<p>Hey guys, I’m wondering my chances at the following schools. </p>
<p>2300 SAT I</p>
<p>780 Math
750 Writing
770 Crit Reading</p>
<p>Took two SAT II’s. </p>
<p>Math II 800
US Hist 800</p>
<p>GPA: 3.58 (low : /)</p>
<p>I attend the top private school on the West Coast. I’m taking two APs, but my school doesn’t offer very many. Most kids who go here end up takig that many. I also took an honors US History course last year and got a 5 on the AP. </p>
<p>I’m an Eagle Scout and a Black Belt. A lot of volunteer work, decent athletics, captain of trivia team. A few minor national french awards. Mixed race, asian and white. Thanks so much. </p>
<p>Schools: </p>
<p>Dartmouth
UPenn
Claremont McKenna
Emory University
Wash U in STL
Haverford College
Northwestern
Vanderbilt</p>
<p>Top school on the West coast? I can think of many that could claim that title. H-W, Thacher, Menlo? But regardless, I don’t see a 3.5 from any of them without a hook resulting in ivy admission. </p>
<p>With your great scores, maybe some of the others. I’m certain your school has great scattergrams that will be of help.</p>
<p>The College Preparatory School. Was accepted to Harvard Westlake, chose to go here. Also, you really think Penn and Dartmouth are out of the question? By the way, my cumulative GPA will be a tad higher after this semester?</p>
<p>Is your name asian? How did you designate yourself, exactly?</p>
<p>I have white/Asian neighbors, he has a Polish name and she Japanese. Their kids are in elementary school. Based from what I’ve seen on CC, I advised them to never give any indication of Asian in their kids’ academics or records. I think their kids will do better just presenting themselves and applying as “white”. This because among the most select colleges, there is reluctance to have a student population >25-30% Asian, and the Asians competing for that quarter must have higher stats than the 40-50% who will be white.</p>
<p>I don’t know your school. If there’s no grade inflation and you’re still somewhere in the top 15% (I’m sure they don’t formally rank, but colleges know) you may still have a shot. Though with no hook and the number of legacies and the connected at strong high schools, they are probably unlikely. </p>
<p>My son’s a freshman at Dartmouth. Last year, 40% of the accepted were top 2 in their high school class. The unhooked, like him, all seem to have had super high ranks and SATs. I interview for Penn. The accepted are not as off the charts, but every year they get stronger. Even just 5 years ago things were different.</p>
<p>My name is very Anglican, and I’m not sure you would know I’m of a mixed race if I didn’t tell you.</p>
<p>As hmom5 said, my school does not rank. I’m not exactly sure what a hook is, but I sure as heck don’t have any “in” with any of these universities, as I am an only child and my parents both come from relatively weak universities. However, top 2 of my highschool class is invariably Harvard, as the class size is about eighty and no kid ends up going to a worse school than say, UCSB. Also, a friend of mine got into Penn with a 3.65ish GPA on ED, and her SATs were much worse than mine. However, she is also hispanic and the captain of the soccer team. I would not go to far as to say her extracurriculars are really that much better than mine, though, as I am an Eagle Scout and a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. I also have had a prestigious summer internship at a nearby global company. Also, my school does seem to have about one or two kids go to Penn each year, so I am suprised you have not heard of it.</p>
<p>harvard westlake is one crazy school. Your GPA is actually pretty strong if you go to that school. My friend who graduated there last year said that only a couple people had 4.0. A 3.6 at that school is an easy 4.0 at a good public. You will get into most of those schools on your list. But, the ivies will be a raech for you, your ecs are kind of weak and it doesn’t seem you stand out that much. </p>
<p>BTW - what do you mean decent athletics. Almost every sport there is incredible.</p>
<p>As stated, I go to College Prep, not Harvard Westlake. Having said that, my school has higher SATs and higher acceptance rates to Ivies than does HW. I’m Varsity lacrosse. To the GPA aspect, I would say about three or four people out of eighty pull a 4.0. The vast majority are around 3.4.</p>
<p>A hook is being: a recruited athlete, URM, legacy or child of the rich or famous. These folks represent 40% of the class at top colleges and have different standards for admission. Not to say all of them have lower stats, just to say that they can and still get in. That leaves the remaining 60% to pull up the median. That makes your 1530 CR plus math about average in the remaining pool at Dartmouth and just a little above average in the RD pool at Penn (half the class was already accepted ED). Your GPA seems to be below average at both.</p>
<p>Being hispanic put your classmate in a whole different pool.</p>
<p>To put it in perspective, my son, who went to a top NYC prep school, applied to Dartmouth along with 7 classmates last year. My son, the val with a 2380 (missing 20 points in writing which they don’t count), got in ED as did a recruited lax player and a legacy. A second legacy and a URM got in RD. So not bad, 5 out of 8, but 2 were legacies, 1 a URM, 1 a recruited athlete and the last the val. The other kids were all top students and got into Cornell and Penn.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I was under the impression that race does not and should not make that large of difference. I have been told this multiple times by multiple college counselors. The very fact that a classmate is a quarter mexican, probably has a higher socioeconomic bracket than me, has 0.07GPA higher than me, and 50 fewer points on both CR and Math (also, 1550 not 1530, I apologize for listing them in an unorthodox order) does not seem to mean a whole lot. I do not want to be overconfident, but then again I do not want to find myself in four months cursing my ethnicity.</p>
<p>Well, I hate to break it to you, but your counselors are simply wrong. In a recent book called The Price of Admission, the author, a WSJ investigative reporter, says being a URM is equal to a 160 point SAT boost. URMs are accepted at twice the reported acceptance rates at top colleges. They do much better than that coming from top high schools where they are a proven commodity for ivies. Nothing like the boost recruited athletes get, but significant and jibes with what kids report here. </p>
<p>If your classmate is a Hispanic student with a decent GPA and a 1450 from a top high school, she could have held out for HYPS. Of course Penn snapped her up ED!! She is a rare bird.</p>
<p>The same book reports Asian candidates need 50 more SAT points than white candidates at ivies. Legacies also were said to get the 160 point boost, and at top private high schools there are usually many.</p>
<p>Now maybe your counselors were talking about CA state schools which are not allowed to consider race.</p>
<p>Your GPA is a little low, but because of the rigor of your high school and your SAT scores, I would think you still have a decent chance (maybe a slight reach) at most of your schools.</p>