luquizzlah

The first two years of high school, I slacked off more than any top ten percent kid at my school did. I even failed a class sophomore year (media arts) on absences. I have next to no extracurricular activities. I placed much more emphasis on spending time with my friends than on my academic work, and as a result, my college application is going to look rather pitiful compared to those of my peers. I've been thinking lately, and even though my friends are always telling me I'm a genius, I'm really not. My friends are the kids in high school who dress like preps, smoke weed and drink on the weekends, and put absolutely no effort into school. I'm Asian and I'm 17 years old. I live in Columbia, South Carolina, and my brother was the first person in my family to graduate college. It wasn't until junior year that I started trying in my schoolwork, after realizing that my father, who puts over 15 hours a day into his dry cleaning business just so we can live comfortably, finds his joy in me and my siblings, and that it would be a horrible slap in his face to make nothing of my life. To be honest, my application is going to look so pitiful in comparison to others, I feel embarrassed even applying to these schools and even asking this question online, even though I will never meet any of you. So... here are my numbers. I don't want a "Oh, you'll get accepted anywhere!" because that's what I hear from my friends everyday, and its ********. Please, just honestly tell me if I have even the slightest chance of being accepted into any of these schools. Seriously, if I have no chance at all, please tell me, I can cross it off my list and pick another school.
Johns Hopkins University
Columbia University
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
Northwestern University
Boston University

- Unweighted GPA: 3.58
- SAT Score: Math - 800; Critical Reading - 740; Writing - 680 (Combined - 2220)
- SAT Subject Tests: None so far, but I'm planning on taking Math II, Chemistry, and maybe Biology (M) in November
- ACT Composite Score: 35
- Intended Major: Either biomedical engineering or molecular biology
- Class Rank: 28 out of 384 (top 10%)
- AP Scores: World History - 3, Human Geography - 5, Biology - 5
- Senior Courses: AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP Microeconomics, AP English Literature, CP US Government, AP US History
- Extracurricular Activities:
TSA (joined about 2 months ago)
Outdoor Adventure Club (joined about 2 months ago)
I play piano (about 13 years now)
I play guitar (about 4 years now)
I play bass for my church youth group (about a year and a half now)
I help out at my father's dry cleaning business whenever he needs me
I took a Calculus course at Northwestern University last summer and received a 96
I am a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist


Unfortunately, that's it. Reading back over it and reading the "!!chance me!! ^___^" posts by other Asian kids that have 3.98 GPAs and overflowing lists of hundreds of extracurricular activities and their invaluable contributions to the community really depresses the **** out of me. My safety school that I'm applying to is Clemson, which is in South Carolina. It's a pretty good school, and I'm pretty sure I'll get accepted, so if all else fails, it'll all work out in the end. Thanks for replying if anyone takes the time to read any of this. I really appreciate it.