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Can you guys give me some feedback about my chances? Here are my stats.

I am a juinor at the Illinois Math and Science Academy, a magnet residential high school run by the stae of Illinois. There are about 600 students in total at the school.

The school does not provide gpa or class rank.
All courses are 'taught at the honors level'

At my school the average sat us 1350 and half of all the grades given out are A's.

I got 3 B's in my Freshman Year, 5 B's in my Sophmore Year.

But I am hoping to finish my Junior Year with 12 A's and 1 B.

SAT I: Math 720 Verbal 670
(If I study over the summer I think I can get a 1500)

ACT - I took a practice test and It looks like I can get at least a 33.

SAT II Math IIC: 800
SAT II Writing, Physics, Chemistry
will be taken in the fall of the senior year
(I think that I can get 800's if I try)
(My PSAT Writing was 75)

I just finished a three semester calculus sequence this year.

I am planning on taking AP Calculus BC and AP Computer Science AB, both of which I am confident I'll get 5's on.

The B's that I have been getting have been mostly in humanitites classes, but in math and science I have been very strong.

Classes I have taken with grades:

Two semester pre-calculus sequence - both A's
Three semester calculus sequence (I studied over winter break and was able to complete it in a year) - A's in all three courses

First semester of AP Chemistry - A
General Microbiology (Semester Course) - A
AP Computer Science (A- hopefully)

In my senior year I will be taking Number Theory, Multivariable Calculus, Differential Equations, and Linear Algebra, all of which I think I will get A's in because I am strong in math.

I will be taking my second semester of AP Chem and Will be taking Calculus Based Physics (I think I can get A's in these as well)

My math teacher (I have practically all my classes with him) has a Ph.D in math from berkeley. He was the one that let me accelerate and I think I can get truly killer recs from him and also from my spanish teacher.

Personal info: I am a greek-american (diversity!) living in a suburb of chicago. My family has owned several construction businesses and I have a lot of experience with business/entrepreneurship. I read, write, and speek greek, and I go to the greek orthodox church every sunday.

Awards/Honors:
My team of three people won the title of 'National Outstanding Paper' in the 2002-2003 High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling. Over 300 teams competed from around the world, and my team was one of only 11 that was classified as national outstanding.

AMC-12 score: 111.5 (AIME Qualifier)

State Chess Team Competition I went undefeated at my board

Sports:
Baseball fresh/soph years
Tennis jun/sen years

Extracurriculars:
Chess team
American Computer Science League
Math Team
Mu Alpha Theta Math Society
Young Democrats

Work Experience: By the time I apply I will have done 150 hours of community service both for habitat for humanity and the local theater commission.

I spent a summer working at Jewel grocery stores as a bagger.

I designed the website for my parents' furniture business, and the site has brought in many sales

I designed computer software (3D graphics modeling) for the family business. I hope to send it into the INTEL STS and SIEMENS WESTINGHOUSE STS

I sand, paint, stain, and deliver furniture for the family business

I have designed websites for several companies also.

Over the summer I plan on taking 5 classes at a local community college (Math, Physics, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, etc)

I hope to get straight A's for the first semester of the senior year.

I talked to my counselor and she says that I would be a competitive applicant at Northwestern, University of Chicago, Cornell, Rice, Johns Hopkins, and Washington University in St. Louis.

Finally, I think that I'll be able to write very strong essays

I am going to study physics in college and then I plan to enter medical school.

I'm very nervous about getting into college, so I'm applying to all these schools:

Safety
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (guaranteed to get in because I go to an illinois magnet school)
University of Illinois Chicago
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University of Wisconsin - Madison

Good Match
Cornell
University of Chicago
Northwestern (my dad took 1 year of Ph.D engineering courses here)
Rice
Washington University in St. Louis
New York University
Johns Hopkins BME

Reach
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Columbia
UPenn
Stanford
Caltech
MIT
Berkeley

I am really nervous because of all those B's I got in the freshman and sophmore years.

Also do you think that these stats coupled with one year of college study (with good grades) would give me a decent change at transferring into a school like Harvard?

Need Feedback ASAP

By Tigeruppercut (Tigeruppercut) on Monday, April 28, 2003 - 10:33 pm: Edit

whoa i didn't even read that, so long...

By Suziq0110 (Suziq0110) on Monday, April 28, 2003 - 10:33 pm: Edit

U-Michigan should not be your safety school. It's pretty hard to get in to from out-of-state (*in-state*, for that matter.)

By Howdydoody (Howdydoody) on Monday, April 28, 2003 - 10:49 pm: Edit

Sorry, but I don't think the Greek thing will help you. Has anyone ever heard of Greeks getting special treatment? I thought it was always just considered white.

