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Chances for top 30 university?

I will probably have a 4.3 cumalitive private gpa and a 4.6 UC gpa by application time (3.86 freshman year[B in french 2...], 4.33 sophomore, 4.83 junior). I will take the SATs soon, and from practice tests and the PSAT, I am confident I can get around 2100-2300 my first time. I also think I got 4-5s on the rest of my AP tests (in addition to AP Euro(5) sophomore year), resulting in 4 5s (4s in worst case) total, pertinent to application. SAT IIs also look to be in the 700-800 range. My senior course load is: AP Calculus BC, AP Physics B, AP Comp Gov, Ap Econ, AP Music Theory English, Band. I play the oboe and English Horn at school, privately, and in major youth orchestras. I am co-principal oboist in one of the youth orchestras. I also have been part of 2 honor groups I have been a member of the school robotics team since sophomore year and will have participated for 3 years by the end of senior year, including FIRST events. I play tennis semi-seriously, occasionally at a tournament or two. I will have been on the varsity track team for 2 years by the end of senior year (pole vaulting). I am part of 2 clubs at school, being the cofounder of one of them (not really documented at school however, at least not that I know of). I peer-tutor, and have accrued about 400 hours total doing so. I also volunteer at a local thrift shop, providing affordable clothing and merchendise for the underprivilaged, and will garner around 100 hours total for this. Additionally, I am part of CSF, but no leadership in this unfortunately. A friend and I have started a private charity organization named Young People's Humanitarian Society (not affiliated with school, went through trouble to incorporate and get approved by state sec of state). We are seeking to raise awareness of humanitarian issues, for now domestically, may grow to be internationally (probably not). We are trying to raise money as well, but we have not had it running long enough to see if it will have a concrete impact yet. A detailed and thourough website will be up on this shortly. I have also co-founded a club at school to raise political awareness and espouse the virtues of political dissent. It has been running for about a year since sophomore year. I plan to found some more clubs at the beginning of senior year. This summer, I am planning to take 2-3 CCCs (community college courses). I have not taken any CCCs to date however. I will also intern (hopefully) at a local engineering company, or otherwise get a job at a gas station (haha). I may also attend a science program/seminar somewhere. I think I will have recieved around 3-4 awards/honors/scholarships by application time. As for my negatives, I have only taken up to 3 levels of language (French) and cannot continue because of scheduling conflicts. I applied for a summer internship with NASA, but got rejected (not a direct negative, but I'm paranoid colleges will do the same). Also, based on your judgment, my leadership and community service may be lacking. I would appreciate it if you could give me some chances for 1) top tier UCs and 2) privates in the top 30 (usc, columbia, duke, vanderbilt, etc).

Public Comments

  1. If you attain SAT scores in the range you are contemplating, unless you apply to an impacted COE major at Berkeley-Eng Undeclared, EECS or Bio-Eng, you should be admitted. The highest your UC A-G GPA can be is 4.33 assuming 6 year long A-G courses Sophomore and Junior year since UC only allows 8 semester long "Honor's" courses to weight the A-G GPA. However, UC's also consider grades in specific courses regardless of A-G GPA, which is mostly used to establish UC minimum scholastic eligibility. Your community service is not lacking, it's way more than is expected. As for leadership, I think it might have been easier to simply earn an Eagle Scout award. Being co-principal oboeist is a demonstration of leadership. Simply being part of CSF or NHS is a demonstration of leadership. Read this for examples of leadership: http://www.academyadmissions.com/admissions/preparation/leadership_prep.php This is an example of how highly selective colleges score applicants: http://www.academyadmissions.com/admissions/selection/scoring.php Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, MIT are the most selective. Brown and Dartmouth are a little less selective. You should probably get into at least one or two if you apply to all with a 2250+ SAT and similar SAT Subject Exam scores and 4/5 AP Exams. Look into early decision at Brown, Columbia, Penn, Cornell, Dartmouth and Yale. You should get into most of the other schools you apply to. http://www.hernandezcollegeconsulting.com/ivy-league-admissions-statistics-2013/ I would consider that US News rankings at the undergrad level do not directly consider the quality of the faculty. Look at the graduate rankings at schools where the same faculty teach graduate and undergraduate classes like the UC's. The graduate rankings consider the quality of the faculty. Their undergraduate ranking criteria are biased to private universities. Outside the US, all the world's great universities are public including Oxford and Cambridge. By the way, you would be competitive for admission if you have SAT and SAT subject exams in the 700's and 4/5 AP exams. If you can afford to go without worrying about financial aid, I would consider it, but you need to know exactly what you wish to study since in the British system a student only usually studies the subject of the degree. Therefore an Oxbridge BA is at the equivalent level as a US Masters. An alternative international ranking of universities that has used a constant methodology from year to year: http://www.arwu.org/rank2008/Top500_EN(by%20rank).pdf Good Luck!
  2. I would definitely talk to your Guidance Counselor and go from there. It seems that you are doing pretty well and should not have too much trouble getting into the school YOU want to get into. Hope this helps!
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