New scores, new hope (maybe!)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Ok, so this is my one official, final, splendiforous chances post. I need some honest feedback</p>

<p>SAT 780M, 770V (1550) two sittings. will this hurt me?
SAT II (800 Physics) (800 MathIIC) (690 Writing) (oops!)
AP Physics B (5)</p>

<p>Straight A's but due to Phy ED rank = 6/160</p>

<p>Best in years rec from both physics and history teacher.</p>

<p>However, I come from a public school that has seen no apps to HYPSMC in the past many years, and the recs are very good, but don't include any comments on amazing research, cuz, well, I don't have any. I am teaching myself AP Physics C, and will also complete my own research project later this year. </p>

<p>Am taking 4 APs (english, chem, calc, and self-taught physics C), which is all my school has
3 years German</p>

<p>EC's
Big into drummin' </p>

<p>Tenor Section Leader of top 3 drum line in 5 state region (40 hours a week)
lead jazz drummer for school 3 years
play jazz set, latin percussion, and vibes (somewhat)
3 Superior Solo Awards at State Competition for Marimba solos
Pep Band, Bi-weekly volunteer for church (drummin and started youth band)
NHS, lots of Frisbee playing, Moderated a debate for school board candidates, 2003 jazz camp, 2001-2004 church camp, 2004 Leadership Camp, Volunteer at school in music, </p>

<p>Big into job,
3+ years at grocery store, manual labor, earned way into Customer Service, help manage (somewhat) a dairy and video dept. 15+ hours a week. Top fundraiser in region for Diabetes through employer ($3000) </p>

<p>The bad stuff
White, parents well educated, not disadvataged</p>

<p>The good
rural town, not an intravert</p>

<p>I will be applying to HPS, Cornell and have applied early at MIT, Chicago, UIUC (admit).</p>

<p>Thanx a bunch. I was really excited this morning when I got my SAT scores, but now I am not so sure. I know that Harvard and MIT consider best in each SAT sub-catergory. Does Cornell, Princeton, or Stanford. BTW, I am pry a physics major, but could swing towards engineering. What would be better to put down?</p>

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<p>anyone got any ideas?</p>

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<p>looks good to me, i dunno how the majority status and educated parents will factor in. I applied to mit early also so hopefully we'll both get in. c u around. i think they all look at the best scores. i dunno about the major choice, but that should only make a big diff at cornell since their admissions are divided into different colleges</p>

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<p>Cornell and chicago i would think you're def in...even though cornell engineering can be a bit harder to get into than their other schools, but still you got solid stats. Like it is for nearly everyone, Harvard and Princeton are big toss ups, always hard to tell with them. MIT and Stanford i would think you have an okay chance, prob better than Harvard and Princeton, but not as good as Chicago and Cornell.</p>

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<p>good stats, good chances. You maxed out your schools curiculum, that will look really good. The only thing that might hold you back is the writing 690. Not rue how much it will affect their decision though if you are ging into physics.</p>

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<p>SAT 780M, 770V (1550) two sittings. will this hurt me?</p>

<p>what do you think.... 1550...</p>

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<p>I don't think you need to worry about it too much. You have an extremely strong resume. I <em>wish</em> I had your skills in test taking! Plus you seem talented as well. It's UNBELIEVABLY similar to that of my friend (it freaked me out at first), and she made it into MIT just fine. I think you'll be okay. ^__~</p>

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<p>Have you done your interviews? You seen like a great person - and MIT seems to be going back to the interview as being an important evaluative tool.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I guess the interview went OK. It could have been worse. I am just nervous about the whole thing. Anyone else have any suggestions, evaluations?</p>

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<p>Might want to apply to Duke-which has a very good engineering proram.</p>

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<p>Will MIT get my November SAT scores in time? I am sending in my mid-year grade report from my school, and that will include my new scores. I will have the counselor highlight them. Will they accept this untill they get my official scores? Just curious as my composite jumped 80 pts</p>

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<p>I would be interested as to hear how your friend got in. I was excited till i remembered: She is a woman, I am not. My odds are cut in a third.</p>

