Please be realistic

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Big suburban public school in central NJ (about 2300 kids) (about 65% attend a four year school after graduating)
top five out of 616
SAT I: 770 M (from the old test) , 760 V (ditto), 750 WR (from the new test)
SAT II: 760 Bio, 800 chem, 800 IIC
AP's: 5 on bio, chem, and stat. Took compsci ab, calc bc, physics c mech, and us history this past year</p>

<p>Outside the classroom
JSA chapter treasurer (11), president (12)
East Harlem tutorial program, volunteer tutor (11, 12)
Columbia Science honors program (11, 12)
Varsity swim team (10, 11, probably 12)
Local YMCA swim team (10, 11, not sure about 12)
Volunteer at local library
Private tutor in math and biology</p>

<p>Summer stuff
9- summer swim team at a local club
10 - North Carolina Summer Ventures in Science and Math (kind of like a governor's school)
11 - Will be attending NJ governor's school of international studies</p>

<p>Awards/Distinctions
o 2nd individual (out of 546) and 1st team (out of 154) in the state: NJ Science League 2003 – Biology I
o 6th individual and 1st place team in the state: Merck State Science Day 2003 – Biology
o 1st team (out of 149) and 3rd individual (out of 546) statewide :New Jersey Science League – Chemistry I
o 1st team (out of 91) and 3rd individual statewide: Merck State Science Day – Chemistry
o Ventures scholar</p>

<p>Not anything particularly noteworthy</p>

<p>Miscellaneous: Hispanic, fluent in Portuguese (both parents are native Brazilians and are college educated), not wealthy but not poor either, parents are separated (mother lives and works in Washington, D.C. and used to work in NC)</p>

<p>I started out in a science and engineering track, but am leaning more towards things like social sciences (specifically public health) and international relations and government</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure I'd be happy going to:
Harvard, Duke, Georgetown, Stanford, or Columbia (safety, Rutgers)</p>

<p>Please be brutally realistic, and I am open to suggestions for other places I should look into</p>

2

<p>Georgetown should be safe...Great shot at the others.</p>

3

<p>you have a good chance at everything</p>

4

<p>thanks for the opinions. I'm flattered</p>

5

<p>apply early to Harvard..</p>

<p>decent rank, strong scores, nice ecs and URM status</p>

6

<p>thanks again</p>

7

<p>Wow. . .Your scores are off the chart. You're good.</p>

8

<p>I don't say this often, but you have a very solid shot at the top schools. EA to Harvard is realistic. The only real negative is your state. It looks like you want to stay urban. Columbia and Yale are realistic. Maybe U Chicago. Have you considered any LACs, Swarthmore, Amherst, Williams?</p>

9

<p>I agree w/ all previous posters. That is a good start you have, but I would rec. you pick a couple schools that are a little lower just in case.</p>

<p>In case you get rejected from your top 5, it would be a shame for you to end up at Rutgers. There are many other good schools that you should take a look at as safeties that are in fact better than Rutgers.</p>

<p>Some other schools...</p>

<p>Matches:
-Berkeley (safety if you were in-state)
-University of Chicago
-Cornell
-UCLA (safety if you were in-state)
-University of North Carolina -- Chapel Hill (safety if you were in state)</p>

<p>Safeties:
-Michigan Ann Arbor
-UC San Diego</p>

<p>If you are interested at all in international relations in terms of business, University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business has a phenomenal international relations program, Huntsman. However, it does have the reputation of being as selective as Harvard. It also has a foreign language proficiency requirement, but you already have that covered w/ Portuguese.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you.</p>

10

<p>I've a couple friends going to Swarthmore in the fall (and both are very keen on attending, so it'll probably be on my list), but I haven't heard much firsthand about Amherst or Williams. I'll definitely look into them, though.</p>

11

<p>Sorry about that stambliark41, I didn't see your post as I was typing mine. Thanks very much for the suggestions. This brings me to a another question: as far as the whole process goes, about how many schools total would you all suggest applying to? </p>

<p>I've listed 6 that I'd be happy at, but I could certainly remove some of those and replace/add some that you've suggested to balance out my list.</p>

12

<p>ummm...
i thought you couldn't combine your scores from the old SAT with the new one?</p>

<p>but you've got a fantastic shot at all those schools. good luck!</p>

13

<p>Sorry to jump into the forum, but I seriously need your help. I go to an international school in Hong Kong called HKIS. It's quite competitive and we've got quite a lot of students getting into IVY league schools every year. But anyways, here are my scores and please tell me what schools will I get into.</p>

<p>SAT II: US History 720, Math 2c 700 (will retake) and I'll be taking Chinese and Literature
SAT I: 2000 (will retake in October)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.25 (AP courses are not weighted)
AP's: Received a 5 on AP Comparative Government and Politics
AP US History, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics --> (have not received scores yet)
AP's for next year: AP English, AP Psychology and AB Calc
Academic Awards: Honor Roll in Freshmen, Sophomore and Junior Year.</p>

<p>Outside the classroom:
10- VP of the Sophomore class
11- Public Relations Senator of the Student Senate
12 (next year)- Presiding Officer of the Student Senate
Leader of Model United Nations
Received a full scholarship from my school to attend last year's Presidential Classroom in DC
Attended GYLC (Global Youth Leadership Conference) last year in DC and NY.
Member of hte Hong Kong Outstanding Students Association
2 years of summer school at Brown University
Spent one summer working as a TA for a technology class.
3 years of community service.</p>

<p>I think that's about it. I'm really interested in political science and international relations. I'm planning to apply to Georgetown SFS for Early Action. Other than that, I'll be applying to Tufts (Dad is an alumni), Wash U. St Louis (taking liberal Arts. And mom is an alumni), BU (liberal arts), Purdue (liberal arts), USC (liberal arts), NYU (liberal arts), Claremont McKenna (liberal arts). </p>

<p>I understand that my GPA isn't that impressive, but my SAT scores are improving. Do you think I'll stand any chance of getting into these schools? Please be honest..LIKE SERIOUS HONEST.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

14

<p>beanbean, I'm not very familiar with the admissions process, so I can't say anything close to conclusive. But from seeing you courses in school and summer programs that you participated in it looks like you've thrown yourself at what your interested in, and that's always good. Best of luck to you.</p>

<p>To fromdistantstar, what's going on with combining scores? I looked around and most web sites say (ambiguously) that the school will only look at one's top scores. Are the two tests comparable?</p>

<p>If not, my new sat scores are 740 M, 740 V.</p>

15

<p>Most schools look at your highest scores on math and verbal. From what I understand unless you bombed the writing portion it isn't going to be a major factor in admissions this year.</p>

16

<p>Harvard will combine scores this year. If you will consider the south, add Rice to your list.</p>

17

<p>Just out of curiosity, what were the given reasons for changing the SAT I?</p>

18

<p>Bama, can you give a number range for 'bombed'?
because i have a 1500 M+CR combined but my writing is a 630, there's 170 pts difference between my CR and my writing, so would that be viewed upon as especially bad since there's so much difference?</p>

19

<p>Apply to as many schools as you wish, but don't apply to any that you wouldn't be totally happy to attend. Applying to many schools will help your odds somewhat. When you are aiming at the top schools, it is still a crap shoot for the very top students. It is quite possible to be rejected at all of the top schools even when you have great stats, ECs, etc. It happened to severall CC family members this year. Do find some safeties where you would be happy if the dream schools don't come through. For top females, Wellesley, Smith, and Mt Holyoke, as a group, represent a reasonable safety.</p>

20

<p>...how many would you apply to personally?</p>