Well, since there have been so many threads like this popping up recently I decided to make an official thread where everyone can just post in here and get feedback.

If the mods feel this is unneccessary please feel free to close this thread V_V;

I guess I'll start:

STATS

GPA : 4.0/4.9

Rank 4/100+ last time I checked. Our graduating class is actually 500+ but I'm in the IB program at the school, which is ranked separately

SAT I: R-710 M-760 W-750 / 2220 / 1470 I'm not planning to retake

SAT II: Bio M - 670, Math IC - 790, Math IIC - 720. Planning to take math IIC again as well as Lit.

CLASSES
I'm in an IB program so 9th and 10th grade everyone's schedule is pretty much the same except for 1 EC class which isn't weighted, hence the 4.9 weighted GPA U_U

All my IB classes are 2 year courses, and at the end of our senior year we take exams for all 6 classes.

Junior Year
IB AP Physics SL (IB/AP Class) - only got a 3 on AP
IB AP French SL (IB/AP Class) - 1 on AP >_>;
IB AP Calc AB HL (IB/AP Class) - 5 on AP
Theory of Knowledge (philosophy class required by IB)
IB AP English Language SL - 3 on English Lang and 4 on English Lit.
IB Bio HL
IB Psych HL

Senior Year
IB Physics SL
IB French SL
IB AP Calc BC (IB/AP class)
IB English SL
IB Bio HL
IB Psych HL
AP Comp. Science

EXTRA CURRICULARS

Piano - 8+ years, got some certificates lying around saying I passed certain theory and composition levels
Tae Kwon Do - 3+ years
CG/Traditional Art - 10+ years, i do it as a hobby

School clubs
Key Club - 2 years and planning to continue senior year, am secretary for senior year
Spectrum Multicultural Club - 2 years, planning a third, was VP junior year
National Honor Society - 1 year, continuing senior year
Science Honor Society - 1 year, continuing senior year
Mu Alpha Theta (math honor society) - 1 year, continuing senior year
French Honor Society - 2 years, continuing senior year

I'm also founding a club based on bringing awareness to the importance of education around the globe for my senior year, and the goal is to try and raise money to sponsor a child to get middle/high school education, who otherwise can't afford to. So I would be President and Co-founder (this is also why i didn't run for VP again for Spectrum). Not sure how successful this will be, but i'm really serious about it due to personal views/motivation.

Volunteering

Hospital (soph. and Junior year) - 100+ hours
Hospice (3 years + senior year) - 100+ hours
Misc. School related activities - 75+ hours

I also started working in a research lab this summer, and i'm going to continue during senior year, and it's actually a job because i'm supposed to get paid, but because of visa issues, which i won't get into, i can't work, so i'm counting it as volunteering. 400+ hours
With the work i'm doing in the lab my name is going to get published with two of the articles my boss is working on, so I'm guessing that's a definate plus? Since i've been told not many 16 year olds have gotten published in pretty acclaimed science journals (My boss deals with embryo heart deformations, and her results are a breakthrough for preventing certain heart defects)

Other

I qualified for National Merit, but I'll have to wait until September to see if I made it to Semi-Finalist.
I have a lot of random academic distinctions, which I will definately dig up to but onto my applications

My essays should be pretty decent, considering I've already written a few, so I'll pass them around once school starts and get a final opinion on which ones I should use.

Recs - the teachers I'm thinking of know me pretty well, and although I'm probably not one of those "I'll remember her forever" type of students, I'd like to think I stand out in their classes.

And if it helps, about 20% of CO/07 IB program grads this year went to pretty prestigious colleges, and every year there's always at least 1 person who makes it into each of the Ivies.

SCHOOLS I'M THINKING OF EDITED*

Actually, this is probably my final list. I'm going to visit in a week, so I'll make my final decision then.

I want to probably major in economics with plans to (hopefully) get into a joint MD/MBA program

Columbia (EA)
Princeton
Yale
UPenn (Wharton)
MIT (Sloan)
UChicago
Harvard
Cornell
Stanford
McGill
Washington University in St. Louis
University of Florida (Saftey)

So what are my chances?? Especially at Columbia/Princeton/Yale/Upenn and MIT? I'm a girl BTW, if that helps for MIT since I heard MIT admits 30% of girls while <10% of guys. Or perhaps there's something blatantly obvious that I should work on? Thanks!

Edit
So I just got back from visiting colleges these last two weeks. I did the I-95 tour and visited UPenn, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, MIT, Harvard, Amherst, Dartmouth and Cornell. Although a lot of the info sessions were talking about the same thing, i would STRONGLY encourage everyone who's list of potential colleges is 15+ schools. Walking on campus, I was able to truly try and imagine whether or not I would fit in. I also realized that I can't imagine myself going to a small liberal arts college, or simply a small college with a small campus/student body and limited resources. That led to my decision to take off Amherst and Dartmouth off my list and add Harvard (LOVED the vibe i got there, as well as the way the admissions officer presented his speech=]), Stanford and WashU. I was also able to talk to students from each school, and honestly I would have to say they left some of the deeper impressions on me. Oh, and after listening to the admission officers stress over and over about the essay, it really let me understand that they really just want to see who I am, and not what I perceived I should come off as. It made me realize that they want to hear some of my more ahem eccentric side, and that they already see too many apps with what I perceived as the so-called "Perfect Harvard Applicant"

Anyways, just my two cents about college visits, oh and BTW, i have to say the NE schools have absolutely BREATHTAKING architecture. Especially the central square at Columbia ^^;

And post your stats too if your CO/08! And we can give you feedback as well.

I'll post too, since I'm kinda nervous

STATs:
GPA: 4.0(sophmore) - 3.67(junior).... can anyone inform me if it will affect me since my GPA dropped ..instead of improved? -.-"

Rank: Top 4%

SAT I: R-460 W- 430 M-530.... Total - 1420 plan to retake in Oct.

SAT II: in Nov.

