Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Final Chance Thread- QuestBridge Finalist!!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi Guys! I have been wondering how my application will compare to others during college admissions. I will be applying through the QuestBridge National College Match program for lower income families, and am participating in the National College Match. However, it is very difficult to get matched (only ~9% of finalists are matched) so more than likely I will be applying RD through QuestBridge to a bunch of different schools like Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Princeton, UC Berkeley, Cal Poly SLO and some others. I know my standardized test scores aren't the greatest but I have read that most of these schools are more based on "holistic" reviews, so I was wondering how you guys think I compare with others who will apply and what chances you think I will have of getting in?</p>

<p>I think (not exactly sure though, correct me if I am wrong) what separates me from a lot of my peers is my story and everything I have been through and all the adversity I have had to overcome to get to this point. For a little bit of context, when I was 5 my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and when I was 11 she passed away. Shortly after that my dad lost his job and struggled to find another one in his field for several years and during this time my sister was frequently using drugs and alcohol and dropped out of high school. We had a lot of family issues and after my mom’s passing everything got increasingly worse but we have slowly recovered from all of our problems.</p>

<p>Anyways, I have filled out the typical CC application profile below and I would like to have your honest opinions on where I am strong/weak and what I can do to improve. I would really appreciate to have some of your guy’s feedback! And please be honest! Thanks!</p>

<p>Objective: •SAT I (breakdown): Superscore- 770 M, 730 W, 580 CR (not submitting unless necessary)</p>

<p>•ACT: 32 C- 34 E, 35 M, 29 R, 29 S (thinking about taking again in December)</p>

<p>•SAT II: 770 Math 2, 760 Physics</p>

<p>•Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88, W 4.68</p>

<p>•Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/639</p>

<p>•AP (place score in parenthesis):
10th grade: Calc AB (4), AP World History (3).
11th grade: Calc BC (4), AB subscore (5), Physics B (4), AP Language and Comp (5), APUSH (4).
12th grade: AP Spanish, AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, AP Literature and Composition</p>

<p>•IB (place score in parenthesis): NA</p>

<p>•Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calculus III, University Physics I: Mechanics, AP Spanish, AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, AP Literature and Composition, US History 4 Honors (Internship).</p>

<p>•Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
2014 QuestBridge National College Match Finalist
2014 QuestBridge College Prep Scholar
Fein Fellow (Only 48 in the country selected)
AP Scholar w/ Distinction
NHD (Physics Project) Regional Champion
NHD (Physics Project) State Finalist- 4th place
Eagle Pride Award
2013 Swim MVP
2014 Swim MVP
National Honor Society
Society of Male Scholars</p>

<p>Subjective:
•Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Swimming 6 years (Varsity 4 years) 2014 Varsity Captain
TSA Club- Auto CAD (Co-Founder, Vice President)
Water Polo (2 years)
Intern for Computer Software Company (12)
Everyone Can Swim Program (teaching persons with disabilities how to swim and be safe around water), soon to be foundation once registered through IRS (Founder, Coordinator and Instructor)
Academy of American Studies (9,10,11,12)
NHS (10,11,12)
Society of Male Scholars (11,12)</p>

<p>•Job/Work Experience: Intern for a computer software company. Also, personal physics tutor for summer school students this summer.</p>

<p>•Volunteer/Community service:
Relay For Life (9,10,11,12)
Feed My Starving Children (10,11,12)
Swimming (Timing, running meets, etc. 6 years). I am very involved in the swimming community and have participated in numerous events such as “Swim from Alcatraz” and “Golden Gate Swim” for the F.A.S.T. Foundation.</p>

<p>•Summer Activities: Organizing and running the Everyone Can Swim Program at SpoFit Center for Persons with Disabilities, 3 hours, 3 days a week for 6 weeks, training and competing for swimming, water polo and triathlons, and this summer I attended the QuestBridge National Admissions Conference at Stanford.</p>

<p>•Essays (rating 1-10, details): My essays are pretty compelling. Everyone that has read them so far has really liked them. My common app focuses on my mom's death and all of my family's struggles and the others are really quirky, focus on my interests and have a lot of voice. (For a little bit of context, when I was 5 my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and when I was 11 she died. Shortly after that my dad lost his job and my sister went through a drug and alcohol stage and dropped out of HS)</p>

<p>•Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
•Teacher Rec #1: Calc Teacher- 8. Probably pretty good but I haven't read it so idk.</p>

<p>•Teacher Rec #2: 9-10. AP Lang teacher. She loved me so I am sure it is really good.</p>

<p>•Counselor Rec: 9-10 My counselor is in love with me so I am sure this one is great as well.</p>

<p>•Additional Rec: 9-10 My high school swim coach. This one is probably very good too.</p>

<p>Other
•State (if domestic applicant): Arizona</p>

<p>•Country (if international applicant): USA</p>

<p>•School Type: Public (2500+)</p>

<p>•Ethnicity:Caucasian</p>

<p>•Gender: Male</p>

<p>•Income Bracket: $32,000 without retirement distributions, $72,000 with (will not be available next year so expecting income drop)</p>

<p>•Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation.</p>

<p>Questbridge National College Match Rank:
1. Stanford
2. Princeton
3. MIT
4. Yale
5. Caltech</p>

