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Chance me for HYPS
enaword
18 replies6 threads Junior Member
Demographics: East Asian, female, upper middle class, competitive public school in California
Intended Major: not sure--depends on which college I get into, I guess. But I'm considering comparative literature or some major that's a mix of history and literature.
GPA: UW: 3.93/4.00; W: 4.61/4.00 (if colleges recalculate it, my GPA will definitely be lower, since my school doesn't consider + or - grades).
SAT: 1600. World: 800; Math II: 800; Physics: 780.
I got a C+ first semester AP Calc BC and B+s both semesters of AP Bio. I was able to get an A- in second semester AP Calc BC, but still. Yikes. I also took History and Philosophy at my community college as a rising sophomore, but ended with a B in Philosophy. I'm thinking that my grades will be a weak part of my application.
APs: 5s in Human Geo, Calc BC, French, Bio, World, US, Lang, Stats, Physics, Psych, Art History. 4s in APES, AP Chem. Will be taking APCS, AP Macro, AP Gov, AP Lit senior year.
Awards: YoungArts honorable mention in writing; Scholastic Gold and Silver medal (along with an array of gold keys); Foyle commended poet; placed in Princeton's poetry contest; three silver bids to TOC for PF; qualified to nationals for quiz bowl twice; NMSF; generic AP scholar stuff
Extracurriculars:
- founder and editor-in-chief of a national lit mag (11-12)
- poetry editor for two other international literary magazines (10-12)
- had poetry published in three lit mags, with more forthcoming
- secretary (11) and president (12) of our school's writer's ensemble--hosted workshops for students who want to get better at both creative and academic writing, and also help produced a school literary journal
- literature research with a UC professor (11)
- writing and misc. academic tutor for other classmates (11-12)
- will be interning (unpaid) at a law firm (12)
- member of debate team (9), varsity mentor (10), captain (11-12)
- placed pretty high at debate tournaments (first speaker multiple times and broke at several big tournaments)
- founded Speech and Debate club at a local middle school, developed and taught original curriculum for 40+ students (10-12)
- member of quiz bowl (9), vice president (10, 12), president (11)
- volunteering: teach English as a second language at a senior residence home (10-12, will have ~80 hours)
- Mock Trial member (9, 11-12), placed first for my role regionally in 9th and 11th grade
- founded linguistics club (11) and made it to open round of NACLO
- will be giving a TED talk to incoming freshman beginning of senior year
- selected for my school's We the People team, which has historically done very well (top 5 nationally for the last few years, I think), for next year
Schools: Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, UCs (all of them, from Berkeley/LA to UC Merced), Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona, Oxford. Yes, I do have safeties in mind; they're just not listed.
I'm in love with Princeton--the campus, the writing department, the location, the culture. Would applying SCEA give my application any bit of a boost, or should I just wait for RD?
21 repliesIntended Major: not sure--depends on which college I get into, I guess. But I'm considering comparative literature or some major that's a mix of history and literature.
GPA: UW: 3.93/4.00; W: 4.61/4.00 (if colleges recalculate it, my GPA will definitely be lower, since my school doesn't consider + or - grades).
SAT: 1600. World: 800; Math II: 800; Physics: 780.
I got a C+ first semester AP Calc BC and B+s both semesters of AP Bio. I was able to get an A- in second semester AP Calc BC, but still. Yikes. I also took History and Philosophy at my community college as a rising sophomore, but ended with a B in Philosophy. I'm thinking that my grades will be a weak part of my application.
APs: 5s in Human Geo, Calc BC, French, Bio, World, US, Lang, Stats, Physics, Psych, Art History. 4s in APES, AP Chem. Will be taking APCS, AP Macro, AP Gov, AP Lit senior year.
