Chances at Dream Schools?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Hi!! I’ve applied to:</p>

<p>Harvard
Yale
Columbia
Brown
Duke
Rice
NYU
UCB
UCLA
UCSD
UCSB</p>

<p>All common app majors: undecided first choice, Architecture second choice.</p>

<p>Personal:
Asian, public high school, Southern California</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 unweighted
Class Rank: 1</p>

<p>SATs: 760 CR, 700 math, 690 writing, 2150 total – second time I took test</p>

<p>SAT IIs: 770 math II C, 650 US History, 600 Spanish</p>

<p>AP tests scores: World History 4, Lit 4, Calc AB 5, US Hist 4, Spanish 2, going to take Gov, Econ, Lang, and Calc BC</p>

<p>9 total AP classes, + 6 honors courses.</p>

<p>ECs:
*Marching band 9th-12th grades Section leader Jr. year, Drum captain Sr. year.
*Winter drum line 11th-12th grades Section leader Jr. year, Drum Captain Sr. year, 1st place SCPA championships, attending WGI Dayton national championships this year.
*Wind ensemble 9th-12th grades Auditioned group, became section head 11th and 12th grades.
*Science Bowl 11th-12th grades Co-Captain Sr. year.
*Science Club 9th-12th grades President Jr. and Sr. years.
*Key Club 9th-12th grades Public relations Manager Soph. year, Junior Board of Directors Jr. Year, Vice President Sr. year. Completed over 200 hours of community service.
*Spanish Club 11th-12th grades Treasurer Senior. year.
*National Honor Society 11th-12th grades Honor Guide Jr. year
*California Scholarship Federation 11th-12th grades
*Crackdown 11th-12 grades Anti-drug community service group. We educate elementary school students about drug and alcohol use. </p>

<p>Outside of School Activities:
*Piano 6 years 7th-12th grades Passed level 5 ABRSM examination for theory and level 6 for practical. Taking level 8 in April.
*Tennis 7th -11th grades Recreational, played for 5 years.
*Job as a food server at Bridgecreek Retirement home 12th grade 9/07 to 12/07
*Job as an alternate tutor at SHHS library 12th grade 10/07 to present.
*Art school for 5 years 6th- 10th grades.
*Chinese school for 6 years 5th-10th grades
*Attended NSLC program Jr. summer in Washington D.C.</p>

<p>Honors:
Valedictorian Candidate, Class of 08’
National Merit Scholarship Commended Student
National Honor Society, Honor guide for Class of 07’
Principal’s highest honors during all academic semesters at SHHS
California Scholarship Federation
AP Scholar with Honor</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I would say the Ivys + Duke are slight reaches. Everything else is a good chance though.</p>

3

<p>hmm… your SAT’s are a bit on the low side. Also, SAT II’s and AP’s aren’t that strong. However, your EC’s seem to be strong. The Ivy leagues and duke are probably a high reach.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the replies! My number 1 is probably Columbia or Yale, and I really really hope I can at least break in to at least 1 Ivy!!</p>

5

<p>No offense to you personally (b/c you’re a great candidate), but your school must suck if you’re it’s valedictorian with those SAT and AP scores.</p>

6

<p>^damn, all this negativity.</p>

<p>This is my humble opinion, take it with a grain of salt:</p>

<p>Harvard-reach
Yale-reach
Columbia-reach
Brown-reach
Duke-slight reach
Rice-reach/slight reach
NYU-match
UCB-match/slight reach (as a california resident)
UCLA-match/slight reach
UCSD-in
UCSB-in</p>

<p>You’re a solid candidate.</p>

7

<p>Overall poor chances for all Ivies because your scores aren’t good, you lack significant awards, show too little directed passion in your ECs.</p>

8

<p>The length of time (in other words, the apparent commitment) to an EC is 10 times more important than whether or not you won any “significant awards”–I know this for a fact.</p>

9

<p>How else do you prove that you really excel at something - especially if the activity is the sort for which competition is possible? Anybody can learn the piano for 12 years or be in ballet classes for 6 years but the real question is - are they any good or have they just been plodding along without really proving themselves as talented and skilled?</p>

10

<p>It’s not a matter of you being good at things (if you’re winning international or national awards, though, it helps), it’s a matter of you having the drive to do something besides school–because schools feel it is that drive that leads to vibrant campuses full of student participation and initiation of student groups, etc. For example, an EC where you started a certain group and kept it going is probably more eye-catching than one where you won tons of awards.</p>

11

<p>Valedictorian at our school is based on GPA (anyone with a 4.0) and not on anything else; we have about 2500 students overall and 510 in my class, and we have 6 Valedictorians this year to speak at graduation.</p>

<p>I don’t understand what a “lack of directed passion” in my ECs mean; I showed that I love music (marching band, winter drumline, wind ensemble, piano), interested in science (science bowl and club), and community service (Key Club, Crackdown, CSF, NHS to a certain degree, and Spanish Club(we do service in Spanish Club)).</p>

<p>I really wish I participated in some competitions, but I began piano late and my teacher doesn’t allow a student to participate in competitions until they are level 8. I see that as a negative in my application though; you’re right.</p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback.</p>

12

<p>I think the ABRSM certification is impressive; it should be an asset as opposed to a hindrance in my opinion :)</p>

<p>Good luck with it in April!</p>

<p>I wish I could’ve continued it lol</p>