By Pennquaker13 (Pennquaker13) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 12:48 am: Edit

First things first, you're applying to way, way, way (and I mean WAY) too many schools. Alot of these applications (especially ones for reach schools) take a long time to fill out and write essays for and even longer to edit. Since the questions on the applications differ, you won't be able to use to many of the same essays for different applications (I know from experience that the Penn app is a bitch). By applying to all of these schools, you're going to end up rushing all of your applications and not putting in the neccessary time to check everything over and you're going to get into very few of your reach schools. I would go visit a few of these schools and gradually eliminate a few them (Remember you can only enroll in one college, not 30). I would pick 2 safeties, 5 50/50's and 5 reaches for a grand total of 12 applicatoins. I would not reccommend more than that and even 12 is alot. The easiest thing to do is pick a school you really like and apply there early and save yourself alot of trouble.

By Mitacceptee (Mitacceptee) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 01:43 am: Edit

I think you should work on your awards and extracurriculars. Also, do you have leadership positions? If you get more of what I just said, I'm sure you have a great chance of getting into most of your schools, and possibly even your reach schools

By Autodidact (Autodidact) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 01:51 am: Edit

Skopelos: I agree with Howdydoody: Being Greek gets you scata in the admissions pool. I also agree with Pennquaker13, too many schools results in spreading yourself too thin--and a bunch of app. fees like SAT, ACT, transcripts, CSS PROFILE, and copies of taxes. With too many colleges this adds up too quickly. Eliminate some of these through more research.

By Kluless (Kluless) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 08:18 am: Edit

That is way too many schools! A general rule: 3 safety, 3 Match, 4 Reach. Don't take up space at safety schools you won't attend. Your stats are better than mine so you don't have to worry.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 09:20 am: Edit

Scopelos: You have way less to worry about than you think you do! Many of the accomplishments you describe could easily be turned into an essay that would be a winner. Applicants with high grades and SATs are NOT in short supply. Applicants with solid work experience and are able to write about it as clearly as you can--are a bit rare. Use that edge.

Within each of the groups of colleges you list, there are schools which have very different flavors---there is no way that one person would truly like all of them. Pare down the list so that the remaining 10 are colleges that you would really like to go to: the right size, location, personality, social life, academic program, etc. Just as an example, I've been on the the NYU and the UI/Champaign Urbana campuses; unless you happen to be "World's Most Adaptable Man" there is simply no way that you would like BOTH of them.

One of my daughters applied to 10 colleges. When the acceptances started rolling in, she began to feel a bit foolish for applying to so many! Your stats are better (there's a switch for a proud father...!)

Make no mistake: it is a lot of work to make a good application to a college. It is even a considerable amount of work to make cookie cutter applications. The folks manning the barricades in admissions offices are not stupid--they know the difference immediately. They ARE aware of how many and which colleges you apply to--and have no desire to decrease their ratings by dealing with a fellow who is treating them as just a remote possiblity. If you REALLY want to drive yourself crazy, choose an Early Decision school (if you are so inclined) and make certain that this school is indeed the school of your realistic dreams.

You will be wanting to write tailor made cover letters to each college that highlights your accomplishments in a way that is attractive to their academic program. Sure, many of the paragraphs can be the same---and you can do a lot of copy/pasting.

Sure, the application you submit is the main force of your effort to gain admission, but there is much more you can do to better your chances. Establishing and maintaining contacts with various academic departments (while always CC:ing the admissions office) will go a long way in establishing your credibility. Doing this for ten colleges is a HUGE undertaking. Forget about thirty! College is all about interaction---show them in your application AND in your follow-up that your are adept at interacting.

If you still feel that applying to ten or so schools is not enough, try treating those ten as completely independant projects. Mix it up. Don't send each the same essay, recommendations, etc. Try at least several different flavors of applications... maybe one highlights your work at the family business, another highlights your web-design talent, etc. Those ten applications will keep you busy enough to put an end to your worrying about THIRTY!

Hey, one of my daughters got into the school of her choice writing an excellent essay about her experience working as a supermarket bagger---so that can work as well. (OK, OK: it was your common experience bagging groceries that caught my eye!) I figure anyone who can do that job and maintain a positive attitude has to be all right.

Good luck.

