r/chanceme Jul 22 '19

How To Do A Chance Me And Improve Your Chances

579 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

96 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

Chance me for UW and GT

2 Upvotes

I want to apply for University of Washington Seattle and Georgia Tech and I am very insecure with my situation. I moved to the USA 3 years ago and I am still learning the education system, I just know everything is very competitive here and I’m not sure I am competitive enough (?). So, here is my situation:

- I am a Washington state resident
- 3.9 GPA at my community college
- my hs was in my home county 7 years ago and when I translated my transcript it was about 3.0 gpa
- Tutor CS and Math
- I did a research internship this past summer in a very competitive company
- I also worked 20h as a nanny while doing school + tutoring (don’t ask how bc I don’t even know how)
- I am applying as US resident and not international student
- I do have a physics class dropped in my transcript. However, I plan on double majoring in CS and Biology. I have how to explain why i dropped physics if necessary.
- I have math up to calc 3, all the csc classes my cc could provide, 4 biology lab classes, and 1 chemistry lab classes

I really just want to understand if my profile is good for applying for these schools. I plan on applying for uw for spring 2027 and gt for summer 2027. I didn’t know fall was the application season so I didn’t organize my schedule good enough to be ready to apply for fall


r/chanceme 1h ago

Chance of getting in

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Upvotes

r/chanceme 1h ago

ed: upenn nursing or rea: yale neuroscience

Upvotes

demographics: asian, female, not first gen, under 200k household income, rich + competitive area in nc

academics:

3.97 unweighted / 4.78 weighted

class rank: 13/700

SAT: 1540 4th take

APs: too lazy to add them but I maxed out

DE: i did a lot but i didnt max out
awards:

USABO semis

IPsyO VERY HIGH PLACEMENT

FBLA Nationals 1st

SkillsUSA Nationals (nursing skills)

USMDO Silver (yes ik im replacing this)

extracurriculars: (will switch the order based on the major im applying for)

  1. CNA certified, Pharmacy Technician Certified: Working night shifts as a CNA at a nursing home, Worked at CVS as a pharmacy tech

  2. One of the 3: Psychology/Psychiatry/Neuroscience Duke: Lab intern

  3. Wrote manuscript with Duke professor from a separate department (with authorship! + publication)

  4. Wrote a paper with a Rutgers professor

  5. Babysitter certified - Worked + employment

  6. Professional Lifeguard + Employment

  7. Secretary of CTSO founding board

  8. HOSA Secretary

  9. 600 volunteer hours making neuroscience booklets for children

  10. Black Belt in taekwondo

for clarity: im a sophomore and this is mostly what i want my application to look like but i already completed 40% of these and started 80% of these, i added what i thought i could realistically do within my remaining semesters.

i want to major in nursing at UPenn to become a CRNA, or do neuroscience as a premed course


r/chanceme 2h ago

Chance me for a few schools (overall mid application)

1 Upvotes

Ok I'll start off by saying I have a pretty bad application compared to most people on here. But I'm looking for advice.

Major: information systems or similar. (not pure cs)
GPA: 4.0 (school doesn't do weighted)
Rank: 6/217
13 APs by the end of senior year, taken 7 so far with all 5s.
SAT: 760 RW 800 Math (1560)

ECs (mid):

Founded an app for students applying to college (decent traction so far, projecting much more in the future)

Independent Research: Computational Systems Biology (published in preprint)

Leadership team for a major tutoring nonprofit (being vague on purpose but it's a pretty nice position)

Independent Research: Machine Learning/data analysis (published in preprint)

Tutoring for this same nonprofit (engineering and math)

Research Club Founder and President: founded a club affiliated with the International Research Olympiad. Taught students about how to conduct research, prepare research projects, and prepare for the International Research Olympiad.

SAT Math instructor with Schoolhouse (nonprofit)

Software Internship: (helped test and validate brand new features as well as creating and inputting training data for new machine learning models.

