My Chances: UPenn ED, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, UW, Carnegie Mellon.

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hi everyone, I've been bored recently and I lurk on these forums occasionally, so I decided to get some estimates on my college chances. I'm a junior right now and I've got some plans right now and I wanted to get some feedback on them.</p>

<p>So I'm thinking about applying to University of Pennsylvania early decision, Harvard (maybe early action since they allow it again), Columbia, and Stanford as kind of my reach schools. I'll be applying to UW and Carnegie Mellon as my safety since I live in Washington and I assume I have legacy with CM (my dad got his PHD there, does that count?)</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.9X
Weighted GPA: IDK I know it's 4.X on a 5.0 scale</p>

<p>SAT: 2350 (CR:800 M:780 W:770) </p>

<p>ACT: Not Taken</p>

<p>SAT Subject: Not Taken Yet</p>

<p>AP Scores: WH-5, AP Phys B-4, so far.</p>

<p>PSAT: 240 so I'm probably getting National Merit</p>

<p>Rank: Top 1% or 2%</p>

<p>Intended Major: Finance? Not really sure.</p>

<p>I'm a junior in Bellevue, Washington (near Seattle). Both my parents have graduate degrees, though both are immigrants from China. I'm a US citizen by birth.</p>

<p>My schedule for this year (junior) is:
AP Calc BC
APUSH
AP Phys C Mech
Marketing and Business
French 3
AP Chem
AP Lang</p>

<p>I've gotten all A's so far, with the exception of a B in Calc BC last semester. I'm thiking that might hurt some, especially since it's in a math class.</p>

<p>EC:
200+ hours of community service with an unpaid internship over 2 years.
Model UN: President
Chess Club: President
Knowledge Bowl: President
Student Newspaper: Writer
Piano: I'm terrible
Other Stuff: I've applied to the Bank of America Student Leaders and the Telluride summer program, but I haven't heard back yet.</p>

<p>Recs:
I could probably get good recs from most of my teacher, especially APUSH and AP Lang. Those 2 are probably my top classses. I could probably also get a solid one from my Calc teacher since even though my performance in the class wasn't great, he's the advisor for chess club and he's highly involved, so he knows me pretty well.</p>

<p>I have some questions about the ACT. Should I take it? I'm done with the SAT and I'm satisfied with my score and I don't particularly feel like taking the ACT, but should I? Also, will colleges take in account other schools in the district because in our district, because there's one school that houses the gifted program and the kids there are kind of ridiculous (in a good way). Their entire top 15 percent is made up of only gifted program kids. Most of the kids in the gifted program graduate by the end of junior year and even the sophomores there are probably taking greater course loads than I am. Will that effect my status?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>You should be fine for UW and CMU (pretty sure the PhD counts, but you’re fine without it). UPenn ED will be a mid reach, and Columbia/Stanford/Harvard will be high reach. You have stellar statistics and a solid group of ECs, but one thing I do see missing is that one thing you’re passionate about. There are a lot of people with similar stats applying to your reach schools, so you’ll have to stand out in your essays. Oh, and the ACT isn’t really necessary unless you get some urge to apply to a school in the Midwest, especially considering your high SAT score.</p>

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<p>I have a lot of varied interests, though I will try to tie my information together in an essay.</p>

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<p>don’t bother with the ACT, since your SAT is definitely good enough for any school.
UW safety
CMU low match, their comp sci department, much more difficult to get into than others IIRC</p>

<p>Harvard high reach, of course, standard applicant status.</p>

<p>Penn ED, not sure at all.
Stanford- high reach. Their process is a bit iffy so no one can say for sure.
Columbia- reach. No passions! Your internship was vague, I’m sure you could getsomething out of that.</p>

5

<p>The internship is in environmental science and the main focus is environmental education. We go around teaching primary school kids and he hold monthly seminars. We also do some restoration and monitoring.</p>

6

<p>What is your ethnicity if you don’t mind me asking?</p>

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<p>^

</p>

<p>Anyways…</p>

<p>Penn ED - Low Reach
Harvard - Reach
Stanford - Reach
Columbia - Reach
UW - Safety
Carnegie Mellon - Low Match</p>

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<p>Are you applying ED to Wharton, CAS, or SEAS?</p>

<p>Also, do NOT take the ACT. With a 2350 on your SAT, anything short of a perfect ACT score will only bring down your academics</p>

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<p>That’s actually something I’ve been wondering too, to tell you the truth. I’m really interested in the Huntsman, Jerome Fisher, and Vagelos coordinated dual degree programs, but from what I’ve learned, the acceptance rates for those programs and Wharton are all really low. I’m thinking of applying to one of those and either Wharton or SEAS as my secondary choice. I’m assuming Wharton ED will be a high reach?</p>

<p>BTW thanks to everyone about the ACT stuff, I was completely confused.</p>

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<p>Bumpity bump</p>

<p>Sent from my SGH-T959 using CC App</p>

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<p>Harvard- Reach (~55% Chance)
UPenn- Low Reach (~60% Chance)
Stanford- Low Reach (~60% Chance)
Columbia- Low Reach/High Match (~65% Chance)
CMU- Low Match/High Safety (~75% Chance)
UW- Safety (~85% Chance)</p>

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<p>Yes, those programs are competitive as hell, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to apply. If you can get in, graduating with two degrees (especially one from Wharton) will open a lot of doors for you.</p>