suggestions and insightful comments about chances please. i'll chance back!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>My list of schools (I think this will be final):</p>

<p>Princeton
Columbia
Stanford
Cornell
Northwestern (HPME)
Johns Hopkins (really good pre-med)
UC Berkeley (I like their chemistry department a lot.)
Rice
UT Austin
(either UT Dallas or MIT...not sure)</p>

<p>SAT I: 2380 (M & CR - 1600, W - 780)
SAT II: MII - 710, Bio - 700 (sucks, I know. I'm retaking MII and taking Chemistry)
ACT: not sending. SAT I was much better.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.95 (UW); 4.45+/5.0 (W)</p>

<p>I go to a public high school that has a whopping <strong>wait for it</strong> ~1500 students in its graduating class! It's regarded as one of the more competitive districts in the state. </p>

<p>Rank: in the top 5-8 people out of ~1500. I'm not sure 'cause I haven't checked in while... </p>

<p>Junior Year:
IB Biology II
IB Physics I
AP Calc BC
IB English III
IB Spanish IV
IB US History</p>

<p>Senior Year:
IB Physics II
IB Chemistry II
IB English IV
Theory of Knowledge
IB Calc
IB Economics</p>

<p>AP's (I'll only choose which ones to show for now): Calc BC (4; 5 on AB subscore), AP Lang (5), AP US History (5), AP Spanish Lang (5), AP Bio (4), AP Euro Hist (4) - not too great, but oh well. :(</p>

<p>Intended major/career goals: Chemistry and/or Economics; I want to go into medicine very badly, but I might like science research (I know it's tough). I've also considered medicine/business/research and thought about possibility of being CEO of biotech/science company.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Research:
- Medical Center/school for 2 years; research in disease diagnostics, bioinformatics; did independent research
- Surface chem lab that is famous in its field; for 6+ months and doing independent research that I also present and use in competition; helping to organize lab website</p>

<p>Total research hours: 1300+ hrs. Not kidding here.</p>

<p>Volunteer/Charity work:
- 150+ total; not a bunch, I know.
- Two mission trips with the church</p>

<p>Clubs:</p>

<p>Metroplex Youth Orchestra - (9, 10, 11, 12) violinist in highest orchestra, perform at professional performance hall, international tour for summer 2012</p>

<p>Orchestra Teen Council - (10, 11, 12) spreads classical music to teens in the metroplex, interviewed the conductor/musicians, make blogs/podcasts</p>

<p>Science UIL Team - (11, 12) varsity team member; compete in region-wide in bio, chem, physics, current events in science</p>

<p>Science Fair Research Support group (it has a cooler name, just not saying it to keep confidential) - (9, 10, 11, 12) hopefully VP this year; won awards at school, district, regional, state, recognized at nationals</p>

<p>Youth Group at Church (9, 10, 11, 12) - AV crew leader, treasurer; do volunteering at church, outreach to community, small group studies, help lead younger kids, mission trips </p>

<p>NHS (9, 10, 11, 12) - Volunteering at blood drives, expos, auditions, schools</p>

<p>Environmental Club (9, 10) - campus beautification manager; started recycling at school that had no recycling before; met with principal in meetings, educated school about environment</p>

<p>Future Medical Students (9, 10) - won medical spelling competitions, learning about the medical field</p>

<p>I will be starting my own science program at the elementary schools.</p>

<p>Awards/Other –
- National AP Scholar
- Will be National Merit Semifinalist
- Won 2nd at a citywide orchestra concerto competition
- Exemplary Musician in District
- Medical Spelling finalist at State
- Numerous regional science fair awards
- Won 1st at a science competition at state; got to travel to Washington, D.C.
- 4th in Mathematics Tournament</p>

<p>I'm entering Intel STS, Siemens, Intel ISEF, other big scholarships for science this year.
Please wish me luck! This summer's been hard work (I'm sure for all the rising seniors.)</p>

<p>Hobbies (I heard some interviewers ask this general question, but I think it's important).</p>

<ul>
<li>Jogging/biking</li>
<li>Listening to music (classical or classic rock. it's a pretty big divide...)</li>
<li>Learning about stock market and playing a virtual portfolio.</li>
<li>Learning new languages. I am near-fluent in Spanish, learning German now.</li>
<li>Baking (esp. desserts and sweets)</li>
<li>Writing/reading philosophy and the romantics. </li>
<li>Playing piano and violin. I was actually better at piano, but don't have time for it so I chose violin. I play piano for fun now.</li>
</ul>

<p>Hooks: not many, esp. since I'm an Asian female who really loves science (people say it's typical)! Maybe my focus and drive for what I want in the future.
Financial Aid: Not much, probably.
Recs: One will be superb, the other should be good, counselor rec - very average
Essays: working on them? :) On the relationship between music and science; interesting experiences in science.</p>

