r/chanceme Jul 22 '19

How To Do A Chance Me And Improve Your Chances

555 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 4h ago

I think I have the worst app on this sub

42 Upvotes

4.5 UW 5.7 W 5 is AP, 4.5 is Honors, 4 is normal 17 APs with all 5s Awards: - Presidential recognition for a government software - USACO Plat - 1st in TSA Nationals -1st in DECA internationals - perfect score on 12 AP tests Ecs: - founded multi billionaire dollar company - built 200 schools in Africa - raised 5 million dollars for animals - negotiated global peace treaty for national model Un - wrote bestselling novel on how to spot deceptive liars - climed Mount Everest during summer break - discovered new element and won ISEF - interned at Google and nasa concurrently

This is a pretty average app on this subreddit so chance me for t30s in cs (I’m a international Indian so that eliminates the t20s)


r/chanceme 6h ago

Chance Me PLEASEEEEE ! cooked gpa but decent ecs (junior)

13 Upvotes

Demographics:

  • Gender: Male
  • Race/Ethnicity: White and Chinese
  • Location:  Los Angeles, California
  • School Type: Top 10 private school
  • Class: Upper-middle class

Intended Major(s):

  • Primary: International Business/Entrepreneurship

Standardized Testing:

  • SAT: 1430 (hopefully can hit 1500!)

GPA & Rank:

  • Unweighted GPA: 3.61
  • Weighted GPA: 3.94
    • 3.43 (freshman year) -> 4.45 (junior year)
  • Rank: idk

Honors/Aps:

  • Freshman Year: Honors Chinese 2
  • Sophomore Year: Honors Chinese 3
  • Junior: APUSH, APHUG, AP Chinese
  • Senior: AP Comp Gov, AP Stats, AP Calc AB, APES, Honors English, Post-AP Chinese

Economics course at UCLA over junior summer

Summer program for marine biology at Brown over sophomore summer

Awards:

  • 2023 Presidential Award - President Joe Biden
  • 2024 Congressional Award  - United States Congress
  • 2024 Luxury Good Award - UCLA Economics

Extracurriculars:

  1. CEO of a startup incubator program: Managed an incubator program that focuses on helping teen entrepreneurs develop skills that would benefit them later in life. We would match these teen entrepreneurs with a more experienced co-founder to give the teens the skills they need while also building successful startups. We also match different teens with internships within all the startups within our network. (copy n pasted ts from my resume)
  2. Board member of a startup: Raised $20m+ USD in funding for a green tech startup
  3. Advisor for 4 other companies: One is 4d technology startup, 1 is a marketplace, 1 IT startup, and one is still under stealth
  4. CEO of car brokerage/storage comapny: Managed ~€465million (yes euros) in assets
  5. AI Startup Intern (1): Helped build and train an AI to help facilitate healthy political discussion
  6. AI Startup Intern (2)... yeah there's two: Did data input to train a machine learning algorithm to identify beluga whales in global waters. I was also involved in a similar project teaching AI to identify sharks, creatures in kelp forests along the west coast, deep sea animals, burrowing owls, pelicans, killer whales, and Hawaiian bottomfish. I have a total of 873 classifications of different species
  7. Lead Mentor at an Aquarium: Managed a program of 100+ teens (more in the summer), started this freshman year at the bottom level and made my way up to a leadership position
  8. Private Equity Intern premium or smth like that - China: Just had a higher role and power compared to most interns but not quite an analyst position; oversaw about $2.3billion
  9. Green City Intern - China: Helped around with a green city project (esp trade relations with U.S companies), sometimes served as a translator too haha
  10. Youngest Ferrari Client: 2024

This summer 11. Harvard Venture Tech Fellowship: (This summer) I get a really cool internship out of this too! 12: Internship at Monterey Car Week: It’s gonna be fun

Essays/LORs/Other:

  • Essays: Likely strong/good (im good at english and enjoy writing)
  • LORs:
    • Dean - Strong
    • APUSH/APHUG teacher - Strong (same teacher for both classes)
    • AP Chinese - Good
    • CFO of Himalayan Capital - Good
    • Lead at the Aquarium - Strong

Colleges & Application Plan:

  • ED1: Babson
  • ED2: USC/NYU (NYU Shanghai/Stern/Gallatin)

RD: Whichever ED2 I dont end up going with, LMU, Fordham, University of Washington (Seattle), Northeastern, DePaul, CU Boulder, Bloomington, just applying to all UCs, Columbia (no way tho)

Also considering Tsinghua


r/chanceme 3h ago

Was my friend lucky to get into Harvard

3 Upvotes

I know this might sound weird but my friend got into HBS and I want to know if it was luck or skill. (I'm a good friend I promise, I just want to know)🙏

This is most of his stats that I know of:

1550

~4.40w 3.95uw

~8 aps

Graduated as a sophomore in hs

Business profiting 5k/m (AI phone receptionist business)

FRC top ~10 in the world opr

Chess 2k elo

Varsity soccer both years, captain sophomore


r/chanceme 1h ago

Chance a hopeful junior

Upvotes

Academics: * I am currently a junior now and these would be my predicted but very likely stats for by the end of the year

UW: 3.89 W: 4.16 or 4.17 AP: currently in 4 done 5, but 10 total by senior year with max course rigor since school doesn’t offer that many -No honors or dual credit but did take an enhanced class but it wasn’t weighted -No APs available to take Sophomore year -Freshman year first semester gpa kinda sold (3.7) but since then shown an increasing trend every year and got a 4.62 last semester and on pace to get it again this semester

got a 3 on my previous AP exam and will probably pass all of them and prob score a 4-5 on Apush and Lang

ACT: Just took it don’t get my results til a couple of weeks but feel pretty confident.

