<p>Homework is not my best thing, or really the structure and atmosphere of high school, but I want a college filled with academics. My list right now is UPenn, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, UChicago, Columbia, NYU, and USC.</p>
<p>3.834 GPA unweighted - I think I'm top 5% weighted
3 AP classes- US history, stats, US government & politics
Won award for excellence in AP US history
All others are honors, through this year:
3.5 credits English
4 Science, 2 lab
6.5 Math
4.5 History/Social Studies
3 Foreign Language
1 Fine Arts
1.5 Gym/health</p>
<p>Test Scores:
235 PSAT, taking SAT in March
SAT II:
790 US history
790 Math Level 2
780 Math Level 1</p>
<p>EC's:
Tutor/aide at Hebrew school (4 hours/week)
USY member, chapter board member
Coached 5th/6th grade intramural basketball
member UNICEF club, National Honor Society
Secretary/Clerk of 501(c)(3) nonprofit, for which I run an annual fundraiser
Played Freshman basketball</p>
<p>How I figure it:
reach - upenn, columbia
low reach/high match - georgetown, hopkins
lower match (pretty sure I could get in, but won't call safety) - chicago, nyu, usc</p>
<p>Where would you place me in competitiveness?</p>
<p>Aren’t almost all of them reaches? Not because your academics are not up to par, but because of the sheer selectivity. Kind of like how HYPSM would still be crapshoots for a 2400/4.0. I haven’t seen a lot of people who call UChicago their “lower match.”</p>
<p>You probably want to take a third SAT II (As most Ivies require three) to replace Math I. And you could do better with EC’s. But as long as your SAT score is as good as your PSAT, I’d say you have a pretty solid chance at most of them.</p>
<p>You misunderstand what a reach school is. Right now you are on track to have a chance of being accepted at any of the schools you list, but that does not make them a match or safety. Any college that admitts at a low level (e.g., below 40%) should always be considered a reach when coming up with a list of schools to which to apply which includes matches and safeties. For those kinds of schools, even if your GPA/rank and test scores are in the upper 25% of applicants, they are still reaches simply because you still face a higher than even chance of being rejected because the schopol is so highly selective. In other words, you have good chances of probably being admitted to one or more of those you list but none that you list should be considered a match or safety. You find matches and safeties in colleges that admit greater than 50% of those who apply and they often include your state university. Every year on these boards there is usually at least one person with high stats who gets rejected from all universities to which the person applied because the person incorrectly assumed, as you do, that schools with low admission rates like those on your list can be matches or safeties</p>
<p>Yeah sort of. You are well qualified anywhere it seems but it none of the top schools are at all a guarantee. Add some safeties to your list. Maybe also look into some LACs that are known for an ‘academic’ culture. I always think of Reed and UChicago slightly similar. Pomona College too. Try checking out some state schools for safeties. I’d say about the top 20 USnews you can’t really call a match or safety.</p>