<p>And @sgopal2 do my chances at Berkeley and San Diego decrease drastically if I’m out-of-state? I live in Colorado, but Berkeley attracted my attention with the research the Berkeley lab as done with the Ebola virus recently.</p>
<p>And San Diego has one of the best biotechnology departments in the nation.</p>
<p>EDIT: Okay, so I realized that responders have been “chancing” me for the schools I want to apply to. I understand that nobody really understands the admissions process inside and out, so while your advice has been helpful, they are obviously not the keys for guaranteed acceptance.</p>
<p>From now on, please offer input on whether I’ll be competitive, meaning, will my application be worthy of a second glance or will it just be discarded by admissions officers at the school as too plain, too dull, not flashy enough, etc.? Any other advice on how to make my application more eye-catching will also be very welcome :)</p>
<p>Your application won’t be summarily discarded. However you need to find things to differentiate yourself. Take the snowboarding for example. Not that many Asians are interested in winter-sports. Spending time explaining your interest in this would help you stand apart</p>
<p>@sgopal2 oh, really? All the Asians where I live are all about hitting the slopes in the winter because we have lots of mountains and we get LOTS of snow every year. Okay, thanks for the tip!</p>
<p>@snowboardchick97: You’re definitely a competitive applicant, and no, I highly doubt your application will be discarded. Strong essays and LORs are a must. Work on the more subjective parts of your application to help AOs get to know you (and get to like you!). If you get your ACT around 34-35, you’ll be even more competitive. As a side note, it’s so cool that you did an internship with Random House! The publishing industry is so fascinating. Can I ask what you did in the internship (not for the purposes of chancing, just because I think it’s really awesome 
)</p>
<p>@frozens I worked in a local division of Penguin Random House that centered mostly on religion; my division specialized in Catholic books. I basically just worked in publicity with a bunch of books that were scheduled to be released in the fall, making the book’s release known to as many interested marketers as possible I wanted to work in another department, but they were centered in New York and heck, I wasn’t going to fly all the way to New York for an internship lol :)) </p>
<p>Bump</p>
<p>@Lacoste Um… Colorado College accepts 22% of their applicants. It’s not a safety.</p>
<p>@AnnieBeats yeah, I’m on the same page. Possibly a match but not a safety.</p>
<p>For the class of 2018 Colorado College accepted 18% :-(</p>
<p>@PhxRising but a lot of people at my church and school have gotten in no problem, so I’m seeking their advice for the applications process staying hopeful!</p>