<p>Hi:
My dream school has always been Columbia, but I visited Ithica last week and I really fell in love with its charm. Do you think that I have a chance of getting in?</p>
<p>GPA: 5.6 out of 5.0, top 1% of my class of 545.
freshman year: all highest honors track (no APs offered to freshmen)
sophmore year: all highest honors track and AP world history
junior year: all highest honors track, AP U.S. History, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, and AP English Language
senior year: AP Calc BC, AP English Literature, AP Biology, AP US Government, AP Psychology
<strong>I am dual enrolled in a creative writing class at Harper College</strong></p>
<p>SCORES:
ACT: 31 (weak, I may retake depending on how the SAT goes when I take it again)
SAT: 2250
SAT II: US history - 720 and Lit - 780 (I will probably retake Lit and try for a 800, which I think I can do with some prep)
APs: World - 4, and I’m waiting for the rest…I’m guessing mostly 5s and a coupple 4s.</p>
<p>EC:
-President of my class soph and jr year (can’t be senior year, because I had to give up my lunch period. I’m an honorary member of classboard now which means I do everything but go to the lunch time meetings)
-NHS vice president
-Varsity golf 4 years, co-captain senior year
-Interact member (community service team)
-volunteer tutor at the local elemntary school, 4 hours a week
-Honorary student council member
-freshman advisory leader (had to give up my lunch period to do this)
-published in TeenInk Magazine, named Readers’ Choice for January of 2009
-guest columnist for the school newspaper
-80+ hours volunteer at the library
-piano for 10+ years, certified by the music teachers’ association of illinois for Level 1, 2, 3 and won many state level awards (although most of them were before high school, because I stopped competing freshman year when I developed arthiritis in my fingers)
-pending: I’ve entered in ten different prestigious national writing competitions and submitted many more pieces for publication…I’m confident I’ll place in most of them (not to sound cocky)</p>
<p>Rec Letters:
My english teacher will write an outstanding letter, I’ve been her protege all year.
My counselor adores me and writes superb letters.
My creative writing professor, depending on how well the class goes</p>
<p>Essay:
About how I’m the shallow end of the gene pool in contrast to my little brother, who hit the genetic lottery. I’m four years older, and the year he was born my dad broke his back and has lost much of his mobility since. He lost his job and now is unemployed on social security benefits…he was bedridden most of my brother’s life and my mother is a flight attendant who is home ten days a month, if we’re lucky. I raised my little brother and have basically been his mother—I promise, I didn’t write it like a sob story. It’s all very tight and sarcatic and honest. Definitely the strongest part of my application.</p>
<p>Please be brutally honest. I know it’s impossible to really say whether I’ll get in, but what do you think?</p>