- Honest Evaluation - Chances at PENN, BC, etc.

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>I’m interested in starting the CommonApp as soon as it’s released.</p>

<p>General: Junior Male, Mexican, from a large southern-california public school.
Rank: Definitely Top 5%, hopefully top 3% (in a class of 800)
GPA: Unweighted - 3.800 (have received As in every class except math - I take advanced math courses, though)
Curriculum: Have only taken Honors or AP courses.
SAT I: 750- CR, 750 -W, 720 - M (2220 Overall - will take 2nd time in june )
SAT II: 740- Biology (took Math IIC and US History in may, will find out scores in a week)</p>

<p>Junior Schedule:
AP English Lang
AP Spanish Lang
AP Calc AB
AP US History
AP Physics
Student Government</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
AP English Lit
AP Stats
AP Environmental Sci
AP Comparative Gov
Student Government
ECs:
Sport:</p>

<pre><code>* I am a top-ranked gymnast in the nation for my age (and level 10, the highest level), and I have trained gymnastics for 10 years. Currently train 16 hours per week, hold various state champ titles, etc.

  • I am a varsity diver for my school, I train 10 hours per week in this sport, when I take a break from the gymnastics season (which never technically ends - it is a year round sport)
  • I have the All-American Award for Gymnastics
    </code></pre>

<p>Special Interests:</p>

<pre><code>* I am the President of my school’s Ecology Club - which I resurrected. It is fun, but very challenging.

  • I am the President of my school’s California Scholarship Federation - this club is very difficult because it is impossible to get everyone to a single meeting (with > 50 members) and its community-service focus is difficult.
  • I am an avid music fan with knowledge from 1960s Jazz to 1980s Underground Hip-Hop to the Electronic Avant-Garde scene in NY and Europe’s finest art-rock songwriters. I hope to write a music column in college encouraging students to listen to a more diverse mix of music rather than mainstream radio.
  • I have over 500 hours of school-oriented service logged in for Student Government on my campus: I am the Business Manager this year, and will most likely be elected Senior Class President next month.
  • I have competed for my school’s very successful Academic Bowl team, during my Freshman and Sophomore years. I did not participate this year, but I will re-join the team (time permitting!) next year
    </code></pre>

<p>College Interests:
International Relations, Law, Business, Environmental Science
I refuse to live in the middle of nowhere, or endure sub-zero temperatures.
I feel an innate attraction to the north-east, which is unfortunately cold (see above). I visited Penn, G-Town, BC, Yale (hated yale :() during my spring break.

  • PENN
  • Stanford (the only school where I could possibly compete Gymnastics)
  • Boston College
  • Georgetown
  • Boston U
  • Pepperdine</p>

<p>Random Info:
I am a strong, albeit open-minded, Christian. I love learning and I love life. I love judging people - not in a critical way - but rather in an examination of motives, backgrounds, etc. - in fact this is probably the opposite of what most people consider “judging to be”. After watching the season finale of THE OC, I was inspired to write a college essay in which I examined the different facets of my character.</p>

<ul>
<li>I will be happy wherever I attend school, though PENN is my dream! Please assess my chances at the above institutions! At least, I feel adequately prepared to succeed at any of these schools, but I need some confirmation, a peace of mind, and some friendly banter! Enlighten me (please)!</li>
</ul>

2

<p>If you’re being recruited by Stanford for gymnastics that’s awesome.</p>

<p>Otherwise your ECs look great. Your scores aren’t AMAZING but they’re definitely good enough for Penn and Gtown. You’ll walk into BC as long as your essays are good.</p>

<p>Just work hard on your app! You’ve got a great shot!</p>

3

<p>Well, I’m hoping to break 2300 (at least super-scored) when I retake it, but if I don’t I won’t be crushed. My goal was to take the SAT for practice the first time, then study to ultimately achieve 2200…So I’m already satisfied.</p>

<p>Otherwise, I’m more concerned about picking the right college rather than getting in. I’m really interested in those awesome liberal arts schools in the NE like Haverford, Williams, Middlebury, etc. My parents don’t seem to see a value in a liberal arts degree though. </p>

