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My name is Varenka Rdz, I was born in Mexico and currently living in Mexico still but I have lived in about 4 places in Mexico and also in Canada so my English is pretty good ,

I have a gpa of 4.0 , in class rank I’m 1st out of 20 students,
I speak Spanish as my first language English as my second , and I speak French fluently.

I’m moving to Toledo, OH for my junior and senior year.

some of my extra curricular activities I’ve been working on are:

Freshman year

*Debate team captain English/Spanish
*student council Vice-President
*Oratory English/Spanish
*Poetry recitals English/Spanish
*School Play acting
*Class President
*Honor Roll 2nd
*social participation such as: ECYD(guide), Angle for a day ,Club Quinto guide, Un Kilo De Ayuda, Banco de Alimentos.
*President of ANCLA( association of abstinence to smoking drinking and drugs) and conferences at my community
* courses and volunteer work at: homeless shelters, orphanages, helping kids with hearing disabilities.
*soccer , basket ball player at school for 7 years now
* tennis player for 10 years and regional winner for 2 years.
*Private Math, Ecology, History and Chemistry Tutor.
*group of the international show case (investigation of cultures and languages)
9th grade summer: its not relevant but I helped around at a place where they breed dogs.

(Sophomore)
*shadow on summer and help around
*student council President
*I’m debate team cap (English/Spanish)
* Some more volunteer work at Teleton Kids Heath center.
*Work on my French and maybe get started on German )
* Red cross volunteering (after school and on weekends)
* Basketball (CECVAC Tournaments)
* Premios bachillerato Anahuac National Finalists ( Debate in English and oratory in English, )
*Premios Bachillerato Anahuac National Finalist (Debate in Spanish)
* Science National award (Premios bachillerato anahuac Mexico City DF.)
*Helping at an organization called Lazos (promoting and helping to find ways to raise money for the unprivileged kids at rural schools)
*Honor Roll 1st
*Private Tutor (Math ,Chemistry, World History, Social Science, Biology)
*Class President
*Continue preaching at rural places ,and still be ECYD Guide
* Club flame( soccer player – soccer coach)
* Continue soccer –tennis ( aiming for state tittle) Basketball ( school team – going to a few tournaments)
* I’m starting to make plans to fund a Earth club at school.
*volunteering :Un Kilo de Ayuda, Caritas, and at a retirement home, Banco de alimentos.

I know these ain’t impressive but I’m really working hard to find something else to add to the list
I know I also need real good SAT scores , which I will try my hardest to obtain.

I want to major in Chemical Engineering or Management

My final list: total of 15 Univ.:

Chemical Engineering
1. Brown Univ.
2. Yale Univ.
3. Cornell Univ.
4. NYU
5. Tufts Univ.
6. Johns Hopkins University
7. Northwestern Univ.
8. Columbia
9. Harvard
10. MIT
Management/Buisness
11.Georgetown
12.Umichigan Ann Arbor
13.U Penn
14.U North Carolina Chappel Hill

15. Its either one of these: Bucknell, Lehigh, Dartmouth, Amherst, Emory or Carnegie Mellon

oh um the high school I’m attending right now is a roman catholic private high school , and I’m NOT going to ask for financial aid I think that makes things easier.

aim over 1450 in my sat I and on the SAT II BIOLOGY CHEM and math , I will try aiming over 700
I really like playing tennis but would like to play college soccer .

My school offers no AP classes but in the senior year it divides onto fields of study , there are 4 fields, Bio Chemistry, Law, Math-Physics ,Buisness.

By Varr (Varr) on Sunday, December 07, 2003 - 10:34 am: Edit

bump please
And dont worry I will narrow down my list to 10 or 9

By Fallentear04 (Fallentear04) on Sunday, December 07, 2003 - 10:55 am: Edit

You'd still need a good safety. I wouldn't necessarily call anything on your list a safety. Then again, I guess a good part of it depends on your scores.

By Varr (Varr) on Monday, December 08, 2003 - 04:06 pm: Edit

Thanks everyone!!!
Yes i need a good safety, how about BU? any good?
Theres really no typo, we really are only 20 in the classroom.
How ever do you guys think I should take the SAT before it changes?? or shouldn’t I wait?
also,
Okay lets say right now here in Mexico you know that my class is composed of only 20 girls, but lets get to the real picture, at the new HS (Notre Dame Academy) ill be attending in Toledo,OH the average class is over 400 or so(I’m not shure yet) So by the time I apply they wont see how small my class used to be here in Mexico. right??
and they offer AP classes so I don’t see the point of remarking how my HS here in Mexico doesn’t offer them nor remarks about my class size being so small!! right?

