What are my chances? Junior looking for some sound advice

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm Indian and I go to a SMALL private competitive catholic high school (i'm not catholic) in NJ; the class size is about 60.</p>

<p>Grades: 4.0 UW/4.4 W (We do it out of 100, but i calculated)
Rank: 4/60
ACT: Will take in the spring
PSAT: 149/218 (CR 69, M 80, W 69) Will take the SAT eventually
SAT IIs: Chem: 750, Math IC: 730, I plan on taking Math IIc, US History, English Lit, and possibly French.</p>

<p>Classes: I've taken the most rigorous course load offered so far (I plan to keep it that way.</p>

<p>By the end of senior year, I would have taken these APs:</p>

<p>AP Chem, AP USH, AP Lit, AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Physics, AP Bio, AP, Macro/Micro, AP Lang, AP French.</p>

<p>Freshman and Sophomore year were all honors classes, except for AP USH in sophomore (its a two part course at my school)</p>

<p>Junior Year:</p>

<p>AP Calc AB
AP US
AP Lit
AP Chem
French Hon (No AP offered)
Religion</p>

<p>EC's/Activities (I'm assuming I'll still be in them in 12th grade):</p>

<p>Newspaper- Writer 10, Managing Editor 11, Editor-In-Chief 12
French Club- 9-12 (no positions given, not really needed)
JSA- President and Founder 11-12
Yearbook- Pictures and Writing Editor, 11-12
Operation Smile: Treasurer 9-12
Bridges (we go to different areas in the nearest cities to hand out provisions to the homeless)- 9-12
Math Team- 10-12 #1 in the grade, #3 in the state, #2 in the school; Outstanding Achievement award
Cross Country and Track- Varsity 10
Chess Club- No positions offered 9-12
Habitat for Humanity- I've worked at the main office and built houses over a few summers. 500 hrs
Boy Scouts- I'm heavily involved, been doing it for 10 years, getting close to my Eagle.
Local Soup Kitchen- I've cooked meals and volunteered there before. 75 hrs
EnVisionSys- Work: 100 hrs
Neuropsychological Research- I'll be working with a professor at either UCSD or Queen's College next summer helping them conduct their research.
Fed Challenge Team- 11,12
National Honor Society- 11,12
Film Club-11,12</p>

<p>In my spare time, i collect coins.</p>

<p>Summer Programs-</p>

<p>CTY Crytography JHU
Summer@Brown- Genetics and Philosophy</p>

<p>Most of my teachers love me and I have a strong relationship with my guidance counselor. I am a voracious reader and writer.</p>

<p>To get a better feel for who I am:</p>

<p>I am interested in brains, philosophy, psychology, synthesizers, conspiracy theories, evolution, mystics, prophets, moralizers, crazy people, chimps, cafes, writing, the cosmos, films, dessert, reislings and riojas, a good toothpick, a nice fresh red pen, sincere friends, children their follies and unintentional honesty, sunshine, silliness from profundity, photography, audiobooks, running, a solid quote, zombies, infectious diseases, introspection, the mail, hedgehogs, finding my every limit, and I love analyzing Economic Behavior, trying to comprehend String Theory, Reading, people-watching, cognitive reverie, eBay, memorizing trivial pursuit cards, sky gazing, and getting the mail.</p>

<p>*One must remember, i go to a small catholic high school, where there are almost no ECs offered; I have done (and I;m doing) as much as I can with the opportunities presented.</p>

<p>I want to major in Neuropsychology Finance, or Mathematics (number theory) and I'm looking towards applying to these schools:</p>

<p>UChicago, Northwestern, Berkley, Columbia, Stanford, Cornell, McGill, UPenn, Amherst, Williams, Caltech, JHU, Rice, Brown, UMich, Swarthmore...to name a few.</p>

2

<p>And, this is my first time doing any of this, so there might be some informational I have disregarded.</p>

3

<p>...and various safeties. Don't worry, I'm not a conceded ******* who thinks he has a solid chance at the top schools in the country.</p>

4

<p>I think your chances are quite solid overall, especially at some of the liberal arts colleges (Amherst, Swarthmore, etc.).</p>

<p>My expertise really ends at the larger universities, but I am quite sure you will get into at least a few.</p>

5

<p>My rank is actually 3</p>

6

<p>you'll be fine as long as you do decent on your standardized tests
UChicago [reach]
Northwestern [match] , Berkley [match] , Columbia [match] , Stanford [reach, as is for everyone] , Cornell [reach/match], McGill [match], UPenn [reach] , Amherst [reach], Williams [i'm not sure] , Caltech [? i don't really know], JHU [match] , Rice [safety], Brown [reach/match], UMich [safety], Swarthmore [i don't know]
keep that GPA up, and for northwestern maybe play up that journalism background for Medill</p>

7

<p>wth? how is uchicago a reach when columbia is match?</p>

<p>I'd say reach for columbia and match for chicago, and rice is match, definitely not a safety. UMich will probably be a safe match, amherst would be a match, cal tech would be a reach.</p>

8

<p>also didn't you get an 800 on both bio E and bio M?</p>

9

<p>I forgot to post that</p>

10

<p>I don't know about New Jersey's weather, but Michigan's weather is awful in the winter. It will take several years before the economy shows any signs of any improvement, and you'll find a lot of "strange" people (let's just say the behavior in the most literal sense is "unimaginable") at U of M. Of course, this works just fine for many students, but for someone applying to Caltech, Chicago, ... I'm sure you'll be accepted to at least one. Don't waste your time and money on an application to a university with a poor atmosphere. I'm not denying their academic strength, but with so many similar schools around the country with departments essentially equal to or greater than U of M, you have a better use for $60 and can find far better weather conditions in just about any other state. (At least Alaska has beautiful scenery)</p>