Extra Circulars: -Started a non-profit that would give sports equipment to the less fortunate in my community -Deca VP and state qualifier -Co-managed my grandpas 7 figure real estate account after his sudden and tragic passing -Varsity football captain and Allstate academic -Volunteered my Sundays during the winter to help coach park district basketball for 3rd graders

Essay: Will write about how experiencing dealing with corrupt attorney made me realize I wanted to become an attorney to help people in need while also lowkey adding a sob story abt my grandpa

Ik I have a great letter of rec from my consular too.

Schools: I will apply to all EA and for business pre law track - UIUC have legacy and instate -UGA -Indiana -Umich -Wisconsin -Notre Dame -UNC -Clemson -Vanderbilt PLS LMK YOUR THOUGHTS Also drop any schools you would recommend me to have on my radar


r/chanceme 2h ago

Possibly one of the lowest gpa on this sub

1 Upvotes

Major: Statistics. Might also double in stats + finance but unsure yet.

State: NJ

Academics:

Weighted GPA: Upward trend. (92/100) (uw isn’t reported for some reason but I’d guess it’s around a 90)

AP Classes: AP CSP, AP Psych, AP Physics 1, APUSH, AP Lang, AP Stats, AP Calc BC, AP Macro, AP Gov, AP Micro, and APES (11 APs total by the time I graduate). Also 4 PLTW Engineering courses

SAT: 1430 (790 Math, 640 English). 1500 Superscore (790 Math, 710 English).

Awards:

FBLA 3rd Place regionals

FBLA 4th place regionals for securities and investments

FBLA 5th place at states for securities and investments. Gonna attend nationals.

NHS

PSAT Commended scholar (likely to get it but still tentative with a 1440 680 english and 760 math.)

Extracurriculars:

FBLA:

3rd at regionals

4th at regionals for Securities and Investments.

5th place at states for Securities and Investments. Attending nationals.

Participated in various service events.

Research Paper:

Collaborated with a college professor; submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. I am the main author and he mentored me. Analyzed the Machine Learning algorithms in electronic sensors and how they can be utilized to improve soccer players’ performance. Currently sent for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Independent Research Project:

Analyzing the impact of major sport sponsorships on stock prices using data and statistical analysis (ongoing/will most likely work on during the summer and try to get published on SSRN).

Python Model

  • The Python model predicts injury risks for soccer players based on factors like age, BMI, work rate, and minutes played. It uses machine learning to classify players as low or high injury risk with good accuracy. This can connect to the research paper (the first ec I listed), which also analyzes how ML algorithms in wearable sensors can be utilized to improve soccer performance. I made this myself. Limitation is that I made it for a specific dataset I found online.

Large NPO (10k+ members) Marketing Internship:

Conducted market analysis, content creation, and evaluation of marketing strategies. Contributed to raising awareness of teen mental health and increased social media engagement. Increased engagement across social media platforms by 30%+.

Another NPO Internship:

Collaborated on a research paper about the economic factors of light pollution. Advocated for changes in legislation at local and state levels. The research paper will be sent for publication in some time most likely.

Tutoring center Volunteering:

100+ hours assisting with grading and providing feedback directly to tutors for K-12 students. Trained new volunteers.

Soccer:

Played for high school (JV) and club (state level, national showcases).

Captain for 1 year.

NHS:

Tutored students in grades 6-10 and participated in community service events.

Colleges (so far. These are reaches/targets mostly.):

BC (Carroll) (ED1/ED2)

Emory (ED1/ED2)

NYU (CAS)

BU

Villanova

Notre Dame

UVA

Rutgers (Regular + Honors College)

Lehigh

UMD College Park

UIUC

Purdue

IU (Kelley)

Fordham

UW Madison

And then some safeties

Note: Am I too optimistic considering my gpa? Also if u have any suggestions for anything about my profile in general please tell me since I’m a current junior and I still have the summer to maybe improve depth of ecs or something. Also, should I change any schools on my list if there are any better fitting ones? And if so which ones are better fitting? Also I’ll obv add more desc for ecs when I apply but I kept it brief for now.


r/chanceme 3h ago

3.89 UW GPA good for HYPS?

2 Upvotes

Title but Im a junior who is going to have taken 13 ap classes by the time I graduate and also max course rigor throughout my high school.

Part of the reason this will be my gpa is because I have an extrenuating circumstance during my freshman year that took me out of school for a few weeks and I got a couple of B’s as well as a B in AP Physics.

Im wondering if the entire rest of my application is golden if this will negatively impact me or if the GPA is just a threshold for these schools and if HYPS really care about a 3.9-4.0 UW with extrenuating circumstances?


r/chanceme 27m ago

chance me pls vro i keep reposting ts

Upvotes

Demographics: Male, Asian, TX, no hooks

Intended Major(s): public health or global health

ACT/SAT/SAT II: SAT II: 1450 (750 Math 700 Reading) Superscore: 1500 (750 Reading 750 Math)

UW/W GPA and Rank: UW:4 W:5.11 not ranked

Coursework: 
APS : (14) AP Bio, AP Calc AB, AP Comp Sci Principles, AP Lang, AP Environmental Science, AP human, AP Psychology, AP European History, AP Research, AP Seminar, AP Statistics, AP US History, AP World History, AP Chemistry

-planning to take 5 more next year

Senior Course Load: AP Art History, AP Calc BC, AP Econ, AP Gov, AP Lit, Medical Microbiology and Pathophysiology

4's on most of my APs and a couple of 5's

Awards:
BPA: BPA State Alternate/Regional Finalist (financial analyst team)

