Where to Apply ED & My Chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi Everyone! I'm an Asian Indian from small town 99% Caucasian Maine, and I was hoping you guys could help me out with a couple things.
I know I have a horrid GPA and SATs, but I was wondering which of the school I'm prospectively interested in I should apply to that will look past test scores and such to extracurriculars. I was also wondering which of these schools (like top schools, Duke etc.) would be advantageous for me to apply to ED/EA. Thanks for your help!</p>

<p>10%-30% Admission Rate:
Cornell, Duke, Berkeley, Rice (Rice/Baylor Program), UCLA, Northwestern
30%-50% Admission Rate:
Carnegie Mellon, UCSD, UMaryland, URochester, SUNY Stony Brook, UT Austin, UC Davis
50% + Admission Rate:
McGill, Purdue, Ohio State, Penn State</p>

<p>Stats:
GPA: 90.3/100 unweighted, 98/100 weighted. 75-85 = C, 85-93 = B, 93-100 = A
SAT's: 1910 overall, will retake in October.
SAT II's: Taking in November.
ACT's: Waiting on results.
Class Rank: top 23%
AP's (by the end of senior year): AB Calculus and English Literature as a Junior, Spanish Literature, English Language, Biology, and Statistics as a Senior. One of three juniors to be the first to take AB Calculus. I've taken all but two of my schools offered APs (and of course, other language APs.)</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:
Yearbook Editor: Junior and Senior Year
Swimmer: Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year
Interact Club: First member as a Sophomore, ran it as a Junior and Senior
Speech and Debate: Only girl Student Congress debater, Member since Sophomore year, CoCaptain Junior and Senior Year, National Qualifier Junior and Senior Year
Took two classes at UC Berkeley (freshman + sophomore level) and passed both summer of Junior Year</p>

<p>High School Awards and Honors
RYLA, one of ten kids selected to go on full scholarship
Outstanding Spanish Freshman Year
Outstanding Scarborough Terrace Volunteer Sophomore Year
Speech and Debate Regional 1st-6th Place Awards, National Qualifier
Honor Roll
Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 5 Graduate</p>

<p>Volunteering
Maine Medical Center: Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year (150+)
Scarborough Terrace: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year (100+)
India Association of Maine (Volunteer Hindi Teacher, Youth Coordinator): Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year (20+)
Interact Club: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year (10+)</p>

<p>Recommendations
Cognitive Science UC Berkeley Professor or Head of Math Department at University of Southern Maine
Speech and Debate Coach</p>

<p>Other
Wrote a Cognitive Science Graduate Level Proposed Study at UC Berkeley
Fluent in Hindi and Punjabi, taught it to kids
Year younger (I skipped kindergarden and will be graduating HS at age 16)
Hopefully will be starting the first volunteer tutoring program for kids in my community this year
Played Piano for eight years</p>

<p>Overall, I think I had a really adventurous high school transcript as most kids at my school don't take that many APs (I'm one the only kids to take this many APs), and I contribute to diversity as I'm from Maine (and Indian). I'm writing my college essays on moving and how it affected me, and teaching Hindi to kids. Also, my dad was in the hospital and had medical problems most of my Sophomore and beginning of my Junior year and I'm going to note that on my application, because thats why my grades suffered those years. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :) Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Decent shot at the following schools, imo:
UCSD, UMaryland, URochester, SUNY Stony Brook, UT Austin, UC Davis, Purdue, Ohio State, Penn State.</p>

3

<p>Hi, I’m a new user. How do I start a new thread?</p>

4

<p>thanks, princetondreams!</p>

<p>anyone else? any input is appreciated.</p>

5

<p>Having also applied from rural Maine, I’d have to say that there must be some diversity advantage even being one of the 95% of my school who were white. I think your extracurriculars are also very good. My only advice would be to make sure to be satisfied with your safeties if you’re going to shoot high because there are some very brilliant students from my school that are going to UMO but aren’t really satisfied with it. If there is a school you really like, definitely apply ED. I know you’d have a very good shot at the University of Rochester, and the other schools seem comparably selective with the exception of Duke, UCB, Northwestern, Rice, and Carnegie Mellon.</p>

6

<p>32 on my ACT composites.
Does that help my chances at all?</p>

7

<p>Specifically for UCLA, the average SAT score is a 2100 [stated by an admissions officer] and your ACT is comparable to that. Plus, UCLA puts a lot of emphasis on extracurricular activities so I believe you have a decent shot at UCLA too. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>