What are realistic chances for me? Thanks!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Greetings!</p>

<p>I am currently a rising senior, and am feeling quite anxious about the whole application procedure. Here is my basic profile: </p>

<p>Caucasian Male
Middle Class
Public school
Live in a mid-sized town</p>

<p>SAT: 2120 (R 740, M 710, W 670). I know this is low for several of the colleges/universities I want to apply to, but I think I have a fairly good shot at raising it to at least 2210, if not higher. I took the SAT on a bad day for me, right after my school's finals, so I had no chance to study or prepare for it at all.</p>

<p>Subject Tests: 790 (US History) and 720 (Math II)</p>

<p>GPA: 4.00 Unweighted; my school doesn't weight GPA</p>

<p>Class Rank: 1 out of about 400</p>

<p>Course Load: About as difficult as my school offers. Granted, this is nothing compared to other schools. At this point, I've taken 3 AP's: Calc AB (4), APUSH (5), and APGov (5). This is all that my school has offered/has fit into my schedule at this point.</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities: </p>

<p>-ASB President (12th Grade) and Junior Class President (11).
-Elected as a Precinct Committee Person in my state's Democratic Primary; I represent about 1,000 people, I believe. (11-12)
-Founder and President of my school's Young Democrats Club (10-12)
-Served on my county's Democratic Party executive committee and central committee (10-12)
-Elected Governor at my State's YMCA Youth and Government Program (basically a youth model legislature) (9-12, Governor my 12th grade year).
-Violin. All City (9-10), All State (11). Associate Concertmaster of my school's orchestra.
-Speech/Debate (9-12). Placed 3rd in state in Parlay Debate (11)
-Church Activities (two mission trips, for example).</p>

<p>I've done only extracurricular activities that I love instead of trying to pad my resume, but I'm afraid it might look like I'm doing resume padding. For that reason I'm thinking about leaving my Church Activities out, since that is probably my least involved activity. Thoughts about that?</p>

<p>Work Experience:
I work as an intern for a local state house campaign. (as a rising senior).</p>

<p>Awards/Honors:
I'm on track to be a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist by the time applications are due.</p>

<p>Recommendations:
Both teacher recommendations should be very, very good. I am less sure about the councilor rec -- the councilor who had been assigned to me through last year (and who knew me quite well) was laid off, so now I am left with a councilor who barely knows me. I'm going to try and set up meetings with her, but still, it will be difficult to get a personalized recommendation from her, unfortunately.</p>

<p>I also have legacy from Stanford, and I am interested in majoring in Political Science or some similar field.</p>

<p>I am interested in SYH (I know they will all probably be reaches, but I'll apply anyway), Georgetown, Berkeley, and USC. What are my chances at these schools, and are there any other schools in my reach that you might recommend for me? If you need more details, just comment and I'll be glad to provide the needed info. </p>

<p>Thank you once again, and best of luck to all of you who are still in high school in your college search!</p>

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<p>You have done pretty much all you can do in your environment. I’d think that you have a good chance with Georgetown, Cal, and USC, and just as much chance as anyone else with YSH :)</p>

3

<p>Thank you very much for your input! It certainly will be interesting to see what happens. :)</p>

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<p>This is pretty shameless bumping. Sorry!</p>

5

<p>I’d appreciate your feedback, if you’re willing to provide it. Thank you once again!</p>

6

<p>Hey man. Thanks again for the chance. You have a stellar resume! I’ll start from the top of the post and move down. As long as you get your scores up (which you definitely will, it was a bad day for you and you seem super intelligent.) you should be good score wise. I’d always recommend trying the ACT too, some people just take to it really well. GPA and class rank are what really matter, and you’re literally perfect there. Congrats. It seems like you’re making the most of your curriculum, which is great too. Your ECs are stacked as well, it’s pretty cool that you’ve founded clubs and tied your ECs to your major. I’d say to still mention your mission trips. I think it demonstrates character and altruism, which should never be hidden. National merit is the best, congrats on that. My counselor was laid off this past year as well, thats crazy! I really connected with her too. But I’m going to make it a point to get to know the new one. I don’t think counselor recs are a big deal anyways. </p>

<p>For chances: I’d say that as long as you get that SAT/ACT up a little more you would certainly be competitive for HYS, though no one can really guarantee anything. Georgetown would be a much easier admit for you, and I’d say you’ve got like a 75% chance there. If you’re in state at berkeley then you are in, otherwise it’s similar to georgetown. You’re certainly in at USC. </p>

<p>Some schools to check out: If you like georgetown, you might like UPenn. I hear their pretty similar student-wise, but they have somewhat different atmospheres. Similar chance there. Check out davidson college if you’ve never heard of it. It’s an absolutely amazing LAC in North Carolina, it’s notoriously rigorous (best LAC in the south) and they’ve got some programs you might enjoy, with really good polisci, econ, and latin american studies. Claremont McKenna is another LAC, and it’s apparently super government/polisci/econ focused. You might like them too. You’d have pretty great chances at both. Claremont would be a little less likely, but I’d bet you’d be in at both. Since you’re national merit check out fordham, Texas A&M, and UMinn. All would give you pretty close to full rides and would give you a pretty good polisci program. </p>

<p>Good luck this year! You’re doing great.</p>

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<p>You’ve got very similar stats to mine! I think you have a shot at HYS. I don’t know how Stanford regards legacies, but it certainly won’t hurt you. Based on the schools you listed, it looks like you’re from California? If so, I’d check out UCLA and UCSD because they have good polisci programs. I’d also recommend Duke and UChicago as high matches for you and Princeton as another reach.</p>

<p>Thanks again for chance-ing me!</p>