You Know What to Do

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>SAT I - 2360
Reading 800
Math 780
Writing 780 </p>

<p>SAT II
Math I 800
Math II 800
English literature 760
World history 740</p>

<p>APs
Calculus BC 5
English Literature and Composition 5</p>

<p>GPA
3.48uw
3.7w
Rank - maybe top 10% to 15% weighted (my school doesn't rank)</p>

<p>ECs
National Spanish Honor Society
Democrats Club Secretary
Debate team
Math club
Founder and president of history club
Band president</p>

<p>Volunteer 300+ hours</p>

<p>Awards
National Merit Semifinalist</p>

<p>My essay will be excellent, presumably
Decent recs</p>

<p>Colleges Thinking about applying.. </p>

<p>Harvard
Yale
Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Amherst
Wesleyan
NYU
Boston College
WUSTL
Emory</p>

2

<p>Do you go to a competitive school?</p>

<p>I'd imagine a 3.48 unweighted GPA is out of the top 10-15%.</p>

<p>If that's your only award, you will be rejected at many of those schools.</p>

3

<p>Yes, you go to a competitive school, which partially explains the 3.48 UW, but the not ranking really hurts your application. Your GPA will keep you out of harvard, yale, and amherst. You should have a fair shot at the rest.</p>

4

<p>My school doesn't rank - based on the class profile, my weighted GPA is in that range. I'm not sure about my unweighted GPA, but my school is a pretty competitive public.</p>

5

<p>Harvard: REJECT
Yale: REJECT
Cornell: REJECT
Carnegie Mellon: Likely
Amherst: REJECT
Wesleyan: Maybe
NYU: In
Boston College: In
WUSTL: Maybe
Emory: Likely</p>

6

<p>I'm also Asian, which I imagine won't do me any favors.</p>

7

<p>Asian and male. Certainly won't.</p>

8

<p>Here's the thing: on paper, you're boring.</p>

<p>Figure out a way to present yourself better. You have to convince someone that you are better than the 18,000 kids they're going to reject. And right now, I don't think that message is coming across. At all.</p>

<p>And every competitive public school that I know still has grade inflation. The top of your class will have 4.0s uw.</p>

9

<p>Harvard: REJECT
Yale: REJECT
Cornell: REJECT
Carnegie Mellon: IN
Amherst: REJECT
Wesleyan: IN
NYU: IN
Boston College: IN
WUSTL: IN
Emory: IFFY</p>

10

<p>Ok, I'm not gong to attempt to chance you, but I do have some advice. Your scores are fantastic, and will probably make you really appealing to all of those schools (esp. all the ones that aren’t Harvard, Yale, and probably Amherst, where they will have a fair pick of people with scores like those). That said, your GPA will hurt (even though you go to a competitive school, a 3.48 unweighted GPA just isn't in line with what most people have, esp. at the schools on that list that are one step down from HYA, like Cornell, Wes and WUSTL). Your ECs are ok, and could certainly be shaped to show passion (esp. with founding a club and a lot of community service).</p>

<p>IMO, the key is to really show interest in all of your schools, and make sure your essay really, REALLY shows you as an interesting and unique person with specific passions (it will also help if you can get recs from teachers who really need you). Basically, you need to give the schools a definite reason to accept you other than your scores, since your GPA (and ethnicity) will hurt. Although those scores will probably get you into a lot of the schools on your list, you'll probably get shut out of the top ones (and perhaps even the next tier) unless you can convince the schools that you are unique and a good fit for that school.</p>

11

<p>Harvard: No Chance
Yale: No Chance
Cornell: High Reach
Carnegie Mellon: Match
Amherst: Extreme Reach
Wesleyan: Low to Mid Reach
NYU: Low Match
Boston College: Low Match
WUSTL: Reach
Emory: Low Reach</p>