you know you wanna chance this kid.

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>hah. seriously though, as much as these might seem desperate and superficial, they make up one of the best parts of this site – completely neutral peer review.</p>

<p>i’ll be totally honest – this is a self-indulgence thread, not a “what can I do better?” thread. i’m just curious as to how unbiased strangers would think i stack up.</p>

<p>Top 6 Choices, in order:</p>

<p>-Stanford University - Early Action, Legacy (mother, half-brother, aunt)
-Harvey Mudd College
-Northwestern University
-Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
-Rice University
-University of Pennsylvania</p>

<p>About Me:
-White, suburban, middle-class male (…with Guatemalan step-family!)
-Large public high school in SF Bay Area
-Sends very few off to top private universities</p>

<p>Academics:
-Have taken hardest courseload available, including Calc 2 at local community college in Fall 2007
-GPA - Unweighted: 3.97, Weighted: 4.43
-Class Rank: 1 out of 472</p>

<p>Scores:
-SAT I: 730CR/800M/800W
-ACT: 34
-SAT II: within the 700-800 range
-APs: 5 5’s and 2 4’s</p>

<p>Extracurrics/Leadership positions:
-Vice President of Model UN - 10th Grade
-Vice President of HOSA - 11th grade
-Vice President-elect of Mock Trial/Moot Court (court speech & debate) - 12th grade
-1st chair French Horn - 10th & 11th grade
-Creating/running school chapter of Bay Area Academics League - 12th grade
-Tennis - 9th through 12th grade
-Cross Country - 2 yrs junior varsity</p>

<p>Volunteer/Service Work:
-Maintain activist website: doubleplusungoodscience.com [check it out!]
-Helped clean and restore local cross country course during both pre-seasons</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
A couple essay contest scholarships, some school- and sports team-nominated awards, and top California Math League cumulative score in my school during the 2006-07 year.</p>

<p>Summers:
2007: EPGY - Bioscience
2007: Stanford High School Summer College
2008: Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program - Lab Internship</p>

<p>So whaddya say?</p>

2

<p>Stanford University; reach (low)
Harvey Mudd College; high target/low reach
Northwestern University; reach
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; in
Rice University; high match/low reach
University of Pennsylvania; reach</p>

<p>chance me too please</p>

3

<p>hmm…i mostly agree, except i don’t think northwestern is too much of a reach. stanford is the toughest for most people, but considering all my stanford-related stuff i think UPenn will be hardest.</p>

<p>also, forgot to add – </p>

<p>-will have 3 good, solid recs
-some killer essay ideas, but that’s what everyone says…</p>

4

<p>anybody else?</p>

5

<p>Rice might be a reach for you - your EC’s aren’t really diverse and stellar as compared with last years senior batch :&lt;/p>

6

<p>Grades by themselves don’t mean anything; all that matters is your class rank and how good your high school is. Trust me, the 800 pound gorilla in the room is that you’re hispanic… Just position yourself as “someone who isn’t a great test taker still which is why your SATs aren’t so great, but still chose to challenge yourself tremendously which is why you took so many tough courses and managed to do so well,” then write your essays about hispanic culture and milk affirmative action for all it’s worth… Might come off as a little blunt, but trust me it’s the best plan. The Ivies might not happen, but second tier probably will.</p>

7

<p>ummm…wow. seriously??</p>

<ol>
<li>guatemalan STEP-family. i have no hispanic blood in my veins.</li>
<li>i hate to sound cocky, but “not a great test taker?” i thought a 2330, a 34, and 5 5s and 2 4s on APs were pretty dang good.</li>
</ol>

8

<p>yea im not sure *** redsox is smoking.
What major do you intend on.
Nothing is neutral here, admissions are never neutral</p>

9

<p>too true…people will always have some sort of bias.</p>

<p>i’m thinking some sort of environmental research or engineering. i’ve been into the biomedical fields for a while, but i want to combine my biological experience with something more large-scale and math-oriented.</p>