Am I Ivy Material? Do I even have a shot?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am a high school junior in a Michigan suburb and I attend a public high school.</p>

<p>University of Liggett Merit Scholar- I got one of 8 academic scholarships at a private high school and I attended for a semester. I left because it was not challenging enough, I had a 4.28.
Varsity hockey (two years). Starter. Recently quit, I was not enjoying the sport and wanted to focus on field hockey.
Varsity field hockey- Starter, MVP, All-state
Varsity track
Student council senator
WILLOW member
Interact Club
NHS
School paper- I am the Ideas Editor and will be managing editor or EIC next year.
I am a reporter for our local paper.
Bible school instructor, volunteer at local soup kitchen. I don't have hours for these because honestly I have been doing these my whole life and never really thought to.
Classical pianist- have competed in some competitions and festivals as well. 13 years of experience.
I have won awards in journalism and english.</p>

<p>I could potentially run track or play field hockey in college, but I don't want to be an athlete, I want to be a student.</p>

<p>GPA- 4.4 (weighted)
4.24 (unweighted)
ACT-33 (first try, am taking again)
SAT II- US History- 780
5 on AP US test</p>

<p>Current schedule (junior year)
Pre calc
Spanish II (I have 2 years of latin as well)
AP Lang
AP Biology
AP Gov/AP Econ
Advanced journalism II (our paper)
Freshman Assist- I mentor at-risk freshmen in a literacy class that aims to improve their reading levels and cultural literacy as well</p>

<p>I would have outstanding letters of rec, I have been assured by my teachers. </p>

<p>I am looking at Columbia, Yale, Brown, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Harvard, etc. University of Michigan is my backup. I would be majoring in public policy, political science, english, or journalism. I'm currently undecided. </p>

<p>What do you think? Do I have a shot?
Thanks for your input!</p>

2

<p>Why do you care what other people think? Give the apps your best shot, and if all else fails, UMich is a mighty fine university that tons of kids and parents in many other states would love to have as an in-state option.</p>

<p>In fact, unless it’s for religious reasons, I don’t see much point to ND if ND costs more than UMich.</p>

3

<p>I’m just trying to get some perspective before I waste time and money on those applications. Thank you or the input though </p>

4

<p>You have a shot, but there are no guarantees for those schools. I can understand the money factor, but in terms of time, what else would you do with it that would be better for you and develop you more?</p>

<p>BTW, get a handle on what your parents can pay for and what these schools will cost your parents by running NPCs before you apply.</p>

5

<p>What does 4.24 unweighted mean?</p>

6

<p>I think it’s worth a shot to apply to those ivy league schools. In my opinion, I think your EC are on point and you should continue to expand on it. What is your GPA out of and does your school provide ranks?
As of right now, I am debating whether to apply to Columbia and Harvard (just for fun). Honestly, my neighbor who is a freshman at Dartmouth right now once said to me “You never know unless you try.” Give your ivy league dream a chance :smile:<br>
Wish you the best of luck!</p>

7

<p>It’s a nice list, but you have one high match, UMich, and no safeties. The reaches could be whittled down, but you definitely need to come up with 3-6 schools you can get into, schools with acceptance rates greater than 30%, and at least one or two safeties. </p>

<p>What IS a 4.24 unwtd. score?</p>

8

<p>@jkeil911: Getting in to UMich is much easier if you at a MI resident. In 2012, the in-state acceptance rate was over 50%: <a href=“Enrollment trends: Out-of-state students form 42.6 percent of University of Michigan's freshman class”>http://www.annarbor.com/news/university-of-michigan-sees-increase-in-out-of-state-students/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>So UMich is probably more of a low match at most.</p>

<p>Considering that you can only attend one school and that transferring in to UMich from another MI public/CC is always an option (UMich has a good number of transfers as well), I don’t see why she needs to apply to 3-6 low match/safeties.</p>

9

<p>My school is on a 4.3 scale. An a (93-97) is a 4.0 and an A+ is a 4.33. So if you have an all A+ transcript on all AP classes you could in theory get a 4.7 with the ap multiplier. </p>

10

<p>And I am likely in the top 5 percent of my class (estimation) as my school does not officially rank us. If I makes it easier in terms of grading, I have only 2 classes that I have an A in (4.0 and below a 98 but over a 92) and all the rest are A+ (98 and above, 4.3 unweighted and 4.7 with the ap weight/multiplier)</p>

11

<p>And I’m also a legacy at umich and my school (1400 students) places over30 seniors there a year </p>

12

<p>Suddenly, the list looks a whole lot better :smiley: , but I’d still have a safety on there in case something goes south.</p>

13

<p>FYI, being a legacy isn’t generally much of a boost at all at public schools, but being in-state is at UMich.</p>

<p>Apply to any schools that you want to, but UMich at in-state tuition is a great backup to have (I consider them a near-Ivy).</p>

14

<p>Regardless what is your gpa looks, your ACT of 33 is a bit low for any and all Ivies. So if you ask if you are Ivy quality, I’d say you are on the boarderline.</p>

15

<p>What act would be ideal? 34? I am retaking it, but haven’t taken the sat. What would be ideal for that?</p>

16

<p>a 36 is not a guarantee of admission by any stretch, so ideal would be a 38. :stuck_out_tongue: </p>