r/chanceme Jul 22 '19

How To Do A Chance Me And Improve Your Chances

577 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

98 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 57m ago

female, interested in global health, anthro, med, trying for brown plme, yale

Upvotes

hihi could rlly use some advice from the internet :)

brown female

1530 sat, 35 act, (gpa 4.56, 3.98), 12 APs (all 5s, two 4s), highest rigor, small midwest hs :/

awards (worst sec):

hosa state champ (2x), psat nmsqt, seal of biliteracy, ap scholar (mid i know :/)

ecs:

12+ years of hindustani music training + instruction for young kids, choir at hs + section leader, 12+ years of hindi school + volunteer teaching youth, international girls empowerment nonprof working with big name global humanitarian nonprofs, some research; led all-female research cohort studying obstetric fistula in underserved countries (piloting curriculum in a 10 lmics including humanitarian crises zones), internship with a yale researcher + coauthor on ferropotosis manu, intern at big women’s health biotech startup (artificial placental assay that can be used as a substitute for clinical trials on pregnant women), worked in immediate care + surg unit at big hospital & presented research, some policy/advocacy work thats too identifying

trying for polisci anthro focus brown & yale im crine

any help would be apprec!


r/chanceme 1h ago

Please brutally chance me Cornell ED

Upvotes

I have shit gpa form being lazy first 2 years, like 3.5 uw 4.0 w but a 36 act also planning to take Sat. I am a legacy of a scholarship donor. I'm applying Dyson and my business ecs are pretty decent - private equity internship with real work, q1 finance research, app w 2k users, vp of financial literacy NP, basketball, reffing job, math and markets club co founder, and some other random volunteering . If I write decent essays do I have any chance


r/chanceme 2m ago

Chance me

Upvotes

Honestly i don’t know if me graduating 2 years early is bad or not. I only have 1 year worth of grades when applying but my gpa is 4.26. My main goal college is college of idaho. My ec’s aren’t the best (Community Service — 740+ Hours Bilingual Translation — English & Arabic Family Responsibilities & Childcare Pre-Law / Law Interest Northwestern Pre-Law Certificate Law Firm Experience) My college essay is going to be about how i burnt my hand and how it taught me to take it day by day and be okay with things not always going my way.Im also a immigrant and the first in my family to go to college also very low income also i’m a female. I was really looking at Ucla but i feel like i’m barley going to get into college of Idaho. I want to major in either political science or philosophy with a minor in accounting and finance. please lmk what to do if i’m under reaching or over reaching


r/chanceme 17m ago

Chance me for biochem major

Upvotes

Hey yall I’m applying this cycle and here’s my list thus far:

Safeties: UConn (in state), WPI, open to more
Targets: UMD, Rochester, Case Western, open to more
Reaches: Tufts, BC, UVA (3 max)

Applying ED to Tufts

Demographics: Arab (white) high income from a mid-large sized public school in CT, 2-3 kids to brown or cornell every year, occasional yale, rare harvard, 2 to tufts usually

Decent grades but ass ECs

GPA: 3.8 unweighted, 4.7 weighted (top 5% no class rank)
SAT: 1440, (760rw680m) but retaking and prob score upper 1400s

APs: Bio, physics 1, lang, apush, precalc 5s, euro 4, physics 2 3
Max course rigor
Current schedule: Ap lit, ap french, ap latin, ap calc ab, ap chem

ecs/awards are downhill… for context I had no idea ab what I wanted to do until this year so there’s basically no direction or cohesion

Research at university under active professor, coauthored late breaking abstract presented at endo 2026
Job, library page 9hwk
Vice pres of deca, fundraising for 2 years
Big sibling (welcoming club for incoming frosh)
Advisory facilitator (led discussions about diversity and kindness and shi at school)
Jv volleyball x2
Volunteering at local summer camp
Piano for 8 years but no awards, my school doesn’t allow pianists to join ensembles unforch

Awards:
nhs, latin honor society, french honor society
national merit commended (most likely, i’m JUST under semifinalist for my index)
ap scholar with distinction
nle gold x2, ct competition cum laude x2
endicott college book award (local award at school)

if ur wondering why i have so much shit for latin and french it’s cuz i actually enjoy those subjects. except then i did the research last year and realized i liked that more. but now im prob screwed.

also if u can reverse chance me too that would be nice cuz my list is lowkey short

psa pls be kind im a 17 year old girl just trying to apply to college it’s already a hectic time without bullies on reddit


r/chanceme 45m ago

chance me for neuroscience major at T20s and big state schools

Upvotes

pls help and lmk

Demographics

  • Male, Maryland
  • First-generation Ethiopian immigrant
  • Household income ~$67k, family of 7
  • Large public HS in a competitive MD county

