<p>Yep, you guessed right: chances!
at…
Stanford (SCEA), Pomona, Swarthmore, Whitman and USC</p>
<p>I attend a large suburban public school in Minnesota
White Male
ACT Composite: 35 (36R, 35E, 35S, 33M) with a 9 on writing :-/
My SAT is 2250 so I’m using my ACT
I took two SATII’s last Saturday: I expect a 790 or 800 on the MathII, I don’t think I did so well on the Literature, I’d be very pleased with a 700 or better.</p>
<p>4.0 uw
1/700+</p>
<p>Junior year: AP Calc BC, Euro, and English Lang. & Comp. (All 5’s)
I am taking AP US Gov, Comparative Gov, Stats and Biology this year, along with a college-level Spanish class taught in the high school, following the curriculum of the U of MN
I didn’t take AP US History sophomore year when it was offered… stupid decision</p>
<p>All other classes honors or advanced if offered</p>
<p>National Merit Semi-finalist
USAA National Mathematics Winner
AP Scholar</p>
<p>EC’s:
-I have played piano since I was six or so. I am a member of the national guild of piano players, have received numerous honors and honorable mentions in recitals, and this last year I received the Advanced Bach award for memorizing and playing 15 adv. Bach pieces in front of an evalutator. I am also playing keyboard in my school’s production of Beauty and the Beast. One of my essays will focus on my passion for piano.
-I also play trumpet in: jazz band (9th and 11th, this year I’m playing trombone), the school band (top band junior and senior year), and I participated in a European tour as a member of a statewide band
-Hockey 9th-11th grades (JV)
-Some volunteering (11th)
-NHS (12th)
-Work experience at Subway (15 hrs/wk summer of 10th, sundays during 10th, 15 hrs/wk summer of 11th) and at the MN State Fair as a ride operator (40+ hrs/wk for two weeks during the summers of 11th and 12th)</p>
<p>So there you go. My main concern is extracurriculars-- I don’t know if my passion for piano will be enough to get in to stanford…</p>
<p>Great stats, but your EC’s are not so weak as they are “non-descript”. An essay on your passion for piano will not be considered unique. Why not write about hockey? Are you passionate about it? You like it enough to put it in your screen name. Maybe an essay about struggling with your innate ability in hockey not matching your desire (hence why you’re not playing varsity perhaps?) Something like that will certainly leave a longer, and better, impression on adcoms than one about piano, unless you can make the piano one really sound unique. It’s all about “standing out”. Top schools will have piles and piles of applications with stats just as strong as you - you need something unique to stand out.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the input!
I definitely did have a passion for hockey, and it definitely didn’t match my innate hockey ability. The main reason I never made varsity is that most suburban hockey teams in Minnesota are very good compared to the rest of the country, and so its hard for a not-so-athletic person like me to make the varsity team. So an essay about that could be insightful, I had never thought about that. Thank you very much!</p>
<p>Swarthmore: high match - match
Pomona: high match - match
USC: match - safe match</p>
<p>You have a good shot at Stanford, though it’s probably a reach. Your chances at the LACs are largely dependent on your essays, so make sure to write really great ones.</p>
<p>As a member of the Pomona class of 2011 from your home state with very similar scores and GPA, I think Pomona could be a solid match depending on how well your essay turns out.</p>