Please chance!!! Looking at highly competitive schools such as Princeton!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey CC'ers! I'm going to be a senior in high school next year, so I'm doing a lot of college searching this summer. It's pretty overwhelming, but I wanted to get some advice as this community seems very knowledgable. So I'll get right to the point. Any advice as to what I can do with the next few months (before applying) is appreciated as well as any comments on my chances at the schools I'm looking at.</p>

<p>I really appreciate any help!</p>

<p>I live in Maryland, and I go to a small, fairly well-known, competitive private school in the city. My testing is weak, but my grades are great. These are some of the schools I'm considering:</p>

<p>Princeton
Johns Hopkins
Franklin and Marshall
William and Mary
Bucknell
Harvard
University of Virginia
Yale</p>

<p>Sex: Male
Ethnicity: White</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 4.2/4.3 (4 is A, 4.3 is A+)
Class rank: 1 out of about 80
SAT: 2060: 670 Math, 660 CR, 730 Writing (Will take again)
ACT: 31 Composite (Will take again)
SAT II: 730 Math 2, taking more next year
IB Scores: 6 on IB Economics SL (2 year class done in 1 year)
AP Scores: 4 on AP Statistics exam</p>

<p>Schedule: I'm taking the most rigerous course load offered at my school. I get a mix of A's and A+'s. My junior year second semester I got 5 A+'s and 1 A. (A+ is 98-100)</p>

<p>Freshman year: Spanish 2 Honors, Geometry, Algebra 2 Honors, Biology, English 9, World History</p>

<p>Sophomore Year: Spanish 3 Honors, AP Statistics, English 10 Honors, Honors Chemistry, U.S. History, World Religions (1 Semester), Health (1 Semester)</p>

<p>Junior Year: IB History HL, IB Math HL, IB English HL, IB Economics SL, IB Physics SL, IB Spanish 4 Honors SL</p>

<p>Senior Year I will be taking: IB History HL, IB Math HL, IB English HL, IB Physics SL, IB Spanish 4 Honors SL, Theory of Knowledge</p>

<p>I also took an extra semester long college class focusing on religion in one's life. I got an A- in the class and was awarded 3 college credits.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>2 years of JV Tennis, 1 year of Varsity Tennis, won the Spirit Award
1 year of Fresh/Soph Basketball
1 year of JV Volleyball, 1 year of Varsity volleyball, won Championship on Varsity
3 Years of a peer education program, will hold a leadership role next year
2 years in school's religious group, 1 year of leadership
1 year of Yearbook, will be a senior editor next year
Quiz Bowl team, semi-leadership</p>

<p>Job/Service:</p>

<p>I have taught tennis the past three years in a program I have been a part of for 7 years.
I plan to volunteer with a local politician for his campaign this summer
I went on a service trip to a local shelter(40 hours of community service)</p>

<p>Awards: Member of the Cum Laude Society, Member of the National Spanish Honors Society, Harvard Junior Book Award, Biology Prize given to one freshman</p>

<p>Interests: Business, Economics, Mathematics, Spanish, and History.</p>

<p>I also have a minor question. I like video games, and I've actually led "clans" in some games. It sounds very silly, but the leadership I've learned is actually significant in my life. Is this something I should mention to colleges because it has been a part of my life, and I did literally manage hundreds of people over the Internet. I've actually had a lawyer (who played one of these games) tell me that he would vouch for my leadership abilities any time I needed it. Thoughts?</p>

<p>Also, I will be happy to help anyone back in any way I can. Thanks a lot!</p>

2

<p>Like you said, your grades/rank are awesome - but unless you raise your test scores, I think Princeton, Harvard, Yale and maybe some of the others are pretty much out of the question. Luckily, your grades are pretty much set in stone, while your test scores are not - so practice a lot for the retake, and if you do well, your chances will improve drastically! Not sure about the video game leadership - someone else may know more about that than I do. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Thanks a lot, CaliforniaDancer. Any other advice with testing? I’ve used a tutor before, and I’ll probably use him again for the next testing. I know I have the potential to do well…</p>

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<p>^By potential to do well, I hope you mean a 2200 or higher. Because as a hookless applicant, you probably won’t be seriously considered for admission at Harvard, Yale, or Princeton unless you have a 2200+, that’s a general rule of thumb rarely broken for people with no special advantage. And not to discourage you, because I wish for you to get accepted if possible, but raising your score 150 points or more is unlikely to result from a retake in the near future, even with test prep.</p>

<p>I hope that score goes up. Best of luck!</p>

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<p>Holy Cross and Colgate are 2 great schools similar to Bucknell.</p>

6

<p>Thanks to both of you. Any more help? Please!</p>

7

<p>With the exception of your test scores, every otheraspect of your application is Ivy-caliber. Other than that, write a good essay and get good recommendations. Good luck</p>

<p>Chance me: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/953055-please-chance.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/953055-please-chance.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thanks a lot! I plan on working on the test scores. Any thoughts on SAT II’s and what I should be taking for the schools I’m applying to? I know I’m going to need two. </p>

<p>Also, can anyone else comment on EC’s and the other parts beside testing? Anything I should do/work on? Especially any thoughts on the schools I’m applying to besides the Ivies. I know they’re a reach, but what about Johns Hopkins and William and Mary?</p>

9

<p>Like several people have already mentioned, you need to raise your SAT score ASAP if you even want to be considered by Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and even Johns Hopkins.</p>

<p>Your grades are really good though, and so are your ECs…but I think you have way too many interest - you should be passionate about one specific subject, or maybe even two - but not 5.</p>

<p>And about the video games…I mean, it could have potential to becoming a good college essay…but it could also (and more likely) backfire. </p>

<p>Also, will you be needing FA?</p>

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<p>Sorry for the late response…no access to Internet.</p>

<p>I’m looking at liberal arts schools because I’m trying to find what I’m truly interested in. Is it wrong to be passioniate about multiple subjects? I’m likely going into Business, but I’m not ruling out minors in maybe Mathematics, Spanish, Economics.</p>

<p>As for Financial Aid, I won’t exactly need it for college but I am considering applying for the rare chance I can get some money. Most likely, if the school isn’t need-blind, I’m not even going to apply for financial aid. I’ll be hoping for some merit scholarships, though.</p>

<p>Also, I forgot to mention Davidson as one of my top choices as well.</p>

11

<p>I’d like to get a few more responses, so I’m going to bump this.</p>

<p>Does anyone have knowledge about SAT II’s? What are highly selective colleges looking for? I got a 730 on Math II, but I was very surprised as I know I could’ve gotten an 800. I’m going to take Math II again as well as maybe Spanish and Literature. Which tests do colleges want to see and which are fairly easy to do well on?</p>

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<p>For the regular SAT, I would definitely use the Blue Book (that’s College Board’s official book). You can read all their advice, but the most important part is definitely doing the practice tests. </p>

<p>Interestingly enough, Math II, Spanish, and Lit were the three subject tests I took originally (I took Physics later since I needed it for some schools). For Math II, I used Princeton Review and Barrons, and ended up with a 760. For Spanish, I didn’t do a lot of prep, but I had Barrons, and ended up with a 780. For Lit, I used Kaplan, and got a 740.
I think those 3 subject tests are good, if those are the subjects you want to take them in. All I would say is to not have only 3 humanities or only 3 math/science tests.</p>