This gets repetitive but: chance for Ivies with new SATs? (will chance back)

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Chance for:</p>

<p>Columbia
Harvard
Brown
Princeton
Stanford
Pomona
Williams
Amherst
Bowdoin
Hopkins</p>

<p>Attend a very competitive private school; we send 20+ kids from each 100-student graduating class to Ivies (or Ivy-level).</p>

<p>Gender: Male
Race: Bi-racial (black/white)
GPA: 3.9 UW; 4.9 W
Class Rank: 8/100
SAT I: 650 M, 790 CR, 770 W; 2210 composite
SAT II: Yet to take. Going to take Latin, Literature and Math I or II</p>

<p>Notes on curriculum:
I've taken all AP classes during Junior year; all classes during senior year will be AP; I've taken 6 courses each semester all throughout high school, while the normal course load is 5 per semester (take two foreign languages, spanish and latin)</p>

<p>*EC's: *
•Editor-in-chief of newspaper (member for four years)
•Editor of literary magazine (member for four years)
•Member of Varsity debate team
•President of Political Action Club
•Founding member of Spanish club
•Baseball (10 years total, 1 year JV, 1 year Varsity)
•Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (2 years)
•Muy Thai (2 years)</p>

<p>**Interests, focuses:
Creative writing (mainly poetry), Journalism</p>

<p>*Summer: *
•3-week credit-earning creative writing program at Rhodes College (Grade: A)
•Accepted into and attending the University of Iowa Young Writer's Studio
*Undergraduate credited courses at Temple U in Philosophy and Literature
•Internships at two different local newspapers
•Internship at WHYY (Philadelphia's radio/TV branch of National Public Radio)
•Job as a server at a local diner (3 years straight).</p>

<p>*Essays: *
Strong</p>

<p>Teacher Recs:
Will be strong. Getting one from my math teacher, which, if it is very good, will hopefully counter that damn SAT math section score.</p>

<p>Appreciate any comments that anyone has to make. I will gladly chance back if you post the link to your thread.</p>

<p>Could anyone recommend some schools that would be good safeties?</p>

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<p>i’m afraid i don’t know enough about each seperate college, however i can say about your ap in general
grades seem strong
sat is good, except your math score on the SAT isn’t very good
you might want to take it again if you can substantially improve your math score
also if you take SATII in math take the II not I, especially if you’re in AP math
for the less competitive ones like pomona williams amherst etc… i think you have an excellent chance
for the ones like harvard princeton etc…lot of chance
there will always be enough people more qualified than you
also, if you have so many smart people in your school that could be a problem
colleges won’t take an unlimited number of people from one school and you may be having competition right there
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/690211-chance-me-ivies.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/690211-chance-me-ivies.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>OP, are you from the Philly area?</p>

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<p>Lemonio: Thanks for the comments. I chanced back in your thread. The thing about the SATs is that I’ve taken it twice, and my math score has stayed the same; I don’t think it’s probably worth bothering with a third time, so long as my math SAT II’s are strong and I have all A’s in math on my transcript. Am I deluded in believing that?</p>

<p>The competition thing might be an issue; 28/90 applicants to Ivies got accepted this year, haha. Thanks again for the responses.</p>

<p>Diontechristmas: Yeah, I’m from Philly</p>

<p>anyone have any opinions and/or safety-level school suggestions?</p>

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<p>Percyshelley, </p>

<p>You have a lot of great extracurriculars which show commitment and have a solid SAT score. I am inferring that you would like to be an arts/humanities major in college because of your outstanding scores on the reading and writing sections of the SAT’s. I’d say your only semi-weak point is your math which you can counter by doing extremely well on the Math Level IIC SAT II. Overall, I think you’re a great applicant and that you will have a good chance of getting into an ivy league if you do well on all SAT II’s.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/690593-evaluate-my-chances.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/690593-evaluate-my-chances.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>All your stats look on par for an Ivy contender except for math. Remember that the CR and math is often weighed more than the writing score. I would suggest either taking the ACTs (I found their math to be easier), or studying in the summer and retake it one more time. Since colleges superscore, you don’t need to concentrate much on studying writing or CR, since your score is already very high.
Otherwise, your EC looks great as it shows commitment, leadership skills and varied interests. If your school had 28/90 go to Ivy, someone ranked 8th, should be able to go to an Ivy, so I wouldn’t worry too much about the school issue. Taking an extra rigorous curriculum is also a plus, and multi-languages is always a good thing.
Overall, I would say you have a great chance at Pomona, Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin and Hopkins. There are no guarantees with the Ivies (or Stanford), but you should have a reasonably well chance in competing against their other applicants. Bringing up your math score will further your chances, and it’s likely that you’ll get in at least one of the Ivies.<br>
As for safeties, what do you want to do/study? What do you want in an university? What kind of campus do you like? Where do you want to be? Any special programs (Co-op, study abroad, internship etc) that you’re interested in?</p>