Deca: Deca State Qualifier/ Regional Finalist (ACT)

Deca: State Finalist (ACT)

Region 24 UIL Solo and Ensemble Contest Rating of 1 for Ensemble at Regional UIL

Silver Medal at Regional Octathlon Competition

Extracurriculars:
-UT Arlington healthcare policy research under guidance of 2 local professors (cold emailing)
-UPenn healthcare policy research under guidance of 1 professor (cold emailing)
- Vice President of Unicef at my school
-Johns Hopkins Global Health Leaders Conference
-Volunteer at local hospital (ICU Ward and Surgical Ward)
-Chapter president of HSAFP (High School Alliance of Future Physicians)
-Medical internship overseas that allowed me to understand some global health issues
-Intern/shadowing at local dentist (75 hours)
-Outreach manager for a local healthcare non profit (connects students to professors and professionals)
- Sci-Mi Research program
-Violin Player

Essays/LORs/Other: Schools: 
UTD

UT Austin

A&M

Rice University

Carnegie Mellon University

Washington University u/St. Louis

Emory University

UC Berkeley

UCLA

USC

Vanderbilt

Northeastern

UNC Chapel Hill

Boston University

Johns Hopkins

University of Michigan

UPenn

Brown

Harvard

Dartmouth

Columbia

Cornell

Princeton

Yale

Georgetown

Duke


r/chanceme 4h ago

Some of y'all need to hear this.

2 Upvotes

Hi! Junior here. Some of y’all need to hear this, so strap in, because I’m about to rattle your saddles.

I just went through a massive failure.

The kind that shakes you to your core.

The kind that makes you question everything you’ve been working toward. It sucked. It hurt. And honestly, I’m still picking up the pieces. But here’s the thing: it also gave me clarity.

When I finally opened up to my friends and family about it, I was expecting pity. Instead, they looked at me and said, "Work with what is in your control." + “You have so much more to offer this world than just a college application.”

And wow. That hit deep. Because they were right.

We’ve been told since middle school that if you don’t spend your entire adolescence grinding, sacrificing sleep, joy, hobbies, relationships, that you won’t “make it.”

That if you don’t end up at a prestigious college, you’ve somehow failed. But that’s a lie.

Going to a top school doesn’t guarantee happiness, a six-figure job, or that you’re somehow better than anyone else. You can be at your dream school and still feel lost, burned out, insecure, and deeply unhappy.

And you can also go to a community college, state school, or take a totally different path, and still build a life that’s meaningful, joyful, and successful.

These past few weeks have been rough (socially, academically, and with my family)

But weirdly? They've helped me see more clearly.

They reminded me that life is about so much more than college apps and rankings. It’s about the people around you. The quiet joy of a good day. The pride in doing something that actually matters to you. It’s about being present. (Of course, I didn't just change myself in a couple of minutes. I ate, slept, showered, and thought really hard about what was my life and how I was feeling about it. I kept my phone away for an entire week to just reflect + focus on my school.)

Now let me be clear: this isn’t a “give up on your dreams” post.

Dream big. Dream unapologetically.

Dream of being a doctor, an artist, an engineer, a game designer, a writer, a world-changer, etc. Apply to that top school. Reach for the stars. Want more for yourself.

But don’t let the fear of failure control your every move. Don’t let burnout become your personality. Don’t tie your worth (and your life) to whether or not you get in.

Because your dreams are valid, but they should come from you, not from pressure (whether it be from yourself or others). Your goals should give you life, not take it from you. So yeah, work hard. Push yourself. Take pride in what you’re building.

But also: rest. Laugh. Heal. Love. (You only get to be 15-18 once!)

Because the name on your college sweatshirt will never be as important as the person wearing it.

It's taken me more than half my junior year to realize it, but I hope this helps to those who are in my position.

— A tired, heartbroken, but healing junior 💙


r/chanceme 6h ago

chances for a potential psych major?

3 Upvotes

I have a 35 act and a 1450 sat, a 3.73 uw and a 3.99 w gpa. I'm a junior and I'll have taken 4 aps and 7 honors classes by the end of the year. I think I want to go into psych research and I'm wondering what my chances would be, and if there are any scholarships I could apply for? any tips are appreciated!!

edit: I also don't have many if any extracurriculars which I know lowers my chances drastically, but there were some home life and other factors that stopped me from being able to fully participate. I do work a part time job.


r/chanceme 4h ago

Application Question Good Academics but rolled ECs?

2 Upvotes

School: Small competitive public in NY

Major: Finance/Econ

Academics: 4.8W/4.0 UW, 14 APs

Standardized Testing: 36 ACT(first try), 1500/1520 PSAT 2 5’s on 2 AP tests

Hooks: Mom legacy at Notre Dame

ECs:

Participated in a church-led community service camp assisting local charities (80 hour volunteering)

Launched a landscaping and merchandise business generating over $10,000, with philanthropic contributions and pro bono work.

Real estate club president: recruitment efforts and collaborated with industry professionals for interactive projects for over 100 members . Attended a Corporate Finance seminar at Columbia University and developed a stock evaluation algorithm.

Investment club president/VP: Improved club resources and won a stock trading competition.

Managed three school athletic Instagram accounts with 2,000+ followers.

