WEAK EC's - So what are the chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Schools Applying to:
Stanford
Harvard
Princeton (maybe)
Columbia
MIT (maybe)</p>

<p>USC
UCLA
Boston U.
UWash at. St. Louis</p>

<hr>

<p>Demographics:
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Chinese
Location: Hawaii
School Type: Private Prep ~ really prestigious and competitive</p>

<p>GPA:
Un-weighted: 3.8 (school has strange and difficult grading system)
Rank: Prob top 10%-25%</p>

<p>SAT I:
2220: 750M, 780 CR, 690 Writing
SAT II:
780: Math II
740: History
700: Chemistry
790: Chinese</p>

<p>Class Rigorousness: (most rigorous possible)
5 AP's by graduation (we're limited for fear that students will kill themselves over-achieving)
1 University Course
6-8 Honors (can't remember exactly. around there)</p>

<p>Class Schedule (we're allowed no more than 6 classes):
9th:
Geom H
Biology H
Chinese 2 and 3 H
English
Social Studies
Art</p>

<p>10th
Chem H
Alg II/Trig H.
English 2
Chinese 4 H
Asian History (Summer)
Art</p>

<p>11th
AP Chem. - 5
Adv. Pre-Cal Honors (yeah. Not just advanced, but advanced AND honors at the same time)
Composition
American Lit. Honors
AP US - 5
Chinese 5 H
Psychology (Summer at university)</p>

<p>12th (planned)
AP Calc BC
AP Statistics
AP Physics B
English Honors (only av. junior and senior year)
British Literature
Digital Art
Euro History</p>

<hr>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS: So here's where everything gets tricky, and takes a turn for worse. The EC's will be my Achille's heel.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Billiards (9-12) - my #1 passion. Something I found, developed, and pursued. I got my own coach, created my own practice schedule, entered myself in tournaments where I placed as quarter-finalist first time.</p></li>
<li><p>Speech&Debate (10-12) - BOTH clubs so twice the time requirement. State qualifier and earned Varsity Letter (if that means anything.) Denied captain-ship.</p></li>
<li><p>Math Team (9-12) - nothing of merit. </p></li>
</ul>

<p>Awards:
Language Academic Recognition award
Piano Performance/Composition
National Merit Semi-Finalist (The cut-off hasn't come out yet, but I'm def. commended)</p>

<p>Work Experience/Volunteer
- Work at University's Oceanagraphy Department
- Volunteered 30+ hours at local pre-school this summer (was required for certain amt. of time but I grew interested and continued)</p>

<p>Teacher Recs: will probably, hopefully, be very good.</p>

<p>Essay: Writing it on billiards to display 'passion'.</p>

<hr>

<p>Bottom line: excellent everything except EC's.</p>

<p>How much do you think my weak EC's will impact my college chances?</p>

2

<p>You're asian. :P.</p>

<p>If your unweighted GPA is really 3.8, I'm not very sure about your Stanford/Harvard/MIT acceptance, but the others should be fine.</p>

3

<p>You ranking is low.</p>

<p>The ECs are OK, although you didn't win anything notable in math. MIT is a REJECTION.</p>

<p>Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia (less so): Unlikely/ REJECT; same for everyone.</p>

<p>USC: In
UCLA: Likely
BU: In
Wash U: Maybe/ Likely Show interest or they will resort to their disgustingly massive wait list.</p>

4

<p>^Well my school doesn't rank and I'm just guessing in the ballpark. It HAS to be above 15%,</p>

5

<p>UCLA would be a slight reach -- not being in the top 10% doesn't look good.</p>

6

<p>I think I might know what private school you're talking about, but I might be wrong. If your private is really competitive I wouldn't worry about the rank (because they don't rank you and can see the school profile's competitiveness) I'd worry about being OOS. Your ECs aren't that great and for some of the tippy top schools your SAT is mediocre (690 writing). To give yourself the best chance possible I'd retake your SAT to make sure you get 2300+, considering you're Asian with few ECs :P. MIT might show you some love for being a girl, but don't expect HPSC to be too forgiving. As said they are all reaches with USC as a match, UCLA as a low reach, BU as a match, and WashU's sorta unpredictable... Good Luck!</p>

7

<p>I need to know my chances if I go Columbia ED.</p>

8

<p>5 Aps and 8 honours in your entire academic career is no where near rigorous or deals any type of fatal blow to "life". I took 13 Aps and barely felt it....</p>

9

<p>^Nice. But we come from diff. school systems.</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
5 Aps and 8 honours in your entire academic career is no where near rigorous or deals any type of fatal blow to "life". I took 13 Aps and barely felt it....

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Are you being facetious?</p>

11

<p>Without outstanding ECs, Stanford is an almost certain reject.</p>

12

<p>This is a case where the essay could be a lifesaver...</p>

13

<p>you're asian, your SATs are alright but not outstanding when you compare them to all the 2300 -2400-achieving asians out there... plus the fact that you haven't taken THAT many AP classes might hurt you. I know it's a limit that your SCHOOL sets (which lessens the blow), but either way, 5 APs nowadays in your entire HS career isn't that much, considering that many students at other schools take up to 6 (or even more) APs per year.</p>

<p>ECs don't seem like much, as you said. Not that much leadership, activities are somewhat typical. You really need a great essay and SPARKLING recs to be competitive here.... I'm guessing defer or reject at columbia. (sorry I really don't mean to be mean, i'm just giving you honest feedback =/ )</p>

<p>Work on your essays, I guess. BU and USC are matches, UCLA is a low reach, HSPCM are all HIIIIGH reaches.</p>

14

<p>Hey, if he's taking the max no. of AP's his school offers, then he's taking the most rigorous courseload available to him. That's all schools want.</p>

15

<p>for MIT, does your accomplishments HAVE to be in math? What if they are in science?</p>

16

<p>It won't hurt her if the school places a cap on the number of APs she can take and she takes the maximum allowed.</p>

<p>What is your class size?</p>

17

<p>Try for ED, and at the same time keep moving ahead on your other apps. Your SATS are right on for the middle 50% of admitted students.</p>

18

<p>What is your class size?</p>

<ol>
<li>around there. Or maybe mid 300s.</li>
</ol>

<p>BTW, is Northwestern a reach, core, or likely?</p>

19

<p>"for MIT, does your accomplishments HAVE to be in math? "</p>

<p>No. You must be strong in math, but contrary to popular belief, MIT does have other majors. Also, strength in science often reflects competence in math.</p>

20

<p>I think your main extracurricular (billiards) is better than most of the meaningless math team/science club/mock trial WHATEVER that top colleges see over and over and over again. I think you stand a much better chance with your devotion to something unusual than all the snobby (cough...quantumlight) people with their commonplace extracurrics.</p>

<p>Apply away and have confidence in what you've done. I think you have a better chance than the 13 AP kids, a better chance than the "I've been riding horses with mummy and daddy's money" kids who are soooooo anxious about their 780 Math II. Go for the gold. =)</p>