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Hi! I think I've posted some stats before, but I updated some of them. I'll be glad if you could give me some feedbacks.

At first, my 1st choice was Harvard, but those days I really want to go to Yale, since I heard its main orchestra is nationally-known. But I know in fact that getting in this orchestra is extremely tough.. but I will try.


born in: Japan
nationality: Taiwanese
currently in: California (for 2.5 yrs)


SATI V: 540
SATI M: 730
SATII Japanese: 780 (don't know why didn't get 800)
SATIIC Math: 780
SATII Writing: 630

TOEFL: 273/300

I know my test scores aren't that great.. and I'm not sure if Yale accepts my SATII Japanese since I know Harvard doesn't. (I have a bad physics SATII, in case they don't.)


awards:

1st place in a regional violin competition, will go to state (12)
2nd place in SF orchestra festival (11)
2nd place in school choir festival (9)
2nd place in school exhibition festival (9)
Unanimous Superiority in a regional orchestra festival (11)
Red White Blue Award in Lit (given to the best in each subject ,10)
state math examination award (geometry, 10)

not much awards, hum..


honors:

all-state orchestra (viola, 12)
Certificate of Merit, violin (11)
semi-finalist in a publication competition (would have published my book if I payed some money, and the company said they would pay some, too. :-/ but now I realized that I didn't mention this fact in app. maybe I should email them telling that.. 11)
my school orch is certified as a follower or something by state university music dept (not UC), only several ensembles in California have that.


activities:

violin from 3
piano from 4 to 15
*community* college classes (best one in Cal, grades A & B, 10-12)
Youth Orchestra, top one, 1st violin (12)
school orchestras (section leader; 9, 11, 12)
school choir (10)
pit orchestra (12)
volunteer at a city libraty, more than 100 hours (10-12)
club which provides music to community (12)
some other clubs that I don't really participate in currently.
class president in HS in Jpn (9, in terms of US system)


academics (including only 10-12 grades here):

ESL classes: A
lit/writing: B A
world literature: A
British literature: A
non-academic electives: A
PE: B A
AP music theory: C B (5 on all categories)
choir: A
orchestra: A
chemistry honors: A
AP Biology: B
geometry: A
algebra/trig: A
econ: B (might correct to A)
world history: A
US history: A
AP Calc BC: C B (3 on BC, 4 on AB)
college calculus: A B
trigonometry: A
precalculus: B A
college statistics: A


My school was on 100 best hs, though I don't know how that will affect my chance. whether good or bad..

My factor of getting in is.. I mean, I'm hoping is.. my math paper, which I have no idea if they've even looked at or not. I sent it to math dept.. My math professor who instructed me when writing the paper has sent students (or at least, they got accepted) to Cal Tech, Harvard, and other good colleges. I don't exactly remember which they are. But the fact is that it totally depends on the quality of my paper. I really rushed when writing it, but he said it's good.. so I hope it works somewhat. In addition, I sent my composition (might be crappy for them) and recording.

By Candi1657 (Candi1657) on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 03:53 pm: Edit

Most of your profile is very strong, but that verbal score and writing SAT II will hurt you a lot for top schools.

By Polly (Polly) on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 03:56 pm: Edit

I applied other colleges also, but I heard that other private colleges are not need-blind, so even if I got in, I will probably not go there.

applied to:

Harvard
Yale
Cornell
Columbia
U Penn
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
UCSB
UCR
UCSC
UCI
forgot another one (all UCs)

By Candi1657 (Candi1657) on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 03:57 pm: Edit

And you should have another strong SAT II under your belt, competitive colleges will want to see a bunch of other strong scores besides a test in your native tongue.

By Polly (Polly) on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 03:59 pm: Edit

Thanks so much! I've never thought that my stats are that strong.. Yes, I acknowledge that my SATs on English are very low, but I hope TOEFL will cover that. I heard 273 is the minimum score of getting in Stanford..

btw, Candi, I was very impressed to read your posts on other threads.

By Candi1657 (Candi1657) on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 04:08 pm: Edit

Thanks! I'm sure no matter where you'll go, you will do well.

