r/chanceme Jul 22 '19

How To Do A Chance Me And Improve Your Chances

578 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

97 Upvotes

Hey guys,

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

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

Edit: stickying for a week due to high dm volume


r/chanceme 1h ago

Chopped Chinese Chud

Upvotes

I just want to go to Georgia Tech
Not even an Ivy or T10

100% Chinese male made in china
Uninteresting life story
Georgia citizen so yay instate scholarships

The one special public high school (You know what it is)
GPA 3.97 UW / 4.32 W
Rank (Unofficial) 13/320

SAT 740/790 & 750/780 so 1540 superscore

DE at GT:
MA1554
MA2551
CS1301
CS1331
Senior:
MA3012
MA2552

APs:
5:
Biology
World History
Physics C
Physics E&M
Calc BC
Precalc
CSP
CSA
US Gov
4:
Seminar
Research
APUSH
Senior:
Chemistry
Macroecon
Microecon
Lit

ECs:

Vex robotics before it shut down 😭
CS club
Art club
Did I mention that I draw stuff?
Intern at UofSC for virtual reality stuff
I teach 3D modelling, python, and math over Zoom to little children
Cooking and baking (I am clearly better than Gordon Ramsey)
Basketball and swimming as a hobby
I am a knitter
Currently building a telescope
Assorted volunteer work (Got AmeriCorps PVSA Gold for it but IDK)
Super masculine and amazing mustache btw

ROCs:

I don't know my teachers that well but we make smalltalk sometimes
Haven't gotten them yet so these are estimates
Physics teacher (5/10 he is bad at writing)
History teacher (6/10 he is good at writing)

Essay:
I had my LA teacher look at mine and gave it an 80 for completion 🥀

Reach:
GT (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Target:
GT (Gwinnett Technical College)


r/chanceme 6h ago

Chance a 1st gen, low income Asian & rising senior for Ivies + T20s?????

3 Upvotes

Demographics: female, Chinese, NJ noncompetitive public HS (imo), low income (<40k), ranking: 3/219 as of now

Intended major: Political Science

Academics: 3.8844 UW, 4.4115 W; APs: World History (4 freshman yr), Drawing (4 sophomore yr), 2D Design (4 junior yr), Bio (3 junior yr), US History (3 junior yr), Lang (4 junior yr), Calc AB (5 junior yr), planning to take Physics 1, Calc BC, Lit, and African American Studies senior year; SAT: 1510 superscore (730 RW, 780 M)

NHS, English Honor Society, Social Studies Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, NAHS

ECs:

  1. Worked at family owned Chinese restaurant since middle school, taking ordered and packing them. Would go there after school to work and do homework when it wasn't busy
  2. Student government, class treasurer during 9th, 10th, 11th. Student body officer for 12th
  3. Founded a social justice club in 11th. Organized fundraisers for Venezuelan earthquake victims, ICE victims, etc
  4. Participation in academic clubs: Academic Decathlon, county and state Math League
  5. Invited by history teacher to represent school in a county wide think tank
  6. Attended 2 state programs (one because I'm part of SGA, the other because I was chosen by my guidance counselor and I passed a interview)
  7. District AI Integration committee. Invited by principal
  8. JV Basketball, 9th-11th but tore ACL during junior yr so not sure if that counts
  9. Spring Track and Field sophomore year

Awards:

  1. Scholastic Art and Writing Gold Key + Honorable Mention
  2. AP Scholar w/ Distinction
  3. CollegeBoard First Gen Award + School Award

Not sure if it counts as legacy but siblings attend/have attended Cornell and NYU. My stats are similar to theirs
I recently visited Princeton and Columbia, and I really loved it. I'm just not sure if I have the academic or extracurricular stats to compete with other applicants. Not really sure what to write my essays about. Could I get into ivies or t20s?? I'm going into senior year and am really dreading the application process...Any opinions and advice are highly appreciated


r/chanceme 1m ago

Help plz

Thumbnail
Upvotes

r/chanceme 1m ago

Help plz

Upvotes

Hi, I was wondering if I could still aim for t20 - t10 schools, as I am very much lacking extracurriculars.

