I’m part of class 2021. Junior year was so turbulent that my plans and my confidence were shaken up. I used to think I would be able to get into a good college just fine, but now I’m not so sure.
I have a UW GPA of 4.0. I have taken 9 AP classes and have a SAT score of 1380 that I am confident I can bring up to a 1470. I am an AP scholar. I rank 50 In my grade.
EC wise I am very weak. I spent 4 years in yearbook and am an editor there. I was a track manager and a member of our schools Asian club. I am in beta club. I went to a Chinese school during the weekends for 4 years and have had my artwork shown at a small gallery in our county.
For college reccs, I have two teachers I am close with that even insisted on writing a rec for me.
Something interesting about me that I plan to add in my college essays is that I went abroad for 2 years during middle school by myself. I am Korean and I did not know the language when I first went. The school I went to was very run down so it was not a glamorous experience but it was very fulfilling. I am confident in my writing abilities.
Are my stats good enough for a school like UGA, a top 50 school? If not, how high can I go? If yes, is it possible for me to shoot for top 40 schools?
Your current score is just below the 75th percentile (assuming UGA is University of Georgia) and a 4.0 UW is obviously going to be at the top. Assuming the AP mix is significant “core” AP courses, the course rigor would seem to be strong.
I’d day you have a pretty good chance at it.
GPA/SAT and not a monotonic function of “Top X schools”. There may be some schools that USNews, for one, ranks in the top 40 for which you would be a strong candidate, and others that you may not.
Find schools that are strong in the major you want to pursue (top X “overall” rankings don’t mean a whole lot) and then see which ones are reach/target/safety schools. There’s not much use applying to a “Top 5” school like MIT if you want to be a Criminal Justice major.
Its hard to say without knowing more information. You mention top 50, but how large is your class size? If only 51 kids, then its not so great. But if you have 1000 students in your HS class, then top 50 is excellent.
If you are within the top 5-10% then you could shoot for top 10 schools. If your rank is a little lower (2nd-3rd decile) then look for schools in the 20-30 rank. Applying ED also helps. Being asian unfortunately will not help.
@katie1172 The first question should not be “am I good enough?” You should first ask: What schools can my family comfortably afford? Would I be happy at this school? Does it offer courses and majors that interest me?
Because of COVID, it’s harder to visit schools. But there is also a lot more virtual information than there used to be. You can sign up for information sessions, meet virtually with a current student, take virtual campus tours, etc. So if you don’t know what kind of school you prefer, the information is there for you.
As to your question, I would rephrase it as “can I get into this school? What would be a safety/match/reach for me?” Does your school have Naviance? If so, you can compare your GPA and test scores with other applicants from your school and see how you might do. Generally, the lower the acceptance rate, the less predictable the data.
Most schools this year have gone test optional and some are not even considering test scores. Your 1380 is a good score but not competitive for the very top schools. The general rule of thumb is to send your score if it is at the median or higher for admitted students (this is easily googled). If it’s much below 50%, it is probably better to go test optional. If you are able to retest and score 1450+ then you would reassess about whether or not to send your SAT score.
GPA and class rigor are very important and that unweighted 4.0 is a strong point in your favor! Do you know your class rank? 50 out of how many students? Being in the top 10% or higher would also improve your chances.
For UGA, are you in state?
I think you have a lot going for you. There are many schools for which you would be more than “good enough”!