Moderate stats, excellent ECs: my last chance

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I am a senior in high school, and the most obsessed person you will ever meet in economics, international governance, business, history, philosophy, and learning how the world <em>really</em> works. My life is dedicated to the independent and applied learning of these disciplines. My specialties are macroeconomics, international political economy, and power networks in society. I am proud of my work, and know I can make do without the "best of the best" colleges. But wth, I still want to see if I will stand out to the discriminating adcoms in Cambridge.</p>

<p>Asian American Male. But my father is a WASP, so my transcript says I am white.
At a California distinguished school, best one in locality.
Income: ~$120000, Assets $1000000+
I do not intend to apply for finaid.</p>

<p>GPA as of end of junior year: 3.9somethingW, ~3.7W Yes I know it is subpar for ivy league. I am getting all A's this semester, so that should help
ACT: 33
SATII: 790 USH, 780Lit
AP Scholar: By the end of hs, i will have taken 7/11 AP's offered at my school. APWH (3) AP Calc (3) APUS (5) APE3 (5). Currently taking AP Stats, AP Psych, and AP Govt.
Got an A in a COMPSCI course at local JC</p>

<p>School ECs:
*MUN: VP/Cofounder since sophomore year, led team to conferences and won various delegate awards. Mostly for being able to dominate the room with previously done research.
*Symphonic Band: played first clarinet 8th grade in middle school to junior year in high school. County Select Band 2x. Left due to personal dislike of teacher (can explain later)
*Newspaper/Yearbook: Business manager/columnist in student newspaper since junior year. First BM to break even. Recognized for most thought-provoking, well written editorials.</p>

<p>ECs/accomplishments outside of school. The work is largely done on my own schedule.
*Mayor's office: Very good personal friends with Mayor; I shadow him and work for his political campaigns
*Local newspaper: Intern staff writer; I write editorials and get advertisements
*Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco: met personally with the President of the SF Fed to work on macroeconomics; my work there later got a personal invitation to visit the Federal Reserve Board from the Vice Chair.
*Council on Foreign Relations: CFR is basically Wall Street's state department. I participate in press calls, meetings, and conferences in issues regarding national security and economics. This has led to some venerable experiences and networking. Presently shadowing the CFR task forces on monetary policy and the Syrian conflict.
*Internship, Wall Street Journal. I was invited after meeting with the WSJ's CEO to an internship at the Journal. Got interviewed over this summer by execs, and they really liked me (interview was grueling). Got offered the internship, but due to HR procedures I was too young. Will be going next summer.
*Auditor, Harvard Kennedy School of Government's first online course in national security. I am applying to be more than an auditor, and a formal participant, in the HarvardX online classroom, and will have certificate of Mastery at end of course.</p>

<p>Essays: started over summer, getting peer reviewed. About my grueling victory at the Wall Street Journal, and another will be about my work at the CFR.</p>

<p>Possible recs:
AP US History teacher:Him and I have grown personally close. I nominated him for a grant which he won; he owes me a glowing letter of recommendation.
Mayor of my Town
Director, Charles Schwab Corporation
Econ teacher
Journalism teacher
Counselor rec will be good. I made a point to get to know her in high school</p>

<p>Colleges: Ivies, uc berkeley, stanford(?)</p>

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<p>Forgot to mention, class rank is in the top decile</p>

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<p>Stanford and all the Ivies (except Cornell, a low reach) are high reaches, but not out of reach at all. UC Berkeley is a low reach, as well.</p>

<p>Good luck! :)</p>

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<p>^I strongly disagree with that. You have a solid shot at these schools due to excellent ECs. You academics are on part with your list. You’re ECs will make you stand out. I assume you will have amazing letters of rec. Just write solid essays and you’re in great shape! You will probably get into a couple top schools. Especially with how passionate you are. Passion is very important.</p>

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<p>Thank you to both of you!</p>

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<p>Other than 2400 5.0 legacies, are these ultra-selective schools a 50/50 match for anyone? I’d guess reach for everyone else.</p>

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<p>I agree with the others, but who cares even if you don’t make it into a top school? Their loss! You’re gonna make it big in life ;)</p>

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<p>Thank you so much!</p>

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<p>Guys, I looked at my transcript and discovered that I got a C my first semester of Precalculus as a sophomore. Will this negate my chances to an Ivy adcom? Thank you.</p>

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<p>“Left due to personal dislike of teacher”</p>

<p>I suggest that you never give a hint of this on your college apps, nor ever give a hint that you feel that others were in any way responsible for what you did not attain. It can mean instant rejection (but might not).</p>

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<p>I wasn’t planning on telling why I left. I am more concerned at the moment with a C I got in Precal as a sophomore. -_-</p>

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<p>I understand, yet you mentioned it here.</p>

<p>There’s no way we out here can know if an individual item will make a difference; we can just look at trends and statistics. An increasing GPA is good; C’s are not good.</p>

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<p>Harvard SCEA: Reach
Berkeley: Match</p>

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<p>You are really talented from what I can tell. Your extracurriculars are absolutely amazing and I think you have an amazing chance at most of the schools you are applying to. What’s your first choice?</p>

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<p>Nice EC’s! High Match for Ivies, and you’re certainly going to get in to at least one of them if you apply to all of HYPSM.</p>

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<p>Thank you to all of you! I am still concerned about testing and grades. I have spent most of my energy on stuff outside of school than school itself. I am basically banking on my ECs, letters, and essays.</p>

<p>I feel a bit ashamed to admit I want to go to HPS because of their reputation. Like I have been trained to go for the best, and HPS are ranked the best, so therefore I must go to them. I would prefer Harvard because I want to be able to walk over to their graduate school (as an UG) and converse with the faculty, and get the professors and resources to continue my ambitions. I want the Ivy League because I like competitive environments, and will bring me closer to my goal of Wall St/Washington than say, my state flagship of UC Berkeley.</p>

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<p>Nice! Sounds just like me! I spend most of my time pursuing and excelling in my extracurriculars. I get good grades but not the best in my school but around top 5%. I guess I too am banking on extracurriculars, letters, and essays. </p>

<p>And I agree with you a hundred percent on your view of the top flagships. While other universities may have the same quality of education, I feel that the name means everything. Let’s say you meet someone for the first time and they say they are a Georgia Tech (top notch engineering school) graduate vs if they say they are an MIT graduate. I’m sure both of them are really smart and good at what at what they do but come on, there’s more of a wow factor in MIT. Maybe this is kinda arrogant, but the names wow factor matters to me. On top of that there are the benefits you mentioned, better connections, more competitive, etc. </p>

<p>Btw, in my opinion, UC Berkeley is a top flagship on the same level as MIT, Stanford, etc. At least for my interest, engineering specifically in robotics. Not sure how it is for economics and political science though.</p>

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<p>Hey, we’re going to have a fun time answering, “Why do you want to go to this college?” ;)</p>