<p>Hi everyone, I am a junior in high school engaging the college process and I just recently met with my college counselor. My counselor informed me that based on my grades and SAT/ACT that I do not have a high chance going to an upper ranked school (she said Cornell, Georgetown, and Dartmouth are all extremely unlikely). When she told me this I was shocked. I am sixteenth in my class out of 204, and I have a 2160 SAT (I am taking it again in September to raise my score) and a 32 ACT (taking the one april 14th to try and reach a 33-34). Of my freshman and sophomore year, I had a B plus in AP Human Geo, a B in AP US, and a C plus in honors biology. I had A's in everything else my freshman and sophomore year. This year, I have a borderline C plus/B and all A's. I have taken 7 AP's in three years, and 7 honors classes. I also am taking 4 AP's and three honors classes next year. She said based "solely off my grades", that I do not have a good chance at getting to a top 15 school. I also have many extricurriculars that I will not list to save time. Please give me your opinion on what you think my chances are to getting into a Cornell or a Dartmouth. I also come from a predominantly hispanic private school and I am Indian- American (not native american, Im from India)</p>
<p>My son is in pretty much the same boat…and I’d say she’s probably right. Competition for those schools is fierce, and a transcript that is peppered with even a few "C"s can put you in the “Hmmm, not sure about that” category. That’s not to say it can’t happen. The fact that you are Native American will probably work in your favor…as will the fact that you’ve taken what looks to be a very rigorous schedule. There are lots of great schools out there. I would suggest you put aside the ranking lists for a while, get out there and start visiting some schools…and try to find a place that feels right.</p>
<p>OP, you sound like a great kid. Unfortunately, there are many thousands of great kids with records similar to yours, so your guidance counselor is actually giving you very good advice about not getting your hopes up too high for very selective “reach” schools. What you have to understand is that these schools could fill their classes many times over with similarly qualified applicants. Your chances of being rejected are very high. It’s not personal.</p>
<p>The good thing is that there are many fine colleges and universities that would be happy to accept you. Go beyond US News rankings and do some research to end up with a good college application list. There is nothing wrong with applying to some “reach” schools, but you have to be realistic.</p>
<p>Go to the Common Data Set for each school and check where your grades, test scores and class rank place you academically compared to the admitted students. Know that unless you have something extra special in your background that you haven’t shared, you need to be ‘above average’ academically for these very selective schools to have a decent shot at admissions. Your guidance counselor is correctly trying to help you manage your expectations. You can apply to ‘reach’ schools like those you’ve mentioned, but you should be looking for ‘matches’ as well as a ‘safety’ or two. If you have significant financial need, this is also going to impact your chances for admission in many places.</p>
<p>Luckily, there are many wonderful schools for students with your grades and test scores. Look a bit more broadly outside the Ivy Box. Look at the top LACs (liberal arts colleges - the top schools all have wonderful sciences, by the way). Indian American parents often haven’t heard of them because they don’t have grad schools, but they offer excellent educations and all the top grad schools know and respect them. </p>
<p>If you can tell us why Dartmouth, Cornell and Georgetown appealed to you - what criteria you used to choose them other than prestige and name recognition - we can suggest some comparable match and safety schools for you to consider.</p>
<p>Your GC has experience in what it takes from your school to get in. Your rank is low for the ivies and your SAT below average.</p>
<p>Admissions are not based on meritocracy alone. Being Asian American, you have race as a disadvantage in admissions as Asian Americans are considered an ORM. For the schools that you apply to, your stats need to be higher than the schools average for admission, in some cases by as much as 200-300 SAT points. This is because they compare your application with other Asians who tend to have perfect stats. It may sound unfair to you but that is the reality as schools try to balance the class with all races. You can still apply if you have a major Hook like a varsity athlete or won some national science competition. On the brighter side, there are many good Colleges from which you can get a great education and succeed in life. Ivy cache is not because they deliver any better education than other good Colleges, but because of the highly talented student body they recruit/attract. If all of those students came to your flagship state college, they will still do equally well in college and later in life.</p>
<p>I don’t buy the ‘Asians are discriminated against’ argument (and my kids are Asian). I want to see the evidence that this is true. As far as I know, Asians are treated exactly like whites in the application process which means high grades and test scores aren’t enough at highly selective schools - you have to differentiate yourself. And like all the white applicants with the same grades and test scores, in the same socio-economic group, being president of a few school-based clubs, in the orchestra and/or on a sports team isn’t differentiating, though it shows engagement and would make you very attractive to the slightly less selective schools.</p>
<p>What it means for you, personally, is that the competition is intense at the brand name schools. Check out schools in the midwest, where Asians are often URMs, and schools where you are likely to be more competitive academically.</p>
<p>M’s Mom: I have a bridge to sell you and you look like the perfect buyer. :D</p>
<p>Definitely develop a list with matches, safeties, and more realistic reaches. You can have an awesome college experience at schools that aren’t necessarily ranked highly by USNWR. At the moment, the 3 schools you mentioned are very unlikely unless you have a hook you haven’t mentioned. But there are other excellent schools in the country that will provide you with an incredible education and undergraduate experience.</p>
<p>In my experience - college counselors tend to be overly optimistic. Looks like you have one - who has her head screwed straight. Pay attention to her. Your GPA and SAT scores look way too low for the colleges you have mentioned. Time to re-calibrate.</p>
<p>MODERATOR NOTE: Please post all Chances threads on the What are my Chances? forum.</p>