By Changrobert (Changrobert) on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 04:19 pm: Edit

polly:

I am also Taiwanese...let me get this straight...it is extremely hard to get into top school like Harvard, Yale...Ivy League and even the top UC's..

I basically have the same stats as yours just higher. SAT I: 1350 (m:750 V:600) Writing:640, math IIC: 780 and Chinese:800..

i know it's late to retake the test (if you are a senior right now)...UC put a lot of emphasis on SATII which makes your total pt a 9650..assume that your GPA is 4.0....that's about a match to UCSD and a very good chance to UCLA...UCB you never know....

Again, Ivy League's school are often unpredictable...but i mean...you have pretty good stuff there...the only thing is that looks like your own emphasis is only on music...which is all the sterotypical asians do. Unless you are top in the nation...they won't let you in because of your skill...

I suggest you put more diverse EC's not just music to show you are a well-rounded person....another than that...for an international student...you have much better stats than the banal international student (NO offense to the others)...

Generally, if you can keep focusing your talant in music and meanwhile put more emphasis on the other stuff...i think you will get into at least half of the school you are currently applying to.

again...Those admissions process you never know...so don't give up...

By Polly (Polly) on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 01:27 am: Edit

Thank you, Changrobert.

Yes, I have been worrying about the fact that I don't really have much awards on science or math. That's maybe because I didn't know much competitions at that time. Therefore, I sought my math teacher and started writing a math paper on Newton's method (math) last summer.

I will rely on the vague side of admission processes.

* I've just recalled that I was in a robotic team which has won many awards, but those days I've been too busy to attend the meetings because of another club. But I wrote about this robotic club on app.. :-/

By Polly (Polly) on Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - 02:14 am: Edit

p.s. I really appreciated your comments.. :]

By Y17k (Y17k) on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 07:25 am: Edit

my reactions...
*looks at your SAT score*
*hopes you have some amazing ECs/Awards*
*realises that you ECs/Awards are good, but not exceptional*
*also realises that many kids with 1500+ SAT and your ECs/awards get rejected at Harvard/Yale*
*hopes you've forgotten to put some important ECs down, such as curing cancer*

By Financeladisbak (Financeladisbak) on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 02:01 pm: Edit

yeah must improve ure verbal if you wanna go to YALE or HARVARD

By Isunique17 (Isunique17) on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 06:19 pm: Edit

i am also Taiwanese...so yeah i think you have a shot at the lower ivys probably cornell, brown, and possibly upenn...i got into Rice University early action with similar stats (very strong recommendation letters, and an excellent admission interview)...also did research for harvard-smithsonian center for astrophysics...test scores aren't as important as you think...one of my friends from turkey got accepted to Yale ED with low test scores. who cares about sats? ivies want to know who you are and how you will be able to contribute to their communities. what school do you go to in SF? i go to Athenian in danville (east bay).

By Isunique17 (Isunique17) on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 06:21 pm: Edit

from what i have heard, Rice is just as hard to get into as many of the ivy league schools. so keep it up! I think you will get in.

By Polly (Polly) on Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - 05:55 am: Edit

Thanks everyone..

well.. like my father had surgery several years ago and I wrote about that experience a little on the essay.. and I said my mother is learning chinese medicines, so I related this to his illness..

and I think my longest essay was somewhat good.. I wrote about how I overcame a difficult situation in the youth orchestra (it was really hard for me at that time).

oh actually I don't live in SF.. but it's a big city about 1hr from SF. it's just a public school, with majority of azn..

By Foreignboy (Foreignboy) on Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - 06:09 am: Edit

Turkish = easier to get in.
Japanese/Taiwanese = hard.

IMO, Harvard and Yale will not be willing to overlook the 540. Furthermore, your ECs and stats are typical of many Asian candidates. I don't think the math paper will really help either.
But I guess there's always hope, especially if your essays are good. Just keep your fingers crossed and wait for April 1.

By Emperoriv (Emperoriv) on Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - 09:55 pm: Edit

First of all, Taiwanness is NOT a nationality!!!!
Since when was Taiwan a seperate country??

Now, get to ur scores:
Ur verbal, writing and Toefl scores arent high at all. Now, if one of them were high, then u might have shown u do know enough English. I think 273 on TOEFL is barely passing their REQUIREMENT, not even close to competitive...

