Mirror mirror on the wall, what are my chances for 2008's fall?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Pardon the corny title, but I had to put something other than just "my chances?" for the title. So, I'm thinking about majoring in chemistry for undergraduate, and maybe chemical engineering for graduate. It's been really hard for me to decide where to go because my stats are on the borderline of acceptance for most of the schools I'm thinking about. Sometimes I wonder if it's easier to have lower scores so that I wouldn't be in this predicament. I hear the calls of the Ivies, but they're saying "Haha, we might or might not accept you; we'll just take your application fee first." So, I've decided to ask you wonderfully experienced and enlightened people. :D</p>

<p>My stats:</p>

<p>Female/Asian </p>

<p>4.0 unweighted GPA</p>

<p>4.61 weighted GPA (my IB courses are 2 years, so they don't count yet :( )</p>

<p>Weighted Rank: 10/460</p>

<p>Unweighted: 1/460</p>

<p>SAT: 2250 (going to take again)</p>

<p>SAT II: Chinese-800, Math 780, Physics 700 (going to take chem)</p>

<p>AP: US History-5, AP Lit-5, AP Physics C-Mech -4</p>

<p>IB: IB French SL-6, IB Math HL, IB Eng HL, IB Chem HL, IB Bio SL, IB Computer Science SL, IB Theory of Knowledge (These don't have scores because I haven't taken the tests yet)</p>

<p>Extracurricular: Tennis, Model UN, Academic Team, ACE Mentorship (engineering program by Bechtel), a lot of cultural activism (camps for children, minority health awareness, multicultural festivals, etc), a bunch of community service (helping out at conventions, fairs, summer camps, etc), class club, SGA, National Honors Society, miscellaneous web design things, and I wrote a book on social networks over the summer (I guess this is the only thing I have going for me that's really "unique")</p>

<p>Colleges I'm thinking about applying to (by no means am I going to apply to 17; I need you to help me pick :D ):</p>

<p>The hard-to-get-into List
1. UC Berkeley
2. Stanford
3. MIT
4. Cornell
5. Princeton
6. Columbia
7. Johns Hopkins
8. Duke
9. Brown
10. Harvard
11. WashU at St. Louis</p>

<p>Safeties
1. U of Illinois – Urbana
2. U of Wisconsin – Madison
3. U of Minnesota – Twin Cities
4. U of Maryland - College Park
5. UC Santa Barbara
6. Clemson </p>

<p>So that's basically it. (I'm starting to run short on time to decide, and whenever I think about my future, I panic. Hopefully, this will only be short-term and I won't get chronic high blood pressure or something :P) I'd really like some advice on which schools would be likely to accept me and which ones have good chem departments. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Whoa you have two different ranks depending on your weighted and unweighted GPA? That's pretty weird.</p>

3

<p>you forgot to list yale</p>

4

<p>That title was so corny I actually just gagged. Just wanted to let you know.</p>

<p>Well, let's see: badass grades, decent test scores, OMG AZN FEMALE ASL ASL, bunch o' ECs (organize that for maximum effect; you may have to hedge em a bit), helluva good rank. </p>

<p>Conclusion: Your stuff is not 'borderline' for acceptance by any means; in fact, with the sole exception of perhaps your exam scores (still absolutely normal for the caliber schools you are looking at), you have a pretty good shot.
Asian female is supposedly good for MIT. Who knows really. Better than being an Asian male (!$&#)
Strong rank/GPA/SATs (assuming you're in-state) = Match for UCB
The others? Hell, they're crap shoots. All I know is that it'll be easier for you to get into WUSL than Harvard.</p>

<p>Voila, the extent of my skillz.</p>

5

<p>Oops, yeah, I did forget Yale. :/</p>

<p>Hm, I live in Maryland. Oh, I completely forgot! I'm a Maryland Distinguised Scholar finalist which means getting accepted to school in MD shouldn't be a problem.....</p>

<p>Oh yeah, two things I'm sorry for:
1. The title that made enderkin gag
2. Not having an organized first post because it was all rather spontaneous</p>

<p>Three things I'm thankful for:
1. that I'm somewhat reassured now
2. being an Asian female :)
3. having food on my table</p>

<p>One thing I'm dreading:
1. tomorrow's 7:30am IB math test</p>

6

<p>wayyyyy too many safety schools. Pick one or two.</p>

7

<p>You have a good shot at Berkeley OOS, though it's largely a crapshoot. Same for the others.</p>

8

<p>Retaking the SAT when you got a 2250?? LOLOL.</p>

9

<p>Well, I got my new transcript today-the final one they send to the colleges, and I'm rank 5 out of 428 (I think 32 people decided not to go to college since the last time they checked...) with a weighted GPA of 4.71 out of a max of 5.0. I don't know if this makes a difference or not since my school doesn't have valedictorian or salutatorian. :/ </p>

<p>So basically, if I apply to as many colleges as I can, one is bound to accept me. lol, but not really ._.</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
I'm rank 5 out of 428 (I think 32 people decided not to go to college since the last time they checked...)

