Am I being Realistic here?

Applying to College
1

OK, so I am from East Africa and have been in the US for 9 years now. I speak fluent english, Somali and Urdu. I also recently became a US citizen. In high school, I took the most challenging courses offered. I took 1 AP class in 10th grade, 3 AP courses in 11th and am taking 3 more this year. I have about 3.6 GPA uw and got a 25 on my ACT. I will be first-generation college attendee. I am work in a political campaign and hold an important office. Here are a list of the schools I am applying to:

  1. University of Minnesota
  2. Yale University
  3. University of Chicago
  4. Marquette University
  5. Boston College
  6. NYU
  7. Cornell University
  8. Columbia
  9. Northwestern
  10. 2 other smaller schools in Minnesota

My question is which schools do you guys think I have a shot at? Am I being realistic ay all?

Thanks a lot in advance. best of luck to you all.

2

What do you want to major in?

3

I dont really know right now. i am thinking biochemistry right now but it can change. I am also thinking history or international relations.

4

I think you should consider your major and which school has programs for that. Not all schools excel at biochemistry, for example.

I will say though that put of that list you provided, I’d rather pay to go to Cornell than go to U/Minn. or Yale for free.

IMO.

5

but do u think I can get into those schools in my list with my stats? what are my chances in these specific based on your experience? thanks so much in advance.

6

Personally, I dont think you have a shot at Yale, Cornell, Columbia and Northwestern. Among the remaining schools, BC, NYU and UChicago are all HIGH reaches.
I’d look at much lower tier schools that you would like to go to and have a far better shot at.

7

oh, I see, but Cornell, Columbia and Yale all don’t have cut-off GPA and SAT/ACT score, so they do let in people who are less than average right? still worth applying though? By the way I am applying to smaller less competitive schools, its just that I wanted to give these top schools a shot.

8

Are you Non Traditional??? You mention alot of AP credits and things you did in high school… these are not exactly non-traditional… most non traditional students are over 22-24 and their high school records are not given much weight at all…

I don’t think your in the right forum.

9

thats makes sense.thanks again so much. sorry for the confusion, I am new here.

10

To be competitive at Yale, Chicago, Columbia and Cornell, you will need to raise your ACT to around 30. Maybe 28 with URM status.