What can I do to improve my chances? (for UCs and Stanford)

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Middle class Korean male. California resident.</p>

<p>UC HS gpa (8 honors/AP semesters cap): 4.17
UC Unweighted gpa: 3.83
UC Weighted gpa: 4.5 (all my academic classes were UC approved honors except English 10 and Spanish 2, although both will say honors on transcript)
Rank: not sure yet, but within top 10%
Over 50 a-g courses by the time I graduate
GPA shows upward trend (5.0 weighted and 4.0 unweighted gpa in junior year)
First generation college student in my family</p>

<p>Practice SATs: 2220 – 2260 (taking actual one on June so I still have time to improve)
SAT IIs:
Math II: 760 (will retake for an 800)
World History: 760
Korean: 780
Biology: taking on May (expecting 750+)
US History: taking on May (expecting 750+)</p>

<p>AP tests:</p>

<p>World: 5
Will be taking 6 AP tests on May this year: English lang, Comp. Gov, Calc AB, US History, Biology, and Environmental Science.
I will be taking at least 5 more in senior year. </p>

<p>Extracurriculars (will only list a few):</p>

<p>Hip hop dance/popping: 5 years (very passionate about this). I was in Kollaboration and have couple recognition awards
President of Mu Alpha Theta (math club)
VP of Korean Club (I organize community service projects for members to do. Over 40 members and the 3rd biggest club in school)
Piano: 8 years (level 9 CM certified)
Peer tutor: 1 hr/wk in school for community service hours. Will get paid to tutor starting senior year.
Private tennis lessons: 3 years, not competitive though (due to rigorous school schedule)
Teach and help mentally disabled kids in a local elementary school for community service hours
I have other minor activities that I will probably not list on my application. </p>

<p>Total community service hours (projected): ~400 hours</p>

<p>Employment:</p>

<p>Work at dad’s computer shop: 12 hrs/wk since 10th grade (my dad operates the shop by himself so I have to help out)</p>

<p>Misc:</p>

<p>I passed the TOPIK (test of proficiency in Korean) at the highest level (6) which basically certifies me that I am perfectly fluent in Korean. </p>

<p>I have to stay in CA and close to home because my parents don’t speak English well and I have to help out with everyday stuff from making phone calls to filing tax refunds. I will talk my responsibilities in my personal statement. </p>

<p>I was unmotivated to study before my junior year. I really started to study starting my 1st semester of junior year and I ended the semester with 98% average in all my classes (except AP enviro where I barely got an A). I will talk about my “transformation” (how I changed from a lazy student to one that is eager to learn and my interest/proficiency in many subjects/areas)</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:</p>

<p>AP Physics C
AP Euro
AP Art History
AP English Lit
AP Stats
H US Gov/ H Econ </p>

<p>Schools:</p>

<p>Stanford
UCLA
UCSD
UC Berkeley</p>

<p>Major: Economics or something else business related</p>

<p>Frankly, I am not too worried about UCs, my biggest concern is Stanford. Do I have ANY chance at Stanford? And should I be worried about getting into UCs as well? What can I do to improve my chances?</p>

<p>And although I won’t be able to attend any out of state schools, what would be my chances at Cornell, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, and Harvard, if I have any? Just curious xD</p>

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<p>easy for you to get into UCs, but I don't know about Stanford.</p>

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<p>okay thanks though.</p>

<p>any more opinions?</p>

4

<p>bump (10 char)</p>

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<p>anyone?....</p>

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<p>last bump...</p>

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<p>Just to be on the safe side, you need to add some other UC's and USC as safeties to your list. All of your colleges are reaches these days. There are thousands of asian students with hi stats like yours applying to all the same colleges, and many to most will not get in. You will receive a 1/2 tuition scholarship at USC if you are a NMF, and you may be eligible for a full tuition scholarship there.</p>

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<p>Yeah I will probably end up applying to USC as well. But I thought UCSD would be my safety.. Alright thanks though.</p>

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<p>good luck. And don't bother to take that math sat subject test again. you're scores are all within range of accepted students at the colleges you are applying to. Just don't forget to "show the love" to ALL the schools you are applying to, especially your safeties.</p>

<p>And a suggestion for your essays- don't talk about this unless you are specifically asked to talk about difficulties you have overcome-</p>

