<p>I'll say where I committed once I receive the OFFICIAL letter of acceptance. No need to jinx anything. Haha did I really type that list? Sorry, I ACTUALLY applied to (from that list): Stanford, Duke, Harvard, Yale, Tulane, Pton, Brown, Ill, Mich, Columbia, Williams, Northwestern, Pomona, Redlands, and Penn. I must have been thinking about the original long list I had made of schools to look at. My bad sorry about that. So thats 15 schools. Pretty sure that's it. I know it's still a lot, but I worked on them over the summer during my 10000000 hours in airplanes, so it really didn't feel like that many. Plus, I was nervous about any acceptances. I doubt I would choose Illinois over any of the other schools on my list (Mich is 2nd to last) purely because of size, but I wanted a real safety that I could be 90% sure of acceptance in. In addition, coaches say "apply here and I'll see what I can do" so I felt like I should apply there, it would be quite a privelage to attend any of those 15 schools (although some more than others-not by much, they're all pretty solid). I was wondering what everyone was complaining about with regards to my # of schools...I know people who applied to more than me! But, they were basically applying to schools they truly had no chance at unless they were to "slip through the cracks" and be admitted on accident. But, the chances of this must be somewhere close to the supposed 5% admit rate Harvard RDers are being treated to this year! Oy...</p>
<p>Mesaboogie,</p>
<p>Without golf, you are a relatively solid admit at most places including Duke and the Ivies. If golf comes into play you are totally HYP range.</p>
<p>Also, just out of curiosity more than anything, why didnt you apply to Dartmouth? The rest of your list seems to be an exact mixture of what Dartmouth is (a LACish/Ivy with an active community/ social scene).</p>
<p>There are a number of things that led me to my decision to not apply to Dartmouth. I have heard Hanover is really isolated. While this may also be the case for Williams and some other LACs, if I'm going to go to a university, I would like to be at least NEAR a city (within a reasonable distance). Also, as you have all so nicely pointed out, I applied to a plethora of schools. Adding Dartmouth seemed to make it even more of a "prestige list." It just didn't seem right. Plus, I would probably have matriculated to Brown and Penn over Dartmouth (if only admitted to those), so it seemed like my list was long enough. Hopefully, I made the right choice.</p>
<p>I don't understand why everyone has said I am a solid admit at most of these places. I have a 3.75 or a 3.8 at (supposedly) one of the hardest high schools in the country (weighted, it's much higher). My transcript is not exactly homogenous. For example, my weighted GPA freshman year was something like a 4.7. Last year, it skyrocketed and my semester weighted GPAs were 5.6s. Granted, my school has oversimplified its weighted GPA scale (if you're curious how this works, let me know). I just found out that they have now (almost) completely done away with rankings. Before, we had the decile system. Now they are going to let kids pick either their weighted or UW and then list the 25th, 75th, and 99th percentile GPA. But, that's not really relevant to anything. If it weren't for golf, I do not have any national awards (except the give-aways and the AP Scholar with Distinction). While I think my list of leadership and extra curriculars is solid (soccer coach, tutor board, student government, sunday school teacher, some community service and guitar...which doesn't count because I didn't play in the school band but rather my own... and research), I haven't done anything for the community for 1000 hours. Golf has taken somewhere close to a billion. I have not done anything academic over the summer (ok Intro to Java at CC does not count...it was web based haha) so all those RSI kids and Tellerude kids have a jump on me. I'm sure these schools have 4,000 applicants with similar test scores, higher GPAs, and similar extra curriculars. What is so different about my application?</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement, though.</p>
<p>But, yes, with golf I believe I am "within range." However, I define that to be a 25-50% chance which is a 2 to 5 times greater chance of acceptance than everyone else has. Coaches can bring in whoever they want. Well, that's an exaggeration. The AI floor for athletes is a 171. No one is seriously applying to Harvard under a 171 though.</p>
<p>Oh, how hard is it to get into Mich? All my friends have been saying you need a 4.0...Harvard does not even require a 4.0 (3.999 will suffice with an exhorbant amount of ECs haha) and that I will be surprised when I receive the response from them. They're lying, right?</p>
