Am I Ivy League material?

<p>I am a Texas senior who wants to get OUT of the South. Am I Ivy league material?
(like Cornell or something; I'm NOT getting into HYPSM but I know that :)</p>

<p>Here's the profile!
2180/1430 SAT (760m,670cr,750wr)
Taking Math 2,chem, and phys. subjects in a couple of weeks
32 ACTw/wr (34m+e,32r,27sc) (about to retake... I think I'll get a 34.. who knows)
31/617 rank
3.98 gpa
95.1 uw average
99.3 W average
taking calculus BC ap, ap gov/econ, ap stats, ap chem, ap physics c, and ap elit this year
11 AP classes
3 5's and a 4 so far (taking 7 this year)
NHS,YoungRepublicans,2yrs.basketball,1yr.work,1yr. debate,1yr.academic comp., physics teacher's aide
one of two NM commended at my school,Ap Scholar w/honors,regional qualifier in my current issues comp.
Prospective major: electrical engineering
*Spent all my time fresh. and soph. year working out and practicing for basketball, but I had to quit when I got a job as a junior b.c. we needed the extra money (my mom dated a conman who ran up tens of thousands of debt on her credit card).. worked 16 hrs. a week during the school year last year and 32 hours a week in the summer
will try to work this into my essay along with how my dad walked out on me at 11 and I've been morally supporting my mother like an adult ever since and how we had to go to a local charity and get free food for a little while and how I fell down three times in basketball tryouts and got up and made the team</p>

<p>Your grades and test scores are in range, but that just merely means that you won’t be laughed out of the admissions process due to “too low” grades and/or test scores. Beyond that, no one can predict whether you will be within the small subset of applicants who will be admitted to any of the super selective schools, since the holistic processes are opaque and unpredictable.</p>

<p>Am I correct in interpreting that you are going to need massive amounts of financial aid? If so, you need to spend time in the Financial Aid Forum reading the threads on that topic. Start with this one: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>

<p>MASSIVE amounts!
I just want to go to a school which meets 100% b.c. all the guaranteed schools just don’t seem quite right for me</p>

<p>ECs aren’t strong and you note the job began in jr year-? You would benefit if the GC goes to bat for you- excited about your maturity and words about how the need for a job, to help family, precluded more EC time. Activities are important to Ivies. A job, especially working with adults, gets attention. But, are you by any chance omitting any activities here? Something you did but that you thought doesn’t count?</p>

<p>The personal statement isn’t really about explaining your situation- it’s supposed to be a show-not-tell that, through the tale, reveals how you think, react, evolve, etc. You can allude to the facts about your father and mom’s needs, but you can’t just run the details. The tale itself has to engage the readers.</p>

<p>Ivies don’t give merit. But do check out finaid.org. Did you look online at the list of schools that “meet full need?” It’s more than Ivies.</p>

<p>You should be really competitive. I think people underestimate how important the essays and recommendations are for the more selective schools. Write some good ones, and really try to have your app show your personality and how you are unique to the other 30k applicants.</p>