r/chanceme Jul 22 '19

How To Do A Chance Me And Improve Your Chances

558 Upvotes

The submission template for /r/ChanceMe contains a since-deleted post about how to do a ChanceMe, so I thought it would be good to cover this and replace that dead link.

Tips for a Good Chance Me Post:

1. Do Some Research. Start with the /r/ChanceMe wiki and the college's Common Data Set. If you can't find it in that link, just Google it. These contain a treasure trove of information about the college and how they handle admissions and financial aid. This is the best place to see how your GPA, test scores, and other components stack up. It even lists how important each component is to the school's admissions process. Another great resource is the college's admissions website. Often this will include some helpful hints about how the school evaluates certain things or what they're looking for in applicants. For example, Penn's site even has in-depth explanations of how interviews are evaluated including sample mock interviews. (See the links at the bottom of this post for more). As another example, Notre Dame has a great explanation of the specific coursework they want and how they evaluate extracurricular activities. Finally, you can search through /r/CollegeResults and /r/ApplyingToCollege for examples of admitted and rejected students. This can give you actual data points to consider for comparison. Keep in mind that students with high stats and poor essays/LORs are likely to be "inexplicably" rejected, so don't put too much stock into any single example.

2. Include enough information for us to chance you accurately, but don't write down every little activity or personal quality. If you have a lot of stats/info about yourself, do not put down everything; it makes it harder to read through your post. Include the ECs you've devoted the most time to/have leadership positions in. By only including stuff that moves the needle, you'll get more responses and better feedback.

3. Have a descriptive title. Writing "Chance me!" is a little obvious and unnecessary. Instead, include some of the schools you're applying to and your intended major. Example: "Chances for English Major: Ivies & Top Publics" -or- "Engineering Chances for GT, VT, and MIT." This makes it easier for those of us chancing you.

4. Make it organized. Please, try to format to the best of your ability. A wall of unformatted text makes it a lot more difficult to read. It would be great if you could break it up into bulleted sections and bold them. Here's a template:

Demographics: Gender, race/ethnicity, state, type of school, and hooks (URM, first generation, legacy, athlete, etc.)

Intended Major(s):

ACT/SAT/SAT II:

UW/W GPA and Rank:

Coursework: AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores, etc

Awards:

Extracurriculars: Include leadership & summer activities

Essays/LORs/Other: Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.

Schools: List of colleges, ED/EA/RD, etc

5. Remember that while /r/ChanceMe and other online forums can be helpful resources, they leave a lot to be desired. Usually they don't include review of every part of your application and they lack critical context about you and the rest of the applicant pool. On top of that, most respondents don't have much by way of real information or qualifications. Competitiveness along with online anonymity sometimes drive people to be downright toxic. You will be spending 4+ of the most formative and impactful years of your life and six figures of someone's money on college, so you need good information for making that decision. You want to make it count and do your best. Don't blindly trust random strangers on the internet or take their feedback as gospel truth. Be willing to respond to comments and have a productive conversation without taking criticism personally.

Tips For Responding To ChanceMe Posts

1. Try to evaluate the post in the context of each college listed. How does it stack up against the 25/75 percentiles for test scores?. Roughly, if it's in the 40th percentile or lower, it's a reach. If it's in the 40th-80th percentile it's a match. And if it's in the 80th+ it's a safety. But those percentiles should be tweaked for fit, risk tolerance, and applicant strength outside of stats. Finally, and this is the important part, assess their chances in the context of each school's overall acceptance rate. If the stats are at the 25th percentile, but the school admits ~95% of applicants, they're probably getting in even though they're on the low end. If they admit ~4% of applicants, it's going to be a long shot no matter how strong they are. If a school has an admit rate below 20% it's basically a reach for everyone. Yes, this means College of the Ozarks is a reach for you. Edward Fiske calls these "wildcards" because with rates that low, it's really hard to predict. If a school admits 95% of applicants (e.g. University of the Ozarks), then it's basically a safety for anyone who can academically qualify.

2. Understand what your evaluation means - and what it doesn't. Many students tend to either be cocky and overconfident or cynical and self-deprecating. One of the highest value outcomes of posting on /r/ChanceMe is that it will help students assess where they fall on this spectrum. Even when odds are low, it can be worth applying to a few targeted reaches. Every year there are students who get into a school they considered a massive reach. As long as applicants have some match and safety schools, it's ok and even encouraged to have some reaches on the list. At the same time, don't think that someone is a shoe-in for highly selective schools just because they have strong stats.

3. Remember the human. These are real people posting their life-to-date achievements on an anonymous forum and asking for feedback. Don't bluster, pontificate, or overstate your knowledge and expertise. Don't denigrate, harass, or disrespect people, even if they rub you the wrong way. Be nice and follow the rules and Reddiquette.

How To Improve Your Chances

Ok, now that you have a list of safety, match, and reach schools, what can you do to maximize your chances? There's a lot that goes into a quality application, so you need to address every component.

1. Find Resources. Check out the /r/ApplyingToCollege community. You'll learn a lot and there are several really knowledgeable people who are happy to help and answer questions. Take a look at the Khan Academy courses on the SAT and college admissions (these are free). Go talk to your guidance counselor about your plans for life, course schedule, and college admissions.

2. Explore your passions. Don't just let the status quo of organizations in your high school limit you. You won't stand out by participating in the same activities as every other student. Instead, look for ways to pursue your passions that go above and beyond the ordinary. As an example, you can check out this advice I gave a student who was asking if he should continue piano despite not winning major awards in it:

"Do you love it?

If it's a passion of yours, then never quit no matter how many people are better than you. The point is to show that you pursue things you love, not to be better at piano than everyone else.

If it's a grind and you hate it, then try to find something else that inspires you.

If it's really a passion, then you can continue to pursue it confidently because you don't have to be the best pianist in the world to love piano. If it's not, then you're probably better off focusing on what you truly love. Take a look at what Notre Dame's admissions site says about activities:

"Extracurricular activities? More like passions.

World-class pianists. Well-rounded senior class leaders. Dedicated artists. Our most competitive applicants are more than just students—they are creative intellectuals, passionate people with multiple interests. Above all else, they are involved—in the classroom, in the community, and in the relentless pursuit of truth."

