the best i'll ever be (chance back)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>What I honestly think my best “chance me” stats will be a year from now (I am a junior).</p>

<p>Tell me what you think and what category of colleges would be safety-match-reach (Boston U, NYU, UPenn, Sarah Lawrence, Northwestern, Northeastern, UC Berkeley & any other you can think of!)</p>

<p>Last school (freshman-sophomore years)
• Quite competitive, renowned private international school in Switzerland
• I took all advanced courses and had an A or A- average both years.
• Participated in soccer, no other ECs</p>

<p>Current school (junior-senior years):
Quite competitive, private, international
American high school in Argentina, among best in South America, the only US accredited</p>

<p>Major: plan to study a communications degree…media, journalism, culture, and all that.</p>

<p>GPA: estimated to be between 3.7 and 4.0, top 5-10% ranking expected</p>

<p>SAT I: predicted and what I think I could get from my practice tests…
Math: 700 (currently have 600)
Critical Reading: 780 (currently have 730)
Writing: 750 (currently have 670)
TOTAL: 2280</p>

<p>Classes:
JUNIOR YEAR (beginning full IB diploma)
• English A1, HL
• AP Spanish & IB Spanish A1, HL (it’s called “Español 3” but is different from Spanish 5, 6, etc because it is in a group for native-speakers only)
• History, HL
• Math, SL (Precalc)
• Advanced Bio, SL
• Economics, SL
• Journalism & School Newspaper
• Self-study AP French</p>

<p>SENIOR YEAR
• English A1, HL
• Spanish A1, HL or “Español 4” (this allows me to get a fully bilingual diploma)
• AP Calculus + IB Math, SL (Calculus I)
• AP Economics
• Journalism & School Newspaper
• Theory of Knowledge (a sort of philosophy, origins of learning class required by the IB)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
• About 150 hours internship in PR offices of Stella McCartney, NYC
• 4 years soccer, captain of team
• School newspaper (working to get a good position!)
• Founder of yoga club (maybe)
• About 150 hours community service total
• NYU Precollege 2010, taking a course in Communications, awards me 4 college credits at most schools</p>

<p>Hooks: I don’t really know what qualifies so I just put what sets me aside
• Will have most probably completed & published a novel
• Hispanic, with US and Swiss passports
• Fluent in French, Spanish & English
• Don’t need financial aid</p>

<p>So, what do you think?</p>

2

<p>pleaseeee help me out here.</p>

3

<p>your SAT scores are good enough and your ECs seem okay…i nvr chanced an interntional before but…</p>

<p>NYU:safety
Berkeley: high match
Northwestern: low reach/high match
Northestern: ?match
Boston U: ?
UPenn: reach</p>

<p>what about brown, cornell, emory, rice, dartmouth, washu@st louis?</p>

4

<p>Okay thank you. Those sound good except Cornell - my cousin and aunt went there for grad school and Ithaca’s supposed to be soooo dull</p>

5

<p>BUMP. please help, ill chance back asap</p>

6

<p>Shamelessly bumpin my way to the toppp</p>

7

<p>Your chances at UPenn would be a whole lot higher if you applied Early Decision. That is my recommendation and I would not be surprised to hear that you get an acceptance in December!</p>

8

<p>Wow, really? I don’t know much about applying ED…why is this such an advantage?</p>

9

<p>NYU: high match
Berkeley: low reach
Northwestern: high match
Northestern: in
Boston U: in
UPenn: reach</p>

10

<p>Wow that’s actually better than I thought…thanks :)</p>

11

<p>Bizz-ump :)))</p>

12

<p>bump…</p>

13

<p>This is a hard one to chance. Your Ec’s are weak. Yet, you’re an international Hispanic student from Buenos Aires (so the “asian” issue doesn’t apply here)…a HUGE plus. Your SAts are currently low though and your gpa is alright.</p>

<p>Boston U (I think you would be good enough to get in)
NYU (you have a solid chance)
UPenn (i’m gonna say most likely not)
Sarah Lawrence (maybe)
Northwestern (I’m gonna say most likely not)
Northeastern (you’ll get in)
UC Berkeley (maybe)</p>

14

<p>What makes my ECs weak? Does it really have to be crazy things no one else does? Or why can’t it just sound like somebody who knows what they want in life and is dedicated?
The soccer team takes up 8 hours per week, then community service is a club, another 2 hours per week, the school newspaper is from 3-5 hours per week plus the weight of the IB diploma and APs plus I have a life. There’s no time for me to do anything else…I take the most rigorous course available. Internships are during winter break, NYU Precollege during summer…
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but what is it exactly that makes them weak? I am “well rounded”: sports, community service and a certain academic element that also shows my interest in communications (PR internship, school newspaper and journalism class, NYU Precollege course in communications).
Yeah my SATs suck right now. I have to work on that…
Thank you for the critical feedback, it’s what I need. Please re-evaluate on the ECs from what I just said though. They like quality…not 1000 positions treasurer of this and that club.</p>

15

<p>Okay. I never said you aren’t well-rounded and as you can see from my earlier comments, you have a good shot for most of the schools you listed. If you raise your SAT scores, that will open the door for Penn and Northwestern.</p>

<p>But when it comes to EC’s, from what I’ve read, they’re still “weak.” I’ll tell you why. It is not about doing “crazy things no one else does.” But you do need to make yourself stand out. I’d keep in mind: Why should Penn accept you out of all of those communication majors that are gonna apply? Yeah, you’ve shown commitment. But for a school of that caliber, accomplishments are important. What did you create from the positions and opportunities you had? If you let us know more about your extracurricular ACHIEVEMENTS rather than the number of hours you spent (we work just as hard if not harder here in NY), then I will no longer think the ECs are weak.</p>

<p>I would say that if you get above a 2200 on the SATs, more likely than not, you would be able to get into Penn and Northwestern with what you have extracurriculalry now. The Argentina factor is huge.</p>

16

<p>Ok thank you for clarifying that - I’m not saying my ECs are awesome, I just didn’t exactly know what made them weak. When you put it that way “Why should Penn accept you out of all those communication majors that are gonna apply?”
I could make editor of the school newspaper next year, will be captain of soccer team next year…might also found the yoga club in senior year if I have time. However, don’t you think the PR internships qualify as standing out? I have amazing recs from my boss there, I was the only high school student there, and I really got to live life as a New Yorker would.
I definitely am aiming at 2250-2300 and I think I can do it, I’ve been progressively getting better and better in practice tests, etc.
Is there anything you can think of with my time/schedule/ECs that would make me stand out? Oh I don’t know if you read, I’m writing a book. That probably sets me apart right?
Sorry to be so annoying I’m kind of obsessed with Penn/NYU</p>

17

<p>Early decision acceptance rates are much higher at Penn. This is why you have a better chance of getting in if you apply early. They accept 50%+ of their freshman class out of the early decision round.</p>

<p>Penn Admissions Statistics
To view the profile of incoming students, please visit Penn Undergraduate Admissions. </p>

<p>Penn’s Class of 2012 Admit Rates
LEGACY OVERALL
Admitted Early Decision 41.7% 29.3%
Full-Cycle 33.9% 16.4% </p>

<p>[Penn</a> Alumni: Alumni Council on Admissions](<a href=“http://www.alumni.upenn.edu/aca/overview.html]Penn”>http://www.alumni.upenn.edu/aca/overview.html)</p>

18

<p>That’s for legacies though. I’m not a legacy??</p>

19

<p>Never mind</p>