Pre-med dreams for this atypical asian... Give me hope? (V2)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Well guys, apparently my last thread had a lot of problems. Too long, and some people didn't get a good 'impression' of me. So I made a new thread, since there is no edit function after a few minutes... </p>

<p>Ethnicity: Chinese Male... hope it won't sting too bad. </p>

<p>State: Florida</p>

<p>Parent's Income: $120,000/year, only 70,000 is taxable though. </p>

<p>UW GPA 3.96-something...</p>

<p>Class Rank: Like... 39/672... VERY competitive high school in Florida, was in US News Top 100 at 57 and 92, respectively the last two years... Spruce Creek High School. We sent 9 people to Duke last year. </p>

<p>SAT I:
800 C. Reading, 780 Math, 650 Writing (...) Not superscored, just one sitting. SHOULD I RETAKE for writing???!! </p>

<p>SAT II:
800 Biology M
800 Chemistry (Yes, very good at sciences...)
780 Literature</p>

<p>APs:
English Lit.+Comp.: 5
Computer Science A: 5</p>

<p>IBs:
Haha, don't know... still waiting with fingers crossed.</p>

<p>(I am assuming I will get As my first sem. of senior year, because I will basically lock myself in my room studying...)</p>

<p>*** I have gotten 2 B's out of 51 grades my high school career, BOTH IN FRESHMAN YEAR... (This will help, right?). The rest were all As.***</p>

<p>IB/AP Classes Taken (By first semester of senior year...) (5.0 weight)</p>

<p>HL and SL Calculus 11,12
HL and SL Biology 11,12
HL and SL Chemistry 11,12
SL Physics 12
HL and SL U.S. History 11,12
HL and SL English 11,12
SL Spanish (IV) 11
Theory of Knowledge 12
AP Computer Science A <strong><em>Online School... an additional class</em></strong> 11,12 </p>

<p>Pre-IB/Honors Classes Taken: (4.5 weight)</p>

<p>Geometry 9
Pre-Calculus 10
English I and II 9,10
Spanish II and III 9,10
Inquiry Skills/American Government 9
World History 10
Biology 9
Chemistry 10 </p>

<p>Elective Classes/Non-Weighted:</p>

<p>Computer Programming I: 9
Computer Programming II: 10
Beginner/Int. Weight Training: 9
Advanced Weight Training/Beg. Powerlifting: 10
Int./Advanced Powerlifting: 11 (Weightlifting... my only hobby I really like.. brought my class rank to hell but whatever...)</p>

<p>Awards:
...Erm... Just one, haha... I know, I'm useless.
National Merit Finalist: PSAT: 234 Selection Index.</p>

<p>Summer Classes: At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University...</p>

<p>I "sat in" for these classes... not officially registered, except for Dif. Eq., but I can get professors to verify the info.</p>

<p>Linux/C 343: B .... Haha, it had Java 243 as a pre-requisite and my retarded dad didn't realize that... no wonder. I'll still report it though.
Calculus 242: A
Trigonometry 114: A
Differential Equations 345: A (Yeah baby...)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>BSA Eagle Scout (You know what this is...). Was also a patrol leader for 3 years, troop guide, and scribe.
-Project: Rented a 50' hydraulic boom-lift, bought 16 cubic yards of mulch and $200 worth of plants. Cleanly trimmed 18 large oak trees on the church grounds of my church, laid down 16 cubic yards of mulch (A ton of it...), cleared yards of overgrown brush, and planted flowers. Total volunteer hours from other workers recorded: 165 hours. Total funding: $1100.</p>

<p>Weightlifting Team 10,11,12... (On varsity...) (Around 10 hours a week/School year)
-No awards, haha... there's only one award for weightlifting. State champion, or second/third place. Unfortunately, not quite good enough for that... sigh. But at least I made varsity. Team has been State Champions 25 times, best by far in state. </p>