Academics

  • 3.76 UW / 4.61 Weighted
  • School does not rank
  • 9 APs by end of junior year: Bio, Psych, Calc BC, Environmental Science, CS Principles, US History, World History, Government, English Seminar
  • Dual enrollment at community college: HLTH 105 (A), English 101 (B)

Senior schedule (all full year)

  • AP Statistics, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP African American Studies, Honors English 12

Testing

  • SAT: sat for August, waiting on the score, practice tests were 1450+. Retaking in September and October to superscore
  • AP scores: Psych 4, World 4, Calc BC 3 (AB sub 4), Environmental 3, CSP 3, APUSH 3, Gov 3, Bio 2. Did not sit the English Seminar exam

ECs (ranked)

  1. Neuroanatomy research at a university lab. Manual brain segmentation on structural MRI in MRIcron, delineating anatomical region boundaries across axial, coronal, and sagittal planes and verifying each region in all three so it holds in 3D. Trained by a research assistant, contributing to an ongoing atlas project. Maintain version-controlled region files and follow the lab's naming conventions so my work can be reviewed and merged in.
  2. Volunteer at a university aphasia research center studying language recovery after stroke and primary progressive aphasia. Organize and verify de-identified participant data, transcribe and code language samples to the lab's scoring conventions, maintain study documentation and reference libraries for manuscripts in prep.
  3. Founder and sole developer of a healthcare-tech platform that helps high school and college students find verified clinical, research, and academic opportunities. Built the opportunity database, personalized discovery, and an AI chatbot. Launched a beta with 20 registered users and iterated on their feedback. Started it because I had no connections and could not find any of this myself.
  4. Varsity wrestling captain. 47-2 junior season record, state champion. Ran practices, taught technique, worked one on one with teammates on what they were individually struggling with.
  5. Organizer and host of open community wrestling practices in my garage since freshman year. Pulls wrestlers from across the state, first-year kids through multiple-time state and US Open champions, no cost, no team affiliation.
  6. Clinical shadowing with an adult and geriatric nurse practitioner (DNP) at a sub-acute rehab facility. Sat in on admissions, daily rounds, lab review and ordering, and discharge evaluations, and asked about admission reasoning and outstanding labs.
  7. Freelance web developer for small apparel businesses. Built out storefronts around each client's branding. One client site made five sales in the first 24 hours after launch and 25 in 2 weeks(1500$+).
  8. Student outreach volunteer for a county college-readiness program, recruiting at my school and talking to first-gen and low-income students about the resources available to them.

Awards

  • State wrestling champion (2026), regional champion (2026), county champion (2025, 2026), JV county champion (2024)
  • State wrestling association All-Academic First Team (2026)
  • AP Scholar x2 (2025, 2026)
  • Community college Dean's List (2026)
  • Science Honor Society, Math Honor Society

Essay
on something my dad always said, "aim for the stars and you'll hit the moon." I heard it for years as permission to fall short. Losing my 23rd match freshman year is when I understood he was raising the bar, not lowering it. It ties into how wrestling built the discipline behind building the platform, and how I hold myself to that principle now and its led me to my success and ambitoousness.

Recs
Wrestling coach, AP Psychology teacher, AP Calc BC teacher, counselor

School list (EA everywhere it is offered)

  • Reach: Stanford, Yale, Columbia, Duke, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, UCLA, Michigan
  • Target: Maryland, UVA, UNC Chapel Hill, USC, Pitt, Miami
  • Safety: Penn State, Rutgers, Ohio State, Arizona State, Delaware, Delaware State

Money
i qualify for need-based aid but might not end up needing it. also chasing merit

pls tell me what my chances are at each and what i can do this fall to make more application more compy


r/chanceme 47m ago

High stats mid ecs going premed

Upvotes

Chance me as a Texas Resident applying bio/premed for UT Austin and Rice mostly. I feel like I’m cooked because of my ecs I only have like 5 and most of them are mid pls help.

1500 SAT
GPA 97/100
Class Rank 15/610
13 APS

ECs:
70 hours hospital volunteering

25 hours shadowing a surgeon

won position paper award in my committee at Model UN San Antonio

Varsity Track and Field

Part of Science National Honor society and few other clubs.