The point isn't that you're the best. The point is that you're involved and engaged. If you continue with piano and hate it and plod along reluctantly, you won't fit this description at all. But if you love it and fling yourself into it, then you don't need an award to prove your love.

Consider other ways you could explore piano and deepen your love for it. Could you start a YouTube channel or blog? Play at local bars/restaurants/hotels? Do wedding gigs or perform pro bono at nursing homes/hospitals? Start a piano club at school or in the community (or join an existing one)? Start composing or recording your own music? Form a band or group to play with? Teach piano to others? Write and publish an ebook? Learn to tune, repair, or build pianos? Play at a church or community event venue? Combine your passion for piano with some other passion in your life?

The point is that all of that stuff could show that piano is important to you and that you're a "creative intellectual with a passionate interest". But none of it requires that you be the best according to some soulless judge."

3. Focus on getting strong grades in a challenging courseload. You should take the most challenging set of courses you are capable of excelling in and ideally the most challenging courses your school offers. To get in to top colleges you will need both strong classes and strong grades. Most schools come right out and say that the high school transcript is the single most important component of their review. If a student doesn't show an ability to handle top level academics, they just aren't a good fit for their school. If you are facing a quandary about what class to take or what classes to focus your efforts on, prioritize core classes. These include English, math, science, social science, and foreign language. Load up on honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment courses in these disciplines and your transcript will shine.

4. For standardized tests, you should start with the PSAT. If you are a top student and rising junior, it is absolutely worth studying like crazy to become a National Merit Finalist. This is awarded to the top ~1% of scorers by state and confers many benefits including a laundry list of full ride scholarship options. Even if you are not at that level, it will help prepare you for the ACT or SAT. I highly recommend that you take a practice test of both the ACT and SAT. Some students do better on one than the other or find one to more naturally align with their style of thinking. Once you discover which is better for you, focus in on it. You will likely want to take a course (if you're undisciplined) or get a book (if you have the self-control and motivation to complete it on your own). If you're looking for good prep books I recommend Princeton Review because they are both comprehensive and approachable. Which ever test you decide to focus on, you should plan to take it at least twice since most students improve their score on a second sitting. If you can't afford a test prep book, your local library or guidance counselor may have one you can use for free. There are other resources available at Khan Academy, /r/ACT, and /r/SAT.

5. Letters of Recommendation. Intentionally consider your letters of recommendation. You want to choose a teacher who knows you well and likes you a lot, but will also work hard on it and make it unique, detailed, specific, and glowing. You don't want to pick the lazy teacher who just shows videos once a week for class. They're quite likely to just copy and paste their LOR template and that won't really help you. If you don't have a teacher that you feel close to, don't wait too late to start developing a deeper relationship with one. Pick one and stay after class or arrive early to talk about your future. Ask for advice, inquire about their experience, etc. This will show your maturity and deepen your relationship with them quickly. Focus on actually building a relationship rather than flattering them or manipulating them into giving you a good recommendation because that's unlikely to work and will be pretty transparent.

6. Essays. You should start thinking about your college admission essays your junior year. Many students, even top students and great academic writers, find it really challenging to write about themselves in a meaningful and compelling way. They end up writing the same platitudes, cliches, and tropes as every other top student. I've written several essay guides that I (obviously) highly recommend as a good starting place for learning how to write about yourself (linked below, but you can also find them in my profile). Other great resources include The College Essay Guy, ThisIBelieve, and Hack The College Essay. Read through these and start drafting some rough attempts at some of the common app prompts. These will probably be terrible and just get discarded, but practicing can really help you learn to be a better writer.

How To Start An Essay And Show, Don't Tell

Throw Away Everything You Learned In English Class

Conquering The "Why [School]" Essay

What Makes An Essay Outstanding?

What To Do When You're Over The Word Limit

What To Do When Your Essay Is Too Short

How To End An Essay Gracefully

Proofreading Tips

The 30 Most Common Essay Mistakes CAUTION - Don't read this last one before you have a topic settled, a working outline, or a rough draft completed. Lists of what not to do tend to stifle creativity.

Feel free to reach out via PM or find me at www.bettercollegeapps.com if you have questions. Good luck!


r/chanceme Apr 06 '24

Meta Crowdsourced extracurricular and opportunity list

74 Upvotes

Hey guys,

This is one of my EC lists from a few years back when I was applying to college. Lots of competitions/extracurriculars/scholarships/fly in programs linked in here. If ppl find this useful, I’ll organize the rest of my lists and pin them (let me know!)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/109ViGlfZi1clGGnf9H7WGbMhwr8NFKKXSN5YHtVEJg8/mobilebasic

Edit: stickying for a week due to high dm volume


r/chanceme 1h ago

Can I Get Into College Without a GPA

Upvotes

Demographics:

White female at small private alternative school, no income, living on social security. 

  • Hooks: None specifically, but strong community service/mentorship background, and death of father

Intended Major(s):

  • Environmental Studies (with a focus on health justice)

ACT/SAT/SAT II:

  • PSAT: 590 Math, 610 English (total: 1200) – Not submitting
  • SAT: Not yet taken

UW/W GPA and Rank:

  • GPA: Not GPA-based, and APs not offered (Freshman UW GPA: 3.72, Sophomore UW GPA: 3.86)
  • Class Rank: No class rank available

Awards:

  • Multiple photos and essays published in literary magazines with 1,000+ viewers per magazine
  • Featured in a Dana-Farber virtual exhibition
  • Published in a magazine with >1,000,000 monthly readers
  • Featured in an art walk in a city with >200,000 inhabitants (had judges decide if you get in)
  • Featured in photo exhibitions around the world
  • Featured in a camp calendar
  • Raised $6,000 for Dana-Farber through photo card sales
  • Raised $2,000 for a camp supporting children whose parents have cancer with one photo

Extracurriculars:

  • Mentoring: 165 hours as a counselor-in-training (CIT), 8 hours mentoring through school, 5 hours mentoring freshmen in French
  • Community Service: involved with a community farm (8 hrs), local cleanup site, and best buddies
  • Other: Mentored a 14-year-old stroke survivor for 3 months
  • Summer Activities: 2 years of CITing (including previously mentioned, planning on continuing this next summer)
  • Lots of clubs, treasurer of one club before switching schools after my dad died

Essays/LORs/Other:

