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I would like a stats evaluation for getting into the most selective schools in America. Any suggestions/criticism/questions would be appreciated

Math: 800
Verbal: 720
psat: 230 index

SAT2 (predicted)
Math: 800
Writing: 770-800
Literature: 750?

GPA 4.0 uw
Rank: 1/180

I attend a private catholic school that has a very good record with college admissions. I have taken the most rigorous schedule offered w' 3 APs

ECs
Mock Trial: (9-10 jv, 11-12 varsity) Member of state championship team, placed 6th in the nation.
NHS: (10-12) VP junior and senior year. Founded a peer-review service at my school
Soccer: (9-12). One varsity letter.
Swimming: (9-12). Captain, state qualifyer
Water Polo: (10-12). Captain, all-district team.
Math Club: (11-12). Founding member

Awards:
School AMC winner 3 times (most likely 4). Indexes of 166, 190.5 and 200.5. 2nd in state as junior
Placed 2nd, 6th and 10th in various state and regional math competitions
USAMTS gold winner
Most Inspirational: soccer and swimming
Various other department awards through school.
National champion in video-game competition
"Best Witness" award in mock trial

Volunteering:
50 hours as junior football coach
100 hours tutoring at Boys and Girls Club

By Jimjunior (Jimjunior) on Sunday, June 01, 2003 - 05:16 pm: Edit

oops I now see my topic heading is wrong. It should read. "Chances at Harvard or Stanford"

By Jimjunior (Jimjunior) on Monday, June 02, 2003 - 08:26 pm: Edit

bump

By Sarbear (Sarbear) on Thursday, June 05, 2003 - 03:06 am: Edit

It's too bad that your school only offers 3 APs, but they should consider course difficulty based on offerings. My school (public, no huge) offers 24 AP classes (all but APIEL) and at least as many IB classes. Someone from my school who took 10 APs could look worse than you taking all those offered to you.

Anyways, Stanford or Harvard. Apply to both, I don't see the problem. About decisions, however - Stanford is BEAUTIFUL!! Much more laid back, and people are genuine and nice. Harvard is ugly, boring, and the atmosphere among students is extremely competitive, and therefore isolating. No bias, of course ;-). It depends what you want though - prestige or happiness. Good Luck!

Sarah

By Dschnapps (Dschnapps) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 12:31 am: Edit

Jim, where do go to hs?

By Jimjunior (Jimjunior) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 03:20 am: Edit

seattle, WA

By Chinky (Chinky) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 06:17 am: Edit

umm..sorry if this sounds stupid or sumthin but i'm frm India..and i'd like to know whts this GPA things..so i can figure my equivalent...some sorta general average or sumthin??

By Deepak (Deepak) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 01:09 pm: Edit

GPA = Grade Point Average
It is basically a scale out of 4

By Jimjunior (Jimjunior) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 03:03 pm: Edit

At my school the GPA is an average of my grades in each class. Here is the scale
4.0 93-100
3.7 90-92
3.3 87-89
3.0 83-86
2.7 80-82

Each class is computed separately, so if my classes average to be a 95 I still wouldnt have a 4.0 if I had one class that was a 90

By Intergamer (Intergamer) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 03:40 pm: Edit

yeah

but every school is different

for example, my school:

A+ = 98-100 --> 4.25
A = 94-97 --> 4.00
A- = 90-93 --> 3.75

B+ = 87-89 --> 3.25
B = 84-86 --> 3.00
B- = 80-83 --> 2.75

C+ = 77-79 --> 2.25
C = 74-76 --> 2.00
C- = 70-73 --> 1.75

D+ = 67-69 --> 1.25
D = 64-66 --> 1.00
D- = 60-63 --> 0.75


Note: The percents in this case are norms (in my school, and in most other american schools, the teacher assigns grades, and the percents needed are variable).

However, the GPA structure for a school is constant. You should note also that schools weight honors and AP classes. At my school, honors classes are not weighted, but AP classes are given a 10% multiplier (an A is not a 4.0 but a 4.4). Thus, GPA's are different from every school.

