I realized that optimism isn't going to get me into college...

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Hey Guys,
I’ll just list everything I have (hopefully I won’t forget anything), and hope that you can give me advice on whether or not my colleges are at all feasible… </p>

<p>Colleges:

  1. Columbia
  2. Johns Hopkins
  3. Berkeley
  4. Duke
  5. UNC - Chapel Hill
  6. NCSU
  7. ECU</p>

<p>(to differentiate, 1-4 are my schools that I barely get into in my dreams and 5-7 are my safety schools)</p>

<p>I am not naive enough to think I have a good chance at any of the dream schools… But if you have any better suggestions to go in between 4 and 5 I would be delighted to hear them, because other than Columbia (I love NYC), my choices are subject to a lot of change between now and college application time.</p>

<p>Junior - Enloe High School in Raleigh, NC (it’s one of the most competitive schools in NC)</p>

<p>Academics (a breakdown of all of freshman-senior year… skip down if necessary to GPA, class rank etc.):
9th Grade:

  1. Band - A
  2. Health I & II - A/A
  3. H. Alg 2 - A
  4. H. C&C English I - A (C&C is an advanced seminar- and group-based class of social studies & english)
  5. H. Civics & Economics - A
  6. Spanish I - A (I never thought of taking it in middle school… an obvious mistake)
  7. H. Biology - A</p>

<p>Over the Summer - H. Precalculus - A</p>

<p>10th Grade:

  1. AP Calculus AB - A
  2. AP Calculus BC - A
  3. AP C&C World History - A
  4. H. C&C English II - A
  5. Spanish II - A
  6. H. Chemistry - A
  7. H. Anatomy - A</p>

<p>11th Grade (based on 1st semester final grades):

  1. H. Spanish 3 - A
  2. AP/IB English III - A
  3. AP/IB Environmental Science - A
  4. IB Theory of Knowledge
  5. AP Physics C - A</p>

<p>Projected 12th Grade: (fairly certain)

  1. AP Statistics
  2. IB Twentieth Century Topics
  3. AP/IB English IV
  4. H. Spanish IV (I am going to try and get this over the summer so it will be AP Spanish Language instead)
  5. AP Biology
  6. AP Statistics</p>

<p>Academic Summary:

  • Unweighted GPA: 4.0
  • Weighted (as of this the end of 1st semester this year): 5.1
  • Class Rank: 11/560</p>

<p>Tests:

  • SAT: 2110 (710 Writing, 710 Math, 690 CR)
  • ACT: Pending
  • SAT IIs: Pending (Physics, US History, Math II this year + Spanish, Biology next year)
  • AP Exams: World History (5), Calculus BC (5)
    Pending for: Physics C Mechanics, E&M, English Language, Environmental Science, US History + Statistics, English Literature, Biology
  • IB Exams: (All are pending) Environmental Systems SL, Psychology SL, Spanish SL, English HL, History HL, Math HL</p>

<p>NCSU Courses:

  1. MA 242 - Calculus III - A
  2. MA 341 - Applied Differential Equations I (taking now)
  3. MA 401 - Introduction to Linear Algebra (possible)</p>

<p>ECs (a lot smaller, which is obviously a big problem…):

  1. As seen above, International Baccalaureate (IB) Program
  2. Key Club - 150+ hours (as of now) - 3 Years
  3. Being One (student-led volunteer organization) - 2 Years
  4. Science Olympiad (JV, silver in bottle rocket + bronze in anatomy… regional tournament, though) - 1 Year
  5. National Honor Society - 1 Year
  6. 50 Hour Job Shadow of a Neonatologist in Pune, India KEM Hospital
  7. Western Flute - 9+ years (with 3+ years under NC Symphony flutist Mary Boone)
  8. Indian Classical Flute - 1 year (under a classical flute teacher in Pune, India)
  9. Guitar - 1 year (self-taught… not sure if that should be on there)
  10. Siemens Competition (pending)</p>

<p>This Summer:

  1. Linear Algebra at NCSU
  2. Spanish IV online and then EC-wise
  3. an internship with a chemical/biomedical engineer at NCSU
  4. job at a local movie theater
  5. and also a cruise to the Caribbean =)</p>

