Lately I’ve been thinking more in-depth about college and where I want to go. As of now I hope to attend college in New York City and I’ve found two colleges that have really caught my eye: Columbia University and New York University. I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else so I was wondering if I have a chance and how I could improve my chances from now until it’s time to apply.
What’s unfortunate is that I starting striving for the ivy leagues a little too late. Currently I have an unweighted GPA of 3.75 and a weighted GPA of 3.9. I am almost guaranteed to be top 10% and maybe even valedictorian. However, I didn’t start taking AP classes until this past year (my junior year) and I’ve heard of people who started AP their freshman year. Granted my high school doesn’t offer many AP classes (after senior year I’ll have taken all AP courses offered) but I also didn’t take as many honors as I would have liked to. I’ve only taken 3 AP classes so far (Environmental science, US history, and Lang & Comp) but I plan to take 4 more AP classes (Biology, Literature, Statistics, and Calc) plus French 3 and other health science focused classes.
Also, I’m worried that colleges won’t be able to recognize the rigor of my senior year during the selection process, is this true?
I have a current ACT score of 27 and an SAT score of 1560 (I know I bombed the SAT but my school offers no preparation as I was the only one from my school to even take the SAT) but I plan on retaking both the ACT plus Writing and the SAT with 3 Subject tests.
I don’t have many awards/honors to put on my application (the only one I can think of is principal’s honor roll) so does this impact my admission? Should I look for awards I could possibly win over the summer? I plan to do a lot of community service over the course of this summer and I have a current VP role in National Honors Society so I think I’m ok with the community service under my belt but I worry that the admissions officers will take one glance at my application and throw it in the trash.
I know this should be more suited talking with my guidance counselor but I can almost guarantee my guidance counselor has never even heard of the ivy leagues (nearly all of the students at my high school will definitely attend a community college). Thanks for suffering through my paragraphs of worries.
Your ACT is low for top schools and IVY’s. Get a 34 or so. You will need to work hard to get that. Don’t look only for top school, also look for safety schools. Probably IVY’s and top schools take a look for EC’s s.
I’m currently considering 15-20 schools, some of which are safety schools I would have no problem getting into. I’m considering doing the PrepScholar tutoring program that guarantees a 4 point improvement. Do you have any other studying tips? The first time I took the ACT I got a 26 and then I studied for months and only improved to a 27. I also forgot to mention I’ve played Tennis since sophomore year (both high school team and competitive teams).
Change of strategy since the last one didn’t help. Try to focus on your weakest areas. Do you have the Real ACT prep guide?
I don’t I should probably go buy it. My school did a prep class after school where I had to take a diagnostic test and they had me focus on my weakest areas with the Barron’s ACT book and then I bought 500 ACT math questions to know by test day and the science version just like it. I also did tutoring with my English teacher which helped some but I’m still having a hard time improving even on practice tests.
Actually Barron’s is not a bad book, but you need to get that book. Why?
The simple answer is because it was made by ACT people. Try to look for help if you don’t understand some questions. Try to take a test each Saturday and from Sunday to Friday check all your mistakes and how to answer them for not making those mistakes again.
Actually Barron’s is not a bad book, but you need to get that book. Why?
The simple answer is because it was made by ACT people. Try to look for help if you don’t understand some questions. Try to take a test each Saturday and from Sunday to Friday check all your mistakes and how to answer them for not making those mistakes again.
@morgannikol Other schools to consider would be Fordham and Manhattan College.
Your experience of improving by a point is the norm. Once you get into this area of scoring the probability of staying the same or going down are equal.
You can always look at test optional schools but much more attention will be placed on your transcript, the strength of your high school, number of AP classes and whether you interviewed or not. So being test optional can be worse for some students.
Good luck. BTW, Manhattan College is an excellent school and it is located in the enclave of Riverdale.