By Johnnyd (Johnnyd) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 09:34 am: Edit

applying to 19 schools is ridiculous

By Drusba (Drusba) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 09:49 am: Edit

You probably do need to pare down your list, and add another safety. Not sure where you got info that you are guaranteed admission to University of Illinois (UC)as I am unaware of any such guarantee for a magnet -- although with what you have in grades and scores makes it a safety for its Arts & Sciences school; however, it is possibly a "reach" if you were to apply to its engineering school (which is much more difficult to get into). U of I Chicago is a safety, but Wisconsin and Michigan are not because more is required to get admitted from out of state than in state and they take only a limited number from out of state. In addition, you should consider taking all your "good match" schools and put them in the "reach" list. You have sufficient grades and scores to get admitted, but those schools reject more with stats like yours than they accept. You should consider any school that accepts less than 50% of its applicants as a reach school regardless of your stats (they can have 4 applicants with exactly the same stats that look almost exactly the same and then they will choose one and reject the other three based just on a subjective (almost guessing) belief as to which one they should take). Thus, never assume such schools are necessarily "good match" despite what computer programs may tell you.

By Bakery (Bakery) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 02:02 pm: Edit

well, maybe this can help you. here was my story for this year.

SAT: m-710, v- 770
SAT II: m2c: 800, writ: 760, chem: 780
c.rank: 5/450

i go to a public school in ohio and am not a URM or a legacy in any of these schools and i'm definetly not an athlete.

a "yes" indicates i got in, a no means i didn't and a WL means waitlisted.

SAFETY:
Ohio State University (yes)
College of William and Mary (yes)
Lehigh University (yes)
Case Western Reserve University (yes)
George Washington U (yes)

GOOD MATCH:
Duke University (yes)
Northwestern University (yes)
Cornell University (yes)
Georgetown University (WL)
Johns Hopkins University (no)
Brown University (WL)
Dartmouth University (WL)

REACH:
Harvard University (no)
Yale University (yes)
Columbia University (WL)
Princeton University (WL)
MIT (yes)
UPENN (yes)


well there you have it. i have decided to enroll at Duke University...it was a TOUGH decision and i guess in the end they were all so good that i had to pick based on weather!


the bottom line it: apply to as many colleges as you can afford, however don't make the mistake of considering a "good match" to be a safety b/c that's where you screw up. trust me, college admissions is getting more cutthroat every year as the applicant pool and the US college population grows exponentially. if you want your best shot of getting in, make sure you choose wisely where you are applying and ask yourself, is my safety REALLY a safety? i know many ppl who thought they were shoo ins at certain schools and ended up getting in nowhere. be careful and good luck.

By Mattymatt (Mattymatt) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 02:07 pm: Edit

Pennquaker13 .. most of those schools will accept the common app

By Pennquaker13 (Pennquaker13) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 04:53 pm: Edit

True many of those schools accept the common app, but every one of them has a supplement with some more questions on it. The questions on all of these supplements will vary. Also, I know that the Penn, Stanford, Northwestern and Princeton ask alot of odd questions that aren't found on different applications. Those 4 alone will take a good amount of time to fill out.

By Sybil_Vain (Sybil_Vain) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 06:24 pm: Edit

Don't apply to all those schools -u won't have the time to make really good applications and they' ll reject u!
Or, alternatively, u will spend all your time filling in those •••••• applications and you will not have the time to either study, or go out, or to keep up w/ work and extracurriculars.
Narrow down your choices -i am sure there aren't more that 5- 6 schools on your list that you'd REALLY like to attend, so why apply everywhere?

btw i'm greek too! but I actually live in Greece and go to a Greek- american school.

By Skopelos (Skopelos) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 09:13 pm: Edit

Hey guys thanks for all the comments - keep them rolling in please!

But U of I has connections with my school - 150 people get accepted out 0f roughly 200 each year.

I know some real dumbasses (have failed math) that got into U of I's #2 rated electrical engineering program.

By Kenowhere (Kenowhere) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 09:27 pm: Edit

Johns Hopkins BME is near impossible. I would get research in an undergrad lab if you truly want to get into this program. I would say you would have a 60-70% chance of getting in since you go to THE school in the Midwest. I am doing research at Hopkins for a half year since I graduated high school early, and I can say it is truly one of the best universities in the world. One of the people I am collaborating with is a sophomore in BME who barely got into the program with unbelievable stats (1550 SAT, 4.0 GPA (unweighted), 1 year Organic studied on own and got credit for it). It is truly incredible what you have accomplished, and I wish you the best.

By Bakery (Bakery) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 11:17 pm: Edit

h0w do u know he BARELY got in? did they say that in his acceptance letter? or was he waitlisted and then got in?

