<p>Hi everyone,
I'm a HS Junior interested in attending Northwestern, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley/LA, Brown, Rice or UChicago. I'm extremely driven, and have taken the absolute most demanding course loads available to me. (All available Honors and APs, doubling up sciences and math every year) I've joined many EC's that i've done well in and have leadership positions. Projected 32-33+ ACT, I have an EXTREMELY unique background story (African-American born to immigrant parents, struggle to survive in USA) and have GREAT letters of recommendation. (Neurosurgeon i've been regularly working with, Biology II teacher who taught at Cornell) However, my freshman year was not an accurate portrayal of my true academic caliber, and was extremely weak. (3.2, lots of family problems and missing school, school doesn't weight at all.) </p>
<p>I refuse to believe me or any of the other extraordinarily capable students on this forum should automatically dismiss the dream of attending these schools. I have received all A's ever since then (with the exception of one B in one semester of AP Stats) and pushed myself in all other aspects of my future application. I've seen plenty of people get admitted with worse conditions, and for everyone promoting the idea that you need a 4.9 GPA, 36 ACT, Research on Cancer at Harvard Med your freshman year, etc. and all these ridiculous things, stop. The admissions are people just like us, and understand people change. Granted of course you won't get in with sub-par stats, and the higher your stats the better, but saying one requires superhuman stats to even CONSIDER ANY top ranked university is ludicrous. You are more than just a number. Numbers alone cannot convey your individuality, personality and worth. Just because you don't get accepted into Harvard or another highly ranked, prestigious university does not make you any less capable. Many of us forget that the acceptance rate to these places are SIGNIFICANTLY less than %10. I personally know doctors, lawyers and engineers who attended state schools and ended up being at the top of their fields. To those of you who got accepted, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. Let's remember one of the main purposes of this forum is to help one another and give advice where needed. Not to put each other down and flaunt your superiority.</p>