<p>Minor ones: (Why bother, right?)
Mu Alpha Theta: 9,10,11,12... didn't win anything, just participated cause I'm too retarded.... sigh...
Church Youth Group: Every Wed.: Good times, not much importance though. But hey, it fills space.
NHS: 11,12. I hate this SO much. Most useless club ever.</p>

<p>Employment:</p>

<p>A retirement home: I work as a food server to the old ladies. 11 hours a week average, all year round. Started beginning of Junior Year (Just turned 16). It's also where I do quite a bit of volunteering work... </p>

<p>Community Service: (Here's where I do good, for once! 660 total hours, and I can see a decent amount of focus in the service I do...usually having to deal with my religion, or old ladies (see above), haha...)</p>

<p>4 Mission Trips for Katrina Disaster Relief... (280 hours)
-Basically, in conjunction with Biloxi Presb., Lagniappe Presb. Churches, and Habitat... I've helped build 4 houses from nothing but a foundation. And let me tell you, roofing is definitely no fun AT ALL when it's summer in Mississippi- Blitz build for the win.
Boy Scouts... (~120 hours)
-Eagle project, and a bunch of other service activities. Figured I might as well put it down.
BINGO Caller... (~140 hours)
-After I got my job at the retirement home, I asked around for volunteer opportunities. Got this, it's a nice service.
Church Renovation Project: (~120 hours)
-Our church decided to renovate some of its buildings. I helped out the entire time, for 3 weeks... and came out with an amazing tan/sunburn. </p>

<p>Projected Recs: Good
Projected Essays: Excellent (Spending all summer on them...)</p>

<p>...</p>

<p>So, how do I stack up the million and one other asians with perfect SATs... at least I don't play tennis. Anyway, I'm looking at these schools, hoping to do well in any kind of pre-medical related field, and then go on to med. school.</p>

<p>Chance me please! I will chance back if you want! AND BE HONEST. </p>

<p>And please SUGGEST colleges that would be good for me to apply to!! I'm not 100% sure myself! </p>

<p>National Universities: </p>

<p>University of Florida (Probably where I'll be stuck in, hope to God I make it in honors college...)</p>

<p>Dartmouth (I'll need the devil's own luck...)</p>

<p>Duke (Maybe a chance? Our school is legendary for sending tons of people to Duke... maybe that will help me out, because I sure need it)</p>

<p>Vanderbilt (Pretty decent schools, hope to get some money, maybe?)
Emory
Rice</p>

<p>LACS: </p>

<p>Davidson (Top choice, if I can get a good scholarship to where I only have to pay 10-15k/year. I love the environment, and especially the honor code.)</p>

<p>Washington and Lee (Also has a good honor code, not quite as high as Davidson)</p>

<p>Grinnell (A really high amount of money for scholarships... maybe I can get it?)</p>

<p>Pomona (My 'reach' LAC... one can hope.)</p>

<p>Help me out! Please!</p>

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<p>Your fine for Emory, Rice, and Vandy…I would add Cornell, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins to your list too…If you do take the Sat over again, and get a 700+ on the writing then your set…(even though the writing section “doesn’t count” , it doesn’t hurt to have a 700+ on each section)…Rice, Vandy, Emory, and Duke, (along with JHU, Cornell, Northwestern) all look at the reading and math sections…Good Class rank…</p>

<p>40 percent of the kids at Dartmouth are valedictorian or salutorian…so you have a chance…but its going to be tough</p>

<p>Rice has a badass honor code, you can take the test wherever you want,(ie in your room, in the library, and whenever you want)…as long as you don’t cheat…</p>

3

<p>Why do people make more than one chance thread?</p>

<p>It is rude to the people who have never done a thread and looks like you are just fishing for complaints.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/733370-not-your-usual-chinaman-except-eyes-o-c-d.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/733370-not-your-usual-chinaman-except-eyes-o-c-d.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Seriously 40 replies in the other thread should be enough.</p>

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<p>Because I wanted to DELETE the old one, IntangibleGator. It had too many problems with it, and I wasn’t so sure of my schools then. If you would have actually read my statement at the VERY top of this chance thread, explaining it… </p>