<p>Reccs:
I think they are pretty strong, my Calculus and Biology teachers liked me a lot so I think I should be ok in this respect.</p>

<p>Essays:
I guess I can’t say for now, but I think that male flute player, summer of neonatology and other stuff make for interesting essay topics?</p>

<p>Interests:
Not to be overly cliched (as an Indian), I want to be a doctor. Specifically, I want to study oncology (at least it’s not cardiology or neurology…) or geneticist (obviously, the summer of neonatology did not attract me to that branch of medicine). However, I am also interested in pure mathematics, especially in forms of calculus. Basically, I want to dual major in pure math and some kind of biology (or even genetics).</p>

2

<p>I guess I need to bump… Please Comment? =)</p>

3

<p>Any ECs? Leadership? those are very important.</p>

4

<p>Whoops sorry I’m viewing this on a iPhone app, I’ll give your real chances now XD</p>

5

<p>Ok , your academic record seems pretty awesome but your weaknesses,from what I can tell, are the SAT and lack of leadership positions. But the variety of your ECs are great, I gotta say. Use your essays as a way to impress the adcoms and make them overlook your weaknesses :slight_smile: As for your major, have you considered majoring in biomedical engineering? You sound like me a year ago and that’s what I’m going into now :slight_smile:
Also, it’s cliche to be an Indian doctor only if your parents are pressuring you and not because you have a real passion for helping patients.
Good Luck!!</p>

<p>~A fellow Indian :)</p>

6

<ol>
<li>Columbia: Reach</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins: Low reach</li>
<li>Berkeley: Low reach</li>
<li>Duke: Low reach</li>
<li>UNC - Chapel Hill: Match</li>
<li>NCSU: Match</li>
<li>ECU: Match</li>
</ol>

<p>Your GPA and course rigor is superb. Did you take any SAT II Subject Tests? If so, how did you do?</p>

<p>Your SAT is a bit ehh. If you can, go 2250+. It’s not horrible but it’s not very impressive, especially for Columbia.</p>

<p>Though you are involved you show initiative in your extracurriculars. Go for a leadership role, or start up a new idea. </p>

<p>Some of the low reaches i mentioned may be closer. Good luck.</p>

<p>Chance back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1093215-chance-me-ivies-etc-i-will-chance-you-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1093215-chance-me-ivies-etc-i-will-chance-you-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>Haha, I knew the leadership positions would probably be most missed from the application… I am going for leadership in Key Club and technically I ‘founded’ an organization that encourages athletics between nearby schools (but it wasn’t school-related, and is basically just a way to have fun, so I wasn’t sure whether or not to include it). Also, I did rec baseball for a long time, but had to stop after 9th grade, should I include that too?</p>

<p>SAT just seems to hate me… I just can’t get consistent results on it… But I took the ACT this month and I liked it a loooot more, and hopefully I can score 34+ on that and not have to worry about SAT anymore…
I haven’t taken any SAT II’s yet, but I am taking them June + October?</p>

<p>I am definitely thinking of biomedical engineering, that’s why I am so hopeful to intern with a chemical/biomed engineer professor at NCSU =D</p>

8

<p>You should definitely mention that athletic organization. ECs are not limited to in school activities.</p>

9

<p>it’s not safe for you to post identifying information on the internet… if you still can, edit out your high school</p>

10

<ol>
<li>Columbia - Reach</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins - Reach</li>
<li>Berkeley - High Match</li>
<li>Duke - Match</li>
<li>UNC - Chapel Hill - Match</li>
<li>NCSU - Low Match</li>
<li>ECU - Low Match</li>
</ol>

<p>Good luck!</p>

11

<p>Thanks for the advice… But I felt at the time that the name of the high school was related? But based on other posters I have found out (too late =/) that it isn’t…</p>

12

<p>just say that your school is very competitive… no prob!</p>

13

<p>I expect you’ll be very happy with your college offers. Keep up the good work, hopefully your ACT turns out great.</p>

14

<p>Bump? Chance me please =)</p>

15

<p>You have a really good shot at all of those schools except Colombia. that’s a reach for anyone. And with your new 34 on the ACT, even that is in reach.</p>

16

<p>Interesting that you have a combined AP-IB program. Course rigor seems good, you have a reasonable shot at all of your schools.</p>