Please chance me :)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So, this year I am going to be a senior and will be going through that stressful application phase. I intend to apply to the following schools: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Northwestern, UVA, UC Berkeley, UPENN, Duke. </p>

<p>I'm not sure where to apply early, though I am thinking about applying to MIT because no one else in my school is eligible to. I go to school in Istanbul to what is perhaps the best high school in Istanbul. However, I was born in Virginia and lived there for most of my life while attending a Gifted and Talented program before going to Turkey for Middle and High School. Since I have US citizenship I am eligible to apply to MIT via EA and since no one else has that right in my school (and most probably in all of Turkey), I figured that I might have a better chance at getting in. So, here's a brief profile of myself:</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): I took the SAT twice. On the first I got 2210, but on the second I scored 2350 and will only be sending that one in. I got 800 Math, 750 Reading, 800 Writing</p>

<p>I did not take the ACT and do not intend to.</p>

<p>SAT II: Math1-800, Math2-800, Physics-800, Chemistry-800 (took all of them only once)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): I should be 4.0
Weighted GPA: Not really sure
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Our school sends out our ranks during the first week of senior year, which is next week</p>

<p>AP (score in parentheses): Physics B (5), Chemistry (5), Physics C: Mechanics (5), Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism (5), Calculus BC (5) with an AB subscore of (5)</p>

<p>Senior Year Course Load: Discrete Math, Statistics, Film and Literature, Photography. These are my electives. I had to choose an Arts class to graduate and I chose photography. In past years I've taken Advanced Physics, Chem, Calculus AB (studied on my own and took BC), Modern Physics (basically quantum physics and the mechanics of the universe)</p>

<p>Awards and Honors:</p>

<p>I've been an honor roll student throughout middle and high school. </p>

<p>I got an "Outstanding Contribution to School Life" certificate (given out to 4 people during the first year of high school)</p>

<p>I was chosen as a member of a Fellowship at our school which handpicks students according personal integrity and maturity, high standards of personal behavior, unselfish contributions to the community, strong sense of social responsibility, positive spirit and active involvement in school activities.</p>

<p>I was first place between 6th and 8th grade at my Middle School and got an award for that.</p>

<p>During the 6th grade I was part of a FIRST Lego League Robotics team and we placed first in the Best Project category in the Istanbul qualifications, Turkey finals and World Championship</p>

<p>Other EC's:</p>

<p>I've been part of my School's Student Council for 5 years now (we have a mandatory prep year). For the first and second year, I was a representative of my class and a member of the finance committee. For the third year, I was head of the Events Committee. For the fourth year, I was elected as the treasurer and was also head of the Finance Committee. For my last year (this year), I will be serving as the Student Council President.</p>

<p>I've also been involved with my school's MUN club since 9th grade. I haven't held any positions of leadership, but I've attended conferences in America, Berlin, The Hague and Istanbul. I've held various positions such as chairing committees, serving as a Prosecutor in the Model International Criminal Court and I've been a delegate.</p>

<p>I've also been playing the classic guitar for four years. I've taken the Royal Academy's exams and made it up to Grade 5. I've passed Grades 1-3 with distinction but got a plain pass certificate on Grade 4. (For each exam, I have a certificate).</p>

<p>Volunteer Work/Community Involvement Projects:</p>

<p>-I've worked for 25hours in a foundation for the blind in Istanbul
-I've worked for 64 hours in a small village in Artvin (a Providence in the Northeastern part of Turkey). I stayed there for a week and worked with children aged between 8-14 teaching them various subjects.
-I've also done the same project in Sivas (another Providence in Turkey in the Central part of Turkey)
-I also plan to go to Zambia and work with small children there, teaching them English (I give it a 80% of happening). </p>

<p>Ethnicity: White/European</p>

<p>Intended major: I intend to major in Electrical Engineering (or if I make it to Princeton, ORFE/Operations Research and Financial Engineering). If a dual degree is available in the school I go to, then I intend to dual degree with Electrical Engineering and business or economics. So, UPENN and MIT are good choices. For UPENN, I intend to apply to the Jerome Fisher Program.</p>

<p>Other: I have residency in Virginia, so when I apply to UVA, I will be applying as an in-state student and intend to have UVA as my safety. I was in the Gifted and Talented program in my school and I've taken a WISC-III exam, to show that I have the necessary smarts to make it in GT and I intend to send that test score to MENSA and become a member there. </p>

<p>The essay I intend to write about for the common app is about my transition from the US to Turkey, and how that diversified me and how I had to face adversity in the process.</p>

<p>So, if you guys could chance me it would make me very happy :)</p>

2

<p>you will probably pretty easily get into the non ivys. Lower ivys will be a yes mostly likely but the higher ivys are always a crap shot.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1386414-chance-me-few-awesome-schools-please-ill-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1386414-chance-me-few-awesome-schools-please-ill-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Chance me back?</p>

3

<p>I would love to but I really have no clue about what’s good and what’s not, I am so sorry about that</p>

4

<p>looking for more feedback. BUMP</p>

5

<p>will nobody give feedback? BUMP</p>

6

<p>Academically, you’re golden. ECs are another story. At first glance, it looks like you have a lot of nice ones, but after reading through them, you have to realize this: what you did prior to high school doesn’t matter. This could potentially hurt your application. </p>

<p>Sent from my HTC VLE_U using CC</p>

7

<p>Thank you, but I have a question:</p>

<p>Most of EC’s (except for the robotics) was during high school. I’ve held positions of leadership in my school’s student council and I am quite involved with the guitar and the community involvement projects. By the way, I am also a member of the Organizer board of community involvement projects at my school.</p>

<p>So, could I get more opinions on about what chance I have at the schools?</p>

8

<p>ECs/awards prior to 9th grade will not matter, just as Pixels said. I agree that you are academically solid, however your ECs actually lack a lot.</p>

<p>From what I could discern, all I really see are Student Council, MUN, and some guitar (with no awards). The volunteering isn’t that important, especially since you don’t have all that much (most people will be members of several volunteer organizations and have hundreds of hours anyway). </p>

<p>And while you may be more involved in those few ECs than most people, you probably won’t be able to expand all that much on each of them like you just did on CC. The common app and most other applications don’t really let you write paragraphs of detail. And even if you could expand, it’s not really anything spectacular or unique that would set you apart in the applicant pool. I also don’t see a focus on engineering which you seem to want to major in except for the robotics in middle school (which won’t even count).</p>

<p>Your chances are still decent, but I’d be a little surprised if MIT accepted you. You should get into atleast 1 or 2 of the top schools though, so I wouldn’t worry too much. Make sure to get some excellent teacher recs and write fantastic essays</p>