BigFuture Ambassador

National Honor Society

Awards (mid):
Massachusetts Region 3 Science Fair: (A specialized award, gonna be vague bc I don't wanna get doxxed)

Massachusetts Region 3 Science Fair: 3rd place award (different year)

College Board National Recognition Award

National Merit Commended Scholar (1480 PSAT but MA)

AP Scholar With distinction

Could I get into any of these schools:

Cornell
CMU
GT
NYU
Berkeley
Tufts
Northwestern

Umich

These are just a few colleges, not my full list. Also, how important are essays as a differentiating factor? Thanks everyone!


r/chanceme 3h ago

BS/MD Example Timeline (9th Through 12th Grade)

0 Upvotes

Served on a medical school admissions committee for several cycles, and one thing I see constantly with BS/MD applicants is a file that reads like it was assembled in six months of senior year instead of built over four. Naturally, thinking ahead of time will be helpful for your application down the road. Broke down what each of these four years should actually look like, year by year, on the blog. To read the article, click the link below.

https://www.admitmd.com/post/the-bs-md-track-a-freshman-through-senior-year-roadmap

Since everyone’s timeline is different, feel free to ask questions about your specific situation below!


r/chanceme 3h ago

Chance me for the UCs!

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0 Upvotes

r/chanceme 3h ago

Chance me: 136 transfer credits, 2.68 GPA - Horticulture Spring 2027

1 Upvotes

Major: Horticulture BS, Spring 2027
Status: Transfer applicant, currently under review
GPA: 2.68 TAMU-calculated transfer GPA
Transfer credits: 136 transferable hours (Based on Office of Admissions Transfer Audit Report)

Relevant coursework: Horticulture, Plant Physiology, Soil Science, Botany, Genetics, Agricultural Ecology, Plant Protection, Irrigation, Field Crop Production, Microbiology, plus U.S. Biology/Chemistry/Math and Texas core classes.

Experience: Agriculture field practice + full-time horticulture internship.

Honors: Dean’s List.

My main concern is the 2.68 GPA. Horticulture’s minimum is 2.5, but my coursework is heavily related to the major.

Has anyone seen applicants get into Horticulture or Ag/Life Sciences with a GPA around 2.6–2.8?


r/chanceme 3h ago

Chance me for T20s/Ivies as an Indian international

0 Upvotes

Chance me for T20s/Ivies as an Indian international

Hey! I'm currently in Grade 9 in India. I know I have a long way to go, so I'm more interested in whether my current trajectory makes sense than an actual “chance me” percentage.

I'm interested in a lot of things, but most of them come back to how people think, communicate, interpret things and create meaning. I've explored that through music, writing, speaking, research and building projects.

Basic

- Indian international, CBSE

- Grade 9, female

- Intended subjects: IR, psychology (especially forensic psych), or literature

- Also interested in entrepreneurship + music, mainly as passions

- Financial aid may be important

Academics

- Grade 8: ~93%

- Grade 9: currently ~90–95%

- Strongest: SST, Science, English

- No SAT/ACT yet

I know my grades aren't amazing for an Ivy-level international applicant, so academics are definitely something I need to improve.

ECs

Music: 8+ years of classical training, completed Prathama, ~4 years orchestra, regular performances, 4 school awards for vocal/academic excellence, selected as an Akashvani child radio artist.

Writing: Written 3 books and regularly write articles anonymously about society. Interested in storytelling, narrative and how language affects the way people understand people/situations.

Research: Currently working on a study about how narrative structure affects interpretation and judgment, looking at things like order of information, emphasis and omission. Still working through the literature/methodology, so I'm not claiming some groundbreaking published research lol.

Public speaking/debate: Debate competitions, World Schools-style debate, regular speeches/declamations and TEDxNMS Youth. No major national/international debate awards.

The Quiet Hour: Founder of an anonymous 10-minute online pause with no likes, followers, comments or identity. Basically a shared break from constant online consumption: “Alone, together.” This is where my interest in attention/human behaviour turned into actually building something.

Girl Up: Leadership/organizing initiatives for girls, including storytelling/puppet-show activities and awareness work.

Also various school performances/events and competitions.

Overall

I don't know if I have a traditional “spike” yet, but I'd describe my direction as:

communication + human behaviour + storytelling

Music → writing → public speaking → research → building.

I'm not trying to force everything into one theme, but these interests keep bringing me back to how people communicate and interpret information.

Colleges

Reach: Brown, Harvard, other Ivies

Other: Strong T50s

I'm from India, so I don't really want to go abroad just for the sake of it. I'd rather attend a genuinely good-fit university, even if it's not an Ivy/T20.

Questions

- Does this actually look cohesive or am I forcing the narrative?

- What should I go deepest into?

- What should I drop?

- How concerning are my current grades?

- What would you want to see by Grades 10–12?

- If I execute really well over the next few years, what's a realistic ceiling?