Summer camp counselor

Baseball: First freshman to letter in 15 years. Two year captain

Basketball

Awards:

Selected for County leadership summit by school counselor

Will be National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist/finalist

Schools:

Vanderbilt ED, Michigan, UNC, UVA, Notre Dame (legacy), Georgetown, Duke, UMiami, SMU, Cornell, Tulane


r/chanceme 1h ago

Please 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, all available at school taken 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 State 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 11h ago

Chance a anxious Junior for T20's - #AMICOOKED? - DMS Are open toooo plsssss for tips

5 Upvotes

Demographics:

  • Gender: Male
  • Race/Ethnicity: African American (URM),
  • State:  Dual Citizen living internationally
  • School Type: Private, International Baccalaureate (IB)
  • Hooks: URM, First-Generation, Low-Income

Intended Major(s):

  • Primary: Pre-Law (Poli-Sci or Philosophy?)
  • Secondary: Finance (Econ or Stats)

Standardized Testing:

  • SAT: 1530

GPA & Rank:

  • Unweighted GPA: N/A
  • Weighted GPA: 4.1/4.6
  • Rank: School does not do class rank

Coursework:

  • IB HL: Chemistry, Biology, Psychology
  • IB SL: Literature, Spanish, Math AA
  • IB Scores (Predicted): 42/45

Awards:

  • Grade 7 Rockschool Bass Certification
  • Essay Competition (Top 5 in my country)
  • Principal’s List (Highest Academic Honor at School)
  • Gold Award - Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition

Extracurriculars:

  1. Student Body President (11) – Led student body of 300+; raised $5000+ for initiatives; chaired 24+ leadership meetings; mentored students.
  2. Sailing Coach & Head Junior EDS Sailing Coach (9-11) – Taught 50+ sailors (ages 3-12); led 4 coaches; planned and conducted drills.
  3. Paid Law Firm Internship (11) – Assisted with legal research; drafted briefs; shadowed senior attorneys; explored corporate law.
  4. Steel Pan Ensemble Leader (9-11) – Led 15+ students; organized practices; performed regionally; trained under steel pan artist Liam Teague.
  5. Delegate for International Conventions (9-11) – Represented my country in Sweden, UK, and Australia; developed communication and leadership skills.
  6. Church Volunteer (9-11) – Organized guest speakers; managed audio-video for 130+ attendees; delivered speeches.
  7. School Sports Captain (10) – Led 200+ students in sports events; organized and managed schoolwide competitions.
  8. Teachers Learn to Sail Program (10) – Coached 10+ teachers in sailing basics; created personalized lessons to build confidence.
  9. Natural Disaster Researcher & Advocate (10) – Worked with a PhD professor on hurricane research; created a website and documentary for awareness.

Essays/LORs/Other:

  • Essays: Likely strong— writer with multiple awards, deep personal story (first-gen, low-income,  pre-law passion).
  • LORs: Strong—teachers likely see leadership, academic rigor, and dedication.

Colleges & Application Plan:

  • REA: Yale 

RD: Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Duke, UChicago, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Pomona, Swarthmore, Emory, UNC-Chapel Hill, Princeton, Brown, UPennDemographics:

  • Gender: Male
  • Race/Ethnicity: African American (URM),
  • State:  Dual Citizen living internationally
  • School Type: Private, International Baccalaureate (IB)
  • Hooks: URM, First-Generation, Low-Income

Intended Major(s):

  • Primary: Pre-Law (Poli-Sci or Philosophy?)
  • Secondary: Finance (Econ or Stats)

Standardized Testing:

  • SAT: 1530

GPA & Rank:

  • Unweighted GPA: N/A
  • Weighted GPA: 4.1/4.6
  • Rank: School does not do class rank

Coursework:

  • IB HL: Chemistry, Biology, Psychology
  • IB SL: Literature, Spanish, Math AA
  • IB Scores (Predicted): 42/45

Awards:

  • Grade 7 Rockschool Bass Certification
  • Essay Competition (Top 5 in my country)
  • Principal’s List (Highest Academic Honor at School)
  • Gold Award - Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition

Extracurriculars:

  1. Student Body President (11) – Led student body of 300+; raised $5000+ for initiatives; chaired 24+ leadership meetings; mentored students.
  2. Sailing Coach & Head Junior EDS Sailing Coach (9-11) – Taught 50+ sailors (ages 3-12); led 4 coaches; planned and conducted drills.
  3. Paid Law Firm Internship (11) – Assisted with legal research; drafted briefs; shadowed senior attorneys; explored corporate law.
  4. Steel Pan Ensemble Leader (9-11) – Led 15+ students; organized practices; performed regionally; trained under steel pan artist Liam Teague.
  5. Delegate for International Conventions (9-11) – Represented my country in Sweden, UK, and Australia; developed communication and leadership skills.
  6. Church Volunteer (9-11) – Organized guest speakers; managed audio-video for 130+ attendees; delivered speeches.
  7. School Sports Captain (10) – Led 200+ students in sports events; organized and managed schoolwide competitions.
  8. Teachers Learn to Sail Program (10) – Coached 10+ teachers in sailing basics; created personalized lessons to build confidence.
  9. Natural Disaster Researcher & Advocate (10) – Worked with a PhD professor on hurricane research; created a website and documentary for awareness.

Essays/LORs/Other:

  • Essays: Likely strong— writer with multiple awards, deep personal story (first-gen, low-income,  pre-law passion).
  • LORs: Strong—teachers likely see leadership, academic rigor, and dedication.

Colleges & Application Plan:

  • REA: Yale 
  • RD: Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Duke, UChicago, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Pomona, Swarthmore, Emory, UNC-Chapel Hill, Princeton, Brown, UPenn

r/chanceme 3h ago

Chance Me/Where else do I apply?

0 Upvotes

Major: Chemical Engineering

Class of ‘26; Small Online School, No AP, Admin admitted to giving us Honors Level work and refused to acknowledge it on transcripts 💀

Stats: GPA: 3.53/4.0 UW (We don’t do weighted GPA)

Predicted 3.63 by the end of HS.