<p>"I will talk about my “transformation” (how I changed from a lazy student to one that is eager to learn and my interest/proficiency in many subjects/areas)"
Talk about something else that would not apparent from your scores, classes, list of EC's, etc. YOU are more than just a learning machine, are you not? Colleges want interesting people to fill each class, not just smart students , which by the way, all the students you will be competing against will also be. So come up with essays that gives ad coms a peek at another side or dimension of you. Show them you are human, can and have made mistakes, can laugh at yourself, etc..</p>

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<p>What if I only need just a week to prepare for the math II test? I took math II 6 months after the class without any preparation, I am sure I just need to take a look at formulas I forgot. Should I still not retake it? </p>

<p>Haha I will try my best to "show the love" to ALL the schools.</p>

<p>And thanks, I will be sure to take your advice on the essays.</p>

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<p>a score of 760 means you missed 1-2 questions- big deal. you are in the ball park for Stanford so relax. the SAT is more important than subject tests. take a look at the essay prompts [ they rarely change from year to year] At Stanford, the essays are incredibly important. Start thinking now about what you would write. remember to write about 3 different topics- the roomate essay is not about what you would actually SAY to your roomate- not "hey dude, whats up", but is a chance to reveal another dimension/ side of you.</p>

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<p>I am planning to start on my essays after AP tests. Should I start earlier?</p>

<p>And anymore opinions on my chances? And how to improve them?</p>

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<p>no, summer is the earliest you could take a look at the essay prompts. no need to think about them earlier. I believe the new application comes out the end of Aug. If you have your essays polished to perfection early, then you might want to apply SCEA. Ask your guidance counselor about this, because you would be up against the strongest applicants, who generally apply early. You should also apply early to USC, by Dec 1 no matter what, in order to qualify for scholarship consideration- miss that deadline and you are out of luck. You can do both SCEA and USC early because it is required by USC for scholarships . The beauty of applying early to USC is that if you are accepted, which I will hazard a guess that you would be, you find out in Feb! There is nothing nicer than an early acceptance, when you are sweating out the rest of your applications in Feb and March. I won't guess your chances at Stanford, because it would be a guess and how would I know? Stanford accepts less that 10% of applicants, that means statistically, you are almost guaranteed a rejection letter. Them's the facts. Don't make the mistake of giving your heart to Stanford or any college before you know if you have been accepted. Just keep doing what you have been doing and keep your grades iup. GPA is very important.</p>

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<p>Thank you for the great advice menloparkmom. I will apply SCEA to Stanford and probably apply to USC. </p>

<p>For UCs, I've been told they change their personal statement topics once every couple years. Since they changed it this year, my counselor said the essay topics for UCs will most likely be same as this year's for couple more years. She told me that I should get those started before junior year's over.</p>

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<p>Just remember that the job of applying to college is in itself a part time job, which comes on top of your very important first semester of Senior year. So plan ahead as much as possible- ask your favorite [or hardest] teachers, before then end of your jr year, if they would be willing to write a strong letter of recommendation for you, and then have a "cheat sheet' or resume prepared to give them, to help them write an in depth letter about you. You are probably responsible for printing out and giving teachers the recommendation forms for each college. Be sure to supply an addressed stamped 8x12 envelope with each recommendaton form, to save teachers the postage and hassle of addressing the envelopes. Also this summer, make a spread sheet detailing all the items that colleges require to process your application and when they are due- the application itself [parts 1 and 2], essays, official SAT scores which have to be requested from the collegeboard, HS transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc. and use it to keep track of what needs to be sent and when everything was sent or received .</p>

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<p>Thanks, I am actually quite familiar with the application process and how stressful it is (many of my friends are seniors right now). I do have one question though. What is a cheat sheet/resume (in the context of recommendations)? </p>

<p>And yeah I thought about making a list of things I have to send in to colleges during the summer seeing how the process was so hectic for many of my friends.</p>

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<p>bump once more..</p>

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<p>OP - a cheat sheet is a list of your accomplishments that you give your teacher, so that they don't have to interview you for half an hour to prepare to writer your recommendation. They should ideally speak not just to your academic prowess, but also your personality, character, intangibles. The cheat sheet helps give them context.</p>

<p>p.s. a very long time ago, in a not so far away galaxy, I transferred from Stanford to UCLA. don't sweat whether you get into Stanford... it makes no difference in life or career, trust me on that.</p>

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<p>Ok thanks..</p>

<p>I am not really expecting Stanford acceptance, but it can't hurt to try right? =) DunninLA, can I ask why you transferred?</p>

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<p>OP -- linguistics was better at UCLA, plus it was cheaper.</p>