<p>Race: White
Junior
WV
uncompetitive HS
Rank: 4/386
UW GPA: 4.0
W GPA: 4.5
ACT: 36 Cumm (36 M, 36 Eng, 36 W, 34 Sci)
PSAT: 240
SAT: 2300 (790 M, 760 CR, 750 W) - plan on taking again to get perfect
ACT Essay: 7
SAT Essay: 8</p>
<p>Class Schedule hardest workload
Physics Honors (self studying AP exam)
AP Lang
AP Chem
Latin III Honors
Health (required)
AP Calc AB
Taking a College class at Marshall University (Intro to Higher Math)</p>
<p>Expecting 5’s on Physics, Calc and Chem AP exams…4 on Lang</p>
<p>EC’s
State Math Field Day 4 years in a row
Gold in National Latin Exam Freshman and Sophomore Year
Outstanding Chem I Student for the Central Ohio Valley Section of The National Chemical Society
Accepted into USC’s Resident Honors Program (decided to finish my senior year at home)
100+ Hours Community Service
West Virginia Governor’s School for Math and Science summer before Freshman year
Latin Club - President
Science Club
Mu Alpha Theta - President
National Honor Society
Key Club
Pep Club
Honors Program
Co-Founder and Co-Captain of Quiz Bowl Team
Co-Founder and Co-Captain of Croquet Team
Peace Through Understanding</p>
<p>I will have great recs, but the only thing I’ll lack in will be my essays. I am a very poor writer, will this hurt my chances at…</p>
<p>RSI this summer
MIT
Cal Tech
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Johns Hopkins
Columbia
Duke
Carnegie Mellon
Boston University and University of Chicago (safeties)</p>
<p>I’ve gotta say, if you are that poor of a writer, you can’t have done so well in school or on your standardized tests. So I’m guessing you underestimate yourself?
I have no idea on your schools except that UChicago isn’t a safety. I don’t mean for you specifically, I just mean that it’s not a school that can be considered a safety.</p>
<p>You probably did well with your essays. As long as their average or better, you will have a good chance to be accepted because your academics and ECs will speak for themselves.</p>
<p>RSI this summer=???
MIT=High Reach
Cal Tech=High Reach
Harvard=High Reach
Yale=High Reach
Princeton=High Reach
Johns Hopkins=Reach
Columbia=Mid Reach
Duke=Target
Carnegie Mellon=Target
Boston University=Safe
University of Chicago=High Target</p>
<p>University of Chicago is definitely not a safety school. It is extremely hard and rigorous. You are definitely in at BU, Carnegie Mellon and JHU. HYP, MIT, CalTech, and Columbia are a crapshoot for everyone.</p>
<p>what i don’t get is why do you want to take SAT again, there isn’t a hugh difference between 2300 and 2400. You should improve your EC and leadership role I suggest. But you have a good shot at most of the schools you listed. Good Luck.</p>
<p>RSI is very unlikely, just to warn you. You need a really really exceptional science and math background to have much of a chance. I’ve heard that the average age for RSI kids to take Calc BC is 10th grade, and my experience would seem to confirm that, just to give you a rough idea of its competitiveness. Most people there also have some pretty substantial state or national awards by the time they apply. It’s still certainly worth applying, but you want to make sure you spend a lot of time on your essays to really convey a strong passion for science and research. There’s a certain amount of luck to it, too, because donors will sometimes sponsor people from one particular state, or something like that.</p>
<p>Aside from that, don’t retake the SATs. You already have a 36 ACT and 2300 SAT. There is absolutely no point in wasting another Saturday testing again. Skip the retest and just spend the time on your essays. It will make a vastly greater difference. Expand your list a little, too. You’ll probably be fine with BU, but throw on a state school just in case. Trim down on the top schools a little bit. I understand being unsure which one you want to go to, but if you really are a poor writer, you’ll be hurting your chances at all of them by splitting up your essay time between a bunch of schools, and application fees are not fun.</p>
<p>I realize that RSI is a long shot. I come from a public school in West Virginia where all that matters is sports. BC is not even being offered at my school. On my app I just tried to make it clear that it wasn’t from fault on my end that I didn’t take as many APs as most other applicants. I hope they’ll take that into consideration.</p>
<p>Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Meaning, you haven’t written the essays yet so don’t worry. Unlike school and standardized tests, you have time to write your essays and go over and proofread them and ask for outside advice. I’ve always considered myself a sub-par writer, but my mom (while writing summer program essays) told me that all of my essays in which i clearly wrote about something i enjoyed were much better than the ones that i didnt enjoy so much.</p>
<p>so, just pick essay topics in which you’re really interested and proofread it. You’ll be fine. I’ve also heard an essay can help make your app, but not break it (unless its total crap and no effort/interest/personality is shown at all)</p>
<p>other than that, good luck, you’re very qualified, but as with most elite colleges, it’ll prob come down to a crapshoot, no matter your stats and essays</p>