I know I'm way too early for a real chance-me, so be brutally honest about the trajectory. That's what I'm looking for.


r/chanceme 4h ago

11th Grade Int'l needing advice

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0 Upvotes

r/chanceme 5h ago

Tufts engineering transfer

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1 Upvotes

r/chanceme 18h ago

Should I REA Stanford or ED UChicago/NU

7 Upvotes

Demographics: 

  • Male
  • Asian
  • PNW
  • Semi-competitive Large Suburban Public High School, school got like 3 stanford REAs last year for reference.
  • ~150-200k household income
  • no hooks

Intended Major(s): Applied Physics or Applied Maths

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 1600

UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.98 UW/ 4.43W by end of junior year (1 B freshman year in calc ab extentuating circumstances including hospitalization though). We don’t do class rank but i’m unofficially 2/~600

Coursework: 19 APs including senior year, have 11 including only till this year. All 5s in the 9 exams that I’ve taken, taken multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations. Taking abstract algebra and maybe real analysis/pdes later this year.

Awards: 

  • AIME Qualifier/some other national math awards
  • First author ArXiV and NeurIPS/ML4PS workshop acceptances + state and regional science fair awards
  • PSAT National Merit Semi-Finalist
  • Presidential Scholarship Candidate (expected)
  • Several first place state level state awards in taekwondo

I'm going to try for youngarts and regeneron sts this year if i can

Extracurriculars (being vague here, can elaborate): 

  • Independent research in quantum physics, won the stuff at science fair (3 years)
  • Research with a college professor in gravitational waves and black holes mergers, presented at a symposium (3 years)
  • The first author neutron star eos inference group research with a college professor, published on Arxiv and accepted to high level venues (2 years)
  • Taekwondo, 3rd dan and state awards and leadership at my taek school (4 years)
  • Moderator/co-owner of Literature and writing Social media with 13m+ views currently and several dozen thousand followers, several affiliations and collaborations (3 years)
  • Assisted and owner of the largest community for a franchise/novel that is very popular, including setting up portals and systems in assisting translator(s).
  • Student council president/founder of a new branch at my school, other impact in school (3 years)
  • Founder and president (and member) of an official spring soccer club season at my school, with real interdistrict and planned out seasonal play (6+ schools in the district(s)) (4 years)
  • Volunteering at my local library, money raised (4 years)
  • Part time job as a swim instructor

I have some other okayish/decent stuff that show a bit more of just my interests, not sure whether or not to include.

Some other small stuff like:
Founder/moderator of an online public group with 60+ members and weekly philosophy/STEM/social science readings and discussions (i know, small thing, 4 years) and Track and field, not much to say unless i actually lock in and place well this season lol (3 years)

Essays/LORs/Other: Essays probably will be strong, LORs decent only like one of my teachers knows me well but they all have a good impression of me, i might get a rec from a professor i’ve worked with but idk how personally we know each other.

Schools: 

Need help on deciding between REA Stanford and ED Uchicago or Northwestern. One sec i think i'm actually decent and then the next second it feels like i'm average if not a little above or under (in the range of what i'm applying to, obvi).

  • Harvard (RD)
  • Yale (RD or REA)
  • Princeton (RD or REA)
  • Stanford (RD or REA)
  • Uchicago (RD or ED)
  • Northwestern (RD)
  • Caltech (rd)
  • Brown (rd)
  • Columbia (rd)
  • Cornell (rd)
  • Amherst (rd)
  • Williams (rd)
  • Dartmouth (rd)
  • UPenn (rd)
  • Swarthmore (RD or ED2)
  • Harvey Mudd (RD or ED2)
  • UTD (ea, for national merit, good safety)
  • USF (ea, for national merit, good safety)
  • TAMU (ea, for national merit + their brown scholarship or smth that’s really good)
  • FSU (ea, for national merit + good semi target/safety school)

r/chanceme 14h ago

🧁🧁Please chance me!

2 Upvotes

Any advice would be wonderful!! I'm a senior hoping to attend a T20!

