<p>First off, I know that no one is a “shoe in” for very exclusive schools but there are definitely certain profiles that are much more advantageous than others and certain criteria that, if not met, will almost annihilate one’s chances of getting into said schools. So I’m just trying to clear that up and get a better picture of where I stand. </p>
<p>I am looking to apply to some pretty prestigious schools. I already got into my safety school (University of Pittsburgh) with a full ride and early admission into their graduate program (i’m applying pre-grad now). So if I don’t get into any of the other schools I’m applying to I don’t lose a huge amount (honestly, even if I get into the schools, depending on financial aid I may not be able to afford them and end up going to Pitt anyway). </p>
<p>I have some B’s in my transcript. I got all A+'s freshman year (one 96 and the rest were 98 and above) and that was while taking mainly honors classes. Sophomore year I got 3 B’s (the rest were A’s) : Chemistry, Algebra II, and World History II. Of those 3 B’s only one was below a 90 and that was Algebra with an 88. All of these classes were also honors (my school doesn’t allow sophomores or freshmen to take AP/CE classes so I was taking the highest level of curriculum offered to me.) Junior year I also got 3 B’s (again the rest were A’s): AP US History, AP Literature and Composition, and Honors Trig/Precalc. Again only one was lower than a 90 and that was APUSH with an 88. However, I got 5’s on both my AP English and APUSH AP Exams, and I’m sending in those scores so hopefully that will help show them that I do in fact understand the material taught very well. It’s not that I’m not good at the classes or I don’t care, but sometimes I prefer independent studying to formal classroom settings and easily get demotivated and washed out after months of the same schedule day after day over and over (we have 0 variation in our schedule from day to day it’s literally the same classes at the same time for the entire school year every single day 8-3.) </p>
<p>So, In conclusion, I have gotten 6 B’s out of 27 classes of which two were 88’s and the rest were above 91. I am currently taking all AP’s and CE’s in my senior year. </p>
<p>My weighted GPA (our school doesn’t give out unweighted) is 4.47 (with 4 being the weight for regular classes, 5 for honors, and 6 for AP). We have a small class of about 140 students and It’s an incredibly competitive school where the valedictorians often have 5+'s as their GPAs. I am in the top 20 (so somewhere between #20 and #11) students in the school (this is estimated based on last year’s senior class data so it could definitely vary since last year they had 1 national merit finalist and several semifinalists and this year we don’t even have a commended student… last years class was just super smart) but they don’t give out specific ranks because everyone is so close that being 50th in the class could still mean you have a perfect GPA and you only officially find out if you’re in the top tenth, 2nd tenth, etc. once you graduate.</p>
<p>My SAT score is currently a 2200 but that’s with my math being in the 600s and my writing and reading being almost a perfect 800. I’m retaking the SAT and will make sure to get my math score up. (in case you haven’t noticed, math definitely isn’t my strongest skill).</p>
<p>One of my favorite colleges is MIT (mainly because of their really unique and human attitude towards admissions and also because they allow cats on campus, not gonna lie). I’m applying for a Political Science/Diplomacy/International affairs major to all of my schools, so they’ll realize I’m not trying to become a mathematician or anything. But I know the school is very STEM centered (as are several other prestigious universities) so I want to know if it’s even remotely possible I’ll get in to any school with an acceptance rate below 10% (MIT, Georgetown, UPenn, Duke, etc). </p>
<p>On top of this I received an internship from an large law firm, volunteer at both women’s shelters and pet shelters, got accepted into a summer program on international affairs, qualified for nationals for forensics, have played on the JV tennis team for 4 years, and am the president of 3 clubs including Model UN (I participated in NHSMUN last year and am now organizing a 2nd trip there) and Global Awareness club which has raised over 1000 dollars for charity.</p>
<p>I’m also a AP Scholar, National Latin exam Scholar, National Honor Society member, and a member of our school’s society of Scholars which only has about 15 people in it. </p>
<p>I’m trying to be as clear as possible and I hope none of it is taken out of context or perceived as obnoxious. In real life I hate disclosing any of this stuff and feel extremely self conscious when I do. What I’m trying to explain in this long post is that I am not a “perfect” student in the colloquial sense of all A’s and perfect SAT scores, but I truly love learning and have a zest for making the world a better place (cheesy sounding, i know, but true) and would be honored if I got the opportunity to be a part of a community of scholars like me that can both challenge me and support me. </p>
<p>So I guess the big question is: can I get in?</p>