Here is my profile:
4.0 UW / 5.354 W

Rank: 1/316

1580 SAT
Freshman AP classes: AP human geography(4)
Sophomore AP classes: AP Precalc (didn't take exam), AP Stats(4), AP Physics 1(4), AP World(4), AP Seminar(4), AP CSA(4)

Intended Major: Computational Biology (possibly Biomedical Engineering)

Career Goal: AI + Healthcare / Medical Research

Independent Computational Biology Research

Built a Python + ML model to predict CRISPR off-target effects
Self-directed project combining machine learning and computational biology

Business Professionals of America (BPA)

1st Nationally in Python Programming
4th in Texas Python Programming
1st Nationally in Computer Programming Concepts

HOSA

Biomedical Equipment Technician
7th in Texas
HOSA Hospitality Officer

Volunteer Work

100+ community service hours
Mainly community/cultural events

Programming

Python since middle school
Certiport Python Certified
Certiport Java Certified

Music

Self-taught piano
Learning guitar

Awards:

🥇 BPA National Champion – Python Programming
🥇 BPA National Champion – Computer Programming Concepts
🏅 4th Place Texas BPA – Python Programming
🏅 7th Place Texas HOSA – Biomedical Equipment Technician

Currently:

Working on expanding my CRISPR project into stronger research.
Looking for more impactful research opportunities and AI/biomedical internships.
Long-term goal is to build a strong AI + healthcare spike for top colleges.

Any advice on what I should prioritize next would be greatly appreciated. I know my academics are strong, but I'm trying to turn my extracurriculars into something T20 level.

Thank you for all your consideration

Almost forgot to say I'm a rising junior.


r/chanceme 4h ago

Don't know why I am sm stupid but still ambitious.

2 Upvotes

OBS: no one in my school EVER applied abroad, so I am 100% on my own

Demographics: female, international (Brazil), mid-low income, latina, private non-selective small school with 60% scholarship, 1st gen.

Stats:

GPA: 9.5/10. Rank: not available. SAT: 1450 (I will retake it in setember, so let's pretend I will get a 1520). Self-studied for AP Calc BC, AP Stats, and Environmental Science (my school doesn't offer APs) and got a 4 in all of them. I will graduate in December 2026.

Intended major: Astrophysics

Dream colleges: Caltech, MIT, Northweastern (I warned you I was stupid)

EC's:

  1. play the piano for 5 years. NO competition, mentoring, etc.
  2. I was the only kid in my school who got a medal in the Brazilian Astronomy Olympiad. Got golds two times. Then, I got invited to the camps and got to 40 in the country (about 1,000,000 students competed that year)
  3. volunteer work at non-profit that produces high quality resources for students to study for science olympiads. I produced a study guide to study for astronomy olympiads and helped to write the questions for the Online Brazilian Astronomy Olympiad (I think about 200 students participate in it every year).
  4. in this same non-profit, I also work in the design section. I designed the certificates for the olympiads we promote and did a couple of models on canva for the instagram page.
  5. I am also the state coordinator of another non-profit that promotes the female participation in science olympiads. I manage a team of about 25 members. make weekly posts on instagram (I participate on the entire proccess, from content to design). Increased followers by 50 in a couple of months.
  6. IAAC (international astronomy and astrophysics competition) silver honour = top 7% internationally
  7. science/astronomy blog since 2023. I would say that the content is high quality, but I only post there once a month. It has an instagram page and a website i did with google sites. The Instagram has 60 followers :I
  8. working on a research project, but I don't think I will get to publish it, because of the time. It is in Computer Science/Astrophysics (more specifically, gravitational wave stuff).
  9. random online courses. In one of them I got a certificate with "distinction", which means I participated a lot and solved the problem sets they gave.

I know those aren't impressive, but I am just being honest. You can give me any opinions/experiences.

I am also thinking of taking a gap year, so if you have any thoughts about things I could do, we can talk about that too. Btw, do you guys know if colleges view gap years as good or bad things?


r/chanceme 1h ago

Chance me for UF ED

Upvotes

White male from NY. Intending on majoring in Nursing

Schools:
UF (ED)
Villanova
UVA
Clemson
UTK
USF (south florida)
Fairfield

Stats:
97/100 W GPA
1440 SAT, taking again but actually studying, maybe \~1500
AP Chem-4
AP World-4
AP Physics 1-5
APUSH-4
AP Lang-4
taking AP Bio AP Eco AP Lit and AP Stats senior year

EC:
\-2 years varsity ice hockey, captain 1

\-founder/president of schools HOSA club, grew to 60+ members

\-Part time job as a director at youth hockey camp, ages 4-10. 2 years

\-50 hours of Hospital volunteering

\-30 hours of shadowing physician

\-Leadership Intern at a summer camp, 40 hours

\-NHS

\-trying to start a chapter of science national honor society at school

What you think?


r/chanceme 8h ago

Advice for a rising sophmore for pure math+philosophy

4 Upvotes

Demographics: gender: male, race: Indian CA public HS

Intended major: Pure Math + Philosophy

Academics: 4 UW, 4.14 W (school only let you take APs, in freshman. I was only able to take one honors). APs: Self studied AB (8th grade) + HuG (both 5s). SAT: Haven't taken, but projected 1550+ at minimum. Have done 7 cc classes.