Awards: YoungArts honorable mention in writing; Scholastic Gold and Silver medal (along with an array of gold keys); Foyle commended poet; placed in Princeton's poetry contest; three silver bids to TOC for PF; qualified to nationals for quiz bowl twice; NMSF; generic AP scholar stuff
Extracurriculars:
- founder and editor-in-chief of a national lit mag (11-12)
- poetry editor for two other international literary magazines (10-12)
- had poetry published in three lit mags, with more forthcoming
- secretary (11) and president (12) of our school's writer's ensemble--hosted workshops for students who want to get better at both creative and academic writing, and also help produced a school literary journal
- literature research with a UC professor (11)
- writing and misc. academic tutor for other classmates (11-12)
- will be interning (unpaid) at a law firm (12)
- member of debate team (9), varsity mentor (10), captain (11-12)
- placed pretty high at debate tournaments (first speaker multiple times and broke at several big tournaments)
- founded Speech and Debate club at a local middle school, developed and taught original curriculum for 40+ students (10-12)
- member of quiz bowl (9), vice president (10, 12), president (11)
- volunteering: teach English as a second language at a senior residence home (10-12, will have ~80 hours)
- Mock Trial member (9, 11-12), placed first for my role regionally in 9th and 11th grade
- founded linguistics club (11) and made it to open round of NACLO
- will be giving a TED talk to incoming freshman beginning of senior year
- selected for my school's We the People team, which has historically done very well (top 5 nationally for the last few years, I think), for next year
Schools: Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, UCs (all of them, from Berkeley/LA to UC Merced), Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona, Oxford. Yes, I do have safeties in mind; they're just not listed.
I'm in love with Princeton--the campus, the writing department, the location, the culture. Would applying SCEA give my application any bit of a boost, or should I just wait for RD?
Post edited by MaineLonghorn on
This discussion has been closed.
Replies to: Chance me for HYPS
I can’t answers specifics on your Princeton question, but with a 5% acceptance rate, many kids with perfect stats get rejected.
I would advise my child to find several places that you can afford (first priority), and where you think you can blossom.
All of your schools are reaches for all students (with the exception of some of the UCs). You say you have some safeties, but you also need some matches. Good luck.
Do some homework on Oxford: your choices are English, History or English & History. IMO History is a long shot as your history background is weak, and for H&E both departments have to accept you. Look at the ELAT, to see if it suits you, but mostly look at the actual course description and see how it fits what you want- It is notably less flexible than a US English degree will be.
C+ may not look good for the Ivies, although that isn’t related to your potential major.
what does your unweighted GPA come out to?
That number would help to put your chances at your reach schools in better perspective.
In order to enhance your greater list, you might consider other schools with similar academic attributes:
https://contently.net/2014/11/06/resources/tools/training/10-best-colleges-creative-writers/
http://flavorwire.com/409437/the-25-most-literary-colleges-in-america
@tdy123 It would be 3.92 if I took out PE.
@Mwfan1921 @collegemom3717 I know that my UW and W aren't bad by any means, but I know that my C+ is definitely not good (which is mainly what I'm referring to by "weak grades").
That being said, admissions at the most selective schools in the country are very, very difficult for the average super smart kid.
Non STEM is probably a plus, puts you outside the stereotype of the "typical" Asian student.
Write some great essays explaining your passion for writing, debate, law and public service.
Get outstanding teacher recs ("one of the best student in my career" - never hurts) @ThinkOn was right on the mark about that
- and hope for the best.
I believe you posted the above on another thread, which is confusing given the awards and activities posted here.
I'd condense your EC list. It looks like resume padding to me.
Make sure to write good essays--doing so is one of the best ways to stand-out.
I wouldn't worry about the grades too much. They are what they. And, FWIW, I know people who got into Princeton with worse.
So I don't know why you're acting as if you're going into senior year as a sophomore. If you really had these accomplishments, then you'd have a pretty decent shot at the Ivies. But you don't, you aren't even in eleventh grade yet according to your previous posts.
Of course you should try to achieve as much as you can in high school. But faking a resume helps no one. These "chance me"s you got are bogus, because you haven't actually achieved some (or all) of the stuff in your post.
Since hardly any of us know what’s on any particular college’s wish list,making assessments is pure guessing. Your resume is certainly one that puts you into the running. But would I bet that Princeton will take you. Nope.
Yes, I also agree this thread looks like a hopeful projection. And by someone who doesn't yet understand what will matter.
Just an aside. Too many kids claim to have founded a national lit mag or been publsihed in an international one, or in some low-vetting online something. That's not a tip.
About the GPA: assume 5 courses per semester. First time Icalculated, I got a 3.93 using 8 semesters. Not going to retrace my steps.
OP hasn't completed 8 semesters.
I agree that too many kids and parents put too much onto certain awards that the top colleges do not assess the same way