What should I do to improve my chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a rising senior.</p>

<p>Half Asian, half El Salvadorian</p>

<p>Location: California
GPA: No clue. Weighted, it's always been above a 4.0</p>

<p>Freshman </p>

<p>Honors English A/A
Health/Geography (required) A+/A+
P.E. A/A
Spanish I A/A
Newspaper A/A
Geometry B/A</p>

<p>Summer: Bio A/A</p>

<p>Sophomore</p>

<p>Chemistry B/B
Honors English A-/A
AP European History A-/A (those might be switched...but it doesn't matter)
Algebra II A (this might be a B)/A
Newspaper A/A
Spanish II B+/A</p>

<p>Summer: PE A/A</p>

<p>Junior</p>

<p>AP Biology B/C+ (ow)
Accelerated Math Analysis B-/C+ (double ouch)
AP English Language A+/A+
Spanish III A+/A
Newspaper A+/A+
AP US History A-/A+</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule</p>

<p>AP Literature
AP Spanish
AP Calc BC <em>fear</em>
AP Economics/Government
Newspaper
Contest Speech</p>

<p>Community College - Some art class.</p>

<p>SATs</p>

<p>SAT Reasoning Test - 1870 (CR 640 Math 520 Writing 710)
SAT IIs - Literature (670) US History (660)</p>

<p>APs</p>

<p>Euro - 2
US History - 4
Biology - 3
English Language - 4</p>

<p>ECs</p>

<p>-Dancer jazz/tap/some ballet for six years</p>

<p>-Newspaper (Editor in chief) 9-12</p>

<p>-School's chapter of the American Cancer Society (President) 10-12</p>

<p>-International Club (President) 10-12</p>

<p>-Literary Journal Executive Editor (president) 9-12</p>

<p>-Speech and Debate (public relations officer) 10-12</p>

<p>-Spanish Club 10-12</p>

<p>-BFB Recycling Club (probably will be an officer) 10-12</p>

<p>-California Scholarship Federawhowho. =) 9-12</p>

<p>-ART Club...one and a half years...it disappeared. But we made a school mural. =)</p>

<p>-Peer tutor 11-12</p>

<p>-Student rep on City Commission for Traffic and Parking (one year)</p>

<p>-Youth member of two Christian churches</p>

<p>-Started a community campaign for UNICEF called YACAPASE. It's active. =) 11-forever</p>

<p>Awards</p>

<p>-Rotary Youth Leadership Award</p>

<p>-Second runner up for Girls State</p>

<p>-Went to California State Speech Championships twice (been in speech for two years)</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Cal Sate San Bernardino Creative Writing Contest</p>

<ul>
<li>2004 Honorary Mention for fictional short story</li>
<li>2005 Finalist for fictional short story</li>
<li>2006 Winner for fictional short story (being considered for publication in Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul...but doubt it will happen)</li>
</ul></li>
<li><p>Various speech awards</p></li>
<li><p>All the school stuff: attendance, honor roll</p></li>
<li><p>Article has been published in city newspaper</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Community Service</p>

<p>Freshman - None
Sophomore - 33 hours
Junior - just shy of 100</p>

<p>Goals</p>

<p>I want to major in International Relations and find a career where I can go abroad and help children and families live better lives. My strength is in languages, so I am considering minoring in that. I also see writing and dancing in my future. But I want to focus on my dreams of saving the world, through the government or UNICEF. And...I'd like to make enough money to not starve to death. =)</p>

<p>I'm ridiculously optimistic and very gung-ho. I have dreams of single-handedly taking on poverty (and marrying Clay Aiken...but that's another story).
This summer, I plan on doing activities through my church and making YACAPASE more active. YACAPASE (Young Adults Campaigning Against Poverty, and Spreading Education) is a campaign I founded in my area. We educate the public about issues facing children and families in third-world countries, and we fundraise to assist them through UNICEF. We also work in the community. This school year, I will also become a strong anti-smoking activist both for the American Cancer Society and for my own reasons.</p>

<p>I am worried that my junior year GPA, and to a lesser extent, my SAT scores, will affect my overall chances. Science and math are without a doubt, my weakest subjects (I like to believe that Asian gene decided to skip me). I am retaking the reasoning test, SAT II Lit, and after summer math tutoring, am going to take the SAT II Math 2. I would appreciate advice as to what I can do to improve my chances. At this point, I'd prefer to stay in California, but I won't completely shun OOS recommendations. </p>

<p>The schools I've considered thus far include UCSD, UCB, Pitzer, Claremont-McKenna, Pepperdine, Stanford, and USC.</p>

<p>Should I work on community service? Club hours? SATs?</p>

<p>Feel free to be brutally honest. I'm am content with what I've done up until now, because I feel I have stayed true to myself through my clubs and other activities. However, the pre-college-application jitters are chewing on my toes, so I need input.</p>

<p>Thanks for any and all help. CCers are the best. (I apologize for being long-winded).</p>

