Harvard/Rice applicant...strong cultural hook!

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>**looking at Harvard, Rice and Georgetown, possibly Boston University and Georgetown. Please be brutally honest!</p>

<p>School
VERY LARGE…graduating class >1000 students.
Suburban
Very competitive
About 15% Asian</p>

<p>Scores
PSAT: 212 in a competitive state
SAT: 680 CR, 750 Math, 780 Writing, 11/12 Essay
SAT IIs: 720 US History, 720 Spanish, 730 Math I (more scores to come)
AP Exams: taken but have not received scores for English Language and Composition, Spanish Language, US History (expecting a 5 in US history and 4’s in Spanish and English)</p>

<p>APs to take next year: Spanish Literature, English Composition, Biology, Government and Economics, Calculus BC</p>

<p>Rank: 58/1017 *top 5-6% roughly.</p>

<p>GPA: 4.2 unweighted</p>

<p>Grades: about 80% of grades are A’s and 20% of grades are B’s. resume is good. Taking as many AP classes, most difficult courses, BC instead of AB calculus, no early releases senior year. wide variety from the humanities to the mathematics and science, including Junior Varsity Swimming.</p>

<p>12th Grade Schedule
BC Calculus
Spanish V AP (Literature)
Biology AP
Junior Varsity Swimming
Government and Economics AP
English Composition IV AP</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Texas Representative of the nationwide ShalomSalaam Movement
Member of the Arab American Institute
Organized a school-wide fundraiser to raise money for victims of earthquake in Pakistan, Spring 2006
Project Leader/Creator of “Children of Abraham” Summer camp for the Youth (religiously affiliated)
Helped organize a joint Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Mother’s Day banquet open to all of the community.
President of Amnesty International (school chapter)
Secretary of Learning About Science and Engineering Research (LASER) (school chapter)
Model UN, Key Club, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Multicultural Club
Member of Student Senate
Member of Habitat for Humanity
Nine continuous years of participation in the science fair
-three years of a continuation project of local acid rain research
-9th grade: 1st at school science fair: bacteria project
10th grade: 3rd at district fair, honorable mention at regional fair: Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful, Year II
11th grade: 1st at district fair, special award from Meteorological Society of Texas at regional fair for Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful, Year III</p>

<p>Etc.
Personal qualities:
-extremely optimistic. very first thing anyone would say about me.
-very open-minded: i regularly attend meetings of the Jewish Student Union and the Muslim Student Union and am working on a joint project
-motivated to improve living standards: life-long dream is to open a medical clinic in an impoverished area of Lebanon (the country), focusing on pediatric care.</p>

<p>Background:
-American-born with Lebanese parents
-VERY proud of my culture and my country
-I speak, read, and write Arabic
-I am self-teaching myself French</p>

<p>**hoping to write my essay on the lines of my culture, being an Arab American Muslim and dealing with adversity…but putting it to a creative twist somehow.</p>

2

<p>You look good. I don’t know if your ethnic makeup is the hook, so much as your involvement in cultural activities and service projects in Lebanon.</p>

3

<p>rank is not impressive.</p>

4

<p>How could your UW GPA be 4.2 w/ 20% of your grades being Bs?</p>

5

<p>Well I don’t compute my GPA…that’s the counselors’ responsibility. Every school’s GPA computations are different. My A’s in the AP classes are 4.5 to 4.8 on the GPA scale and I haven’t received a B that’s below an 86, so that puts me on 3.8 for honors classes and 4.3 for AP classes.</p>

6

<p>The figure you gave is “weighted” then
I dunno if being lebanese is gonna help you</p>

7

<p>oh no! i just realized that typo. sorry guys :slight_smile: weighted gpa.
well any thoughts for chances at Rice?</p>

8

<p>Very competitive at Rice. Harvard will be a reach as you know.</p>

9

<p>Yeah. You have a good shot at Rice. I wouldnt say the lebanese thing is a hook, but…its very interesting.</p>

10

<p>Any thoughts on Georgetown?</p>

11

<p>I’m now really looking into Georgetown’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences and going into International Health. For me, I think that fits very well and I think I can write amazing essays because I have lots of experience in the medical field (from hospital internships and my clinical rotations class). Any comments?</p>

12

<p>It’s a great program but very small - I think they take 35 students each year - so tough to get into.</p>