I agree with all the previous posters that you need to work on getting your ACT score up over the summer because they are near the bottom of the range for Columbia. http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2018profile.pdf NYU’s score range is a bit lower but not much. As others have said, you should get the real ACT book with real old tests and take as many of them as possible, preferably under testing conditions. Columbia will accept either the ACT with writing OR SAT plus subject tests. Given time restraints, you may want to focus on the ACT and forget about the SAT. (I’m assuming the 1560 was a total of all three sections rather than just Critical Reading and Math.) I wouldn’t worry about not taking AP classes as a freshman. My kids’ school does not offer any APs until junior year and limits the students to three each year so at the most, you can only have six APs. But I would definitely widen the net. As others have noted, Fordham and Manhattan College are located in the Bronx but a short subway or Metro North train ride to Manhattan. I don’t know if you indicated your gender, but if you are female, you should look at Barnard College which is the undergraduate all-women’s college at Columbia University. Somewhat less selective than Columbia College but you graduate with both a Barnard and Columbia degree.
Honestly speaking, your chances of getting into Columbia or another Ivy League are extremely low. Your gpa (btw, do you realistically have a shot at being the valedictorian? How can that possibly be?), test scores, and EC’s (from what little you’ve said of them) are far below what it takes to get into these schools. If other kids in your school started taking AP’s in freshman year and you are starting in senior year, your GC will not be able to check the box saying you took the most rigorous course schedule you could have (an extremely important consideration for top colleges because it means you did not challenge yourself and take full advantage of whatever resources that were available to you).
NYU will also be a reach for you. It is one of the most expensive schools and financial aid is notoriously not very good so if you need tuition assistance, it may not be a great school for you even if you do get in.
I think you should be focusing on schools like Fordham and Manhattan College as others have said. You can apply to schools that are ranked in the top 25 in the nation but most will be high reach schools for you.
Good luck with everything!
I also think that Columbia is out of reach for you. Barnard would be a major reach. NYU is a reach, but not quite as unrealistic academically. Unfortunately, they are one of the most expensive universities in the country and absolute stinkers about financial aid. You could look at Eugene Lang/New School if you are not interested in a Science major. It is a small liberal arts college located a few blocks away from NYU. Pace is another option, especially if you’re more inclined toward pre-professional majors. Every NYC college is fiendishly expensive, unless you’re a resident applying to a CUNY, and you aren’t going to be able to save money by moving off campus. If you want an exciting urban environment, you can also find lots to do in Chicago (DePaul) or Philadelphia (Drexel’s very costly if you don’t get merit aid, but Temple is relatively affordable). If finances aren’t a principal consideration, then apply to NYU, BU, George Washington, et al. If they are, you will need to have some financial back-ups.
To aim for these schools I think a main factor would be improving your standardized testing scores. The Real ACT book is very helpful. You could also try taking full length practice tests at a time (instead of practicing section by section) because a lot of people struggle with their time management on the test.
I don’t know about other schools but at my school they consider weighted GPAs in determining who’s valedictorian. With that being said my GPA is far above anyone else’s (i’m definitely not bragging it could be a lot higher) and I read online somewhere about ivy league admissions that many people who take AP starting their freshman year have a better chance of being admitted. No one at my high school started AP until junior year. Thanks for the advice Fordham seems to be a good college from what I’ve researched so I will definitely consider it!
Do not worry so much about the APs because my school does not allow us to take them until junior year and we have plenty of kids who got into Dartmouth, Cornell, Harvard, RIce, and many other top schools.
Columbia is all about test scores. Get a 34-36 and you have a reasonable (for an Ivy) shot. I would not be discouraged. Concentrate methodically on your errors, determine why you made the error, and don’t repeat it. Drill to improve your speed. Start with the ‘real’ ACT books and work your way through as many as you can. I’d sign up for both the Sept and Oct tests so you have 2 chances and still quality for EA/ED.
You should also take SAT II (Subject tests) if required by the colleges on your list, Most require 2 for certain subjects (e.g. engineering, sciences)
There is no downside to this (except time) as it will improve your chances at every college, and might make you eligible for merit scholarships.
A few years ago when I took GMAT, I went from 60th to 98th percentile with 4 months of studying and practice (a few hours a day).
S improved from 25-33-36 on the ACT. It is definitely possible to raise your score in that range.