  • Essays: Probably something deeply personal, but not sure yet so 0/1000000000
  • LORs: Hopefully strong, though it depends on relationships at school

Schools (EA/RD):

  • University of New Hampshire (UNH) (EA)
  • Clark University (EA)
  • Roger Williams University (RWU) (EA)
  • Wheaton College (MA) (EA)
  • UMass Amherst (EA) (State Uni)
  • Smith College (RD)
  • Mount Holyoke College (RD)
  • Bryn Mawr College (RD)
  • Skidmore College (RD)

r/chanceme 6h ago

good ecs, good gpa, terrible face card

13 Upvotes

Demographics: male , asian from east coast small school somewhat competitive

Intended Major(s): economics and health policy

SAT: 1570 superscore (780/790) (3 times) (1540 highest composite)

GPA: our school doesnt do uw but 3.97UW/4.6W

Rank= 5/280 (30 APs and Duels)

ecs

  1. Founder of lobbyist organization ; working with Congress and DPH- helped passed senate bill); used research from local university in health economics ; expanded to 1200 institutions .

  2. Investment Bank Intern - M&A-280 companies analyzed.

  3. Research at Duke in Economics and Health Policy

  4. Research at Med College (4pubs, one to Nature)

  5. Class Representative (all 4 yrs)

  6. national Vice President for largest finance nonprofit led by youth ; 500k consultancy fund, over 2000 members and 110 chapters.

  7. National director for student led think tank ; over 36k raised and 80k content engagements; 6 states and sponsored by 7 universities

  8. President of Econ club (led my team to national comps)

  9. House of Representatives Congress Intern ( making health policy for 60k reps)

  10. Author of Ancient Society Policy Book (tracked to India and analyzed cave wall writings and translated)

  11. President of UNICEF (5K raised)

** awards **

FBLA NLC national finalist NMSQT SemiFinalist Georgetown National Debate 5th Lakeside National Debate 4th Best Speaker Scientific Presenter at over 6 international conferences YYGS Global Scholar Politics Economics

recs: 

research prof (medicine) = 10/10 Duke prof = 8/10 ap Gov teacher = 8/10 calc teacher =7/10

Schools: ED 1:Columbia ED 2: Northwestern Vanderbilt Duke Notre Dame UChicago Georgetown Georgia Tech UPenn Yale UGA NYU


r/chanceme 1h ago

Chance me for NYU Transfer please!

Upvotes

I'm a second semester freshman and I was hoping I could transfer to NYU. Please let me know If I'm crazy that I tried or not.

I applied as a Gender Studies major at CAS and put Gallatin as my second choice.

HS GPA: 3.6 UW, 3.9/4.3 weighted 12 APS, reported AP Spanish 4, Government 4, Environmental Science 4, Literature 4, Psychology 5, World History 4

College GPA at Vassar: 3.42 (I made the mistake of taking econ my first semester and 2 200 level classes, I don't know if they'll take rigor into account)

Awards and Distinctions:

1) Outstanding Performance in Fall Drama

2) AP Capstone Diploma (12)

3) AP Scholar with Distinction (11/12)

4) The New York State Seal of Civic Readiness

5) The New York State Seal of Biliteracy (NYSSB) (French/Spanish)

6) Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation and Honors

ECS: 1) Started my own organization and platform to help kids whose parents have faced incarceration and prevent that trauma

2) Volunteered and worked with an organization that works with the kids of incarcerated parents and works to create legislation

3) Research with Psychologist around race and Roe V Wade

4) Had a short story published by the organization that works with the kids of incarcerated parents

5) Harvard summer school class

6) Tutor kids near local high school near college

7) Women's Choir at College

8) Theatre all of high school (2 main roles)

9) Volunteered with a non for profit that creates schools in developing countries

Great Essay and additional info essay, good recs, I'm also not applying for aid(idk if that's relevant)

Is there any hope for me?


r/chanceme 1h ago

What are my chances at IU Bloomington?

Upvotes

Im currently a junior in highschool right now Ive struggled with my grades and have a 3.1 UW and a 3.7 W GPA Ive alr taken 4 AP Classes and got a 4 on all of them except AP Chem. This year Im taking 4 more and I think I will get 4 or 5s on all of them except 1 as far as my EQs:

Varsity tennis-Math tutor-President of Non-Profit volunteering organization-Treasurer of Math club at school-North American Coordinator of an organization that is helping 3rd world countries- FBLA competitor

I'm also south asian 1st generation and plan to enroll in their business/finance program and i'm out of state from CA if that matters. What do I need to do to get into IU, all advice is appreciated


r/chanceme 3h ago

Reverse Chance Me ED to Barnard or Upenn?

3 Upvotes

Demographics: Gender, race/ethnicity, state, type of school, and hooks (URM, first generation, legacy, athlete, etc.): Asian female, NY, v competitive public high school

Hook(s): Mom works at NYU so I get free tuition (if i get in)

Intended Major(s): Journalism/Sociology/Film & Media/Communications

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 1510 SAT & 32 ACT (retaking june lol)

UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.98 gpa + 4.36 w (everyone is grade inflated in my school so this doesnt matter)

Coursework: AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores, etc: 4s on APES, APWorld, APStats, and a 3 on APmacroecon (self studied).

Currently taking AP Physics 1, AP Lang, APUSH, AP Psych; going to take AP Spanish, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Bio, and AP Calc BC next yr.

Awards:

  • Two international film awards (2nd place, both) 
  • Two statewide journalism awards 
  • Two regional film awards (2nd place) 
  • A bunch of Model UN awards (Outstanding Del x2 and Honorable Del x2) for a bunch of regional conferences at universities 
  • A few scholastic awards 
  • Honorable mention @ a yale essay competition

Extracurriculars:

  1. Youtube channel – film, edit, manage, post
  2. Nonprofit – founder & president
  3. Science journalism nonprofit  – team editor + soon to be associate/chief editor 
  4. Broadcast journalism club in school – editor in chief now, soon to be news director 
  5. Model UN – member now, prob president/vice president next year
  6. Feminism/respect club – representative @ school congress, soon to be president next yr
  7. Intern @ NYU health – writing science literary stuff 
  8. High School Law Institute @ Columbia
  9. Paid job @ library 
  10. Did NYT course last summer 
  11. Doing northwestern medill cherub thing over the summer 
  12. A bunch of random honor societies 

Schools: List of colleges, ED/EA/RD, etc

  • University of Pennsylvania
  • Barnard 
  • Swarthmore?
  • NYU
  • Washu St. Louis
  • Duke?

im a junior rn, i want to do pre-med in college (me and my parents r prestige seeking so hence no ED1 NYU to save money) plzz i need help


r/chanceme 9h ago

Chance me for ivies and t20s!