The fact that ur Asian wont help either. The fact that you dont have outstanding awards wont help. I notice you have done alot of music stuff, but you gotta shown them you have REALLY distinguished yourself or else top schools wont take a person with lower scores.

As for UC schools, you probably have a much much better chance since ur in state and have a good transcript. Good luck tho!

peace

By Polly (Polly) on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 07:27 pm: Edit

Well, I don't speak either Mandarin (Chinese) or Taiwanese, and I don't really comprehend the relationship between mainland Chaina and Taiwan. But according to my parents, if I write "Chinese" on the form when taking an airplane, it'll be hard to get into a country. So I always write "Taiwanese" for my nationality.. Anyway, this is just a respond to the previous post. :-/ yes, I read the thread which somewhat talks about the difference between these..

And about the TOEFL, it's not really a "requirement" but the minimum score they've ever had from those who got accepted to Stanford. So it might mean this score is somewhat "competitive", although that cannot be guaranteed.

By Changrobert (Changrobert) on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 02:37 am: Edit

to emperoriv:

i am sorry...but Taiwan is indeed a country...it's a ironclad truth....hope this does not offend anyone...in fact, the presidential election is 3/20/2004...if it's not a country...how the hell can we have a presidential election...

By Y17k (Y17k) on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 05:34 am: Edit

taiwan is a country ok?

cant believe how many chauvinistic chinese there are

By Sally (Sally) on Friday, March 05, 2004 - 01:58 am: Edit

again, u have SGA president or class president or student body president election, but it doesnt mean that ur school is a country.

CHINESE PRIDE ALL THE WAY

By Isunique17 (Isunique17) on Friday, March 05, 2004 - 03:06 pm: Edit

Emperoriv (Emperoriv) -

I can't stand your ignorance. Since 1949, Taiwanese has never been a province of China. I am proud to be Taiwanese, not Chinese.

TAIWAN IS AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY. I HAVE NO CHINESE PRIDE AT ALL, CUZ WE ARE JUST DIFFERENT.

*Shame on the communist China. Support 320 Referendum, support true democracy.

By Sally (Sally) on Friday, March 05, 2004 - 07:00 pm: Edit

Isunique17, dude...SHAME ON YOU....u seriously need to read my post on the other thread. Put down the Haterade RIGHT NOW.

Peace.

By Sally (Sally) on Friday, March 05, 2004 - 07:05 pm: Edit

*sighs* i see the taiwan government's brainwashing method is working....

By Internationalcc (Internationalcc) on Friday, March 05, 2004 - 08:22 pm: Edit

CIA Factbook about Taiwan and ROC:

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tw.html

By Belle28 (Belle28) on Friday, March 05, 2004 - 09:03 pm: Edit

Isunique17: "TAIWAN IS AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY. I HAVE NO CHINESE PRIDE AT ALL, CUZ WE ARE JUST DIFFERENT."

really? we're "DIFFERENT?" and i was under the impression we were both human, asian, and even speak the same language (mandarin)! oh well, i guess all i can say is shame on this communist chinese business major. ;-)

By Emperoriv (Emperoriv) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 01:01 am: Edit

even the US doesnt reconize Taiwan as a country... u damn seperatists...

and u know why Taiwan never wants to be independant? Cuz China has enough nukes to sink it to the bottom of the sea! well, not THAT many, but u get the idea...

I cannt believe u said we are different. Just because we have different systems of government, does not mean we are different people. I guess u can about ur little fake demoncracy more than ur heritage. Now, let's look back, before the 1990s, Taiwan never had a real election. The presidency had always been passed down the family, sounds like a monarchy to me...

Rememeber that little incident right before the last election when the wife of the previous president took two bagages of money to the US? I wonder where that money came from?

So see, if u look into it, there is no real difference. We have the same language, same traditions, same corrupted governments. Except these politicians in Taiwan don't want to lose power, so they brainwash you to believe China is evil and Taiwan is independant. I'm sure u have seen it before, i mean after all, you ARE supposed to be smart!

peace .... or else!