So, the colleges only really look at the academic transcript and letter grades (since GPAs are not standardized). You don't have to worry about the GPA, Chinky.

The main purpose of the GPA (and of the weighting) is to better determine class rank.

By Ridzilla (Ridzilla) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 12:43 am: Edit

I'd go with an almost definite yes for Stanford. Excellent academics, and well-balanced and unique ECs. Good job.

By Quakerboy2 (Quakerboy2) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 01:29 am: Edit

Your stats look like you could get into both. On a related note, you could probably apply to Harvard's special engineering department. It's called MIT. It's better than Harvard. No bias here either.

Stanford is beautiful, the people are great, and the academics are great in anything, but keep in mind that it's not in a city. It's like 40 mins by car away from San Francisco, and even then, Boston is a far better college town. I think the ratio is something like 1 out of every 4 people is a college student.

If you're just looking at these schools as a bar to measure yourself by, I think you've got a good shot at both. Nothing's guarenteed, but if you make yourself out to be a good person to the admissions departement, you'll almost surely be in. One of Harvard's "very important" considerations is personal qualities, and that doesn't come through in the common app, so write some awesome essays and get some good recs, and you'll be getting a fat envelope soon enough.

In a related story...um...Harvard sucks.

By Sarbear (Sarbear) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 12:54 am: Edit

Damnit!! I'm getting screwed...

A : 97-100 (4.00)
A-: 94-97 (3.67)
B+: 91-94 (3.33)
B : 88-31 (3.00)
B-: 85-88 (2.67)
C+: 82-85 (2.33)
C : 79-82 (2.00)
C-: 76-79 (1.67)
D+: 73-76 (1.33)
D : 70-73 (1.00)
D-: 67-70 (0.67)
E : 00-67 (0.00)

(yeah, we have E's instead of F's...weird)

And for weighted GPA, an AP/IB class is +.025 (only!!), and honors classes aren't worth any XC!!

By Uncchlocalmayor (Uncchlocalmayor) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 09:57 am: Edit

wow.

By Hsimpson2k4 (Hsimpson2k4) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 10:09 am: Edit

We have E's too

A:100-89.5 (4)
B:79.5-89.49 (3)
etc

An honors or AP class is a point boost as in 4 to 5 not 94-95

Once you've got the 91, you just stop caring...good stuff ;)

By Intergamer (Intergamer) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 12:10 pm: Edit

guys: we don't have boosts for honors either - but it doesn't matter: colleges only look at ur transcript - the only purpose of GPA is to make class rank determinations fairer. Colleges don't compare apples and oranges. Well, they do, but no in this case.

By Dxiw (Dxiw) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 07:18 pm: Edit

mine is
91-100 4.00
81-90 3.00
70-80 2.00
0-69 0.00
add a point fo rweighted
so 91-100 5.00
81-90 4.00
70-80 3.00
0-69 0.00

weighted only applies to honors and AP's..

By The_Wanderer (The_Wanderer) on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 11:22 pm: Edit

whoa bud scary record, nicceeee...
Havard's fine, the only place I like is the Harvard Square, lots of chess players lol.
Not much of a suggestion there tho,
follow wherever your heart tells you, depends on where you live, where you plan on doing, what plans you have in front of you, and many other factors, others may give you suggestions but you'll do good with both.

By Dschnapps (Dschnapps) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 12:09 am: Edit

yeah, jim, you're crazy

i just reread your stats and i'm surprised you haven't won a Nobel Prize or something.

Captain of TWO teams and varsity on a third, varying math awards and departmental honors, impeccable GPA/tests, and shows that he has time for fun with video games...do you eat or sleep?

I know you may be the generic white suburb private school but if you don't get in, everyone else here has got to feel crappy about their chances.

By Dschnapps (Dschnapps) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 12:10 am: Edit

Oh yeah, forgot Mock Trial, which is huge


do you have any musical talents?

By Dschnapps (Dschnapps) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 12:10 am: Edit

or any artistic talents for that matter

By Jimjunior (Jimjunior) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 02:24 pm: Edit

no musical talent here, which is funny because my brothers are in bands. I am pretty good at art, but not good enough to send in a portfolio or anything