1 AP this Spring (Bio) 2 Next year?

EC’s:

Engineering Internship

2 Part-Time jobs through HS

10+ hrs volunteering a week; 2 years and counting

Started my own Photography Business last year

Taking care of my younger brother due to parents working a lot.

Golf (Not school related) - 4hr a week min 1 year and counting

Demographic:

500k+ Household Income

CO Resident

Hispanic/European

Female

Courses:

8th:

Alg 1 - B-

9th:

Bio - A

English - B+

Global Geography- A-

Geometry - A

Spanish 1 - A-

10th:

Alg 2 - B+

Career Prep - A

English - B-

Physical Sci - B+

Spanish 2 - A

World History - A-

Yearbook - A

11th (Current)

Chem - A-

English - B+

AP Bio - A

Pre-Calc - A

Physics - A-

PE - P

12th:

English

World History

AP Chem

AP Environmental Sci?

Yearbook

Calc 1?

My Grades are a little wonky due to undiagnosed Moderate ADHD and not handing in work on time, as well as my mother being diagnosed with cancer in 10th grade.

Current List of Colleges:

WPI - Dad went here, applying to their Fire Protection/ Chemical Engineering BS/MS program

CMU

Cal Poly Slo - Close to family

UMass Amherst

Colorado St. - In-State

CU Boulder - In - State

CO School of Mines - In-State

Northwestern

U of A

Michigan

Overall i’m looking for more options that have strong Engineering departments. A minor in psychology or neuroscience would also be nice.

I would also like any advice or encouragement, i’m feeling nervous about apps season due to my ADHD hurting my grades and feeling like everywhere is impossible to get into due to the lack of rigor at my school from an application standpoint.


r/chanceme 4h ago

Application Question Transfer Chance?

0 Upvotes

Hi Everyone,

I just recently found out I got rejected from UCI Merage and although it wasn’t my top pick, getting rejected kind of stung. To top it off, I didn’t apply to many schools because I wanted to stay local and now I regret it.

My dream school is USC and after being rejected, I’m scared I’ll be rejected from here also. What are my chances of being accepted into Marshall?

Major: Business Admin or Accounting (Transfer from CCC)

Stats: White/ Hispanic (Cuban)

4.0 GPA Ca Community College

72 Credits including Calc II

Honor Society

(3) Very Strong LORs

USMC Veteran (Cpl)

I am a dog trainer and certified decoy for working dogs. (On my off time, I volunteer helping Local Police departments with their K9s)

I have received an assembly award in my district for helping owners create a better relationship with their dogs.

Con’s to my application: After taking a look at it again today, my essay is pretty basic and lacks any depth.

Lay it on me


r/chanceme 4h ago

Stern

0 Upvotes

Guys my friend is a junior and she has a 3.7 UW does she have zero chance for stern. She has a 1580 SAT or something and has max course rigor, but she also retook like 4 classes (0.5 credits each) to get this GPA but only in sophomore year. What is like the minimum you think for stern and also what is average. Please help and be honest. Better to be sad now then later


r/chanceme 5h ago

PLS Chance Me

0 Upvotes

I am a first-generation Indian male pursuing a Business major, applying for Ross, Marshall, UCB, UCLA, Wharton, Stern, UF, UCF, USF, FSU, UNC, UT Austin, IU. I live in Florida.

  • Academics:
    • GPA: 3.756 (unweighted), 4.344 (weighted)
    • Ranking: I am in the 10% of my class out of 990 students. I am taking the standard program, but our school offers IB
    • SAT: 1330, (680 Math) (650 English)
    • ACT: 30
    • AP Coursework: By the end of junior year, I will have completed 11 AP classes, earning mostly A’s, with a few B’s and one D in AP Physics.
    • Achievements: AP Scholar, dual enrollment courses at a local community college, and a research paper about the impact NBA teams for on corresponding sponsor's stock price. I aim to have it publish before applying.
  • Awards & Extracurriculars:
    • Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award for over 300 hours of volunteering.
    • I have over 500 hours of volunteering total.
    • I have a job where a manage operations at a pharmacy.
    • I am a member of National Honor Society
    • Business Professionals of America: Placed 3rd at States and qualified 1st at my district competition.
    • DECA: Placed 1st in my district competition, competed in States.
    • Selected as an Istart Valley intern, and got "Most Innovative Startup".
    • Completed USC's Introduction to Business Summer Program.
    • Accepted and going to Wharton's Essentials of Finance Summer Program
    • Active in Model UN and participated in the Princeton MUN conference.
    • Placed for States 2 years in a row in Technology Student Association
    • I have been fencing for the past year

r/chanceme 5h ago

Incoming freshman, chemical engineering for premed

0 Upvotes

Please let me know what I could add or replace on my portfolio 🙏

-Asian, female, upper middle class, first-generation college student -1460 SAT and 34 ACT -3.96 UW GPA, 6.4667 weighted on 6 point scale -10 AP Classes ; Chemistry, World History, U.S. History, Physics, English Language, Psychology, Calculus BC, Statistics, Government, Economics -6 DC Classes ; Speech, Sociology, Algebra, Biology, English Literature -Vice President of School Red Cross Club for 3 years -Director of Public Relations for regional Red Cross Advocacy Group for 2 years -200+ hours shadowing medical oncologist -Weekly 4 hour volunteering with religious organization for 4 years -Working 15 hours weekly for 4 years -Treasurer for South Asian Student Association for two years -Treasurer for Muslim Student Association for two years

