishes at major science research competitions, namely Intel ISEF, Intel STS, Siemens, and (to a lesser extent) JSHS. Earlier this year, for instance, I attended both ISEF and JSHS. Of the seniors I talked to at ISEF, most seemed to be attending top schools, and I actually took count at JSHS - roughly 40% were going to MIT, 20% to Stanford, 10% each to Yale and Harvard, and most of the rest to places like Dartmouth, Penn, Cornell, and Columbia. Probably 95% of the people there were going to top 10 schools (and most had offers from multiple such places). Generally the people I have seen that fit into category 1 have a national level award in their primary EC, along with substantial state-level involvement in their others.</p></li>
<li><p>Those that are just, well, different. Of those that fit into this section, my personal favorite would be a friend of mine who was admitted to Columbia just this year, with good stats and scores, but no major awards. She was asian. What did she do? She had a serious and well substantiated interest in beatboxing and (hilarious) rapping, with her other main ECs being softball, charity work, and debate. She was the anti-asian, and the adcoms rewarded her for it. Being different is good - you stand out from the crowd.</p></li>
<li><p>Those that are good students, and good people, with AWESOME letters of recommendation and essays. Usually such people exhibit good ECs, a significant dedication to charity work, and some unusual internal drive that was on display in their letters, which tipped the scales in favor of admission. The examples I have for this category comes from my own experience. This was a friend of mine that was admitted to Harvard last year, with relatively few significant ECs (similar to yours actually). Her attraction? She worked OBSESSIVELY to be the best at debate. She was not naturally talented at it, so to make up she would write ~300 pages of speeches per month (she did congress, and would prep every piece of legislation. Both sides.) while she never placed well at the national tourney, the debate coach was understandably impressed and wrote a truly beautiful letter. Catagory 3 is obviously the riskiest to be in, but I think that if you want to get in to your top schools, this is the one you need to pursue. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Regarding FA, if your parents don’t want to talk finances with you have THEM call, say, the Dartmouth admissions office and ask for a FA estimate. They will be able to provide it, and that should allow you to apply ED.</p>
<p>Incidentally, I also like cats - I have two of them, including a massive Himalayan that I call Beastie (even though she is very meek 
). What types of cats do you have?</p>
<p>Amherst - Others think differently, but I think Amherst will like you. High match
Brown - Low/mid reach
UChicago - Match
Columbia - High reach
Dartmouth* - Mid reach
Harvard - High reach
Johns Hopkins - High match
Northwestern - Match
UPenn - Mid reach
Princeton* - High reach
Rice - Match
Stanford - Mid reach
Swarthmore - High match
Williams* - High match
Yale* - Mid reach</p>
<p>Despite your ORM status, your application is tremendous! Great scores and great EC’s. But although your EC’s are very nice, make sure to prioritize one as a standout…your writing, perhaps. You may be stellar at a multitude of things, but colleges intend to foster careers, and careers require a pretty narrow focus. </p>
<p>Also, be sure to send in an arts supplement! Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback!</p>
<p>snipersas - Welp, 1 is ruled out. I definitely agree that this is what other top students in my school were missing. We simply don’t have the resources or the knowledge to pursue such competitions (I didn’t know about TASP, Siemens, or either of the research competitions you listed until I browsed around this website. Thank God I found the Scholastic competition.)</p>
<p>As for 3, there’s nothing I can do now that’ll change my recommendations, right? I asked three different teachers for recs. One of them is my forensics coach, who is proud of me and understands the context of our team (how we are limited by our size and lack of resources). At the end of the season this year, she volunteered to write one of my recs. I also asked my IB Coordinator/TOK teacher/US History teacher who knows me on a personal level for various reasons.</p>
<p>As for 2, I’m wondering what “well substantiated interest” means. Obviously there are no major competitions for beat boxing. I always thought I stood out from other Asians simply because most of them aren’t interested in slam poetry, being in a rock band, or doing research on technological origami. I wonder how much it’ll help if my personal statement focuses on how my poems help me better understand myself and affect those in my audience.</p>
<p>Penguin, the more I look at your profile the more I am inclined to agree with your own assessment of your ECs. I am admittedly unfamiliar with slam poetry, but a good essay, perhaps combined with poetry mentions in your recommendation letters, might put you over the top. I know that for people successful under category 2, their interest was demonstrated through clear and consistent repetition of their unique activity through their essays, common app EC sheet, letters, and interview. The basic principle applies here, as in anything else, that if you repeat it enough people start to believe it. Emphasizing your clearest, most unique interest would go a long way to improving your application. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>oh, and meow.</p>
<p>Thanks! And in case you’re curious, this is slam poetry (some of my favorites):</p>
<p>[andrea</a> gibson, "thank goodness" - YouTube](<a href=“andrea gibson, "thank goodness" - YouTube”>andrea gibson, "thank goodness" - YouTube)
[Buddy</a> Wakefield - Human The Death Dance - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)
*Both include obscenities and radical ideas.</p>
<p>Check out Beau Sia if you have the chance. He curses even more, so I didn’t want to post anything here.</p>
<p>Meow! :)</p>
<p>I’ve just been post-stalking this thread for the past 15 or so minutes, and I must say that OHMYGOSSHHH SLAM POETRY IS AWESOME, thank you for introducing it to me. :)</p>
<p>You should probably retake the lit SAT II to make sure you have more 750+ scores, especially since you want to convey your passion for literature. Also, your EC’s don’t seem too focused. If I were you, I would focus on the well-focused EC’s on the common app, and throw in a few( 2-3) others at the end of the list. Your SAT I score, though, is FANTASTIC!! Nice job, I’m jealous </p>
<p>Amherst: not sure
Brown: match
UChicago: match
Columbia: match
Dartmouth<em>: match
Harvard: high reach (focus your EC’s and your chances will improve )
Johns Hopkins: hmmm… not too sure since they’re mostly a science-related school, right?
Northwestern: match
UPenn: low reach
Princeton</em>: high reach
Rice: match
Stanford: high reach
Swarthmore: not sure
Williams<em>: not sure
Yale</em>: high reach</p>
<p>Help me out?</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1181604-yale-harvard-princeton-ea.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1181604-yale-harvard-princeton-ea.html</a></p>
<p>I will be retaking Literature and US History in October.</p>
<p>Hmm, I’ve been trying to focus my ECs for a while now, but I have interests in different fields. My love for literature ties everything together, but that will probably still seem broad to colleges, who won’t see much similarity between forensics, drama, and writing. I’d also like to convey that I participate in the plays to better understand theater and therefore become a better playwright (I’ve been in the plays ever since my friend, who’d set his eyes on the senior director position, wanted to work with me). How would I convey this through the EC list/activity sheet?</p>
<p>I just want adcoms to see that there’s a logic to the activities I’ve done, and most of them tie back to writing.</p>
<p>apply williams or dartmouth early decision for your best chance, the other two are gonna be a bit more challenging, but you’ll have a shot as long as you write GREAT essays.</p>
<p>CHANCE BACK!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1181496-chance-harvard-scea-unc-ea-state.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1181496-chance-harvard-scea-unc-ea-state.html</a></p>