Schools Applying To:
Texas A&M
UT Austin
Rice
UH
Case Western
Baylor


r/chanceme 6h ago

T20 College Chances | Yale, Princeton, Harvard, etc. |

3 Upvotes

Gender: Female
Year of Grad: 2028
Race: White (Hispanic)
Current GPA: 3.79
SAT: Haven’t taken yet but my last practice was a 1490
Coursework for junior year: AP Physics l & ll, AP Pre-Calculus, AP Language and Composition, Advanced Research Mentorship (ARM), AP US History, Honors Spanish 5 ECE (Dual enrollment), Lifetime Fitness (Required PE credit) 
Research: Private research regarding neuroscience which connects back to my history with family with neurological conditions for the next two years and publishing a research paper at the end of this year
Study abroad: studied Spanish abroad at Colegió Delibes for 3 weeks during 2024 in  Salamanca, Spain  
SAT: booked SAT on September 16, 2026
Extracurriculars: 
-Founder and Executive Director of The Motor Mind Initiative (https://www.motormindinitiative.com) a youth-led nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about neurological disorders along with raising money to support both research on future neurological rehabilitation involving AI and new technologies, as well as raising donations to provide small-respite grants to families or individuals in need of financial assistance to receive proper neurological rehabilitation. 
- Registered for the upcoming 2026 USMDO Olympiad in August 
- Enrolled in Harvard Online Medical School’s Research course with a scholarship 
- Summer independent Research on how high intensity workouts, specifically erging, effect/prime the motor cortex to increase efficiency in fine-motor precision
- 5 Consecutive seasons on the High School Rowing team
- Member of HOSA, a student-led career and technology organization 
-Member of Key Club,  a community volunteer club to give back to the community by providing them volunteers to contribute and support the event 
~ A USC Neuroscience scholar researcher as of 2026
Planning on connecting my essay with my history with neurological disorders with my mom and how that inspired me to uptake Research on Neuroscience and help find the data to clinically assist those with Neurodegenerative disorders through movement

Note: I would love any feedback you might have for me at all becuase I truly do want to go to one of these institutions


r/chanceme 49m ago

Emory/Oxford emory

Upvotes

3.6/3.8
ACT 31 (retaking, aiming for a 34)
Club president, hosa state award, pharmacology internship, NEHS, TA for a preschool
some minor publishing work for med
this is pretty general but im planning on ED1ing to emory and oxford emory? i have pretty mid stats but do i have a chance?


r/chanceme 2h ago

UTD admissions? Should my friend apply to something different or is he good?

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/chanceme 2h ago

Your average mid international

1 Upvotes

I wanna study Mechanical or Aerospace engineering. I’m also intrested in doing a minor in French language and literature just for the love of the game.

For context I’m Turkish/Thai. Studied in Turkey.

STATS:

GPA: 94,5/100
SAT: 1510 (720 RW, 790 Math)(First try)
IELTS: 8
School offers no APs 🤥

Honors:

1- International STEM Olympiad (Math); Best of the Best Finalist; Gold Medal

2- Asia International Math Olympiad Gold Medalist; Qualified & Invited to International Final, Vietnam

3- 2nd Place, Rallye Mathématique de l’Académie de Lyon; Fully Funded Academic Visit to École des Mines

4- World Mathematics Invitational, Gold Award

5- International Physics Competition Finalist; Selected as 1 of 4 Local Ambassadors for Türkiye

Extracurriculars:

AFS Intercultural Programs, International Exchange Student (Türkiye ->France)
Selected as 1 of ~150 from ~2000 applicants for a 10-month exchange. Attained French fluency; earned academic felicitations all 3 trimesters.

Employment or work (paid)
11, 12 (Year)
60 hr/wk, 20 wk/yr
Will continue
Green Salads, Restaurant Server
Worked 10-hour shifts, 6 days/week in summer; continued part-time during school; served customers, managed orders, handled financial transactions etc

Academic
10, 11, 12 (Year)
5 hr/wk, 20 wk/yr
Will continue
Kanguru Matematik Türkiye, AIMO, L’académie de Lyon, Main Team Organisation, International Maths & Science Olympiad Competitor
Prepared for & competed in 9 Math/Science Olympiads (8 intl.); 3 Gold, 2 Silver; Physics finalist; 3x semifinalist; Lyon Rally Math 2nd.

Academic
11, 12 (Year)
4 hr/wk, 18 wk/yr
Will continue
International Physics Competition, Local Ambassador
Selected as first Turkey/Istanbul Ambassador; organised 5+ physics workshops for 30+ students; led 20 outreach initiatives & IPhyC social media account.

