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Curious as to what y'all think.

Non-URM
GPA: Unweighted: 3.93
My school doesn't weight, but if it did, using a 5.0 scale for honors/AP my GPA would be a 4.27
Rank: 7/311
SAT I 1550 (770V, 780M)
SAT II: Math IIc - 750, Writing - 760, Physics - 710

ECs (Just the majors)
Golf (3 year varsity member, gone to districts all three years, I practice about 15-25 hours a week)

Poetry Club (Vice-President about 5-10 hours a week for the past two years)

Music (specifically the guitar, taught myself to play, pactice 15 hours a week for the past 3 years)

National Honors Society (member of the (5 person) school board. Helped initiate programs such as a school-wide peer tutor, yada yada yada)

No significant Awards beyond the normal school ones.

My recommendations are good, illustrating my growth in high school and my ability to handle the coursework in advanced classes. (recs were from AP teachers)

I thought my essays for everyone but Penn were good. My penn essay kind of sucked I think.

Schools:
Harvard
Penn
NYU
U Virginia
U Washington
Cal: Berk
Stanford
U Chicago

Intended Major: Computer Enginnering [All my math classes have been honors/AP]

By t on Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 04:02 pm: Edit

I have an identical SAT and class rank and have played Varsity Tennis for the 2nd ranked team in the state for three years. We probably will get rejected and accepted by the same places.

By wer on Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 05:17 pm: Edit

you can go to sierra community college, np.

By q on Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 07:00 pm: Edit

what does non-URM mean

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Tuesday, February 18, 2003 - 12:47 am: Edit

I'm not a college-desired minority.

By   on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 12:21 pm: Edit

By . on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 02:22 pm: Edit

bump

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 05:16 pm: Edit

On a side-note
I was admitted to U Washington and deferred from U Chicago EA.

By bump on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:04 pm: Edit

anyone?

By tt on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:35 pm: Edit

U Washington or Washington in St. Louis? How did you find out so early?

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 04:27 pm: Edit

U washington
they have a EA deadline which they call priority. And since I am a in-state applicant, they basically just looked at my SAT score and GPA and sent me an acceptance letter. I recieved it dated 11 days after I submitted my application.

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 12:33 am: Edit

bump

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 04:54 pm: Edit

bump

By viv on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 06:11 pm: Edit

Fender, you were deferred from Chicago EA??? With those credentials? That's ridiculous. I was accepted with less than that. I'd be interested in a fuller description of your classes.

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 10:41 pm: Edit

Yeah. My school doesn't offer many APs so the only one I've taken is AP Calc. Other math classes are honors. Three years of spanish, three years science, five of math, yada yada. Nothing remarkable.

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Sunday, February 23, 2003 - 01:32 pm: Edit

but on the other hand, i thought my essay for chicago was really well done. Just my personal opinion however.

By hello on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 05:50 pm: Edit

anyone?

By Incognito (Incognito) on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 06:05 pm: Edit

How did you get such a fantastic SAT I verbal score???? What did you do to prepare, if you dont mind me asking?....

By master on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 06:08 pm: Edit

whats so great about a 770. i got an 800.

By Incognito (Incognito) on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 06:09 pm: Edit

OK, well how did you prepare if you got any verbal score above a 730????

By asian on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 06:22 pm: Edit

i didn't prepare, i just went in, took it and got 1600.

By me on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 07:13 pm: Edit

Just my opinions...
Harvard - reject
Penn - waitlist then accept
NYU -accept with scholarship
U Virginia - accept (waitlist if out of state)
U Washington -accept
Cal: Berk -reject
Stanford -reject
U Chicago -accept

By Supernova (Supernova) on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 08:24 pm: Edit

Rejected from berkeley and stanford with a 1550???

By Thedad (Thedad) on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 08:28 pm: Edit

Supernova, students with 1600's get rejected.
Really. It's not gpa and/or test scores alone.

By Supernova (Supernova) on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 08:30 pm: Edit

no it's not... but he/she also has a 3.93 unweighted GPA..... and we're not speaking harvard.... i don't see why he/she would get rejected from berkeley.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 09:15 pm: Edit

Now that I'm a little more awake...I don't
believe that UC's have even sent out notifications
yet. I believe it's 3/31 notification date.

By Bizman (Bizman) on Monday, February 24, 2003 - 09:54 pm: Edit

Supernova, Berkeley is extremely hard to get into out of state. Add to that the he is applying as a comp science major and his chances are drastically lowered, as Berkeley has one of the BEST comp science programs in the country.