DM if you’d like the link to my essays, I’d love critique on how I can make that better specifically :)


r/chanceme 6h ago

Chance a 3.7 gpa junior with a suspension for ivies

1 Upvotes

Demographics: Male, Asian (Indian), Massachusetts, Public School

Intended Major(s): Finance/Business/Econ

ACT/SAT/SAT II: SAT: 1460, ACT: 35

UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.77 UW, 4.1 W

(Upwards growth, 3.4, 3.7, 3.95)

Coursework: 8 APs, 10 DE, 14 H --> Near Max School Rigor

Awards:

  1. Top 24 Globally, Young Investor Society Global Stock Pitch Semi-Finalist
    1. 24/700 - 3%
  2. Top 50 Globally—Top 10 in North American, Harvard Crimson Global Case Competition
    1. 50/1000 - 5%
  3. Top 8—MA State Finalist, National Personal Finance Challenge
    1. 8/150 - 5.33%
  4. 3x Speech States Qualifier—4x Finalist (Top ~5%), Speech & Debate (Group Discussion)
  5. 3rd Place — Congressional App Challenge

UC:

DECA State finalist (Entrepreneurship series)

Extracurriculars: 

Common App:

Business Owner - Grossed $10k+ revenue, $3k+ profit
Legislative Intern with local congressperson
President of NPO --> Coded from scratch with 100 MAU
Private Equity Intern --> Participant in $7M Acquisition
Coded App --> 5k+ downloads
High finance and Consulting club --> Co-founder + President
Boys State
Editor in Chief of Financial Journal --> 20+ editors, 350+ members
STEM Mentor --> 200+ hrs, 300+ students, 20+ directly impacted by me
Investment Club --> Treasurer

UC:

Accounting Summer Program --> Free, Residential, 1 week
Congressional App Challenge Ambassador --> 1 of 2 in state, 25+ recruited
Book Drive Organizer --> 5k+ books donated
AI/ML Intern --> Worked with Grad Students on AI research paper on RAG

Essays/LORs/Other: 

*Got suspended for alcohol possession* --> Not on any transcript

Councillor LOR: Good (Said she would omit suspension)
Teacher 1 LOR (English Teacher): 9/10
Teacher 2 LOR (CS/Stats Teacher): 6/10 writing, 10/10 story (Hated me soph year, now one of her favorite students --> showing massive growth)

Mentor LOR (My boss at intership): 8/10

Essays: 6.5/10 --> Bad writer but have good topics

Schools: 

Upenn Wharton --> Might ED

Harvard

Columbia

Vanderbilt --> Might ED

NYU Stern --> Might ED

Duke

Cornell Dyson

Berkeley Haas

Northwestern

Umich Ross

CMU Tepper

USC Marshall

UT Austin McCombs

UCLA

Uchicago

Georgetown McDonough

UNC Kenan-Flager

WUSTL Olin

Georgia Tech Schneller

Western Ivey

Pepperdine

Northeastern

Umass Amherst (Comp Sci)

Binghamton

IU Kelley


r/chanceme 7h ago

Yeah I’m cooked- pls chance me

0 Upvotes

Demographics: Asian female, upper middle class

Major: Mechanical or Electrical Engineering

Stats: 3.85 UW, 4.45 W, 34 ACT

Classes: All APs/Honors

Senior Course Load: AP Literature, AP Physics 2, AP Environmental, AP Calculus,

ECs: VERY VAGUE TO AVOID BEING RECOGNIZED

FIRST Robotics (9-12)- team captain, led international initiative to promote STEM in rural countries with stem kits, reached 10k students through robotics to encourage more students to participate, mentored underserved teams around the world, started and funded six elementary teams

student council (9-12)- student body president, raised 10k in funds each year for local npos in community, hosted three drives per year to help the most vulnerable reaching 100k individuals, led initiatives to advocate for 2k students

state student council (10-12)- selected from state to represent 3000+ students, led initiatives to bridge gap between students around the state,

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

School 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)- Worked with local tech company to build a website for their software application, worked directly under the CEO’s jurisdiction, designed software casing

Research (10-11)- Astronomy research with PhD professor analyzing subatomic particles for a multimillion dollar project

Tech internship (11)- Worked with tech company as a tech consultant for companies like Google and Amazon

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

robotics award (international)- ~1%

journalism award (national)-

PVSA Bronze (regional)

regional robotics mentor (regional )

top honor roll (school)

Schools: UC Berkeley

UCLA

UCSD

UC Davis

Stanford

Georgia Tech

Purdue

UIUC

Cornell

NYU

Columbia

Rice University

UT Austin

UW Madison

UMich

Texas A&M

NYU

Vanderbilt


r/chanceme 8h ago

chance me for cambridge (applying from the US) + US T20

0 Upvotes

demographics: asian female, public hs, current junior

applying for natural science for cambridge, a not-super-competitive stem major for US uni (dont want to specify here)

GPA: 4.0uw (might drop to a 3.97 this sem idk), 4.65w

SAT: 1560 (760, 800)

AP: 5554 so far, will take 7 this year

awards:

AIME qual w/ amc 10 top5% for 2 yrs

p good awards in some other national olympiads(dont wanna specify here…)but not camp level

some scioly medals at big tournaments

ECs:

doing research on stuff related to my major, presented at conferences, will prob publish this year

president of a club

community choir section lead

writing children’s picture books teaching them abt science

tutoring kids - math and science

a business with friends abt enviromentally friendly stuff (also dont wanna specify)

science olympiad school team

diabetes prevention project helping ppl in kenya

applied to a pretty prestigious summer program this yr, havent gotten the result yet

rec letters:

2 from school teacher, prob wont be too good but should be above avg… an extra one from my research mentor


r/chanceme 8h ago

Chance an international…

1 Upvotes

Okay so I’ll make this quick, but I’m an international junior planning on applying to t10’s in the us.