Internship
11 (Break)
35 hr/wk, 1 wk/yr
Will continue
Gebze Technical University, Aeronautical Engineering Department, Aeronautical Engineering Research Intern
Applied flight mechanics to UAVs; analysed propulsion & structures; toured labs; observed drone fabrication; studied aircraft systems & design.

Computer or technology
10, 11, 12 (Year)
6 hr/wk, 15 wk/yr
Will continue
Calico Aeronautics, Developer
Developed aeronautics website with HTML/CSS/JS: 23 flight calculators, simulations, aircraft database, anatomy guides, aviation history & news.

Academic
11 (Break)
35 hr/wk, 2 wk/yr
Kadir Has University, Quantum Mechanics Winter Program
Passed university-level intro to quantum mechanics under Prof. Nihat Berker (ex MIT prof); passed course assessed through 10 exams and 10 assignments.

Music
9, 11, 12 (Year)
8 hr/wk, 35 wk/yr
Guitarist Performer
Classical guitarist since age 8; self-taught and formally trained. Performed in 3 solo recitals and 1 public concert, developed stage confidence.

Community service or volunteer work
11, 12 (Year)
6 hr/wk, 20 wk/yr
Might continue
PeerZone + Kizilay/Lösev, Volunteer Tutor & Humanitarian Volunteer
Tutored 10+ students in physics/math, 5 hrs/wk; created personalised lessons. 50+ hrs supporting Kizilay/LÖSEV; completed 9 trainings and 11 seminars.

Internship
10 (School)
35 hr/wk, 2 wk/yr
Will continue
École primaire XYX (France, Rhône-Alpes), Classroom Assistant, Teaching Intern
Assisted teachers in 3 primary classrooms (~20 students each), supported instruction in French, led activities, and supervised 3 school trips.

School List:

Case Western Reserve University.
Columbia University.
Cornell University.
Duke University.
Harvard University.
Johns Hopkins University.
Lafayette College
Lehigh University.
Northwestern University.
Rice University.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Tufts University.
Tuskegee University.
Union College
University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania
University of Rochester Vanderbilt University.
Washington University in St. Louis
Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Notes:

Pls be brutally honest yall, I’m applying with aid cuz my family is crazy poor lol. Which ones do I have a clear shot at and do yall recommend that I apply to other schools. In the additional info section I’ll probably explain how I love French and how it’s been a huge part of me and some competitions and things I did related to the French language hence the minor im thinking of declaring.

And my essay is pretty solid, it’s got a good story and allat.


r/chanceme 4h ago

chance a highly specialized girl for cornell -.-

1 Upvotes

Demographics: female, afro-latina, currently attending one of the best high schools in the midwest (selective school), both of my parents are princeton grads which could be a hook! (also currently a senior)

Intended Major(s) *HEAVILY depends one which school i get into:

Zoology

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Wildlife Biology/Widlife Conservation

Biological Sciences with an Animal Focus

Animal Science with an Animal Conservation & Ecology Focus

Environmental & Sustanability

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 36 ACT and 1590 SAT

UW/W GPA: 4.0 (my school doesnt do weighted)

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

13 APS all 5's, most are prerequisites for my major

Extracurriculars:

dual-apprenticeships at two AZA credited zoos in my area

four-years of after school matters (which is kind of like a paid internship program) most of the courses ive done are relating to biology/science

done community clean up for conservation corps

year-round internship @ the field museum

founded an animal science club @ my school

4 years of volunteering at my local no-kill shelter

LORs:

one from my AP bio teacher, 9/10, one from my BC calc teacher, 8/10

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

most of these are reaches but whatever!

*** = my top choices

UC Davis

Cornell ED

Princeton

Dartmouth

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Purdue University

thank you for reading <3 please chance me!!


r/chanceme 6h ago

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1 Upvotes

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r/chanceme 20h ago

Does race still play a role in acceptance? I’m confused…

12 Upvotes

I’m a freshman, and I’ve been planning on how to get into college. I recently found this subreddit, and I keep seeing people post their race, gender, and socioeconomic status with their stats.

I know socioeconomic status is considered during admissions, but are ethnicity/race, sexual orientation, and gender considered too?

I thought colleges were no longer allowed to do that. If they do, that's unfair. Acceptance should be based strictly on merit and how much you achieved with the resources available to you.


r/chanceme 14h ago

Canadian, female, trying to apply to computer science at Yale

3 Upvotes

I really wanna get into Yale for computer science, chance me please!!!