<p>Regular Decision schools applying to:
Stanford
Princeton
MIT
Yale
Caltech
UC Berkeley
Harvard (just for fun :P)
Cal Poly SLO
ASU Barrett Honors
UCSD
Georgia Tech
some other safeties but I cant think of them all right now..</p>

<p>Anyways, thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>bump…</p>

3

<p>Wow a lot of your schools are really hard 0.o but you got a good shot at a few </p>

<p>Stanford-High Reach
Princeton-High Reach
MIT-High Reach
Yale-High Reach
Caltech- Reach
UC Berkeley- Reach
Harvard (just for fun )-High Reach
Cal Poly SLO-Safety
ASU Barrett Honors-Safety
UCSD-Low/Mid Match
Georgia Tech-High Match</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the input! @kinaralah‌ </p>

5

<p>bump… more opinions please!</p>

6

<p>i think you look absolutely wonderful! As others have said, the top schools are reaches for you because, well, they’re reaches for everybody…so what can you do? I’d encourage you to also include strong colleges that aren’t as elite (like Ga Tech)…its a great school but you would be a star there…and there’s great appeal in that too. </p>

7

<p>thanks for the input! @SouthernHope‌ </p>

8

<p>You’re superb! Honestly, you don’t need a chance thread at all because you of all people, should know you’re a fabulous person. Look at all these positive comments, it’s hard for people not to love such a headstrong and capable student (unless you have a bad personality, which I doubt you do). </p>

<p>Knowing HYPSM, they should all be reaches for anyone, but you’ll definitely rock most of them. I’m willing to bet, if you have a slightly higher ACT score (send that in definitely, not SAT) and like you said, good essay and recommendation, I’d be willing to bet money on you getting into an Ivy League.</p>

<p>Just keep in mind though, having a unique background story can borders on ‘sympathetic’ easily. You don’t want to show up seemingly begging for schools to take you in, so if you’re really portraying a really good and compelling story, you’ll be great to go. </p>

<p>Your life must have been really difficult, and I’m glad you’ve pulled it through to be such a successful student. Great job and please know that hard work will ultimately pay off, and your relatives, schoolmates and teachers will be extremely proud of you ;)</p>

<p>Chance me back if you’re interested.
<a href=“ED. Fab SAT, poor grade. Chance? (International) - Northwestern University - College Confidential Forums”>ED. Fab SAT, poor grade. Chance? (International) - Northwestern University - College Confidential Forums;

9

<p>@alafae thanks so much for the kind words! I really appreciate your advice!</p>

10

<p>My friend is also a finalist and I’m so excited for her, so first off I just wanna say congrats to you!!! </p>

<p>Your national match colleges are all reaches (because they are reaches for anyone), but I would say you’re highly competitive and definitely would stand out from other applicants. As for your RD schools, I think you will get into all of them, with the exception of HYPM and CalTech because those are not for sure acceptances, with decent merit aid. Good luck with the college match!</p>

11

<p>thanks! @engineering2015‌ </p>

12

<p>Are you having trouble deciding on #6, 7, and 8? What about LACs strong in the sciences (as it looks like that’s where you’re headed)? Carleton, Grinnell, Haverford, Pomona, Williams…?</p>

<p>Unfortunately GTech is no longer possible because the deadline for the Presidential has passed and without it costs would be too high.
ASU Barrett is a given though.</p>

<p>Your record is superb and I’m willing to bet you’ll be among the matched students ;)</p>

13

<p>Are you having trouble deciding on #6, 7, and 8? What about LACs strong in the sciences (as it looks like that’s where you’re headed)? Carleton, Grinnell, Haverford, Pomona, Williams…?</p>

<p>Unfortunately GTech is no longer possible because the deadline for the Presidential has passed and without it costs would be too high.
ASU Barrett is a given though.</p>

<p>Your record is superb and I’m willing to bet you’ll be among the matched students ;)</p>

14

<p>@MYOS1634‌ is the Presidential scholarship the only financial aid that GT gives?</p>

15

<p>@MYOS1634 has a good point- even though as a QB scholar, you will (or likely will?) have full need met through need-based aid, having a merit scholarship has an added layer of security and prestige.</p>

16

<p>You MIGHT qualify for exceptional funds from UC Berkeley or UCLA, but other than that remember that public universities OOS don’t fund OOS students. Georgia Tech’s Presidential was your chance to get a scholarship.
QB scholars get full scholarships at QB partner schools, of which UCB, UCSD, GTech, and Cal Poly SLO are not part of. Except for the slight possibility you might qualify for something at UCB or UCLA, all the public universities on your list should be removed.
Only about 80 colleges promise to meet full need. For you it means a full scholarship for 4 years.
<a href=“QuestBridge”>http://www.questbridge.org/partner-colleges/overview-listing&lt;/a&gt;
Outside of these, you can apply RD to any other school on that list as well as schools that promise to meet 100% need and schools that offer full ride scholarships. (Note that some, like Howard, are first-come first-served, so the earlier you apply, the higher the odds of getting one, while others are competitive.) This website is dedicated to helping first gen students go to college and pay for it, they list the schools in question:
<a href=“Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students”>Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students;

17

<p>@MYOS1634‌ thanks so much for all of the advice and information!</p>

18

<p>bumpity</p>

19

<p>bump</p>

20

<p>any more opinions?</p>