That don't kill me can only make me stronger

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Anyone like that Kanye West song? :D</p>

<p>Anyway...so I need a bit of feedback on whether my college list is reasonable or not. I'm applying Common Application so I can handle a longer list. I'm planning on majoring in biology or engineering.</p>

<p>Stanford SCEA (My top choice dream school. I'd go for sure if I got in)
Harvard (not as enthusiastic about, though of course I'd love to go if I got in...)
Princeton (same as Harvard)
Yale (I absolutely loved Yale when I visited. Almost as much as Stanford)
Columbia (I love the location, research opportunities, and of course prestige)</p>

<p>Duke (A good school for sure. One of my top choices)
Rice (I like the cost of tuition vs. level of education. I also love Houston)
Northwestern (I heard they have a pretty good biology program...)
Washington U. in St. Louis (I'd go for their good bio program if I got the Danforth scholarship)</p>

<p>U. of Southern California (Football team got upset by Stanford :D, but seriously, I'd go because they offer half tuition to a Merit Finalist, which I have a shot at...)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (I like the $60,000 scholarship they offered me. However, does anyone know how good their bio program is?)
University of Maryland College Park (Honors Program with full ride hopefully?)</p>

<p>So there's my list of schools. What do you think my chances are at each, according to the following info I copied straight from my profile on admission chances dot com.</p>

<p>:::Academics:::
UW GPA: 4.0
W GPA: 4.78
Class Rank: 1/354</p>

<p>SAT: 2110, 2130 ---> 2180 Superscored (770 M, 710 CR, 700 W)
^yikes!</p>

<p>ACT: 33 (34 E, 34 M, 32 R, 30 S)
^Will this help me?</p>

<p>SAT II: Biology E (740), Math II (waiting for scores), U.S. History (waiting for scores)</p>

<p>:::Extracurriculars:::</p>

<p>Leadership in the community:</p>

<p>Teen Representative (11th, 12th)
- Elected teen member on the local district council. Serves as a liaison for high school students during Board meetings concerning issues in the community. Creates and hosts community events as part of duties and advises the board on ideas on the welfare of the teens in the neighborhood. 4 hrs/wk, 40 wks/yr</p>

<p>Amnesty International (11th, 12th)
- One of the chapter founders and appointed Treasurer. The goal of AI is to raise awareness of humanitarian issues in the school, and attends weekly meetings. 2 hrs/wk, 20 wks/yr</p>

<p>Fine Arts:</p>

<p>Gifted and Talented Art Program (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)
– All-County art class of the Board of Education for thirty students. Applying applicants between the grades 7 through 11 must have portfolios critiqued by a board of evaluators. All work is displayed at the county Department of Education at the end of the year. 6 hrs/wk, 15 wks/yr</p>

<p>National Art Honor Society (11th, 12th)
– Founder and President. Hosts art galleries, commits to volunteer services, and raises money for the art program at school. 2 hrs/wk, 25 wks/yr</p>

<p>Piano (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)
– Eight years of study with a National Guild member certificate in the Collegiate Preparatory B class, and an A on the High School Recognition test. 7 hrs/wk, 50 wks/yr</p>

<p>Science and Engineering:</p>

<p>NASA National Space Club Scholars Program (Summer 2007)
– A selective program for twenty-five students in Maryland to use the facilities of NASA to pursue engineering interests. Mentored in the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate (Optics Branch) and studied the design for the new James Webb Space Telescope’s image-based wavefront sensing. 40 hrs/wk, 6 wks/yr</p>

<p>U.S. Department of Agriculture Internship (12th)
– Studied gene expressions of cacao trees to develop a cure for fungal infections. Used PCR with a web-based primer selecting program to analyze various cDNA strands. 6 hrs/wk, 35 wks/yr</p>

<p>Rensselaer Medal
– Given to one junior for achievements in mathematics and science. Comes with $60,000 scholarship to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins Robotics Challenge team (10th, 11th)
– Constructed and programmed a Boe-Bot which uses infrared sensors to maneuver a course and distinguish specific targets on the ground. Mentioned in the Baltimore Sun newspaper and received an award of Outstanding Achievement. 3 hrs/wk, 7 wks/yr</p>