5 Upvotes

Demographics: Gender, race/ethnicity, state, type of school, and hooks: Asian Male, Pakistani, decent private school, first-gen.

Intended Major(s): Public Health/Biomed/Bioeng.

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 1570 SAT

UW/W GPA and Rank: 4.0 GPA. The school doesn't do class rank or any sort of GPA (Basically got 13A*s/As in IGCSES and 6As* (predicted) in A-Levels, valedictorian O-Levels)

Coursework: A-Levels; Further math, math, bio, chem, phy, his (equivalent to AP/IB courses but more dense)

Awards: National Science Bowl winner and finalist, Pakistan's young bio team, Pakistan's econ team, Duke of Edinburgh silver medalist, this high achiever award thing, all-pak debating comp finalist.

Extracurriculars:

  • research on blood banks, and why ppl don't donate
  • a review paper with a well-renowned doctor focused on eye diseases.
  • a project called Focus; spreading awareness on eye diseases, 1 on 1 interviews with doctors, and setting up pop-up clinics to aid people in eye checkups.
  • a project related to my hometown: handed out nutritional booklets, conducted workshops in semi-gov ngo schools, and worked with gov to set up more mobile clinics (general not eye)
  • a maps related passion project; documenting different types of maps, trends in biodiversity losses, historical diseases and medical dilemmas, etc., but also linking back to museums, wrote a few pieces for articles.
  • member of the student body; Science Society President will be hosting an event soon. already the event head to 3 events, 2 public speaking ones, and 1 science.
  • public speaking and debates; all pak- nats finalist, all-pak urdu nats, 3rd best speaker, went to Pakistan national team selection camp, won best delegate at an international model conference of parties, and won pak's first policy tournament, securing a spot in pak econ team.
  • went to the summer science program (research work supported with a letter)
  • a very very very cool project relating to quantum dots (can't tell anything more)

hook/theme: born with glaucoma, hence the focus on the eyes.

  • Schools: List of colleges, ED/EA/RD, etc

  • UMich

  • Berkeley

  • UCSD

  • Northwestern

  • Northeastern

  • Emory

  • Vassar

  • Vanderbilt

  • Union

  • BU

  • NYU

  • NYU-AD

  • Stanford

  • UPenn

  • Columbia

  • Skidmore

  • Princeton

  • Howard

  • Yale

  • Haverford

  • Wesleyan

  • Tufts

  • Georgetown

  • Bowdoin

  • Amherst

  • Williams

  • Cornell

  • Brown

  • Dartmouth

  • Harvard

  • MIT

  • Oxford

  • Cambridge

  • UCL

  • U of Toronto


r/chanceme 5h ago

Switching paths

2 Upvotes

Hello,

So I’m thinking about switching paths from math/cs to becoming a doctor. I did an internship as a developer for a healthcare startup and since then I’ve developed a passion for healthcare. I’m in my junior year, so I can’t rlly do many ecs anymore (prolly gonna shadow a doctor in the summer but that’s it), but I have some solid cs math ecs. I’m a usamo qual (hopefully gonna medal) and have a top 1% score on AIME. Also have a cs related passion project and doing some independent research. Is it too late for bsmd to be realistic?


r/chanceme 1h ago

Chance Me for Ivies + T20s

Upvotes

Chance Me for Ivies + T20s | Public Health, Pre-Med Focused | First-Gen

Demographics:

Asian, Male First-Generation College Student VA, Large Public High School (No class rank) Intended Major:

Public Health / Biology / Pre-Med Track Stats:

GPA: 4.0 UW / 4.74 W SAT: 1580 (790 Math / 790 EBRW) Course Rigor: 14 APs total Rank: No official rank, but likely top 1-2% Awards:

National Merit Finalist AP Scholar CJSJ (Columbia Junior Science Journal) Semi-Finalist Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Regional Winner Honor Roll x4 National Honor Society Extracurriculars:

Founder & CEO – Healthcare Nonprofit Launched a nonprofit combatting healthcare inequality in underserved communities. Raised $5K+, hosted health literacy events, and built a growing social media presence (Instagram/TikTok). Published Researcher – Public Health & Health Literacy: Led and published original research on how health literacy impacts preventive healthcare behavior in low-income populations. Published in BMC Public Health, Journal of Health Communication, and Health Education Research. Medical Intern – Sunrise Medical Laboratories: Worked directly with diagnostics and patient testing in a clinical lab environment. Research Intern – George Washington University: Contributed to biomedical research under a PhD mentor. Conducted lit reviews, analyzed data, and helped write sections of the manuscript. Author – 250-page Cancer Biology Book: Wrote and self-published a full-length textbook on cancer biology for students. Science Content Creator – 25K+ followers: Built a growing educational platform on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram teaching biology and chemistry to students. President – STEM Research Society: Expanded club outreach, established a student research mentorship pipeline, and helped members get published. President – Biology Club: Led labs, hosted student-taught biology lessons, and organized science education events. Editor – Medical Research Society: Edited and guided the publication process for student-written medical papers. Intern – Drug Development Startup: Worked at a startup exploring translational science and pharmaceutical development. Essays/LORs (planned):

Will highlight my journey as a first-gen student, founding a nonprofit, and passion for equitable healthcare. Strong letters of rec from my GWU research mentor, AP Bio teacher, and nonprofit advisor. Target Schools:

Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Stanford Duke, Northwestern, UChicago, Brown UVA (In-state), Georgetown, WashU, Emory Questions:

What are my chances at Ivies and top 20s with this profile? How can I make my public health research and nonprofit work stand out more? Any other Pre-Med/Public Health focused schools I should look into?


r/chanceme 5h ago

Help

2 Upvotes

I have no awards and I only have a 3.5 GPA unweighted and some AICE classes what can I do to make it better?