Classes:

SOPH.
Biology, English, PE, Modern World, Geometry, Chinese. All regular except for Geometry

Junior.
Us History, Chinese, Amer. Lit., Chemistry, Algebra II, Driv. Ed/ Career Ed. (all Honors except Driver Ed)

Senior Year

US. Gov/ econ (AP/ Honor)
Chinese H
Europ. Lit H
Ap Bio
Physics H
Pre Calc H

EXTRA Currilcular

Chinese school for 10+ years


School Clubs

AAA club- for just one day =(.. I don't have any clubs, is that bad??

Volunteer:

At this 3 week event where we call and ask people to vote for this mayor of SF(junior)
Disablilty center(junior one year)
Community/children center( freshman/ bit of sophmore year) 200+ hours
...... Thats about it, I'm not vrey consistent since the places I voluntter now don't need us to volunteer anymore

Other:
Joined a few art contests...and just won one at my city event
I'm not a very social person which explains the activties

SChools I want to go to:

First is UC Davis.. I really want to go there
Then... UC Irvine, UC san Diego(?), SF state, or San Jose state...
hmmm... I don't really know any schools, if anyone do with my stats, please enlighten me

I think thats about it. Does anyone know where to get the appications or what to do the summer before senior year? I'm really confused.

I SHALL WRITE MY STATS =]

GPA
freshman year: 3.9 (uw) / 4.5 (w)
sophomore year: 3.7. (uw) / 4.7 (w)
(i'm not so sure about my GPA's.. they're off the top of my head. i'll fix later if they're incorrect)

CLASSES and GRADES (FIRST SEMESTER/SECOND SEMESTER)
freshman year
english I-H A/A
IB non western cultures A/A
geometry H A/A
Fundamentals of programming (FOP) A
ICT (i forgot what that stands for .. something with wiring computers) A
Biology H A/A
Spanish I B+/A

sophomore year
algebra II-H A/B+
spanish II-H A/B+
AP euro A/A
English II-H A/A
IB design & technology A/A
chemistry H B+/B+

junior year
AP psych
AP us history
AP environmental
IB business management
AP language & composition
honors trig
spanish III

senior year
???

SAT / SAT II / PSAT
SAT: not taken yet.. planning on at least 2350 (fingers crossed) =]
SAT II :
korean- 790
chem- 660
(i dont konw what else i'm gonna take.. i'm gonna take at least 2 more though.. since my chem sucks)
PSAT:
sophomore year- 187
junior year- ? (planning on over 215 at least.. 240 is the goal.. but.. we'll see, haha)

EXTRACURRICULARS and OTHER STUFF
sports
swim (planning on all 4 years)
-been awarded 'most valuable swimmer' (like a spinoff from MVP) my freshman year

water polo (planning on all 4 years)
-been named JV captain

clubs
CSF
-member since freshman year
-tutor since sophomre year

best buddies
-since freshman year

stand up for kids
-out of school

key club
-a little bit

piano
-i'm planning on finishing up my CMs pretty soon..

um.. that's about all i can think of.
i'm only a sophomore but never too late to start thinking a/b this stuff....
colleges.. stanford.. and that's about all the schools i'm interested in so far, haha

i have a feeling this is gonna be more like .. sharing out stats thread, instead of other people actually giving advice & comments & stuff, but we'll see =]

azn_kira: I don't think you need to have any worries. I'm so jealous of your stats especially interning at the research lab! I know alot of people that dream of Columbia, but out of all of them, you're the smartest and the one with the most impressive list.

魚燕往返: I'm pretty sure the colleges aren't going to dismiss your app just b/c of a drop (small one in that) in your GPA. chill out. But, yeah make sure you raise those SAT scores (2400 yeahhHH! )

lovablekrnstar63: you have so many extracurricular! that's so good, just remember to keep it up till senior year!

魚燕往返

Joining a few more clubs would definitely be a plus. Especially since right now your not involved with any at your school, which most schools don't really like to see. Although your art must be quite impressive, if your planning to go into that field you should definitely submit some of your works to colleges.

The SAT score definitely needs some work, so study hard! You can get applications by contacting the admissions office, and they'll send you a paper copy, or, easier, just go to their website and you can apply online.

I'm not too familiar with the UC system since i live in Florida, but you can go to either collegeboard.com or the official webiste and they usually give you stats for the middle 50% of the incoming class.

lovablekrnstar63

The first thing i have to comment on is that your aiming so high for your SATs O_O LOL my goal was only 2250/1500..although i didn't reach that either V_V

But since your only going to be a junior you definitely have lots of time to prepare/study. Your ECs look really good, but try and take more leadership positions in your junior/senior year.
It's still too early to tell your chances at Stanford, but if you can keep up your stats + add some leadership positions I'm sure your chances will be pretty good!

sgwannabe:
really? i have a lot of extracurriculars?
i was always under the impression that i was kinda.. lacking in the EC department
b/c i was going over the other stats thread here in soompi
and everybody did like .. 10 clubs & so many things .. and i'm not involved in nearly as many things..

azn_kira:
do you really think i'm aiming too high?
i lowered my goal (from a 2400.. but a 2400 is .. stupid to even hope for)
but i want to get at least that much..
what's the second number in the goal SAT score?

that part?
i'm running for board in one of the clubs this coming year.. dont know if i'll get the spot though..

^ the second number is the score out of 1600(not including writing) since some colleges still aren't looking at the writing score

GPA (out of 4.0): 3.91
Rank: 2/395

Extracurricular/School Activities:
Marching band for 3 years (going to be a section leader during my senior year)
Volunteered at a local hospital since 9th grade. (Total hours: 250+)
JV Tennis 9th grade, Varsity Tennis 10th and 11th grade
National Honor Society


SAT I's
Math: 800
Reading: 740
Writing: 800

SAT II's
Mathematics IC: 800
Mathematics IIC: 800
Biology: 760
Chemistry: 770

Previously I asked for business, but what about pharmacy ( i have interest as well)

Rutgers Pharmacy ( I live in NJ)
University of Florida
UMichigan Ann Arbor
University of Texas Austin
University of California San Francisco

^ =O with your stats why don't you apply to some of the top tier schools? unless your not interested, but I think you definately have a good chance of getting in.