<p>In my first 3 semesters, I got UW GPAs of 3.6, 3.5, and 3.6. In the past 4 semesters, I have recorded 4.0s. While I know an upward grade trend is good, I think this is going to be looked down upon because I obviously slacked off during freshman and the beginning of sophomore year. Then....EPIPHANY! It was just that up until 9th grade I had never been challenged in school. I got As in English for just turning the paper in. High school was a bit of a shock for me when I would turn something in (half-a$$ed) and get back a C- or a D. Then, brilliant me would say 'oh well, I'll try next semester' and just continue to procrastinate. </p>
<p>But, I got my grades up (in all AP courses junior and senior year...this is not supposed to happen haha they are supposed to be harder, I just find them more interesting so I pay attention more).</p>
<p>I'm worried about my counselor's recommendation. My school has advisery at the beginning of the day and they have our adviser write the recommendation. We have had the same adviser since sophomore year (there is a freshman campus where we had a different adviser) and he is quite the stickler. No one likes him and he doesn't like anyone. Advisery has been hell for the past few years. At our freshman end-of-the-year-beach-party, we got into a fist fight. When I applied for some leadership thing in school and he had to fill out a recommendation form where he circled my level of __<strong><em>, he marked really low numbers. I got a 'best in my career' from one of my math teachers, and an 'exceptional' from my english teacher, but I'm not sure what he wrote. I have tried to get along with him, I even went so far as to take his class (some programming thing) and got As in it and tried hard (well...it was easy but it seemed like I was trying). So, I imagine that I have improved from his perspective. But, recommendations mean so much to these schools and this guy is such an _</em></strong>...</p>
<p>Absolutely. No place requires a 4.0, that is ridiculous. My friend had a 3.8 tops, 1350 tops and got in, and he is a typical accepted applicant from my school. You are in without a doubt. Let me rephrase that. If you do not get in, email me and I will write you a check for $20. I am that certain.</p>
<p>As for the others, I dont think you were being ridiculous at all by applying to so many schools, although I think you applied to too many safeties (did you need Tulane, Redlands, AND UIUC.) With acceptance rates as low as they are, I think the old 6-8 school mantra is long gone. Anyway, you will get into Michigan and likely Northwestern. After that I would say at least one of the others.</p>
<p>Tulane: New Orleans sounds fun
Redlands: parent was in influential person there, class prez, captain of debate team that went to nationals and helped put it on the map, wanted to see if somehow we'd get thrown a lot of fin aid
UIUC: does anyone NOT apply to their state school? It's near mandatory at my hs...they promote it to hell and pressure you to get your app in really early. It was quite a pain and I did it in some garbage hotel in Bloomington during a hs match. </p>
<p>Slipper: that friend got into UMich? or one of the other ones? Mich is low on my list because I don't really want a state school. Northwestern is low on my list (but not that bad...) because it is 5 minutes from my house, which kills the college-is-a-new-environment thing. But, they're both really solid schools. Northwestern has quite the business school, too...</p>
<p>I honestly think that the biggest longshot on that list is Stanford because 1) I am not being recruited as heavily (probably getting VERY little help with admissions) and 2) there are at least 250 applicants from my school, with 35 'typical admits' and 5 near shoe-ins. One of these shoe-ins is one of my friends. You know the type: straight honors (though not straight As), 7 APs junior & senior year, debate, math team, science olympiad, scho bowl, 1600 & 2400 (2c, physics, writing), and parent is a graduate school professor at N'western. But, he's asian and I'm white, so if they actually do have quotas we won't be competing against eachother so much. I really wouldn't mind if he got in and I didn't (haha and yes, this is the rationale I would use...lol so what wouldn't you?), he's been really cool and wrote great peer evaluations for some of my other schools. </p>
<p>I am most interested in HP and Brown/Penn (since S is not exactly feasible).</p>
<p>132.5 AMC12. That's solid. Now for that stupid AIME...I can never get past this level...............ugggggggggggggg</p>