<p>I've been reading this forum lately, and I've seen several people post here about their chances of being admitted to Stanford. Looking at their credentials, backgrounds, scores, and EC's, I'm certain that my own portfolio is underwhelming, to say the least. However, Stanford's the school that I am aiming to get in to, and it's at the top of my list. I'm currently going to be a Junior this coming school year.</p>
<p>State: NY (School is considered to be one of the best in the state)
Ethnicity: Asian American (My parents are from China, and my brother attends Northwestern)
Class Rank: Freshman Year: 36/522 (approx 522) weighted. Sophomore Year rankings have not been released.
GPA: 94, 95.985 W. (My district does not use the 4.0 scale, and I have no idea why. Conversions are not given)</p>
<p>-SAT: 2090 (730 CR, 690 Math, 670 Writing with an 8 on the essay). I plan on retaking the SAT in March and am aiming for a 2200+. This was my first SAT and I took it in October.
-SATII's: 800 World History (Planning to take Biology M, Mathematics II, and Chemistry)
-ACT: None. I see that many people have taken the ACT, so is it recommended?</p>
<p>Courses: (P.E. is mandatory for all years, Health is a must)
Freshman Year:
AP World History 9
English 9H
Biology 9H
Geometry 9H
French II
All State exam scores were a 90 or above, straight A's.</p>
<p>Sophomore Year:
AP World History 10 (My district offers the course over two years)
English 10H
Chemistry 10H
Algebra II/Trigonometry 10H
French III
All State and district exams (French) were a 90 or above, once again, straight A's.
AP Exam score: 4</p>
<p>Note: My district bars Freshmen and Sophomores from taking any AP other than AP World as a course. Students are free to take any AP exam, though.</p>
<p>Junior Year (Scheduled and confirmed):
AP US History
AP Literature and Composition
AP Biology
AP BC Calculus
French IV (Honors)</p>
<p>Possibly AP Physics if offered (However, no precedent; I have never taken a Physics course, so there's a learning curve), self-study AP Statistics or AP Chemistry.</p>
<p>Awards and other exams:
-None. Is being on High Honor Roll for the past few years an award?
-ACS Exam: Participation, plan to retake.
-Plan on taking AMC 12 Exam, though I don't have high hopes.</p>
<p>Extracurricular Activities (Weak, really weak):
-No sports or athletics.
-No internships or jobs, unless babysitting is one of them. IBM is close by, but nothing really technology oriented in my area.
-Band since the fourth grade. My current school counts it as an elective, but Big Band and Jazz are not.
-~100 hours of CS/Volunteer work at hospital, will see if I can land something else there.
-Android application and software development. I am acquainted with Java, C and C++. Looking into development for Windows Phone and iOS.
-Indie game development, but put on hold. Nothing like Minecraft planned.
-Debate Club: Team made it to States, but I did not attend. I do not hold any significant position, aside from resident Technology advocate, and that's unofficial.
-Math Honor Society: member, some experience, plan on getting more involved this year.
-Math Team: similar situation to Debate Club.</p>
<p>Looking at what I have, the only area where I think I can do well in is academics, and I need to work on my essay writing skills. I don't really excel at anything, but Computer Science and Engineering are my main interests. Should I reconsider m choices? What can I do in the months ahead?</p>