Oh gosh, I cringe so much every time I see a chance thread, but hey, I’m just curious (and also very stressed out), so I guess I’ll take a chance with a bunch of students on a college forum and see what you guys think.
What are my chances at UCs and other top schools and ivies- I know ivies are most likely out of the question but perhaps not?
Background Info:
URM: Black Male living in Cali. I’m not completely sure what rules count for a “competitive” or “good” school, but I guess my high school is a pretty decent one. We’re medium-sized, I believe, with pretty average students. Not much to go off of there. Currently deferred from Harvard. (ouch…)
Scores/Grades:
GPA: 3.71 weighted (might go up after first semester senior year)
uw: 3.44 ;(
UC gpa: 3.88
Class Rank: N/A
SAT: 2380 (770 M, 780 CR, 800 W)
ACT: 36 (studied for almost 2 years)
SAT Subject Tests: 790 Chemistry, 760 Math II
AP Tests: Took AP Human Geography sophomore year (5); Chemistry (4), English (5), APUSH (5), Physics (5), and BC Calculus (5) junior year; currently taking Physics C, AP Gov’t, AP English, and AP Statistics senior year
General Awards:
National Merit Semifinalist (Okay, so they haven’t come out with Finalists yet, I believe, so I’m just not writing “finalist” on my college applications even though I’m pretty sure I will make the cut)
AP Scholar with Distinction
Quill & Scroll Society member (for editors in school newspapers)
National Honor Society (currently historian)
Extracurriculurs/Specific Awards:
Student Worker/Researcher in lab at Texas A&M University, I work in a lab that deals with tuberculosis/cancer research – not really working on any specific projects (was going to wait until after break to start that since I’ve been super busy this past year), but I’ve been learning my way around the lab and helping my mentor on his tuberculosis project
Managing Editor of school newspaper (basically, the vice president position), didn’t describe the role very well on Common App because there wasn’t enough space, but I write, design, and take photos, and just basically lead our staff in creating a newspaper every six weeks
Awards: All-State Journalism Staff, Award of Excellence at Texas Association of Journalism Educators Fall Fiesta,
1st (Tops in Texas nominee) at the Interscholastic League Press Conference for Portrait/Sports Feature
President of school’s University Interscholastic League Club (UIL Club): a club that contains a bunch of academic teams at my school that competes every year at district, regionals, and state levels
Awards: 4th in State Feature Writing (11th grade), 4th in State Ready Writing (10th), 1st in Regionals Ready Writing
(10)
Founder and President of school’s creative writing club and politics club
Committee Head (both 11th & 12th grade) of committees in Student Council: Notably raised $500+ for cancer charity after our school’s annual cancer awareness week
Awards: Texas Association of Student Councils Outstanding Committee Award (11)
Piano: Have done piano for 11 years now, current teacher is a former Yale professor
Awards: Outstanding Performer in State Solo & Ensemble (10); 1 rating at State Solo & Ensemble (9-11); 3rd in youth
concerto competition (9)
Summer Biotechnology/Pharmaceutical camp:
Awards: Received Bioforce Thumbs Up Award (10, 11)
Varsity Baseball: 4 years (captain) went to city twice
Varsity Football: 3 years (captain) went to city once - i live in LA so its very difficult to compete with literally a thousand other schools
won numerous awards in both sports
Volunteering:
Volunteered in local hospice for two summers now, did general office work, wrote/made newsletter, created packets for medical training at nearby hospital
Tutors at-risk freshman in high school every day in core classes like English, science, history, and math
Essays are EXCELLENT!
Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated, guys! Thank you so much, and link me to any chance threads you’d like me to do.