<ul>
<li>Junior, Asian male, California</li>
<li>Applying for financial aid, family income ~$30,000 (will this help?)</li>
<li>First-generation college student</li>
<li>Attending a top 100 high school in the U.S.</li>
<li>Looking to major in Business/Finance/Econ</li>
</ul>
<p>GPA: 3.75
Unweighted: 3.90
Class rank: top 10% (school does not give specific rank)</p>
<p>PSAT: 221
SAT I: (710M/650CR/680W) = 2040 (retaking in Oct., expecting 2100-2200)
SAT IIs: Math IIC (800), Physics (780), Korean (800)
ACT: taking in June (expecting 31-33)</p>
<p>AP Classes:
Sophomore Year: AP US History (4)
Junior Year: AP Calculus AB (predicting 4-5), AP Eng Lang (predicting 5)
Projected Senior Year:
AP Physics B
AP Statistics
AP Spanish IV
AP Eng Lit
AP Econ (Macro)
AP Poli Sci
Varsity Track</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Intern at Wells Fargo Bank (11, 12): Teller, Stage Director, Clerk Assistant
Intern at Bethel Youth Ministry (11, 12): 1 of 2 students chosen out of 500
BYM Worship Team/Praise Band (9, 10, 11, 12): Worship Leader/Bassist
Church Youth Group Leader (10, 11, 12)
Church Youth Group Webmaster (10, 11, 12)
Access Christian Club (9, 10, 11, 12): Secretary & Treasurer/Media Tech/Worship Team (11), Charter Member (9, 10)
Zum Clothing Company (10, 11, 12): Create own designs on shirts, $1,000 profit
Key Club International (9, 10, 11, 12): Vice President (11), Secretary (10), Treasurer/Charter Member (9)
LiNK: Liberty in North Korea (9, 10, 11, 12): President (11), Treasurer (10), Charter Member (9)
Asian American Youth Association (9, 10, 11, 12): President (11), Treasurer (10), Charter Member (9)
KASA: Korean American Student Association (9, 10, 11): Vice President (11), Treasurer (10), Charter Member (9)
Math Tutor: Algebra II, Precalculus (10, 11, 12): 2 freshmen
Impact (10, 11, 12): Peer Tutor</p>
<p>Athletics:
JV Football (9)
JV Track & Field (10)
Varsity Track & Field (12)
not able to do track in 11th grade because of conflicting schedules
with bank internship</p>
<p>Volunteer/Service Work:
BYM Mission Trip (Summer '05, Summer '06): Build a local church in Mexico
Worked part-time at family’s restaurant weekly (9, 10, 11, 12)
Volunteer at American Red Cross (9, 10, 11, 12): 300+ hours
Served meals at homeless shelter; every Sunday morning (10, 11, 12)
30 Hour Famine (9, 10, 11, 12): led by Bethel Youth Ministry, raise money for starving families while fasting
Vacation Bible School over Summer (K-6 kids): Camp Counselor/Leader (10, 11, 12)
Volunteer at Public Library (10, 11, 12): Read to illiterate kids, 50+ hours
Started Tsunami Fundraiser Aid (9, 10, 11)
Lifeguard at YMCA (Summer '07): 100+ hours
Led student-run car wash, raising funds for AIDS research
Aids Walk 06: Team Publicity Commisioner
Aids Walk 07: Team Co-Captain
Church Youth Group: Audio/visual for 2 hours/week (9, 10, 11, 12)</p>
<p>Honors and Awards:
National Merit Semi-Finalist (221 PSAT) - predicted
UCI Academic Talent Search (10)
Principal’s Honor Roll (9, 10, 11, 12)
Academic Achievement Award (10, 11)</p>
<p>College Summer Programs:
DMA-55 Graphic Design at Irvine Valley College (for BYM Internship)
Research Assistanceship at UCI (10, 11)
Planning to take community college courses this summer:
Introduction to Sociology
Introduction to Business
Introduction to Computer Systems</p>
<p>Chance me at these schools:</p>
<p>Cornell (AEM) - most likely ED
Northwestern
Georgetown (McDonough)
NYU (Stern)
USC (Marshall)
UVA (OOS)
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
UCI
Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
Boston College
U Michigan (OOS)
Notre Dame (Mendoza)
Villanova</p>
<p>Can you guys suggest some safeties that are strong in Business/Econ?</p>
<p>You have great ECs, the only problems I can see is with your SAT, which your PSAT scores prove you can bring up, and your GPA is slightly low for some colleges. With APs, though, you can probably bring it up, right?</p>
<p>My predictions (if your SAT goes into 2100-2200 range):</p>
<p>Cornell (AEM) - most likely ED - reach/high match
Northwestern - high match
Georgetown (McDonough) - match
NYU (Stern) - low match/safety
USC (Marshall) - match
UVA (OOS) - low match
UC Berkeley - high match/reach
UCLA - match
UCSD - low match
UCI - safety
Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) - match
Boston College - safety
U Michigan (OOS) - low match/safety
Notre Dame (Mendoza) - low match
Villanova - safety</p>
<p>Overall, I think you have a great shot at all with an increase in SATs.</p>
<p>haha notre dame low match??? that’s kind of funny…not unless you have a 2400, youre the head of admissions’s child, and you have a 4.0…UVA same story…UMich same… where did you come up with that</p>
<p>I don’t agree with skp about some of the colleges he said are match/safety/reach. Georgetown is not just a match…it’s more like a reach. Notre Dame is NOT a low match at all. More like a reach as well. Villanova, UMich and BC safeties? Are you kidding me? More like high matches.</p>
<p>Those schools you posted are really competitive, and I have no idea why that person said most of them were matches or safeties. Even if your SAT goes up another 100 points or so, you still can’t say that BC or UMich is a safety. Not at all.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how strongly colleges weigh the rigor of your senior schedule? I have several honors classes scattered throughout 9th and 10th grade, and only 2 AP’s junior year due to time conflicts. I did not do too well in 10th grade, but straight A’s this year, so there definitely is an upward trend and probably only 1 B second semester. </p>
<p>But since I plan to take 6 AP’s next year, would this potentially make up for my 2 AP’s junior year, despite the fact that senior year isn’t counted towards my GPA?</p>
<p>Regarding the senior year classes, it’s good that you are choosing APs. This will definitely show colleges that you are ready to have rigorous classes and not slack off even though it’s senior year. Although the most important thing is the GPA, your harder classes senior year will have a positive effect also.</p>
<p>^however UT-Austin, like Berkeley, don’t really care about legacies, EC, etc as much as they care about test scores and GPA. They won’t consider you OOS if your class rank isn’t in top 25%.</p>