Should I apply SCEA? Chances please..

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>I'm also applying to the Ivies and other top schools, but Stanford is my top choice.</p>

<p>Student:</p>

<p>User Name: Dana772576
Gender: F
Background: Middle-eastern (Palestinian)
Location: CA
College Class Year: 2014
High School: Good Public
High School Type: grads to top schools every year (5 to Stanford this year)</p>

<p>Academics:
GPA - Unweighted: 4.00
GPA - Weighted: 4.44 (projected 4.68 by end of high school)
Class Rank: 20/564 [projected to go up-will be valedictorian(valedictorian is GPA of 4.65+ at my school)]
Class Size: 564</p>

<p>Senior Class Schedule:
Calculus AP
Human Geography AP
US Gov't AP/Econ H (don't have Econ AP)
English Lit AP
Physics C AP
Psychology AP</p>

<p>Scores:
SAT: 2090
SAT I Math: 700
SAT I Critical Reading: 630
SAT I Writing: 760
ACT: 32 (april), taking again in september (hoping for 34)
SAT II Spanish: 740
SAT II Math Level 2 (IIC): 700
SAT II Biology: 700</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-Invisible Children (9,10,11)
-California Scholarship Foundation (9,10,11,12)
-Muslim Student Association (9,10,11,12)
-Amnesty International (10,11,12)
-One Million Ways (Good Deeds club-"pay it forward" type) (11)
-Students Against Destructive Decisions (11,12)
-Palestinian-Israeli Alliance (12)
-Community Islamic Youth Group (9,10,11,12)
-Guitar-3 years (more of a hobby)
-Tutoring-2 years- Math Analysis(Pre-calc), Spanish, Geometry
-National Spanish Honors Society (12)</p>

<p>Leadership:
-Muslim Student Association-Secretary 1 year, President 2 years
-Amnesty International- Publicist 2 years
-One Million Ways- Secretary
-Students Against Destructive Decisions- Student Awareness Week: anti-drug group, co-founded Every 15 Minutes program at school (huge California 2-day program about reckless driving), Secretary
-Palestinian-Israeli Alliance-founder, president
-Founded annual school culture fair</p>

<p>Community Service
-Many Mansions-helps less-fortunate families (4 years-summer camp 1 year and events throughout the 4 years)
-Sunrise Assisted Living (2 years)
-The Friendship Circle-helps kids with disabilities (begins in August)
-Staying with family in midwest for 3 weeks this summer to help with their 2 Autistic children (i don't know if this counts as official)</p>

<p>Awards
-Chosen to represent Muslim American teenagers from the West Coast in Muslim Girl Magazine</p>

<p>Hooks:
-none </p>

<p>Recs:
-One from my Spanish teacher of two years that will be amazing-we're really close
-One from my English teacher of two years (10th and 12th grades)-should be great; she really likes me and we keep in touch
-Counselor rec-should be good; probably generic because there are so many kids, but will definitely be positive</p>

<p>Other:
-I've recently decided that I want to go into the field of Autism, so that's why my extracurriculars dealing with disabled kids are really recent</p>

<p>I know my test scores aren't great, but hopefully other areas of my application will make up for it.
Please give me as detailed a chance as possible!</p>

2

<p>Get your SAT up, and you should be good.</p>

3

<p>I’m not planning on retaking the SAT because I find it’s harder from me to improve on, but I am definitely retaking the ACT in september…are the subject tests fine? I don’t think I can do better because I’ve already forgotten a lot of material</p>

4

<p>your subject tests are ok.</p>

5

<p>You should probably retake the Math 2 Subject Test as your percentile is 65.</p>

6

<p>thanks…yeah, i’ll consider retaking the math 2 test</p>

7

<p>percentiles are meaningless. 800 on Math II is 77 percentile.</p>

<p>Unless you present yourself as a “math person” (potential math/CS/engineering major), I doubt that extra 40-60 points on Math II will make a difference in your admission result.</p>

8

<p>yeah, i’m definitely not gonna be a math person…I’ll be applying as a psychology major most likely (or whatever’s best for studying Autism)</p>

9

<p>“800 on Math II is 77 percentile.”</p>

<p>Incorrect; an 800 is the 90th percentile.</p>

<p>Percentiles matter a lot on subject tests, and colleges have stated that they take this into account. A 700 on Literature is much better than a 700 on Math 2.</p>

10

<p>Yeah, I just looked it up…thanks for the correction silverturtle…
If I don’t retake that Math II, do you think it’ll hurt? (Obviously it won’t help) I know they look at the top 2/3 scores…
Aside from the Math 2, how does everything else look?</p>

11

<p>Other than scores, everything seems good.</p>

12

<p>take Math II again at least. A lot of people applying will have 760+ scores. improve either the ACT or SAT.</p>

<p>Or else it might look as if your school is way too easy. (If someone can be valedictorian cannot get a 2300+ on SAT) Of course, the two do not directly influence each other, but college definitely look into your GPA stands up to your test scores.</p>

13

<p>yeah, I’m really bad at test-taking…but my school is generally well-known…I’m hoping to get my ACT up to a 34, and I’ll probably take the Math II again and study for it (didn’t study first time)</p>

14

<p>i think your the typical average applicant for stanford; you have almost a equal chance as everyone else.</p>

15

<p>@rawkfist, i’ll take that as a slightly good thing haha…so at least I have a chance and am not an absolute no…I’m gonna put my heart and soul into these essays</p>

16

<p>So do you guys think SCEA or RD would be best for me?</p>

17

<p>I would recommend waiting if you intend to retake the tests.</p>

18

<p>UPDATE: I GOT MY AP SCORES TODAY! do these help with my subject test scores at all?</p>

<p>Biology-5, Spanish Language-5, Statistics-5, English-4, US History-2 (thought i got a 1…way to not study! i hate history.)</p>

19

<p>If you can take the ACT again and get the scores delivered in time, I think SCEA might give you a slight advantage. Your ECs are good and your AP scores are adequate. Although, the AP scores are not going to help you as thousands of applicants will have nothing but 5’s on their AP scores.</p>

20

<p>thanks
10char.</p>