r/chanceme 2h ago

Chance a cooked lil international kid for the ivies

0 Upvotes

Demographics: male , international student who moved here recently from Asia

Grade: Junior

Intended Major(s): computer science

SAT: 1440 (1 time); will retake for 1520+

GPA: weighted - 4.07; uw - 3.9 (approx)

Rank: our school doesnt rank

Extracurriculars:

  1. Research Internship on Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) at a reputable University
  2. Research Internship on Quantum & Mathematical Physics (at a T20 university)
  3. ASSIP (will be doing it this summer) - research internship on CS & electrical engineering
  4. INTELLO (dm if interested in joining) / Founder & CEO - tutored over 34 students; will be launching an international project which will positively impact hundreds of rural villagers in my home country.
  5. STEM Research Club / President - assisting over 60 students on working on 5 scientific research projects over different STEM fields to then publish them
  6. Competitive Programming Club / President
  7. Student Government Association (SGA) & Student Advisory Council (SAC)
  8. New York Academy Of Sciences Junior Academy (most likely wont include this)
  9. Climate Change organization (most likely wont include this)
  10. Varsity Science Olympiad team (most likely wont include this)
  11. FIRST Robotics Competition (most likely wont include this)

Awards (weakest section):

  1. 1st Place in my state's Science Olympiad Competition for Cybersecurity
  2. 2nd Place in High School Science Fair / Local
  3. ClimateScience Olympiad / Semifinalist (3,000/55,000 ~ Top 5%) / International
  4. 2nd Place in Academic Bowl for my state's regional tournament
  5. Math Honor Society (Mu Alpha Theta)
  6. Scholar Athlete Award for Track & Field (2024 Spring) / For 3.5+ GPA

Do you guys think I have a chance for the ivy league schools and the t20s? Any recommendations?


r/chanceme 23h ago

BEST COLLEGE IN THE WORLD! WHAT IS IT?

44 Upvotes

In your opinion, what is overall the best college in the world.


r/chanceme 22h ago

This sub is useless

24 Upvotes

All it can do is make you feel bad about stats you can’t change or make you overconfident about something that nobody can feel too confident about. The sub is filled with bots and high schoolers chancing each other, both of which have no experience on knowledge in how the admissions process works. For example, I saw people telling someone with a 1520 SAT to retake. if you look into college admissions, the 99th percentile will max out your score for standardized testing in your application at any school so retaking would be completely useless for them. Not to mention how half of the profiles on here are fake, if A2C represents the 99th percentile of applicants this sub represents the 101st. If you really wanna be chanced, talk to your high school counselor or look at the scattergrams for your school (if it has them).


r/chanceme 15h ago

Chance me for ivies + top LACs :)

3 Upvotes

Demographics: Gender, race/ethnicity, state, type of school, and hooks (URM, first generation, legacy, athlete, etc.): White Male, Northeast, highly ranked public school, legacy to Brown

Intended Major(s): Political Science and Econ

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 1570 SAT

UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.99 GPA. School doesn't do class rank or weighted GPA.

Coursework: AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores, etc: 5s on APUSH and AP Lang. Planning to take AP Chem, AP Gov, AP Lit, and AP Calc BC in senior year.

Awards: Multiple national-level Speech and Debate Awards, regional orchestra awards, 3rd place at National History Day state competition

Extracurriculars:

  • Highest leadership position on Speech and Debate team
  • Flute player in a high-level regional orchestra
  • Schoolhouse tutor for SAT
  • National Honor Society
  • A few random local volunteering things

Schools: List of colleges, ED/EA/RD, etc

  • Binghamton
  • UMass Amherst
  • Villanova
  • University of Rochester
  • Brandeis
  • Skidmore
  • Middlebury
  • Bates
  • UVA
  • Haverford
  • Wesleyan
  • Tufts
  • Georgetown
  • Bowdoin
  • Amherst
  • Williams
  • Cornell
  • Brown
  • Dartmouth
  • Harvard

r/chanceme 18h ago

Do I even have a chance anymore? Junior right now, need advice ASAP. I'm so cooked

4 Upvotes

Background Summary

Citizenship: U.S. Citizen
Ethnicity: Asian
State: Arizona
High School: Attending one of the top 15 public high schools in Arizona
Student Status: First-Generation, Low-Income (FGLI)
Financial Considerations: Primarily reliant on need-based financial aid; no strict cost constraints as aid is expected to cover most expenses, parents say they will pay full cost, I'll even apply for student loans if needed.

Older sister going to ASU this fall as pre-med, idk if this helps.

Intended Major(s):

  • Finance (General)

Academic Profile:

  • Unweighted GPA: 3.7 (This will rise, I am still in my junior year.... hopefully)
  • Weighted GPA: 4.27
  • Class Rank: Estimated Top 25% (School doesn't do ranks)
  • SAT: took a 2 times: 1420 (Math: 790, Reading/Writing: 630) — school average: ~1370
  • ACT: Planning to take soon, aiming for 32+, wish me luck :(
  • AP Courses:
    • Completed: AP Biology (3), AP Seminar (3), AP Mandarin (5)
    • Currently Enrolled: AP U.S. History, AP English Language, AP Research
    • Planned for Senior Year: AP Literature, AP Psychology, AP Government & Economics (combined), AP Calculus BC, Ceramics, Health (0.5 credit), Teacher Assistant (0.5 credit)
    • Total APs by graduation: Approx. 10

Coursework Overview:

  • 9th Grade: Biology, PE, Geometry, Honors English 9, Honors World History/Geography, Mandarin 2
  • 10th Grade: AP Biology, AP Mandarin 4, AP Seminar, Culinary 1, Honors Algebra 2, Honors Chemistry
  • 11th Grade: AP Research, Marketing 1, Pre-Calculus, AP U.S. History, Culinary 2, AP English Language
  • 12th Grade (Planned): AP Literature, AP Psychology, AP Government/Economics, AP Calculus BC, Ceramics, Health, Teacher Assistant

General Education Requirements:

  • English: 4 years
  • Math: 4 years
  • Science: 3 years
  • Social Studies: 3 years
  • Language: 2 years (AP Mandarin exam completed with a score of 5)
  • Fine Arts: 1 year (Ceramics planned to fulfill requirement)
  • CTE: Extensive participation

Honors & Awards:

  • 2 Academic Excellence Awards for maintaining a 4.0+ Weighted GPA, I don't know if school will do this year.
  • DECA District Testing Medal
  • Multiple top-3 placements and trophies in Shaolin Kung Fu competitions
  • Qualified for State-level Mathleague
  • 2 President’s Volunteer Service Awards (Gold) in high school; 2 additional PVSA Gold in middle school, At least silver PVSA this year due to needing to do 250+ hrs for gold.