My courses and grades in grade 11:

Pre calc 12 honors: 93

Ap stats: 92

Chem 11: 91

Bio 12: 89(I’m not good at bio)

Physics 11: 97

English 11: 92

CLC: 96

Law 12: 93

Exams:

AP stats: 4(I messed up on the test bleh)
SAT: 1550(750 RW, 800 math)
DELF B2: passed with 75/100

Extracurricular:

Europeans girls Olympiad in informatics team Canada (top 4 scoring female programmer in Canada)

Canadian informatics workshop hosted by university of Waterloo(top 10 female programmer gets invited, got bronze medal in grade 10, nothing in grade 11 because I was invited but didn’t go I was too busy since I just came back from Europe for EGOI)

USACO gold division

Tech officer at Canadian Red Cross greater Van association, made their website

Certified in First Responder and First aid, also captain of my schools first responder team

Captain of programming club at my school, tutored Afghanistan transfer student

Hosted elementary school programming workshop

UC Berkeley programming competition(CALICO) silver

Bunch of top 25s in like 5 contests from Waterloo

Mini med school at BC children hospital for diabetes

Pioneer research program GPSI

Iowa young writers studio winter program

My short story and poem published in Ariadne ISABC

Student ambassador

Aight that’s all!!


r/chanceme 7h ago

International student aiming for EE or CE (no CS)

1 Upvotes

ok so having made some of these posts last year as a junior, here I am, yet again, to cope with my anxiety and get some +ve feedback to improve upon this application

Demographics: Indian male, international applicant, India
Applying: Fall 2027
Intended major: Electrical/Computer Engineering (No CS)
Academic interests: Robotics, electronics, embedded systems, mechanical engineering
Financial aid: Need substantial financial aid (EFC=10-15kUSD)

First gen

Academics

Curriculum: CBSE

  • Grade 9: [91%]
  • Grade 10 CBSE: [96%]
  • Grade 11: [96-97%]
  • Grade 12: currently in progress
  • SAT: [1480 (800M 680ERW)/hoping for an improved score in the august sat, getting scores this friday]

My academics have improved substantially over high school, with my strongest performance coming in Grade 11

Context

I'm from India and have pursued most of my technical work through my school's Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) and my own resources.

My school has a relatively developed ATL, but much of my electronics and robotics work has been self-directed. I have also pursued external opportunities through robotics competitions, an engineering college incubation lab, and independent projects.

A lot of my work has involved actually building things rather than just participating in STEM clubs.

Extracurriculars

1. ATL Captain / Robotics & Innovation Team Leader

Led my school's robotics and innovation teams through the Atal Tinkering Lab. Mentored ~5–7 robotics juniors and 3 innovation students, and helped organize annual interschool robotics/innovation competitions involving ~10–15 schools. Also handled competition arenas, formats/rules, registration and more complex events such as Robo-Soccer.

2. School Robotics Team, Cofounder & Team Leader

Cofounded my school's robotics team and built 10+ competition robots across combat robotics, Robo-Soccer, Robo-Race, line following and other categories. Led the team to ~20 interschool wins and QF/SF finishes at higher-level college competitions.

3. ******, Founder & Lead Developer

Independently developed a posture-monitoring device using an MPU6050 and ESP32. Started with an Arduino prototype and iterated toward a Wi-Fi-enabled, user-configurable system. Selected through INSPIRE-MANAK, later received ₹2.5L in government-subsidized project support through ITS Engineering College, and have filed a patent that is currently pending.

4. Team ********, Lead Robot Builder / Core Member

Joined as an intern and progressed to core member and then robot leader. Worked on chassis design, circuitry, motors and weight distribution across 25+ robots for school and college teams. Helped generate ~₹1.5L in robot sales. Team placed 3rd at IIIT-Delhi ESYA 2025 Titanium Breakdown.

5. ITS Engineering College, Project Development Intern

Worked at the college's ******* incubation lab to further develop ******; improved its circuitry, interface and functionality and worked toward the patent/product-development stage. Received ₹2.5L in government-subsidized project support through the college.

6. Independent Electronics & Embedded Systems

Built an ESP32 music player, posture-monitoring devices, a foot-posture system, custom perfboard circuits for competition robots, and 5+ other electronics/prototyping projects. Most of this has been self-directed.

7. “The Professional Idiots” Robotics Team, Cofounder

Independently cofounded a three-person robotics team with two friends outside my school robotics commitments. Built 5+ combat and Robo-Soccer robots and reached the semifinal of IIT Bombay Techfest's International RoboWars/Robo-Soccer event.