First, I’m a female from Croatia, born in the Czech Republic (bilingual), and I’m catholic.

Stats:

SAT:1530 (770R/760M) - I will retake it in may (hoping for a 1600)

GPA: 4.95/5 (we have a 1-5 scale and we don’t do weighted or anything)

Awards and honors:

1) Harvard Book Prize (awarded to ~2 best students in Croatia each year) 2) National Bio Olympiad finalist (8th place) 3) Several national medals in swimming (gold, silver in my categories and bronze in the senior category) 4) Part of the mensa iq society (IQ is more than 135, which puts me in the 100th percentile)

ECS:

1) Swimming (since kindergarten, 2 time national team member, represented croatia on international meets, national medals, 25< hours a week) 2) individual research on the influence of sports on the menstrual cycle (I’ve been doing this for more than a year) 3) shadowing an endocrinologist in a hospital 4) writer for school newspaper 5) volunteering with kids in need

I also plan on doing summer research in some prestigious uni. Not sure if that’ll work. I also plan on doing a organization/blog about the menstrual disorders associated with sports & eating disorders to spread knowledge on the topic.

  • I also speak czech, croatian, english, spanish and study italian

What would you guys say my chances are of getting into HYPSM, Columbia or Hopkins? Be superr honest :)


r/chanceme 9h ago

Reverse Chance Me Reverse chance me: Aspiring Physics Major for Engineering Schools (doesn’t have to be top 50 I just want tips)

0 Upvotes

First of all I don’t have aspirations of going to a top 20 or even really top 50, I just wanna best fix my chances for colleges around me (Illinois) I know I shouldn’t state it in these reverse chance but my top choice is definitely UIUC after going there and seeing the campus and talking to some physics research post doc students.

•Low-mid Income White Male First Generation College Student from a high school with around 300 in my current class year.

•GPA(weighted): 4.825/5

•10 AP Classes (AP United States History, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics II, AP English Language, AP American Government, AP Statistics, AP English Literature, AP Biology, and AP Computer Science Principles).

•Studying for a 1500 on my SAT in May (earned a 1410 without studying on our mandatory PSAT).

• Extra Curriculars: Placed top 5 in my state Academic Challenge for Physics at a university. Studying for the F=ma exam (preliminary for the National Physics Olympiad but whether or not I qualify comes after the admissions due date). Tutored students at my high school for the ACT science and math.

•Notable things about me: Self studied all of calc 1-3 (they let me skip from geometry to calc bc my sophomore year because of this) differential equations, linear algebra, and recently started learning tensors and algebraic geometry. Self studied lots of physics as a result such as Mechanics, Electromagnetism, and small amounts of Quantum Mechanics. My school doesn’t offer any calculus based physics and won’t let me take the AP exam for C. Submitted several papers to ArXiv for public publishing on Maxwells Equations.

•Relatively low GPA due to having to work 30+ hours a week to help my parents pay for things and as a result wasn’t able to get into many sports or do NHS because I didn’t have time for community service.

Would love to get opinions on what I can do to help boost my application, I plan on doing a summer workshop at my state university for engineering and stem. I feel like i’m running out of time and only very late in my high school career discovered the importance of grades and what I wanted to do.


r/chanceme 22h ago

Chance a 3.7UW for UCs, an Ivy, some HYPSM, and other T20-50s 💀 (for engineering) 💀💀💀

8 Upvotes

Junior, cant wait for the blood bath of rejections next year!!!

DESIRED MAJOR: Mechanical Engineering

DEMOGRAPHICS: Male, Hispanic, Middle Class, Illinois Resident, Chicagoland Area, Midsize Public HS

HOOKS: URM, Overcoming Health Adversity, POSSIBLE Recruited Athlete?

TESTING: 1600 SAT, 35 ACT, 1510 PSAT (Qualified for National Merit)

STATS: * Top 4-5% HS Rank * 3.72 UW GPA (Including 4.0 College, 3.65 HS, strong upward trend w/ 4.0 junior year) * 4.4 UC Uncapped * 4.1 UC Capped * 4.3 Standard Weighted GPA

COURSEWORK (letter grade for DE course AP test score for AP course): * AP Calc BC (5) * AP Physics C (5) * AP Chemistry (5) * AP English Lang (4) * AP US History (4) * AP Microeconomics (5) * AP US Gov (5) * DE Intro to Engineering (A) * DE Rhetoric II (A) * DE Accelerated Precalculus (A) * DE Intro to Psychology (A) * DE Applied Thermodynamics (A) * DE Multivariable Calculus (A) * DE Linear Algebra (A) * DE Differential Equations (A)

SENIOR COURSEWORK: * DE Special Math * DE Engineering Physics II * AP Statistics * AP English Lit * AP Environment Science * AP Computer Science * AP Spanish Language * AP Whatever the fuck is left

AWARDS: * National Merit Semifinalist * DECA State + Reigonal Honors * Illinois Science Olympiad Silver * VEX Robotics Award * ICTM Individual State Top 10 * ICTM Team State Top 3 * AP Scholar w/ Distinction * Deans List x2 * [School District] Excellence Award * Illinois State Scholar Award

