What are my chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Chinese Male (living in HK)
Lived in London for 3 years
Not Applying for Financial Aid </p>

<p>Projected Cumulative GPA (Unweighted) 4.0/4.0</p>

<p>SATs: 2100-2300 (Depending on how much I prep, probably 2200+ if I invest time)</p>

<p>APs (All 5s):
Microeconomics
Macroeconomics
US Government and Politics
Comparative Government and Politics </p>

<p>Calculus BC
Statistics</p>

<p>Biology
Chemistry
Physics B</p>

<p>Chinese Language and Culture</p>

<p>Senior Year APs:
Physics C
Environmental Science
Psychology</p>

<p>Self Study: Multivariable Calculus</p>

<p>Should I self-study APES and AP Psychology and take AP World and AP Human Geo even though I may not get an A in AP World? Should I take AP English if I know I will not get an A or a 5 on the AP Exam?</p>

<p>ECs:
Math and Science Center (Leader - 2 Years)
TA</p>

<p>Sports:
Tennis (Recreational - Twice a week)</p>

<p>Music:
Piano (10 years...dropped Freshman year - Should I include this and just say 10 years?)
Violin (3 years...dropped Freshman year - Should i include this and just say 3 years?)</p>

<p>Service:
NHS
Cheshire Home - Elderly Home for the Disable (Hong Kong Hospital Authority) (Leader)
Z Club (Director - 2 Years)
UNICEF
Heifer (Leader - 1 Year)
Interim (One week long school service trips - incl. India and South Africa)
Teach Elementary School Students English (Bring a class of Freshman) (Leader - 4 years)</p>

<p>Job Experience:
Kumon Instructor (After I completed the program in Freshman year) of English and Mathematics - Twice a week for 3-4 hours each time</p>

<p>Internship:
Summer after Sophomore Year (Only 3 weeks)
Summer after Junior year</p>

<p>Awards:
COMAP High School Contest in Mathematical Modeling (National Outstanding)
Mathematics Department Award
Science Department Award
Bausch Lomb Award (Possibly - Partial Scholarship for Rochester University)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Award ("")</p>

<p>I think my ECs and awards are VERY weak for top colleges. </p>

<p>What are my chances for:</p>

<p>Northwestern/NYU/UCLA/Tufts/BU</p>

<p>Cornell/Duke/JHU</p>

<p>UPenn<em>/Columbia</em>/University of Chicago/Brown</p>

<p>Princeton<em>/Harvard/Standford/Yale/MIT</em>/Caltech</p>

<p>(Especially those starred)</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Your EC’s are pretty standard for top colleges. I don’t know what the COMAP award is and how prestigious it is, and Google didn’t help much with that either, so make sure colleges do understand how important it is. You certainly have good stats, but for the most selective colleges, it may not be enough. Your essay would be very important to all of these colleges because you are academically qualified. Your top row looks like a match, others range from high matches to reaches. You might want to think of some safeties. As you may no, Ivy Leagues can be extremely unpredictable, but you have as good a chance as any, if you can make yourself sound good enough in your essays.</p>

3

<p>If I apply Early Decision to UPenn per say, is there a reasonable chance that I would get in?</p>

4

<p>You have as much of a chance as anyone. I’d say with ED, it’s about a 50-50 chance, but if you like UPenn best, ED will definitely improve your chances by a lot.</p>

5

<p>Is UPenn considerably easier to get into compared to MIT, Columbia and Princeton because of its size?</p>

6

<p>I don’t think it is because of size. Its just that within that group of 4 ives UPenn has the least prestigious programs (but then again it depends on what you are majoring in). At the same time you are comparing 4 of the most prestigious universities in the country. You will be successful no matter which one you attend. </p>

<p>As for your chances the first list you made would be low-mid match schools which is amazing! Being an international student also helps you alot. Your second list I would consider high match to low reach, but it also depends on the program. The last two lists I would consider reach schools, because no matter how qualified of a candidate you are, their acceptances can sometimes be random, and a lot of overqualified candidates get turned down. I wish you the best of luck!
Chance me as well!</p>

7

<p>Is it really ‘random’ as people say it is for the top schools? Are the chances similar for the four listed?</p>

<p>Which percentile range would I be amongst the people who are ACCEPTED?
<1%
1-5%
5-10%
10-35%
25-50%</p>

<p>Would ED really boost your chances significantly?</p>

<p>Also, is it better to keep my 4.0 and take two of the easiest APs or is it better to take AP World and another soft AP but lose my 4.0? Should I take AP English (definitely will lose my 4.0 and not get a 5) or take Senior English?</p>

8

<p>Here’s a big factor: do you need financial aid?</p>

9

<p>No. I am not a US citizen so I wouldn’t be eligible for one either.</p>

10

<p>bump 10char</p>

11

<p>What are my chances if I’d like to ED to Columbia SEAS or Columbia College? Would it make a difference if I chose to self-study 2 soft APs and take 2 harder ones whilst dropping my 4.0. Or should I take the 2 soft APs and keep my 4.0? Again, where would I be percentile wise, roughly, amongst the people they accept to Columbia? Bottom 10? Bottom 25?</p>