<p>Honest, and overly-critical evaluations are greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.93 (94-100=A scale, I don't have any B's)
Class Rank: 5/357, competitive CT public school
SAT I: 2390 (790 W)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 World History, 780 Physics
APs: 4 5's, 1 4. Will take four APs and one self-study next year.</p>
<p>ECs:
-Baseball: Have played club all my life. Club team won a state title Jr. year, I co-captained that team. Three-year varsity, two-year starter, won county and state titles. At one point high school team ranked #2 in CT, consistently in top 10. My club team was ranked in the top 100 nationally this spring, and I captained that team.
-Music: Classical/jazz trombone player, honors orchestra three years (principal Sr. year), honors jazz ensemble three years. Also involved in administrative/outreach work to keep our small program afloat (I officially hold an administrative position).
-I've been involved in a lot of tutoring, both volunteer and private. Sophomore year I was just involved in a school program, junior/senior year added tutoring of less affluent members of baseball team. (~2-3 hrs/wk)
-Science olympiad, not a huge commitment, but will be captain Sr. year. I've also won a couple fairly prestigious county awards.
-For fun, I am a music/film buff. I had a three-week internship at a bilingual magazine in PR that concentrates on film and books, and also have done a little radio work.</p>
<p>I can count on incredible recommendations from counselor/teachers.</p>
<p>I plan on applying to:
Yale
Harvard
Columbia
Brown
Amherst
UChicago
UPenn
MIT
Bowdoin</p>
<p>You've got a good chance at the Ivys (if there is such a thing), and you will definitely get into a great school. Are you a legacy to any of those schools? Are you an URM?</p>
<p>It's a case of USA competition. Our class of '09 is supposedly the most competitive, not because we are large, but because there are actually several high achieving students born into the class. You are as competitive as anyone else for so few seats; you should add more back up schools just in case. I have a feeling college decisions in April will be as "crapshoot" as it was for the class of '08.</p>
<p>I've read many chance threads. Don't let these people scare you. You are outstanding as a candidate. You will undoubtably get accepted at at least one of HYP.</p>
<p>Thanks for your comment on my thread! In general, I agree with the others and I think azngod summarized the essential point both adequately and succintly. Your academic profile is close to perfect. Your ECs are decent but you don't have anything that really sticks out (this is not necessarily a bad thing, just something you will have to counter through essays and such). Here's what I think: </p>
<p>Yale - Better than average chances for sure, I'd give it a Reach with a 30-40% chance of acceptance (which is pretty dam good for Yale I think)
Harvard - Reach and just about the same as Yale though harder since you had in-state status for that one (25-35%).
Columbia - Low Reach which is much better than many on this site. I think with some really good essays, you could get in easily (45-60%).
Brown - Same as Columbia
Amherst - Same as Columbia
UChicago - Obviously the essays make the admission here, but you have everything else all set up. I'd call it a high match (assuming good essays) w/ a 60-75% chance of acceptance.
UPenn - About the same as Columbia, possibly a little easier.
MIT - Other than your academics, the components of your profile don't really seem MITish at all. I think it will be harder than Harvard for you to get in so Reach w/ a 15-25% chance of acceptance.
Bowdoin - Match, pretty much a 100% chance of acceptance really.</p>
<p>Thanks for the comments so far everyone. nj, MIT was out of the question until like last week when I considered applying just because of how blown away I was by the place. It probably is not for me, and the fact that you noticed that my app didn't feel MIT is really pretty helpful actually.</p>
<p>My EC list is convoluted and there are a couple errors in there (the second sentence of the baseball should have been omitted), but I do agree that nothing really sticks out, and have been a little anxious about that.</p>
<p>Yale - 30-40%
Harvard - 25-35%
Columbia - 45-55%
Brown - 40-50%
Amherst - 35-45%
UChicago - Essays are huge, but I'd say 50-60%
UPenn - 45-55%
MIT - 30-40%
Bowdoin - 80-90%</p>
<p>I'm not exactly an expert, so take my assessment with a grain of salt. I think you might want to add one more school at Bowdoin's level just as a match/safety (hard to call Bowdoin a safety but w/e). Maybe Carleton, Hamilton, Bates, or Colgate.</p>
<p>Objectives (Grades, SAT's, AP's, and rank) are all excellent.</p>
<p>Where I see you falling short is in the extra-curriculars. Unless you are good enough to be recruited in baseball, none of your's really stand out as particularly remarkable. I think you just have to work to differentiate yourself in your application, or you risk being unmemorable.</p>
<p>Those really are some amazing stats. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you got into all the colleges you're applying to. It's probably not going to happen but just having a chance to do that with that list is amazing.</p>
<p>Numbers-wise, you're good. Maintain those A's senior year, and with those SAT I/II's, you're fine.</p>
<p>Now, ECs. I'd recommend really highlighting baseball and music/film stuff (especially for MIT, music seems to be the only techy/math thing you're into). Really focus on awards and "passion" (yes, the ubiquitous admissions buzzword) in those arenas. I'd say your solid and don't have much work to do besides maintainance and waiting out results.</p>
<p>In terms of your list, it's veeeery reach-heavy. Because you're a strong candidate in a pool of strong candidates, you will want to apply to a plethora of top schools. However, I'd pare your list down based on preferences and then add some more matches and safeties. What do you want to major in? Where do you want to be--countryside or city? Core curriculum or open? UChic and Columbia make sense in the same list, as do Brown and Amherst. But Amherst and Columbia?</p>
<p>My guess-timations:</p>
<p>Yale 25%
Harvard 20-30%
Columbia 30-40%
Brown 40-60%
Amherst 45-60%
UChicago 50-60%
UPenn 40-45%
MIT 20-25%
Bowdoin 70-80%</p>
<p>MIT - high reach
UPenn (Wharton?) - high reach
Harvard/Yale - reach
Columbia/Brown/UChicago - low reach/ should get into at least one of those places
Bowdoin - match
maybe you should look into 1 or 2 more matches or safeties</p>