8. German Exchange, School Representative

One of 11 students representing my school on a ~10-day exchange to Germany. Helped lead cultural and STEM presentations, including a presentation about my robotics work, and visited local engineering industries.

the following two activities are just some hobbies kinda ones that ig add to my overall personality as a "non nerd" ig. Tho i do have one innovation activity but ig ive already sufficed that shi in earlier activities soooo yeah

9. Computer Building / Hardware

Built my first PC at 13 with guidance and later independently built two PCs. Long-term personal interest in computer hardware and systems.

10. Go-Karting / Motorsport

Competed in ~5 regional karting events. Learned about kart construction and mechanics, expanding my interest in how engines are built and tuned.

Honors

  • CBSE National Science Exhibition: Zonal Winner (1/~50), Top 10 nationally in category
  • BITS Pilani YEB Pitching Competition: 1st among 144 participants selected from 1,000+ applicants
  • INSPIRE Awards–MANAK: Top 10% of ideas selected nationally
  • ₹2.5L Government-Subsidized Grant through ITS Engineering College for UPRYTE: Only local school student
  • IIT Bombay Techfest International RoboSoccer: Semifinalist

Other academic/technical work

I have also independently written a technical/research paper documenting my UPRYTE work and made it publicly available on Zenodo. It is not peer-reviewed. So not really considering to submit it in the application

Schools I'm considering

Elite / major reaches

# University Application
1 Stanford*\* Common App
2 Brown Common App
3 Dartmouth Common App
4 Cornell Common App
5 Columbia Common App
6 University of Pennsylvania Common App
7 Northwestern*\* Common App
8 Duke Common App
9 Rice Common App

Strong private / realistic-ish reaches

# University Application
10 Lehigh ** Common App
11 Case Western Reserve ** Common App
12 Drexel Common App

Publics

# University Application
13 Stony Brook University SUNY Application
14 University of Texas at Austin Common app
15 Arizona State University Common App
16 Iowa State University Common App
17 University of Alabama — Tuscaloosa Common App
18 University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) Common App
19 University of Arizona Common App
20 University of Pittsburgh Common App

Additional / separate-portal pool

University Application
University of Southern Mississippi USM application / Common App
UT Arlington ApplyTexas / Common App
Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) MSOE application
University of South Alabama USA application
UT dallas ApplyTexas

Still possible but not counting on em

  • UIUC
  • Purdue
  • Georgia Tech
  • Michigan State
  • Virginia Tech
  • Michigan–Ann Arbor

majority of this 'ambitious' college list is dependant upon the sat score i get in the upcoming 2-3 days soooo yeah

Questions

  1. How competitive does this profile look for T20s as an Indian international applicant needing substantial financial aid?
  2. Does the combination of competitive robotics + independent hardware development + UPRYTE/INSPIRE + patent/grant constitute a meaningful spike, or does it still look too concentrated around school-level activities?
  3. How much does the progression from independent tinkering → school robotics leadership → external engineering work → product development help the overall narrative?
  4. How valuable is the ₹2.5L government-subsidized grant and pending patent in admissions terms?
  5. Does competing against college teams at events like IIT bombay or a similar IIIT Delhi ESYA materially strengthen the robotics profile?
  6. Are there any activities that seem too weak or redundant and should be replaced before I submit?
  7. Which schools on my list seem like the strongest fit for this particular profile?
  8. For schools with restrictive early options, would you prioritize Stanford REA versus applying ED somewhere?
  9. What are the biggest weaknesses or red flags in this profile that I should address before applications?
  10. Brutally honest opinions welcome. I know international admissions at these schools are extremely unpredictable and I'm not expecting any individual award or activity to guarantee admission.

r/chanceme 10h ago

Chance me: University of Chicago

1 Upvotes

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to know everyone's thoughts on my chances of getting into UChicago. I am a white, non-low income male with a 1500 SAT and a 3.62 GPA. I don't have a weighted GPA since my school does not offer any AP classes. Instead, I attend a public, intensive early college program in New York which will allow me to graduate with an AA degree. the school has a very good reputation in the city.Due to my relatively low GPA, I don't know what my chances are. My ECs are stellar and I have received multiple rewards for essay competitions. I am looking to enter into u chicago as a History major and I think I can write a pretty good essay.

Next semester, I am dropping the courses that have been responsible for my GPA (i.e. Spanish/Biology) and I think that i'll be able to get it up to a 4.0 in the Fall semester. Is it a good idea to ED u chicago or even apply at all? What are my chances?


r/chanceme 10h ago

Reverse Chance Me Your classic low GPA pretty good EC's guy

1 Upvotes

3.2 UW gpa, international, currently 1360 sat, have high hopes for 1500 (4 more and I had 160 improvement since the last so I believe it's possible, I'm pretty smart just was a lazy student) .

