Chance a nervous student? UCB, NYU, UPenn, Brown

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Male Asian (Hong Kong) student with Canadian/UK nationality. Independent private high school (one of the best) in Western Canada. </p>

<p>All GPA’s /100:</p>

<p>9th Grade: 91.70 (Only because of an 83 in French, never took it again)
10th Grade: 93.25
11th Grade: 93.27
12th Grade (Trimester I Mid-Term): 93.83</p>

<p>Have taken almost all available honors classes every year, did 3 AP’s in Grade 11 (Both econs and Euro hist.), currently doing 5 in Grade 12 (English Comp., Calc BC, Japanese, Physics B, Psych). School does not offer IB program. School only allows AP courses in 11 and 12.</p>

<p>Attended Stanford U’s EPGY Investigations in Business program in summer of 2011.</p>

<p>Awards:</p>

<p>Academic Achievement (Top 10 GPA in Grade)
Japanese 11/12 Prize (Awarded to the student with the highest combined grades in Japanese 11 and Japanese 12 in the entire school.)
Comparative Civilizations 12 Prize (Awarded to the student with the highest grade in Comparative Civilizations 12 in the entire school.)
Reach for the Top Provincial Champions 2 years (Quiz bowl style competition)
Piano (Typical Asian Level 8 achievements)
Honors with Distinction every year.</p>

<p>EC’s/Volunteer:</p>

<p>Duke of Edinburgh’s Award 4 years: Have all 3 levels
Tennis 4 years: Played on the school team for a bit
Youth Council 4 years: I was treasurer. We organized events, fundraised…etc.
Peer Tutoring 2 years: A variety of subjects
“Big Brother” Mentorship Program 1 year: Paired with an impoverished kid with some disabilities.
Community Center Volunteer 4 years: A variety of stuff year round, nothing too special.
School Recognized Volunteer 4 years: Have all available awards (300+ hours)
Ecology Society 2 years: Killed invasive species
Hospital Volunteer 4 weeks over summer: Office worker, sort through files, helped doctors translate…etc
Youth Charity Society 1 year: Communication & Marketing Team Leader, fundraised and organized a charity golf tourney.
Model UN: 2 years
Piano 4 years: nothing that other Asians can’t manage
Reach for the Top 4 years: Quiz game competition. Provincial Champions for 2 years.</p>

<p>Work exp:</p>

<p>Paid summer internship at one of the largest reinsurance companies in the world. Helped create new reinsurance plans, sort through old data, calculated and managed risk loss analysis and followed through and updated new contract agreements.</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>SAT: 2120(CR 620/M 800/W 700) and 2260(CR 710/M 800/W 750)
AP: Microecon 5, Macroecon 4, Euro Hist 4, plan to take all the respective exams of the aforementioned AP courses.</p>

<p>Recs (does not apply to UCB): </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Japanese teacher who has known me for 5 years, always in the high 90’s in class, awarded me with Japanese 11/12 Prize and Comp. Civ 12 Prize. However not such a good rec letter writer. More focused on academic acheivement.</p></li>
<li><p>Grade 11 Honors Math Teacher. Started the year with 82 in Term 1 midterm. Finished strong throughout the year, attending tutorials and whatnot and ending with 97 on the transcript. Writes pretty heartfelt recs. More focused on personal characteristics and growth.</p></li>
<li><p>1st year counsellor. No idea what she’s doing. GG.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Personal Essays (Subjective): Above average to quite good.</p>

<p>Basically, I gave up my social life for 4 years just so I could get into these schools (yes I see the error of my ways now), but I will be pretty disappointed if I am rejected by all 4 of them.</p>

2

<p>NYU - Match/in
UCB - Match
UPenn - Low reach
Brown - Low reach</p>

<p>Ivies are pretty much in the reach category for everyone, but I feel pretty confident that you’ll get accepted to at least one, if not both. It never hurts to try and raise your SAT scores, though.</p>

<p>Chance me back, please: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1413287-chance-me-ucs-upitt-carnegie-mellon-cornell-etc-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1413287-chance-me-ucs-upitt-carnegie-mellon-cornell-etc-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Thanks. But just a bit of clarification, what does low reach mean? Does it mean that I have a “low” chance of being accepted, or does it indicate a better chance than a “normal” reach?</p>

4

<p>Low means that it’s still a reach, but your chances are better than a normal reach.</p>

<p>Edit: Also, Berkeley might be a high match (chances a little worse than match) because you’re out of the country. I can’t remember if that’s something they favor or not, I thought I heard the latter, but I could be wrong.</p>

5

<p>Low reach implies that your chances are better than just a reach. (Low reach > Reach > High Reach)</p>

<p>EDIT: Nevermind, looks like OperationIvy beat me to the punch. :)</p>

6

<p>Bumpity Bump.</p>

7

<p>Aww…only 1 response…</p>

8

<p>OP, what program do you want to apply at UC Berkeley? At Berkeley, admissions are dependent on the college where you’re applying. For example, it is tougher to get into the College of Engineering than it is to the College of Letters & Science. That said, the overall passing rate for international students at Berkeley is around 12%.</p>

9

<p>I eventually want to study at Haas, so right now I’m applying undeclared for the College of Letters and Science.</p>

10

<p>Please chance me…I’ll chance back!</p>

11

<p>10 characters…</p>