Academics
3.75 UW GPA/ 4.37ish W (not updated online so can’t check WGPA)
33 ACT (35E/27M/34R/34S), 33 superscored (35E/28M/34R/34S) with an 8 on writing from the first test, haven’t gotten second writing score back but expecting an 8 or 9.
680 SATII US History, 660 SATII Literature (retaking lit ASAP this fall)
6 APs out of 11 offered completed by end of senior year; only one offered sophomore year, and at my school people in the top decile are the only ones who take more than 2 or 3 APs during high school
Top 10% of graduating class (may have been updated but not posted online so this is most recent that I have)
Senior Schedule: AP Gov, AP Lit, AP Stats, Honors Spanish 4 (have to talk to teacher and see if I could sit AP Spanish exam), Honors Physics, Journalism, World Religions, Marching Band
ECs
1 year choir
1 year NHS
1 year JV bowling
1 year tutoring at local church
2 years varsity bowling
2 years service representative
2 years student government, will be senior class VP
3 years marching band
3 years Girl Scouts, considering starting Gold Award work in August
Summer Experiences
2 journalism camps (last summer and this summer)
1 writing camp (this summer)
1 psychology camp (this summer)
Gender: Female
Race: So white I sparkle
Country of Residence: USA
State of Residence: fly-over country
Financial Aid: Need it but almost all of it will have to be merit or outside $$$ as I don’t qualify for need-based at 99% of colleges
Recs: Asking my Spanish teacher who’s had me for the last two years and the NHS advisor who was my APUSH and AP Psych teacher; if one of them doesn’t work out I’ll ask my junior year English teacher
Common App Essay: The one I wrote as an end-of-year assignment for English was well-liked by both the teacher and my friends, but I’m just worried about the topic being cliche. That being said, if I don’t come up with a better essay I’d be okay using it.
SCHOOLS (assume psychology major unless otherwise noted):
Northwestern* (Medill, journalism)
WUSTL
UNC Chapel Hill (journalism)
Brown
Tulane
University of Miami
Boston Univesity
Boston College
Your resume looks pretty similar to mine, not to scare you, but I didn’t get in. That, in no way however, will predict if you will or not. Everyone is crazy for thinking they can get into these schools, but that’s no reason not to apply. You might just be one of the lucky ones that get in.
Crazy isn’t the right word – optimistic is the right word, and for you, for some of those schools, you are too optimistic.
Northwestern - high reach
WUSTL - high reach
Brown - high reach
Of the high reaches, I don’t think you will get in to any of them, but you DO have a chance with that decent ACT score; that’s the only reason I didn’t say “out of reach”.
Tulane is a MATCH, and I think you will get in there.
UNC Chapel Hill is a MATCH, and I think you will get in there.
University of Miami is a safety for you. Easily admitted there.
Boston University is a MATCH and almost a safety. You will get in there.
Boston College is a MATCH, but is is POSSIBLE you will be denied, however, you are at their 75% level with ACT score, and your GPA is good enough.
@KW1217 Thanks for the reality check. Do you mind me asking where you ended up attending?
@stepay I figured “crazy” might be slight overexaggeration, and thanks for the votes of confidence! I’m leaning more towards qualifying UMiami as a match, though, as finances might be more questionable. But hey, merit aid was invented for a reason, right?
@jackrabbit14 Do you know if going to a private, Catholic school would help any for BC as it’s a Catholic university? Just curious.
@JessicaWang I’ve heard that a lot, but I’m kind of burnt out on testing. Should I retake both of my subject tests or switch out US History for a Math subject test (especially because I didn’t do so well in junior year math and I’m hoping an SATII score could help make an argument that I’m not as bad at math as I appear to be)? I’d do all 3, but as I’m paying for all of my testing I can’t afford to do more than 2 at this point.