<p>What are my chances?
Here are my stats. I want to major in engineering.</p>
<p>SAT=2390
ACT=35
AP Calculus=5
AP Biology=4
AP Chemistry=5
APUSH=5
AP Physics=(Currently Taking)
AP Lit. and Comp.=(Currently Taking)
EC= Math Team(Captain), Engineering Club, Italian Club, Academic Challenge(Trivia), EMS Club
Sports= Baeball(All-Section, All-County, County All-Stars, Captain), Wrestling (Section Champ), Cross Country(State Qualifier)
Job= Camp Counselor</p>
<p>Not all the Ivies have engineering programs. You have great test scores but are missing national level recognition in ECs. Be sure to include safeties in your list.</p>
<p>I don’t think you’ll get into any of them. Even ASU will be a reach. If you want to get into ANY college (even community college) then you need at least a 36 ACT or 2400 SAT and a 4.0 UW gpa. </p>
<p>Obviously, I’m joking. Your chances are probably as high as almost everyone else who is applying and no matter what your scores and grades and ec’s, all of those colleges are still reaches unless your last name is Gates or Jobs.</p>
<p>Mommyrocks is correct. Tests are fine, but you have only 6 AP’s. My son has better everything and still got deferred from MIt, so have safeties. There are no definates. </p>
<p>@Numbah01 - the stats you’ve listed are fine, however you neglected to mention your GPA. If you have a 4.0 UW GPA, you’ll have good chances at all of these schools - if it’s 3.6, your odds will be poor. Whether you are accepted or not will depend in large part to the overall quality of your applications (including essays, recommendations, and interviews), and your ability to stand out from the crowd in some way.</p>
<p>@mommyrocks - all the Ivies have engineering schools. Some are relatively small, and focused on engineering sciences, so they won’t offer the same opportunity to specialize as larger schools. Despite that, I’m sure their graduates do just fine.</p>
<p>@ZBD5421 - I don’t agree with your comment on AP exams. The OP has taken some challenging APs, and done very well on them. These colleges do not make admissions decisions based on the number of AP tests the applicant has taken, unless it’s clear they have been passing up on opportunities to challenge themselves.</p>
<p>Your test scores are great, but there’s nothing to distinguish you from the thousands others applying to those schools with the exact same stats as you or better. Unless you have some amazing hooks or incredibly well-written essays, your ECs are what I’d consider bare minimum for the caliber of schools you’re applying to which is a significant aspect of your application. </p>
<p>@d4ntoine - Those test scores are in top 25%, perhaps the top 10% of accepted applicants at all of these schools. If they are coupled with excellent grades, the thousands of applicants the OP will be competing with will the cream of the crop with very high acceptance rates. The ECs are fine too - my daughter got into Harvard and MIT with similar scores and a fraction of those ECs.</p>
<p>@Numbah01 - I’m curious if you have grades that match those scores.</p>
<p>@BldrDad
I understand where you’re coming from, and I’m happy for your daughter, but each year only becomes tougher and tougher for applicants. My friend was recently deferred from MIT early and she had URM, low-income, and was a female going into engineering. She had the same test scores as OP, and held several internships at multiple prominent biotech companies while also being nationally ranked for speech and debate as well as around 700 hours of community service and being the founder of award winning STEM clubs. She had the grades, test scores, hooks, and outstanding ECs, but was still deffered from her top schools. OP has a chance, but the colleges he/she wants to attend are looking for that “wow” factor. All in all, again, those essays better be some of the best damn things he’s written or else I’d have to conclude that the most likely place he’d be accepted to is Dartmouth or Cornell.</p>
<p>Do you have any major awards?</p>
<p>I think there is a lot that is not discussed here. First, the importance of recommendations, essays, and interviews is often understated, yet these are clearly the differentiating factor for many successful applicants. Second - colleges are seeking to assemble diverse freshman class, which means some students (for example females with a demonstrated interest in engineering, or Asians with demonstrated interest in the humanities, any top student from Wyoming) will have an admissions advantage relative to their peers.</p>
<p>I don’t believe colleges are looking the the “wow” factor in all of their students, but they are looking for interesting people. I think a lot of high school students don’t realize this, and follow a formula that they believe will guarantee success (top grades and scores, lots of ECs), In reality this only gets them into the game, while acceptance decisions are made on intangibles that are often overlooked. The Amherst admissions video (<a href=“College Admissions: Inside the Decision Room - YouTube”>www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-OLlJUXwKU</a> is quite enlightening - I’m sure it is heavily edited but it gives a feel for how important intangibles can be.</p>
<p>There’s another issue that I think is often obscured in the discussions here on CC. Colleges are not looking to reward high school seniors for all they have accomplished. Rather, they are looking at what the student has done in the past as predictors for what they will do in the future. They want students who will succeed academically, contribute to the college community outside the classroom, and contribute to society after graduation.</p>
<p>@d4ntoine - I have no idea why your friend was deferred by MIT, but I’m quite sure it wasn’t due to lack of ECs! I would be interested in knowing more about her situation. Did she interview, and if so, how did it go?</p>
<p>A factor no one ever mentions is disciplinary action. I think sometimes candidates who seem outstanding on paper but still get rejected or deferred might have a suspension they aren’t mentioning. </p>
<p>IF you have a GPA that supports your test scores and IF you have taken the most rigorous schedule offered at your school you will have around a 95% chance of rejection. Without any hooks it is tough.</p>
<p>I think you’re just as good an applicant as ever academically speaking. You’ll get into at least one of them, if not many or all of them. They’re all reaches, yes, but it wouldn’t shock me if Barack Obama or a resurrected Albert Einstein got rejected from these schools. They’re THAT hard to get into. </p>
<p>Good luck and happy holidays! I know that no matter what school you go to, you’re bound to do great things.</p>
<p>Chance me back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1722473-my-final-chance-thread-chances-at-uva-w-m-wake-forest-vcu-and-fordham.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1722473-my-final-chance-thread-chances-at-uva-w-m-wake-forest-vcu-and-fordham.html</a></p>
<p>That is simply not true @JuniorBengal. To make a sweeping statement of high hopes with such limited knowledge of the applicant shows a lack of knowledge of the process.
Good luck on your college searches @Numbah01 and @JuniorBengal</p>
<p>@2015pop I said that they’re a good applicant academically. A 2390 and 35 makes them good in my mind. No, we don’t know much about the applicant, but they asked for our input based on the information presented. I’m sure there’s things the applicant will put into the application that is not presented here.</p>
<p>Also, I’m the applicant will appreciate a little less doom and gloom. I mean, come on. He has near perfect scores and a decent list of ECs. If he doesn’t get into at least one school, I’d be highly shocked. I know a girl who got into Cornell with much less than he has.</p>
<p>With no idea about GPA, really hard to say. Plus, this applicant seems to be just prestige hunting, as not all the Ivies even offer engineering, or are even the best place to get an engineering education.</p>
<p>@intparent Wow, I didn’t even notice that. Good point. Will the OP please provide a GPA? I must’ve just assumed it was a 4.0, as most of these applicants usually list them as such.</p>
<p>@2015pop, you may have a point. I may retract my former statements if the GPA is less than stellar.</p>
<p>My GPA is 4.0 and my rank is 1/285</p>