By Isunique17 (Isunique17) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 01:51 am: Edit

fake democracy? you red communist...shut the hell up...aiming 500 freaking missiles at us...what the hell is that about? before 1990s? at least we are a democractic country now...not like China, a freaking communist country that has a poor standard of living, especially inland. haha laugh out loud the SARS crisis (btw, apparently many people eat rats in China) showed how inefficiently the Chinese government operates...no difference? same language? stupid idiot...my mother tongue is Taiwanese, not the stupid Beijinese or whatever that is called. so i guess you are goddamn stupid to believe that COMMUNISM IS GOOD HUH? oh well i guess you like living in the BRAVE NEW WORLD sure live in it but i will never want to be part of that...you are just one of those non-identity that wants a democracy but can't. hahahha living in hell rite? haha China stinks...same corrupted government? watch your mouth...look at your government...probably one of the most awakward lookig on in the whole world. hahha too bad china sucks. We have direct presidential and congressional elections. How about you? huh?

*Support referendum, support true democracy
Vote for President Chen Shui-Bian, protect the island nation from the evil and corrupted reds.

Member of the Taiwanese Independence Union
The Spirit of Taiwan - Part of the Asian Pacific Democratic Alliance

By Isunique17 (Isunique17) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 01:57 am: Edit

differences

Taiwan (or Taiwanese) is/are...
1. 85% speak Taiwanese, not mandarin
2. more industralized
3. much more educated
4. a democracy (woo~ big difference)
5. higher average income
6. higher literacy rate, by far
7. foods are different (we don't eat rats, racoons, or some crazy little bugs.)

lol. WE ARE SO DIFFERENT. IN FACT, WE ARE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. PROUD TO BE TAIWANESE!

By Isunique17 (Isunique17) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 01:59 am: Edit

Sally-

Shame on you for living in the BRAVE NEW WORLD. haha you are one of those NON-IDENTITIES. feel sorry for you~ haha. take it easy, man.

By Sally (Sally) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 01:56 pm: Edit

Isunique17-- wow....cant believe u would say such things like that. i feel sorry about the things i'm about to say to u. dont take this personally, n please dont get mad, but, here it goes:
i'm chinese. if u r insulting china or chinese , u r insulting me. man u really need help, professional help. u r being arrogant, ignorant n violent! (see ur posts above) u r making taiwan & "taiwanese" look extremly bad....dude...u dont have to go on....really, yes, i see our differences now. "taiwanese" r so much more meaner, ignorant, hateful, narrrow-minded, n shameless. shieesh, now i'm not sure i want taiwan back now. yes, please stay far away from me.

just to help u & prevent u from making more mistake in ur future, we DON'T eat rats. we r not all commuists. we r civil, understanding, educated, and we have great, perhaps the-best-in the-world Food choices. if u dont believe me, please go to China n see it for ur self.
BTW, i'm a girl, not a man.

Emperoriv--=) thanks for defending china. it 's so nice to see someone who is on the same side.=) but i dont think war is the only solution. but as for ur input, millions millions of us, WE HAVE UR BACK.

CHINES PRIDE.

By Sally (Sally) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 02:26 pm: Edit

Isunique17---on a more personal note, thanks for ur concern, i do have my identity. n i believe that everyone is unque, n that everyone has the ability to think n form opinions/ideas by HIM/HERSELF in china.
oh, n what's the BRAVE NEW WORLD? besides that it's a book?

By Belle28 (Belle28) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 02:42 pm: Edit

Isunique17- Frickin-ah, stop with the ad-hominen attacks already!! You know, it's funny, you claim on your list that one of the main differences that "DEMOCRACY" is one of the key "DIFFERENCES!!!" Cept you won't let anyone get a word in w/o attacking them, cursing them, and telling them to "shut the hell up." Nice democracy there buddy, what's next, taking out guns and SHOOTING people when they want the right of free speech??? If that's "TAIWANESE DEMOCRACY," you can keep it on the island, none of the rest of us want it.

Let's see. . . embracing years of history and culture versus embracing mud slinging and supremacy. WoW, that's a no brainer:

CHINESE PRIDE

By Aznstyle (Aznstyle) on Sunday, March 07, 2004 - 01:53 am: Edit

lol...hold up....didnt SARS hit taiwan too?

