what are my chances, and any other suggestions?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So far, I'm interested in applying to</p>

<p>UC's (Berkeley, LA, SD, Irvine for safety)
Stanford
Yale
Duke or Dartmouth
Northwestern
McGill
Johns Hopkins
NYU
University of Washington, Seattle</p>

<p>What are my chances in getting into these colleges? Are there any other suggestions as to where I could apply to?</p>

<p>I don't care about location, social scene, or whatnot (which poses a problem because I can't narrow down my criteria). I only care about academic strength, particularly in biology or earth sciences.</p>

<p>Stats:
Asian-American, male, california resident</p>

<p>3.85 UW GPA, 4.15 UC weighted GPA, little more for fully weighted</p>

<p>SAT: 640 RC, 770 M, 740 W (retaking in Oct in hopes of getting at least above 2200)
SATII: 800 math II, 790 Bio M, 700 chemistry, 590 french w/ listening
ACT: 34 composite, 36 english, 35 math, 35 science, 30 reading comp, 8 writing
AP: bio (5), BC calc (5)</p>

<p>Class lineup:</p>

<p>Freshman:
Critical thinking I (Accelerated English) (A, A)
Trigonometry/Analytic Geometry A (A, A)
Biology 1A (A, A+)
Art Spectrum (A, A)
PE
French 2 (A, A)
World History (A, A)</p>

<p>Sophomore:
Critical Thinking II (Accelerating english II) (A, A)
French 3H (A-, A)
Contemporary World History/US Govt (A, A)
Math Analysis H (B, A)
Beginning Journalism (A)
Chemistry AC (A, A)
Science Research Projects (A, A)</p>

<p>Junior:
US History (A, A)
BC Calc AP (A, B+)
Bio AP (A-, A-)
Physics 1A (B+, B+)
Humanities H/ American Classics (accelerated) (A-, A)
Advanced Journalism Newspaper (A, A)
Science Research Projects (A, A)</p>

<p>Current Summer: Online Economics</p>

<p>Senior:
AP English
AP Statistics
AP Chemistry
AP Psychology
Teacher Assistant (BC Calc)
Advanced Journalism Newspaper
Science Research Projects</p>

<p>Activities:
+staff writer for school paper junior year, opinion section editor senior year
+Internships at Stanford during school year:
sophomore: geology/chemistry
junior: archaeology with lab work
senior (probably): bio/chemical archaeology
+Sporadic community service at Red cross, libraries, and reading to the blind/dyslexic
+tutor frequently at school in math
+"member" of national honor society junior year (it just started), treasurer senior year
+member of california scholarship federation for all four years</p>

<p>Awards:
+bunch of departmental awards in english, biology, chemistry, history. none junior year though.</p>

<p>Letters of rec include one from one of my mentors.</p>

2

<p>Hi! I'll chance you .. .but can you chance me as well? <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/538677-please-chance-me-i-d-really-really-appreciate.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/538677-please-chance-me-i-d-really-really-appreciate.html&lt;/a> </p>

<p>Your GPA is very good, and your course curriculum is slightly challenging, but NOT the most challenging I've seen on CC. Don't bother retaking the SAT, because your ACT score is more than enough. (Though, your test scores do scream out loud your weakness in reading/english) Your SAT Subjects are decent; colleges will ignore your French. Your ECs are great, but your honors from school won't make much of a difference in college apps - normally, they should be from the state or national level. </p>

<p>Overall, you're a pretty good student. </p>

<p>Chances:
UCB: Safety match (USE ACT!)
UCLA: Safety
Other UCs: Safety
Stanford: Reach (It's a top ivy, what can I say?)
Yale: ditto
Duke: Slight reach<br>
Dartmouth: Reach (another ivy!)
Northwestern: Match
McGill: In w/ merit money of at least $3000
JHU: Match
NYU: Safety match but match for Sterns
UWash, Seattle: Why? Safety match</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>UCB: Match.
UCLA: Match.
Other UC's: safety.
Stanford: reach.
Yale:big reach
Duke: Reach
Dartmouth: Reach.
NW: Slight Reach.
Don't know the rest.</p>

<p>Honestly, test scores are great, but what hurts is that your Asian. You definitely have a great shot at most of these schools.</p>

4

<p>Might look at Holy Cross-very good LAC with strong science programs and new facilities. HC is easier to get into than Duke/Dartmouth but also has very strong alumni network. Also, Holy Cross is only 1 hour from Boston.</p>

5

<p>I know there are a lot of people on this site who will tell you something to the contrary, but take it from someone who has known people who now attend Stanford: It doesn't seem to be THAT difficult to get in.</p>

<p>I know a girl who will be attending Stanford in the fall, and her amaaazing (sarcasm) ECs include: helping out at church and singing. Her GPA was 4.1, and she didn't even bother to take the Subject Tests. Her SAT scores were really good, but not excellent. She wasn't involved in any clubs at school.</p>

<p>On the other hand, I know a person with a 4.2 who scored a 2300 on the SAT Reasoning and almost an 800 on the SAT II Math who applied to Stanford and did not get in.</p>

<p>Here in California, I will politely add, Stanford is notorious for being racially-driven. In an attempt to keep the student body full of different ethnic groups, some others are cheated out of an education. I don't want to upset anyone or stir anything up, but the examples given above are likely a result of this.</p>

6

<p>so the first case was a URM? b/c a black or hispanic person would be scooped by Stanford with those stats thanks to affirmative action (and no, I'm not afraid to admit it). I'm Indian, so I'm not exactly infatuated with the race game these colleges play...</p>

<p>Anyway, to the OP, here are your chances:</p>

<p>UCB: Match
UCLA: Match
Other UCs: Mostly Low Match/Safety
Stanford: High Reach
Yale: High Reach
Duke: Reach
Dartmouth: Reach<br>
Northwestern: High Match
McGill: Match/High Match
JHU: Low Reach
NYU: Match
UWash, Seattle: Low Match</p>

<p>Some of my chances here might seem a little brutal, but I'd rather not inflate your expectations only to have you regret it later! I think with some decent essays, you should get one or two of your reaches. Good luck! Could you chance me back? : <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/539705-yo-chance-dis-indian-kid.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/539705-yo-chance-dis-indian-kid.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>