Son's Chances

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I'm going to steal my son's quickie resume, so please bear with me:
-Go to the best (or one of the best) public schools in Pennsylvania
-3.8 Unweighted GPA
-4.2 WGPA (pretty tough schedule, 4 APs senior year, 1 Honors and the rest are regular only because they apply to my major and aren't offered as honors)
-30 on ACTs (plan on improving to a 31-MAYBE 32 if i get lucky)
-1270/1600, 2000/2400 on SATs plan on improving to 2100)
-Class Vice President(Class about 300 people)
-Selected to attend the PA Governor's School for Global Entrepreneurship (Highly selective state *about 15% acceptance rate-$5,000 sponsored scholarship to basically attend college for 5 weeks at Lehigh over the summer focusing on Intl. Business, I'm the Project Leader working to expand the viewership of a Spanish newscast)
-Varsity in Track and Field 10, 11
-HS Soccer 9, 10-didn't get cut, got bored
-Rec basketball, Travel Soccer Captain (stupid I know, but well-roundedness is a + I guess)
-Secretary of National Honor Society
-President of CISV Pittsburgh (International Cultural Understanding Organization) Been involved since I was eleven, travelled to foreign countries to camps with other delegations from other nations most summers, was a Junior Leader (most likely an essay topic)
-President of World Affairs Club
-Member Law (10,11), Spanish (9,10,11), LINK(9,10,11)helping special-ed kids) Clubs
-Extensive Travel to CISV camps (see above) since I was 11 (looks pretty sicko on resumes/essays I think)
-Paul Harris Service Above Self Rotary Club Award
-$1,000 Scolarship to attend 3 week seminar at Washington and Lee (had to turn it down for Governor's School)
-Invited to attend the Junior Statesmen Summer School program 2007
-I was invited to participate in the inception of a program at my high school called Athletes Taking Action. This program pairs older athletes with younger athletes to act as role models 2006-2007.
-I received a scholarship from the Upper St. Clair-Bethel Park Rotary Club to attend the 36th World Affairs Institute for Student Leaders: India at Center Stage.
-I campaigned for the re-election of Congressman Tim Murphy during his successful 2006 re-election campaign.
-I currently tutor at the junior high school level in my school district. I also tutor a recent high school immigrant from Puerto Rico who attends a City of Pittsburgh school.
-Some other volunteering and resume filler BS...
-I would have good interviews and above par essays</p>

<p>Right now his list goes something like this:
1. UVa (he has significant legacy (father, aunts and uncles) so he is considered as an in-state applicant)
2. Georgetown
3. U Mich
4. Wake Forest
5. UNC
6. U of Maryland
7. U of Florida
He also wants to apply to an Ivy, loved U Penn but understands that would be a huge reach...any other suggestions would be very helpful? Thanks a lot!</p>

2

<p>He needs to reorganize his list of achievements to focus on the most important ones first. Right now he starts out with some stuff he did in the past (ex: soccer), then there are some rather impressive , more "defining" things later on. Group the stuff together according to "theme" and "importance" (what you want them to remember you for) so that someone reading it can get a quicker grasp on what he's done/where his interests lie. </p>

<p>How many APs are offered at your hs?</p>

<p>Personally, I'd feel better about it if CR/Math SATs were higher (for insurance purposes).</p>

3

<p>If the UVA alums are big givers, then the legacy will help.</p>

<p>Otherwise, he looks pretty darn good for a boy--all except the SAT scores. Rule of thumb is +1450 CR + Math for top schools. Most schools aren't counting the writing score.</p>

4

<p>thanks for the help, any other suggestions?</p>

5

<p>Yep...
Go to UF, it's a great school! :)</p>

6

<p>A word on UVa admissions/legacy: your son will be viewed as an "in-state" applicant when compared against others in his class. So, he will be competing against the standards of UVA in-state applicants which hovers around a 3.8/1320. However, he will still be competing for an OOS spot. Virginia's General Assembly requires state schools to hold an enrollment of atleast 66% IS. So, while he has a leg up on OOS applicants, remember that there are a ton of legacy OOS applicants, and they will only take the best of those to fill spots. They would take a 3.8 OOS legacy over a 4.0 OOS non-leg probably as long as the rest of the app is good, but a 4.0 OOS legacy with a good app will have an even better chance. UVa's admissions were all over the place this year with 18,000 applications, and with ED gone and overall bigger numbers in high schools, I wouldn't be surprised if that number jumps to 20K+. Good luck UVa is a killer school and I can't wait to be down there for school :) Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about it</p>

7

<p>might get more suggestions if you posted this in the proper forum....</p>

8

<p>Agree that a 1450+ SAT score would at least make SAT test scores not an issue.</p>

<p>Organizing the application is going to be KEY in getting in. Completely agree with doubleplay. Figure that your application will have 20-25 minutes face time on the first read through. You need to decide what important aspects you want the adcom to understand about you during that time. A long laundry list of EC/awards, without organization, is counter-productive.</p>

<p>Many adcoms come to use a shorthand to remember an applicant--the bassoon playing scientist; the ballet/sickle cell research kid, etc. So I would think of what 2 things you'd really want to be remembered by by an adcom and craft your application to highlight those things--in the essays, how you list your ECs and awards, etc.</p>