<p>Senior at nationally ranked HS. Interested in Ivies and similarly prestigious schools. </p>
<p>Standardized Testing</p>
<p>SAT: 2300, first-time, single-sitting. 740 M, 760 CR, 800 W, 10 E.
PSAT: 225 (National Merit Semifinalist) </p>
<p>SAT Subject Tests:
[ul]
[<em>]USH: 800
[</em>]Lit: 710 (lol)
[<em>]Planning to take Bio; expected score: 800
[</em>]Planning to take Math II; expected score: 800
[/ul]</p>
<p>APs and IBs:
[ul]
[<em>]World History - 5
[</em>]European History - 5
[<em>]US History - 5
[</em>]Calculus AB - 5
[<em>]English Language - 5
[</em>]Environmental Science - 5
[li]IB Philosophy SL - 7 (out of 7) [/li][/ul] </p>
<p>Academics
[ul]
[li]Top 20% of graduating class. </p>[/li]
<p>[li]GPA: 3.8 UW (Relatively weak freshman and sophomore years. Perfect UW 4.0 junior year despite taking 4 APs; aiming for 4.0 first half of senior year.[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Current courseload:
[ul]
[<em>]AP Calc BC
[</em>]AP Stat
[<em>]AP Biology
[</em>]AP Chinese
[<em>]AP English Literature
[</em>]AP Microeconomics
[li]Epistemology (IB)[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Accolades:
[ul]
[<em>]National Merit Semifinalist
[</em>]National Honor Society member
[li]Various other honor societies (I know these don't mean too much so I won't delineate them here).[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Extracurriculars</p>
<p>Music
[ul]
[li]Assistant tuba/sousaphone section leader in symphonic and marching band. We have won several competitions, once earning the chance to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York. Also, marching band at my school is a 20 hour/week commitment for the entirety of football season, and symphonic band is a 10 hour/week commitment from December to June. </p>[/li]
<p>[li]Co-founder and secretary of Ensemble Club - we travel to local schools and retirement homes to perform classical music. As secretary, I organize rehearsals and find venues.[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Tutoring
[ul]
[li]I mentor inner-city kids on a weekly basis after school. I help them with homework, teach them about good behavior at school, etc. </p>[/li]
<p>[li]I have tutored peers at school as part of our school's math honor society for all four years. </p>[/li]
<p>[li]I have had work experience with privately tutoring someone in Algebra II. [/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Leadership
[ul]
[li]I am a project manager in a volunteering club at my school. I seek out volunteer opportunities and recruit students from school to participate in these volunteering opportunities. </p>[/li]
<p>[<em>]Assistant tuba/sousaphone section leader (as mentioned above).
[/ul]
Other
[ul]
[</em>]Recommendations: Good to great. One teacher sent me a treacly postcard this summer ... now if only he could do the same for my recommendation :p.
[<em>]Essays: I got this (:
[</em>]State: FL
[<em>]School type: Public; medium (1000)
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: Male
[</em>]Income bracket: middle class
[*]Hooks: holy crap what an upward trend in terms of GPA despite increased courseload and volunteering o.0! Also tutoring is my passion. [/ul]</p>
<p>I think you have a chance at Yale. If it is your favorite school, apply early. Your EC’s are less than average compared to most students accepted at Yale. Your SAT is slightly above average, and your GPA (although upward trend) is still very below average. Most students at Yale, from Public schools, will have 4.0s or close to it cumulative. </p>
<p>I’l put your RD chances at 15%. If you apply EA maybe about 20% because they defer 55% of the applicants to the RD pool, so you have the chance to compete against two different pools of students. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR APPS!</p>
<p>Your SAT scores are great for Yale, but the gpa and extracurriculars are not really enough. Just for perspective reasons, I applied with a 4.7 weighted, 4.0 UW with a 2260 SAT, more ECs and did not get in. However, if your essays show your dedication and love for the school (which mine I’m sure did not), you have a greater chance of being accepted. I’d say you’re at about a 20%-30% chance of getting in.</p>
<p>Heyyy you’re the one that has that ridiculous SAT Bio study plan… hehe. Honestly I can’t tell if its sarcastic or not, but good luck with that.</p>
<p>Anyway… try to raise your rank, top 20% is not competitive for Yale even if your school is nationally-ranked. Unless you performed solo at Carnegie Hall, as in not with your band, it is not super impressive.</p>
<p>Your extracurriculars are good. However they are the norm for an Asian middle-class male (focused on music, awesome SATs). But your courseload is very rigorous so that’s great. </p>
<p>If you are in love with Yale, do ED or EA for it (not sure which one they offer). Try to diversify your extracurriculars. Also you should look into Cornell, it may be a better match for you. Cornell would be a low reach, Yale is more of a high reach.</p>
<p>97% of Yale admits were in the top 10% of their HS class. So it’s going to be a bit of an uphill battle with your GPA, which is probably just out of their range. Your SAT scores are perfectly fine, don’t let anyone tell you different. Your dedication to music is great, but it’s also a pretty commonplace EC (not that that negates its value - it just won’t set you apart). Your ECs otherwise are fine but not stellar. </p>
<p>My advice would be to apply RD. Spend time writing a great essay (the writing you’ve posted on CC reflects an intellect that colleges would love - show them that) and prove to them that you can maintain a 4.0 for half a year with that beast of a senior schedule. Freshman year barely matters. The fact that you had a 4.0 with a tough schedule for a year will count for a lot.</p>
<p>You’re a really good applicant. Many really good applicants get rejected and many really good applicants get into Yale. In reality, your chances are 6.8%, like everyone else. Good luck!</p>
<p>IceQube! Personally, I don’t think you’ll have much trouble getting into a few Ivies. Yale might be a bit of a stretch, but I think you have a decent chance of getting in. I’ve read some of the stuff you’ve written, and you are quite the writer. If you write great essays and have a great interview, then I like your chances. CC tends to have a mold, which represents those that get into ivies. One doesn’t have to play the piano for 13 years, or do any such preset activity to get into an ivy. My cousin got into every ivy except Harvard, and he had lower stats and a few different extra curriculars. He didn’t have anything extraordinary, but he was very passionate about what he did; keep doing what you love. I think you have a decent chance, albeit these people think otherwise.</p>
<p>The top 20% figure was a conservative estimate and when rankings are recalculated, I should be in the top 15% (10% is still a stretch but we’ll see). </p>
<p>What about Duke ED? I would love to go to Duke. Do I stand a chance?</p>
<p>While your rank will hurt you, your test scores seem to be pretty solid. Your ECs seem mediocre, but if there are any ECs that you didn’t list and tie-in to your prospective major, they will help you (especially State/National level awards/achievements, ex. Intel ISEF, Summer Internships, SciOly State/Nats, AIME/USAMO, FBLA, DECA).</p>