By Varr (Varr) on Monday, December 08, 2003 - 04:12 pm: Edit

Now a little about my school
Its small yes, but because its highly selective, only the girls with the higher gpa of their secondary school get in, so yes my class is small we are only 20! but it's one of the most competitive in the North of Mexico, we have 17 to 18 classes per semester, unlike you guys that only have like 7 and sometimes 5.
Even If id took that AP test I know I could get a 5 on it! since that’s pretty much what we see in class.

By Varr (Varr) on Tuesday, December 09, 2003 - 08:04 pm: Edit

bump

By Thegoldstandard (Thegoldstandard) on Tuesday, December 09, 2003 - 08:20 pm: Edit

Ahh, apply for financial aid, almost all of the schools on your list are need-blind, and no one can pull $35,000-$40,000 per year up front!

I promise, that will be a BIG MISTAKE because the school will offer you NOTHING in terms of money, and you will be forced to pay FULL tuition [as opposed to many Ivies which give grants] through bank loans, remortgaging, etc, and you'll always have to pay that back with tons of interest.

Just some advice...

By Sidis (Sidis) on Tuesday, December 09, 2003 - 09:24 pm: Edit

I think you should take the SATs soon, I suppose you're not a senior yet, are you? ... Otherwise, look for matches rather than only reaches (gosh... you must have a lot of money in order to apply to 10+ colleges!)

Good luck

By Varr (Varr) on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 09:46 am: Edit

"no one can pull $35,000-$40,000 per year up front"
Thank god my dad can! money really is no problem at all.

Im a sophomore, could you guys suggest some matches and safeties please!!!

thanks you guys for reading my post I really appreciate it

By Jamimom (Jamimom) on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 10:47 am: Edit

When you move to Toledo, the grades and courses you take at the school there will have the heaviest weight on which schools you are a good candidate. My kids moved many times and though we always had to send the transcripts and records from all of their schools, the emphasis was on their last school. Also everyone will have to take the new SAT, and how you do on it relative to everyone else is what will count.
You have an exciting challenge ahead of you. Going from a school of 20 students in Mexico to a school in Ohio is going to be quite a transition. Getting caught up with the climate of the school, getting involved in the school and new community while getting the best grades you can should be your focus. You can then start looking at what schools would be on your match list. Too many unknowns right now. Once you actually get some results on the AP and college board tests, you will have a starting point. Do you know which highschool you will be attending and whether they have and will let you into their AP courses? These issues can be quite thorny. You may want to be looking at highschool, possibly private ones along with the public schools to make sure you get what you want. That is where you should be focusing your attentions because the private schools are going through their admissions processes now. A lot of kids I know who move do not get well placed in their new school and it takes precious time and trouble to get it straightened out. We were so fortunate in this last move to find a school where my son could take a lot of AP courses without gatekeeping tactics that would have been such a headache.
When are you moving? You still have a ways before having to worry about specific colleges but with the schools on your list, you are going to find a lot of things to deal with about highschool. And as for safety/match/reach schools, Ohio has a wonderful bunch of schools ranging from the state universities to some terrific LACs. You will become acquainted with those names when you get to your new school. We lived in Ohio for several year, loved it and know manykids at U of Toledo (good friend's daughter going next yearA!), Ohio State, Ohio University, U of Cinci, Bowling Green, Miami of Ohio, Kent State, U of Akron, Cleveland State, Youngstown State as well as Case Western, Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster, Antioch, Denison, Kenyon, Wittenberg, Ashland,Otterbein,Lake Erie,Oberlin, John Carroll, Xavier. It is great that you are already so well acquainted with the top schools and you know what you have to do to be considered a candidate for one of them.

By Varr (Varr) on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 01:36 pm: Edit

Thanks Jamimom!!
Actually the plan was to move in January, but I told my parents I didn’t want to transfer during my sophomore year, since I have bunch of awards and honors that are totally mine, but I wont get them If I move,
so my dad will go ahead with out us, and we will move during the summer, that way I can start my junior year over there at Norte Dame Academy or Maumee Valley (where yes both High schools offer AP courses)

By Varr (Varr) on Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 10:03 pm: Edit

Hey what do you guys think about summer programs?(I’m thinking doing one at Yale, summer 2005)
do you guys think that if you do apply EA to that school, It could give you some more points during the admissions process.
(of course considering you are a good candidate with the right things, and that you obviously did well enough on the summer program)

By Watchout (Watchout) on Friday, December 12, 2003 - 05:03 pm: Edit

yes i think they will give you kudos for attending a summer program. and out of curiousity what does your dad do as his job? hah

By Harvardmaster (Harvardmaster) on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 01:46 am: Edit

OMG...Varenka Rdz is identical to me with the same major and everything, except Im Peruvian. Throughout my entire life I grew up around a whole misconception that Hispanics were in fact ignorant and treated as such. Thats why i dedicated my entire life since I came to this country at 6 competing with other kids (i.e chinese and white) in academics and everything else. I even completed Calculus AB sophmore year and Multi-variable calculus my junior year. Im glad there are more people out there like me. LATINO PRIDE BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Varr (Varr) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 10:53 am: Edit

watchout: my Dad is Paint Plant Manager and active Plant Manager at Daimler Chrysler, here in Saltillo, Coah they make the Pick up Trucks.

