Chances for top schools (Yale, Columbia, etc) – will chance back!

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hi CC! I’m yet another CCer trying to get a grasp on their future and I’d really appreciate it if you could take a couple of moments from your day to check out my profile and tell me what you think. Please feel free to comment/ask questions about my grades, ECs, whatever! I’ll chance you back if you comment the link to your thread :slight_smile: (If, on the off-chance, you know me in real life and know automatically who this is, please don’t tell me you found this; I’d rather not know)

My list of schools:
Yale
Columbia
Pomona
UChicago
Brown
Stanford
UC Berkeley
UCLA

General info:
Korean-Canadian female, upper-middle class, rising senior at an independent girl’s school
GPA: My school doesn’t do GPA, but my average is 92% (86% and up is an A in my area)
Class rank: my school doesn’t rank since our graduating class sizes are ~100 students

Intended major: Political science/PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics)
SAT: 2360 (800 CR, 800 M, 760 W)
SAT IIs: Math II (800), Literature (760)
AP Human Geography (5), AP Computer Science A (5)

Courses:
I’ve taken most rigorous curriculum offered at my school (honours/pre-AP options whenever possible). AP courses are not offered until junior year.
Junior: Precalculus 12, AP Computer Science, Pre-AP Chemistry, English 12 accelerated, French 12 accelerated, AP Human Geography, Social Studies 11, Choir
Senior (not yet confirmed): AP Calculus AB, AP Lang, AP Lit, AP Chemistry, AP French, AP World History, Choir

ECs:
Volunteering with Liberal Party of Canada (10-12)
10/11: Interned in constituency office of local Member of Parliament, working in provincial headquarters
12: (preface: a federal election is coming up, so the amount of involvement grew exponentially and started in the summer)
Youth Director of my local riding association, working on campaign in my riding with a large leadership role (organizing canvasses, etc), making phone calls/working in community several times a week, working in provincial headquarters, part of BC youth campaign committee composed of heavily involved youth in critical ridings, member of the executive of the federal party’s youth branch in my province

Youth parliament (9-12)
9/10: Critic/Cabinet Minister of my city’s YP
11: Minister of the Lower Mainland of my province’s YP, Attorney General and elected Premier of my city’s YP, member of Grants Committee, activity leader for our day camp for children from low-income families
12: Most likely Minister of the Lower Mainland of my province’s YP (but otherwise would take another Cabinet role), Premier of my city’s YP

Model UN (9-12)
9/10: Delegate
11: Staff member
12: Staff member, Deputy Secretary-General for one of Canada’s largest high school MUN conferences

School paper (10-12)
10: Wrote articles
11: Section head; spearheaded the creation of a blog and transition towards digital content
12: Editor-in-chief

Choir (9-12)
9/10: Member of concert choir, sang a couple solos
11: Member of chamber choir (resurrected in my junior year; didn’t exist for a period of time) and concert choir; chamber placed first at a choral competition
12: Member of chamber choir and concert choir, performing at Carnegie Hall

Trivia team (9-12)
9-12: Member of the team; I’m involved mostly just because it’s fun!

Sports:
Volleyball (9/10)
Cross-country (11/12)
I do sports to keep fit/for my own enjoyment, not for the competition (by any means).

If you’ve gotten this far, thank you so much for taking the time to read this! All comments are truly appreciated :slight_smile:

2

I think u have a good chance at Uchcago, UCLA, berkeley, Pomona
Brown and columba is a sligjt reach and yale and stanford is a crapshoot haha
Yoir stats and ECs are amzing :slight_smile: pls chance me back http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1800311-what-are-my-chances-vietnamese-female-s.html#latest

3

bump—since I posted this at 2:51 in the morning…

4

Your test scores and academics are good enough for the higher-ranking colleges, but keep in mind that many applicants have similar stats once you reach that upper echelon of applicant pools so you’ll have to differentiate yourself in other ways. That being said, I think that the Youth Parliament and Minister positions are unique, so I would definitely emphasize that in your application (esp. with political science).
I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but schools like yale, stanford, columbia, brown, etc. are crapshoots, so those would be reaches for you.
UChicago - honestly depends on your essays, since Uchicago is really big on the essays. Write stellar essays, and I think you’ll be fine (obviously easier said than done, but it’s kinda true).
UC Berkeley and UCLA I think you have a good chance, since Berkeley is a lot about stats. For Pomona, I’m not too familiar with liberal art schools but I would consider it a low reach.