If your only interested in the schools you listed, I think you have enough to get into them. If you want to aim for Ivy league schools, I would try and join some more clubs/participate more in ECs

Finally some one has started a thread on this! I know you guys are really worried but seeing so many threads about it was starting to get annoying XP. Anyways, let me put in my two cents though you guys should keep in mind that these are just my opinion based on what I heard and went through.

azn_kira: roar, what I wouldn't give to have had your status at the end of my junior year. But you seem fine and as long as you don't get arrested or fail every single one of your classes next year (senioritis) . And your on track to be a valedictorian right? Several of my valedictorian got into Ivies, just make sure you have a solid essay and you should be fine.

魚燕往返: Hmmm...your GPA shouldn't effect you that much since you didn't drop all the way down to like a 3.0 and you took harder classes so it's understandable . Even though it's a little late try joining a club or find a volunteer job and stick with it as long as you can just so you can add alittle more meat to that extracuriccular section. And have you decided what your college essay is going to be on? You can write about your...ah...dedication to preseving your culture (or something slightly cornly like that) by going to chinese school for so long (I went for 10 years too ). That way they might be alittle easier on you when they see the clubs and volunteer work section because they realize that your commited to something eles.

You can get applications either at the website of the school or at https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/default.aspx And for the summer before senori year try starting your essays and finalizing which college you're going to apply to.

lovablekrnstar63: See I'm commenting! Since your going to be a junior you don't need to worry so much about this yet just focus on getting those good grades (nice job of picking hard classes by the way, colleges like seeing people who try the hardest classes possible). Your grades and stuff seem fine and all you need to do I guess is try to talk to your teachers more so that they get to know you (and like you more) so that they can write better recommendation letters. Oh and when you have time start making a list of possible colleges. From your safeties to the regulars to the reach schools. It doesn't matter if you have alot because you can always take away some later

---------------------------------

Zmog! I've never wrote that much but I hope it helps and it's not just a bunch of rambling . I have to leave now but I'll be back muahahaha!

Edit:

Yeah... =P

20 chars

Alright I'm finally back! Let's see where I left off....

vstar: 2 out of 395?!?! Your like a superhero . But does that mean your school only has 1 valedictorian? Anyways your extracurricular is awesome (what grade are you in by the way?) keep going at it to show consistancy and OMG your SAT scores. A perfect 800 in to subjects? You should apply to some harder schools like azn_kira said. I think you have a chance. Have you started your essay yet? Got anyone to edit it yet? Have some teachers in mind for recommendation letters? Do those things and you'll be fine

DaAzNkIgGa627: You are seriously too young to worry about these things but so far you are so on track it's scary . If I was competing against you that is . Good job with the grades freshmen year by the way. Relax, enjoy high school and keep doing what your doing.

Oh hehe, you made it XD

I'm gonna post up my stats from my thread here too then...*maybe the mods should close that one*


Here are my stats:

GPA (cumulative from 9th grade): unweighted - 4.0 / weighted (UC) - ~4.5

Rank: 1/688 (our class is waywwaywaywayay too big)

SAT's:
Reasoning: M - 630 ( ) CR - 700, W - 720 = 2050 (will take over in October)
Subject tests: Math II - 670 () US History - 730 Literature - 700

(I'm going to take Korean SAT II's in November, along with retakes for Math II & Literature.)
-> I heard taking SAT II's twice is harmful. Is that true?

AP's:
10th grade - Euro (5), Chem (3)
11th grade - US History (4), English Lang (5), Biology (4), Calculus AB (2 )

Classes/Grades:
9th grade: H English, Life Skills/Health, H Algebra 2, Piano 5, H Biology, Yoga, Spanish 1
-> All A's, both semesters

Took World History over the summer, A/A

10th grade: AP Euro, AP Chem, H English, H Math Analysis (Pre-Cal), Yoga, Spanish 2, Piano 6/Academic Decathlon
- > All A's, both semesters

11th grade: AP Calc, AP English Lang, APUSH, AP Bio, Spanish 3, Academic Decathlon, Electronic Music
- > All A's, both semesters

Classes for 12th grade:

AP Literature
AP Gov't
AP Calc BC
AP Econ (macro & micro)
AP Physics
Journalism
Academic Decathlon

School Activities:

Asian Club - Vice President 2 years / President 1 year (In a school where <3% are Asian - we had Asian culture days every Friday where we taught languages, etc, eventually we had lines of people from all across campus)

Christian Club - co-founder & Vice President for 3 years (Random Acts of Kindness throughout the school, Fundraisers, Repainted school benches, walks for epilepsy)

Academic Decathlon - 3 years (after school & saturday meetings all throughout the year even when we're not in school, Acadeca takes about 20 hours of my afterschool activities per week)

Nevians (California Scholarship Federation) - 3 years

Journalism - Editor ... but only 1 year

Piano Department - 2 years (concerts, recitals - our school is specialized in music, level 6/7)

Electronic Music Department - 1 year (again, concerts, composing own music, etc)


Awards:

Who's Who ... thingy - 2 years (2004 - 2005) & (2006-2007)
National Society of High School Scholars
Honors Society
Principle's High Honor Roll - 3 years
In school awards - English Dept, Yoga (), Perfect Attendance (lol, does this even count? I'm so oblivious >_<), Math

Academic Decathlon - Team's Highest Scorer, Bronze Medal in Speech, Recognition in Essay

Oh and I also got a letter about the National Merit Scholarship recognition, but I'm not sure what that means actually. >_<

EC's: (weak point)

Volunteer at Olympia Medical Center - Pharmacy Department - 3 years ~300 hours? (I learned a lot & will probably use this for my essays)
Volunteer at the Union Rescue Mission (Shelter for the Homeless) - about 4 months ~50 hours (This was an experience I'd never forget)
Volunteer at the Los Angeles Food Bank (one time thing with my friends)
Run for Victim's Rights LA - 1 year

Piano - like 12 years
Graphic/shirt Designing - 3 years
Translating Articles & stuff (probably nothing) - 3 years
Electronic Music (composing songs) - 2 years
Writing is my love(?) lol - published in school canary book - 1 year


Work Experience:
Tutoring - about 1.5 years
Helping out at mom's store - 4 years?