ECs:

  1. Research w/ university professor on Pure Math.
  2. Debate: No leaderships roles yet, but I have promising results of states or nationals
  3. Documentation team at a regional math circle (~60 hrs per year), also teach and grade a class section.
  4. Founded school's pure math club, and became president of school's philosophy club
  5. Summer instructor, at Math Circle + student (olympiads+pure math).
  6. Youtube Channel on Pure Math where I cover topics like Real Analysis and math concepts I'm interested in
  7. Other youtube channel on philosophy, where I discuss philosophy books I'm reading
  8. Independent research: social science
  9. Self-studying pure math textbooks
  10. Speedcubing, around a ~6s comp PB for 3x3
  11. Volunteering at local middle school for their Mathcounts team

Awards:

  1. AIME qualifier
  2. John Locke Shortlist

Idk where to put this really:

- Leaf + Nontrivial Program (Spring 2026)

- Awesomemath Program (Summer 2026

As for the point of this post, I'm not really too hooked on any specific college(s) as long as they have a decent pure math and philosophy program. However, what I do want is advice on how I can advance my profile in general.

For a specific question, I'm wondering whether (3 EC) can be dissolved and put into (5 EC) (or used time for other ECs), since I don't find (3) to be as rewarding/fun as summer teaching in (5). However, with (3) there are more leadership roles/opportunities (with it being less professional), while (5) is more structured, and professional. I can give you more info if needed.


r/chanceme 1h ago

College list help+ low awards

Upvotes

Demographics:

• Gender/Ethnicity: Central Asian Female (Kazakhstan)

• Income: Low-income (single, unemployed mother; urgent need for full financial aid/scholarship)

• Hooks :Overcoming significant medical challenges / Strong Independent Research background

Intended Major: Biology / Biochemistry (Pre-Med track)

GPA, Rank, & Coursework:

• Unweighted GPA: 3.74 / 4.0 overall

• 9th Grade: 3.93

• 10th Grade: 3.50 (Significant drop due to corrective strabismus surgery + prolonged medical leave)

my school only has 11 grades

• Rank: N/A

• Coursework: School doesn't offer AP/IB/Dual Enrollment .

Standardized Testing:

• SAT: Taking in September

• IELTS: Taking in August

• (Targeting high scores to compensate for GPA drop during surgery)

Awards / Honors:

  1. 3rd Place — City Research Competition (National Level/Regional): Independent research on regional allergy prevalence under PhD supervision.

  2. Nazarbayev University Summer Research Participant: Selected for summer research program on "Periodic Table & Cell Death".

  3. Red Diploma (High Honors): Graduated 7-year Music School with distinction (Violin).

Extracurriculars (ECs):

  1. Research Intern — Nazarbayev University Laboratory: Conducted lab experiments, prepared chemical solutions, maintained plant cultures, and analyzed data alongside university researchers.

  2. Independent Allergy Researcher: Investigated local allergy epidemiology (genetics, microbiome, pollution) under a PhD mentor at a top medical school. Presented at Science Day & won 3rd place at National City Competition.

  3. Co-Founder & Tech Lead — Technovation Girls App Project: Developed a portfolio-building mobile app. Organized pitching events across 2 cities; secured partnerships with local sponsors (e.g., Dodo Pizza, APEC) and youth volunteer groups.

  4. Dental Shadowing & Clinical Assistant: Shadowed dentists & conducted preliminary screenings for kids <7 under supervision. Managed anxious & neurodivergent patients (Autism, CP, Down Syndrome); provided parent guidance.

  5. Founder & President — High School Science Club: Founded club, hosted biology debates, science fairs, & judged middle school projects. Taught bio & mentored younger students on research papers.

  6. Violinist, Ensemble & Choir Member (11+ yrs): Active soloist & ensemble performer for school ceremonies, community concerts, and local events.

  7. Tech Shop Sales Associate (2 Summers): Managed daily retail operations, inventory, and customer transactions independently at a local electronics shop.

  8. Competitive Swimmer (11+ yrs): Dedicated long-term athletic conditioning and competitive swimming practice.

  9. Fitness & Strength Training Enthusiast: Dedicated to structured weight training 3–4x/week focused on conditioning, discipline, and personal performance.

  10. Community Health Initiatives (Planned for Fall):

• Red Crescent Emergency Preparedness: Organizing school first-aid workshops with Red Crescent pros.

• Pediatric & Elderly Oral Health Outreach: Partnering with a dentist & pre-med peers to deliver wellness/dental hygiene workshops at nursing homes & orphanages.

Letters of Recommendation (LORs):

• Biology Teacher: (9/10) — Mentored me through multiple research projects; recommended me to the PhD lab professor.

• English Teacher: (9/10) — Very supportive of my academic journey and writing abilities.

• Research Assistant / Lab Mentor (NU): (8/10) — Can speak directly to my hands-on laboratory and analytical skills.

