What chance do I have at getting into any of these schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Weak ECs, not-so-great courseload, and (potentially) good test scores</p>

<p>I am most interested in these schools:</p>

<p>Harvard
Princeton
MIT
Cambridge in the UK
Cornell
UPenn
University of Chicago
University of Florida</p>

<p>Location: Moved between schools in the Southeast (including Title I, high poverty ones)
Ethnicity: Hispanic</p>

<p>SAT I: 2400
SAT II: I haven't taken them yet, but I think I can manage 800s on Math II and Physics.</p>

<p>GPA: All As except for a B in AP Spanish Language. I think that's my punishment for doing AP in my first year when I am not a native speaker.</p>

<p>Courses:</p>

<p>Freshman:
AP World (4)
Hon Math I
Hon 9th English
Hon Gov't
Hon Physical Science (Oxymoronic, no?)
Business Essentials
Health
Chinese I (through program described in ECs)</p>

<p>Sophomore:
AP Stat (5)
APUSH (5) (also included Honours US History credit)
AP Psych (5)
Hon Chem
Hon 10th Eng
Hon Math II
Chinese II</p>

<p>Junior:
AP Physics C (should be 5s)
AP Econ (should be 5s)
Spanish III
AP Spanish Language (probably a 4)
Accelerated Math III
AP Calc BC (This will be a 5....)
Hon American Lit
AP English Language (should be a 5)</p>

<p>Senior:
I don't know yet.</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Freshman:
Foreign Language Service something something (It was "selective" or something like that. At least I did something.)
FBLA (regional winner of some things)
Student Council</p>

<p>Sophomore:
Beta Club (Honour society of sorts)
Region Math contest (2nd place individual... I knew calculus better than anyone from my school when I was in Algebra II. I can't brag about that on the application, though.)
FBLA (2nd in state, 6th at nationals in fairly competitive event. Competitive FBLA event, another oxymoron)</p>

<p>Junior:
Beta Club
Regional Math contests (1st in the one from previous year, 2nd in another)
Quiz Bowl / Academic Team (qualified for national level things as team and individual in several things)
AIME Qualifier (I was the first to do AMC from my school in years. I wish I had known about this sooner. No, USAMO, oh, well. I just hope that that not mean no Ivy League.)
FBLA (1st in region in economics, bad place at state)</p>

<p>Senior:</p>

<p>I just hope I can pull something together for Siemens or Intel....</p>

2

<p>Without SAT subjects I can’t chance you. But anyway good job, even with 800/800 in subject tests MIT, Harvard, Princeton, UPenn, Cornell are reaches for everyone.</p>

3

<p>I think I can quite easily pull off 800 on each. I have done practice tests on each and all the questions right. </p>

<p>You may be overstating the importance of the Subject Tests. Most people who apply to these schools get 800 or close to it on every test.</p>

4

<p>

</p>

<p>Isn’t there a difference between “reach” and no chance at all? I imagine Harvard, Princeton, MIT and Cambridge are not really anywhere I should be looking at, but Cornell can’t be too unreasonable a place for me to shoot for or at least apply to.</p>

5

<p>Re: post #3, Askar wasn’t saying that 800s aren’t good enough (obviously they are, LOL). He is saying that even with 2400+800s on subject tests, Harvard, Princeton, MIT, UPenn, and Cornell are reaches for everyone. They will evaluate you holistically (scores, grades, essays, extracurriculars, recommendations), so your top scores are only a small part of the package. That’s why it’s a reach for everyone :)</p>

<p>edit: seeing your last post, I definitely think you could apply to any of these schools, but none of them are safe bets.</p>

6

<p>Test scores are definitely not reliable, which is why I said that it really shouldn’t matter that I hadn’t taken them yet. With superscoring there are probably thousands of 2400s, and I know from published statistics 80,000+ 800s on Subject Tests. It’s explained here on daily basis that not getting 2,400 and 800s means not getting in and having adequate test scores just means not automatically being rejected. </p>

<p>My problem is that I don’t know how I stack up in terms of course work and ECs. They’re not too good, but for a URM they can’t be awful for some of the schools I named. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>What about University of Florida? I know that is still a school that does not accept the majority of its applicants, but I think it could what many people on here consider a “safety.” If I am not accepted to there, there would still be community colleges and the like with later admissions, but I think that’s something I shouldn’t worry about until Spring 2014 if and only if things go wrong in terms of finances, admissions, etc.</p>

7

<p>I think you are a very competitive applicant for all of these schools. And yes, I would assume that UF is a safety-low match for you. However, as you stated, your EC’s are a bit lacking. Not severely, but they could certainly be better. Your course load seems absolutely fine, not sure where you saw a problem with that. Good luck!</p>

8

<p>Assuming your essays and SAT II’s aren’t bad, you’ll probably get into most, if not all, of them. (besides Cambridge)</p>

9

<p>What do you have to do to get into Cambridge from the States? The only thing they look for American students is AP/IB scores and SAT scores. What will likely be my only 4s won’t even be considered because they would be irrelevant to my major. </p>

<p>9 5s (Based on my predictions and practice tests) and a 2400 and still no chance? :frowning:
I was hoping that even though international admissions were brutal, I would have a better chance there than some of the US schools because Cambridge looks only at test scores. Oh, well. Studying abroad is silly anyway, but I always liked the idea.</p>

10

<p>You have very good credentials for sure, but those are definitely tough schools to get in to. I think you will easily get into UF. As for the others, apply to them all. I feel you have a chance at any of them but its small. Odds are one will accept you.</p>

11

<p>Hispanic, 2400, and decent e.c.? I think you’ll get into one of these</p>

12

<p>No, not decent e.c.s or grades… That’s the problem.</p>

13

<p>You seem to be doing great so far. The B is kind of the bummer in your GPA</p>

<p>Definitely shoot for community service and volunteer and a lot of it! Somebody said 500+hrs looks great on here, but that’ll be next to impossible in one year</p>

14

<p>

-2400 Sat
-9 APs with apparently only 1 B
-Assuming 800’s on Sat II’s</p>

<p>I don’t know where you come from, but 9 APs and 1 B is more than “decent”. Along with being a minority, 2400 SAT, and possible perfect SAT II’s, I have no idea what you are worrying about and why you are making all of this seem like the average student can accomplish. The only thing that could be lacking is your e.c’s at this point.</p>

15

<p>Your scores are very high but you never mentioned your GPA. Florida is definitely a low match. Cambridge looks at AP/IB scores and GPA, so your probably a reach with your high sat and good ap scores. However, you might want to work on your ECs a little more to get into the Ivies or MIT. You are a low reach for Cornell, and a reach for the rest (UChicago, UPenn, etc.)</p>

16

<p>Would more lenience be granted for ECs because I was in a bad area for a while and moved between schools a lot?</p>

17

<p>You will probably get into at least 2 or 3 of the schools that I mentioned as a reach though because your a minority and have amazing test scores.</p>

18

<p>Well, the two are not going to be HYPMS or Cambridge.…</p>

19

<p>I can’t really speak for HYPMS because their admissions are a little different. Since a lot of the applicants have strong resumes, they will narrow their admissions by classifying the applicants in different categories and picking randomly (not literally, but you can never know). Good luck with it though, you have a pretty decent chance with a 2400.</p>

20

<p>Well, let’s hope there’s a large, empty Let’s-have-blind-faith-in-this-2400URM-who-probably-did-nothing-but-sit-around-study-and-cry-all-day category.</p>