Will attend People to People Ambassador Leadership Program this summer at Stanford University (With a focus on Medicine).



I'm really scared because it looks like I don't have anything special...

My essays will probably be about my experience at the pharmacy, homeless shelter (I have a lot I can say about this, changing my whole perspective, etc), and Academic Decathlon (strenuous teamwork >_<, it's like being on a sports team)..


Schools of my choice (in order):

Stanford
USC
Columbia
UCLA
Cal
UCSD

I also have a particular question about USC - I'm thinking about applying to USC as a communication major (USC Annenberg School for Communication) - Is it difficult to get in? My second choice would be Biochem major (USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences). I'm not sure how competitive these schools are >_<

Lol XD, well I dunno... I am only really planning for college because I desperately want to spread my wings and get out of Minnesota....

Don't worry ... You're doing well ... Learn to balance life and school ... When I was a freshman, I was so into college ... I had everything planned, even knowing what med school I'll go to and what hospital I'll work my residency.

Being a Junior this year, I still have to think about college, but not "that much" ... Focus on school and just do your best ... Don't lock yourself in your room to get into Harvard ... Learn to relax with friends and family on top of studying ... (Although, I still have my plans of going to UW Med school and doing my residency at UW Medical Center in Surgery )

Sophomore year is a fun year though. It's probably the most relaxing year - you're used to high school, yet you haven't been trashed with all these tough classes ...

Seems like with your practice SAT and current GPA, if you don't falter and keep the ECAs up, I see you going into Georgetown easily with a good essay. Just Relax~~~ ...

While I'm here and since I have nothing to do, I'll just post up my stats for the heck of it. hahaha xD

STATS - GOING INTO JUNIOR YEAR

GPA : 98.something% (Don't have a GPA scale, but I would say around a 3.8 - Stupid Spanish 1 in 8th grade ... )

RANK: 2/40ish. I go to a small school. ><

PSAT: 172 ... ugh ... Might take October or November SAT to "test it out," then take March or May "for real" ... xD

CLASSES

Junior Year
AP US Government
AP English
Honors Trip and Pre-Cal
Honors Chemistry (Not completely sure if it's honors yet)
Bible 11
Yearbook
Web Design/Study Hall (One of those two)

Senior Year (Death Years )
AP Physics
AP Calculus AB
AP US History
AP Literature
Bible 12
Yearbook
Study Hall???

EXTRA CURRICULARS (Including Junior/Senior Year)

Yearbook Co-Editor - 1 Year.
Yearbook Editor in Chief - 1 Year. (Got voted to be EiC for Junior Year. Probably will do it Senior Year)
Track and Field - 4 Years. 1 Year Letter. Probably will letter Junior and Senior Year.
Basketball - 2 Years JV. 2 Years Varsity. (I'll most likely be Varsity since the team is small, which means I'll letter)
Volleyball Manager - 1 Year.
Class Chaplain - 1 Year.
Class Secretary - 1 Year. (This year. Thinking of "resigning," seeing my schedule as too busy )
National Honor Society - 4 Years. (Inducted Freshman Year)
Photography - Not really a "ECA" ... More of a hobby I picked up.

VOLUTEERING

Hospital - Starting when school starts. Probably about 10 Hours per week.
Library Tutor - Applying soon.
Church - About 3 hours once a month serving homeless people.

SCHOOLS I'M THINKING OF

University of Southern California. (TOP CHOICE)
University of Washington. (TOP CHOICE)
University of North Carolina.
University of California Berkeley.
University of California Los Angeles.
University of Michigan.
Gonzaga University. (SAFETY)
Pacific Lutheran University. (SAFETY)
Seattle Pacific University. (SAFETY)
University of Brown 7 Year Medical Program (REACH)

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Sucks that my school is so small that it doesn't have clubs .... However, I can get recs pretty easily since I know all my teachers pretty well ... These are just my stats for Freshman/Sophomore year. GPA might go down a little because of AP, although I'm hoping it won't ...

ECAs are pretty week though ... I'm doing applying to some stuff currently through volunteermatch.com ....

My ultimate goal is to go into Medical school ... so yeah ... Lots of studying to do.

=P Yeah thanks, I'm not all over my head over college, I still have a social life. But I guess it helps to be kinda introverted =P But yeah... as a freshman it's hard to be obsessed with college =P.... there's still time left even if you are =P

...

I refuse to post my stats. Refuse.

Wow, there are actually CO/09 and CO/10 here O_O

For CO/10 I say you definately don't need to worry too much yet, just make sure your grades are high (since everything gets harder after fresh. and soph. year)

For CO/09 I would suggest using your Junior year to gain leadership positions in clubs / ECs and starting to get friendly with those teachers since you'll be asking them for rec's at the beginning of senior year, so you really need to get them to love you before then.

Hmm ... what if my school has no clubs ...

What are some good ECAs I could do?

reallyAmused: Yep, I'm 2. But the rank number one is really smart. It's unbelievable. I am like nothing compared to her. She got 2400. I'm always a couple points/numbers away from her.

As for recommendation letters, they are done. One of my teachers supposedly called my parents to tell them I was doing excellent. I didn't start essay, but will do, soon. I am not sure if I should apply to Ivy Leagues yet because of the financial problem my family currently has. I just might have to attend Rutgers Pharmacy with a full scholarship, if possible.