Chance me back? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1797262-chance-me-for-these-colleges.html#latest
5

Hey @Dew123, thanks for your input! I was thinking of emphasizing my political volunteering with a major political party; would you say that’s not unique?

6

You should add Claremont McKenna College to your list. They have a PPE major that is competitive. https://www.cmc.edu/philosophy-politics-economics

7

Hi @Corinthian, I know they do and actually considered it as well, but I’ve heard that CMC is more career-oriented whereas Pomona is more “learning for the sake of learning”—and that CMC is more right-wing (which, in all honestly, does make a difference to me). Can you comment at all about the things I’ve heard?

8

Have you decided on which school you are earlying? Earlying columbia might significantly boost your chances of admission

9

@Expecial I have a dilemma, since Yale seems so much less likely than Columbia, but Columbia is binding whereas Yale is not. Granted, I’d be over the moon if I got into Columbia; I just don’t know whether I’d want to commit to it 100% as of right now.

10

Your test scores and academics are good enough for the higher-ranking colleges, but keep in mind that many applicants have similar stats once you reach that upper echelon of applicant pools so you’ll have to differentiate yourself in other ways. That being said, I think that the Youth Parliament and Minister positions are unique, so I would definitely emphasize that in your application (esp. with political science).
I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but schools like yale, stanford, columbia, brown, duke etc. are crapshoots, so those would be reaches for you.
Good Luck!

11

As to CMC, I am a parent with a D who is Pomona '19 and a husband who is a CMC alum. You may want to take a look at this thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/claremont-mckenna-college/1795825-cmc-vibe-compared-to-pomona.html#latest. CMC students probably tend to be more conservative than Pomona/Scripps/Pitzer. But I don’t know think they’re “right wing” in the sense of, say, someplace like Liberty University. Both Pomona and CMC had an acceptance rate of 9.76% for the most recent class, so they’re both very competitive. If you get a chance to visit, it makes sense to visit both. Your resume and interest in PPE makes me think it could be a very good fit for you.

12

Brown, Columbia, Chicago : reachable
Stanford: Reach

I think you’ll get in at the rest

13

@FuturisticMD Did you just rip off a portion of my previous post on this thread and then repost it? Sorry, but I don’t think that is very original.

14

Your chances are very solid

Even though you’re from out of country, I still think most of the schools are low reaches.
Yale and Columbia will be your greatest challenges

I’m looking at some elite schools as well

Chance me back plz?

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1797562-changing-one-thing.html#latest

15

Your EC’s and internships appear to be outstanding. Well-rounded and focused involvement with activities, especially the ones that you love, are exactly what colleges look for. They want to know what you will contribute to the school, and since you have evidently contributed well to your community and school, you have a greater chance at these colleges.

Your scores are also outstanding. Since selective colleges typically use scores as a backup check, they will evidently be no road block for you.

Obviously the more selective ones (i.e. Yale) are reaches, but I personally think you have a good chance there. Just make your politics-related activities shine in your essays, interview, etc. and you can be somewhat optimistic (as optimistic as anyone applying to HYP can be lol).

16

bump :slight_smile:

17

Yale: reach
Columbia: reach
Pomona: low reach
UChicago: low reach
Brown: low reach
Stanford: low reach
UC Berkeley: match
UCLA: match

Wow, your stats are very, very impressive!! I don’t see anywhere where you really need to improve upon. Your SAT is great, as are your course rigor and ECs. I definitely suggest that you decide on a college that you want to apply EA if you want your chances to be even greater. I ranked these colleges as I did mostly because they’re so competitive. I think you have a decent chance at getting into any of them. Good luck!!! :slight_smile:

Chance me back please??
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1794122-university-of-delaware-in-state.html#latest

18

bumpppppppp

19

bumperino

20

I think your in at most of them. UC Berkley can be hostile in admissions and Stanford is hard to predict. You’ve got great grades and extra curriculars. UCLA, you are in for sure. Good luck and congrats on the hard work.