Odds of a bottom dweller to see the light

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a senior at a small-town public high school in the south—i.e., we don't have a lot of AP classes or send more than 1-3 students per year to upper-tier schools, and I don't know of anyone in recent memory who's been to an Ivy. My opportunities here have been limited, but I've done my best. I've taken every AP my school has to offer (all four of them!); I even self-studied for one (which didn't turn out too well... I'm not reporting that score).</p>

<p>I'm still having second thoughts about even posting this thread, but... here goes.</p>

<p>Academics:
-All available honors, accelerated, dual, and AP classes since freshman year
-Two years of Mandarin (Chinese)
-This year, I researched and designed my own curriculum for an independent study in Chinese Literature (a pretty big deal at my school, nobody EVER does independent studies)</p>

<p>GPA: ~3.9 unweighted
My school makes it hard to access this information, so this is just an estimate, but I've made only one B, and that was just for one semester (not the final class score). Also we don't weight GPA's so I have no idea about that. </p>

<p>AP's:
Human Geography- 5
US History- 3
English Lit.- Currently enrolled
US Government- Currently enrolled
I was in my APUSH teacher's second-ever AP class and it showed. We only got to right before the Cold War. :/ I expect to do very well on English though, and I'm fairly optimistic about Gov't</p>

<p>ACT:
Composite- 31
English- 35
Reading- 36
Math- 26
Science- 25
I'm taking this again in October and hope to bring up math and science by several points each, been doing a lot of preparation and have made over 30 on both practice tests before. I'm shooting for a composite of 34 or 35 tops</p>

<p>SAT:
Verbal- 750
Math- 630
Writing- 720
Same story; I'm taking this again in October and hope to bring math up a good bit.</p>

<p>EC's:
-Editor of award-winning school newspaper; staff member for all available years
-Core member of creative writing club; revived the club after the teacher who sponsored it retired
-Currently working to found a club for Chinese Culture
-Stock Market Club, FBLA (Vice President), Mock Trial, Art Club, Key Club, NHS
-Artist & self-taught guitarist</p>

<p>-Volunteer at local mission, working & spending time with impoverished, at-risk children; also volunteer counselor at related summer camp
-Volunteer at "Life Choices," a local non-profit combating teen pregnancy & STD's; I coordinated a community-wide event with live music, drama, etc. to raise publicity and involvement; also do web & graphic design for this organization
-Sound technician, guitarist, webmaster & designer for my church</p>

<p>Other:
Awarded "Outstanding Junior" last year (an annual honor chosen by faculty)
National Merit Commended Student (missed the state cutoff by one measly point :( )
Greek heritage (URM perhaps? maybe? no?)</p>

<p>2009 Tennessee Governor's School for the Humanities
(very selective, the flagship program of TN governor's schools)</p>

<p>I intend to major in Chinese; I was in my school's first-ever Mandarin class when they began offering it last year; besides two years of the language, I'm in a "Chinese Culture" elective next trimester, I'm founding a Chinese club, and I designed my own curriculum for an independent study in Chinese literature (it will go on my transcript and everything; the school has even expressed interest in making it an actual class after I graduate). I'm very passionate about this; I'm also crossing my fingers that such a relatively unusual major will be something of a hook</p>

<p>I think my essays will be good... PM me if you're interested in reading my Common App essay</p>

<p>I will have some very good teacher recs and one killer supplemental rec (from gov school)</p>

<p>I plan to excuse myself somewhat for my high school with the counselor letter and Additional Info... without sounding too whiny or desperate, of course...</p>

<p>that is all.</p>

<p>here's what I'm looking at:
Yale SCEA (no high hopes there, but it's still my dream school)
Northwestern
Wake Forest
Vanderbilt
Rhodes
Furman</p>

<p>also, if anybody knows of some other decent schools in my range with Chinese programs, please point them out!</p>

<p>I won't get my feeling hurt or anything, please be real.
Thanks for your time</p>

2

<p>As far as I know, I think Greeks simply mark “Caucasian/white” on the app.</p>

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<p>Yeah, that’s what I suspected. It was just an idea.</p>

<p>er… anyone else?</p>

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<p>honestly, can you bring up your math score of the SAT a little bit? That would increase your chances SIGNIFICANTLY!!!
by the way, are you asian?</p>

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<p>I know it would, that’s my weakest point I think and I’m working on it a lot… I’ll just have to keep studying and see how it goes I guess…</p>

<p>No, I’m pretty much white, haha.</p>

<p>Does anyone have some … actual chances or advice? is it that bad?</p>

6

<p><em>nudge</em></p>

<p>This thread is in danger of becoming a bottom-dweller itself. D:</p>

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<p>Um…
I forgot to mention my class rank… Probably looking at top 3 currently out of 350ish. I have a good shot at being valedictorian but we’ll see.</p>

<p>…
Please, some real responses would be great… The suspense is killing me</p>

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<p>You’re in everywhere except for Vandy, NW, and Yale. Good luck with Yale…you’ll need it. Vandy is a bit more realistic, but as long as you understand that those three schools are reaches, you look alright.</p>

9

<p>Thanks for posting!
By how much would my math / composite test scores need to improve to make Yale and the others a bit more realistic?
Also, are there any other glaring weaknesses besides the scores? Any other ways to make myself any more competitive?</p>

<p>I’ve been looking around at some other colleges too. I only have a $300 budget for application fees from my parents, so since Vandy wasn’t my top choice anyway, I think I might drop it. What are my odds at UNC Chapel Hill? I don’t know much about the school but it seems great and has everything I would want. (I’ve visited all the others)</p>

<p>Are there any other college suggestions that would be in my range? I’d need good financial aid, preferably in the northern US, and a Chinese major or minor…</p>

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<p>bumpity bump.</p>

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<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua…</p>

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<p>with a 3.9 GPA unweighted…your not a bottom dweller there are so many people who would love to have that gpa in my school (including me).</p>

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<p>I’m afraid it won’t mean as much coming from a small-town public high school in the South, though :/</p>

<p>I also forgot my SAT II’s.</p>

<p>Literature- 760
US History- 650</p>

<p>Will the history score have much of a negative impact?</p>

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<p>…Anyone?</p>

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<p>Just a little bit more input would be very highly appreciated. I don’t want to nag, but… wow! it’s hard to keep an active thread here.</p>

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<p>odds are slim</p>