HARVARDMASTER:!!!!!!!! YOU ROCK!!!!!!! and thanks!!!!!I totally understand you!!!!!
hey congrats!!!!!! I heard you got into Harvard!!!!!!!!! awesome job!!!!!!!!!!!!! hey do you think I should try it? or should I just got EA for Yale??

By Pwiddles (Pwiddles) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 11:10 am: Edit

I was wondering if anybody could give me an hovest opinion of my chances to any of these schools: Fordham, Ithaca, UNH, and UCONN

Stats:
high school average 88
SAT: 1100 (Hoping to get a 1200 this Saturday)

Academics and Awards:Highest Average in English 9R
National Honor Society

Sports:
JV Basketball(2yrs)
Varsity Track (2yrs)

-Activities &Clubs
-International (3yrs) (secratary for 1 yr)
-Yearbook (2yrs)
-Yearbook for religious organization (4yrs) (editor 2 yrs)
-Literary Magazine (1yr)
-Congressional Student Leadreship Conference on Medicine and Healthcare
-Volunteer tutor(4yrs)
-Volunteer mentor(1yr)

AP Score of 4 on U.S History
AP Score of 2 on English Comp.
Speak Greek, Spanish, and English
(Regents credit for Greek Language)

If you have any advice, please give it to me.

By Varr (Varr) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 11:43 am: Edit

1st how dare you come here and just invade my own thread!!!!!!!!!!!!
oh im jk!!
your ec's, and Ap SCORE OF 2??are weak dont you think??? however the schools you are applying to are perfect matches for you.

now that you are here you wouldnt mind telling me what you think about my chances wont you???

By Varr (Varr) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 11:49 am: Edit

http://pr.damnsw.net never mind

By Pwiddles (Pwiddles) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 12:58 pm: Edit

do you think my score of 2 will hurt my chances? Which school do you think would be the hardest to get into of them all? I am just really worried I will get rejected from them all!

By Harvardmaster (Harvardmaster) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 01:33 pm: Edit

lol dont be worried. As long as your able to present your latin enthnicity well, there is no reason for you to get rejected. About the AP scores, hear this: I got two 4's w/o studying AT ALL my sophmore year for Calculus AB and Spanish Language (btw i didn't take the actaul class for spanish I just got accidentally put into taking the AP exam), and my junior year with intense studying I got two 2's for AP Calc BC and AP Bio and a 1 for european history! I hate AP central for being stupid and retarded. I think their racist bastards cuz I was sooo confident I got at LEAST a 4 for BC after raping the tests for BC throughout the whole year. Well thats life i guess. So jus chill, by the year 2010 experts approximate that about %25 of the US population is going to be latino so NOW WHUT gringos. We're going to take over the US!

By Varr (Varr) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 01:59 pm: Edit

yeah dont worry you will be just fine!!!!!!

Harvardmaster
"So jus chill, by the year 2010 experts approximate that about %25 of the US population is going to be latino so NOW WHUT gringos. We're going to take over the US!"
Hell yeahhhhh!!!!!!! LATINO PRIDE ALL THE WAY BABY!!!!!

By Emilyp114 (Emilyp114) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 02:07 pm: Edit

For Pwiddles:

Yes the score of 2 is definitely not going to help you. It's doubtful you could get into Ithaca with your stats but Fordham is pretty easy to get into so you could probably do ok there.

By Varr (Varr) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 02:09 pm: Edit

im sorry to bother everyone but dont forget about my stats please !!!

By Harvardmaster (Harvardmaster) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 02:44 pm: Edit

Alrite Varr....you need a solid SAT score which is not hard as long as you memorize a thousand words for the SAT. The math part is pretty self-intuitive. The verbal part is the only part that is not. With a solid SAT score, you IVY league material.

By Harvardmaster (Harvardmaster) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 02:49 pm: Edit

hold on only 20 students?
I go to a hard and competitive private school. I first went to The Athenian School which you can look up on the internet. It's a small and hard school to get into, but then I went to Bentley school (another private school), but it was never 20 students. There were 60 students in my class. And I thought 60 was a small # os students in a class. Whuts up with these small number of students

By Varr (Varr) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 03:43 pm: Edit

small yes, but because its highly selective, only the girls with the higher gpa of their secondary school get in, so yes my class is small we are only 20! but it's one of the most competitive in the North of Mexico, we have 17 to 18 classes per semester, unlike you guys that only have like 7 and sometimes 5.
Okay lets say right now here in Mexico you know that my class is composed of only 20 girls, but lets get to the real picture, at the new HS (Notre Dame Academy) ill be attending in Toledo,OH the average class is over 400 or so(I’m not shure yet) So by the time I apply they wont see how small my class used to be here in Mexico. right??
and they offer AP classes so I don’t see the point of remarking how my HS here in Mexico doesn’t offer them nor remarks about my class size being so small!! right?

