<p>New to this. Am junior in well-rated HS in Chicago north suburbs trying to get a clue on what schools would be M/R/S for me. Not tied to midwest. Thinking to major in Eng or Poli Sci.</p>
<p>GPA - 3.4
ACT - 30</p>
<p>Have had a couple honors classes and will take several AP classes next yr. Have participated in some sports (soccer, XC), clubs, etc., but am not a star, leader or hard core type from a sports and extra-curricular standpoint. My dad went to Northwestern and William & Mary (Law).</p>
<p>Schools in thoughts (I hope they're all not 'reach!'): UofI(Champaign), Illinois Wesleyan, Northwestern, UWisc(Mad), Marquette, UMich, UInd, UVA, GW, Wake Forest, Emory, William & Mary, Miami Univ, Bard, Tufts, Middlebury, Wesleyan, Davidson, Wash & Lee, Reed, Haverford. (Other than Reed, I don't know about schools out west.)</p>
<p>yea man youre all over the board there. not to be the bearer of bad news but most of those schools are reaches with a 3.4/ 30; you do have several safeties/ matches in there (Ill wesleyen, marquette, etc) which is good--appy to as many reaches as possible; the more, the better chance of admission to one of them. legacy at northwestern obviously helps.</p>
<p>UofI(Champaign) Match
Illinois Wesleyan Safety
Northwestern No
UWisc(Mad) Match/slight reach
Marquette Safety
UMich No
UInd Match
UVA No
GW Doubt it
Wake Forest Doubt it
Emory No
William & Mary No AFAIK, where your parents went to law school doesnt matter. I wish it did. It'd give me a leg up at UF.
Miami Univ Match
Bard Match/Slight Reach
Tufts No
Middlebury No
Wesleyan No
Davidson No
Wash & Lee No
Reed No
Haverford No</p>
<p>As you can see, your choices arent very realistic.</p>
<p>Don't care about school size, or urban/suburban/rural. Want the best program/professors I can get to. Liberal arts will likely be the area for my major. I like writing - fiction and songs. Have considered pre-law. Thx</p>
<p>UofI(Champaign)- Match
Illinois Wesleyan- i have no clue
Northwestern- Reach, but I think you have a shot
UWisc(Mad)- Match
Marquette- Match
UMich- Slight Reach
UInd- Safety
UVA- Slight Reach
GW- no clue
Wake Forest-slight reach
Emory- reach
William & Mary- slight reach
Miami Univ- match
Bard-no clue
Tufts- match/reach
Middlebury- no clue
Wesleyan-?
Davidson- match
Don't know about the rest.</p>
<p>You may have a shot at Reed; your ACT is in the mid 50% range, and they accepted some last year with lower GPAs than yours. Overall academic record and essays are most important, test scores less so. As a starting point, check the Common Data Set info for each school to see where your numbers put you.</p>
<p>What about Beloit or Emerson? Also, Kenyon might be a match because of its location. In California you could consider Pepperdine or Chapman or University of Santa Clara, but I don't think they are of the same caliber as Kenyon.</p>
<p>and sure the gpa is below davidson's average, but the ACT score is above it (30>29). And keep in mind that is average.
Why you would say "no" to an applicant like that is beyond me- it never hurts to try</p>
<p>fine. Let's all be unrealistic, so when someone asks for chances we just say yes, you'll have no problem getting into Harvard with a 3.0 and a 990 on your SATs....He has good stats, but his GPA is more then lacking for a school as selective as Davidson.</p>
<p>no is just mean, and on some of the schools you said no to jPod were really just slight reaches. It's not like the guy is shooting for HYP. The schools he's looking at are selective but not uber reaches.
To the OP- if you could raise your ACT by 2 points it would really help you. Don't forget about exceptional essays, and teacher recs. Good Luck!</p>
<p>I (she) appreciate the candor (and, irish200, your motivation!). I just finished finals and expect top grades this semester. I'll drive to continue that next year. Hopefully, by pulling up my GPA however much I can, trying to lift my ACT, and putting time/energy into other developments, I can nudge into the realm where a "no" might become a "reach," a "reach" a "slight reach," a "slight reach" a "match," and a "match" a "safety."</p>
<p>For me, it took some time to get it going. I didn't apply myself freshman year the way I now realize I could have and in soph year I transferred to a school in another state that was tougher. My junior grades have picked up well and I aim to stay top shelf in grades next year. As the thread is entitled, this is my 1st look with this focus, so I know I have lots to learn!</p>
<p>no is just mean, and on some of the schools you said no to jPod were really just slight reaches. It's not like the guy is shooting for HYP. The schools he's looking at are selective but not uber reaches.</p>
<p>You think the OP can get into Michigan or Northwestern with a 3.4? Well in that case, I should have zero problems getting into UFlorida with mine!</p>
<p>I must respectfully agree with jPod on this one - the OP is good, but nothing outstanding - and his GPA/ACT are not wonderful. Northwestern, William & Mary, Tufts, Middlebury, Wesleyan (Conn.), etc. (but especially the ones I just listed) are going to be big reaches. They're reaches for anyone, as they're right at the top of the college spectrum, and very selective. With the OP's stats, I personally don't give him much of a shot. I'm sorry, but when you apply to such schools as listed above, think Ivy stats. I think there is some confusion over what a match & reach school are.</p>