EC's:

  • Co-founder & administrator, youth event company (paid) — 20+ events in one summer, permanent open venue, 5,000+ at the largest, 4-person team; company still operating after I left. 18yr 84 hrs/wk × 16 wks
  • Founder & main organizer, CharityFest — two-day festival, ~1,000 attendees, ~$2,200 raised for two local children with genetic illnesses. 19yr 90 hrs/wk × 3 wks
  • Volunteer / project manager, regional youth org — digital campaigns, grew the org's visibility among local youth. 15-19yr 6 hrs/wk × 52 wks
  • Main organizer, school Freshman Ball — marketing, admin, after-party, all non-stage logistics; ran it two years running. 19yr 30 hrs/wk × 6 wks
  • Campaign volunteer, mayoral campaign (regional minority party) — digital and in-person campaigning. 17yr 10 hrs/wk × 16 wks
  • Waiter, restaurant (paid) — first job, full-time through the summer at 15yr 48 hrs/wk × 10 wks
  • Co-organizer, 3 international youth exchanges (Erasmus+) — organizer role, not participant. 15,16,17yr 80 hrs/wk × 1 wk each
  • Team leader, study abroad exchange (Serbia) — seven countries represented, led my team. 18 yr 80 hrs/wk × 1 wk

important to mention, but in process:

Developer & operator, online store for family furniture business (live) —designed and built butorhaz.ro: 400+ products, card payments, automatic stock sync with the shop's inventory system; a 3D kitchen planner with 260+ real factory modules that customers design in — a feature normally found only on IKEA-scale sites; and a built-in marketing engine that tracks which ad channel every sale comes from, models each product's ad-spend-to-revenue curve, and computes the optimal weekly budget split per product and channel — analytics most retailers pay agencies for. Site is live; I still run it. 19yr 40 hrs/wk × 6 wks

I plan to apply to the greatest so I'd like some advices whats actually possible, whats a reach but possible and what should I completly remove from the list and what is realistic from elsewhere and I should add it.

  • Boston University
  • Brown University
  • California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
  • Carnegie Mellon University
  • Columbia University
  • Harvard University
  • New York University
  • Princeton University
  • Rice University
  • Stanford University
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • Yale University

r/chanceme 11h ago

Chance me uga

1 Upvotes

Asian instate going to a competitive public high school

4.0 w / 3.8 uw

1300 sat (retaking)

7 aps: aphug, ap world, ap psych, apush, ap precalc, apes, ap calc ab

Activities: life guarded for one season, taekwondo for 6 years until 9th grade

AP scholar award

2 letter of recommendation by teachers

Solid essay


r/chanceme 17h ago

Chance me for econ major at t20s

3 Upvotes

feeling imposter syndrome because im not taking multivar calc or doing research with professors or curing cancer but I have a good SAT so...

Demographics: White, male, California, high income, small public (kinda competitive? not rlly tho), no hooks

Intended Major(s): econ

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 1550 SAT

UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.95/4.30

Coursework: No AP's offered 9th/10th, 11th: 4 AP's: AP Lang, APUSH, AP Precalc, AP Stat, 12th: AP Lit, AP Econ (micro and macro 1 sem each), AP calc bc, AP Bio, AP Art History, AP Chem, All 5s

Awards:
- National Merit Semi Finalist
- 4 awards from stories I wrote for journalism (Best of SNO awards)
- and College Board School Recognition Award

Extracurriculars: 

summer before sophomore yr I did an internship with CSIRO, researching startups in space mining, learned a lot about vc and space
Entrepreneurship club vice president (built a financial education app for middle and high schoolers to learn basic finance principles)
2 years jv basketball
1 yr jv + 3yrs varsity track
personal investing (spent many hours learning fundamental investing etc. was important part of my life)
summer before junior yr did 2 weeklong classes on econ and business and got a python certification from FreeCodeCamp
Junior fall finance internship (6hrs week did things as a "Research Assistant")

Essays/LORs/Other: idek tbh I think essays were good on average? its really hard to actually know so...

Schools: 
Princeton

Stanford

UChicago

Yale

Columbia

Duke

Dartmouth

Northwestern

Cornell

UC Berkeley (in state)

UCSD

UC Davis

URochester

McGill

Boston College


r/chanceme 20h ago

Chance a parentless but hopeful chud

3 Upvotes

Demographics: Female white/mexican (white passing) from California. Im in an average/above average school. First generation, lesbian (if it’s relevant) and this is my first year playing tennis as a sophomore. Daughter of an incarcerated individual, and I went no contact with my mother many years ago.

