Should I even apply to Ivies?

<p>Let me just describe my school and everyday life (with grades, jobs, etc.):</p>

<p>School:
APs classes - US History, Chemistry, Pre-Calc (counts as a 5 at my school), AP Euro, Statistics, Calc BC, Language, Spanish, Bio, and Senior Topics (what our students take after taking Calc BC as juniors)
All ap tests taken yet, have gotten 5s - some of the above I haven't taken yet
Sat 2s: Chemistry - 750, Math 1&2 retaking, and taking Literature this October 9th
ACT: 34, 35 superscore - best in English, 35, math, 35, reading, 33, science, 35
SAT: never took it
I have taken over 6 math classes at my high school by starting to double up since Sophomore year and I want to major in MATH.<br>
GPA: 4.500 weighted, 4.000 unweighted
top 5% ranked (no individual ranks at my schools)</p>

<p>Volunteer:
Act Tutor
BHS Math Tutor
VOlunteer for the Hospice of Northeastern Illinois
HFH volunteer</p>

<p>Jobs:
Modeled locally for ING models and participated in Illinois model search
Modeled for school shows
Worked at Macy's</p>

<p>EC's:
Math team (4yrs.) co-captain
Varsity Scholastic Bowl 4years
Varisty Wyse - world youth and science & engineering
Theatre 2 years - in 3 shows and part of crew for many more
Hawkeye Newspaper - 1 year
Book CLub - 3 years
Multicultural club - 2 years, part of show
more...but i can't think of them now...darnnit</p>

<p>Sports -
have done karate for over 8 years
JV water polo 2 years
swimming jv for 2 years
barrington swim club 2 years
and i can't think of anything else to say so...the end
plz tell me the honest truth, i don't want to waste my time applying to schools that will reject me!</p>

<p>U should. GPA and score are great</p>

<p>yeah, but there’s nothing special about me- i haven’t wrote books, cured a child in africa, or anything along those lines -</p>

<p>Well not so many kids can cure a child in Africa. You just have to show the colleges that you have the potential for that…</p>

<p>you need to relax. you have amazing scores and you have done a lot. yeah some people have more amazing things they have done. and thats okay. there are lots of spots in Ivy league schools and not everyone there has cured cancer. I guarantee it. so stop worrying there is no reason why you should not apply you should focus now on writing good essays and making your application stellar. be a little easier on yourself!</p>

<p>Like people say ivy leagues are a crapshoot. The idea that you need to do something absolutely amazing is often false and misleading, I’ve seen many people get in without anything overly spectacular like that, your EC’s aren’t amazing but it’s always worth a shot at the least. I think you would have a chance, more so at some of the “lower” ivy league schools but still. If for nothing else just try because you don’t know what will happen</p>

<p>Yes, listen to these people. It’s very difficult to get into the Ivy Leagues, however, I believe its important to believe in yourself. You need confidence, or else how can you do your best? College applications are like trying to woo women (If you’re attracted to men, then trying to woo men). You need confidence! Some people have done more than you and some have done “lower” than you and have gotten in.
It’s all a mix of mystery and luck, just like wooing women. You never know unless you try. </p>

<p>Give it a shot, my friend. And while you’re at it, don’t only consider Ivy Leagues. Try looking into MIT, Stanford, Duke, and UChicago. If you’re interested in pre-med, I advice Johns Hopkins and if you’re sciency/mathy/engineeringy then I advice Caltech. Look into these 6 universities that easily match up against the Ivy League in prestige, endowment, reputation, and academics. I call them the “Ivy Plus”.
If you’re interested in publics, look into Berkeley and UVA. Try them too as they’re excellent institutions.</p>

<p>oh, another one of these threads, great</p>

<p>no, you should not even apply because as you are well aware, you have absolutely no chance. </p>

<p>no sarcasm</p>