Wharton, Stanford, Harvard...I wish. Duke, Northwestern, Stern...maybe?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Yikes this is super long…if you just want to skim it any comments would still be awesome. Sorry… (and thanks in advance!)</p>

<p>A couple questions I have:
-How much will my upward trend of grades help?
-How much will my writing score hurt me?
-What can I do to improve my application the most? (yes, I know my grades will hurt, but there’s nothing I can do about that now)</p>

<p>I still have to narrow a lot, but my list so far is (if you could do reach/match/safety, and even for some of them if you don’t have time…):</p>

<p>Wharton (1st choice)
Stanford
Harvard
Duke
NYU – Stern
University of Chicago
Northwestern
Michigan – Ross
Claremont McKenna
Carnegie Mellon
Berkeley (in-state)
UCLA (in-state)
UCSD (in-state)
USC
Boston University
U of Wisconsin – Madison
Other UC’s (in-state)</p>

<p>-Caucasian, California Resident
-Junior
-Prospective Major: Economics</p>

<p>Grades: </p>

<p>California Public School. Top 10% CA school, so good but nothing too great.</p>

<p>9th – 11th: 3.6 UW, 3.96 W (ranked 90/733)
10th – 11th: 3.72 UW, 4.25 W (ranked 35/733)</p>

<p>Academic Classes by semester (only 4 academics jr. year…finished 4 yrs Chinese)
9th:
A / A / B / B / B / B
A / A / A / B / B / C</p>

<p>10th:
A / A / A / B / B
A / A / A / B / B</p>

<p>11th:
A / A / A / B
A / A / A / A</p>

<p>SAT I:
-Math: 800
-Reading: 740
-Writing: 660 (680 in March)
-Total: 2200 (2220 w/ combined scores)</p>

<p>SAT IIs:
-Math IIC: 720 (retaking Oct.)
-US Hist: 700 (not retaking)</p>

<p>-1 soph. AP, 3 jr. AP's, 5 sr. AP's + 1 sr. CC class
-5 on Euro already
-Est. Scores: Comp 4/5, Calc AB 4/5, USHist 5</p>

<p>Major ECs:</p>

<p>Work Experience:
-Worked at McDonald's for almost a yr (will be 1 1/2 yrs when I apply...should be a manager by then); 12-16 hrs/wk during school; 25 hrs/wk summer</p>

<p>Business / Fundraising / Community Service:
-Started a small business at school (profited $200 w/ $350 initial investment)
-Ran almost single-handedly a school Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser...raised $1,000 for the school & $450 for orphanages in China…largest class fundraiser in school’s 4 yr. history; will be repeated annually
-Running large-scale (hopefully) charity golf tournament this fall
-Started a program to help non-native speakers w/ English at McDonald's...help w/ reading & writing
-Started a program w/ family friend to send boxes of clothing, toys, etc to orphanages in China (our family adopted). Also serve as asst teacher in teaching Chinese 4 hrs every other week...I also have taken 4 yrs of Chinese (& am Caucasian)</p>

<p>Other Interests / Activities / Etc.:
-Writing a historical fiction/mystery novel (15,000 words so far...still have the summer)
-Boy Scouts (almost Eagle)
-JV CC (9/10/11); JV Track (9/10)
-Weekly religious school 9/10
-Fantasy Baseball (8 yrs): sounds like a joke but it is heavily statistically based...national competition (ranked as high as 3rd nationally out of 6,000)
-Ran statistical projections for Varsity CC (predicted 1/2 of Varsity runners in our league's final times w/in 15 seconds 3 months in advance)
-NHS
-Freshman Mentoring Program
-Finalist in ROP Business & Management Awards Program</p>

<p>Sorry that was awfully long…thanks for your help!</p>

2

<p>dude, didn't you asked this before?</p>

<p>-How much will my upward trend of grades help?
------not as much as consistent high grades
-How much will my writing score hurt me?
------a lot
-What can I do to improve my application the most?
------retaking SAT and SATII</p>

3

<p>kinda but i got my june results which were overall much better so i thought i'd ask.</p>

<p>The reason I asked about the writing is that I have read most schools won't care about it too much, & I do have 1540 M+R, but maybe the writing is just too low. I know the SAT II's need work, esp. that IIC.</p>

<p>Anyone else?</p>

4

<p>actually, i thinnk the upward trend helps a lot. to show that you adapted to your high school and didn't let a few not-perfect grades bother you might send a good impression to colleges, especailly since by 10th grade you're grades were mostly A's (i doubt colleges look at 9th grade).</p>

5

<p>stambliark.. did u use grammatix?</p>

<p>if so, do you attribute your impressive score increase to it?</p>

6

<p>One problem is that the number of classes your taking is dropping off. Are there advanced electives you could be taking? Colleges don't like to see people who slack off their last two years. Maybe you could take something at a community college?</p>