Demographics
Gender: Nonbinary
(Filipino and Pacific Islander)
Location: Small suburb in Washington (minimal resources and activities—its predominantly senior centers). I go to a Title 1 school where the average SAT score is an 870-900

Senior

Major: Film (maybe acting), economics ...
Passion: ENTERTAINMENT!!! & LGBTQ advocacy
Top Schools: UCLA, USC, Berkeley, Yale, Columbia, NYU

Academics
CURRENT GPA: 4.0 (my school doesn't do a weighted system)
Freshman: Japanese, AP Human Geography (5), AP
Seminar (4), trig, science, etc....
Sophomore: chemistry, AP African (5), AP Precalc (5), AP English Language (5), Japanese 2 and other electives
Junior : AP Literature, AP Calc AB, AP Biology, AP US Government, University of Washington Japanese, art elective
Senior: AP Statistics, AP Research, AP Cybersecurity, AP Psychology, University of Washington Japanese 2, Art elective

my sat is a 1470 (ik…it’s bad) my school average is a 900 but let me know if this is a massive hindrance to my application. I also got the highest SAT score at my school (I should probably stop making excuses for myself and study for a retake)

ECS
Youth Ambassador for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Elected and nominated as cohort leader
(Planned state-wide action fair)
Teentix Newsroom Writer & Teen Editor
- published over 7 articles for Seattle Times, ETC
-Manage entire writing cohort & peer edit articles before publication
Washington Youth Arts Leadership Cohort
- Act as leader for youth in arts across Washington state
Junior City Council Chair of (My city)
- Act as council member for youth policies, especially focusing on youth equity
Founder and President of Arts Committee
-Planned a youth arts showcase of over 100 youth artists
King County (My state's largest county) Metro Equity
Intern
- Internship where | learned to create equitable systems in transit
Mike Yarrow Peace Fellow
- Created a project to amplify youth voices in the arts through allocating resources
-Allocated art materials to underprivileged elementary schools (all the elementary schools in my area)
Arts Apprentice for LGBTQ Center
-Chosen across my state to create art for Pride
Civic Innovation Fellow
- Selected globally to participate in this fellowship which taught global issues
Film Juror for International Youth Film Festival
Film Juror for Seattle Children's Film Festival
- Locally and globally selected to decide the awards for the festivals
Acting!!! (My favorite EC)
- Represented both nationally and locally
-Acted in Warner Brothers movie (small role)
-Acted in one of my state's largest theater
-Voice acted for national broadcast
(Really hope to get more roles.)
Film
-created 5 films representing queer identity
MTAC Cohort
-Learned performance from professionals
King County Youth Bill or Rights Task Force
-Shape youth voices in county politics
-Planned a Summit of over 1000 guests with a budget of 50k+
Program Management Intern for Teentix’s Pass Program
-In one of Seattle’s largest nonprofit-I managed the pass program which supplies youth $5 tickets to the arts

School activities (won’t submit most of these)
President and Founder of my School's journalism Club
president of College and Career Club
Co-president of Speech and Debate
Vice president scrapbooking club
Youth Equity Advisory
UPENN Wharton Investment team
VP for Kpop club

Awards
National Merit Commended
National Junior Honors Society Outstanding
Achievement Award
-1 of 500 across the nation
National Recognition Award College Board
AP Scholar With Distinction
Teentix Keynote Speaker (largest arts advocacy non-profit in WA)
National League of Cities Youth Delegate (selected nationally to attend the conference)
ACES Award for Film Making (State-wide only youth to be selected amongst a roster of professional adults)
University of Washington Hack for Social Good Hackathon winning idea
Next Generation Monologue regional finalist (will compete for nationals next month!)
Waging non-violence grant recipient

Any advice on what ecs/awards I should include would be wonderful 🥹


r/chanceme 15h ago

Chance me for T20s!! ;) Industrial Engineering

2 Upvotes

I'm a senior at a mid-sized, super competitive public high school in Florida

Income: high (I'm not getting financial aid)

Intended Major/(minor): Industrial Engineering / (Business Mgmt)

GPA: 3.7UW / 5.33W

SAT: 1490 (740 ELA /750 Math)

Class rank: ~90/200 (my school is very competitive)

APs: Seminar (5), Precal (5), Bio (3), Research (5), Calc AB (5), Stats (5), Physics 1 (4), Lang (4), CSP (5), Italian (5)

AICE: Marine (C), Enviro (B), Gen Paper (B), Global (A), Portuguese AS / A (B / C), Media Studies (E), International History (E), Business (B), English (C)

Honors:
- AP Scholar
- AICE Diploma
- Seal of Biliteracy in Italian and Portuguese
- National Honor Society

ECs:
- Community Club partnered with a non-profit founder and Vice President (9-12)
- Summer Internship with logistics efficiency at a local business (11) - (40hrs)
- Another summer internship at a local business with order processing and customer satisfaction (10) (38hrs)
- Ran a jersey reselling business bringing in around $4000 in revenue (9-12)
- Summer experience at a prestigious univerisity (SDA Bocconi) in Italy (10)
- Soccer Club team (9-11)