^ your stats are close enough to hers that it doesn't matter that she's alittle bit ahead of you. You can probably get into any college she can . And for the financial thing, there's always FAFSA and lots and lots of scholarships. Those Ivies might give you fin aid too.

Edit: Woot woot! I OWN THIS PAGE!!

twentycharacters......

I'm only a junior this incoming year but i think i really should start thinking about college ><
STATS

GPA : soph: 3.6 D:

Rank: no idea

SAT I: N/A

SAT II: N/A

CLASSES
I took College Psychology this summer and I've been taking chinese school since i was in 1st grade and plan on going until snr year.

Soph: Alg 2/Trig, Chem, English 2, PE (bladjfadjf), 3D art 1(needed for graduation), Japanese 2, Spanish 1

Junior: AP Chem, AP US Hist, Honors English 3, Japanese 3 Honors, Spanish 2, Pre Calc, Leadership (ASB Secretary)

EXTRA CURRICULARS

I'm starting tennis this year but i don't think I can get into varsity, just JV =/
ASB Secretary this year
Academic Decathalon 2 yrs
Chinese school 10 years
ehh...i cant really think of anything else ><

School clubs
Chinese Club (vice president)
Key Club
Spanish Club (kind of...it died in the middle of the year ><)

Volunteering

Hospital (freshman year and plan to keep going till senior)

Other

SCHOOLS I'M THINKING OF

UC santa barbara
UC berkley

lol i havnt really started thinking about college. im not really trying to find out my chances but more of what i should do to have a better chance of getting accepted

azn_kira

Okay, but what if I can't join any clubs? Cuz last year I was about to join some but like I'm not interested and I don't really know what to join. But yea, I'm gonna study for the SAT. Thanks!

reallyAmused

are you sure a minor GPA drop won't hurt? well, at least I know it won't be that effected. I've tried to find a volunteer job this summer but it's really hard. I can't even find one. yea, on my essay, I'll probably write about my passion for chinese since thats the only thing I'm consistent on. Thnaks!

魚燕往返: Colleges don't just decide based on GPA and you were taking harder classes junior year and they take those things into account. Just keep working hard on trying to raise that GPA (and SAT scores). Don't worry too much about it. And good luck on your essay, I know it took me a while (and ALOT of people editing) before I finally thought it was okay.

joonage and acciooo: I love you guys for applying to UW

lol I really hate these threads. they make people feel like they need to do "a lot of stuff" in order to go to a good college

Avex:
haha, i know.
but it's true, isnt it?
competition is so fierce that you need to do tons of stuff even to get into an okay college

From an MIT admission's blog I read this morning:

On APs: http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/before.../on_aps_1.shtml

MIT Recommended High School Admissions:http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/before...ion/index.shtml

Now, note where I quote this from Rec. High School Admissions:



Even though this is from an MIT blog, I think this applies to a lot of colleges in the US, if not, all.

thanks for the links, read them both.
but my entire high school has the opposite mentality
my school's counselors only give appointments to those in the IB program, etc, etc
and they say an AP class is a lot more important than taking a class you want to take
my school is just stupid in general.

^ I completely agree.

But I totally didn't do as much stuff as you guys did and I made it into one of the most competitive Engineering programs in the country (last time I checked, it was). If you're a rising senior, DO NOT add more clubs to your list (unless it's, like... National Honors Society or something). From what I heard, people like consistency and if you all of a sudden randomly add on a club that has no connections to anything else (like classes you have or other clubs you're in--nothing, not even classes from freshman year up, shows you have any sort of interest), they might just think you're crazy or something (I lost my train of thought--the phone just rang).

Uhm... Go for officer positions, but not too much because, depending on your major, they would want to know if you can deal with people. And colleges might also keep in mind that some people are good at standardized tests and not anything else, so right a freaking good essay. And DOUBLE CHECK FOR GRAMMAR. Holy CRAP, double check for grammar. Apparently that's a really big deal.

Ok, now... for some of you with the 3.5-4.0 unweighted GPA and the 600+ on SAT, I can't believe you are asking "what are my chances" because that's crazy. Anything 550+ on the sections of SATs are good (and you can take it over for the sake of seeing if you can get a higher score, if you want...) and if you have a 600-700+ on sections, don't even say that you need to take it over because you don't. End of story. You're just making the rest of us feel bad about ourselves.

And really... taking the SAT senior year... just be sure you don't have any major senioritis when you feel like taking it. That's what I did and I fell asleep at the end of one of the reading sections. :-X

~XtremeNuisance

About the adding clubs thing-- I was reading over what I said... I don't think it matters if you add on clubs your senior year if you're doing early application. I'm not sure though. Because you say what clubs you're in and it's not like you can go back in and say "Oh yeah, I joined *BLAH*" because it's not going to be on your transcript. So yeah. HELLA good essay.

To the original poster: that club you were thinking about doing with the helping other kids thing--wouldn't that take a while to get organized? So why don't you try to get ALL of the clubs in school involved and make it a school wide thing? Like on the announcements and everything? That's what my school's Key Club did.

-edit-
It's called modesty people. It's not that hard to not say anything. :-X

hahaha ... I still have two years left in high school.

But I'd much rather go to USC hahaha xD

I'm freaking out. o___o
I don't know, I think I'm being kind of realistic.. riiiiight? D:

Tell me straight up if I'm crazy for applying to the places that I am.

STATS

GPA : 4.2/5.0 W, 3.36/4.0 UW

Rank: I'm barely at the cutoff for top 10%.. I actually think I missed it :/ No official ranking yet.