By Harvardmaster (Harvardmaster) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 05:14 pm: Edit

lol yea i guess..."we have 17 to 18 classes per semester, unlike you guys that only have like 7 and sometimes 5." The reason we have more classes doesnt mean their any easier. Someone taking 5 to 6 APs such as one of my friends, spends on average 5 hours oh hw a nite ( or even more but all you can give is about 5 hours). So even 5 classes is a lot since you get about an hour of hw or more per class. I dont know how that will work with 17 classes. I dont even think theres that many hours in the day that your awake

By Harvardmaster (Harvardmaster) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 05:15 pm: Edit

lol i meant less classes above...not more

By Yep (Yep) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 06:25 pm: Edit

master where do you live now? are you attending harvard next year?

By Varr (Varr) on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 06:59 pm: Edit

Well i have 17 classes but 8 or 9 per day

hmm I wonder who changed my post's name!!???
its used to be ANY CHANCE??? and now its Any Chance for Mexican Student?

By Spacechic20 (Spacechic20) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 01:20 am: Edit

Find a safety school. applying to every single ivy league school is a bad idea. waste of time and money- focus on whats good for you. not prestige, thats superficial.

By Pwiddles (Pwiddles) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 08:04 am: Edit

This is pwiddles again. Sorry for interrupting. I think everybody misunderstood me. I am not spanish. I speak it though. Anyways, what other schools do you recommend if you don't think I could get into Ithaca? I really would appreciate your advice. Do you think UCONN is going to be easy for me to get into?

By Pwiddles (Pwiddles) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 08:13 am: Edit

This is me again. There are 4 people form my grade applying to Fordham and they all have higher gpa's and sat score's .I probably do the most volunteer work, but I just had one question. Do you think that I shoud even bother applying. I know I am not too far behind them on the academic scale, but I doubt that we eill all get in. Please help!

By Varr (Varr) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 10:32 am: Edit

you should never ever give up! dont sell your self short, im certain you do have a chance at Fordfam , just like any other
You could allways have better essays!!;)

By Pwiddles (Pwiddles) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 10:37 am: Edit

so what about the UCONN thing. Would I have a pretty good shot there, do you think? People say I'll definitely get into UNH? wHAT DO YOU THINK about that?
Thank you for writing me back.

By Varr (Varr) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 12:37 pm: Edit

I’m not shure which Univ. you meant by UNH , either University of New Haven, University of New Hampshire OR University of New Hampshire at Manchester.

Here are the acceptance rates:

University of New Hampshire 77%
Average SAT Verbal: 500-590 Math: 510-610

University of New Haven 71%
Average SAT Verbal: 440-550 Math: 430-560

University of New Hampshire at Manchester (didn’t say)
Average SAT Verbal: 460-550 Math: 440-550

University of Connecticut 62%
Average SAT Verbal: 520-610 Math: 530-630

(Info resource:www.collegeboard.com)

The key is this, get over 1200 on your SAT!, if not then it doesn’t matter since, you can easily see that its around 1100 and 1300 the average SAT combined for those schools, and their admissions acceptance rate is high so I’m shure you could get into any of those(just raise your sat score!!)
Just wondering which books did you use to study to get such score?

By Pwiddles (Pwiddles) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 01:32 pm: Edit

is GW out of the question for me?

By Varr (Varr) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 01:45 pm: Edit

hm you do the math hehe im tired sorry hehe I just got no time brb

By Varr (Varr) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 09:59 pm: Edit

uh no i think GW is a fine match

By Pwiddles (Pwiddles) on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 08:08 am: Edit

I have no idea wether you are being serious or sarcastic. That's o.k though. I am hoping that I will be o.k for UCONN. Hopefully me sat's this saturday will go well.

By Owugenius (Owugenius) on Saturday, December 27, 2003 - 02:09 pm: Edit

For the internationals interested in aid in a private and good LAC - check out Ohio Wesleyan University. It is one of the few LACs that gives tons of money to internationals. The school is in the top tier of LACs according to the U.S. News and World Report for 2004. Getting a scholarship there requires high SATs and grades, though. It is in the top tier, but it is also majorly trying to improve its reputation by recruiting tons of internationals, so you may want to consider it.

By Collegehelp1234 (Collegehelp1234) on Thursday, January 01, 2004 - 09:00 pm: Edit

SURE not SHURE.

thanks