Hey,
I am a senior this year, and I will be applying for Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Stanford, Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Cornell.
I was just wondering on your opinion on my chances for getting in to any of these schools.
Academics:
4.5 GPA
2.Took the most rigorous classes my high school offered
Scored mostly 5s on my AP tests.
Top 10% of my graduating class.
National merit scholar
2200 on my SAT and a 33 on my ACT.
Extracurricular:
Math and Science Club - 4 Years (Vice President,2 years)
2.Speech and Debate-4 Years(Secretary 1 year)
Quiz bowl-1 Year(Founder)
Ecology- 4 years(President 2 years)
Chess Club- 4 years (Treasurer 2 years)
6 National Honors Society( Vice President 1 year)
During the all four years of my summer I went to medical camp and also participated in Leadership camp and did basketball camp for freshman year.
I also volunteered at a hospital close by, since sophomore year till end of high school.
Sports:
Basketball- 4 years
Track- 4 years
I also was involved in my church’s youth group throughout my years in high school.
The one thing I am afraid of is that if my chances will lower because of my race, Indian, and because I wasn’t valedictorian during high school.
Sorry, but nothing seems to stand out, so I would have to say they are reaches.
I also volunteered at a hospital close by, since sophomore year till end of high school.
You’re a senior, right? How can it be end of senior year for your? Most Valedictorians don’t know until the end of their senior year. Are you international?
Thanks @“aunt bea” for your reply. What I meant was I will will continue to volunteer there till the end of high school and I’m a U.S citizen but I know I wont be valedictorian because there are people that have way higher GPA’s then me and are in way higher rank than I have. I’m about 35th out of 600. What things would you consider the “wow” factor that IVY colleges would look for?
In general, a “wow” factor describes an activity or event that is so unbelievable or unique that it would be impossible to make up. It can also refer to exceptionally high skill in a more commonplace activity.
I have found that “wow” factors will find you. Once one finds you, you have such a strong desire to participate in the activity that you would do it to the exclusion of nearly anything else. Or, you will find yourself in a certain situation that you handle exceedingly well. You cannot simply force yourself into a “wow” factor activity.
I use “activity” very broadly in this context.
I commend your ambition and how well you have done in school so far! You are obviously a serious, intelligent student and you should be proud of yourself. A few comments:
Your list seems to imply that the name of the school is more important to you than the type of school or its "fit"? Other than all the schools being in the Ivy league or Ivy-level (Stanford), they are quite different universities. How did you select them? Location-wise, Harvard, Columbia, Yale and Brown are in cities; Princeton, Stanford are in suburbs and Dartmouth and Cornell are more rural. Curriculum-wise, Brown has open curriculum while Columbia is the opposite with a heavy core curriculum and the rest in between. Weather-wise, Stanford is in a warm climate, there rest are either in cold or very cold locations. So how did you decide on this list, other than their reputation? My first suggestion is to be more thoughtful in your list. All of these are reach schools (for anyone, not just you), so it is best to select only a handful of them (preferably the ones that will fit your personality and preference--location, curriculum, weather, major/concentration, heavy presence of greek life [like Dartmouth], heavy sports and school spirit [Stanford >> Dartmouth], intellectual vibe [Brown, Penn, >> others, maybe], etc); then have some matches and safeties also.
Unweighted GPA is more important (this will tell us if you have a few Bs or if you are straight A; since we don't know your school's grading system, we don't know what 4.5 means, although it probably means very good); specifying your subjects is better than simply saying "I took the most rigorous classes"; APs don't matter as much in college consideration.
My biggest concern when reading your resume is that while you are smart and well-rounded, there isn't much that makes you stand out. Your SAT and ACT scores are average for these schools, perhaps even on the low side (when compared to similar applicants without any hooks); and your ECs do not show much specialization/ state/national/international achievements/awards. Plus your race/ethnicity, makes it even more difficult to stand out.
None of these comments above should discourage you. They are meant for you to be realistic, for you to do whatever you can to make yourself unique, to make your concentrate on your essays (as a way of making yourself standout), and to make you focus on 2 to 3 dream schools (so you can do heavy research on these schools, show them your extreme interest and submit a quality applications on them) as opposed to applying to 8 schools (the only one you left out is UPENN) of the same caliber but different personalities and strengths. Applying to so many of them will only dilute your effort and take away from the quality of the applications of your top-top schools.
Celebrity,
Olympian,
incredibly gifted/recruited Athlete,
Musician (think Ed Sheeren, One Direction),
Business entrepreneur of a well-known business (like a Starbucks-just an example),
Humanitarian on an international scale (think Malala).
Someone overcoming extremely tough circumstances (cancer, destitute, etc.) but still getting perfect scores, GPA, activities, etc.