By Archimedes (Archimedes) on Saturday, May 03, 2003 - 04:45 pm: Edit

Bump

By Lindy (Lindy) on Sunday, May 04, 2003 - 02:47 am: Edit

You guys got some great stats. College has also been a pressing issue for me also and I've decided on UCLA. I chose it over Berkeley. Bakery I can't believe you got wait listed at Dartmouth. My friend got into Dartmouth with less qualifications.

By Topcat0214 (Topcat0214) on Thursday, May 08, 2003 - 11:01 pm: Edit

My daughter applied to 12 schools - and let me tell you that it almost killed us. Getting all of the applications together was unbelievably stressful and expensive. On top of the applications, at some schools, she applied for scholarships which required additional essays. Although it's certainly a nice problem to have, she was accepted at all but one school she applied to -- and that caused another round of stress when we had to run around and visit all these schools during the month of April (not to mention more expense). And more stress when she finally did have to decide. I will not repeat this mistake with my other children.

I recommend that you try to get it down to no more than 8. One piece of advice I heard from a guidance counselor -- you need to be happy with your safety schools. In your case, if you're just as happy at Urbana-Champagne, why apply to 3 other safeties.

Michigan is nobody's safety out-of-state, especially engineering. I hate to discourage you, but Berkeley is probably a waste of time. You need to start thinking about categories of schools -- do you want a large university or a small university? Michigan is obviously huge. Wash U is smaller. NYU is in the city with no campus.

Your list leads me to believe that you're just shooting for the most pretigious university you can get into -- without really thinking about what kind of experience you want once you get there.

You've got great credentials and you're sure to be accepted at a top-rate university. Good luck.

By Finalnight (Finalnight) on Friday, May 09, 2003 - 03:54 pm: Edit

watch yourself, going to IMSA could be a negative, both my brothers went there when it was in its prime (1st one went inagural year), but in the last decade it has been slipping in its rep and difficulty and everyone knows it because they have been pulling in south chicagoan (it didnt use to be a "magnet" school it used to be a "gifted" school fyi), so you better make sure your grades are top notch. Good luck.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Friday, May 09, 2003 - 07:43 pm: Edit

Well, isn't that special? Some good-hearted person has just told you that the school that you've been attending for the past three years has been "slipping" and could actually be a black mark on your fine record.

Listen, I've never heard of IMSA, been to Illinois just twice, and around the world once---but do I know for certain that there is no admissions committee in the land that is going to look at your outstanding record of achievement and then say, "Hey wait just a minute! Didn't we once read a posting from some guy whose brother once went went there and seemed to think that the school's reputation was on the decline? Maybe we ought to ignore everything in front of us, and instead heed the provident words of Mr. Finalnight?"

Steady as she goes, Scopelos. Pay no attention to the sharks in the water... your trusty ship will get you to your destination.

By Autodidact (Autodidact) on Saturday, May 10, 2003 - 12:27 am: Edit

I've been past the IMSA several times, always wishing I had time to stop in and check it out, but never seem to be able to manage it enroute to Iowa or Chicago. I agree with Morgantruce, you're definitely in position for smooth sailing if you keep up your GPA and your wits about you. Never call for the lifeboat when the course is clear and the progress steady. Kalatihi, Skopelos!

By Erika (Erika) on Saturday, May 10, 2003 - 12:40 am: Edit

If you are guaranteed to get into that college, why do you have other safeties? That's absolutely unnecessary stress.

You're better off looking at colleges and finding which ones you LIKE and not just applying to a crapload of random ones that are obviously just ranked by prestige.

By Archimedes (Archimedes) on Saturday, May 10, 2003 - 11:17 am: Edit

Bump

By Mike (Mike) on Saturday, May 10, 2003 - 12:47 pm: Edit

I can't imagine going to all the work needed to apply to 30 schools. When would I have time for running, work and study not to mention fun? Then there is the cost of applications. At an average of $40 that would be $1200 wasted for me. I can buy a laptop for that price.

I plan on 4-6. At most two safe one big and one large. Two match and maybe two reach.

Mike

By Kk02 (Kk02) on Saturday, May 10, 2003 - 03:04 pm: Edit

People do apply to 8-12 commonly nowadays! I applied to 14. Though it can cause problems while applying, even though I'm one of the most organized souls on earth, it used to take a lot of time off my schedule from Oct-Mar.

By Sixtoes (Sixtoes) on Saturday, May 10, 2003 - 05:36 pm: Edit

you're applying to 20 schools, not 30. better go back to kindergarten math! :P

By Grnme (Grnme) on Tuesday, May 13, 2003 - 04:22 pm: Edit

I am pretty sure you will get in to a lot of those schools. i'm going to berkeley, and my resume was nothing compared to yours. Other than sounding like a cutie - you have an excellent app. good luck!

