[azn_kira]

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.

[魚燕往返]

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.

[lovablekrnstar63]

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 =]

[sgwannabe]

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!

[azn_kira]

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!

[lovablekrnstar63]

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?

2250/1500

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

[azn_kira]

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

[vstar]

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

[azn_kira]

^ =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

[reallyAmused]

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!

[DaAzNkIgGa627]

Edit:

Yeah... =P

20 chars

[reallyAmused]

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.

[elisa*]

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 >_<

[DaAzNkIgGa627]

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.

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....

[joonage]

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.

[DaAzNkIgGa627]

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~~~ ...

=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

[cyberfruit]

...

I refuse to post my stats. Refuse.

[azn_kira]

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.

[joonage]

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?

[vstar]

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.