<p>because you NEVER KNOW what the admissions officers will do. if you want to go to Hopkins, or any other school, just APPLY. </p>
<p>you KNOW you need solid grades, a hard class schedule, good SATs, and good extracurriculars (with depth, not breadth). write stellar essays and have good teacher recs. that's all there is to it - the rest is out of your control. </p>
<p>asking anyone who is not an admissions officer (and hell, even one who is) will not help. we don't know what will happen in the committee room. colleges, and especially Hopkins (I know because I've read the admissions blog a lot) look for "FIT" as the last important determining criterion. i.e., you can be accepted or rejected over someone more or less qualified because the admissions team is trying to build a diverse class - nothing you can do about that.</p>
<p>take a deep breath. you ARE going to college. just do your best. and remember, don't reduce yourself to numbers, or asking strangers what your "chances" are. if you work hard, your "chances" of going to a good school are 100%</p>
<p>Though I’m guessing most people who post ‘chances’ threads most them for a dozen different schools and don’t actually read the discussion boards about those schools. They used to be banned on CC (ages ago) for a reason</p>
<p>I don’t total agree with the OP’s proposition. It depends the circumstances. For example, if a person with 1700 SAT has no idea about Hopkins admission stats, it is helpful to tell her that your chance is low or point her to the JHS stats webpage. Also, some posters are very helpful in making suggestions that people seeking advice can benefit from them.</p>
<p>This is the main reason why I don’t respond to chances threads. So what if I tell you that you have a good resume. What do I know? No one has any idea what’s going to happen. I’ve seen people with superior stats than mine get waitlisted, and those with inferior stats get in over me. You really have no way of knowing why the admissions committee does what it does.</p>
<p>Chances posts can help steer an applicant to schools appropriate for her/his background, stats and interests. thedash is confusing certainty (“because you NEVER KNOW what the admissions officers will do”) with estimated likelihood of admission.</p>
<p>Applicants can get a head start on their chances by comparing their stats with those usually published in a school’s Common Data Set (google can find it) sections C9 to C12. E.g., the chances of someone with a 1700 SAT getting into a school where the 25th percentile is 2300 are close to zero.</p>