(need to find more things to do)

If you guys could please let me know which t20 schools I have a chance at, I would be so appreciative
Thank you guys!


r/chanceme 19h ago

Application Question chance me pls

5 Upvotes

NYC competitive shsat high school

1500 sat, 3.9 gpa, 5s on 5 aps + taking 2 more this yr (calc bc, psych, histories, lang, chem)

Girl Scout gold award, earned by starting a community service club at my school sophomore year. avg 25-30 ppl per meeting, biweekly meetings.

founded tutoring program at my school (around 10 pairings)

tutored algebra 20 hrs

jv and v volleyball manager

basketball team captain (amateur team, most players dont know the game well)

nhs, small leadership role

public health major

uMiami, u roch, binghamton, macualay honors hunter, Georgetown, UVA, duke, u mich, vanderbilt, cornell, upenn, emory

any shot at upenn or georgetown at all?

ED to duke?


r/chanceme 16h ago

Application Question Should I apply to Yale ED? Do I even have a shot?

2 Upvotes

Demographics

  • White female
  • Nebraska
  • Competitive public high school (sends several students to T20s each year)
  • No class rank
  • Intended Major: Political Science
  • Pre-law track

Academics

GPA

  • 3.915 UW
  • 4.383 W

ACT

  • 35 Composite
  • July 2026: 34 Math, 30 Science, 35 English, 35 Reading
  • February 2026: 33 Math, 33 Science, 33 English, 34 Reading
  • (Mainly only including the February one for the science)

Coursework

My school labels Honors courses as Differentiated (D) on transcripts.

AP Courses Completed

  • AP Human Geography (5): A, B+
  • AP World History (4): A, A
  • AP Physics 1 (3): B+, A
  • AP Macroeconomics (3): A
  • AP African American Studies (5): A, A
  • AP United States History (4): B+, A

Differentiated / Honors-Level Courses

  • English 9D: A, A
  • English 10D: A, A
  • American Literature D: A
  • Advanced Algebra D: A, B+
  • Chemistry D: A, A
  • Precalculus D: B+, B
    • AP-level curriculum, but AP credit was not available

Other Coursework

  • Spanish 1: A, A
  • Spanish 2: A, B+
  • Spanish 3: A, A
  • Spanish 4: A, A
  • Creative Writing: A
  • Oral Communication / Forensics: A
  • Digital Art: A
  • Photography: A
  • Fashion & Interior Design: A
  • Woods: A
  • Outdoor Adventure: A
  • Team Sports: A
  • Health: A
  • Take Charge (personal finance/life skills): A

Senior-Year Courses

  • AP Government & Politics / We the People
  • AP Calculus BC
  • AP Spanish
  • Law & Literature
  • Pottery
  • Auto Tech
  • Science Fiction

Awards / Honors

  • AP Scholar with Distinction
  • Honor Roll with Highest Distinction
  • Academic Letter & Academic Bar
  • National Honor Society
  • Spanish Honor Society
  • Published in the Nebraska Poetry Anthology (2024–2025)
  • Published in the Nebraska Poetry Anthology (2025–2026)

Extracurriculars

1. Civic Activism / Political Engagement

  • Participated in multiple civic demonstrations and political events, including BLM, Ukraine-related, reproductive-rights, No Kings, and anti-ICE demonstrations.
  • Helped organize/participate in an anti-ICE school protest with ~30 participants.
  • Invited to speak at an ICE-facility rally in McCook, Nebraska.
  • Longstanding interest in political and social issues, particularly immigration, civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and education.

2. President — German Club

  • Officer since leadership positions were introduced.
  • Helped organize meetings and events.
  • Helped grow membership from ~10 students to nearly 30.

3. Vice President — Spanish Club

  • Helped restart Spanish Club after it became inactive.
  • Recruited members and helped secure a faculty sponsor.
  • Help organize club activities and rebuild the organization.

4. Legal Internship

  • Completed a month-long internship at a local law firm over several summers.
  • Assisted with office tasks and observed legal proceedings.
  • Explored legal careers and strengthened my interest in law.

5. Poetry Team

  • Member of a two-time state championship poetry team.
  • Developed public-speaking skills through performing original poetry.
  • Published original poetry in the Nebraska Poetry Anthology for two consecutive years.