<p>Sports:</p>

<p>Soccer (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)
- Played 7 years for a recreational team as team captain, 2 years of pick-up on Saturdays and Sundays, and 1 year of indoor soccer. 5 hrs/wk, 50 wks/yr</p>

<p>Ping Pong Club (10th, 11th, 12th)
– Played for school club as a hobby. 2 hrs/wk, 30 wks/yr</p>

<p>Community Service/Work:</p>

<p>-Organized and led community events as a Teen Rep in my neighborhood, such as the Spring Fun Trot, Multicultural Day, Earth Appreciation Day, Breakfast with Santa, and Halloween Bash. Spent a couple hours a week planning with two other Teen Reps to produce a final project every month or so. Events typically last about 4 to 5 hours.</p>

<p>-Volunteered at a local kindergarten teaching young children Spanish for Spanish National Honor Society. Made projects to give to the children as learning tools, such as hand puppets.</p>

<p>-Tutored at school for both regular courses and Spanish on behalf of National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society.</p>

<p>-Worked at a fast food restaurant in a mall over the summer of 2006 to gain experience. Worked 15 hours a week.</p>

<p>:::Awards:::
Rensselaer Medal w/ $60,000 Scholarship
Washington Post Top Achievers
Piano High School Recognition
Member of National Piano-Playing Auditions (Preparatory for Collegiate Class)
National Merit Semi-Finalist
AP Scholar with Distinction
Outstanding Achievement in JHU Robotics
Recognition in local paper as Teen Rep
Student of the Month
National Honor Society
Spanish National Honor Society
Principal's Honor Roll</p>

<p>:::Senior Year Courses:::
English 12 AP
Photography 2
Calculus BC AP
Psychology AP
Spanish 5 AP
Mentor/Internship GT
Chemistry AP</p>

<p>:::Profile:::
Asian American
Male
Maryland
Competitive Public School (top 10 in MD)</p>

<p>Teacher Recommendations: I guess both could be excellent. One offered to write mine before I asked her and called me "one of her finest students" (which I certainly wouldn't mind if she wrote that on my rec xD) and the other pulled me aside to ask about my aspirations in college in my junior year. I have a really good relationship with both of them.</p>

<p>Guidance Recommendation: I'm pretty familiar with my guidance counselor. He wrote me a National Merit recommendation, which he adapted for my college application. I heard from another guidance officer that it's "really a nice rec". </p>

<p>Essay: So far, I've had about 20 essay critiques. Most have agreed that it is a great work, though it may need a bit of refining grammatically. Apparently, it's very "me" and "engaging", and the subject is also quite unique, IMO. If you'd like to read it and give me feedback, feel free to message me. :)</p>

<p>Okay!! So after reading that, would you please help me with the following questions =P</p>

<p>-What kind of chances do you think I have at my schools? I'd love if you'd just **list each school and predict the possible outcome<img src="ex.%20Harvard%20-%20REJECT" alt="/b"> I'm actually curious in seeing how close your predictions are to my actual results in April. =))</p>

<p>-Is there anything else I could possibly do to improve my chances? I feel like I'm pretty much set to submit once I get my teacher recommendations, but I know a little extra work could go a long way anytime.</p>

<p>-Do you think my test scores will be okay for the top 5 schools I'm applying to? I'm a bit OCD about test scores, if you haven't already noticed hehe. </p>

<p>-Do my extracurriculars sound credible? I tried to be as honest with hours and descriptions as possible. I know some hours may seem a bit dramatic, but it's because my activities are spread out throughout the year. I'm not always doing all of them at the same time. If I did that, I'd probably die haha... Also, I don't sound cocky or arrogant do I? I know wording is everything, and I've made mistakes in the past which I regret. There's a fine line between informing and bragging. =&lt;/p>

<p>Thank you SO much for reading, if you actually looked over everything. This will probably be my last chance thread before I send out my app. </p>

<p>I think I broke the record for the longest chance thread. I'd be surprised if anyone actually comments. Heh have a good day!</p>