2

<p>Hermione, My theory on college admissions is that above all colleges are looking for interesting kids that do interesting things. You certainly qualify.</p>

<p>First control what you can control. Your grades are fine. Don't worry about what's already done; just concentrate on doing your best senior year.
Take the SATI again and see how you do. Your scores are acceptable, not tip top, but not too bad either. You are obviously a humanities person. It's okay to be lopsided. </p>

<p>What's your rank? This is the third statistical point that you need.</p>

<p>Second, Focus on your URM status. Your Asian/Hispanic combination can be an asset to some schools, especially if you would consider those outside of California.</p>

<p>Third, Organize your ECs. It's great to be multi-faceted, but you need to edit your presentation so the reader can better grasp who you are and what's meaningful to you. Pick two or three activities that are really, really important to you and put together a powerful and focused resume. I would think that your creative writing, speech/debate and dance, and community service accomplishments would all be appealing to many colleges. Remember colleges (especially smaller ones) are looking for kids who will contribute to the campus community. </p>

<p>Fourth, think about how you can use your essays (yours should be very good) to communicate your passions and interests in a cohesive and powerful message. Make sure that your recommenders clearly understand your accomplishments as well so that they can include them in what they write about you. A resume is a good tool to help them.</p>

<p>Last and this is probably the MOST important, be very clear about your family's financial situation. Will you require financial aid to attend the private schools on your list? If yes, do you qualify for need based aid? Will you need merit aid? The financial aid system is complex, but you need to understand it.</p>

<p>Good luck and let us know how it goes.</p>

3

<p>totally agree with momrath. Nice to see someone giving GOOD advice without jealous bashing :)</p>

4

<p>HermioneTapper:</p>

<p>UCB: Slight Reach
UCSD: Match</p>

5

<p>Thank you momrath, Trackbabi, and flopsy!</p>

<p>My rank is 30/767. Is the GPA everybody posts cumulative? If so (according to my report card) -</p>

<p>GPA UW 3.71/W 4.09 (no clue how that transfers to UC GPA)</p>

<p>When I go to whichever university, I plan on being very involved in their clubs and other organizations. Should I mention this in my essay, or would they think I was just sucking up?</p>

<p>Once again, thanks!</p>

6

<p>Hermione, In college applications you have to get over the fear of "sucking up" or "blowing your own horn." Now is not the time to hide your light. </p>

<p>Yes, if you intend to continue your involvement in any or all of your activies once you get on campus, you need to get this across. How do you do that? Directly, you can tell them in interviews or on the application (some ask). Indirectly, you can feature your passion in your essays and and ask your recommenders to to the same. You can include an activities resume with your application. </p>

<p>What's important is to communicate not that these are things that you do, but rather that you do them because they are who you are. </p>

<p>I don't know much about the admissions process at the UCs so I'll leave that to those who do. </p>

<p>Stanford is insanely selective and competitive, one of the most. I would think that your scores may be problematic there, but it really depends on what they need to balance their internal demographics -- not just in race, but also in activities. E.g., they need people who will excel in creative writing just like they need physicists.</p>

<p>I think you'll find that the smaller LACs will be very interested in your profile and that their style of teaching and environments will be appealing to you. Pitzer and Claremont are great schools. I would add Pomona as a reach.</p>

<p>If you are willing to try farther afield, then there are many more excellent LACs that would be VERY interested in recruiting an Asian/Hispanic with strong statistics and a wide range of accomplishments. Some that come to mind are Grinnell, Carleton, Macalester, and Kenyon in the midwest. Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Haverford, Middlebury, Hamilton, Bowdoin, Skidmore, Smith in the East. There are more, but that's a start.</p>

<p>Remember to consider your financial situation, though. This is the key to the entire process as there's no point to get accepted and not have the money to attend.</p>

7

<p>Shouldn't you apply to four UCs? Other California types said that you can- on one application. You may get differing financial offers from all four. Other than that- I agree with Momrath. You are a good candidate. Claremont McKenna sounds like a great fit. Momrath is right about looking into the finances now, and seriously. You need to estimate your EFC (Expected Family Contribution). You can do this online. If it's low, you should be eligible for need-based aid. If it's high, it means that your parents will have to pay a lot. If they are willing to, fine. Otherwise, you are in a bind along with many middle-class students, and will probably do better to concentrate on the public universities.</p>

8

<p>Will the first sixty dollars cover the cost of four UCs?</p>

<p>I'm lucky enough to be in a situation where I could pay for a UC minus any grants and scholarships, perhaps even a reasonably priced private. However, depending on things that happen this year and my parents, there is still hope that I can afford someplace expensive like Stanford.</p>

<p>How important is community service? On the apps, do they ask for cumulative hours since freshman year? That would bring me to roughly 120. Should I join some kind of organization to get more hours? I really don't want to do something just for the sake of hours, but there are some local places I would be interested in if it was something that I decide to do.</p>