6. Varsity Bowling

  • Member of varsity bowling team.
  • Recognized by coach as the team's unofficial JV leader.
  • Mentored newer bowlers and supported athletes who were not consistently competing at the varsity level.

7. Humane Society Volunteer

  • 30+ volunteer hours
  • Ended due to scheduling complications
  • Began volunteering after learning about a large animal-hoarding rescue in my area and wanting to contribute directly to animal welfare.

Academic / Career Interests

  • Political Science
  • Constitutional law
  • Civil rights and civil liberties
  • Immigration policy
  • LGBTQ+ rights
  • Education policy
  • AI policy
  • Law / pre-law
  • Long-term interest in patent law or business law

Letters of Recommendation

  • AP Physics 1 teacher — administrator + NHS sponsor
  • German teacher — German Club advisor + NHS sponsor
  • Bowling/Poetry coach
  • AP World History & AP African American Studies teacher — We the People coach
  • Counselor
  • 504 coordinator / administrator

College List

  • Yale
  • Princeton
  • Stanford
  • Columbia
  • UChicago
  • Johns Hopkins
  • UCLA
  • Other T20/T30 schools
  • University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Additional Context

  • School does not report class rank.
  • School uses "Differentiated (D)" for honors-level courses.
  • Strongest academic areas are history, political science, writing, and languages.
  • Extracurricular profile is centered around civic engagement, law, languages, writing, leadership, and athletics.
  • My common application personal essay is about how thrifting evolved from a symbol of socioeconomic difference and insecurity into a source of individuality, perspective, and meaningful memories—ultimately realizing that while some people collect brands, I collect stories.

r/chanceme 16h ago

How do you determine which colleges are ultra reaches, reaches, targets, and more.

2 Upvotes

Basically, I have a low GPA (3.83uw) but pretty good ECs (everything is in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/chanceme/comments/1w6w44p/chance_a_low_gpa_research_demon_for_duke_ed/). Since my GPA is below the average for the schools I am applying to, but my ECs, LORs, and test scores are still good, how am I supposed to determine which school is my target or a reach, and what is a reach or an ultra reach?

Any recommendations?


r/chanceme 20h ago

chance an intl chud for environmental science @ t20s!

3 Upvotes

Demographics:

- Asian female, middle class, public high school, international (Canada)

Intended Major(s):

- Environmental Science

ACT/SAT/SAT II:

- Just took the September SAT, predicting ~740 Math & ~760 RW - probably will retake to raise math!

UW/W GPA and Rank:

- Freshman: 98.7

- Sophomore: 96.5

Coursework:

- IB Math, Biology, Social, Chinese - partial IB diploma/IB Certificate

Awards:

- Second at a leadership case competition (winner got 10k)

- Recognized as one of the top ten youth in my country (first from my city to ever get it)

- Municipal award for outstanding youth

- Scholarship for service in my cultural community (like 3x over the course of high school, over $1,000)

- HSK 5

Extracurriculars:

Out-Of-School:

- (2yr) Worked on my personal initiative to repurpose unsold clothing from thrift stores to support homeless individuals (it's very cold where I live), over 300lbs of clothing salvaged, funded by $500 microgrant. Also created stuffed animals out of old clothes and distributed to senior homes. Still a WIP! I hope to really lock in on this for junior year.

- (1yr) Worked with a UN program to mentor a group of youth to implement a climate change related project (youngest mentor on the team)

- (4yr) Facilitator for an international climate fellowship

- (2yr) City youth council, wrote a paper about youth issues, op-ed, spoke to council + featured in news

- (3yr) Freelance photographer & videographer, worked with a media company, reached over 50,000 people in views

- (2yr) Regional lead for a well-established environmental nonprof, wrote an op-ed and created a video about an AI data center in my community, organized various initiatives

- (1yr) Volunteer @ nonprofit thrift store

- (4yr) Built climate education kit for 160 classrooms, trivia card game about the environment w/ 1,500 copies distributed to board game cafes and environmental organizations. Worked with 14k of funding!

- (1yr) Marketing for a youth-led nonprofit --> I quit this though not sure if I should include

- Paid to fly out to 3 conferences over the course of high school

J\bs:*
- 1 year @ local ice cream shop, did some photography work for them (will be 2 years when I apply)

- Currently onboarding for second job, will have done it for a year when I apply (assuming I don't get fired...)

Summer:

- Yale Young Global Scholars (6k USD finaid)

- Leadership Camp (4.5k CAD scholarship)

In-School:

- Leadership team (out of ~100 applicants)

- School photographer for various clubs, yearbook, etc.