[/quote]
</p>

<p>How odd. That's how it is for me, too -- I'm ranked 5, and the class size keeps fluctuating: one day it was 427, another 419, 406...</p>

11

<p>No need to retake your SATs (it'll be largely a waste of time) </p>

<p>Good job on everything, you have great chances at all though of course who knows where you'll end up with the kind of high caliber schools you're applying to? Good luck! :)</p>

12

<p>Don't bother wasting a nice Saturday morning. 2250 kicks ass anyway.</p>

<p>Oh right, chances. Well, putting me in the position of the mirror, I think you'll be quite happy with at least a few acceptances from the 'difficult' list. :)</p>

13

<p>Gosh I hate these kind of posts. I am sorry, but it wasnt the silly rhyme that got me, it was the stats and your fretting about it. Panic attacks? Relax for goodness sakes! Let me give you some advice: you are a very bright and ambitious young lady and I congratulate you on your hard work and scores. But dont ruin it by fretting about it or worse (I dont think this is the case) bragging about it. From what I can glean, I think you need to focus more on finding a short list of schools (6-8) that are a good fit for YOU. Visit the ones you are seriously interested in attending. Talk to people, visit dorms, and talk to admissions. You will know in your gut when you leave if its a good fit or not. That does not mean they will admit you. Sadly, being asian is not always a plus. Lots of asians have incredible stats and some schools dont treat them the same as other applicants. Lots of kids with perfect SAT scores are rejected at HYP every year...for reasons known only to the schools. It can be a crap shoot for the Ivy's and the super elites. But dont let that get you all frazzled. Accept NOW that your future is in some admissions officer's hands. That is hard to do. But do it. It will avoid a breakdown in April or before. Just say, "I have done my best, and I have submitted my applications, I have hope and a positive attitude, but I am not going to let a college...any college....determine who I am as a person." They have tens of thousands of applications for only a few thousand seats. Its a crazy process. You may get into all of the schools you apply to, or you may get into some and waitlisted at others. From here, though I hate "chancing" people on specifics as that is a fool's errand, it looks like you have great chances and great scores. Congrats! Don't worry, be HAPPY! </p>

<p>Now my thoughts on the schools with the caveat that FIT is more about your personality and social-cultural-economic needs.</p>

<p>Each school has a different personality. Go there and find it. My D was on the campus of Duke about 30 minutes and said, "This is not me." No slam on Duke...its a superb school. Its just not her. She also didnt want a large state school and doesnt care that much about having a big Div I football program. She ended up at a medium sized private school and is a perfect fit. It was also a match school for her. Your list is pretty diverse when you compare your dream schools with your safety schools. UMaryland is getting very very selective and its a great school.....and you should determine if that is where you fit best or least. Lots of kids with excellent stats DONT go to elite schools or the Ivy League. For lots of reasons....being admitted or not only being one factor. At most top 100 schools there are LOTS of kids with 4.0 gpa's and near perfect SAT scores. Not to make you feel unappreciated....your scores are excellent. Congrats again. But you should know that having scores like you do, does not mean you HAVE to attend an Ivy or other elite. </p>

<p>Look at the programs and what you want to study. Look at the dorms. Look at the student body. Your gut will tell you where you should go. </p>

<p>Then narrow down your list and go for it. You can rank them in your head, but know that whatever happens come April (or sooner if you apply ED) its out of your hands. My D had one or two disappintments with reach schools. She had her boo-hoo for an hour and then moved on. As it turns out, in hindsight, seeing things from a different perspective...they were both not very good fits for her on many levels. She ended up being torn between about 4 schools....two match and two safety and we visited ALL of them again in April of last year.....AFTER she was admitted and had their financial package/scholarship material in hand. THEN she made a decision. And at that moment, she claimed her life back into her own control. She decided where she wanted to go and is doing very well.</p>

<p>Good luck to you, and congratulations again. I wish you the very best...but mostly that you pick a school that fits you best where you will thrive, not just survive.</p>