<p>Stats:
700M 690V 710R
33 ACT</p>
<p>3.9 GPA, hardest classes I can take and I've created 2 of my own classes (Gender Studies in Colonial Period, Womens Lit), 7 APs</p>
<p>Piano and Violin since age 5.5
Outside entertainment orchestra (toured Europe last some yrs ago going to Disneyland this year)
Orchestra in school
NHS
Math Honor Society
School Paper
Varsity Swimming 4 yrs
Lots of community service
Independent Film Club</p>
<p>So, Penn, Duke, Brown...am I in?</p>
<p>no. i dont find your ec's to be too impressive. i think making two of your own classes is ridiculous. you did not do this. it would have to be county approved, etc, etc.....that is unless you have taught yourself everything which in that case I could make a whole class dedicated to learning about radiohead and supper furry animals!</p>
<p>how did u create ur own classes? </p>
<p>hey he could TEACHER these classes to his peers. that would make sense, as community serivce. </p>
<p>well nice stats but ur too typical.</p>
<p>also who says age 5.5. you grew up on the decimal system? no fractions in st. louis?</p>
<p>She or he could have made her own classes. In college they're called independent study. I'm a parent, but my HS offered something like this back in the day, so I guess some still do. I remember a friend of mine took French 6 as a combination of literature and writing.</p>
<p>If you can find a faculty adviser, you study the subject on your own and meet with the adviser periodically to discuss your findings, work on papers, and so on.</p>
<p>ECs are pretty average... Got leaderships? Raise the SAT and what about SAT II?</p>
<p>
[quote]
also who says age 5.5. you grew up on the decimal system? no fractions in st. louis?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Haha, you know when you're seven, and someone asks you your age and you say "seven and a half" thats what that reminded me of.</p>
<p>Anyway, OP, your ECs are lacking, they don't even look like average to me.</p>
<p>thanks for all the input</p>
<p>No, No, Reach. Your grades are avg for the schools, and you're ECs are really weak. No one cares if you do something without becoming accomplished. In fact, it works against you. They think you're spreading your interests to wide and can't focus on something and do it well.</p>
<p>your ec's are truly just average, but do you have leadership roles in them?</p>
<p>No. Not in. Penn, Duke, and Brown are all big reaches. Your SATs are well below the median for all those schools and generally kids with SATs below the median have to have a very big hook - athletics, a remarkable talent, URM status, legacy status - to balance the below average SATs. You don't. Consequently, it's highly unlikely you'll get in to any of those schools.</p>
<p>33 is NOT average. they take your ACT score if it's better than SAT.</p>
<p>Hi, Emily,</p>
<p>I'm a mom, an alum of Brown, and a former college prof. </p>
<p>I assume you're a junior. You may already know this, but just in case.... You need to be looking at a range of schools and compiling a list that includes safeties, matches and reaches. You need to think about what type of schools you'd like to apply to--small LACS, large research universities, or someplace in between. Do you prefer urban, rural, or suburban? Any chance you'd want to continue swimming in college? That could help you, for example, at a LAC.</p>
<p>Regarding the question of ACT and SAT.....that's one of the most hotly debated questions on this board. Most schools (except for a few like Princeton) admit they have no bias for SAT. However, if you look at the percentages of students admitted on the basis of their ACT scores on the premium US News, it's actually a very small number in terms of elite northeastern schools. At a top school in the midwest, like U Chicago, that number is higher.</p>
<p>My son is applying to college this year. For a long time, he had a 32 ACT compared with a 1350/2020 SAT plus excellent gpa and class rank, APs, and college credits. He was leary about applying to too many Ivies because of the test scores. He managed to raise his SAT in October to 1510/2260 and that has given him more leeway and he added some top reaches to his list. If you are interested in colleges like Brown, you would be well advised to study using the xiggi plan and try to raise your SATs. You'll probably want some SATII's. Can you take two or three this spring? And will you be taking any AP tests in the spring?</p>
<p>You might also want to look at ways you can use your summer to do something you'd really enjoy in terms of EC's that could also add a plus to your application.</p>
<p>Finally, if you'd really like to see what it takes to get into schools like Brown, Duke, and Penn, go to that forum on CC and search for the thread of official ED acceptances from December 2005. You can see the stats of people who were accepted, rejected, and deferred, and will probably give you a much better idea of what you're up against. This is the tightest college admissions situation in history. People with high SATs, gpas, etc. are routinely rejected at top schools. It's not impossible. I'm not saying you shouldn't apply to the schools you love, but you have to have a realistic idea of what it takes to get in.</p>
<p>emily, i know a lot of people with better stats and ec's that got slaughtered by penn and brown during the ed rounds. it just gets harder from there. maybe duke, but i would set my sights a little lower.</p>
<p>Penn is particularly miserable. Last year, two different daughters of friends, both super-high achievers, great test scores, GPAs well over 4, everything, both turned down. One turned down early decision and they wouldn't even put her in the regular pool. The other turned down regular application and I saw the letter, which I found particularly snippy--tone was "too bad you're not good enough, have a nice life." Really gave me a bad feeling about the school--my three kids won't bother applying there.</p>