So I Know I'm Definitely in at Harvard

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Just kidding, can anybody gauge my chances for Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Duke, Columbia, UPenn, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins?</p>

<p>ACT: 34
SAT 2: 720 Lit, 740 Bio, and the next one coming up
Rank:13/485
GPA: 3.88 UW 5.55 W
Ethnicity: White</p>

<p>Took 11 APs: English Lang,English Lit, Art History, Comp Sci A, Chemistry, US History, Physics B, Calculus AB, European History, Biology, Comp Sci AB
Work Experience: I worked at Wal mart for two summers</p>

<p>My Ecs: Soccer (9th-10th)
Debate (10-12th)
Tuba Player (9th-12th)
Research (9th-11th)-I worked independently on various things but my most recent one (and most successful involved studying how ionizing radiation affects the length of telomeres of Arabidopsis during DNA replication.</p>

<p>Soccer:
3rd Place in district
1st Place in district</p>

<p>Science Awards</p>

<p>Outstanding Science student in School District x 3
My research was published in Dynamic Patterns of Research-an amateur science journal
5th Place in American Institute of Biosciences Competition -Regional
Genzyme Corporation Research Award
3rd Place Cleveland Science Fair</p>

<p>Tuba
9th
Cleveland Musical Showcase Outstanding in Division Award
Outstanding Tuba Performance x 2
Orlando Musical Showcase Participant</p>

<p>CX and Congress</p>

<p>10th
Qualified for state in CX debate x 2
My team got 4th at the state competition
1st place Ohio State University Forensic Tournament
National Forensic League Distinction Honor
State Quarterfinalist in Congress
4rd Place in District for Congress
5th Place District in congress
National Forensic League Special Distinction Honor</p>

2

<p>lol nice draw-in for the title.</p>

<p>what did you get on those AP exams? that info is extremely important.
hate to say it, but you kind of look like the typical college-pleaser. what is your passion? I’m assuming science. but you need some sort of hook like that, or just like theme, to your app that you can expound on and really get them interested in.</p>

<p>the fact that whatever you did got published is probably your best point. I’d say it’s still a high reach for Harvard because of class rank and I don’t know your AP scores so I’m assuming they’re a mix of 5s, 4s, and a few 3s. reach for Yale. high reach for Princeton. you have a decent shot at the rest.</p>

3

<p>Harvard - reach
Yale - reach
Princeton - reach
Duke - match
Columbia - reach
UPenn - reach
Cornell - reach
JHU - match
IVY are reach for everyone because you never know.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/829019-list-safe-enough-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/829019-list-safe-enough-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Lol, definitely in at Harvard.</p>

5

<p>Those are all really selective schools that could all be reaches. I’d say Johns Hopkins is a match, but you never know.</p>

<p>now come to high school life - the cool forum.</p>

6

<p>So are you saying I will get rejected by all but Johns Hopkins? I really hope not, does anyone think I have a legit shot at the Ivies?</p>

7

<p>All reaches except JHU and possibly Duke/Cornell. And concerning your ECs, did you play Varsity soccer or just freshman/JV?</p>

8

<p>I only played two years but had to quit for medical reasons. For the schools that are reaches is there no possibility that I will get in? Basically am I wasting my time.</p>

9

<p>JHU is a high match.
Duke/Cornell are mid reaches
U Penn is mid-high reach
rest are high reaches</p>

10

<p>What are people talking about when they say reaches? Is that like no chance or something.</p>

11

<p>Very well rounded, great numbers, rigorous schedule, interesting EC’s… Ivies are always a reach, but you’ve got as good a chance as anyone. Non-ivy schools that you listed you’ve got a good shot at.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/831233-chance-perfectly-average-student.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/831233-chance-perfectly-average-student.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

12

<p>Harvard - reach
Yale - reach
Princeton - reach
Duke - match
Columbia - match
UPenn - match
Cornell - in
JHU - match</p>

<p>Why do people think Ivies are so amazing? Cornell is definitely way easier to get in than JHU or Duke.</p>

<p>Ivies are “reach” for everyone is just wrong. It depends on the person. I’d say I’m a match for MIT and JHU from the start. Cornell was going to be a safety. Brown was below the level of a safety. Columbia was cool, but not for me. Harvard and Princeton were reaches. Other Ivies were just tossups that I didn’t care about so much.</p>

13

<p>Duke and JHU match
Ivies reach</p>

<p>Chance back please
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/829040-chance-me-friends.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/829040-chance-me-friends.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

14

<p>People keep saying the Ivies are a reach, but they are not explaining what they mean or why? Is a reach a school where you have no chance of getting in or is it a school where you are extremely unlikely to get accepted?</p>

<p>Also what in my profile causes the Ivies to be a reach, and how can I improve it?</p>

15

<p>Shinto, Ivies are reaches for everyone because it’s very hard to predict who will and who will not get in and also because there is an overwhelming number of super-applicants.</p>

<p>You can’t really make Ivies matches for you unless you win a Nobel prize or stnhg. (Nothing personal, it’s the same for everyone) Just pour your heart into your essay and hope for the best.</p>

16

<p>But I do have a shot, right? I was thinking that all of them being reaches meant that I had no chance of getting in. </p>

<p>I know the Ivies vary in their selectivity so I wanted to ask whether or not you thought I have a chance of actually getting into HYP? Or if my chances are significantly more likely at say Columbia or UPenn?</p>

17

<p>When people describe your chances of getting into schools they will use words like safety, match, reach, and adjectives like high reach, low match, etc…a safety is a school to which you would expect to be admitted; your scores and grades would be much higher than the average candidate which they admit. A match would be a school to which you are likely to be admitted, but it is possible, yet unlikely, that you would be denied; your scores and grades would be at or lightly higher than the average student which they admit. A reach is a school to which your chances of admission could range from 50% to very unlikely; your scores and grades would be lower than those of the average admitted student. The Ivies, however, are somewhat of an exception, because their acceptance rates are so low, there is no statistically “average” student, the only thing you can say about every student is that their scores and grades are extremely high. For this reason, an Ivy(with the exception of Cornell) is a reach for almost every applicant because even the most highly qualified students might be rejected due to the astoundingly low admissions rate. I would say that you are qualified to attend an Ivy but I would say it is a tossup, you might get into Harvard, you might not…I say this because there is nothing that would separate your application from most others that Harvard sees in a year. Essays and recs will be crucial.</p>

18

<p>Shinto,</p>

<p>“Reach” means “low chance” but that is true for almost every applicant to Ivies. “Reach” for Ivies would more accurately translate to “Lottery”. You definitely got the stats, so you of course have chances at all of your schools.</p>

<p>There isn’t much difference in selectivity between HYP and Columbia. I think you have slightly better chances at Penn. </p>

<p>But all these chancing threads are very subjective and anything may happen depending on your recs and essays.</p>

19

<p>Is there anything that i can do to maximize my chances in a tangible way besides writing killer essays?</p>

<p>Also I have been concerned that my rank is the low side for HYP so I was wondering if anyone thought my class rank would be a problem.</p>

20

<p>Harvard - reach
Yale - reach
Princeton - reach
Duke - match
Columbia - reach cuz they are insane and reject all the good applicants
UPenn - high match
Cornell - match
Johns Hopkins - match</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/831638-please-put-me-perspective-even-realistic-i-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/831638-please-put-me-perspective-even-realistic-i-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;