<p>On CC, I see all these amazing people post stats that just blow my mind and then they get wait listed or deferred
I’m trying to be realistic about my college chances - hence the title</p>
<p>Please skim it and leave a reply, it’ll only take a minute</p>
<p>Academics: Rank 1/800
4.00 unweighted, 4. something weighted ( i’m not sure, but ranks in my school are by weighted GPA)
PSAT 236 so probably national merit semi
ACT 35
SAT 2330 (should i retake?)
SAT II 800 USH 800 Math 780 Bio
APS - 6 5’s, 1 4, taking 6 this year (i know they don’t matter that much at hyps anyway)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars (this is in the common app format, sorry):
Congressional Debate 6th place Senator in National Forensic Leagues National Speech and Debate Tournament (how much will this “national award” help); 3 time National Qualifier; 5th place in State Tournament; 2nd place in district tournament
Mock Trial 3 year Captain; Individual best attorney awards: 2nd place in state tournament, 1st place in region; Team placement: 6th place in state, 1st in region
Science Research 5th place at regional science fair; Qualified for and competed in state science fair; Best Chemistry/Biochemistry project award; Alternate to Intel International Science Fair;
Science Academic Super Bowl 2 year Captain; State Champion
Quiz Bowl 2 year captain; National All-Star (high scoring individual, 28th place) at National Championship Tournament; Competed at national tournament 3 years, finished in top 1/3rd of teams 2 years; 2nd place in state (2 years)
Girls State Elected Governor of Indiana for 598 citizens (How recognized is girls state?)
Piano Top Talent Circle Rating and National Winner in National Piano Guild Auditions (2 years); Attended Goshen College Piano Workshop
Legal Intern Worked as clerk at St. Joseph County Circuit Court
Community Service Key Club Secretary; National Honor Society Member; 125 hours; Organized school book drive; Homeless shelter
Junior State of America Summer School at Yale Awarded best speaker in Convention on the role of the student in society
Knowledge Masters Competition Captain; State champion in Fall Tournament; 2nd place in state in Spring Tournament
Cross Country Junior Varsity
United States Senate Youth program state finalist</p>
<p>Other: I’m a girl from Indiana. NOT INDIA (people have actually thought that before …)
High income bracket
ASIAN (■■■)
That was really long, sorry
Any replies or answers to the built in questions highly appreciated. Thank you.</p>
<p>Hah, talk about lack of self-confidence; you should be the reason to discourage other people from applying to HYP. You’re a valedictorian with a 2330/35 and good ECs coming from an underrepresented state; the odds could not be any more in your favor.</p>
<p>LOL. You’re kidding, right OP? On the off chance that you are not, I strongly encourage you to apply to HYPS, as long as you like those schools.</p>
<p>The OP does not just want to brag. I just have done a lot of research on how competitive that stuff is, but I’m very, very, very grateful for people taking the time to reply. Thank you everyone.</p>
<p>And also, don’t worry, I get enough jokes from my team about how congress isn’t debate. I know it’s not really debate.</p>
It’s debate. I, myself, quite enjoy it. Lincoln Douglas and Public Forum as well (Policy Debate is unpopular in my region). Congress is the place where I can give fiery speeches on a variety of topics on the same day, haha.</p>
<p>I think of it as speech-debate, leaning towards the speechy side. Maybe that’s just the Indiana style though, less refutation, more OO style, you know.</p>
<p>Ah, I see. It’s the most popular debate event in my region (our first tournament of the season is the “All-Congress”). Yeah, it is primarily based on speeches, but with the best of them, people are going up and weaving their speeches around what’s been going on right on the spot, so in addition to some pretty intense questioning (though never as intense as some PF grand crossfire), speeches include refutation.</p>
<p>Well, in that case, I wish I lived in your region because here, Congress is “the event that doesn’t belong.” Only at nationals did I see what you’re referring - intense questioning, a lot more on the spot. PF and speech are a lot bigger here.
I will be the first to admit that while I worked like crazy before nationals, there was definitely lots of luck involved given my more speech slanted approach</p>
I gotta say, the best Congress tournament I’ve ever been to was at the Blue Key Speech and Debate Tournament at the University of Florida. Very intense (but everyone was very friendly). We had 14 pieces of legislation, I got 14 speeches in over two days (one on each, haha), and we took 10-15 minute breaks between each (“Seeing a natural break in debate, I make a motion for a 15 minute recess.” “Second!” X20).</p>
<p>Nationals would be great though, and I’m shooting for that this year.</p>