Confused math prodigy that likes drama...?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Okay, well not a prodigy per say, but I am good at math! :smiley: woo
Anyway, so, as a shocker it may be to the members of college confidential, I am one of those nerdy, procrastinating students who plan for college until the last possible minute. I still don’t know what school I want to go to! Help me out?</p>

<p>So, this is going to sound like one of those “Chance me?” threads, but here are my stats:</p>

<p>SAT I: 1950 (I plan to take it again, I really didn’t prepare too hard the first time; gonna buy an actual SAT prep book and everything!)
SAT II: Math 2 - 800, Biology - 760
AP: World History (4), ES (5, self studied), bio (5), spanish (2<– PORQUE?! no se…;), calculus AB (5), calculus BC (5); going to take chem (kill me), english lang, US history, stats this year</p>

<p>I go to a public school, but went to a private school (on scholarship) during my freshman year and transferred because I hated the people and environment (so snobby!)</p>

<p>*
Grades: 3.7 UW, 4.4 W (top 10? stupid Spanish class…)

  • = weighed
    Freshman - 3.6 UW, 4.0 W
    AP Calculus AB* (hells yeah, i think i was the only freshman that took AP; B/A), Spanish III (B/B), English Honors I* (A/B), biology (A/A), theater (A), health (A)
    Sophomore - 3.6 UW, 4.5 W
    AP Calculus BC<em>(A/A), AP Bio</em> (B/A), AP World* (A/A), AP Spanish IV* (C/B), English 2 Honors* (A/B), Cinema History and Appreciation (A), theater II (A), Film Production (A/A)
    Junior - 4.0 UW, 4.8 W
    AP Stats* (A), AP Chem* (A), APUSH* (A), Latin I (A), Advanced theater* (A), AP English Language* (A) <— WHOOO straight A’s first semester
    Senior -
    AP Physics<em>, AP Computer Science</em>, Advanced theater<em>, AP English Literature</em>, AP Gov’t/Econ<em>, Advanced Film Production</em></p>

<p>College Courses:

  • Art History (A)
  • Trigonometry (A)
  • Linear Algebra and Differential Calculus (B) <— took at Stanford
  • Acting (I don’t remember what i got… A?) <— Stanford</p>

<p>EC?:

  • Academic Decathalon, Honorary member - 1 year (won regionals, I won’t say how we placed in state because it’ll be obvious what school i go to but it was top 10, freaking CA is impossible to win!) <– going to be co-captain next year
  • Film Appreciation president - 2 years, started club during 10th grade
  • Engineers of Tomorrow treasurer- 3 years, VP next year
  • Girl’s Basketball team - 2 years; JV point guard & team captain (i’m 5’2!) but gave up to join AcaDec :frowning:
  • played piano for 10 years? work/teach at piano school 4hr/week
  • volunteered 200+ at hospital, library, Disneyland!, local theater, tutoring, ect.
  • taking improv comedy classes for 7 months now :smiley:
  • won Miss Vietnamese beauty pageant :smiley: cute tidbit, idk if I would put that on my college application though? it’s pretty superficial, nothing scholastic-y</p>

<p>other info?: I’m going to be the first one in my family to go to college, i’m 1st-generation Vietnamese-American, low-income family, eh…?</p>

<p>ANyway, basically I just want a school a school that has a really prestigious math department? Since that’s what I’ll be majoring in. Also, a school with a great drama program is good too…? I don’t think I have the grades or the SAT scores for an Ivy league (I mean, I do plan to raise to at least 2100+), but would I have a chance for any? The only school I’m considering is Stanford, but I don’t know if I have a chance? UGHh.</p>

<p>Actually, chance me for Stanford? :D</p>

2

<p>I think you should spend some time this summer figuring out how to ace the SAT, or ACT. That along with your solid grades will mean that one or more of the Ivys/top 15 will take you if you write interesting essays. These type of schools will spend enough time reviewing your actual transcript to understand you’ll do well in any area of math or science. Forget about the Spanish low grades… of all the areas of the transcript, language is the least critical in predicting your success in the college classroom. They just need to find you interesting.</p>