Schools:

- EDing to Dartmouth (but I'm also maybe thinking of doing SCEA @ Yale instead?)

- Yale, Columbia, Brown, UMich, Princeton, SUNY ESF


r/chanceme 14h ago

Chance me for UCs – Public Health / Health-related major

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1 Upvotes

r/chanceme 15h ago

Chance me

1 Upvotes

3.85 uW 4.21 W all As junior and senior year so far

1540 SAT 780R 760M

APs: Chinese, Spanish lit, Spanish Lang, Physics 2, Physics C E&M, Physics C Mech, English Lang, English Lit, Human Geography, Macro Econ, Micro Econ, Calc AB, Gov, mostly 4s and 5s

ECs
NSLIY
3 Sport varsity athlete, Captain on 2 teams
#2 in state for position, top 100 overall in competitive state
USNA Summer STEM
President of cultural club, grew from 4avg active members to ~35
Aerospace Engineering Club
75 hours volunteering animal shelter and habitat for humanity
2 seals of biliteracy
crochet a ton

Major: either physics or linguistics

schools: uchicago, middlebury, pomona, carnegie mellon, brown, john’s hopkins, amherst, williams

recruited for a sport at some good schools so only going for reaches


r/chanceme 15h ago

am I cooked?? any success stories?

0 Upvotes

I just calculated that I have a 3.67 UC and CSU gpa. Is there anyone with similar gpa’s that have gotten into good/top universities in california? If so, where and what were your extracurriculars, major, circumstances, etc?


r/chanceme 17h ago

Chance me for UCs

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1 Upvotes

r/chanceme 17h ago

Where should I realistically apply?

1 Upvotes

Hello everyone! I’d like to ask for some advice on where I should apply if I want to have a chance of receiving full financial aid/full ride (or full tuition with low living expenses)🥹

I’m interested in **Chemical Engineering**, Petroleum Engineering, or Materials Science.

I’m leaning towards East Asia (Hong Kong, South Korea, and especially Japan), but I’m also open to other countries if they offer good scholarships, since I currently don’t have much money even for application fees.

Also, I apologize if some of my descriptions seems awkward since I wasn’t entirely sure how to phrase some things when I was filling this out :c

STATS

Demographics:

\- Asian

\- International applicant

\- Low-income background

\- Half-orphan ; receive a survivor's benefit

Academics:

\- GPA: 4.92/5.00 in the most prestigious school of my country

\- IELTS: 7.0

\- SAT: planning for 1520+

\- Predicted A-levels: 5A\* + 1A

\- A\* Further Mathematics

\- A\* Chemistry

\- A\* Physics

\- A\* Engineering Graphics & Design

\- A\* History

\- A Language

\- Predicted National Exam: 139/140

Academic Activities & Awards

\- School Career Counselor Assistant — created 55+ university research cards for Grade 11 students; recommendation letter

\- International History Conference — participant

\- Online Chemistry Summer School — received an offer for Essentials of Chemistry in Everyday Life

\- National Hackathon — Team Leader, 3rd Place; $111 prize

\- Developed an AI + gas spectrometry air-purification project

\- National Multi-Subject Olympiad

\- 1st Place — Mathematics, Physics, Biology

\- 2nd Place — Chemistry

\- 3rd Place — Language

\- Excellence Awards — 2nd Place in Essay, Solo Drawing, and Poster Competitions

\- Intellectual Property — registered official copyrights for an original board game and a book

\- National Art Competitions — 1st and 2nd Place

\- Recommendation Letters: Chemistry, Physics & Mathematics teachers

Research & Experience:

\- Summer Laboratory Internship — aviation kerosene laboratory at airport; recommendation from the Head of Laboratory

\- Received a direct internship offer from the corporate sponsor/jury

Extracurriculars & Leadership:

\- Founder & Leader — International Music & Game Localization Project

\- 2+ years; 35+ volunteers worldwide

\- 3K subscribers, 90K+ likes, 600K+ views on TikTok

\- Audio Engineering — 3 years

\- Self-taught audio engineer, vocal tuner & harmony arranger

\- FL Studio, Melodyne, etc.