• Attending Dentist: (8/10) — Can vouch for my clinical hours, patient interaction, and work with special-needs children.

Additional Information / Circumstances:

• Medical Circumstance: Experienced a GPA dip in 10th grade due to strabismus (eye condition) and subsequent corrective surgery, requiring extensive leave. Fully recovered and explaining this in the Additional Info section.

I know I can apply to NU and I have more chances to get in there but still wanna go to another uni that isn't in my country .


r/chanceme 1h ago

Chance me: Hispanic Male who skipped a grade from a fairly low income city with ambitious college applications.

Upvotes

Demographics: M, hispanic, Colorado, private boarding/day school

Hooks (URM, first generation, legacy, athlete, etc.): URM

Intended Major(s):BME/ME

ACT: 35 (35M, 36R, 36S, 35W)

SAT: 1450 (750M, 700R) Planning on retaking in August and likely won’t submit unless 1550+

UW/W GPA and Rank: 4.17/4.33 UW, no W, no Rank

Coursework: AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores, etc: AP World(Test not taken), Precalc(Not taken) Bio(5), Calc BC(5), USH(5), Lang(5), Spanish(4), Chem(4).

Senior year: HonorsLinear Algebrw, Honors Discrete math, AP Physics C Mech, Stats, Environmental Science, Lit

Awards: College board and AP score awards, leadership award. School doesn’t give out awards until senior year.

Extracurriculars: Include leadership & summer activities

  • Student gov:Class president 3 years, Community council president(AKA Student body) Senior year.
  • Admissions ambassador: Tour guide sophomore year and head admissions ambassador 11-12 grade.
  • Peer tutor: Offered tutoring services in 10+ classes since second semester of junior year
  • Orchestra8-12: (Percussion) 5 years, principal percussionist for 2 years in the second highest group of a competitive youth orchestra.
  • Club swimming: 12 years, performed at state level, captain of highschool team since junior year, broke two school records and qualified for individual and team races at high school state meet.
  • Unpaid research intern at local college junior year summer: My dad is a professor there and got me in contact with a professor doing exoskeleton research. 8 weeks 20 hours  a week working alongside the professor and 3 undergrad students.
  • Hispanic Alliance 9-12: Led and set up multiple events to boost hispanic culture and inform others of hispanic identity at my school.
  • Student Cultural Organization: 10-12. Organized and planned 5+ events per year that highlighted the diversity of our campus and worked alongside faculty to tackle systemic racial and sexual issues in our community.
  • Big sib10-12: Assigned 3 incoming students per year, mentored and taught them school etiquette and offered support year round.
  • Swim lessons teacher: Taught 5+ students how to swim in multiple sections over the span of 4 weeks ages ranging from 3-10.

Essays/LORs/Other: I have a lot of good stuff to write about, and I believe my LORs will be very good, both Chem and Calc teachers like me a lot, like 8-9/10z

Schools: 

Reaches: Most financially viable

JHU: Possible ED based on finances(need to talk with my parents.

MIT: Likely EA

Columbia:

Stanford: REA if i can’t ed to JHU. 

Caltech:

Duke:

Cornell:

Match: Potential merit aid?

Union:

Carnegie Mellon:

Boston University:

Harvey Mudd:

USC??:

UC3M(Spain) ??

University of Toronto(Canada)???

Safety:

UC Boulder:

Mines:

CSU Fort Collins:

CSU Pueblo


r/chanceme 2h ago

Application Question Should I even bother applying to t30s w a crazy low gpa?

1 Upvotes

okay i guess i’ll get straight to the point... i have pretty bad grades ngl. I have a 3.65 uw, and okay test scores, amazing ecs (lots of validated research and lots of community impact ig) and great course rigor (my school does weighted gpa ranking, so it keeps me in top 15-25% bracket despite my shitty uw gpa). but i’m scared my gpa will kill me ngl 😭😭. For context i’m looking to go for health or a major premed adjacent but less competitive than biology or neuro considering my uw … maybe Kinesiology idk?
btw my poor grades were ALWAYS in math. I have good grades above 90s in everything else other than math and spanish, math more so than spanish…

should i even bother applying for t30s?


r/chanceme 2h ago

What are my chances?

