Everyone has their ivy dream...

What Are My Chances?
#1

<p>...including me. Here goes:</p>

<p>PSAT: 227
SAT I: 710/740/770
GPA: 4.35 W
Rank: 6/1314 (1314...not a typo)
I'm in a competitive IB class out in the 'burbs. Going for full IB diploma.</p>

<p>ECs:
Huge into band: 3-time Texas 5A all-stater, colorguard for 3 years with leadership positions, principal player in the (awesome) local youth orchestra, major summer music camps, charter president for Future Music Educators, state-level awards in composition, and potentially drum major for marching next year
French Club: president for 05-06, previously treasurer, 1st place at state French competition, ranked nationally on National French Exam for 3 years
I've also got Quiz Bowl, Student Council, and NHS, but nothing particularly of note in those clubs.</p>

<p>Like everyone else, I'm a middle-class white kid (Asian at heart. haha). Anything I should do for a better chance at the ivies? And do you think music is a valid hook when adcoms are looking at apps?</p>

#2

<p>dude ur grades are very low and ur SAT is on the below-avg side.....so your chances are VERY LOW...please apply somewhere else.....davis would be a good shot for you ....</p>

#3

<p>^ ***?!!!! a 4.35 is bad?!!!! since when is a 2200+ SAT BAD?! DAVIS?! more like UCLA or UCB. well abotu your IVY dream, you should definitely apply for sum safties. apply to couple UC's or sumtihn. ur IVY dream isnt destroyed. your rank is awesome and SAT is good. dont believe sean</p>

#4

<p>my god youre going to make this girl cry.</p>

<p>You have great shots. For top ivies, HYP, all-state in music might not be a HUGE hook. not to undermine your accomplishments (i quit band in 9th grade), i just heard theres many all-state band kids that didnt get in.</p>

<p>but it is definitely a hook. i would say you are very competitive outside of HYP & moderately competitive for HYP. </p>

<p>Only things I can think of to improve your chances: get your math/reading part of your SAT up to 1500 (although 1450 is not bad), try to do something unique in community service or something else. hope that helps.</p>

#5

<p>I have NO idea what Sean is talking about. Your stats look excellent and your extracurriculars do too. In 2003, about 760 people in the US got a 1600 SAT. Two thirds of those applied to Harvard and about 200 of them were accepted. You don't need a 1600 to go to Harvard.</p>

<p>Having said that.... Applying to extremely selective schools is a crap shoot. For every person accepted, there are five almost identical applicants who are denied. If a person applys to five schools with accept rates of 10%, 15%, 20%, 20%, and 30%; then the probability of not being accepted are 90%, 85%, 80%, 80% and 70%. The probability of not getting into any is 0.9 * 0.85 * 0.80 * 0.80 * 0.70 = 32%.</p>

#6

<p>haha I am pretty sure Sean is being sarcastic. I'm surprised no one caught onto that... But anyway, the percentages that dufus named make logical sense, but it's really a little higher than that. You have to think that with her stats, she would stand out as being more qualified than many people that apply to those schools (there are many that apply that are way over their head). I'm not sure how much higher it is, but it is going to be higher than 10%.</p>

<p>As for getting in, I think I understand the admissions process really well after getting decisions this April. Mainly, I think stats can only get you so far; after that, you will need something UNIQUE that sets you apart from everyone else to get in. I have a lot of thoughts on the whole process. I had some pretty strong weaknesses in my application and if I were to post my chances on CC, I'm sure I would have gotten a lot of really low percentages for some of the schools I applied to. Luckily I got into a lot of the schools though, and I think most CCers are a little inaccurate when assessing someone's chances of getting into a school. You can private message me if you want to talk some more, I'll give you my aim sn from there.</p>

#7

<p>jesus christ you guys don't know a joke from a funeral</p>

#8

<p>Sean's an idiot and an a$$hole</p>

<p>6/1324 or whatever!? </p>

<p>that's awesome...along with test scores</p>

<p>you're fineee</p>

#9

<p>I'd say the OP ought to consider Alaskan community colleges with those kinds of scores. Otherwise, I'm sure there are some Clown Colleges that accept such substandard academics.</p>

<p>BLATANT enough for you people? Sheez.</p>

#10

<p>I'd say you could go ivy, but probably not HYP. You're right on the edge so make sure you work hard and keep everything up. You can probably get in at Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell and Brown (if you work hard you have the potential to get into them). Getting into the other 4 ivies is like a lottery for anyone so don't get upset about them.</p>

#11

<p>No I disagree, I think you stand as good a chance at HYP as any other kid. My stats were somewhat similar to yours, but with much less ECs... and I still got into some really tough schools to get into, including Yale (I didn't apply to harvard or princeton). It really depends on if you can stand out from everyone else.</p>

#12

<p>haha. i dont think sean is an ass... ok. i woul;d like o understand where u are coming from. i mean, sheesh, why would you be worried? colleges also want you to be really intrested in their school. u find that on a list anywhere, but if some kid who has lower stats then you applies, and he really shows more intrest, then they will prolly accept him. dont go disagreeing with me unless you have proof, because ive heard this from many ad coms. agian, your stats are pretty cool, but remember... they dont necessarily get you in. ud have 100% chance if u were mexican though. try getting a tan maybe????</p>

#13

<p>crumflake ***? Were you talking to me? and what are you talking about?</p>

#14

<p>what? no i didnt even read your post. i was just talking about a hypothetical situation.</p>

#15

<p>thanks to all! it's been an entertaining read. insightful too.</p>