<p>And while I think PENN is my #1, I am unsure whether I would like the competition of a bunch of hot-shots at Wharton - even if I did manage to get in. I love leading - if you noticed, I am president of all the groups I’m in - not because I’m power hungry or anything, I just feel most “right” with the responsibility. But I would still rather discuss philosophy than brainstorm entrepreneurial ideas at age 18. If that is true, would it even be right to take a spot at Wharton? I’m sure there are PLENTY of kids who would just kill to get on that pre-professional track.</p>

<p>I don’t know. If anyone cares.</p>

4

<p>Just got SAT subject scores.</p>

<p>720 - Math IIC
760 - US History</p>

<p>I thought I’d get higher on US and lower on math (I skipped 6). I’m fine with them, though.</p>

5

<p>You will get into Pepperdine and BU, but the rest are BIG ifs</p>

6

<p>Eh, well Stanford seems like a safe bet, but I guess I’ll see in the summer.</p>

<p>My dream is probably BC though. For me, it’s basically the perfect east coast school. But my bestbestbest friend got into Harvard and waitlisted at BC. :frowning: So who even knows.</p>

<p>Edit: The Stanford thing sounds arrogant - but unless the coaches are exaggerating about how much sway they have with admissions, it SOUNDS like I have a good shot. But it’s Stanford, so it’s probably never a safe bet. Letters of intent!</p>

7

<p>You have a great chance everywhere. Since you have 2 Boston colleges I would add Tufts which is great for IR.</p>

8

<p>I really love the city of Boston. Maybe I should apply to Tufts! I’m applying to 6 or 7 schools, and definitely BC - EA. If I get in early to BC I won’t need to apply to BU or Pepperdine, and then I’ll have lots of open slots. Here’s to hoping!</p>

9

<p>Edit: These are the schools I’m currently interested in (in order of preference)</p>

<p>1 UPenn
2 Stanford
3 Boston College
4 Williams
5 Duke
6 Georgetown
7 Peppedine</p>

10

<p>If you’re worried about the hotshots at Wharton…I really would stay away from Penn. They’re unavoidable and absolutely disgusting IMO.</p>

11

<p>honestly, with your gymnastics, you have a great shot at standford</p>

12

<p>Yes, definitely consider Tufts if you’re interested in IR. Tufts, JHU, and Gtown have the best undergraduate IR programs in the country!</p>

<p>And do you REALLY prefer Penn over Stanford?</p>

13

<p>Yeah, well, I really want to venture out of California for college. I’m pretty sure I’ll get into Stanford because of gymnastics, but that will not include a scholarship. Penn is more of a gamble - especially Wharton. S Snack’s comments aren’t very encouraging on that part.
What I would really like is to get a scholarship to Boston College. :)</p>

14

<p>Wow, looking at your credentials you really stick out to me. Excellent grades, almost perfect SAT scores, your a minority, and you have something you are passionate about and stuck with (gymnastics). If I were you, I would apply to all of those ivies and stuff, but your best bet would probally be to go to a great school like BC where you could get a scholarship. Good luck and I think you have as good of a chance as anyone!</p>

15

<p>Thank you so much Tyler! That is exactly what I wanted to hear. Because I know my SAT scores and GPA are pretty good already - those are just concrete statistics. The more important thing on my mind (which you answered) was whether of not my application has potential to stand out. The school’s I’m applying to have 15000-25000 applicants annually.</p>

<p>Updates:

  • I was in fact elected Senior Class President.
  • My standardized testing is done (760 US, 720 Math IIC), still waiting on my SAT I that I retook.
  • I contradicted my “I refuse to live in the middle of nowhere” by putting Williams on the list; it’s not completely out of the question, but it would definitely be a sacrifice from my point of view to live in Williamstown instead of Boston, for instance.</p>
16

<p>Class president is a pretty big deal too.</p>

17

<p>You can probably get into any school with that kind of a resume.</p>

18

<p>Update:</p>

<p>Final Standardized Testing Scores:</p>

<p>SAT I (1st try): 2220
(2nd try): 2200
Superscore: Math - 720, CR - 750, W - 800: 2270</p>

19

<p>uh…first and last bump</p>