Not another Wanna-be Ivyer!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Yep, yet another one to review! </p>

<p>I'm an asian female, and I live in the south. Schools i'm applying to are:
MIT, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Duke, and 2 local colleges. Years are shown by number (4 is senior year, 1 is freshman)</p>

<p>Courses this year:
AP Music Theory
AP German Language
AP Government & Politics
AP Language & Composition
Course taken at nearby college: Applied Differential Equations II (sr level class)</p>

<p>SAT1
Math: 780
Verbal: 690</p>

<p>SAT2
still waiting for the scores, but last time it was
Math2c: 700 (don't know if this will go up much)
Writing: 600 (this should go up at least 50 points)
and chemistry was terrible, i'm guessing this time it's anywhere between 550-650</p>

<p>AP Exams
Calc AB - 5
Calc BC - 5
Psych - 4
Engl Lang & Comp - 4
Physics - too low to mention</p>

<p>Rank: 5 out of a little less than 500
GPA - after this semester (hopefully)
weighted: 5.308 (6.0 scale)
unweighted: 3.846 </p>

<p>Special Recognition</p>

<p>· The College Board Advanced Placement Scholar Award (4)
· Toyota Scholars High School Nominee (4)
· NC State University’s Park Scholarship High School Nominee (4)
· Harvard Book Prize Award Nominee (3)
· National Leadership Conference Nominee (3)
· The National Society of High School Scholars Nominee (2)
· School of Science and Mathematics Admission (2)
· 2003 SummerVentures Program (2) – Student Government; Yearbook Editor
· US Achievement Academy International Foreign Language Award Recipient (1)
· Algebra II State Competition Team Member (1)
· Qualified for the Geometry Team (1)</p>

<p>Extra-Curricular Activities/Clubs</p>

<p>Key Club <a href="4,3,2,1">50+ hrs of community service per school year</a>
· Vice President (4)
· Advisory Board; Webpage Designer (3)
· Advisory Board (2)
· Freshman Class Representative (1)</p>

<p>· German National Honor Society (4,3,2,1); Executive Board (2)
· German Club (4,3,2,1) – President (3), Vice President (2)
· Webmasters Club (4,3,2) – Vice President (3); Guidance Department Editor (2)
· National Honor Society (4)
· Chinese Language School (12 Years)
-Chinese-American Society (TACAS)
-Tai-Chi class (4)
-International Festival Volunteer (3,1)
· Asian Students Association (4,3,2) – Webpage Designer (4,3)
· Student Council Homeroom Representative (2,1)</p>

<p>Work Experience</p>

<p>· Caribou Coffee Company Employee (4)
· University Civil Engineering Intern (summer 2004)
· German Teacher Assistant (4,3)</p>

<p>Language skills
Fluent in 2 languages, able to understand (not speak) 1, and lessons of German for 7 years</p>

<p>Help? Feedback? Please?</p>

2

<p>bump</p>

<p>anyone?</p>

3

<p>Bump Bump Bump</p>

4

<p>MIT-No
Yale-No
Princeton-No
Stanford-No
Duke-OK Chance
2 local colleges-...</p>

5

<p>i agree with jay</p>

6

<p>Do you think you could give me some kind of reasoning - like what I should improve on?</p>

7

<p>And if there is anyone out there who wouldn't mind reading this, feel free to comment!</p>

8

<p>Your SATII scores are very low for Ivies. That's the main thing IMO that would kill you. Most accepted applicants have scores in the mid to high 700s. Your ECs are good, but nothing spectacular. Also, two of your awards-- national conference and national society-- are absolute jokes. All of my friends received those.</p>

<p>MIT-- SATII Math score is really low; from what I've heard, MIT likes 800s
Yale-- I was rejected EA with a slightly higher ACT score (converted to SAT), similar awards, similar ECs, and much higher SAT IIs, so I'd say probably not since RD is even tougher than EA
Princeton-- highly doubtful because of SATIIs
Stanford-- from what I've heard, it's just as hard to get in there as it is to Princeton.</p>

9

<p>I'd look at less selective schools like Penn, Cornell, Rice</p>

10

<p>well considering you are at that high a level of math, your SAT II, math IIC is really low, and IIC is pretty easy too, I took it junior year in precalc and got a 780, and this year in BC, and got 800, im not sure why it is so low for you, and im sure almost every other person applying to MIT with the level of math you are at has an 800. Your writing and chem are also horrible, so this right away puts you towards the end of the pool with their first impression. A 3.85 is a solid gpa considering it seems like you have taken the most demanding classes. The AP Scholar award is not that big of deal. If all you were was a nominee in all these other things is not that big of deal either. Some of them are good though. Your EC's are ok, above average, but nothing super special. As per where you will get in, i am with jaymantrucker on this. Try some less selective schools than these, all of these are incredibly hard to get into, except for the locals.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

11

<p>thanks so much for the thorough feedback! I see what you guys mean - I retook all 3 SAT2s in December, so I'll find out about the results tomorrow (aghhhhh)!</p>

<p>And it's true that I don't have any special awards other than admissions/acceptance into things, I just put down whatever I had.</p>

<p>I would apply to schools that are kind of in-between the local colleges (i've already been accepted) and the ivys... but I don't think I would go to them anyway - so why should I apply?</p>

<p>I'm really confused as to what I should do....</p>

12

<p>I guess I dont really understand why its MYPS, Duke, or nothing. Sorry you will not get into MYPS. You MAYBE have a okay shot at Duke. Adding Penn, Brown, Dartmouth as reaches and Cornell, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins as match/reaches would be a much smarter strategy. As matches I would add UNC-CH and Emory. These schools have SO much to offer, much much more than your local school and the reaches I mentioned offer as much as HYPSM. In face having gone to one of these I see little difference between them and HYPS. I see this all the time on CC, applying to HYPS and then local schools. You need MATCHES!!!! For example, why Duke? Dartmouth has a very similar social scene, Cornell similar science excellence, etc.</p>

13

<p>I think you might have some major misconceptions that MYPS and Duke (why Duke) have something to offer that the schools I mention don't.</p>

14

<p>It's actually too late for me to apply to any of these places, as my school requests transcript orders to be placed nearly a month ahead of time... <em>sigh</em></p>

<p>So it looks like i'm stuck :-/</p>

<p>I did apply to NCSU and UNC-CH. Those were the community colleges :)</p>

15

<p>bump, once more!</p>

16

<p>I agree with </p>

<p>MIT-No
Yale-No
Princeton-No
Stanford-No
Duke-OK Chance, probably no</p>

<p>you've got to get back to reality, or you won't get in anywhere! Keep of the ones above 2-3 that you like best, but apply to realistic schools besides those.</p>

17

<p>Might apply to some eastern schools like a Bowdoin or Holy Cross which are very good schools but a step below Ivies. Think applications at Holy Cross aren't due to mid January.</p>

18

<p>i have very similar stats and got deferred from hopkins ED... pretty disappointed</p>

19

<p>Your chances at Duke aren't too bad, considering you're an NC resident. As a Charlotte resident, I'm also applying at Duke. The Park Scholarship is NOT something to take lightly, so you might reevaluate your priorities if you advanced in the competition (I didn't). Wake Forest and Davidson are two more less selective but great local schools.</p>