SAT I:
R-700
M-680
W-710
Total: 2090/2400, 1380/1600

SAT II:
Physics: 730
USH: 740
Planning on taking the Korean SAT II

CLASSES
Freshman Year
Pre AP Alg 1
Pre AP Eng 1
Spanish 2
Pre AP IPC
Pre AP World Geography
Choir
Gym

Sophomore Year
Pre AP Geometry
Pre AP Alg 2
Pre AP Spanish 3
Pre AP Bio 1
APWH- 5 on AP
Pre AP Eng 2
Choir
Debate

Junior Year
Pre AP Precal
AP Eng 3- 4 on AP
Pre AP Physics (Physics - 3 on AP
APUSH- 5 on AP
Choir
Debate
Gym

Senior Year (Going to take)
AP Comp Sci
AP Bio 2
AP Eng 4
AP Psych
AP Calc AB
AP Gov/Eco
Choir

EXTRA CURRICULARS

Singing (like in choirs and ensembles and such)- 4 years
UIL Solo (Region) - 2 years,
UIL Solo (State) - 1 year
Texas All State Region Honor Choir - 1 year
" " Treble Choir - 1 year
Planning on making it to All-State next year :]
Piano - 5 years, as a hobby, did competitions before HS though
Sales associate at Jewelry World, Inc. - 2 months this summer
Inventory at Carmel Imports- 3 years

School clubs-
Choir- 4 years- Secretary 2007-2008
Debate- 2 years
Academic Decathalon - 1 year

Volunteering

Mission trips fish+sophomore year (I don't know if I can count this)- 150 hours
Catholic Charities- 30 hours
Korean school - 200 ish hours

Other

208 on PSAT so I KNOW I didn't make Nat Merit Semi Finalist...

I might have other awards and stuff I'm not really thinking about/that I don't really care about that much, and I didn't list any of the clubs that I'm 'in' but didn't do anything for...

Essays- I write decent essays and I'll probably proofread like a bazillion times before putting it up.

Recs - the teachers I'm thinking of know me pretty well, and I think I stand out b/c I sleep all the time and I still make high B's...so -shrug, and I've had this one teacher for 3 years, and the other for two and they're both REALLY nice to me, so they must like me...(I hope)

SCHOOLS I'M THINKING OF

Potential majors - Psych, sociology, vocal perf <- lol

Boston College
Boston U
Emory
Northwestern
NYU
Oberlin
Rice
UT Austin
UH
Trinity U

Thanks in advance :]
and yeah, I know, Rice is a super reach for me. >__<

i'm going to be a junior this upcoming school year but here are some stats

gpa: 4.3 weighted? idk how to calc unweighted.. but its probably low
rank: 37/600 which is like.. top 6%ish
psats (sophmore year): 51 reading 73 math 50 writing... i need to work on that
sat2s : biology-E 740
AP: biology - 5

ex cirr:
key club volunteering
french club (secretary soph, vp junior)
drama (ensemble in play soph year)
asian culture club (frosh year)
tennis (manager frosh, jv soph)
indoor track (jv soph)

i also play piano.. but i'm not good enough for awards etc
i play vball too but didn't make the school team




freshmen year
honors english
" geometry
" french 3
" chemistry
gym
history


sophmore year
honors english
" alg 2
" french 4
" Mandarin
" AP Biology
gym
photography
intro to psychology


junior year planning on taking
honors composition
" american lit
" precalc
" french 5
" AP chemistry
" AP psychology
gym
us history


colleges
alright i figured as of now the chances of me getting into mcgill are probably not that great
i also want to get into the pharm program at the uni of connecticut. however, they only take like 20-30 per year so idk if i'll get in

i better work my butt off junior year, boost gpa, and get decent sat scores... *sigh*
any suggestions on what i should work on? and should i get more ex cirr activities?
any feedback is helpful

to hellogoodbye765

Please do not add more ECs unless you truly have the passion and time for them.

Hahaha, I like how everyone who posts their stats are UNBELIEVABLE! You guys are all amazing. Best of luck...I'm not good at knowing if your chances are good. ><

Oh my goodness.. Everyone's stats are so deng impressive it brings tears to my eyes.
I think I'll just post up my stats later.. I want to know but I'm too embarrassed.. >__>
Seriously this thread is going to be the death of me. This makes me want to actually work hard hard hard T__T

For the GPAs, is it the whole cumulative average of your 4 years or something? The rank GPA? Kinda confused on that since some people posted up two ... x:

Sorry if this sound out mean but some of you guys worry wayyy too much. QUIT worrying about your SATS because that will cause you more stress, I'm not kidding around. Go with the flow of what you have for now and if you feel like something is missing, find that piece and fill it in. Do not do more than what you can't handle. I AM sure that you guys WILL do well in school and WILL get accept for college. =) College is NOT all about having good grades or being the best (Heck, even the BEST student gets rejected!). If you know you have leadership, community services and acouple of AP class, then You're good. Do NOT try to kill yourself, please. Do You know how much funeral actually cost?

hey guys i have a question about the SAT and SAT 2s. I can say that I am well rounded, I have good grades and extracurricular activities that I've been part of scince freshman / sophomore year, BUT the only thing that's bringing me down is standardized tests, the SAT and SAT 2s. I've gotten horrible scores and I don't think I will improve much or even improve at all. i will be a senior in the fall and planning to retake the SAT in october. I guess i just neeed some reassurance or comforting words. I'm not only those soompiers that got like 2200 on their SAT and are still unsatissfied with their score. (Not that they're wong, they just have high expectations). When I mean horrible I mean like the 1500-1600s. That's really bad eh? I don't know... I was telling my sister that i wont be able to get into a good college b/c of my low SAT scores. Basically for me, everything is good EXCEPT for my standardized test scores. what should i do?

Try to get your sat scores around 1800-1900.
can you tell me your weaknesses on the sat?

This is the most depressing place in the world, you all know that right? :/ But I'll try anyway :]

Oh and to vstar, University of California, San Francisco only is open to graduate students, not undergrads..