Intended Major(s): Toxicology, Neuroscience, or Political Science (maybe minor in International Relations)

ACT/SAT/SAT II: Haven’t taken them yet.

UW/W GPA and Rank: 4.0 UW, 4.57 W. School doesn’t release ranks until senior year.

Coursework:

5 on AP HuG, currently taking Euro, Chem, and Sem. A in Art History over the summer (genuinely out of interest even though I know people usually take it to fill out credits). I take AVID and I’m in Spanish

Awards: 1st in school spelling bee freshman year, though a bit minuscule

Extracurriculars: KEY Club Secretary, in Mock Trial (no regional awards. We had administrative problems), Tennis player, local gospel choir singer (very small choir), sang in a community choir for their anniversary over Thanksgiving, about to sing first solo in early November for my church’s anniversary musical, 30 hours of community service but it was mainly for marathons

(Bit of a vent/rant here but I’ve been told twice by my AP teachers that they at first thought I’m a slacker or a ‘coaster’ because I dress very alternatively so I guess that’s a hook??)

Intended Universities:
FAR reach:
Columbia
Claremont McKenna
USC
UC Berkeley

Target (maybe reach?):
Purdue
Penn State
UCSB
UC Davis
UCSD

Safety:
Haven’t quite got it figured out yet. Recommendations welcome.

I have an amazing sob story ‘but I pulled through’ life but I know AOs are tired of seeing that.


r/chanceme 19h ago

Chance me for Boston University

2 Upvotes

I‘m not starting college apps until next year but need to know where to go from where I’m at.

Academics:

-3.75 GPA

-No SAT yet but planning to take

-5 on AP World, taking 5 other APs this year plus more senior year

Demographics:

-Female

- White

- 16 from NY

-Middle class

-Public School

-Lesbian (if it matters)

ECs:

-2 Years varsity tennis (3 when I apply)

-Women in STEM

-Volunteering at local library

ECs I am hoping/planning to do:

-Science Olympiad

-Part-time job after tennis season

-Ideally the program in my school that allows us to shadow medical professionals

Majors:

Want to be a doctor, considered majors are Pre-med, biology or neuroscience

Schools:

-Dream is Boston University

-Tufts

-Northeastern

-Hamilton College

-Any suggestions are welcome!


r/chanceme 16h ago

Where should I head next from here (Junior High Schooler from Nepal)? HELP

0 Upvotes

How realistic are my goals for a top US university?

I'm a junior high school student from Nepal, from a middle-class family, and I'm trying to build a strong profile for highly selective US universities. I'd really appreciate some honest feedback on whether my goals are realistic and what I should prioritise.
(I would need full ride)

🏆 What I've done so far

  • GPA: 3.85 (Grade 9), 3.95 (Grade 10), unweighted
  • School topper in Grade 10/SEE
  • 100% tuition scholarship / Excellence Award at my current college
  • Vice President of my college's Sci-Tech Guild
  • Founded a nonprofit 2 months ago — currently 10 volunteers across 10 branches, teaching 100+ students technology
  • Coding since Grade 5; now focused heavily on software development + AI/ML
  • Built and deployed numerous full-stack projects using Next.js, React, React Native, FastAPI, etc.
  • 25+ GitHub projects
  • LinkedIn creator for ~2 years; some posts have reached 200k+ impressions and I've built a fairly large network
  • Completed a small research project through NSRI, nothing substantial though

🎯 What I want to do next

  1. Get A*A*A*A*a in CAIE A-Levels (Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths, EGP)
  2. Participate in the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) and aim for a medal
  3. Do serious research with a professor, ideally resulting in something substantial
  4. Raise my SAT from ~1450 (800 Math, ~650 English currently**)** to 1530+
  5. Eventually apply to MIT/Ivies/top US universities, ideally with substantial financial aid

🤔 What I'm wondering

How realistic is this plan?

  • Am I already on a strong trajectory, or am I overestimating my profile?
  • Which of these goals would have the highest impact on a top-US-college application?
  • How should I leverage my LinkedIn network to find research opportunities/mentors?
  • What would you prioritize if you were in my position?
  • Are there any major weaknesses or mistakes in my current strategy?

I'm willing to work extremely hard, but I want to make sure I'm putting that effort into the right things rather than simply collecting achievements.

Any honest advice is appreciated! ❤️


r/chanceme 16h ago

so basically I have 3As 1B in my AS i have a B in math I am retaking in O/N. So I will have 4A*s Predicted will the inital B cause any problems? For Early Decision 1

0 Upvotes

For engineering/AI at HKU