Chance Me Please! U PENN, UC Berkeley, UCLA, U Chicago, etc.

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hello all! I’m a junior this year, and have recently been looking into college stuff (gettin’ ahead and whatnot). Was going through this process alone, until now, so I hope to get a lot of help! :slight_smile:

Anyways, here are my stats of course:

Gender: Male
Major: Business Management
Ethnicity: Vietnamese, 1st generation American
Languages:English, Vietnamese, Spanish
Residence: A small town in the SF Bay Area
Family Income: $50,000; $0 since May 2014 (father was only worker, unemployed)
GPA: Weighted-3.95; Unweighted-4.45

SAT: 2200 CR-710; M-730; W-760; Essay-11

ACT Composite: 33 (unsure about writing score at this point)

SAT II: haven’t taken, scheduled to take soon

My school only offers APs starting junior year so these are all first semester grades:
AP Calc AB: A
AP Chem: B
APUSH: A
Honors American Lit (curriculum similar to AP Comp and Lang):A
Honors Chamber Orchestra: A

Extracurricular:
Piano: very exceptional, have given several benefit concerts in support of Hurricane Sandy, won multiple prestigious competitions, now am a teacher for younger students, etc.
Violin: 1st Chair Orchestra, self-taught
DECA: 1st year member, why I want to go into business
Swim: JV, nothing too exceptional

Volunteer:
Accompanist/Musical Director at Vietnamese Catholic Church: 8 hrs/wk, since 6th grade, organize most musical events at church and play at all masses/services.
Key Club: Only a member, 5 hrs a week since 9th grade
Accompanist at Jenny Lin Summer Camp Chorus: summer thing, help young musicians etc, 8 hrs/wk

I think my personal story is pretty decent: My father was the only one who worked in my family, struggled to make ends meet. Always was a more abusive type, used to beat me with belts and other things. I grew up, learned about child abuse, he moved to verbal abuse (“useless”, “trash”, etc). He was laid off, and has been for a year; since then we have lived on gov’t help. Fell into the arms of alcohol (not like super alcoholic). I had to work odd jobs for the neighbors, and do summer jobs in order for the family to pay bills and other personal expenses. However, I still thank my parents everyday for giving me the chance to fall in love with music, face every day trying to smile, etc. Basically I am a really positive person, and a huge optimist.

So, after (hopefully) reading that, I hope that you will be able to give me insight on what I need to keep/change! I really want to get into UPenn, especially the Wharton School, and hope that you guys will help me in this! Thanks for your time, and even if you don’t reply, I will be grateful!

2

sorry its so long, i’m willing to chance back :smiley:

3

Your story is absolutely riveting. Make sure to tell on that as much as possible when writing essays and whatnot. Your scores are competitive enough to make Penn a low reach-ish but your ECs are a little lacking outside of music, however I believe your story will explain that. With the music however,that is undeniably good. With your music and your specs, I would say you have an ok shot. Normally someone with your stats and ECs would be looking at a low/mid reach for penn and a hard mid reach for Wharton, but with your riveting story and sheer determination, I would say you are no ordinary applicant, and quite better off than your scores may lead you to believe. A low reach maybe? Just better off than your scores would make someone think at first glance. Good Luck and keep up the hard work!

4

By Penn, I assume Wharton. I put that at a reach even with your story because your ECs(except piano, it’s great) and scores are not too competitive and the only business interest I see is DECA which isn’t too impressive unless you win some national awards in it. Also you’ll be considered Asian and 1st generation immigrant doesn’t count(only 1st gen college)

You’ll probably get into UCLA or UCBerk, maybe both.

UChicago, like Penn is also a crapshoot.

I could see acceptance letters from one maybe two of these schools on your list.

Good luck! Hopefully I can see you in Penn next year!

5

@hertzog what do you mean by low/mid reach? I just made my account yesterday, and am new to the terminology. Thanks for the compiments!

6

@qpqpqp What do you think I could do to increase my chances to at least more or less ensure a chance into UC Berkeley? Thanks for the time!

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Also, any tips on creating a balanced college list based on these stats would be greatly appreciated!

8

Wharton and Chicago: Reach to high reach (for everybody)
Solid chances at UCLA and UCB

9

@inequilibrium You can’t ensure your chances to a top school like Berkeley, but I’m 90% sure you will probably be accepted.