So You Think You Can Chance? Stanford!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Howdy everyone, I'm reposting this thread because of formatting issues on the last one! Thanks ahead of time for reading, please chance!
I'm a rising Senior asian male at a competitive public school in Pennsylvania that usually send around 3-5 kids to Penn every year and 5 more to other top institutions. I'm pumped for college and would be ready to go to any of these schools, but I've always dreamed about going to Stanford (c'mon the mascot is a tree, i'm no tree-hugger but I'd be a tree lover any day if it meant Stanford):</p>

<p>Stanford (EA)
Upenn
Duke
U Michigan
Cornell
Vanderbilt
UCLA
Pitt Honors (scholarship)</p>

<p>Objective Stats
GPA: 4.15 weighted(4.25 is an A+ 4.0 is an A)
3.97 Unweighted</p>

<p>SAT's: 2240 overall- Math 800 Critical Reading 720 Writing 720 (essay 12)
(I'm not retaking because frankly I could not care less about standardized testing)
SAT II's : 800 Math II 730 US History 690 (retake, it was a weird situation)Literature
ACT's 35 Essay 12</p>

<p>Class Rank(class of 275): top 5% (Our school only releases class rank as top 5%, top 10% and so on)
AP's (by the end of senior year): BC Calculus, US History, Language and Composition, Literature and Composition, Government, MacroEconomics, Psychology, Physics I (Mechanics), Physics II (e and m), Computer Science, and Latin Virgil</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars (Leadership Positions) [I participated in every activity for every year it was available unless otherwise noted]
Class President 3 year
Student Body president 1 year
Football (1 year JV Captain and 1 year Varsity Captain)<br>
Squash
Track and Field: Shot Put<br>
Concert Band: Saxophone
Chorus
Spring Musical Cast (2 years, my first two auditions weren't up to par)
Academic Challenge (2 year Varsity Captain) [Our state's version of QuizBowl]
Newspaper (Copy Editor, senior editorships have yet to be decided)
FBLA (Vice President)
Model UN
Junior Classical League (1 year Youth Representative, senior elections yet to be held) Science Olympiad (2 years)
Youth Leadership Program (1 Year)<br>
Student Curriculum Council (I worked with the superintendent to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our secondary school curriculums)
NHS
Intern for Congressman in Senate Campaign </p>

<p>High School Awards and Honors
FBLA Awards (individual subject tests): 1st Place Regionals- 2009-2010
2nd Place Regionals- 2008-2009
3rd Place States- Business Communications<br>
7th Place States- Introduction to Business Communications<br>
3 Top 10 Places in Open Event testing at FBLA States
Nationals takes place this summer
Football Awards: 2009 D’Antonio Award for most selfless dedication to the football program Academic Challenge: 2010 County All Star Team<br>
Desmond Student Acheiver 2010<br>
National Latin Exam: 2009 Maxime Cum Laude silver medal<br>
2010 Magnum Cum Laude 3rd place
Rochester University’s George B. Eastman Youth Leaders Scholarship<br>
NHS Member
Projected National Merit Semi Finalist: 229</p>

<p>Volunteering
Founding member of an environmental clean up group that is sponsored by the state 100 hours a year
Miscellaneous volunteering with food drives, school functions,tutoring, community activities, relay for life (through NHS, Key Club, and Student Council)
100+ hours every year</p>

<p>Chances? C'mon you can chance if you want to, you can leave your friends behind, cause if your friends don't chance and if they don't chance they ain't no friends of mine.</p>

2

<p>Stanford (EA) - Low Reach
Upenn - Low Reach, but with regional bias probably high match
Duke - High match
U Michigan - Match
Cornell - Match
Vanderbilt - not sure
UCLA - Are they OOS friendly? I forget…
Pitt Honors (scholarship) - In</p>

3

<p>^
I disagree.</p>

<p>Strong leadership and great ECs, but your SAT I scores aren’t up to par for Stanford EA level, and neither are some of your SAT II scores. You can always send your ACT instead, unless they require all SAT scores, but your SAT II scores will still be a problem. You should aim for 750+ for all.</p>

<p>You have a good unweighted GPA, and a decent weighted GPA. Unfortunately, Stanford EA is already very competitive and, on top of that, they rarely defer. They either accept or reject and at the point in time you look likely to end up in the reject pile. You may have good chances at business schools though because your ECs are awards pertain to that. Also, another thing you should note is that 100 hours a year may not be that much at said schools so, unless you have been volunteering for 3-4 years at least, you shouldn’t mention it.</p>

<p>Stanford (EA) - Mid/High Reach - RD - Low/Mid Reach
Penn - Low/Mid Reach
Duke - Low/Mid Rech
UMich - High Target or Low Reach
Cornell - Low Reach</p>

4

<p>I believe I’m only sending my ACT score, and yes I’m retaking my Lit test. Thanks for the Chance! I’m looking at a political science/psychology major.</p>

5

<p>Love the name of the thread!</p>

<p>I think you do have good stats, but Stanford SCEA is a big reach for anybody, I’d say. Which schools have Early Action other than Stanford? I suggest you do EA to all of the schools which offer it (the only one I know for sure here is Michigan), and then you can reassess your situation when you get your decision.</p>

