What to do...UCs, high-tier colleges

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I would like to point out that I am currently a SOPHOMORE, but I want to know which classes I should take and what summer activities I should do by senior year. I also would like to know whether I'm on the right track for these colleges:
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
Stanford
Yale
MIT</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Haven't taken yet, during summer I will take a preparatory class, but on practice tests, I can score 2100 (hope to raise to 2300+ after the class)
ACT: Haven't taken yet, but on a single run without any preparation (didn't even look at sections...just took the test with the time limits), I got a 34. After studying (using big red book), hope to get 36.
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0, includes 1st semester sophomore year): 3.944 (B in English freshman year second semester)
Weighted GPA: 4.0
AP (place score in parenthesis): I am going to take the AP tests for Bio, Macro, Micro, World History, Env Sci, Psych this year. Hope to take AP Chem, AP Lit, AP Human Geo, APUSH, AP Stats AP Euro junior year; and AP Language, AP Spanish, AP Gov, AP Physics B, AP Physics C (maybe...depends on how I like the subject), and AP Calc (AB/BC not sure yet) senior year.
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):</p>

<p>Participating in USABO...have to see how that goes and whether I make it to semis.</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Psychology Club - started this year (Secretary)
Chess Club (publicity officer)
4th year of robotics...plan on continuing until senior year (2 years of FLL, 2 years of FTC so far). Made it to regionals every year. Placed second at regionals in 8th and 9th grade. (coleader)
Chess since kindergarten. Won 2nd place state award as well as placed in many smaller tournaments. 1st nationally for my rating section in one national tourney. Team has gotten 1st place many times at states, gotten 2nd place at a national tourney, 6th place at supernational tourney.
Regionals for mathcounts 2 years in a row</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience:
Referee for 5 years and counting. I ref soccer games in the area.</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service: 78 hrs
Volunteer at Stanford Blood Center. Plan on continuing until senior year.
Taught chess for 2 summers in a row at a math camp (8th grade summer, freshman summer; do not plan on continuing this) (33 hrs)
Helped move tules to help with natural water filtration (17.5 hrs)
Helped out at various chess tournaments with set-up, cleanup, and marking scores (17.5 hrs)
Presented a powerpoint about the effects of water pollution, how people could help, etc at our close by junior high school (10 hrs)</p>

<p>Summer Activities:
Freshman summer - Took biochemistry at a junior college, got an A
Sophomore summer - Take another class at the junior college (hopefully bio/chem)
Junior summer - I can volunteer at a local hospital and manage the library, run tests to check for osteoporosis, check blood pressure, etc, probably will take another college course</p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: I do not know..it's a big thing to get into Stanford, Harvard, Yale, etc...but pretty common for a decent handful to get into UCB, LA, SD.
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <30k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A
Comments:
I want to self study most of the APs that I want to take. Our school has an annoying policy where they severely limit the courses we can take (no two math/science courses in same year, sophomores get 1 AP max, freshmen get no APs), so I plan on only taking AP Calc, AP Physics, AP Bio (currently taking), AP Chem, AP Lit, and AP Stats.</p>

2

<p>I think u r on the right trend. Keep working and you have a decent chance. Focus on your intangibles - colleges reject walking2400s+4.0UWs every year, so make sure you stand out in the process.</p>

<p>Comments?<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1609820-urgent-help-am-i-really-doomed-to-lose-schooling-or-go-to-a-community-college-will-chance-u-back.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1609820-urgent-help-am-i-really-doomed-to-lose-schooling-or-go-to-a-community-college-will-chance-u-back.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>tl;dr, but colleges will not care what you did in Jr high unless you win the Spelling Bee or something like that. Activities done in freshman year and not continued will not likely make the cut for your activities list. Advice: Don’t be so busy self studying for AP that you don’t make your classwork a priority. It isn’t necessary to have a ton of AP’s.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the comments, but I plan on self-studying out of interest, not really for apps.</p>

5

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1610008-trying-to-get-into-uc-s-help.html?new=1”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1610008-trying-to-get-into-uc-s-help.html?new=1&lt;/a&gt; i have a very similar question</p>

6

<p>You’re on the right track! Just keep taking hard classes, stay involved, And aim high on your SAT/ACT. Good luck! :)</p>

<p>Chance back?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1609239-chance-a-worried-senior-for-a-few-uc-s-i-ll-chance-back-p3.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1609239-chance-a-worried-senior-for-a-few-uc-s-i-ll-chance-back-p3.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>Bump?</p>

8

<p>That’s a lot of APs… You’re match/low match for the UC’s. Stanford, Yale, MIT are low reaches. You’re doing good, keep up those grades, keep practicing those standardized tests. You don’t have FRC at your school? I’m currently in it, it apparently looks a lot better than FTC or FLL.</p>

9

<p>Looks pretty good, but you have fallen into the generic “Good Asian Student” stereotype. Before even scrolled down half the comment, I knew you were Asian. It will really help your chances of admission anywhere to be DIFFERENT, not just from other Asians, but from all other applicants. Do something unique, restore an old muscle car or intern at Blackwater. Also, don’t assume a perfect test score.</p>

10

<p>You’re on the right track. But you’re a sophomore and I’m really hoping that the things that you say you’re going to do, you actually will. You never know if something comes down and you can’t do it. Like most of the people on here have said, YOU NEED TO BE DIFFERENT AND STAND OUT. Don’t forget! They want a WELL-ROUNDED kid, not one that’s a complete academic stickler. As long as you do what you do, and possibly more leadership positions and volunteer hours, and with good essays, I believe you’ll get into UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSD. </p>