Wow factor could also be someone who has done something incredible, just being themselves-like the 3 young men who stopped the terrorist on the French train.
One of our Harvard kids was on a boy scout trip in the Grand Canyon. He and his 4 troop friends rescued someone with heatstroke, making their own stretcher, radioing with walkies to call for a helicopter, while carrying the man out of the canyon. Not an easy task.
See what I mean?
It could be other things too, a great essay, etc. but they definitely look for WOW.
You guys are being not very nice to this kid-his resume is spectacular. @Josephj1 you have an excellent chance of getting into some very good schools, definitely worth a shot at the Ivies. And no you don’t need to “save the world” to stand out-just having great grades, SAT/ACT scores and those great EC’s of yours already gives you a shot. Be sure and have good essays though.
Unless you’re Malia or Malala, those reach schools are are crapshoot for everyone. Make sure to give as much thought to picking out “match” schools, and make sure the match schools are financially feasible.
You’ve ticked off a lot of the boxes - excellent grades, strong scores, solid ECs, but nothing really stands out. How would you fill in this sentence: Candidate Josephj1 is the one who ________ The answer is NOT got mostly 5s on his APs, was a NMS, did 4 years of Debate and Chess Club. All of this stuff is great and pretty much guarantees your application will get a good read but nothing pops. Your essays MUST distinguish you - and should NOT simply regurgitate stuff already on your application. Did you do anything unusual in any of these clubs? Maybe the ecology club addressed a local environmental issue and actually made a difference in your community… after founding Quiz Bowl did the team go on to win any awards first year out of the gate?
It also makes a difference what you are applying for. Pre-med? That’s tough - is there anything in your volunteer experience at the hospital that was unique? Is there some personal reason that medicine is of interest to you?
All of these schools have extended supplemental apps that you need to really focus on. You do not want any of your answers to be the same answers they’ve seen 15 times that day already. (i.e. Letter to the roommate - I’m a slob!)
Lastly, make sure you’ve got a number of solid safety schools - plenty of folks with your stats get shut out every year. Of course, some of them also get accepted. Good luck.
Great advice Ohiopop. We went through the admissions cycle last year with D applying to about four Ivy League schools and too many reaches. She had a 36 ACT, 3.8 UW GPA and typical school level extracurriculars. Your weighted GPA means nothing to these schools recalculate on a 4.0 scale excluding PE. You need to have a realistic perspective on your chances and you need to understand how these schools build classes and where you fit in. Applying to a lot of very top schools just dilutes your application in my view. Being Indian isn’t a liability but it does mean you are not a URM. The admissions spots you are competing for are the unhooked male smart student. This is between 25 and 35 percent of the class and it is a very competitive segment. Things that will help you are really great essays, a clear story about how you could contribute at each school and truly impressive ECs. At this point you pretty much have the ECs you have - focus on your essays and compelling story about how you can contribute. You will need to do alumni interviews with most of these schools which is an opportunity to impress them although it’s not clear what role if any these interviews actually play in admissions decisions. Hopefully this advice does not come off as negative but admissions is very competitive
Honestly, you may very well end up completely shut out. Not going to go through the reasons again, they are well covered above. I’d pick maybe 3 of these schools to apply to as reaches, add a few matches, and pick a couple of safeties where you are quite sure of admission and affordability. Anybody can make a list of Ivies plus Stanford. But creating a list of schools that fit you academically and in other ways, that you can get into, you can afford, and you would want to attend is a lot more work.
Almost every applicants at these schools have credentials like you (or better). The question is how can you stand out from the crowd and be among the ~10% got accepted.
Why did you make two threads within 20min asking the same question?
Your 4.5 wGPA does not mean anything without the scale, weighting factor, and your course rigor.
Almost every applicants at these schools have credentials like you if not better. The question is how can you stand out from the crowd and be among the ~10% got accepted.
Will your test scores or grades disqualify you? No
So as others have explained? What makes you special??
That is your assignment. You need to brand and market yourself so you stand out, and someone on an admission committee becomes your advocate. And you get accepted.
Being Indian in and of itself does not make it more difficult. However you really haven’t done a good job of explaining how you intend to fit into each of the schools above. What makes you unique? There are thousands of Indians with profiles just like you (high scoring, dabbled in a few clubs here and there). But I don’t see any compelling or cohesive story. You really need to have some ECS of national/international caliber to get their attention.
Have you considered applying to other lower tier schools? It would be a good idea as you may very well be rejected from all of the ones above.
@billcsho and @ClarinetDad16 …give this kid a break! He’s a fantastic candidate and I think you guys are going overboard overanalyzing everything about him. Yea he could use some good essays showing how he’s special but you are both a little too dismissive of all of the things he already has.