<p>A buddy of mine wants to know his chances at schools he might be applying to.</p>
<p>These schools are: HYPSM Cornell Brown Swathmore Boston UC Berkely Emory and Carnigie Mellon</p>
<p>GPA: UW: 3.93
W: 4.78</p>
<p>AP's taken: 10th: APUSH(only Ap available) -5
11th: AP English, Calc AB, AP Bio, and AP Music Theory AP European History- All 5's
12th: Ap Calc BC, AP Macroeconmics AP English Ap French and Ap Chem. All 5's</p>
<p>ACT:33
SAT: 2210
SAT II: Scores coming in....</p>
<p>EC:</p>
<p>Jazz Band (all through highschool),
Honors Band, Wind Ensemble (Drums)
Robe Choir (singing group)
H-factor(elite singing group) Many bands in highschool.
Schoo Choir(10th-12th)
School Play(Lead parts 10th-12th)
Started Fundraiser With His Band (Raised 5,000 for charities.)</p>
<p>Science Olympiad (9th-12th) Went to Nationals
Intel Science Award in 11th
Science Fair (9th-12th)
Has been doing individual science research throughout highschool
Science Olympiad Captain</p>
<p>Soccer(Varsity 10th-12th)
Crew(Rowing)- Team went to states 3 times</p>
<p>9th grade- Student Body Tres.
Student Body President rest of Highschool
Gay Straight Alliance founder and president.
Key Club (10th-12th)</p>
<p>Has worked as a bus-boy for 3 years at 4 star resteraunt.
Camp JC since 8th grade</p>
<p>ECs? Ranking? SATs?
Based on info given, I would say in at BU, Emory, and CMU
Berkeley-Depends, if OOS then maybe, if in-state then probably
Cornell-probably
Brown-Maybe
HYPSM- Always crazy
Swarthmore- Harder to predict, but with good ECs then probably</p>
<p>Since it’s your buddy and not you, I’ll answer. I’m tired of being a negative voice on all the threads where people are saying “you have a great chance” to people who in reality don’t.</p>
<p>A 2250 and a 4.0 will not get the vast majority of people into HYPS and increasingly, at any ivy other than Cornell and Penn. Simply there are way to many of these applicants.</p>
<p>So, hopefully your friend will be recruited for crew and then he has a great chance. Otherwise, he has a very small chance as there is absolutely nothing that stands out and those getting into HYPS have way more.</p>
<p>MIT is a different animal and will depend on whether his application, including recs, show he is truly exceptional as a math/science student.</p>
<p>He has an average shot at Brown and Swat and the rest look good.</p>
<p>i think newyorka is missing that he has taken a fairly challenging course load, so really that 3.93 GPA is impressive. The SATs are okay, nothing spectacular. As for EC’s, they are very laundry list, as in, they are just sort of all over the place, without a great connection to each other. However, i definately see the stress on music/science.</p>
<p>All things considered, I think he has a decent shot, probably better than most, at HPYSM. I would be surprised if he didn’t get into at least one. I think he has an excellent shot at the rest of the colleges.</p>
<p>“I’m tired of being a negative voice on all the threads where people are saying “you have a great chance” to people who in reality don’t.”
wow. kinda harsh, and you were once again the negative voive on the thread.
OP, your buddy has a great chance.</p>
<p>Honestly, I did not miss the challenging course load. Unless they are truly delusional, everyone applying to HYPSM and other top schools took the hardest possible load.</p>
<p>I think many here just don’t understand that it is not nearly enough for top schools. They could all fill 5 classes with kids with 4.0/2350/12 APs etc. Those things are great if you want Tufts, Cornell and Northwestern.</p>
<p>At the ivies once they eliminate the 20% of unqualified applicants they are left to cherry pick kids with truly unusual accomplishments-kids who started foundations that have raised millions, artists who have had showings all over the world, kids who have recording contracts with Sony, the girl who started a business selling my space decorations and made millions …</p>
<p>Half the class are more normal kids-the recruited athletes, legacies, URMs, staff kids. The unhooked are world class at something.</p>
<p>You’re right, the others are from South Dakota, Alaska and underrepresented countries.</p>
<p>What they are not is white or Asian from the NE, mid-Atlantic, CA or other generally represented state. They play a rare instrument the marching band needs or something of that sort.</p>
<p>Has anyone read The Price of Admission written by a Wall St. Journal reporter?</p>
<p>Wish I could say this info was something I uncovered through brilliant research, but all this has been in print for some time.</p>
<p>And you do the math, figure out the acceptance rate for unhooked candidates given a 8% acceptance rate and the fact that half the class is hooked.</p>
<p>All of those school passed on the sal from my school this year, a brilliant Asian girl with great but not world class ECs coming from a school that sends 30% plus to ivies plus.</p>
<p>Again, it’s not one in 10 random applicants.</p>
<p>Half the class is taken before the unhooked get a shot.</p>
<p>Among the unhooked they want representation from 50 States and as many countries as possible. They want poor students and diversity in every way. What do you suppose the admit rate is for an unhooked white or Asian candidate, 2% is my counselors guess.</p>
<p>Okay. But he’s applying to a menagerie of prestigious schools, and while his stats are not incredible for the Ivy League, his GPA and AP test scores are good and his SAT is within the range. Isn’t it likely that, with excellent essays and a lot of luck, he’ll get accepted to least one of these schools? No guarantee, obviously.</p>
<p>IMO, it is not at all likely. 10 years ago or even 5 maybe, this year it would be a small miracle. Good and within range do not describe the kids getting in now, that describes 80% of all applicants.</p>
<p>He has a shot at Cornell level schools, but with 33/2210 they’re reaches.</p>