General Statistics:
GPA: 4.0 unweighted / 4.3(?) weighted
Rank: Unknown (My school doesn't do ranks, but I think I'm in top 4% because I got the letter from UC system saying I was guaranteed a spot in one of their campuses..)
School Type: Magnet school (California Academy of Mathematics and Science)

Testing:
PSAT: 211
SAT Reasoning Math: 750
SAT Reasoning Reading: 730
SAT Reasoning Writing: 680
SAT Reasoning Composite: 2160 / 1480
SAT Subject Chemistry: 690
SAT Subject Math IIC: 700
SAT Subject Math English Literature: 630

I plan to take SAT Subjects again this October and depending on those scores I might take the subjects again in November, or retake my reasoning. But best case-scenario, I won't have to because my mom says it cuts it too close to the application deadline. I don't know if I can raise my SAT subjects by a lot but if I can get at least 2 of them over 700 I'll be happy .__.;

Classes:
Freshman Year:
-Integrated Mathematics Program 1-2
-Japanese 1-2
-Engineering
-Integrated Science 1-2
-Health/Computer Skills
-Computer Science (Elective)
-English 1-2 Honors
-Physical Education 1-2

There were hardly any honors in this year because at CAMS, everybody takes the same classes. There's only one teacher per subject, so if they don't teach Honors then you have to take a non-Honors course .___.;;

Sophomore Year:
-Integrated Mathematics Program 5-6
-Japanese 3-4
-Integrated Science 3-4
-Biology
-English 3-4 Honors
-Physical Education 3-4
-AP Psychology (5) (Elective)
-World History Honors(?)

I'm not sure if Biology was honors or not, because everyone said that it USED to be honors before our class, and then the state told us we had to make it not honors? I don't know why, but I think it had to do with the fact that since EVERYONE takes it, then it can't be honors? I forgot what they said.

Junior Year:
-Integrated Mathematics Program 7-8
-Art 1-2
-Drawing Fundamentals (College course)
-English Honors 5-6
-US History Honors
-Chemistry Honors
-Japanese 5-6

I was supposed to take more classes but I thought that our school didn't have art anymore, so I took it at community college to fulfill my visual/performing arts credits. However.. that made it so that I had to drop some of my classes (Anthropology and precalculus). 4 months after school began we hired an art teacher, but it was too late to drop my class by then. When I came back after that semester the Anthropology and precalc class was closed so I thought I would just get more A-G credit if I joined the school art class.

Senior Year:
-AP Calculus BC
-AP Physics
-AP Statistics (Elective)
-AP English Literature
-Government and Economics Honors
-Art 3-4 (Elective / After school class) My counselor says I have too many classes.
-Yearbook (Elective)
-Japanese 7-8

-Introduction to Chinese (Adult School class)

I thought I wanted to be an artist since Freshman year so that's why I took so many art classes in high school .__.; But now I want to be a business major. (haha) Instead of Yearbook I probably should have taken Anatomy and Physiology, but ever since middle school I've wanted to try yearbook so it's my last chance! D:


Extracurriculars:
Key Club: 2.5 years, continuing senior year, no leadership positions .__.;
Study Group Club: 1 year, was not renewed the next year, treasurer
SAT Prep Club: 1 year, continuing senior year, co-founder and president
Japanese Club: 1 year, merged with Asian club last year, no leadership .__.;
Asian Club: 1 year (they started the club last year), not sure if the club will be renewed next year, no leadership .__.;
Art Club: 2 years, not sure if club is being renewed next year, no leadership .__.;
Work Experience: Worked at a craft fair for the past 1 1/2 years
Tutoring: Every summer with my mom's math class? :/ I don't know if it counts. Also, I had a job tutoring a girl in elementary school this summer.
Volunteering/Tutoring: Tutored students at library for 2 years / 60+ hours recorded.. would have recorded more but the library couldn't find their binder when I needed it D:
Volunteering/Web Design: 2 years / 20ish hours recorded? It didn't take long to work on websites haha
Church/VBS: Helped every summer since sixth grade
AMC (Math Competition): 2 years, no awards .__.;
Math Modeling Competition: 2 years, continuing senior year, last year we got honorable mention
Art Contest (painting): Didn't get anything :/
Class of 2008 Website: Co-founded, worked for 2 years / might work again on it this year if the spots for it haven't been filled

Overall I think that my extracurriculars are kind of weak. :/ Hoping to get something in Math Modeling this year and maybe try tutoring more.

College Goals:
Intended Major: Business Economics
First Choice Colleges: UCLA, UCI
In Between(?) Colleges: UCSD, UC Berkeley (My dad doesn't want me to go there), UCSC
Backup Colleges: UCR, UC Merced, CSU Long Beach

ughhh college!
what do you guys think? *worried*

GPA (up to junior year): uw= 4.0, weighted=no idea, sophmore year was like...4.6?
Rank: unknown yet, but i know top 5%
School: public, blue ribbon school

Freshmen Year:
-Health/Lifetime Fitness (required )
-Spanish 1 regular
-Orchestra 1
-Biology GT
-US History GT
-English 9 GT
-Algebra 2 GT

Sophmore Year:
-AP US Government and Politics
-Precalculus GT
-Orchestra 2
-Chemistry GT
-English 10 GT
-Anatomny and Physiology
-Spanish 2 Honors

Junior Year:
-AP World History
-Orchestra 3
-English 11 GT (but an AP class )
-Spanish 3 Honors
-AP Calculus AB
-Physics GT
-AP Biology

Planned Senior year:
-AP Chemistry
-AP Calculus C/multivarious
-Orchestra 4
-AP Statistics (Might change to AP Environmental Science, Freshmen Mentoring, or Double Credit AP Phyiscs)
^i cant decide!!! your opinions?
-AP English 12
-AP Physics
-Spanish 4 Honors

SAT Scores:
total= 2220/ 1470
(retaking T_T)

SAT II Scores:
math 2c: 760
biology: 690 T_T
literature: 700
(retaking biology and lit for sure, taking korean, and maybe retaking math...)

