<p>Double legacy URM athletes? Talk about hitting the college jackpot.</p>
<p>Try to open a better line of communication with your parents so that you can also apply to good schools outside of the Ivies but that you really like. Perhaps they can understand that going to a school like Georgetown didn't hurt Bill Clinton much. If an Ivy is so important to them or to you, then include Cornell, which is a heck lot easier to get into than those on your list.</p>
<p>It is likely that your parents have your best interests at heart. All the tough talks on Ivies may just reflect their strange way to encourage you to aim high. In the end they will want you to go to the best college that has admitted you, be it an Ivy or one that will give you a similarly great education. </p>
<p>Best wishes from a "Chinese parent"</p>
<p>Cornell is on her list.</p>
<p>BTW, I'm not <em>terribly</em> worried about it, but any guesses on how GSA will look? My parents were worried about it (we got into a couple of screaming matches) and I know it's good to show initiative to found a club and everything... </p>
<p>And I'm straight. I didn't bother to mention this on my activity sheet. But I realllly have strong convictions about gay rights and it'd be interesting to be a fly on the wall at the Harvard adcoms table and see how they react to it.</p>
<p>Hi lingbo....congratulations on your stats and all the hard work you did to get them. I love the newspaper job...that's something that not a lot of HS students have and I hope you're emphasizing it. Great that you have a glowing recommendation. Although I have no solid data to back this up, as a NYer I feel that Columbia would look kindly on that kind of EC.</p>
<p>I have to mention that, with your stats and ambition, it doesn't seem like Binghamton is a fit for you. Have you visited? Have you read the (discouraging) Binghamton thread here on CC? I ask because it's one of S's safeties as well, and his stats aren't as good as yours and we still feel it may not be a good fit for him. You've read this time and again, but...love thy safety. Really. You'll probably get in at many of the selective places you apply to, but please, have one place where you have both an excellent chance of admission AND warm fuzzy feelings.</p>
<p>I understand that both Brown and Wesleyan emphasize writing, those might be good choices. Visit as many as you can, talk to as many people as you can...and good luck. Keep us posted, please.</p>
<p>Wow! I am filled with warm fuzzies!!! I want to hug you all! Geez. The reply has been beyond my wildest dreams. ;)</p>
<p>HeliMom: Journalism is the #1 thing I'm emphasizing, definitely. I loooove my little 'job' (in fact, they even offered to pay me a bit which is pretty intense).</p>
<p>As far as Bing goes, I visited and thought I could make the best of it. It's main draw is price, obviously. But it does have a nice academic selection, a better male-female ratio than SUNY Geneseo, and has a small town. </p>
<p>My ex boyfriend goes to Bing currently. All he does really is drink a lot and play guitar... I was hoping this was representative of everybody there.</p>
<p>JHS: My daughter is at Harvard ... was not #1 or #2 ... no super flashy prizes. She knows a lot of kids there who were not Vals or Sals either. (And no, my daughter is not an athlete or a legacy.) If you read the Yale decisions threads from years past, you'll notice a lot of #1 and #2s. Not all - but a lot. Several of the posters' kids on these boards who got into Yale were Vals. Again, just my observations - no one ever really knows the whole story (if there is one) ... do they?</p>
<p>Lingbo: I have no doubt that GSA will be fine with Harvard. I don't know that it will be a tip factor (doubt it) but I feel confident that it won't hurt at all.</p>
<p>I also agree with HeliMomNYC about finding a safety that you really love and can afford. Unfortunately, there are so many qualified kids for all of these schools out there ... you just never know how the dice will roll in a given admissions season.</p>
<p>At the most prestigious places you are applying, I think GSA will be an unmitigated positive. Especially if you write about it, discussing why you thought it was important to do, your parents' concerns, and how you dealt with them. Honestly, it is one of the standout things about your description of yourself. There may be lots of Chinese girls from Westchester County with great SATs, great GPAs, great writing, glowing recommendations, volunteer time at their church, martial arts, etc. But I'll bet there are not a lot of Chinese girls from Westchester County with all those things PLUS starting a GSA chapter. </p>
<p>Here's how I see it: Your stats put you in the ring. The recommendations confirm that you belong there. The ECs in general show that you are a solid, energetic, community-minded citizen. But what makes you stand out are the non-school published journalism and being a Chinese girl with at least one foot firmly in good-Chinese-girl world who went out and did something unexpected because she believed in it.</p>
<p>If on top of that you write great essays -- that's the thing about being a writer, for better or worse you get an audition in your application, and the admissions staff can decide for themselves whether you've got the goods -- that's enough to get you accepted anywhere. Not a 100% lock, of course, but I expect at the very least you would go "deep into the tournament".</p>
<p>Thanks again. I mentioned GSA in a very, very passing manner in an essay (my essays were realllly unconventional... kinda abstract, creative, literary... possibly on crack?) It talked about how I'm working against what my parents approve of (being a literary person rather than a math/science person, doing gay rights work) and I mentioned GSA in that sentence. </p>
<p>Hypothetically.</p>
<p>Let's say I get deferred SCEA for Harvard. Appropiate or not to send a <em>another</em> essay talking about GSA work?</p>
<p>Did you send two essays with your app?</p>
<p>I did.</p>