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Tuesday, February 25, 2003 - 01:27 am: Edit

Thanks people, finally some replies.
First off, I'm a WA resident so I'm out-of-state to U Virginia and Berkeley. I never had any expectations at making Berkeley, I rate my chances lower there than at Harvard. I applied because they have one of the best computer programs.

Secondly, to Incognito. I bought the 10 Real SATs and read over thier entire verbal section and then took all ten practice tests in the two/three weeks leading up to the test date. I also happened to do really well on the test date. My highest practice test in one sitting was 1530 (800m, 730v) and my highest combined from all ten tests was 800m, 780v, so I was clutch on test day.

Thirdly, just as a matter of preference, in case anyone cares this is my order of where I'd like to go before cmapus visits

1. Stanford
2. Harvard
3. U Washington
4. U Virginia
5. U Chicago
6. NYU
7. Berkeley
8. U Penn

Fourthly, Mid-year reports (semester) sent out with a unweighted 4.0 including two APs: AP Calc and AP Eng and also 3rd Year Spanish.

More opinions are welcome.
Thanks people!!

By Incognito (Incognito) on Tuesday, February 25, 2003 - 04:25 pm: Edit

OK Fender, here's the deal. I dont know much about college admissions and what goes on in the admissions office, but because you (unlike many) responded to my request, I'll just give you my opinion (but dont base anything on it)...

Your grades are fantastic. You dont have a whole lot of ECs, although they are certainly very good. My friend got into Yale ED w/a much lower SAT score, but he had a LOT of ECs. Here's what I think (but again, I dont know much about these colleges).

Stanford - reject
Harvard - reject
U Washington - definately accept
U Virginia - accept
U Chicago - accept
NYU - accept

Those coleges that I did not mention are schools that I really dont know much about. I'd recommend you contact others. Good luck

By Whitefl_Male (Whitefl_Male) on Tuesday, February 25, 2003 - 05:07 pm: Edit

Harvard- no
Penn- yes
NYU- yes
UVA- yes
U Washington- yes
Cal: Berk- yes
Stanford- no
U Chicago- yes

Remember, come April, to post exactly where you got in, so I can see how close I got. Good luck to ya!!

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Tuesday, February 25, 2003 - 06:33 pm: Edit

Thanks everyone, and of course I'll post come around April 5-9 what the final tally is, no matter how embarrassing.

To Incognito, none of us know what goes on in the admissions dept so don't feel alone.
Secondly, I thought maybe I should post some of my test day strategies that might have helped me score so well when it counted.
First off, every practice test I took was in a "simulated" environment. I had a timer, I closed off all distractions, etc.
Secondly, the day before, I took the entire day off. No studying on friday.
Come Saturday, test began at 830 local time and I awoke around 530-600. I did not go to bed extremely early, I got about 6 hours of sleep, but the key to me was to be really ready at 830. First thing I did was go jog for a mile and a half to warm up my body and get the blood flowing. Next I ate a decent breakfast, nothing out of the ordinary, just a bowl of cereal. (I didn't eat breakfast on SAT II day and I wish I had, its embarrassing when all the way through my second test - physics, my stomach was growling hehe) Finally, I double checked all my stuff, made sure I had my ID, registration, three #2 pencils, etc. I dressed inlayers because it's always better to be able to shed clothes to get comfortable than sit there freezing and be distracted. Then I watched Sportscenter for 30 mintues and left early, making sure to get there just at 800.
Hey, worked for me. Feel free to take it with a grian of salt.

By Incognito (Incognito) on Tuesday, February 25, 2003 - 07:21 pm: Edit

Thank you, Fender1. I appreciate it, and I hope that you get accepted into you top-choice schools!

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Tuesday, February 25, 2003 - 09:35 pm: Edit

SH!T
I forgot to mention that I hold down a job since the end of my sophomore year. I worked 15 hours/week for 6 months then swtiched jobs and went to 25 hours/week. That's why my ECs are a little weak.

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Thursday, February 27, 2003 - 01:07 am: Edit

Does anyone think the job will help my chances?

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 04:20 pm: Edit

bump

By Incognito (Incognito) on Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 04:22 pm: Edit

yes. It helps to have a job, becuase it is evidence that you've demonstrated a degree of consistent responsibility (esp since you've had it for a while).

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Sunday, March 02, 2003 - 09:50 pm: Edit

bump

By Jumbo (Jumbo) on Monday, March 03, 2003 - 02:18 am: Edit

Harvard no
Penn maybe waitlisted
NYU yes
U Virginia yes
U Washington yes
Cal: Berk maybe if you live in CA
Stanford no
U Chicago yes

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Friday, March 07, 2003 - 02:19 pm: Edit

bump