Extra Stuff:
-Honor Council for 2 years, co-president this year
-MD technology honor society for 3 years, president this year
-Tri-m music honor society for 2 years, secretary this year
-tutoring program for 2 years, tutor
-math team for 3 years, just a member lol
-future business leaders of america, for 3 years just a member
-national spanish honor society for 2 years
-spanish club 2 years
-our county orchestra for 4 years
-national honor society for 2 years, vice president this year
-indoor track for 3 years, didnt win anything lol
-church volunteer
-johns hopkins volunteer at orthopeadic lab
-harvard summer school, 4 credits in shakespeare! woo! (hardest class ever xP)
-Student government association, 1 year

-all state orchestra various years
-won various piano competitions
-played violin 11+ years
-played piano 11+ years, also

College Goals:
-do pre med, or major in english?

Colleges:
-Harvard (top choice, probably not going to get in )
-Yale (same as above)
-Johns Hopkins
-Williams
-State School (back up)
-Wellesley
-Duke
-Columbia
-MIT
-Stanford
-Princeton
-Brown
-Northwestern
-Swarthmore
-Darthmouth?
-Cornell?
-William and Mary
-Emory
-Grinnell?

...yea too many schools =_=
please, please tell me your opinions!

pinkieboo, your stats/ex cirr are pretty impressive
i would stick with ap stat b/c you've already taken physics
however, if you wanted to go into premed.. i would say definitely retake bio sat2's.. and get a good recommendation from your bio teacher if possible?
this one girl in my school got into john's hopkins for premed but shes crazyyyyyy bio smart. she got a 5 on ap and either 800 or close for sat2 bio. our bio teacher also loves her so he wrote her a wicked good rec, and she also helped her uncle clone some gene/protein in mouse that is currently being patented etc etc.. so yeah

pinkieboox3
What's double credit AP Physcs? I would suggest you stick with an AP class. It seems like your good at math so AP stats seems like a good choice. Although if you want to go into pre-med AP Enviro Science is also good, it's really up to which one you prefer.

As for your EC's...O___O That's a HUGE list LOL. But it seems a bit too scattered to me. It doesn't really look like your focused on any aspect, but rather your stretching yourself to be everywhere. It's not a bad thing but I would try to focus on a particular "theme" when your filling out those applications to show your dedicated to a particular activity, whether it be your music (which seems to stand out the most) or something else.

I don't doubt your ability to get into the colleges you listed, but that's an awfully long list. I would definately want to narrow that down. Have you visited any of these schools? If you have the opportunity or financial means i would definitely recommend it. My list was also 20+ before I went to visit, and like you, I put colleges on simply for the name/prestige. But after visiting, i realized i HATED the small liberal arts colleges/ the colleges in the middle of nowhere (no offense to those who like them, but it definitely wasn't for me). That was probably the best part of my visit, and i realized I couldn't imagine myself at Amherst/Williams/Dartmouth. But try to narrow that list down the colleges you can actually imagine yourself spending FOUR years at, ask yourself: Do you prefer larger universities or smaller colleges? Do you prefer big city, small towns or somewhere in between? Do you want to go to a place where you know everyone or where your just one in a HUGE crowd?

^^; hope my rambling helped somewhat! Feel free to PM me if I didn't make any sense, although i can't promise i'll answer too quickly since i need to go back to tackling my 4000 word essay lol



It shouldn't be too bad. I've already found out what i need to do to start a club at my school, and if there's one thing I can do it's fundraising (from my previous involvement in other clubs)
The thing is, my sponsor wanted to make it an school-wide thing, but most of the clubs didn't want to participate, which is why I went to him to make a separate club for the cause.

... Well. Those other clubs should be ashamed of themselves. It's such a good cause. Ok so... it's such a short response that I don't even know why I responded, but I felt like I should. XD

akenon, you've already received a letter from the UC guaranteeing because of the top 4% deal? I worry now. I don't think anyone from my school has yet.

And pookiee_x, I feel exactly the same way. I have good grades, well-rounded, but I just can't seem to get those SAT Reasoning and Subject test scores up. How bad is it if I retake SAT I for the fourth and last time?

By the way, I'm really hoping to go to the top UCs. I'm also having trouble deciding on what to major in. How much harder is it to get accepted into the College of Engineering at Cal than it is to the College of Letters and Science? I'm really reluctant to apply to an engineering major because I'm afraid my test scores don't add to my high grades and activities.

Thanks.

I got it last year when I was a junior.. my college counselor gave it to me. I don't know when everyone else is supposed to get it though. Don't know about how much harder it is for Engineering though, sorry~

Yeah I'm kinda curious about how tough it is to get into College of Engineering in Cal actually. For Engineering, I have two choices at the moment: UCB and Cal Poly

thank you hellogoodbye and azn_kira!
um..sry but i have another question?
in total, my sat I score was 2220 and i took it once?
do you guys suggest taking it again--especially if i want to go to an ivy or something?
and is it bad if you dont have any 5's in your AP exams? do colleges care a lot about AP scores? T___T

oh, and azn_kira:
double credit physics is having 2 ap classes of physics. our school has a days and b days, alternating during the week, 90 minutes each. so you would have physics everyday for 90 minutes, instead of a usual 50 minute class.
wow...i just realized that thats a lot of physics

I think a lot expect 2250?
Anyway best thing is to take the SAT as much as you can~
But not over 3 times because then they start taking averages
Uhmmm for AP what my teacher said its mostly for after you get into college
So that it counts for credits..
But try to get the highest you can :]

pinkieboox3, don't waste ur time retaking the sats since u did so well the first time. go pursue what u are currently doing and try to find, base on your ECs, what you really like to do the most. when you get your interview / write college application, you can really tell the admissons officers who you truly are. since you are applying for ivy league schools, whats important to realize that SAT scores are not everything. know that people with good scores, even perfect, DO get rejected from these schools sometimes.pinkieboox3, don't waste ur time retaking the sats since u did so well the first time. go pursue what u are currently doing and try to find, base on your ECs, what you really like to do the most. when you get your interview / write college application, you can really tell the admissons officers who you truly are. since you are applying for ivy league schools, whats important to realize that SAT scores are not everything. know that people with good scores, even perfect, DO get rejected from these schools sometimes.