<p>Main essay - linked together to brief childhood anecdotes about my loss of faith in God and Santa Claus, being poor (we lived on my dad's tiny stipend), and being creative with help from having to make the most of that. Ends with reference to The House on Mango Street.</p>
<p>Supp essay - Very creative, abstract essay. Starts off with, "I love crap." Talks about how i see beauty in random stuff in the world, how I'm going against what my parents expect of me, and generally emphasizes how much I love writing, words, and thinking about the world.</p>
<p>Your essays sound wonderful! (I love The House on Mango Street.)</p>
<p>Don't concern yourself right now with handling a deferral.</p>
<p>Did you submit an annotated brag sheet?</p>
<p>Yep! It's bee-yoo-tee-full. Each row is alternately shaded light and dark. Beautifully organized. Talks in depth about all the hard work I've put into GSA and the trials and tribulations of working in the fashion industry. ;) (btw, it was actually a ton of fun to do the garment design thing if you're wondering. woo, sample sales!)</p>
<p>I guess all I can do now is wait.</p>
<p>I've done everything possible. <em>sweats</em></p>
<p>Super. You have done everything possible. No need for another essay to Harvard ... even later. Just work on your other apps and get them done before you get your SCEA decision. It's no fun working on other apps after a rejection or a deferral to anywhere. And keep us posted!</p>
<p>Just want to comment -- Brandeis is probably not a safety for anyone any more, but it is a very strong, solid match for you and there is a good chance they will offer you a lot of money. This past year they seemed to be trying to be pushing to increase diversity, and minority students on this board -- including asians -- reported receiving very generous scholarship offers.</p>
<p>Northeastern is probably a definite safety for you, given your work experience on top of your stellar credentials, and they can be very generous with merit aid.</p>
<p>I pretty much agree with just about everything else others have posted. For what it's worth, graduates of Barnard get degrees from Columbia University (with diplomas written in latin); and officially the "Ivy League" is an athletic league, and the Barnard/Columbia athletic consortium is a part of it, and the flyers distributed by the athletic departments to recruitable athletes all state that Barnard is part of the Ivy League -- which, from the point of view of the athletes is only logical, since that's where Barnard athletes compete. That being said, it's a mistake to apply to Barnard simply because it is perceived to be easier to get into -- statistically it is easier, but as a practical matter it is not, because Barnard uses different admission criteria, so they sometimes turn away kids who get get accepted at Columbia. (And if they think that they are being used as a backup for Columbia by someone applying to both... well, that doesn't help the application any.) In other words, Ivy or not, the colleges are not interchangeable.</p>
<p>Calmom -
"That being said, it's a mistake to apply to Barnard simply because it is perceived to be easier to get into -- statistically it is easier, but as a practical matter it is not, because Barnard uses different admission criteria, so they sometimes turn away kids who get get accepted at Columbia."</p>
<p>So true! However (and I wish I could remember the exact quote from someone on CC), the lower the admissions rate, the more likely a match is to behave like a reach. IMO, the OP sounds like a good Barnard prospect: excellent academics and much initiative in EC's. </p>
<p>If lingbo has the energy, applying to Yale is certainly not a bad idea - I think Yale would be a good fit for her - a concept that gets a bit muddled as the application process gets more frenetic as the deadlines approach.</p>
<p>Good luck, Lingbo - you sound like a great kid, and as you can see, lots of us here on CC will be rooting for you!</p>
<p>Lingbo</p>
<p>You make my son sound like a slacker! When do you sleep? You must be very organized and energetic.</p>
<p>Like other posters, I don't think you'll need your safety school, but it couldn't hurt to put a few minutes into thinking whether that's your best fit of the SUNYs.</p>
<p>Kepp us posted. Any of those schools would be lucky to get you.</p>
<p>Lingbo, just a question for my education - what about Syracuse? Don't they have a respected journalism school? Grad only? Too expensive and no merit money? Too specialized for you at this point? Too cold?</p>
<p>I also think your list is fine, although I wonder about how accepting we are of this list, when everyone got all in a tizzy over the Chinese girl from Wash State, who only had UW as a safety - her dad got endless grief over the top-heaviness of her list, and we have you on your way to Harvard :)! Your stats are a bit higher, if I remember correctly, and your ECs a little different, and your list is more balanced.</p>
<p>Syracuse... I don't know, the thought never really appealed to me. As far as weather, Binghamton and Cornell are both cold as well, but they have other factors going for them. I'm also not set on journalism - it's a fun thing I like to do, but I don't know about a career. I'll probably major in sociology or something.</p>
<p>I just literally slept for 12 hours. Day off from school for staff development. I'm sometimes overstressed, but I don't worry <em>insanely</em> hard, like my nationally ranked swimmer friend who gets up at 4:30 every morning to do swim practice. I usually sleep about 6-7 hours on average.</p>
<p>I do, however, lack social life. But I'm an introvert who has her needs fulfilled by interacting with people in school. :P</p>
<p>First of all, very well done. Congratulations.</p>
<p>I see you have Cornell on your list, I assume you mean Cornell A&S. It seems that cost is an issue. With that said, I think you would be a great fit for Cornell College of Human Ecology. Cornell CHE tuition is much less than A&S, since its supported by NYS.</p>