Extracurricular Activities:

  • Leadership: Vice President of a branch in Arizona, but it is a national organization (~20+ members in branch)
  • Volunteering: 400+ hours across food banks, tutoring, hospital service, and environmental cleanups
  • DECA: State-level competitor
  • Shaolin Kung Fu: Training since 9th grade; currently testing for black belt; trained at the Shaolin Temple in China
  • Athletics: Played YMCA basketball for one season (10th grade)
  • Work Experience: Waiter at a buffet; cashier at a retail store (1-2 years)
  • Tutoring/Teaching:
    • Tutored underserved students (grades 1–7) in math and English
    • Participated in California winter academic programs and was later hired to teach math
    • Led SAT Math tutoring sessions for students nationwide
  • Might do internships this summer.

Essays & Research:

  • Conducted AP Research project on a business-related topic
  • Wrote an international relations essay for Harvard International Review (application closed before submission, so I didn't get a chance to turn it in)
  • AP Seminar Individual Research Report completed
  • Planning to seek strong letters of recommendation and pursue a business-related internship during the upcoming summer

Also, since I am doing my arts credits next year, do they count as 1 or 0, since I actually haven't completed them when I apply for ED and regular decision? Thanks

I am thinking of applying to ASU's W.P Carey as a safety.

Secondary options Hard Targets/Reaches: UT Ausin and UC Davis.

The question is do I have a chance at T20 schools? I really want to get into Cornell, UPenn and UChicago, others like UCLA and Princeton. Do I have a chance even if I ED? UChicago, I want to EDII, and I don't know whether to ED to Cornell or UPenn.

Lowkey, I might be cooked.


r/chanceme 18h ago

Reverse Chance Me Chance / RC 3.5 GPA, good EC Junior for NYU Tandon

3 Upvotes

i want to go to NYU tandon for CE or EE or get in UCSC, UCSB, UCD, UCI for data science/finance related majors

i have a 3.55 UW GPA, pretty much all the colleges I’m applying to will be between a 3.5-3.6 UW in their range. And a 3.92 W GPA, 1480 SAT

ECs

- Stock and Cryptocurrency trading/investing generating over 500k+ in profit (I also have learned a lot which I can write about)

- created a web app which helped prevent some scams in crypto which got over 3000 unique users at one point and I got good feedback from some online communities

- 3,000+ subscriber YouTube channel

- 2 games published on AppStore and playstore, cumulatively gaining over 5,000 downloads

- contributed open source to bitcoin/bitcoin code on GitHub

- soccer referee (job)

- math tutor (job)

- Food bank volunteer (300 hours)

- FIRST robotics team at school. We won a couple awards too

- founder of boardgame club at my school

am I cooked? My GPA is low cuz I got a couple Bs in normal English and a couple C+ 😭 (that was in AP chinese), my courses are pretty rigorous at least in the STEM direction (AP Physics C, AP Calculus AB, AP Comp Sci A).

any tips on applicpatios strategy would be appreciated too. My current plan is ED1 NYU Tandon, EA colleges that take EA, apply every UC besides Merced, SDSU, SJSU, Long Beach CSU, and then just gamble on BU, Purdue, UIUC, Tulane, rolling decision Texas tech (safety).

im from California and im in a private school.


r/chanceme 21h ago

Chance me for my ED schools! pretty please!!

4 Upvotes

Demographics: Gender, race/ethnicity, state, type of school, and hooks (URM, first generation, legacy, athlete, etc.) International requesting full aid : ( Single parent

Intended Major(s): History, Business(depending on the school)

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 36/36

UW/W GPA and Rank: School doesn't rank. IB program - 44/45

Coursework: Full IB program + self studying one AP class(watch me get a 1...)

Awards:

1. NHS + some school award

2. MUN award

3. International writing award(think adroit, foyle etc)

4. International writing award(think adroit, foyle etc)

5. International Math + Science awards(def not Olympiad levels but still pretty competitive)

Extracurriculars: 

  1. School club - did international competitions, won awards, leader

  2. School club - cultural showcase, organized events + fundraising, leader

  3. School club - small impact tbh, but tried to address some niche problems within my school, leader

  4. Paid tutor

  5. Super competitive summer program - humanities (less than three percent, i think)

  6. Thrift business owner

  7. Varsity sport, won awards, some international competitions

  8. Hosting a reading camp this summer for an organization i volunteer for

  9. Editor of an online magazine + school newsletter

  10. Smithsonian/Wikipedia volunteer

  11. Independent research project, planning on submitting to a hyper competitive journal(ifykyk)

Essays/LORs/Other: One is probably a 9/10 - very close, highest grades consistently, other is probably going to be some basic "good student" stuff so 5-6/10

Essays - no clue

Schools: Planning on applying ED to UPenn, Dartmouth or Brown. Please give me advice on how I can strengthen my application. Thanks!


r/chanceme 20h ago

Do i have a chance 😭

3 Upvotes

Im so nervous as a junior and I’ve been panicking about admissions. My gpa is so cooked besides weighted and course rigor. Please chance me honestly

Stats:

Coursework: 10 Honors, 22 AP/IBs, All 3’s, 4’s and 5’s. For IB’s, all 4’s and above (mainly 6’s) GPA(UW/W): 3.65/4.57 Sat: 1540

Major: Business Administration

EC'S: 1. Youth non-profit/volunteer branch (4 yrs, volunteer 2 yrs, leadership team 2 yrs, 1 yr as a management lead, 1 yr as director) (250+ Hours)

  • volunteered for non-profit/volunteer branch for 3 years, (8th, 9th and 10th grade).

  • Got onto leadership team of non-profit as a management lead. I managed records, the website, and helped organize 9+ events throughout the year

  • 1 Major event hosted over 200+ people and raised over $13k+ in sponsorships and sales.

