OMG: Chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Please chance my boyfriend. He's a junior.
scores-</p>

<p>SAT: 2400
PSAT: 240
just the Math II so far: 800
ACT: He hasnt found out yet
GPA: 4.0 unweighted, but school doesn't weight. although I know he's definitely ranked first
APs: Calculus BC: 5, Chemistry: 5 He's also taken Calc II, linear algebra, and graph theory (or number theory...can't remember) at state college</p>

<p>extracuricular activities</p>

<p>He does a lot of things...as you might tell from the info below</p>

<p>Academic/student gov't-
Class Government Senator
quiz bowl captain
science olympiad -- with state medals and such</p>

<p>arts-
Metro Area Youth Symphony principal oboist
forensics team captain
theatre club -- lots of lead roles, student director, he's really into this</p>

<p>Awards
State math competition awards; honorable recognition, etc. School doesn't do AMC
Science olympiad state medals
National Chemistry olympiad Semifinalist
Forensics- 2nd place in state for Dramatic Interpretation
he will obviously be National Merit, and probably ... what is that: is that Presidential Scholar? Or Presidential scholar candidate or something?</p>

<p>He also does volunteer work with the chamber of commerce and does standardized test tutoring. What are his chances at:</p>

<p>Harvard
Princeton
MIT
Stanford
U of Chicago
Carleton C
Columbia
U of California (berkeley)</p>

<p>He's interested in majoring in applied sciences with a minor in theatre. any takers? (for his chances thread -- not him lol). By the way, he's a very handsome and charming young man :) Oh, and he's Asian -- but not stereotypical nerdy math/science guy, as you can tell from above... thanks!</p>

2

<p>800s on all, 4.0 unweighted, and 5s on all APs....ok sure.</p>

3

<p>What do you want us to say??? His chances are pretty darn good; provided he writes an interesting essay, I can see your BF getting into at least a couple of the schools you listed.</p>

4

<p>bs 10 char</p>

5

<p>april fools?</p>

6

<p>well i can see some people get jealous pretty easily. </p>

<p>no- this is not an april fool's day joke. he did get those scores. i do not feel obligated to prove them to you, but for you skeptics out there, i can provide a link to a picture with all his score reports. prepare to eat your words.</p>

<p>As for his awards, I cannot do the same, since many of his awards identify who he is. i assure you, though, he has earned all the ones i've listed. you'll just have to take my word on faith.</p>

<p>now, if you skeptics can please assume this is a legitimate post, chance him. i have been lurking on CC for quite a while now, enough to have seen the EA/ED and RD decisions for places like Harvard, P, Y, Stanford. i know that while his scores may be stronger than many of those who have posted their decisions, there are still many factors that could affect my bf's chances at such places. furthermore, his ec's are not THAT strong. he did not win any major science competitions, for instance, and he is not nationally recognized (except for ranking 10th in nation on the national french exam, but he was tied with A LOT of other people- which was why I didn't even choose to note this). </p>

<p>please, please chance him. I am not like masterus, who refuses criticism of any sort; i will relay any criticism/input to my bf, and he will greatly appreciate it. please; let's be a little less cynical and just help a very talented person on his path to college.</p>

7

<p>you can't expect people not to be skeptical when you post something like that and it is your only post ever. i get suspicious anytime i see perfect scores. it is very hard to get perfect scores on any standardized test (a lot of it is luck; i've gotten 5 35s total in subscore areas on the act, but never any 36s), let alone every one ever taken. it seems like the hard part is over for your boyfriend, and now he needs to just not mess up.</p>

8

<p>i totally understand what you're saying iowejf. It's just my bf's a very very smart person, and also a really careful test taker. according to him, he did many of the SAT math problems in each section two or three times before he set his pencil down.</p>

<p>also, he hasn't got perfect on every standardized test he's taken. in eighth grade, his SAT was 1480 (on old scale), and his ACT was (only) 32. But i think it's from these experiences, a lot of practice, and a bit of luck that allowed him to accomplish what he did. anyway, thanks.</p>

9

<p>It is nearly impossible to chance for the schools you listed even with your bf's supposedly perfect scores. They are pretty much a crap shoot nowadays and the best thing for him to do is to write great essays and hope for the best.</p>

<p>But I do agree if what you are saying is true than he should be able to get into at least one of them.</p>

10

<p>There may be less than 100 kids in the nation who got both a perfect score on their PSAT and SAT... This thread is so invalid, it's not even funny. I've never heard of a kid in a relationship who isn't nerdy, who scores that high... It's impossible for me to take this thread seriously.</p>