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<p>It would be pretty crazy if you were rejected from Hopkins. You will probably get into at least half of those schools.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the in-depth response, moosey. Thinking about the ACTs, but strongly against taking the SATs again. If everything shows that I actually am good at math (A’s on transcript and high math SAT II) and the admissions offices think I’m an interesting applicant, what are the chances of them nit-picking about a sub-par math section?</p>

<p>Maybe the chances are high; maybe I will take again. Gah, stressful. Earnest thanks for all of your input.</p>

<p>The main criterion for the schools I’m interested in is that they have an excellent humanities program. I plan on majoring in either English, Creative Writing (subset of English), or Philosophy. The second thing is that I want them to have amiable kids; not an overwhelming snootiness or anything like that.</p>

<p>I’m visiting/probably applying to places like Northwestern and Wash U St. Loius, but those are definitely not safeties. If anyone has safety suggestions based on my stats/above info, it’d be great if you’d post 'em.</p>

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<p>For a safety, NYU has really good programs in your areas. It doesn’t really fit in with the rest of your schools, though. Same deal with UMich (though one should hesitate to call any out-of-state public a safety).</p>

<p>Do you come from a state with a good public U?</p>

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<p>I’m planning to visit NYU; if it appeals to me, then I’ll probably apply there as a safety. About public U’s: I’m from Pennsylvania, so not particularly amazing, but…</p>

<p>I’m a double legacy at Penn and Penn accepts 50-60% of applicants from my high school. So while it may be ridiculous to say that I have as good chances there as at somewhere like NYU…it might be true ha</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Ouch. We’re one of the 5 best states for public colleges…</p>

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<p>If you’re majoring in English or Philosophy, then 650 math isn’t a huge problem if you do great in AP math. Your extracurricular definitely shows focus and excellence area on this area, and in the end universities value TALENT, not standardized test scores. Your essay, extracurricular, transcript, recommendation letter showing that you’re talented at what you do, and overall a well rounded applicant and good citizen is more important than 50 points on a test. Top schools don’t lack high SAT scores, but creativity and talent is always welcomed. Bottom line, you have to stand out from the others, and SAT score isn’t the way as Ivies receives plenty of 2300+ scores. However, I suggest retaking the tests because everything else is stellar and it’s the only thing that is left to improve. But if you don’t think you will improve by at least 50, then concentrating on writing your essay, studying for SAT II, keeping up your grades and ECs will be a better use of your time. ACT is a good option, and personally I like it better because you don’t need to do the subject tests if you go that route.<br>
Rutgers has an excellent philosophy department and good at arts and humanities overall, but New Brunswick isn’t the most exciting of places. University of Pittsburgh is good at philosophy, and is in state for you. NYU is great at philosophy/arts as well, but not the place if you like close knit communities and great school spirit. UCLA and Berkeley both have great English and Philosophy, and John Hopkins’ creative writing is renowned. UT-Austin is generally rated as having good arts and humanities departments.</p>

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<p>diontechristmas: Wow. I truly did not know that. Shows my ignorance, ha, I’m sorry.</p>

<p>moosey: First off, you are an incredible resource. cannot thank you enough for the time that you’ve spent on the posts in here.</p>

<p>There is a slight chance I’d retake (a higher chance that I’d take the ACTs), but I think my time might be of better use elsewhere: studying for SAT IIs, maintaining GPA, focusing on ECs.</p>

<p>I’m interested in UCLA and Berkley, but being out-of-state, Berkley would be almost as hard as Ivies, no? I have visited Johns Hopkins; loved it and am applying. Also visited Pittsburgh, but had a gut negative reaction. Hmm. didn’t know about UT-Austin - I will definitely look into it.</p>

<p>Thanks again. Still very open for evaluations of my chances for the original school list, and I will still chance back.</p>

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<p>Berkeley has the biggest OOS/international population out of all the UCs, and with the way Californian economy the way it is, they’ll probably accept more OOS than usual since the tuition is quite a bit higher for OOS. You’re right, however, that the acceptance rate is still that of lower Ivies for OOS. UCLA is a bit better. USC is another option and since it’s private, it’s easier for OOS students than the top UCs.
On the east coast, Syracuse is a good safety as they are good at arts and humanities and they have a great alumni network. Wake Forest is another good option as it has one of the highest acceptance rate (~40%) out of the top 30 universities and a focus on liberal arts education.</p>

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<p>Great info, moosey. Thanks.</p>