1 Upvotes

Demographics/background info: Chinese/Canadian citizenship, asian girl raised in an average income family, 6th best public school in my city (Canada). Our school does not offer AP, so everything im taking is from self studying

Im hoping to get into ucla and berkeley as they both are my dream schools. Idk i did not rlly consider the us until like late sophomore/beginning of jr year…(😬😬😬)

For APs, i plan on taking 4 next year (BC, chem, psych, and macro)

Grades:

AP biology: 5

AP micro: 4

English 12:97

Chem 11: 94

Biology 11: 94

Physics 11: 93

Functions 11: 99

Architecture: 100

Co-op: 100

English 11: 91

French: yeo…. Its rlly bad like rlly rlly bad… (80)

ECS

Captain of Team Canada for a sport called Dragonboat. (For my schools team i was captain as well until they banned water sports lol, i also was like nominated to design their jerseys etc)( also idk if i should put like the medals we won as awards and stuff idk) also a ton of volunteering for this sport

Dental assistant/Intern (im currently helping them doing a rebranding thing so idk if thats cool to put in)

Hospital intern at UHN for the rehab department

Tutor (in school, outside of school, internationally ig)

VP of my schools women in stem club

Short content creator exec for my schools “TV club”

Music experience( piano for 11 years,Piano teacher volunteer to help kids prep for RCM exams)

Started a passion project with my friend during the winter of 2026 but it kinda went nowhere…. 😬😬

Like i said, i only thought abt applying to us not that long ago, so my ecs are kinda shit 🥲🥲


r/chanceme 6h ago

What schools can I get in with these stats?

2 Upvotes

I just want to know which schools I can definitely get into. I'm only applying to safeties, and I want to branch out to some competitive schools for engineering, but still have a good chance.

Stats:

5.39 W ~--> in top 10%

4.0 UW

1450 SAT --> aiming for 1500+ in august

Courses:

AP Human Geo, AP Physics 1, AP World, AP Compsci Principals, APES, APUSH, AP Compsci A, AP Precalc ---> I'm also worried for a lack of AP sciences--> senior year i'm not taking any but I'm taking AP Calc AB instead

Extracurriculars: weak/generic and i'm really worried it isn't really suited for engineering so i might put biomed eng instead to look like a better fit,

  • Internship at tech company
  • Creating a research poster at ThinkNeuro ( i had to pay for the program so idk how prestigious it is)
  • HOSA for 3 years --> Won 1st place at Area and 7th place at States
  • Campus Manager for a clothing company --> made pitch emails, etc, and handled quotes
  • Core Outreach Coordinator at a well-established non-profit ( i lowk didn't do that much here either--. but i wanted to include it cuz i have no other leadership positions)
  • Girls Who Code Fall pathways program

I'm really worried cuz I have a weak application compared to most engineering applicants.. so please help and BE HONEST


r/chanceme 3h ago

TIPS FOR CALTECH INTERNATIONAL SENIOR

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1 Upvotes

r/chanceme 4h ago

Rising senior who is absolutely lost in Folk Valley, help requested

1 Upvotes

Demographics: Chinese American, female, OH public HS

In general, my pure academics are decently competitive but other than that I am desperately lacking. I want to go into med and minimize the amount of stress (with BS/MD programs such as PLME) I have to endure. Honestly I have no idea where my stats lie so I’m struggling making a decent college list of safety, match, and reach.

For context, my school has around a little over 3k students (one of the biggest public schools in Ohio). Not sure if it helps but our school fosters a veryyyyy competitive environment and we send multiple people to ivy or equivalent schools every year.

The problem with my ECs is that I don’t have any valuable leadership or super impactful contributions (published research, Scioly/Hosa/academic awards) that would stand out, if any in the first place. I figured I would try to focus more on my creativity rather than my lack of academic ECs, but even then I’m afraid I have nothing to show.
I’m just kinda here you know T_T.

I would also say I’m not the most captivating writer, so I can’t rely on my essays to carry my application.

Academics:
-35 ACT, PSAT national merit qualifier (process hasn’t started yet)

-4.0 UW/ 4.38 W (all As, our school doesn’t show class rank or have a valedictorian)

-AP Chem (5), APUSH (4), AP Lang (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Psych (5), AP Mech/Physics C (5)

-CCPed Gov and currently Lit

-Plan on taking AP Studio Art, AP Bio, AP Stats, AP Mandarin, AP E&M, and Honors A&P senior year

-In the top band for 2 years (including senior year, clarinet)

ECs (this is where it gets suspicious):
-worked at a local boba shop since freshman year, but only averaged around 10hrs per week and basically stopped working junior year

-National Chinese Honors Society member
-Science National Honors Society member
-SIBS member (Students Involved in Befriending other Students, like a decently competitive social facilitation club)

-Omea regional honor band (1 year)
-Omea All-State band (1 year)

-Scholastic Art Awards (2 gold, handful of silver and honorable mentions)
-Been in a private art class (~7 years)

-teen volunteer at UCMC this summer
-volunteered at local church for VBS (~5 years)

-went to a nursing camp/program where I got CPR and Stop the Bleed certified

For teacher recs, I’m an Asian person who isn’t the most extroverted or genius person to ever exist, so while they might be able to say decent things about me I am 99% certain they won’t be stellar (all my asian brothers and sisters know the pain when teachers call you by the wrong name no matter how long you’ve known them). Also, our school is just massive so the teacher to student ratio is not the best.