<p>As far as Stanford, Yale, and MIT goes… Well you can take all those APs, have a perfect 4.0, and close to perfect SAT/ACT score and still not be well differentiated from their other applicants. As in, the majority of them will have the same stats as you. </p>

<p>As for your summers, since no one’s answered that part of question, you have to do something interesting and show that you have some intellectual vitality. Taking another class at a college over the summer is ALMOST the same as taking another AP class. You need to do something interesting with your summer, like go to another country on your own or attend an academic program where you meet all sorts of people from all around. I have a friend that was recently admitted into the University of Notre Dame and he spent all of his summers in Spain learning Spanish at one of the oldest universities in the world. I believe one or two summers by himself. Campus visits are also very important during the summer.</p>

<p>It’s okay to have only a few AP classes. My other friend has been admitted into MIT Early Action this year. He is our Valedictorian though and class president of Student Council for the last four years of high school, but he’s only taken seven AP classes. This guy though is what everyone here likes to call perfect. He’s practically our poster boy. Played football, soccer, and swimming for four years. Is the team captain for all of those sports. He never did anything really interesting with his summers, but worked out to prepare for the football season. He’s graduating with seven APs, but have only taken four tests so far. Fives on three of them and a four on the fourth one. He’s got about 135 hours of volunteer service too, or maybe a bit more. As for his extracurriculars around school, he just does two or three other clubs for a year or two. Promoted to a Lieutenant Colonel in our JROTC program. If you were to meet him, he really will show you that he has all the traits of a leader. Here’s something interesting about him though, he’s made nothing but a 95 or higher every semester of his high school career and has a 34 ACT score on his first try. Now all of this is resembles your average high achieving student (though a bit short on APs), but you know what I believe really put him over the top for admissions at MIT? His essays and recommendations and the personality that was conveyed in them. He’s always been a good writer, so his essays were very good I’m sure. But as for the recommendation, I recall one of the teachers told me that she wrote about a time where he ran across the basketball floor in a Batman costume during a tournament in front of the entire school. She says that’s how she remembers him, and will always remember him. Oh and he never competed in any academic competitions in high school. And he also got into MIT’s Honors Program.</p>

<p>So in conclusion, he’s got academics locked down and did the best he could, his extracurriculars weren’t bad and primarily focused around sports, his summers weren’t too great, he’s got a few hours of volunteer service, a great writer, had great recommendations, and has a grand personality. No wonder MIT decided to accept the athletic, Batman-costumed kid filled with leadership characteristics and has great grades and scores. He stood out (our school is relatively small though with not too much competition). That means you need to stand out amongst your peers to make it into a school such as Stanford, Yale, or MIT. And remember to have fun with everything that you do and be passionate. Schools can pick out any academic stickler they want, because they get a load of them every year.</p>

11

<p>Looks good so far, but I second @AsianAlly’s advice. AP’s are important but they aren’t the most important thing. Do what you enjoy and excel in it. Most people applying to top tiers will have great grades/ test scores like you. Make sure you have something unique. </p>

12

<p>Definitely on track! </p>

<p>34 ACT seems better than 2100 SAT, and is a great score for “single run without any preparation”.
Great that you’re so engaged in chess.
Start thinking about strong essay topics, build relationships with classmates and teachers, enjoy high school!</p>

13

<p>

</p>

<p>I actually have been looking for internships/programs that you mentioned, but with current financial situations, I have not been able to find any that have little or no cost (need to be close to home as well). I appreciate the advice you mentioned, and I’ll take all of it into consideration. I am legitimately interested in a career involving medicine, so I would like to possibly shadow doctors as well. I am not sure if this is still too much related to academics.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the feedback from everyone else as well! As many have mentioned, I will try to be more well-rounded and focus on other things besides academics.</p>

14

<p>@collegesplease
If you’re strapped down by financial situations, it’s okay. When you write your essays (or if there’s a section asking you what you did in the summer like Stanford has or an additional comments section) be sure to explain why you didn’t spend your summer doing this or that, ONLY IF you feel the need to explain or if the college really considers your summers very important. Keep in mind that colleges will pick depending on the context of the environment you come from. As in, depending on how you express yourself in your essays, they’ll realize where you come from and what kinds of opportunities you have. Some kids are wealthier than others so they have several opportunities, so colleges expect them to take on several of those opportunities, while some have financial issues, colleges expect them to make the most of the opportunities that they have. So simply put, if you don’t have the money to do a load of expensive things during the summer, it’s okay, just use the resources you have. </p>

<p>Best of luck to ya!</p>

15

<p>

@AsianAlly Thanks! I was worried about that part, but knowing that colleges take into account financial background when looking at applications relieves a lot of stress. Thank you for the help!</p>

<p>

@Yopperpo We are able to compete in FRC (the team I’m on is not affiliated with our school for logistical purposes and because we would have to sacrifice a lot for not much gain), but again, the main problem is finances. It is too costly, so we have to stick with FTC unless we are able to find a big sponsor willing to alleviate the majority of the expenses required for a good FRC robot.</p>

<p>Another thing that I would like to mention (which I forgot to put in my original post) is that I am also taking some APs for college credit, which will save quite a bit of money. Along with that, I have been on the badminton team for 2 years now. The Chess Club is most likely also going to hold a chess tournament and donate proceedings to a charity organization (this was just recently decided on).</p>