  • applied for the leadership team for the next year as well and got on as the Director (highest leadership position a for a student)

  1. FBLA: (for 2 years)
  2. member/competitor 1 yr, secretary 1 yr, (2nd place at regionals)

  3. Personal Finance Content Creator: Have a Tiktok + YT on personal finance that have amassed a combined total of 60K+ views, 1,500+ followers/subscribers combined on both accounts

  4. Clothing Brand Business: Started a clothing brand that made over $1k+ dollars in revenue so far, hope to make around $2k revenue soon Designed a spring/summer clothing wardrobe myself, contacted manufacturers and created samples and sold around 20+ pcs so far

  5. Digital Marketing Internship + Shadowing: Shadowed a clothing brand owner and had a digital marketing internship with them (unpaid)

  6. Did research with a professor on non-profits as well as M&A(Business + Finance) (unpublished)

  7. Youth Trading Account: Have a youth trading account and made around $6k+ profit on it, used swing trading methods but mostly just kept up with news and company updates to estimate price increases, etc. Didn't really do anything crazy w this like day trading and super intense chart analysis.

  8. Dance Club: Applied for traditional dance teams and, made it through try-outs, performed in front of 500+ individuals for 4 years with numerous practices throughout the year.

  9. Mentorship Club (VP)

  10. Club where students visit other places (elementary schools, etc) and teach about topics ranging from the arts to computer science fundamentals, etc

  11. 500+ students reached so far

  12. Won multiple hackathons off of websites such as DevPost and local comps ($1000+ earned)

Additional details: OOS for chapel hill, in state for Florida

College List: Boston U Boston C UNC Chapel Hill UFlorida UVA Umichigan emory UC San Diego UC Irvine UC Davis Georgetown Georgia Tech Vanderbilt


r/chanceme 1d ago

what did i do wrong?

9 Upvotes

Just received the last of my decisions and I’m honestly shocked at how poorly I seem to have done.

Demographics: Gender, race/ethnicity, state, type of school, and hooks (URM, first generation, legacy, athlete, etc.) Middle Eastern (White), MD, very competitive school, no hooks

Intended Major(s): Business Info Tech

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 1440 high single, 1460 super score

UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.7 UW, 4.5 W, no ranking

Coursework: AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores, etc: 6 APs before senior year all 3+, two 5’s, one 4, 1 DE and 3 APs during senior year

Awards: National Rural and Small Town Recognition, Certificate of Meritorious service (volunteer hours)

Extracurriculars: Include leadership & summer activities: started an IT club, cofounded sports media club, varsity football 2 years, president of religious association, CTO of local small business, freelancer/entrepreneur, two internships (one in poli sci one in env sci), part time fast food work.

Essays/LORs/Other: Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances. Essays were probably not amazing but not bad LOR 1: CS teacher I had for two years, sponsor of the IT club I started, great relationship, good grades in class

LOR 2: English teacher, great relationship, great grades in class

Finances: Lower middle class

Schools: Georgetown, GTech, Berkeley, UC Davis, VTech, UMD, UMBC, Rutgers, Northeastern, UIUC, Penn State, Pitt


r/chanceme 20h ago

Will I get into one of these?

2 Upvotes

White Male a junior in highschool in Massachusetts. Currently have a 3.4gpa weighted and my practice SAT tests are 1200-1250. Everyyear I’ve played 2 sports. Will I get into any of these schools?

Florida Atlantic University Umiami Florida International university Utampa U Oklahoma College of Charleston Nova Southeastern University USF UF UCF FSU Flagler College UWF Florida Gulf Coast University Palm Beach Atlantic University Univ Houston Univ Texas

** mainly focused on Florida ones **


r/chanceme 1d ago

Chance me for NYU/Barnard! (Public Health/ or Neuroscience major)

5 Upvotes

Hello, I'm currently a sophmore in a really competitive feeder school in nyc and I have hopes in dreams of ging to nyu or barnard for college. This year has been pretty rough for me but here are my stats and what EC's I plan to do in the next year.

My GPA as of right now is a 94.96 UW, my school doesn't do weighted. (some people say this is a 3.8 while others say it's a 4.0)

The AP's I took this year:

AP Bio

AP Stats

AP World History

Next Year:

AP Gov or APUSH (not finalized)

AP Psych

AP Lang

DE intro to chemistry

DE organic chem

SAT: Have not taken yet, but I have been preparing and scoring 1480-1520s on my practice tests

This year is the first time a couple of B's will go into my transcript (85 in AP stats and 89 in AP world) do some B's really ruin my chances..??

EC's

--> I am current vice president for HOSA

--> I'm a varisty Model UN competitor at my school

--> I'm apart of MSA and I participated in a state competition known as MIST (muslim interscholastic tournament) with highschools all over New York and I placed top 3 for 4 categories.

--> I wrote research papers and got an award for a research paper on integrating AI and virtual reality to prevent seizures

--> I tutor middle schoolers for regents exams.

EC's this summer/next year

--> Research with a mentor at columbia university

--> I plan on starting a club for women in healthcare

--> I'm working on a blog about medical myths and publishing articles to talk about the underrepresented people in healthcare.

--> Science Olympiad

--> I will be shadowing a doctor over the summer in a private clinic

--> NHS

Please let me know on what I can improve on!


r/chanceme 1d ago

Application Question Chance Me -- Mid Stats & Good ECs (at least I think)-- Should I even try applying Ivy?

8 Upvotes

hellooo (first redit post ever) I am a little worried because my academic stats, at least among competitive pools, I may not stand out, but I have good ECs and have been told I interview pretty well… I’m looking for any notes whatsoever. My current list feels unrealistic... I want to apply T20 because I love academics but I don't want to just get rejected everywhere.

DEMOGRAPHICS

US Citizen

California

Public Arts High School (prestigious & free to attend – very good rep

MAJOR

Applying to some schools for Public Policy, Government, or Policy Science

Other schools I am applying for Film (NYU, CHAPMAN, USC, DEPAUL)

I have kinda gotten a lot of shit over splitting my applications but this is super common at my highschool and honestly I am content with either... eitherway I will likely be working as a part time photographer/MV Director thought college as I make money doing this now and want to keep it as a side gig for a couple years.