<p>Stanford (EA): Reach (to everybody)
Upenn: Mid reach, maybe low reach
Duke: Low reach, maybe high match
U Michigan: Low match
Cornell: Low reach
Vanderbilt: not too familiar sorry
UCLA: Match, maybe low match
Pitt Honors (scholarship)</p>

6

<p>Thanks LyndonB (not for the war though)! But Stanford has Restrictive Early Action so I can’t apply early to any other school but I am applying to Michigan’s rolling program which is essentially a non binding early action.</p>

7

<p>I think you have a good shot at all the schools on your list. ECs are excellent. GPA looks fine. (I was wondering if you had taken any AP classes yet and if so what were scores.) SAT I/ACT is fine. As others have noted, SAT IIs will need to be improved. Assuming you can bump these up, I think you are a match for all but Stanford, which is a low reach.</p>

8

<p>Hey Cubsfan, thanks for the chance! I noticed you’re applying to Stanford as well, good luck it’s gonna be rough for all of us. Yes I have taken 4 AP’s my Junior Year and will be taking 6 next year, but I have not gotten the scores yet in the mail and am not calling in. Sorry about the whole world series thing though, I was born in chicago, i feel your pain.</p>

9

<p>Oh and can anyone give me the lowdown on Yale? I don’t know much about it and have not thought about applying.</p>

10

<p>strong scores, strong grades, good ECs. Sadly Stanford does not seem to like us Asians. But your chances are solid everywhere else. </p>

<p>Upenn – high match/low reach
the rest are match</p>

<p>Care to chance me back? my 6 ap scores this year just came in.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/954601-hypsm-hopeful-chances.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/954601-hypsm-hopeful-chances.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

11

<p>wow you have a lot of ECs and leadership in addition to your academics! Admissions at stanford is really hard to predict, but you definitely have a competitive application and should have a good shot.</p>

12

<p>Lots of misguided advice on this thread.</p>

<p>While it might look like Penn has a regional bias in favor of kids from PA, like most top schools, they take many locals because of connections and it’s much harder to get in from in state if you’re not one of the connected.</p>

<p>Stanford is a major reach for any Asian candidate with below median stats in 2 parts of the SAT. 800M is a dime a dozen at top schools, especially among Asian candidates.</p>

<p>I think your chances go way up below there, though I’d shore up scores fro Duke and Penn too.</p>

13

<p>Great advice everyone, especially redroses! I will only be sending in my ACT by the way so I think a 35 should be fine, if not then I don’t know what there is left to do in the world. I am also retaking my SAT IIs which I thought I did pretty well on, since I never took a Lit test before I was confused by the format so I thought there were only 50 questions not 60… I lucked out with a 690 and not doing the last 10 questions (a full passage). I’d also like to put emphasis on the fact that football is my most time consuming (and bruising) EC. We actually have practice all year round at least 10 hours a week, but once we hit the “season” we practice for 50 hours a week in august and 25 hours a week from September through Thanksgiving.</p>

14

<p>I think your biggest flaw is the fact you do everything. there doesn’t seem to be one thing that you’re really passionate about and excel at…and looking at that I would say stanford is a reach b/c though you are extremely well rounded you don’t have hook; and since the pool is so competitive having a hook is what sets you apart from all the other well rounded asians. killer essays might get you in but it’s still def a reach. Duke/cornell are matches/ low reach. umich is a safety.</p>

15

<p>^Snowy if I could’ve chanced myself objectively is what I would have said, thank you for such an insightful chance. I do not seem to have much of a “passion” in the traditional sense of the word. No I do not play in a state orchestra for violin, but the thing I do do is I love high school and specifically people. My passion is to work with people and my essays and recs will highlight that hopefully. I’ve pretty much connected with every type of person at my school through my sports, music, drama, business clubs, and academic ventures. Associating with all these people is really what I love, I have obtained leadership positions in pretty much every one of these categories and have declined an equal amount (sadly there are only 24 hours in the day and I spend from 6am-10pm in school already). It may seem like a “flaw” in the college app world but honestly to have the high school experience I’ve had so far I wouldn’t give that up for the world. To best illustrate this my guidance counselor told me that the one thing she’ll write about in my counselor rec is that I’m “the center hub of the school”. The one thing I’ll look for in a college is a place that has School Spirit and so I want to add to that sense!</p>

16

<p>Stanford (EA) - Low Reach
Upenn - Low Reach
Duke - High Match
U Michigan - Match
Cornell - Match
Vanderbilt - Match
UCLA - High Match (Not OOS friendly, I am from Cali)
Pitt Honors (scholarship) - Safety</p>

17

<p>AP Scores:
BC Calc 5/5sub
Lang 5
USH 5
Physics C Mech 4</p>

<p>Additional Chances for
Yale
Boston University
and U of Rochester please?</p>

18

<p>Chance please on the odds of getting a full ride to Pitt as well</p>

19

<p>Stanford (EA)-low-mid reach
Upenn-low-mid reach
Duke-low-mid reach
Cornell-match/high match</p>

20

<p>Please chance for Yale BU and Rochester!!</p>