11

<p>Please: let us use our faculties of reason. Just because an event is rare doesn't mean it can't occur. You said it yourself -- probably "less than 100 kids in the nation" got a perfect score on their PSAT and SAT. But did you ever stop to think that my "boyfriend" could be among these less than "100 kids?"</p>

<p>What do all the lottery players in the world think when Albert Winner matches his 7 numbers with 7 randomly chosen numbers in the Mega Million lottery? Do they doubt that he won because the probability of his winning is somewhere on the order of 1/60x59x58x57x56x55x54 (given sixty numbers to choose from)? Moreover...Do we doubt the fact that Leonidas held the million-man army of Xerxes for several weeks with a regiment of 300...because we believe manpower is the only element of battle that can turn the tide? Do we doubt that Andrew Carnegie rose from the poverty of 19th century Ireland to become the greatest steel magnate of the American Industrial Revolution? </p>

<p>I understand that the situation on this thread is different from the examples I outlined. After all, I am an unknown person with unknown credentials ostensibly helping an unknown "boyfriend" with unknown "stats," whereas the above are supported with historical and anecdotal evidence. Of course you have reason to be suspicious. But did you think that maybe -- just maybe -- someone can actually accomplish what has been outlined in the original post? Take the USA Today All-American Academic First Team for example. Subjectively, every one of the members of that elite 20-person group is more accomplished than the "boyfriend." John Zhou, one of the twenty whom I personally know, is an Intel Finalist, Siemens-Westinghouse Finalist, perfect scorer on the SAT, Davidson Fellow winner (25,000 dollars), Presidential Scholar, all-state clarinetist, and a AIDS walk initiator. Had he posted his "stats" on CC, I'm sure the comments would have been vitriolic to the nth degree. </p>

<p>But why? Jealousy? Is it because we cannot bring ourselves to believe that such talented, accomplished young adults exist in the world "out there?" Do we think: how can they do that; why am I so mediocre in comparison? </p>

<p>In the end, it's like comparing an apple to an orange. There are some things we mortals are not meant to do. Given an infinite amount of time, better genes, better education, we could perhaps all be the next Lincoln, the next Spinoza, the next Yo-Yo Ma, the next Einstein. But alas, fate has in store for most of us none of these. And so we forge ahead with our own mediocrity, and we make something out of it. And we learn that in the end, be "it all" worth for success, money, or naught, we have lived, and we are all human, Crick, Mozart, You, and I.</p>

<p>Incidentally, those stats are not those of a "boyfriend." But they are real, whether you believe it or not. And I know whose they are :).</p>

12

<p>I never said it was impossible, but it's ridiculously improbable. Your reply still doesn't make the chances of this post being valid past single digit... As a matter of fact, it's probably 0.00001%... Personally, I can't take a virtually perfect academic chances thread seriously, because not only are there so many people on CC who lie about their stats, but the people who actually do have those scores and grades wouldn't be posting in the chances thread in the first place. If he's that much of a genius with an obviously strong passion for science, why does he need help in the first place?</p>

13

<p>Here is all i can tell you. Last year (dont know about the class of 2011), Princeton took half of its applicants that scored perfect on their SAT's.</p>

<p>Following the logic that college admissions is only getting harder... i would say your boyfriend has around a 40-45% chance at Princeton when he applies... considering his GPA is relatively high and his EC's are relatively unique.</p>

<p>That is 4 times better than the average applicant.
Tell him good luck for me, and good luck to you wherever you apply!</p>

14

<p>Tell your boyfriend to post himself; he's a big boy and it's not your job to get him into college.</p>

<p>Otherwise, he has as decent a chance as any, but the ivys are a crapshoot for sure.</p>

15

<p>Where can I find the information that Princeton accepted half of its perfect scorers?</p>

16

<p>"Here is all i can tell you. Last year (dont know about the class of 2011), Princeton took half of its applicants that scored perfect on their SAT's."</p>

<p>You know what's the other side of that equation? The OP's boyfriend just became a candidate for the other 50% of perfect SAT scorers that Princeton (and other Ivies) rejects. It's a tough world when someone with those credentials have only a 50-50 chance of getting in.</p>

17

<p>Uh huh. This is true.</p>

18

<p>I know a few kids who have perfect scores without studying, and are equally as qualified as your boyfriend. They all have extremely peculiar abilities to relate to others. When you are that smart, it is impossible for your brain to develop the necessary social abilities. That is why I doubt you are able to connect to this apparent genious. Making him fictional.</p>

19

<p>Maybe he is one of those fewer kids with perfect scores and social abilities :).</p>

<p>Be nice.</p>

20

<p>Hi 1MX, you seem to be contradicting yourself. Didn't you say you know some people with perfect scores who also possess social skills? How, then, does this knowledge make my boyfriend fictional?</p>