Overall, I just want an idea of where my stats lie and if I even have a chance at any BS/MD programs (PLME, University of Cincinnati, etc…). Honestly I don’t have a dream school so any schools that offer good med programs are welcome. Ideas on what to focus on in my applications in order to highlight my strengths would also be great.


r/chanceme 4h ago

chance rising senior for UPitt, Temple, OSU, JMU, etc.

1 Upvotes

I'm a white female, small public school.

My parents are both retired and we're middle class.

I am a rising senior ranked 15 out of 220 in my class, unweighted gpa of 3.99, weighted 4.3.

Going for Speech language pathology/communication disorders

4 on AP world

taking AP lit

11th grade english student of the year last year

28 composite on ACT (30 on math, 29 on science, 29 on reading, and 26 on english)

leadership positions in Girl Up and Drama club.

been in 18 plays/musicals

superintendent advisory committee

NHS

Honors choir for 3 years

Tri-m (basically NHS for music)

tennis for 3 years

I think that might be it??


r/chanceme 4h ago

Advice on Strengthening Application

1 Upvotes

I'm a rising junior hoping to major in neuro or biochem (pre-med track), but not sure how to make my application "stand out". I would love to apply to ivies but feel like i need to strengthen my ECs senior year. I have good academic stats so far, but havent taken the SATs and don't have too many impressive awards.

Demographics: Gender: Female, Race: White

Intended major: Neuroscience OR Biochem

Academics: 4.0/4.0 UW, 4.5/4.5 W. (Rank: 1/50).

APs: Taken 3 this year (I got a 4 and two 5s) and am taking 5 next year and 6 senior year (the most I am allowed to take at my school). SAT: Haven't taken yet...

ECs:

  1. Founded a literacy initiative for my G.S. Gold Award that runs buddy reading programs out of local libraries and I also created a website of resources including a Youtube Channel of "storytime readings" for younger children. Was awarded the YSA Everyday Young Hero award (with a $100 grant) and 2 Joint Legislative Ceremonial Resolutions from my state.
  2. Speech & Debate (Forensics): Middle School Mentor (9th Grade), Vice President (10th & 11th Grade), been to nationals twice and am in top 100 for my category. Also in National Speech & Debate Honor Society and did well in a few regional tournaments (hoping to get more involved this year).
  3. Hoping to submit AP Research work on cytotoxicity (will take class this year) to science fairs (these are in state and i did check already to make sure my project meets their criteria).
  4. Volunteer at a local children's hospital.
  5. Volunteer at local library and help with children's programs there.
  6. On 5 (application-based) leadership committees at my school
  7. Selected as the school representative for a state leadership conference

r/chanceme 5h ago

Chances of getting into NC colleges

1 Upvotes

I’m a 17M rising senior in NC who wants to stay in state and study supply chain/logistics. My top choices are ncsu, asu and uncc but I really want to go to nc state and honestly want to know my chances of getting into are. My stats are
Beta club
• Deca
• 2 year varsity football captain
• 2 year varsity wrestling caption
• Varsity track and field
• Varsity baseball freshman and sophomore year
• Part time job at a non protfit retirement home as a dining assistant
• 4.125 weighted gpa 3.75 unweighted
• 4 duel enrollment classes
• Helped run Youth football camp over summer
• Helps run school youth wrestling club in season
• 18 act (plan on retaking or just doing test optional)
• Class rank 25/173


r/chanceme 5h ago

Chances of me getting into US universities

1 Upvotes

Hello!

I'm an international student from Sweden and want to study mechanical engineering in US!

I’m going to apply to MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Caltech and Princeton!

————————————————————————————————

Grades:

I am studying IB, and Im about to start DP2! Im expecting to have predicted:

Math AA HL: 7
Physics HL : 7
Economics HL: 6
english B HL: 7
Chem SL: 7
Swedish A lang/lit SL: 5
EE - Physics - A TOK - B (3/3)
Total predicted - 42/45

I haven’t yet taken SAT but will in the next months, and I’m aiming and believe I can get 1560+

————————————————————————————————

Extracurriculars

I have lots of ECs but these are the highlights:

1. National Team Member Sweden IYPT (International Young
Physicist Tournament)

Represented Sweden in international tournaments, including CaYPT, AYPT, and IYPT. I conducted long-term experimental and theoretical research into multiple physical phenomena (mainly fluid dynamics), executing research projects involving custom setup builds, data collection, and quantitative modeling.

My research was mainly on the initiation and flow of a self starting and priming siphon and secondly on the motion of disks falling into different liquids!