CHINESE PRIDE

By Foreignboy (Foreignboy) on Sunday, March 07, 2004 - 02:20 am: Edit

Isunique17 is a dickhead and his attitude is giving Taiwan a bad name.

By Conker (Conker) on Sunday, March 07, 2004 - 07:55 am: Edit

SARS was far more out of control in Taiwan than in China. Dictatorships tend to be more efficient than democracies, especially corrupt democracies.

I'm glad that some people here realize that Isunique17 is just being a dickhead because most Taiwanese people actually have decent manners and have SOME understanding of politics and the world.

By Bluebaron1616 (Bluebaron1616) on Sunday, March 07, 2004 - 10:35 am: Edit

Taiwanese is the same dialect as Fujianese, or Minan hua.

So I guess you need some education there buddy...

"Taiwan (or Taiwanese) is/are...
1. 85% speak Taiwanese, not mandarin
2. more industralized
3. much more educated
4. a democracy (woo~ big difference)
5. higher average income
6. higher literacy rate, by far
7. foods are different (we don't eat rats, racoons, or some crazy little bugs.)"

I already refuted the first one. Over 50% of the people in Taiwan are either full or partly descendents of the people from mainland china after 1949 (2 million immigrated)

The rest are all nearly Fujianese people who went there either when the Ming Dynasty hid there from the Qing, or for other reasons like dislike for the manchu gov't. the dutch conquered in for a while and the Japanese conqeured it for a while.

the only pure Taiwanese are the native polynesians, who number very few.

Taiwan is more industrialized, mainly because of US aid and the Nationalistic gov't from CHINA.

"much more educated" Yes, since you guys are learning CHINESE and CHINESE characters.

"4. a democracy (woo~ big difference)" I don't know why ur saying ur democracy is only woo big difference like you are sarcastic or something. But you don't understand that most Chinese want China to be democractic eventually. Not now, though, for it not yet the time.

"5. higher average income" Parts of China earn higher than Taiwan, so? Parts of Taiwan eran more than Parts of taiwan. Your point?
"6. higher literacy rate, by far " Lol, that goes with education dude.

"7. foods are different (we don't eat rats, racoons, or some crazy little bugs.)" Very few Chinese do. For ex. if there are Cannibals in Germany, does that mean all of Germany eat humans?
Taiwanese food, while somewhat different has a lot of the same characteristics. I know you guys love stuff like stink tofu and duck tongues, I don't find that repulsive.

"500 freaking missiles at us" 496 conventional missiles, which balances things out for you guys have mroe advanced F-16s (150 of them) and Mirage2000-5 (58 of them, for two crashed in the past 3 years) which are far more potent than missiles. Besides you guys are threatening to blow up the Three Gorges Dam and the killing of 1 million people. Jeez, I don't think 500 conventional tactical missiles can offset that, since they are MAINLY aimed at the MILTIARY TARGETS!!!!! Besides, the US is already aiming several hundred nukes at us, we aren't complaining.

"lol. WE ARE SO DIFFERENT. IN FACT, WE ARE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. PROUD TO BE TAIWANESE!"

" fake democracy? you red communist...shut the hell up...aiming 500 freaking missiles at us...what the hell is that about? before 1990s? at least we are a democractic country now...not like China, a freaking communist country that has a poor standard of living, especially inland. haha laugh out loud the SARS crisis (btw, apparently many people eat rats in China) showed how inefficiently the Chinese government operates...no difference? same language? stupid idiot...my mother tongue is Taiwanese, not the stupid Beijinese or whatever that is called. so i guess you are goddamn stupid to believe that COMMUNISM IS GOOD HUH? oh well i guess you like living in the BRAVE NEW WORLD sure live in it but i will never want to be part of that...you are just one of those non-identity that wants a democracy but can't. hahahha living in hell rite? haha China stinks...same corrupted government? watch your mouth...look at your government...probably one of the most awakward lookig on in the whole world. hahha too bad china sucks. We have direct presidential and congressional elections. How about you? huh?"
Wow! And ur calling us stupid?


Okay, that is your view, I can let that go because I don't give a crap. But when u start trash-talking...I'll be here.