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<p>u r a studly dude. good chance everywhere. stanford and ivies will be tough, just as they are for anybody, but i say you will be extremely happy with your acceptances, and if all else fails you have a great scholarship to RPI</p>

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<p>Thank you for the kind words, phoenix17. Is there anyone though that would like to take a stab at my results in April?</p>

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<p>As has been said, hell of a profile.</p>

<p>SATs are great (1480 of 1600!), make sure you compare them with the middle 50% SAT range by subject for each school.</p>

<p>You’ve got chances everywhere. But no ED?</p>

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<p>You sure as hell got a better chance than I do.</p>

<p>And the key thing that your essay does is that it absorbs the reader. GG for a nub like me =(</p>

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<p>well…my parents are worried that ED will limit my opportunities at schools which offer merit aid since my family is just above the cut for significant need-based financial aid. Also, doesn’t Stanford SCEA limit ED?</p>

<p>enderkin, I think we are applying to a lot of the same schools! It will certainly be a rough year for the two of us but we can help each other out. PM me if you ever want to trade essays again. :)</p>

<p>Also, did you guys understand what I do as a Teen Representative? I ran into some confusion today because someone told me that I seemed like I was “exaggerating” my role. I had planned on getting an optional recommendation from the board manager to support my claims. Do you think that’s a good idea?</p>

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<p>I’m surprised that no one has given me a true chancing yet…I was hoping for one with the whole accept/reject business. heh. I just want to see how right or wrong everyone’s predictions are in April.</p>

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<p>your test scores are a little low. and no I don’t love kanye, I’m more of a “Common” app guy. Some of your ECs seem a still weak, Stanford could be disappointed b/c you don’t really show a clear passion. Then again, you are a good overall applicant, so chances are you’ll get into at least 1 really good school. Good luck!</p>

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<p>your sat’s suck, your leadership is weak…</p>

<p>god, i can’t even do it. if anyone rejects you, it’ll definetly be their loss.</p>

<p>and it’s not bragging. it was clean and straightforward, so we can’t hate.</p>

<p>since prince was on appolonia
since oj had isotoners
don’t act like i neva told ya</p>

<p>;-)</p>

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<p>haha I can’t stop listening to the song…it’s so catchy (even though the robot voice gets a bit annoying sometimes)</p>

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<p>Yikes! Bump…</p>

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<p>Although I lack the expertise to give you any advices (I’m a total n00b actually), I am very interested in this post. I’m applying to 5 of the schools you’re applying. Also, it seems that our assets more or less come out to be about the same. For example, you have slightly better GPA/rank, but I have slightly better SAT scores, etc… Best of luck to you (and to my self lol) and I’m definitely keeping an eye on this thread.</p>

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<p>haha good luck to you too!</p>

<p>uh…I had a question though. I’m wondering what you guys think:</p>

<p>How would I best convey my extracurricular activities in my application? I mean right now I have them pretty much organized in categories above, but on the Common App, you can’t really add any details. </p>

<p>Should I add details of my activities in my “Additional Information” section? (That way I can best describe some activities which might need a little explanation) </p>

<p>And, if I do add details, which activities should I add? Should I just add all of them as they are listed above in this thread (and risk redundancy) or should I add only the few that need clarifications (and lose the holistic presentation)?</p>

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<p>Your chance for Northwestern is pretty good. By the way, they not only have a good bio program but they have good engineering programs also–every disciplne is in the top-20 and about half of them are in the top-10. good luck!</p>

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<p>great shot everywhere, my bro goes to rpi and i know firsthand that their bio programs (and all sciences/maths) are very good.</p>

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<p>i need you to hurry up now, cuz i can’t wait no longer.</p>

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<p>great chances everywhere. </p>

<p>I could be your black kate moss tonight. </p>

<p>lol^^^thats my favorite part</p>

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<p>play secretary, I’m the boss tonighttt</p>

<p>hahah</p>

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<p>Unique ECs, number 1 rank, and NASA internship (I did that internship too!)? You’re golden.</p>

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<p>Oh, and:</p>

<p>You know how long I been on ya
Don’t act like I never told ya</p>

<p>Etc., etc. :P</p>