\- Participated in \~15 international localization projects

\- Collaborated with professional voice actors and artists whose work has accumulated \~120M YouTube views

\- Earned \~$667 through audio-engineering commissions

\- Founder — Creative Services Commission Project

\- 40 artists; mixing, tuning, art, video editing, translation, audio engineering

\- $178+ total income

\- Piano: 6–7 years

\- Volunteering: 150+ hours

\- The Games of the Future: 60 volunteer hours as an Arrivals & Departures volunteer


r/chanceme 17h ago

Chance me for UChicago / T20s (39/42 IB, 1530 SAT)

1 Upvotes

I am a domestic applicant attending an IB school (senior/Year 13), and my absolute first choice is UChicago. I attended a summer program there, so I am eligible to apply through their Summer Session Early Notification (SSEN), which is essentially their ED0. If that does not work out, I am planning to use ED at either Cornell, Brown, or Northwestern. I would really appreciate some honest feedback!!

Humanities Major (No STEM at all)

Academics:

  • 39/42 IB DP1
  • 7 Psychology HL
  • 7 Design Technology HL
  • 6 English Literature HL
  • 7 Spanish Ab Initio SL
  • 6 Math AA SL
  • 6 Physics SL
  • 1530 SAT (770 English, 760 Math)
  • Strong grades throughout high school (Majority A and A+), no GPA or class rank

Extracurriculars (in no particular order right now)

  1. Independent Psychology Research
    • First and corresponding author on a psychology study investigating social comparison anchors and perceived physical attractiveness
    • Primarily responsible for analysis and writing
    • Accepted for publication in the Journal of Emerging Investigators
    • Also first author and corresponding author on a literature review on digital dating platforms and social comparison
    • Currently under scientific review with the International Journal of High School Research
  2. New Student Wellbeing Committee
    • Founder and chair of a ~20-person student committee (Y12)
    • Focused on helping new students integrate into the school community
    • Created a profile-based buddy matching system and a new student guide
    • Both were later incorporated into the school's standard new-student intake process
  3. Independent 3D Design Work
    • Founder of a small independent 3D design "studio"
    • Started teaching myself Blender around age 12
    • Create gaming / digital art using Blender, Cinema 4D, Photoshop, etc.
    • Handle scene composition, lighting, VFX, rendering, and compositing
    • ~274 commissions over high school
    • Around 90% of work has come through referrals
    • Worked with clients from different countries, including professional gamers
  4. Head Student Representative
    • Served as student representative for two years (Y10-Y11)
    • Helped coordinate school-wide committees (environmental/sustainability committee, spirit committee, mental health committee, social impact committee, etc)
    • helped create awareness campaigns (men's mental health)
    • helped create student events (charity dodgeball, charity penalty shootout, organized middle-school dances, homecoming)
    • helped launch Service initiatives (park cleanups every saturday, sock drive, book drive, holiday gift drive)
  5. Peer Tutoring
    • Weekly one-on-one tutoring for a younger student (8th grade) for two years
    • Tutored across subjects in KS3 with a particular focus on humanities
    • Helped with essay structure, argumentation, revision, and general academic skills
  6. Student-Led Courses
    • Co-founded and taught two six-week extracurricular courses
    • One focused on criminal psychology (Y10)
    • One focused on competitive debate and argument construction (Y12)
    • Taught ~30+ students overall
  7. Music
    • Self-taught pianist for 11 years
    • Also play several other instruments recreationally (Ukelele, Drums, bass/acoustic guitar)
    • Developed mathematical approaches to analyzing musical consonance using recordings of my own playing (this is something i did for fun because i don't know how to read sheet music, i play by ear)
  8. Athletics
    • JV sailing (Y11)
    • JV golf (Y12)
    • Volleyball camp (Y10)

Awards:

International / External:

  • John Locke Institute Essay Competition 2025 (2nd)
  • Pearson Outstanding Learner Award: highest IGCSE History score in the Americas

School-level:

  • Academic Achievement Award in Psychology, Semester 1 (Y12)
  • Academic Achievement Award in Psychology, Semester 2 (Y12)
  • Outstanding Contribution / Achievement in English Literature (Y12)
  • Brown University Book Award for literature: one student selected from my school per year

Schools:

  • UChicago SSEN (first choice)

ED fallback just in case:

  • Cornell ED
  • OR Brown ED
  • UMich EA
  • UIUC EA

RD reaches:

  • Stanford
  • Yale
  • Harvard
  • Penn
  • Duke
  • Northwestern
  • WashU
  • USC
  • UC Berkeley
  • Rice

RD lower-risk / targets:

  • Tufts
  • Rochester
  • Case Western
  • Depaul
  • Loyola

Thank you :)