<p>Any advice would be appreciated, especially if you have ideas of more safety schools I can choose (besides UT Austin, UTD). Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Princeton-Good luck
Columbia-low/mid reach
Stanford-good luck
Cornell-low/mid reach
Northwestern (HPME)-low reach
Johns Hopkins (really good pre-med)-low reach/high match
UC Berkeley (I like their chemistry department a lot.)-match
Rice-high match
UT Austin-safety
(either UT Dallas or MIT…not sure)</p>

<p>I don’t see why you’d want too many safeties since you’re clearly applying to a lot of schools already. I wouldn’t apply to more than 2. Great ECs. Good luck!
Chance me back please :slight_smile:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1176601-chance-me-vandy-duke-ill-chance-back-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1176601-chance-me-vandy-duke-ill-chance-back-2.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Princeton-reach (just because it is for everyone)
Columbia-mid reach
Stanford-again, reach (just becuase it is for everyone)
Cornell-low reach
Northwestern (HPME)- reach (very tough to get into)
Johns Hopkins (really good pre-med)-high match
UC Berkeley (I like their chemistry department a lot.)-match
Rice-match
UT Austin-safety</p>

4

<p>I love your research expierence! i want ot get into science research too. You aree very competitive to all universities. Chance me?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1183461-chance-me-uva-i-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1183461-chance-me-uva-i-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>Princeton- crapshoot, essays will make or break you, 45%
Columbia- better than normal chances, about 72%
Stanford- same as pton
Cornell- 81%
Northwestern (HPME)- 85%- but interviews will be critical. your research exp. will help a lot though.
Johns Hopkins (really good pre-med)- 80%
UC Berkeley (I like their chemistry department a lot.)- in
Rice- in (especially 'cuz of science fair awards- they’re big on EMSTEF, TJAS, TJSHS, etc.)
UT Austin- well, since you’re top 10%, of course you’re in
(either UT Dallas or MIT…not sure)
MIT- I want to say that you have a really good chance only because I think I know what school you go to, and I have some friends who go there that got into MIT with stats less impressive than yours.</p>

<p>Definitely aim for VP of that cool-sounding science club of yours, b/c you seem to be lacking in leadership positions. Oh, and I’m really liking the Northwestern HPME. Have you considered going there for graduate school as well? I know that’s quite a ways down the road, but I have a close friend who is doing the MD/PhD program at NW and she loves it. Just throwing that out there :)</p>

6

<p>Princeton-reach
Columbia-mid reach
Stanford-again, reach
Cornell-low reach
Northwestern (HPME)- reach
Johns Hopkins (really good pre-med)-high match
UC Berkeley -match
Rice-match
UT Austin-safety</p>

<p>chance me back @ <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1183418-chance-average-student-some-good-schools-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1183418-chance-average-student-some-good-schools-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>Thank you, people! Yeah, I am lacking a bit in leadership. Whatever happens, happens. Personally, I’m happy with UC Berkeley, as long as I can get some scholarships from other private organizations.</p>

8

<p>What kind of schools do people of your rank get in previous years? Anyways, academics are good enough except the SAT IIs are weak. Asian female is at least better of than asian male, but science won’t help you stand out. Not to worry, one does not necessarily need to stand out. Lack of leadership is a weakness for your topmost choices, but won’t keep you out of the race. At least there is some coherence between your activities with the science focus and you do something like music which keeps you more rounded (though violin is stereotypically asian). The accomplishments also help. For schools like Stanford, Columbia, and Princeton, it’s hard to say without past data on where rank 5-8 normally goes, but with good essays, I don’t see why you can’t pull it off. HPME will be extremely difficult for you with weak SAT IIs. Their averages are around 750-760s, but it would probably be higher for you as you would be competing with other high caliber asian students. You should be fine for the rest. But the good thing is that I see a person rather than a list of random activities. It’s also good that you gave a description of each of your activities and you should do that on your application and resum</p>

9

<p>Haha, HPME is def. the hardest out of any of these schools. Your sat I score is a huge factor for schools like princeton but not for them - they want to know that you are 100% for medicine. They WILL ask you why you want to do medicine and not just get your PhD since you have overwhelmingly focused in research. PM me if you have any questions about the application process.</p>

10

<p>Thanks, dblazer; your comments were really honest and helpful, besides just “chancing” me. Yeah, I’m retaking the SAT II’s this fall (hopefully I’ll improve). Some schools that I know seniors got into this year/last year are Harvard, Princeton, UC Berkeley, Cornell, MIT, Rice, UPenn (Wharton), Columbia, UChicago, NYU Stern. Most of them were really great students, though.</p>

<p>Also, thank you bsmdman. But I think I may not apply to HPME…to be honest, I’m confused about career prospects right now because I would like a PhD in chemistry and to become a researcher/professor, but I still lean a little towards medicine.</p>