<p>Also, for a lot of colleges you'll need a 3rd SATII.</p>

7

<p>yeah next yr I am taking 5 AP's & 2 community college classes...hope that helps balance things out.</p>

<p>3rd SAT II will probably be Lit in Oct...kinda nervous about that one.</p>

<p>And no I didn't use grammatix. I did take a Princeton Review class, but I give very little credit to that. My improvement is almost solely from taking the 8 CB tests + 3-4 more out of 10 old SAT's.</p>

8

<p>what the heck?? is a 680 that bad?</p>

<p>nice work experience
you probably want another SAT II for UC's</p>

<p>Stanford/Wharton/Harvard looks iffy but everything else are slight reach/matches
good luck</p>

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<p>i see.. nice job n e way</p>

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<p>UC's only require two now, so hopefully I can get the Math IIC up a bit & I should be set there. I will take Lit in the fall, but I don't really know how well I'll do.</p>

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<p>any other opinions? particularly advice on how to get my chances up.</p>

12

<p>stambliark41:</p>

<p>UCLA/UCB: Slight Reach
UCSD: Safe Match
UCD/UCSB/UCI: Safety
UCSC/UCR/UCM: Super Safety
USC: Safe Match
Stanford: Reach</p>

13

<p>You do have a reasonable chance. Try to raise your SAT scores to appear more academic. It looks to me like your ECs are fine. They kind of remind me of some of the challanges on The Apprentice.</p>

<p>What Fantasy Baseball do you play. My friends and I have a league on Yahoo...</p>

14

<p>a reasonable chance for what schools?</p>

<p>Not sure about retaking the SAT's. I am sure I can improve the writing, but the 1540 M+R may be about as good as I can do. Since most colleges are going to disregard the writing, I may be finished. The Math IIC I have to retake, & it should go much better.</p>

<p>I play Diamondchallenge. Supposedly it is the most competitive fantasy baseball, but who knows really. It is one you have to pay for...costs a couple hundred a year to play including changes.</p>

15

<p>At Stanford, if you polish your app and essays.</p>

16

<p>all of those schools except the top ones are matches I'd say. If you want to get into HYPS and Wharton your scores need to go up. You have a shot at wharton, as I heard people that get in there are very strong in the math and leadership/business categories and you seem to fulfill those qualities.</p>

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<p>Soph:
Euro - 5</p>

<p>Jr:
Calc AB - 5
US Hist - 5
Eng. Comp - 4</p>

<p>Does the 5 in US compensate for that 700 SAT II at all?</p>

<p>Also, I hope to improve the IIC substantially in Oct.</p>

<p>Do you think the SATI needs to go up or just SATII (since writing isn't going to be weighted very heavily)?</p>

18

<p>If you improve your test scores, and have polished grades, I think you will have a chance at the top schools on your list--you probably won't get into all of them, but you (in my opinion) have a good chance at getting into at least one of them. Harvard and Wharton maybe eh, better shot at Stanford/Duke.</p>

<p>Are you fluent enough in Chinese to apply to the Huntsman program? I don't think you'd get in, but you could apply to that and put the College (as opposed to Wharton) on your app for the if-I-don't-get-in, consider-my-application-here-too part, giving yourself another shot at a good school (Upenn College) if all else goes bad . . . If you're desparate to go to Wharton, you might be able to transfer internally after a good first year at the College too. Or you could select Wharton for that part . . . your choice.</p>

<p>I think your ECs are more interesting than the average model un pres, yearbook editor, etc--you work, do a lot with statistics (are you going to take extra classes in this? I would seek some out, maybe read more texts on the subject to show your passion for it), the novel? . . . slim your list of ECs into a core that shows demonstrated, long term interests and write a good essay</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

19

<p>Is the SATI a problem or just the SATII's?</p>

<p>I know 2220 sounds kinda weak, but I heard colleges will be almost ignoring the writing. Without it, I do have a 1540 M+R (which I am unlikely to improve much). However, maybe the writing is so bad I have to retake it...</p>

<p>I know the SAT II's are at best mediocre. IIC should go up w/ prep, although I don't think it's worth taking the US again after a summer off. Still have to take Lit in the fall, which will probably be not so high also (~700).</p>

<p>What do you think?</p>

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<p>What do you mean by polished grades? Do you mean getting solid grades senior yr?</p>

<p>"Are you fluent enough in Chinese to apply to the Huntsman program? I don't think you'd get in, but you could apply to that and put the College (as opposed to Wharton) on your app for the if-I-don't-get-in, consider-my-application-here-too part, giving yourself another shot at a good school (Upenn College) if all else goes bad "</p>

<p>I am iffy on being qualified for Huntsman. I'd probably have to work on it. And I thought Huntsman is part of Wharton...so wouldn't I just be deferred to Wharton & accepted/rejected at Wharton? </p>

<p>I also thought I couldn't apply to UPenn College & UPenn Wharton. But maybe I'm wrong.</p>