<p>I sent a request for moderators to delete my old one. For all I know, it is gone.</p>

5

<p>Anyway, how are my chances of getting some decent financial aid? Our family can only afford to pay like 15,000 to 20,000 MAX, and to be honest, I’d rather save the money for med. school anyway…</p>

<p>And yes, I love honor codes like that. So relaxing, and the trust is always nice. Washington and Lee and Davidson both have such honor codes.</p>

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<p>I really don’t see how you’re “atypical”, but you obviously have a good chance at Rice and U of Florida. Maybe Pomona, but depends on if you’re talking Claremont or CSU Pomona. O_O</p>

<p>Overall, stats look great…not gonna lie, I’m jealous.</p>

7

<p>Well, the reason I’m atypical… for an asian. </p>

<p>Do you see any academic related ECs? Nope, don’t think so. Plus, I hate math… seriously, I would do anything not to ever do it again. I’m not bad in it, but I hate it.</p>

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<p>“Do you see any academic related ECs? Nope, don’t think so. Plus, I hate math… seriously” -mowmow721</p>

<p>But then, you said: </p>

<p>“Minor ones: (Why bother, right?)
Mu Alpha Theta: 9,10,11,12… didn’t win anything, just participated cause I’m too ■■■■■■■■… sigh… (jenni0z: Okay, you hate math. And you spend your extra time outside of class to participate in something related to math. And because you’re too ■■■■■■■■…right…! You should divert this to something of YOUR interest. And please Mu Alpha Theta? Math society much?)
Church Youth Group: Every Wed.: Good times, not much importance though. But hey, it fills space. (jenni0z: On what? Church is good…but I’m confused lol)
NHS: 11,12. I hate this SO much. Most useless club ever. (jenni0z: Why do you bother if you think it’s useless?)” -mowmow721</p>

<p>Funny, NHS or Mu Alpha Theta aren’t academic related ECs? And you hate math…hating math is no crime, but you obviously don’t. Why else would you take those classes, if you hate it? Even if you aren’t bad in it. </p>

<p>I’m not trying to prove you wrong, it’s just I see some inconsistencies in what you are saying…</p>

<p>It’s okay to be typically Asian. I mean, you’re obviously going to college. Like, of your choice. 234 PSATs? That’s…wow. Really good. </p>

<p>And I don’t think you should retake your amazing SATs just for the sake of writing. I don’t know about you, but 650 isn’t that bad of a score!!! :] </p>

<p>Overall, I love your resume. You’re really good. And atypically Asian, if that’s what you want.</p>

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<p>Haha, yes… but clearly, I didn’t win anything in it. Sure, I was in a couple of regional placing teams a few times, but nothing significant worth putting down. Might as well just make it a space filler/or leave it out completely. </p>

<p>Nah, I dislike math strongly. Whatever…</p>

<p>NHS is pretty much something colleges “expect” to see, so I had no choice.</p>

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<p>(I’m going to go off on my alleged “racist” persona)
Okay, see…this is the problem with Asians, and other ethnicities (but especially Asians). They do whatever colleges want them to do…I’m Japanese and I’ll admit I’ve sort of fallen prey to this. But I think it’s just so dumb how everyone is trying to please the college admission people. I don’t know about you, but I hate being a sycophant as such. </p>

<p>Yes, you do have a choice. If you like NHS that’s different, but I don’t think you really do. … given your post about it. </p>

<p>I’ll say this a third time. You’re a really strong applicant, really. It just bothers me a bit how you’re doing this to please, rather than for yourself. </p>

<p>And if you hate math, then whatever. So do I…join the club, buddy :]</p>

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<p>I should also mention that if you want to become pre-med, you should be prepared to do a LOT of math. So, good luck with that… :]</p>

