Chances at, um, HY(P)S

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>STATS
Asian female. lives in the Midwest, attending a competitive New England boarding school (Exeter)</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 10.5 out of 11.0</p>

<p>CLASS RANK: though my school doesn’t rank, I think it’s 9+ out of 350 or so students</p>

<p>CLASSES
11th grade
AP Calc BC
Third year French
Junior English (apparently AP)
AP Chem
US History (isn’t it AP everywhere)</p>

<p>12th grade
AP Stats
AP French Lit
AP English
And…Biochemistry, macro/microeconomics, 2 religion courses, modern China, all one-term electives</p>

<p>TESTING
SAT I:2380 (780 M, 800CR, 800W)</p>

<p>SATII: Math I and IIC-800 each; Chem-760 (definitely retaking); Chinese-800 (aka in the 50th percentile…)
will take French in fall</p>

<p>AP:
Calc BC-5
Chem-5</p>

<p>EC’s:

  1. Piano 9-12: NHMTA 1st place (11th grade)
    plays in chamber music, teaches piano for free to kids
  2. EiC of school news publication (member since ninth grade)
  3. Co-head of big sib little sib (a support group connecting high school students with adopted Asians, 9-12)
  4. founded club to raise hunger and poverty awareness in third world countries in 11th grade
  5. I’m coordinator/newsletter EiC for the school’s social service program, (which is has about 50 clubs)
  6. And the rest: peer tutoring (9-12), student tech (11-12), tour guide (9-12), dance, and (completely random) I head a pilates club</p>

<p>AWARDS
French, history, and English awards from school
CDB Scholar (pays for four-year tuition at boarding school)
early cum laude (top 5% of Exeter’s senior class)
(and my PSAT was 231 so I’m thinking probably National Merit)</p>

<p>SUMMER
2006: Harvard Summer School (International Law, A), volunteering
2007: traveling in Asia, summer job</p>

<p>COLLEGE LIST so far:
Yale
Columbia
U Chicago
Harvard
Stanford
U Penn (maybe, just maybe Wharton, not that I’ll get in or anything)
Wash U
Indiana University</p>

<p>I know this is a really ambitious list. Please let me know my chances! (and be as critical as you want) Thanks SO much :)</p>

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<p>As anyone familiar with top boarding schools knows, it’s not the top 10 kids who get the 10 top college picks. We have lots of recruited athletes, a ton of legacies and the rich and famous. Top 10 at Exeter is damn good, but whether you get into those colleges depends more than anything on who at Exeter is applying against you. The top schools take what, 8-20 from Exeter each. That sounds like a lot but is not when you add up the hooked. Write a phenomenal application and good luck!</p>

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<p>Harvard, Stanford, UPenn: Slight Reach to Match
Columbia, UChic, Wash U: Match
Rest: Safe match to Safety</p>

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<p>o.0- you’re good…</p>

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<p>I can’t believe someone with those stats is posting a chance thread.</p>

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<p>I’m also a little hesitant to believe that the OP is actually top ten at Exeter.</p>

<p>Everywhere on your list except for WashU, Indiana (random?), and UChicago is going to be inundated with Exeter/Choate/etc etc kids.</p>

<p>And each school will probably take a handful. That said, are you really going to be part of that handful at all of these places? Probably not, even though your achievements are very impressive.</p>

<p>I’d say reject from Wharton, because it’s Wharton. And probable waitlists at Harvard and Stanford.</p>

<p>Yale and Columbia are more reasonable.</p>

<p>Obviously you’re ahead of the game, but I don’t think a lot of people realize the caliber of kids at top northeastern schools. Colleges can’t take all of them.</p>

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<p>collegekid100–thanks for the insight! I forgot to account for the legacies/recruits/etc, which there are a LOT of at prep schools.</p>

<p>aisgzdavinci–thanks! do you play too?</p>

<p>llpitch–haha, those stats don’t actually mean much since pretty much everyone at my school has them, and as collegekid100 pointed out, I’m competing against them. I was just trying to see how I’d do under these circumstances, not trying to appear arrogant or anything. sorry if I came off that way! </p>

<p>ses–why is Stanford more of a reach at Yale? I thought yale was tougher. and Indiana is my state school with lots of good merit scholarships :)</p>

<hr>

<p>Applying from prep school, are the stats more/less important than applying from public school?</p>

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<p>Why are you saying that she is a shoe-in? I have no idea how great the piano competition is, but high-scoring, piano-playing-asians, are extremely common in the admissions game.</p>

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<p>Stanford is actually a bigger reach. I know kids who were accepted by HYP and waitlisted/rejected by Stanford.</p>

<p>Stanford admissions tend to favor west coast kids, although they’re trying to change it. AND because Stanford is not bound by the Ivy pact they are able to give more spots to recruited athletes. And because Stanford is a sports powerhouse, that’s A LOT of kids every year.</p>

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<p>no one said i was a shoe-in, if thats how you spell it</p>

<p>also, completely random, what does OP stand for anyway? like opening person? any ideas?</p>

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<p>original poster.
you have a decent shot at hysc, up to chance whether you’ll get in or not.</p>

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<p>As an earlier poster said, about 10-20 people from Exeter are accepted to HYPS every year. It’s your place to compare your own stats to those of the other competitors at your school–no one on CC (unless they, too, go to Exeter) can do that.</p>

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<p>That’s 8-20 at EACH top college, not in all! Still, figure 20% at Exeter are Exeter legacies. Almost all their kids are ivy legacies, many multi generation legacies and many have 2 ivy legacy parents. In total, probably half the class or more has a top college legacy.</p>

<p>Take a look at which of your classmates have parents who are very involved and give lots of money. The schools do print what everyone gave each year. Expect Exeter to firmly back the kids of big givers at top colleges.</p>

<p>Then there’s just the pure money. The NYC investment bnker multi millionaire kids whose dad will cough up a few mill if Trip, Thats John Getty RockefellerIII, gets into Princeton</p>

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<p>ok, but just say that I went to some normal public high school. How are my chances given the same stats and minus the consideration for my classmates’ legacies or athletic abilities etc etc</p>

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<p>To be honest, I think you really do have a great chance in getting to all of them. Just remember, do well on the essays. =)</p>

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<p>From patterns I’ve seen as a student at Chicago, I think that demonstrated ability to do the work and to be happy with intellectual challenge goes a long way here, and I don’t think Chicago has a hard time accepting kids from elite schools by the handful. (I went to an elite high school a notch or two down from Exeter, and Chicago has been more lenient with students coming from my high school than they have been with students from less rigorous high schools). Go for it (and all your schools) and hope for the best. Your chances of admission are, at best, a toss-up, but you’re certainly in the running.</p>