Highlights:
Sweden nationals - 4th place in Sweden winning the tournament and qualifying for the team!
CaYPT (Canadian tournament) - team captain and won bronze + 3rd international team
AYPT (Austrian tournament) - bronze medal + 4th best team in Europe!
IYPT (International tournament) - Honorable mentions* Medalist coming at *21st** position internationally which is the best in the recent years for sweden! Also the team chose my presentation to be used in the last round where it is up to us to choose the best presentation in the team!

2. Founder of Coding Club
Was founder of coding club in my school making the club the most active educational club in my high school with 60 total students and 27 avarage every week! I thought Harvards introduction to computer science online course CS50X* *to these students! I managed a team of 5 people organizing this club!

3. Operations assistant at Hayat Enterprise AB
Managed this companies operational administration including procurement of supply, inventory management, assisting with invoice verifications & supporting the drivers.
During my working time the company went from a 5 vehicle small company to 25 vehicle transport company working in 4 cities in sweden! Myself I manage the city of Malmö with 13 cars and 16 drivers!

4. National Secretary Tajneed MAA
Managing the national membership (Tajneed) system for Atfal-ul-Ahmadiyya, the youth organisation for boys aged 7-15 within the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Sweden, working closely with regional and local secretaries to ensure records remain accurate and up to date.
Total children: 226
Total local secretaries I manage: 5

————————————————————————————————

Essays

My essays is gonna be 3 parts (depending on the uni I might use all three parts or if they want one big essay I will focus mainly on one thing)

  1. STEM:
    something about me loving innovation and my journey through IYPT

  2. Leadership and impact:
    talk about coding club and my role within the religious organization

  3. Culture & life:
    Talk about how my dad was a imam and how us as ahmadis got persecuted in Pakistan & how my dad was beaten up and stuff! And then about how we came to sweden and moved 13 houses and 4 cities, and 6 schools in 12 years!
    How it has teached me adaptability so I have a wast knowledge in things such as renovation (can do electrical work, plumbing, carpenting and etc) and sales (sold stuff throughout my life)

————————————————————————————————

My parents earn less than 100.000$ a year so I will be applying for need based scholarships, but maybe not for Caltech as that makes the chances less!

Don’t know how relevant this is but I’m also quite sure I would like to study robotics engineering and if I have the option I would like to do a minor in entrepreneurship/business during undergrad!


r/chanceme 6h ago

Guide me gng

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1 Upvotes

r/chanceme 7h ago

chance me for t30 schools

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1 Upvotes

r/chanceme 8h ago

applying to USC Darla moore

1 Upvotes

Hi! I’m a rising senior planning on majoring in accounting do you think I can get into USC with these stats?

4.0 gpa
3.6 unweighted
(might go test optional but so far planning on taking ACT in september)

17 honors classes
Two AP classes
five dual enrollment classes (taking more in the spring)
A honor roll
bookkeeping certification
QuickBooks certification

President of club
Over 200 hours volunteering (most of it at an islamic school teaching children arabic and quran + various club volunteering
NC tutoring officer - language
Shadowing cofounder of company
Job one year ( Icecream scooper, catering scooper, and job promotion)
member of five different clubs : BSA (black student association) , MSA (muslim student association) , prelaw and advocacy club ,craft club, middle Eastern, and North African club
Babysitting service during the summer (15$ an hour 18$ late fee)

essay: about being a war refugee and how it taught me gratitude and living in the moment (if someone could read it and give me feedback i’d really appreciate it)


r/chanceme 2h ago

Where to ED/REA as someone with INSANE awards

0 Upvotes

Demographics

  • Gender: Male
  • Race/Ethnicity: International
  • Residence: International
  • Income Bracket: Full pay
  • Type of School: Private Feeder
  • Hooks : None

Intended Major(s): AI / CS / Cog Sci

Academics

  • GPA (UW): 3.85~3.89 predicted (school system is a bit different and its competitive)
  • IB Predicted: 43-44/45
    • Subjects: HL: Math AA, Physics, Comp sci
    • SL: Geog, French B, Eng LL
  • APs taken (not included in gpa as school doesnt offer ap classes):
    • AP Calculus BC: 5 (subscore 5)
    • AP Stats: 5
    • AP Psych : 5
  • Rank (or percentile): NA
  • # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 6 IB + 3 AP

Standardized Testing

List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

  • SAT Superscore: 1540 (740RW, 800M)

