Rice, Northwestern, WUStL, Duke, Dartmouth?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Asian Male
Suburban Public School in Kansas, ranked the 714th best public school in the US :-/
High School Class of 2006</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 uw, 4.57w
Rank: 1/391, will probably graduate in top 5
12 APs by graduation</p>

<p>76M, 76V, 80W (junior PSAT) --> 232 PSAT
760M, 740V (old SAT) --> 1500 old SAT
740M, 770V, 740W (new SAT) --> 2250 new SAT
790 MathIIC
750 US History
Taking ACT+Writing in June</p>

<p>Major ECs:</p>

<p>*Treasurer of Student Government (11,12)
-Organized, planned our Prom 2005
-Meetings every week, planned events like various dances, mixers, fundraisers (raised about $15,000 to fund prom)</p>

<p>*Debate (9,10,11,12)
-As of the end of junior year, I've attended a total of 20 tournaments, breaking and medaling several times
-Top 8 finish at NFL Qualifiers in LD
-Participant in NFL Qualfiers in Policy
-NFL Degree of Excellence - will get to 500 points by next semester
-Attending KU JEDI 3-week debate camp this summer</p>

<p>*Future Business Leaders of America (11,12)
-Regionals: placed top 10 in 3 events
-State: placed top 10 in 2 events</p>

<p>*Volunteer Work (10,11,12)
-About 70 hours volunteering at a local museum assembling tours
+Held a summer job at that museum as a tour guide last summer
-About 180 hours volunteering at a local Chinese school tutoring students
-About 20 hours volunteering with Special Olympics
-President's Community Service Award (10,11)</p>

<p>Other minor ECs:
Science Olympiad (state qualifier) (11,12)
Science Knowledge Bowl (11,12)
Recreational Baseball (9,11)
National Honor Society (11,12)
Piano (state qualifier) (9)
Young Democrats Club (11,12)
Will be attending Kansas Boys State this summer</p>

<p>Academic Awards:
232 PSAT score, National Merit Semifinalist
AIME Qualifier
Principal's Honor Roll
Will probably have some sort of AP award by the end of this year...</p>

<p>Future area of study/career: Economics or business law. Considering law school/business school. Really though, my major choice isn't a very big factor for me when selecting schools.</p>

<p>[Schools]
Match: Rice, Northwestern, WUStL, Duke
Reach: Dartmouth, Stanford, Yale, UPenn Wharton
Safety: Kansas University (full ride), Kansas State University (full ride), Grinnell (maybe more of a match?)</p>

<p>Looking in general for a small-medium sized school, rural or suburban campus (not like UChicago/SLU), warm weather would be nice but not necessary (ie, Rice would be nice but Darthmouth weather is fine too). Preferably NOT in any state bordering Kansas (WashU doesn't really count). Strong grad school or job placement is a plus. Lots of merit-based financial aid would be nice, also.</p>

<p>Any comments, ideas, or suggestions for other possible schools (especially looking for a good safety school) would be appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Love your list! You are in at at least a couple of your reaches. I would say maybe add Emory or UVA as a safety - for you they are.</p>

3

<p>Dartmouth is on the same level as Duke. I would scratch applying to Wash U, you'll prob be wait-listed because you're overqualified--ask yourself, would you even want to go there? I would say you're in at all your safeties, rice is a match and I would be surprised if you didn't get in, match/low reach for Dartmouth and Duke (I think you will get in but sometimes random things can happen) and reach for Wharton, Stanford, and Yale.</p>

4

<p>Agree with incollege, although you are very likely to get merit aid from then, in which case they won't WL you, lol. Emory will likely give you scholar status as well.</p>

5

<p>Great Stats! In my opinion, Rice seems like the best choice since it has most of the characteristics you specified in your post. The weather in Houston is great most of the time, the drive from KS to Rice isn't too bad and Houston has a countless number of job opportunities. I used to live in Kansas for a few years and I guarantee you that Houston is the perfect transition. However it is important that you visit all or most of the schools on your list because in the end, the only thing that truly matters is the way you feel about the campus.</p>

6

<p>Thanks guys. </p>

<p>In regards to WashU, I actually like the school despite its bad reputation on CC. I've visited once and liked the atmosphere, plus I have several friends going there. Still, WashU is behind Rice and NW on my Match list.</p>

<p>I don't really like what I've heard about Emory, so I probably won't be applying there. Haven't looked much at UVa yet; maybe I could apply there as a semi-safety/match.</p>

<p>
[quote]
the drive from KS to Rice isn't too bad

[/quote]

LOL. I live near Kansas City, and my family drove down to Houston about a month ago. The drive was brutal...12 freakin' hours of nothingness. =P</p>

<p>Nonetheless, Rice is my #1 school right now. The only concerns I have are, it draws 50% of its applicants from in-state, and it seems to only have good job/grad-placement connections within Texas. Not that I'd hate working or living in Texas, but I'd like to keep my job opportunities open.</p>

7

<p>bump
.......</p>

8

<p>"Looking in general for a small-medium sized school, rural or suburban campus (not like UChicago/SLU), warm weather would be nice but not necessary (ie, Rice would be nice but Darthmouth weather is fine too). Preferably NOT in any state bordering Kansas (WashU doesn't really count). Strong grad school or job placement is a plus. Lots of merit-based financial aid would be nice, also."</p>

<p>Penn is not rural or suburban, JFYI. But I think you're a strong Wharton candidate.</p>

9

<p>Great App! 12 APs is impressive for a school ranked in 700s, if you're going by that ranking based on APs and subsidized lunches.</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
Penn is not rural or suburban, JFYI.

[/quote]

Yeah, I know. But I get the feeling that, if I could get into Wharton, I think I'd be able to deal with UPenn being urban =P</p>

<p>My high school's ranking was from some random news magazine or something; I don't really know how reliable it is, or what it was based off of. </p>

<p>My school itself is actually a fairly competitive school that sends a kid or two to Ivies every year. It offers most of the available AP courses in some form or another (doesn't offer Macro, EnvSci, and a few of the languages).</p>

<p>EDIT: Hehe...I was named "Outstanding Junior Member" at our FBLA banquet tonight. =P</p>

11

<p>.b-u-m-p..</p>

12

<p>you have excellent chances at all of those schools</p>

<p>good luck man</p>

13

<p>thanks stellar</p>

14

<p>Does anyone have any additional tips on what I should do this summer and next fall to improve my chances for my reaches?</p>