<p>General:
HS Rising Senior
Asian male (Vietnamese)
Middle Class</p>
<p>Academics: -IB candidate
-Rank: about top 5 out of 800
-GPA: 3.95 (unweighted) (one B in a one-semester class where all but one person out of 80 people got an A in... yep that is my TOK teacher for you),
5.38 (weighted based on 6 for AP/IB, 5 for honors/pre-IB, 4 for regular)
-SATs: 2250 (800 CR, 800 Math, 650 Writing -<em>- 1st attempt)
-ACTs: 35 Composite, 34 English, 35 Math, 33 Reading, 36 Science, 8 Writing (-</em>_____-)
-SAT Subject Tests: 800 WH, 800 Chemistry
-AP exams: APWH, APES, APHG (5s); AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP Calc AB (5s)</p>
<p>ECs:
-Quiz Bowl (10-12, Captain for 11-12, and currently only person on the roster... gotta recruit)
-Hospital Volunteer (despite not interested in medical field, I have been doing ER Guest Services for almost a year because the people I meet there are interesting, and because there are a variety of people because it is in a tourist area)
-Part of a founded group based on helping elementary school at an at-risk aread (committed)
-Founder of Film Society (fledgling, but I will get to that later)
-Currently compiling a writing portfolio for Alliance for Young Artists & Writers (working one on one with a teacher) </p>
<p>Interests:
Weird: Chemistry or Chemical Engineering and Film Studies (Maybe uniqueness maybe a small hook )</p>
<p>Schools:
Yale
Stanford
MIT
University of Chicago (does not look at writing score )
Cornell (No writing score)
Northwestern
Amherst
Swarthmore
Bowdoin
Boston College
Wesleyan</p>
<p>Alright so I am just going to group all these schools together for your chancing, since they are all basically super competitive. Your writing score will hurt you, other then that your GPA and test scores are great. It is my understanding that you basically had no ECs freshman year, that will hurt you, how many community service hours you have will also effect things, you are also a little bit weak in terms of leadership. To my knowledge “Currently compiling a writing portfolio for Alliance for Young Artists & Writers (working one on one with a teacher)” is not a listable EC for a resume. I am not sure if when you say this you mean for the Scholastic art and writing awards (I am assuming so), if you have won in the past you can list it though (I put my gold key on my resume).</p>
<p>For the LACs the essay is very important, so be sure to put some time into it. You have a decent shot at most of the schools though… Good luck!</p>
<p>I did do debate 9th and 10th, but I took a break from it in order to address other matters. I might rejoin this year.</p>
<p>Writing score sucks, I know, but that won’t matter for UChi and Cornell 
The portfolio cannot be put unless I win something
The leadership stuff, hopefully, will be fullflled by my film society thing.
Thank you for your comment.</p>
<p>I feel like a grinch tonight.</p>
<p>The schools you’ve chosen see thousands of applications that look like yours (except maybe for the film studies). It’s as if somebody published a book seventeen years ago and passed out copies in every maternity ward in the country. It’s called Get Your Baby into An Ivy in Eighteen Years: A Surefire Formula. And all of these paents got to work.</p>
<p>You need to come through as an individual, not a cookie-cutter veteran of the Get Your Baby program. Be someone the schools can’t confuse with any other applicant. Your essays offer that opportunity. Use it well.</p>
<p>It might burst like in Alien!</p>
<p>You are right. My ace in the hole is trying to do a successful short film. But that is extremely difficult to do: finding dedicated people, actors, and crew, as well as scheduling, equipment, and others. That is usually why people do not do it. Not only that, but my film teacher just left for a much better job. But persevere!</p>