GRADES

Unweighted HS GPA: 3.8

Weighted HS GPA: 4.2 (UC Recalculation)

Class Rank: Top 5% (Arts school means academically uncompetitive-- school’s average SAT is only 1100)

SAT Scores: Still studying – based on practices, hopefully a 1500

APs

AP World - 5

APUSH - Still taking

APLANG - Still taking

AP GOV - Will take senior year

AP LIT - Will take senior year

AP STATS – Self-Study, Will take Senior Year

(Note – school only offers 6 APS – only one I’m not taking is Calc)

AWARDS

Gold Award Girl Scouts, Guest Speaker at [UCLA] in their school of Public Policy where I was praised for some nonprofit work, Pannelest and honnored guest at a national chain of hospitals for my work in Mental Health, Emerging Filmmaker at Regional Competition, National Civics Program Exemplary Delegate Award, 3 Other film awards, all for directing, 1 national scholarship for my specific culture.

EXTRACURRICULARS

  1. Elected to the highest position you can get in a state civic program (I won’t say which one for privacy reasons) – ran a yearlong campaign and won with the votes of around 2000 students. I also met with and worked with the other state civic elected officials across America – there are only 50 of us. This is a really well-known program among college admissions and is considered highly prestigious.
  2. Youth Ambassador Culturally Focused National Nonprofit (on team of 4) HIGHLY SELECTIVE: I ran scholarship competitions, organized social media campaigns, worked with a national advertising company, directed youth voices, etc. This was a job for which I was paid.
  3. Youth Ambassador of Global LGBTQIA+ Nonprofit (on team of 10) EVEN MORE SELECTIVE: This is a nonprofit that is VERY BIG-- I got to run campaigns for their millions of followers which was really fun, published blogs, wrote for magazines, organized pride parades, did some political campeinging-- fun job ahha. Also, technically a paid job.
  4. 25+ Short Film Directing, Producing, Editing, Writing, Etc – I won a bunch of awards for this, did a couple of film festivals, and I also do commercial photography as a side gig.
  5. AAPI Club President – partnered with nonprofits to raise TONS of funds-- high-impact club.
  6. Poetry Nonprofit sponsored me to be their first-ever student director-- got a couple of thousand dollars to make content for them.
  7. ASB Involvement Three Years – Class VP, General Member
  8. Girl Scouts + Awards – Since Kindergarden
  9. Section Editor of Local Art Review – In charge of film section.
  10. (In Progress— but will fulfill all goals surely due to major collaboration with Political conglomerates) Founder CEO of National Letter Writing Campaign that partnered with two major global nonprofits, with garnered thousands of views online, and is currently in the process of compiling a docket of 100 letters from queer youth across there nation— which we are sending to representatives to advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights.

**No essays yet…** Still a junior – will do over the summer.

Other Notes: No matter what-- I wouldn't have changed a thing I did in high school. The work I did with those nonprofits genuinely helped a lot of people, and I think that's more important than any college app (even if it did make me so busy that my grades when down a bit). The only reason I'm so focused on college now is because I want to go to a school that will give me the resources and respect to continue my work on a higher level. That's a little cheesy but true so lmk if this would be a possibility.

Let me know if I should even bother applying to some of the top schools. I feel like my grades/mid AP coursework might bring me down hahaha. My fav schools are Yale, Duke, UCLA, UCB, UCSC, and Tufts (dual degree) but who knows If I have a shot at those. My targets rn are Mount Holyoke, BM, and Sarah Lawernce.


r/chanceme 20h ago

USC International relations (global business) vs Babson entrepreneurship

1 Upvotes

So, I got into both USC Dornsife and babson entrepreneurship and I am not sure which one to go to

For context, I will try and transfer to marshall straight away, and I applied all other colleges for business and econ (getting into kelley, uw seattle, UCSD, UCL, warwick and more...)

I would like all opinions on both colleges whether good or bad


r/chanceme 1d ago

Site that finds past applicants based on your profile

3 Upvotes

Hey guys, I made an app that scrapes most of r/collegeresults and matches you with the most similar profiles and where they got in. It'll also match you with past accepted essays. I think seeing past journeys/results would've been the most helpful thing I could've had when I applied last year. DM me if you'd like to check it out, give some feedback, or work on the project yourself.

https://imgur.com/a/I768GBt


r/chanceme 21h ago

Chance me plz

1 Upvotes

Edit: looking for advice on what my resume is missing or wat to build :).
Demographic: Mixed female (not black or Latino though).

Stats: 1560 (790 math, 770 e&R). GPA 98.
5's on AP physics 1, 2, and both Cs
5 on AP Calc BC

Major: Electrical engineering or Physics

Schools:

Caltech (dream school), UVA (in-state), ivy+, CMU, UNC, JHU, Northwestern, Uchicago, Duke

Activities:

  1. Published lead author on a physics paper IF ~5.
  2. Working on another paper on Quantum physics and CS, probably publishing in IF ~3., will go do another research project after this during sr. year
  3. Head and founder of several stem clubs
  4. Found a tech start-up doing psychology-related ai
  5. 2 year Varsity on a common sport
  6. No summer programs. got rejected from all of them lol
  7. one internship at tech start-up, probably will get another one sr. year

Awards:

  1. 1xUSAPHO qualification
  2. 1xPhysics Bowl
  3. 1x AIME qualification
  4. Scholastic regional gold

Wat are my chances at Caltech rea? I also might do UPenn ed, but I really want caltech


r/chanceme 23h ago

Chance an OOS junior for UIUC, Purdue, and Georgia Tech

1 Upvotes

VAGUE to avoid being recognized

Major: Mechanical or Electrical Engineering

Stats: 3.85 UW, 4.45 W, 34 ACT

ECs Robotics (9-12)- team captain, state 4x, nationals 1x, internationals 1x

student council (9-12)- class president, student body president next year

state student council (10-12)- selected from state to represent 2000+ students

state robotics board (10-12)- exec member, president next year, represents 10k individuals

Stem state board (11-12)- co-president

International nonprofit (9-12)-exec member representing chapters from around the workd

Key Club (11-12)- founder and president

school club (11-12)-social media manager

School club (11-12)- president

School newspaper(11-12)- editor in chief

school club (9, 10)- social media manager

Tech startup Intern (9-10)

Research (10-11)

Tech internship (11)

Awards: National coding award, 1/2000 for my region (national)

robotics individual award (international)- ~1%

journalism award (national)- ~15%

Presidential Volunteer Service (regional)

regional robotics mentor (regional )

top honor roll (school)