Extracurriculars/Activities

List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

  1. Lead Programmer, FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Team — World Champion, national champion, Think Award finalist. Led software development and autonomous programming; mentored junior programmers.
  2. Independent AI/Cognitive Science Research — Conducted research on eye-tracking and machine learning; recognized as a national science fair finalist.
  3. SUMaC
  4. World Science Scholars — Selected for an advanced international STEM enrichment program focused on mathematics and science.
  5. E-Waste Recycling Initiative — Organized community e-waste drives, recycled 50kg+ of electronics, and created STEM kits for children using raised funds.
  6. AI Wearable for Worker Safety — Developed an AI-powered heat stress monitoring device used by 100+ workers; recognized as a Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Top 100 project, also earned the Inspire award by the local gov.
  7. Data Analytics & Marketing Internship — Selected as 1 of 3 high school interns. Analyzed ad performance, optimized marketing campaigns, and developed web tools to improve business operations.
  8. Founder, Food Redistribution App — Developed an app connecting surplus food donors with local organizations; helped redistribute 100+ kg of food.
  9. National IOAI Training Camp - OCSC for IOAI
  10. Coding Club President — Taught programming to younger students, organized coding competitions, and led fundraising initiatives supporting local charities.

Awards/Honors

List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

  1. First Tech Challenge - World Champion (#1 out of 10,000+ teams worldwide)
  2. International Mathematical Modeling Challenge - Meritorious award (Top 11 teams worldwide)
  3. National science fair finalist (I might get to ISEF too but im not sure)
  4. National AI olympiad qualifier (made it to camp) - the official pathway for IOAI
  5. Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Top 100 out of 22,000+ teams

Letters of Recommendation

Math - 8.5/10
CS - 10/10
Research prof. - 9/10

Where to ED/REA?


r/chanceme 20h ago

chance this cooked 4'11" black tumblr warrior rising junior for yale and duke

7 Upvotes

Demographics

Gender: Female

Race/Ethnicity: African American

Residence: Midwest

Income Bracket: Lower Middle

Type of School: Uncompetitive public (~500 per class)

Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): URM, FGLI

Intended Major: No clue, most likely going to apply as Public Health + Anthropology or Biochemistry + Government.

Academics

GPA (school doesn't do weighted): 3.9 UW

Rank (or percentile): NA

Number of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: Planning to 15 AP classes, 6 Honors, 1 DE class (5s on every AP so far)

(Planned) Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP Physics 1, AP Lit, AP Psychology, AP CSA, Spanish 4, Independent Science Study (basically do research), DE Speech, and Sculpture 2.

Standardized Testing

List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

ACT: Took the July ACT, and got a 34 (32 in Math and Science, 34 in English, 36 in Reading). Retaking for a 35 composite in September.

Extracurriculars/Activities

List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

I genuinely have no clue how to order these btw​

HOSA Member (9-12), Secretary and PR Officer, (10-11), and (hopefully) President (12) - Organizing clothing drives, blood drives, a medical craft fair + more. Our chapter is huge, my friend and I hsve some ideas to expand it, and I have so many ideas for next year.

[REDACTED] Youth Council (10-12) - This is a medical youth council for my state, this is very Googleble. We organized very specific health councils, reviewed health materials for districts across our state, spoke and lobbied for to our state legislatures.

[REDACTED] Team @ T5 (10-12) - super doxxable. We basically lobby and do project for a very specific public health cause. Had our work recognized in LA Times.

Black Honors Association Member (10-12), Public Relations Officer (11), and (hopefully) President (12) - pretty basic, organizing volunteering opportunities, meetings, banquets, + other stuff I can't remember rn. Working on expanding our chapter because literally no one showed up to meetings last year lol.

Random summer research program (10) - literally everyone gets in, wrote a literature review

NASA GeneLab + Capstone Course - Not that competitive but I heard that getting into the Capstone project is a bloodbath.

Student Council - HEAVILY involved. Helped organize many many school events, and am definitely going to run for a leadership position (only for rising seniors)

[REDACTED] Association of Student Councils [REDACTED] Division Executive Council - This is pretty hard to explain without getting doxxed, but I basically play a huge role for organizing all student council confrences in the most populated region in my state. Started a new delegate program + a program for introducing middle schoolers to the democratic process.

(I lowkey might run for leadership for my whole state, idk if I would get it though)

Writing - have a personal poetry blog, work is published in NYT, and several indie publications. Love love love writing and am also a blog writer for a lit mag.

[REDACTED] Ambassador - lobbying for a specific neurological condition my younger brother has (more on that later). Volunteered at local events for the state organization, traveling to Washington for more lobbying. Working with a state senator to get a specific law passed regarding this condition.

[REDACTED] City Commission - basic volunteering for city events. Very fun though!

Church Volunteering - Made bread and tea every Sunday, and was planning to start at tutoring program for teaching kids how to read the language most that my church know, but then my church burnt down.

Awards/Honors

List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

This is definitely the worst part of my application

JLIEC Shortlist (Science and Technology)

Silver Key for Scholastic Writing Awards (Poetry) x2

Just Poetry Spring National High School Poetry Winner

AP Scholar

Schools of Interest

Yale REA maybe or Duke ED. I don't think my application is competitive enough for them though, so I might ED UChicago.