<p>Nothing you mention is above or beyond for Yale or peer schools. They want way beyond the high school, good school or bad, especially when you’re from a way overrepresented place lke NJ and you’re Asian.</p>
<p>WEll if it helps, I hope to start a fundraiser for debate club so that we can pay for our competitions. We have not done debating competitions in over decades. Does that constitute as something exceptional? </p>
<p>I’m certainly not going to do something im not interested in just so it looks amazing on a college app.</p>
<p>let me be straight with you
what you have won’t get you into HYP…and probably only one or two ivies
if you want to really maximize your chances, don’t take so many ap classes
take for instance, 3 ap classes
with the time you have left over, start playing a sport and also go all into one of your extracurriculars
like debate
your club isn’t very useful if you haven’t one at least a places in the state championships
your grades are good enough…now make sure that your EC’s make you stand out
the acceptance rate for regular students with good grades at places like harvard is less than 1%
most people are URM, legacy, sports, special recruitment, all sorts of hooks, international and so on</p>
<p>^Ok cool thanks! Well i’ve already taken the 5 AP’s now. So nothing i can do about that. But ill make sure to take only 3 next year to give me the max time i need to strengthen debate club.</p>
<p>I played tennis for three years and was going to be captain next year. But i dropped it because i didn’t see myself as doing anything exceptional (e.g. winning states or regionals, or whatever). I started debate club instead.</p>
<p>Without an accurate SAT it is moderately hard to judge how competitive you are. One usually over-estimates one’s projected score.</p>
<p>Some good advice for match type schools which have neurology or similar departments: Boston College (Psychology concentration in Neuroscience) and Tufts.</p>
<p>Yale is pretty sweet, although not to get your hopes up, and has Neuroscience and even a Neurobiology program. </p>
<p>Lemonio is pretty harsh, and I would generally disagree with him. Although, statistically speaking without some massive hook it is unlikely you’ll get into HYP, you still have an “average” chance (like 5-10%). If you want to take AP classes, totally take them! Don’t play a sport just to get into college (it is stupid!), and if you show passion for clubs then all works well! I pretty much spoke only about my role as Captain of the Quizbowl team at the interview, and all the work it is and what fun it is, and we never placed in any competition. You don’t need to have a “hook” to get into places like H or Y, just displaying passion and actual interest in what your doing.</p>
<p>oh okay cool thanks. Finally, advice from real YALE students. That’s what im talking about.
Just wondering, what race are you? and what kind of school do you go to?</p>
<p>I am as white as the clouds on a nice day! 
I come from a public school in a nice suburb.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This will matter a great deal. Have you done prep that indicates your score will be in this range?</p>
<p>Well, on real QAS tests, I’ve ranged from 2190-2320. I hear that SAT scores go up about 100 points a year. Im assuming this puts me in the 2290-2400 range, assuming i do the right amount of prep over the summer (which i will).</p>
<p>What would my chances be for UPENN?</p>
<p>Not so great.</p>
<p>Well here are stats about one girl from my school last year:
SAT’s: 2180
GPA: 4.0
Rank: 2/352
AP: she took 5 AP classes and 4 exams: 5 on Calc AP AB, 5 on Bio, 5 on Enviro sci, and 4 on U.S. history
SAT II’s: she had 780 on Math level 2, and 800 on Bio E.
EC’s: captain of one big club in my school–she helps organize events from the club. She was also in the bio club i mentioned earlier as well as member of interact club (similar to key club).
Summer activities: She participated in an internship; she made her own project involving neuroscience.
took hardest courseload possible. Had 100+ hours of volunteering.
she was low income and was first-generation. She was asian, however.</p>
<p>WHat would you say her chances are at UPENN?</p>
<p>Why are you comparing yourself to her? There are so many things about her that you can’t possibly know that isn’t listed here. You’re probably asking because she got accepted, and you think of yourself as similar to her. Guess what, chances are you two probably are not as similar as you think. With that resume alone, she would’ve been rejected – so I would think she has more factors you don’t know about.</p>
<p>You really need to stop comparing yourself to individuals. Compare yourself to the general pool of accepted students instead.</p>
<p>There are so many factors that go into the application. You will never see that girl’s essay. Maybe she interviewed. You’ll never know how that went down. Maybe she had a side project that impressed the adcom.</p>
<p>I think what might trip you up (since you have solid stats) is the extracurriculars bit. It is impressive but not exceptional for the applicant pool at your dream colleges. As a whole your EC list is very similar to what many other people will have (the research, the college courses, the requisite clubs and leadership positions). It doesn’t really stand out and say that much about your character.</p>
<p>Also, don’t bank on having good essays. Start early and consult with a good English teacher about them.</p>
<p>I’d advise against predicting a 2350+ score.</p>