violinkid111

Currently I'm a junior and I don't exactly know what I need to be focusing on to increase my chances at top schools (I'm thinking maybe ECs?). I'm also unsure what schools I should be looking at as safeties.

Me:
White Male from Maryland, Middle to Upper-Middle income (100-150k?).
Good public high school (sends 1 to 3 kids to ivys+ annually, class sizes ~350).

Academics:
GPA: 4.00 UW
Rank: 3/373 (Top 1%)
Workload: Most rigorous classes available.
SAT: Taking on Nov 3. Practice tests: appox. 770-800 CR, 770-800 M, 710-750 W
APs: World History 5, Human Geo 5, Stats 5, English Lang (expect 5), Calc AB (expect 5), Chinese (may or may not take)
SAT II: World History (expect 770+),

ECs:
Violin (Concertmaster/1st chair of a few orchestras)- I do a LOT of violin and do very well, hopefully All-State this year. Not nationally ranked or anything, but it's significant.

Student Council (Treasurer) - Big commitment, plan a lot of the school events

Gay-Straight Alliance (Vice President) - I'm gay.... it's interesting though, espc. at a very conservative high school.

Member of National Honors Soceity and Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honors Society).

Trying to form a Chinese Language Honors Society at my school.
I also went to Western China for two months to learn Chinese (I'm trying to achieve a very high level of proficiency, hopefully before I graduate high school! My Chinese teacher can probably give me a VERY good letter of rec. for me).
I also hope to get an internship over the summer involving Chinese, hopefully with the federal govt.


Schools I'm considering:
Columbia - As of now my top school, Has been for a while now along with UPenn
UPenn (Wharton)
Brown
Harvard
Stanford
Georgetown
UVA
UNC Chapel Hill
UMD College Park (in-state flagship school)

The teachers/counselors who know me well have told me I should be VERY competitive in the applicant pool, especially with all my involvement in China-related stuff and my writing ability, but I want to here from other people. I feel like at this point it's really just a crap-shoot.

I'm not valedictorian because my freshman electives did not have the maximum possible weighting (Chinese and Latin are weighted as "standard" before level 3).

What should I be work on this year? I'm also not sure what I should do about SAT I/II. If I score in the low 2300s should I even bother retaking the SAT (it will be my first time)? What subject tests should I plan on taking other than World History? Where should I be looking at for safeties?

violinkid111

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willdog828

As far as your academics go, your chances are as good as any. Your passion and skill level for violin is very clear. That is definitely a plus for the top schools. Great GPA and ECs. With a solid SAT score and the rest of your stats I can see that your chances at Georgetown are solid. However, when it comes to schools like Stanford and Harvard, much of your acceptance is based on luck: it's tough for everyone. All applicants are just as qualified as you in their GPA and ECs. From what I have heard, the difference between those who get into those top schools and those who don't is the level of passion for one specific thing. From what I can tell, you possess a high level of commitment to violin and Chinese. You will greatly increase your odds if you emphasize these things (similar to what you told me about Chinese ). In short: it looks like you are highly qualified for these schools, just keep working at it. Find out what interests you, what your passion is and you cannot fail. Keep up the good work with the Gay-Straight Alliance club- you're doing a great thing there!

Godspeed man

bluenotebook2

I think hahvahd *highly suggests* 3 sat subject tests haha... just something to keep track of

will dog gave some great advice! There are just so many people with the same stats and super similar EC's, though, so act *too* overconfident. If your counselors think you're highly competitive, that's absolutely great since they have to write you a letter!

violinkid111

What are some good match/safety schools that I should consider?

collegebound202

I think you have an awesome chance at Ivys. Luck always plays a chance on whether you get in or not. Some safeties/matches you should consider: NYU, Boston College, JHU, Northwestern. Good luck and thanks for chancing me fellow Marylander!