By Cornellian07 (Cornellian07) on Tuesday, May 13, 2003 - 07:37 pm: Edit

You do realize you're only gonna end up going to ONE of these schools, right?

By Archimedes (Archimedes) on Thursday, May 15, 2003 - 11:33 pm: Edit

GUESS WHAT I JUST GOT A 1510 on sat I
Math 800 Verbal 710. What do you think now?

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Friday, May 16, 2003 - 01:31 am: Edit

Now, I think you can multiply a bit better than you can read...

By Jenniferelaine (Jenniferelaine) on Friday, May 16, 2003 - 01:49 pm: Edit

Skopelos-

Can you clear something up about IMSA for me? I'm a senior, and had considered applying eons ago..until I found out that as the name implies that the school emphasizes Math and Science, leaving no room for anyone who wants to explore areas of music, english, forgein languages, etc. EVERYTHING is about the math and science. And this is the reason I didn't apply, so I must know, is it true?

I'm also led to believe that IMSA is incredibly competitive to the point where people have had nervous breakdowns, even though the school doesn't rank. Do you feel this kind of atmosphere?

By Good_Gal (Good_Gal) on Friday, May 16, 2003 - 01:51 pm: Edit

You need to spend a lot of time on each app - If you want them to be as good as possible.
Don't do more than 17.

By Archimedes (Archimedes) on Friday, May 16, 2003 - 04:15 pm: Edit

IMSA is just like any other high school. I know a lot of liberal arts students here. I guess its competitive, but the advantage is that if you can garner good stats you will almost surely get into very good schools. A lot of people do science research on wednesdays because we don't have class.

By Young7786 (Young7786) on Friday, May 16, 2003 - 10:25 pm: Edit

This past year I applied to 12 schools. I'm from delaware by the way.

Safety:
University of Delaware-(Y, with full Scholarship)
University of Virginia-(Y, Echols Scholar)

Good Match:
Upenn Wharton-(WL)
Cornell-(Y, Dean's Scholar)
Columbia-(WL)
Duke-(Y)
John's Hopkins-(Y)
University of Chicago-(N, lost my application...)

Reach:
Harvard-(N)
Princeton-(N)
Yale(Y)
Stanford(WL, just accepted)

So there you have it. I also go to a "Magnet School" It's a math & science specialty school that is extremely competitive. My classmates were accepted into Penn, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, and more.

You seem to be pretty on track. There is no need to apply to so many. 12 was hard as hell to complete and still maintain good quality. I missed Christmas to finish the Princeton app and look what that got me -_-

By Dwayne_Hoover (Dwayne_Hoover) on Saturday, May 17, 2003 - 12:48 pm: Edit

Congrats Young, but I think its slightly arrogant that you consier Wharton to be a "match" where the chances are pretty high--that place is very hard for males now...insanely hard + selective. Same with Columbia..something like 14% admit rate...I guessy ou see they are more of reaches, prollly why u got waitlisted.

By Young7786 (Young7786) on Saturday, May 17, 2003 - 10:37 pm: Edit

Dwayne you are right heh. I wouldn't say I was arrogant, more like naive. I thought they were match schools then, but.. two girls at my school got into Wharton over me, even though I'm more qualified. Guess they have quotas to fill.

By Lederman (Lederman) on Monday, May 19, 2003 - 04:32 pm: Edit

bump

By Sara5225 (Sara5225) on Monday, May 19, 2003 - 06:13 pm: Edit

not to be mean, but man, be quiet. my self esteem deflates because people like you (in a good way) always think they're sooooooo terrible and they're never going to get into a good school. don't worry! apply to where you WANT to go, just have confidence!

By Truthteller (Truthteller) on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 - 01:11 am: Edit

Ooh... look what a google search can drag up. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to debunk a fraud -

Oh god Gariv..... (Name partially hidden to protect... the guilty.) I know for a fact that you lied on that "resume."

By Cpny123 (Cpny123) on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 09:42 pm: Edit

omg way too many schools you applied to... I applied to 11 and I KNOW it was too many. I know its hard to decide where you wanna go but if you do your research you prob can figure out what schools are realistically safetys, match's, and reaches. Don't underestimate yourself like I did-- I applied to like 5 schools that were def safetys but i had such low self esteem i thought id get rejected by them all. Only have like 1-2 safteys, 3-4 matches, and 2-3 reaches. And visit campuses, it makes it soo much easier to cross colleges off your list or move them up. Props to you if you can handle applying to 30 schools-- I could barely handle 11. Cut you list in 1/3 , it will make life ur much ezer