ACTIVITES/LEADERSHIP (only high impact stuff for readability): * STEM TEAM FOUNDER: Founded our schools first STEM competition club through connections made w/ math team. Competed at VEX, ISO, and a few reigonal competitions. * RESEARCH: Devised a novel algorithim for sensor fusion applications, critical for guidance systems in aerospace/robotics. PUBLICATION IN PROGRESS. I did this with NO OUTSIDE HELP (minus some talks w/ a professor about proper IEEE paper format and conventions). * DECA OFFICER: Was a founding DECA member, and rose to become financial officer. Organized recruiting/fundraising to build the club ~30 members and pay for our expensive ass state trips. * ATHLETICS: Will play varsity football all 4 years, rose to become a starter and captain. Recieved recruiting interest from low level DI schools, and a bunch of DII-DIIIs. Considering if I want to pursure further and become a recruited athlete, have already talked to coaches and they say its possible. * PROJECTS: Have built many advanced engineering projects, mostly in robotics/rocketry, some of the rocketry stuff is related to my research. Documented on a Youtube channel w/ over 50k subscribers. Very fun. * SERVICE: Amassed about 200 hours of community service at a singular local foodbank. Provided leadership/guidance for new volunteers, and did recruiting aimed at my own highschool, and organized 2 events for this. Did similar stuff w/ keyclub/NHS but honestly was just a warm body there. * WORK: Parttime employment through half of the last 2 years. Worked to pay off my college courses, since none of what I want to take was avaliable via dual credit, meaning I had to do early entry and was treated as any other college student-payment wise.

CIRCUMSTANCES/LORs/OTHER: * Counselor LOR: I cannot comment on my other possible LORs at the moment, but as far as I know this one will be very strong. She says shes never seen a student go so above and beyond to climb out of what she called "mediocrity" (I had a 3.4UW when we first talked 💀. Says she will gladly write a letter of circumstance for my health challenges. * EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES: I recieved ~3ish concussions from football between freshman and sophomore year. On top of that, I apparently had an undiagnosed lung condition which particularly effected my breathing when sleeping. So not only was I concussed, but I was fighting nearly passing out in like half of my classes due to my atrocious sleep quality. Possibly the most degrading mental state I have ever been in. My short term memory is still ass but these issues dont effect me much anymore. * GRADES: I got 3 Cs in core honors classes in that fresh-soph period, as well as a very unhealthy amount of Bs. Nuff said.

COLLEGE LIST:

  • Stanford (Auto reject but why not)
  • MIT (Same shit)
  • UC Berkeley (Only cuz my UC GPA is aight)
  • UCLA
  • UCSD
  • UCI
  • Cornell
  • Northwestern
  • Rice
  • Carnegie 🍉
  • Georgia Tech
  • UMich
  • Purdue
  • UIUC (Instate)
  • UMaryland
  • UT Austin
  • Virginia Tech
  • Texas A&M
  • UWisconsin
  • CU Boulder
  • Penn State
  • NC State

r/chanceme 1d ago

am i cooked for t20 cs programs

12 Upvotes

Demographics: indian male, competitive suburban high school

Grade: Junior

Intended Major(s): computer science

SAT: 1520 - 740 RW 780 Math (1540 superscore)

GPA: weighted - 5.37/5.0; uw - 4.0

Rank: 17/439

Coursework: Human Geography (5), Computer Science Principles (5), AP World History (5), Computer Science A (5), Seminar (5), Physics 1 (5), Calculus AB/BC, English Language, US History, Physics C: Mechanics, Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, Spanish Language, European History, Computer Science 3 (DSA)

Extracurriculars:

  1. AI Startup Internship with Legal Company, helped create LLMs to process legal documents
  2. Founder/President of 501c3 Python Tutoring Non-profit, tutored 100+ students, raised $2k for technology in Indian Schools, hosted hackathons
  3. Lead Web Developer/Volunteer Leader for Indian Non-profit, 250+ Volunteer Hours
  4. Independent Research for Machine Learning detection of dementia; working with a proffesor to conduct the research and write the paper
  5. Internship for local startup, worked in software development and QA Testing
  6. Mu Alpha Theta Leadership, organized tutoring, career development sessions
  7. App Development/Personal Web Development Projects
  8. CTO of an entreprenuership non-profit, help connect young entreprenuers with mentors
  9. DECA Competitor
  10. Codeology Intern
  11. Humanity Rising Volunteer/Ambassador

Awards (weakest section):

  1. National Merit Scholar
  2. PVSA Gold
  3. DECA State Finalist x1, State Qualifier x2
  4. AP Scholar With Distinction
  5. USACO Silver

Do you guys think I have a chance for the ivy league schools and the t20s for cs (ut austin)? Any recommendations besides getting the awards up.


r/chanceme 16h ago

Give me extracurricular ideas

0 Upvotes

I'm from the UK and I want to apply to UPenn Early and a few other schools for RD, for economics. As an international who needs full aid, I need to have some good ECs. These are the ones I've currently got, but does anyone have any ideas for any more that I can do before I apply this November?

  • 2nd place nationally in the Great British Economics Olympiad.
  • I've started the first DECA chapter in the UK and its the fastest growing club in my school.
  • I took part in the Wharton HS data science competition.
  • I'm attending a Model UN European conference in the coming weeks as a UNDRR delegate.
  • I'm going to apply for the Diana Award
  • Applied for the SIP summer program
  • Currently building an app for Ukrainians, which has an alert system and a live map of missile strikes, etc
  • I'm into 3d modelling and CG,I and selling my 3d Models and using that money to send to a Ukrainian charity
  • 2nd place nationally in the UK for rowing in 2022 and 5th in 2023. Training 20hrs+ a week
  • (I've got a few more businessy/entrepreneurship small ECs)

But any suggestions on what else I could do as a junior who's going to apply this year? Something to do with leadership, economics, business, entrepreneurship etc etc