12

<p>Wait… how am I doing this to please? </p>

<p>Ok, I joined NHS. I think it’s a stupid club, and I shouldn’t be in it- but that’s the ONLY thing I did because usually colleges look for it to be there, like National Merit. It’s not like it takes much time at all, I just daydream through the twice a month meetings, about random BS. </p>

<p>Everything else on my list- Is 100% not influenced by college applications. The mission projects and church service were there because mission trips with your BEST FRIENDS, where you work hard with each other for a week, and meet tons of awesome new people, are ridiculously fun. The Eagle Scout is there because I was in Boy Scouts since age 12- believe me, I was not thinking about college back then. And the weightlifting is just because I love it. I scored well on tests because I do well in academics… there is nothing wrong or “conformist” about that. The summer classes are there because I simply took advantage of getting free education at an institution that would make you pay $25,000 a year for tuition alone, since my father works there. </p>

<p>I admit, joining NHS was simply for college- but a small sacrifice. Everything else is done of my own volition, not to have a set of “impressive ECs”.</p>

<p>Pre-Med is far more science oriented than math. A bit of Calculus is needed in physics, but nothing intense.</p>

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<p>Yeah, NHS was pretty much all I was talking about. And maybe Mu Alpha, since you say you don’t enjoy math. :P</p>

<p>But hey, you’re Chinese. And I see no trace of Chinese SATs. So good job on that =]</p>

<p>Sorry if I ****ed you off. I was honestly a bit confused. And yep, those mission trips are fun! Haha. </p>

<p>Was I accusing you of being conformist as far as scoring high? No. I haven’t. NHS is pretty conformist though (and so is Interact. I’m in both. So see? I’ve fallen prey, too)</p>

<p>Well, as the prospective International Relations/Business major, I’m pretty grossed out by math and have practically no idea on pre-med. Just my oldest brother went to pre-med at UC Davis, got a 39 on his MCATs, and is now headed for UC Berkeley med. And I know he did lots of math during his high school career…so yeah.</p>

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<p>**** = pizzed. Idk why that was censored O_O I type in worse words, like hellza and kick[ass] and none of those are censored!</p>

15

<p>Whoops, he’s not in UC Berkeley med. I meant UCSF. </p>

<p>Sorry, I’m posting a lot on your thing! And I didn’t even really help you, too! Just sort of argued with you…argh. I feel terrible. :/</p>

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<p>No problem, and we weren’t really arguing, haha… So I’m not the only one that thinks NHS is stupid? :)</p>

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<p>Nope. I actually like NHS though, but yeah the advisor is dumb :confused:
I just wanna do good and be like my brothers…oldest = UC Davis Alum '09, UCSF ('15? '13? Idk…how long does med school take, anyway?). youngest older = UCLA '11.
That’s sort of pressure… D:</p>

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<p>hahaha i hate math too :smiley:
If you show improvement (like when you got your Bs freshman year but got As after) its a really good thing :smiley:
yeah and what jenni0z said is right if you dont like math… then u probably wont enjoy pre med that much )-:</p>

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<p>Well, if there’s lot of math involved I’ll suck it up like I have these 4 years, haha… But honestly, I won’t go higher than probably Calculus 3, with maybe a sprinkling of statistics. And I’ll already have finished Calculus 2 by the end of Senior Year, along with taking a Junior Level Differential Equations class at Riddle before. (Which I got an A in)</p>

20

<p>You’ve got a really strong application, but please, please stop saying that you’re not everyone’s “usual Chinaman” or that you are an “atypical Asian”. You take computer programming classes, you’ve gone above and beyond what most people complete in terms of their math courses, you’re IN Mu Alpha Theta, you’re dreaming of pre-med … and, perhaps most tellingly, you think you’re different.</p>

<p>An atypical Asian would probably do ridiculous amounts of hard drugs and partake in naughty activities in the second-floor bathroom. Like. Seriously. I’ll say it again; you have solid stats … but stop pretending that someone like you is one in a million.</p>

<p>(And even if you ARE one in a million, that means that there are 1330 people like you in China alone!)</p>