Hello. I am a junior/rising senior currently building my college list. It’s too late for me to take the ACT again this year, but I can take it in September at the beginning of my senior year. I’ve only taken the ACT once and my SAT I’ve taken twice with scores that can’t compare to my ACT. I’m aiming for some top colleges and I want to know whether I should add some more “target” schools onto my list. If there are any suggestions for colleges that would be helpful as well.
My current college list: Trinity U, Wake Forest, Swarthmore, Lehigh, Dartmouth, Yale (which I know is very much a reach school)
My stats:
ACT: 31 ( 26 M 29 S 35 R 33 E)
GPA: 4.32 W (out of 5) 4.0 UW
Rank: my school doesn’t rank but I’m a Junior marshal
Race: Half Asian (Filipino) and half white
From a rural area and a small school
I’ve taken 3 APs (GoPo, USH, Lang) and I’m planning on taking 3 more. I received a 5 on one and I haven’t received the other scores yet, but I think I got at least a 4 on both.
ECs: Governor’s school alum (English), president of the science club, captain of the Science Olympiad team, secretary of the Beta club (southern eq to national honors society), founding member of my school’s literature club, marching band member, actress at my local community theatre, Key club, published online author
I want to major in English or Mandarin Chinese in college.
Thank you in advance for any advice I know a 31 is pretty good, but it’s just below the 32 average of most of the colleges I’m looking at, and I don’t want to get my hopes up if that score is too low.
I am not an admissions counselor, so obviously I am not able to give you a really good indicator, but Lehigh, Dartmouth, Yale, and Swarthmore are all reaches. Yes, you need more target schools AND safety schools. Wake Forest and Trinity are both matches. So, you have no safety schools and 4/6 of the schools are reaches / high reaches. No one should “get their hopes up” for Yale, Swarthmore, or Dartmouth. They are all close to or below 10% acceptance rate. NO ONE is guaranteed an acceptance. Also, your ECs kind of dilute your “spike.” Almost all of your ECs are science or service clubs. You have no leadership roles in anything relating to English or Mandarin. I don’t think this will get you automatically denied, but I would have that in mind.
You can always retake your ACT and improve! But, I don’t think schools like Swat, Wake Forest or Lehigh will reject u based on that. Make sure you write interesting essays! Applying ED/ED2 to schools like Swat is also very helpful!
You need more matches and some safeties. 31 is a very good ACT score but all the most selective colleges are completely unpredictable. Even kids with 34-36 are getting rejected at those schools. Its best to build your list form the bottom up. Find some safety schools - schools that you will be accepted to, that you really like and that you can afford. Once you have those, move on to match schools – schools you have a good shot at, that you really like and that you can afford. Once you have those in hand, you can move on to reaches if you feel you need them. By the way, there is absolutely no rule that says you need reaches. If you have matches and safeties that you love and can afford, there is no need to spend time, effort and money applying to schools you are unlikely to get.
Once you answer the questions from reply #1, we can give you more help building your list.
Thank you for all the advice! I knew I needed more safeties but it’s hard to find some with Mandarin majors.
To answer the extra questions,
The first two things I am looking for in a college are great academics (it doesn’t have to be well-known) and a diverse student population (specifically a good Asian population).
I prefer medium to small schools. I don’t like big lectures and would like to go to a school where I can have a close relationship with my teachers.
I want to stay in the northeast/New England area if at all possible, but I’m willing to go to California or as far down as Virginia.
The area doesn’t really matter to me, but I would prefer schools that aren’t rural.
I’m going to have to rely mostly on merit scholarships, but the area I live in offers a large scholarship for out of state, private liberal arts colleges.
Another thing, my school offers no leadership roles in English or Chinese other than the literature club my friends and I started this year. There are also no leadership roles in Chinese. I take Mandarin online because my school only offers Spanish. I live in a very rural area so there aren’t many opportunities. I can count the amount of Asians in my school on one hand and the AP English classes barely have enough students signing up to make a class in the first place. Do you have any recommendations for how I can build my spike in these conditions?
I was in the same spot last year! I had a 31, and I also applied to Yale, which is where I’m going. Keep working on that ACT, and it can help you out! If possible, try to register for more APs. Yale will look for rigor, and I feel like my rigor saved me because my junior GPA wasn’t near what you are bringing to the table. Don’t overload though. Make sure you also apply to state schools, and your essays can turn the tide so work really hard on those. They have to reflect who you are as a person, so make them count! Good luck!
I know a 31 is pretty good, but it’s just below the 32 average of most of the colleges I’m looking at, and I don’t want to get my hopes up if that score is too low.