I can't believe I'm doing this...but what are my chances...?





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College Discussion Forums: What Are My Chances?: December 2003 Archive: I can't believe I'm doing this...but what are my chances...?
By Acelement (Acelement) on Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 09:40 pm: Edit

OK I'm doing this because I'm getting down on myself that Harvard WL me. Honestly not so bad because it's not my #1 school, I didn't really promote myself to them, and they're also the hardest university in the country. I took the SATI's x2 and I screwed up the second time somehow omitting 13 critical reading...and I got a damn V570 so if I hadn't missed them and I got them all right I'd have a V670 so I'm taking them a 3rd time to end this thing once and for all and hopefully pull off a V650 or better (I've been scoring 670-700 practice, so I'm assuming my review has paid off provided I don't do something stupid like miss 13). So with that in mind, let's take a look at my current stats shall we? I'd like to get a good idea...

Rank: 12/ 280
Percentile: 97.5% (dont ask, it doesnt work out mathematically haha)
GPA = 3.7 (I think, our school is weighted)
SAT V: 600
SAT M: 710
Math1C: 730
Chem: 740
Writing: 670

Honors: A "book award" (RIT Computing Medal), Eagle Scout, like 10 school awards, 2 regional science fair awards, boys state and national youth ldrshp conference nominee (couldnt attend cuz of $$), NHS, Jr NHS, High Honor Roll 3/4 yrs, Honor Roll 1/4 yrs

Extracirriculars: lacrosse, indoor track, captain model un (2 yrs), student council rep, asst scoutmaster for troop, director of promotions/pr on our school radio station (captain-like position), spanish club

Other interests/talents/passions: snowboarding (6 yrs), guitar (4 yrs, i'd say i'm pretty good), computing...i've been making websites since 1996, so since I was 11. I know HTML, a lil C++, PL/SQL, a lil JavaScript, Java, CSS, Flash...coding is a good time!

Volunteering: 200+ hrs (mostly from scouting, 90 of which from eagle project), and I tutor once a week in Spanish

Jobs: software engineer intern (last summer), entrepreneur as a pc tutorer (jr summer), sales associate (jr summer)

Other notes: first in my family to attend college

Intended major: Engineering (undecided, anything from computer to aerospace to mechanical to biomedical to materials, its all so interesting!)

SCHOOLS (in order of favorite):
1)Cornell
UPenn
3)Brown
4)Harvard
5)MIT
6)Penn State
7)Boston University
8)Tufts
9)Northeastern

Ok, so assuming I don't suck and miss some, I'm hoping for between 650-700 on the verbal this time, and who knows math may go up yet again! Half a year of calculus under my belt and relying less on my calculator than ever will probably help! So, waht are my chances?
Here are my predictions:

accepts: northeastern, penn state, boston
rejects: mit, harvard, upenn
unsure: cornell, brown, tufts

your thoughts greatly appreciated...haha i can't believe i did this

By Kode (Kode) on Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 09:44 pm: Edit

Don't let us judge you. And don't predict your future either.

If you were good enough to be waitlisted by Harvard then they see something in you that's worth having. Being waitlisted by one of the most competitive schools in the country says something. At the end of the day, if not Harvard, someone else. Good luck.

By Acelement (Acelement) on Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 10:35 pm: Edit

bump...getting a deferred letter sure makes me feel inadequate...plus im starting to get all stressed out that i screwed up my essays and that they werent the best...argh college admissions process, or cap, blowS!

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

oh, you're 95.7 percentile, but that's top 5% so you're good

By Acelement (Acelement) on Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 11:28 pm: Edit

no i swear my transcript says 97.5%, its not a correct mathematical relation oh well, better for me...but how about my chances?

By Acelement (Acelement) on Saturday, December 13, 2003 - 11:09 am: Edit

b to the ump

By Bobby443 (Bobby443) on Saturday, December 13, 2003 - 03:30 pm: Edit

Cornell, brown, and tufts will be reaches for you.

By Acelement (Acelement) on Saturday, December 13, 2003 - 06:04 pm: Edit

aight define reaches...as in no way in hell? what if i get my verbal up to like my target 670? ive got great recs from my teachers as well as my boss and id say ive got truly killer essays across the board...?

By Fiannalax24 (Fiannalax24) on Saturday, December 13, 2003 - 07:48 pm: Edit

Your Eagle Scout will definitly bump you in if your on the bubble for everything else.

By Acelement (Acelement) on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 02:13 am: Edit

am i on the bubble? you saw the stats whats your guess?

By Acelement (Acelement) on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 01:51 pm: Edit

someone want to elaborate on that?

By Xibanez (Xibanez) on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 02:06 pm: Edit

since you got wl by harvard, i think you might have a slim chance (30%) at cornell brown northwestern harvard and tufts, and a 60%at Penn State and Boston University... and maybe no chance at MIT...
still wondering how! you got waitlisted...

By Acelement (Acelement) on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 04:14 pm: Edit

whoops i meant deferred my b...30% isnt taht good considering thats like cornell's rate of acceptance anyway? and besides its x3 easier to get into cornell than harvard because same # apply and x3 are accepted...i dunno what should my target score be next weekend when I take the SAT again? I'm predicting relatively the same verbal score i get when i practice (v670-700) and maybe a little bit better math...so somewhere between 1380-1420...will that put me in good shape?

By Bobby443 (Bobby443) on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 07:00 pm: Edit

think about 1450 if you want cornell, brown, or tufts, otherwise you will just be setting yourself up for dissapointment

By Acelement (Acelement) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 09:00 pm: Edit

oh i forgot to mention i got a 4 ap history last year and a 4 ap bio sophomore year...and im in all (6) ap's this year...that was kinda important to include...

and an interesting note...
kid in my class, lower rank, 60 more points SAT, lesser rigor than me, weaker extracirriculars, 1 ap score under his belt applying to the same college of engineering at cornell w/ nearly the same major intended and got in...and we both ahve the same tenacity for computing and have both held full jobs in the industry...just a penny for your thoughts...


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