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Ok, call me paranoid, but here goes. Gimme a percentage chance of acceptance to Harvard, Yale, and Cornell.

Sat 1 - 1600
Sat 2 (writing) - 800
Sat 2 (physics) - 800
Sat 2 (Math 1C) - 740
AP Euro Hist - 5
AP Eng Lang - 5
AP Physics - 5
AP US Hist - 5

I'm taking 6 AP courses this year, and have a 4.0 (96) average through the end of junior year. 10 of 396 in my class. Nat merit Semifinalist.

Nat Honor Society - Pres
Boy Scouts - Eagle, other awards
Mock Trial - Captain, MVP
Lots of volunteer stuff

I don't wanna make this a long drawn out post, (I omitted most of the extra curric), and I don't want people to think im looking for attention. I spend all my time studying with people for tests and SATs - I'm not arrogant; I try to help as many people as I can. I'm looking for an honest assessment, cause the guy from Yale said they rejected about half of their applicants with 1600's.

Thanks.

By Sally R. on Monday, November 04, 2002 - 06:26 pm: Edit

Your numbers are certainly outstanding. However, the admission process is not as easy as simply crunching them. Chances are, admission committees will indeed be impressed with these statistics, and I think they ought to have a soft spot for Eagle Scouts as well (at least, I always have), but a lot more than that will go into your final decisions.

Your writing and recommendations, for instance, will be carefully evaluated. I remember, too, a former Ivy League admission official telling me about an alumnus' child who was a shoo-in until evaluators read the interview report that proclaimed something along the lines of, "This applicant is the most arrogant person I have ever met."

So, there's really no way to give a percentage without seeing the Big Picture. I think it's safe to say, though, that you're in the ballpark--probably even in a box seat.

By John Thompson on Monday, November 04, 2002 - 10:52 pm: Edit

I could be wrong but with a perfect SAT and SAT II physics and writing you could probably achieve a perfect or near perfect SAT II Math. So if you can I think you should retake the Math SAT II because I can't see the school looking at a 1600 SAT 800 800 800 SAT II 5 5 5 5 AP and great ECs and saying "I dont think this guy quite meets are standards"

By pigroaster on Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 10:42 pm: Edit

at my visit to penn, they gave a statistic on a high percentage of 1600'ers that they reject (something like 60%), but it seemed like it was mainly because they were arrogant and neglected to spend time on the rest of their application because of one high score. You dont seem like this type. At cornell, every time someone asked, "how important is ____ on the application?" the cornell lady said, "very, very important". treat it like this, and you will get in to at least one of the top 3.

By damn on Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 06:59 pm: Edit

You're in and you're paranoid. You're a shoe-in. Don't retake anything. There is no way colleges would reject you. You have a PERFECT SAT for god's sake!!!!!!! Send the app and relax.

By me on Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 08:57 pm: Edit

so you are ranked 10 out of 396? if so, that's a little weird comined with the rest of your stats

By Kheldar on Friday, November 08, 2002 - 07:00 pm: Edit

Yeah i'm 10 out of 396 cause they are these all-out girls in my school who love to study on friday nights. I could care less about that, you know? If I applied myself... but whatever.

I was fairly sure i was going nuts asking about this, but i appreciate the responses. I think i may actually go to Cornell of the three. There's this girl i know who wants to go there... :-).

I'll shut my trap now. Thanks again fellas.

By Fiz6 on Friday, November 15, 2002 - 09:19 pm: Edit

With near-perfect scores, your chances of getting into any top-tier ivy is only 50% You need to show your personality, which counts almost as much as your GPA in selective schools. Fortunately, by writing nice essays, you can bring you percentage up to 80%. Win a national award, be the best in the world at something useful, or do something hugely important to humanity and it will almost bump your percentage to 100%. However, at that point you might be able to get honorary degrees.

By ktr on Friday, January 10, 2003 - 08:33 pm: Edit

you've got a good chance at getting into at least one of those schools, but don't get your hopes set on one in particular because i got a 1600 and 3 800's on SAT II's, as well as being ranked first in my class and doing a bunch of other stuff, and i had my heart set on yale and didn't get in. (i did get in everywhere else though). you'll be happy at a lot of different places -- good luck.