<p>As to your specific question, you’re right in the ballpark for Stanford, though the vibe I get from you is that you’d be happier at Harvard, Chicago, or Brown.</p>

3

<p>Every campus has some kind of student-organized theater group even if there isn’t a formal drama department. Unless you want a drama minor or double major, you really don’t have to think too hard about that factor.</p>

<p>If you do want a drama major, you may want to take a look at the Theater/Drama major sub-forum under the College Majors forum for ideas. Carnegie Mellon is one university that comes to mind for a good theater reputation as well as good tech/math/science. There are others out there as well.</p>

<p>What state are you in? Which of your in-state public Us could work for you as a safety school?</p>

4

<p>Do try to bring up your SAT scores.</p>

<p>If the Ivies are too reachy for you, then Stanford may be out too, unless you think you have a hook. Chicago has a top math program and in the past has been a little less selective than most of the Ivies. However, with a new admissions director it has been marketing itself aggressively; its applications were up by more than 40% this year. Check out Rice University. Also consider a few LACs. Very selective ones that seem to have strong math programs include Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore, Pomona and Williams. Somewhat less selective ones include Grinnell, Macalester, and Reed.</p>

5

<p>Women with 800 Math SAT I and IIs are a special crowd, and you have charm and good looks, too, apparently! Don’t discount all these positive factors. Mediocre grades in Spanish will not detract from your application. </p>

<p>First of all, take the ACT. Plenty of math/science types do better on it, because your score is 50% math and science tests instead of 33% like the SAT. </p>

<p>Secondly, have the “college talk” with your parents; actually, this should be several talks over the summer. What are they comfortable with, in terms of schools, especially location and cost. You don’t have to look very far on these boards to find posts from frustrated 1st generation kids; being female could have a lot of additional cultural baggage for you. Find out your parents’ fears and challenges, then try to stretch them, gently. If they want you to stay on the west coast, for example, would they at least let you look at a school like the University of Chicago? They have excellent merit scholarships and love unusual students, BTW. And the snobbism is strictly intellectual. ;)</p>

<p>Otherwise, I’ll repeat the mentions of Reed, Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Stanford, Berkeley. The Ivies are a consideration, but get your ACT score and see. Are you taking classes at Stanford or another math program this summer? If so, do a lot of networking and find the schools who will love you. Nothing is going to be handed to you - you have to know what you want and go after it. Good luck!</p>

6

<p>Oh, hell. I missed the Girl’s basketball team.</p>

<p>You want to look at Bryn Mawr. The math program is very good and you would be able to enroll in some graduate level courses. For details, send a PM to b@r!um who is studying math there. Also, the theater building has just been completely renovated.</p>

<p>Bryn Mawr is exam optional. You may not need to re-take the SAT/ACT in order to apply.</p>

7

<p>Hi everyone, thank you for all the replies and information! I didn’t even know about half these schools! :D</p>

<p>Anyway, I live in CA (and really close to Stanford and UCB too), so I think that would give me an advantage to Stanford? Maybe? Or is that only for public schools…&lt;/p>

<p>Again, I really do plan to raise my SAT significantly. I took a PSAT and scored 230 (2300? i doubt these are accurate) on it during Junior year, but when I took it again this spring, I hardly studied. Seriously, it was knowledge from my PSAT and an online SAT practice test. I plan to get at least a 2100 though, hopefully a 2300 though (or better yet, 2400!). </p>

<p>I am pretty interested in UChicago, Carnegie Mellon, and UCB (just because it’s much cheaper) right now. Haha, my dream school would actually be Cal Tech or MIT, but I’m pretty sure I lost my chance when I got my first (and only!) B in AP Calc during 9th grade :(</p>

<p>any other suggestions? :D</p>

8

<p>haha I miss basketball too!
I do during Academic Decathlon practice sessions (6 hours a day, 6x a week!) is study, eat leftovers, watch The Office, drink monster, play call of duty, sleep, study. Agh, I was suppose to be starting point guard in Varsity too! Oh well, play-offs this Sunday! Go Lakers!</p>