<p>BTW, if it helps, I forgot to mention that the only reason I am only sixth in my class is cuz of freshman PhyEd. Straight A's otherwise!</p>

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<p>here's the rubric i used for other chances post and the rubric's explanation:</p>

<p>i read from somewhere that harvard uses a 1-5 scale (where 1 is the highest) to rate personal, academic, and extracurricular factors while princeton uses i think the 1-6 scale (or it may be 1-9), where 1 is also the highest. </p>

<p>an academic rating of one (which is rarely awarded) describes an applicant who achieved a 1500 or greater on the SAT, who is ranked #1 or 2 in the class, who has taken the most rigorous courseload, and who achieved scores of 800 on three SAT IIs, and scores of 5 on 5 or more AP exams (and/or, if applicable, the highest scores on at least 3 IB HL level exams). an extracurricular rating of one requires national recognition in something such as siemens, intel and the like. a personal rating of one is based on the student's contributions to the community and on the teacher recommendations (whether it says "best in teaching career" or best in so so years). if you care to average the academic, extracurricular and personal ratings, most admitted students will land a 2...in borderline cases even a 3. note that membership to many different clubs will get an applicant only a 4 but state or local recognition (depending on how prestigious it is), will get him/her a 2 or 3. being school president is a 3, which is the equivalent to being president of three clubs.</p>

<p>your ratings:
academic rating: 2
extracurricular rating: 2 or 3
personal rating: no basis for judgment</p>

<p>hoping that you get in!</p>

<p>what ratings would you assign yourself, since you know yourself better than anyone else does?</p>

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<p>Interesting post. How do you know about that system. Anyway, as far as EC's and academics, I think that your rating is pretty good. Personal? Well, My physics teacher checked off top few in career, and my history teacher as top 5%. I do a lot of volunteering at church and work many hours a week in a blue collar postion. I don't know what else they have to go off of. My counselor pretty much checked every top ranking for personal qualities. Don't know what else they have. I was very amiable at the interview, but very nervous. I don't know what else I can do to get an overall two by your method. Pry overall 2.5/3.5. Oh well.</p>

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<p>hey jerew, i based my info on a book called "The Truth about Harvard" by dov fox, a harvard alumnus. in it, he talks about the admissions process and gives insider's info about the social life, residential life, academics, etc. there. my description may not be entirely accurate but it runs along those lines.</p>

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<p>hey jerew, i based my info on a book called "The Truth about Harvard" by dov fox, a harvard alumnus. in it, he talks about the admissions process and gives insider's info about the social life, residential life, academics, etc. there. my description may not be entirely accurate but it runs along those lines. also, you've probably heard of the so-called cheat sheet or reading card which condenses all the most important info about the applicant into one page, so they can readily present your file in committee meetings. they make it easier on themselves by having these ratings (basically what i described up above) in addition to your actual file. the most memorable applicants also tend to get a nickname, however cheesy that may sound. like marathon running oboe player or something like that.</p>

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<p>Should I retake writing?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Should I retake writing?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>nah it's good enough. i mean it's in 680-720 range, that's competitive enough.</p>

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<p>jerew: I could pretty easily see you getting into chicago and cornell. HYSM will be pretty difficult, but you look like you're in a range where you've got a great shot at getting into at least one. MIT, from what I have heard, is trying to diversity a bit in terms of the type of students they admit...a shift from stereotypical tech nerds to people more involved in art, music, sports, etc. Your interview sounds like it should help you in coming across as a "normal" person, and your involvement in music (in drumming, not typical violin or piano) should help a little too. Best of luck, and hit me up on AIM (sn: cavalier302) and I'll direct you to a link to another forum where I read some of that MIT stuff.</p>

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<p>BTW, it wouldn't hurt to retake the writing. I got the same score in oct and was pretty disappointed...so I am redoing it. However, since you're applying as a science/engineering major, I doubt your current writing score would keep you out of any of those schools; your math/sci sat and sat2 scores are excellent and most likely would make up for it.</p>