<p>Hi everyone! I can't believe it's senior year already! This is my first post here and I'm really wondering about my "chances". I've lurked here for a while but never really posted, but I'm really curious as to what you guys think my chances are. I've dreamed about going to an Ivy league all my life but if I don't get in, I won't fret about it. </p>
<p>A little background: I'm an Asian male from California, am first-generation and low-income. I was born in a Southeast Asian country but moved here when I was still very young. I go to a under-performing high school.</p>
<p>My GPA is 3.94, but my school doesn't weight. If it does weight I think I would have a 4.3 or so. My rank is currently 2. I took all the most challenging courses available but that means only 5 AP classes, and a few honors classes.</p>
<p>My SAT score is 2240 (690 W, 750 M, 800 V).
My SAT subject tests are (780 USH, 740 Math level II, and 720 Literature)</p>
<p>My EC's aren't spectacular. I have positions in a few clubs (VP, treasurer) but each club doesn't meet more than an hour or two a week. I've played piano for 8 years and did exams each year but no competitions. I also play a sport at school.</p>
<p>I've taken APUSH and AP English lang of which I got 4 on APUSH and 5 on Language. I am planning to take AP french, AP biology, English Lit, Calc BC this year.</p>
<p>College list</p>
<p>Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Penn
Stanford
UC Berkeley
UCLA</p>
<p>You have great academic stats, but your relative lack of ECs is going to hurt you at the Ivies/Stanford. That's not to discourage you, considering these schools are reaches for everyone. Give it a shot, but you definitely need to mix some more matches and safeties in there.</p>
<p>I agree with the above poster. You don't seem to really have much to make you stand out from other applicants. Recommendations and essays are very significant, however (and interviews when applicable), so you still have a shot with that. I'd say apply to some Ivies (and when I say Ivies I include Stanford), but don't count on getting in. You have a shot, but not much more of a shot than the next applicant with similar scores (which is most).</p>
<p>What you need to remember is that nothing is a sure bet. You have far too many reaches, and if you apply to just the schools on your current list you may be very unhappy come April. There are many top-notch schools that aren't Ivies. Find out what you want in a school, and start looking around. Ivies aren't everything. A rep from UPenn came to my area recently and at his presentation he said, "It doesn't matter where you go to college, it matters what you do once you're there."</p>
<p>I wouldn't get your hopes to high, you have nothing that sets you apart from the average Ivy applicant, as said above. Most who apply to the same schools have similar academic stats. That being said, you do have very good scores, and I'm sure you will get in somewhere.</p>
<p>kyledavid said you have a good shot at the ivies in general, but not at HYPS in particular. Columbia and the UCs are possible for you, but you have little chance for the upper tier ivies. Have you considered applying to cornell?</p>
<p>No. Its acceptance rate is about the same, but its not close to as selective. I would add a few more top schools like Brown, Duke, and Dartmouth to hedge your bets.</p>
<p>Are you ELC for your school? if so then you have a good shot at UC and UCLA. The rest are highly competative and admissions are a crapshot these days. And you REALLY need some safeties and matches, if you wouldn't want to go to UCB or UCLA because of their size.</p>