<p>I'm wondering how my chances will be affected by the fact that I'm a middle- to upper-middle suburban white girl in New Jersey with absolutely nothing interesting on my application except test scores and a few awards.</p>
<p>I figure I have a good shot at most colleges by virtue of my transcript and test scores, so I'm mostly interested in HYP... but if you have anything about anywhere else to add that's much appreciated.</p>
<p>780 biology
780 chemistry
800 physics
800 U.S. history
800 math II</p>
<p>AP's:
5's on Computer Science A, U.S. History, Microeconomics, and Macroeconomics. It's really only possible to take two or three AP's before senior year in my school, so I self-studied the economics exams.</p>
<p>WGPA: 4.88
GPA: 4.0?
Class rank: 2/306</p>
<p>EC's:
*Three-season athlete (cross-country, spring and winter track). Varsity letter in cross-country.
*Treasurer of Gay-Straight Alliance and Students Against Destructive Decisions.
*Some extracurricular involvement in music.
*Math tutor.
*Spanish teacher for chronically ill sibling.
*Some community service.
*Various other clubs.</p>
<p>Awards:</p>
<p>*Competed in Academic Decathlon all three years. Won various awards including first and second in regionals.
*New Jersey Science League: Top 10% each year (highest award).
*First in group in county math league.
*Scholastic Art and Writing Awards: Gold and silver in journalism as eighth-grader.
*Richard Armstrong Book Award from Columbia University Alumni association.</p>
<p>Recommendations and essays should be pretty good.</p>
<p>Basically, I'm wondering how coming from a moderately privileged background and not achieving anything incredible will hurt me at colleges where everyone has nearly-perfect test scores and others have interesting achievements and stories.</p>
<p>You are in good shape for admissions consideration from a top school. It all depends on how the apps look for given schools your season. Most kids do not have great hooks. I think you will get into a number of selective colleges, but it is difficult to say which ones as there is an element of chance involved. Bear in mind that it is easy to come up with the top college list, but much more challenging to find a good safety that you like. Make sure you have one on your list.</p>
<p>Solid scores and decent ECs. Make sure you have safeties and matches. Realistically, HYP are big reaches. Finally, "*Scholastic Art and Writing Awards: Gold and silver in journalism as eighth-grader." shouldn't be on your application to college.</p>
<p>Your UW GPA of 4.0 is very good, and you have taken the most rigorous courseload that your school offers, and you even took the initiative to self-study APs. Your 5's on the AP exams will earn you some crediit even at the most prestigious schools, but keep in mind that in some cases a 5 won't get you anything at the top schools. If your school allows you to, I recommend that you ask your counselor to see if it's possible to take classes at a local college or university (even a community college), a process known as dual enrollment. This can further challenge you and prepare you for college. However, even without dual enrollment, you seem to be pretty prepared. Your SAT score of 2370 is excellent, as well as your SAT Subjects ... they're almost perfect ... but don't retake the SAT just so that you can get a 2400 ... I hate it when that happens. Keep in mind that you're only supposed to take the SAT I at most 2 or 3 times; admission officers hate it when you take the SAT too many times, because it seems as if you're mastering a test, not skills. Apart from your GPA and standardized test scores, admission officers will also take a look at your ECs. As of now, your ECs look good; you demonstrate leadership to some extent in them, but I can't really tell how you're involved in those activities. Let me put it this way: Did you actually enjoy doing those ECs or did you just do it so that you could "stuff" your app? That's something to keep in mind. Admission officers are looking for real, passionate people, not test-taking machines. Other than that, your honors are few in number (which is okay by all means) and belong to the regional/state level; however, I'll agree with aigiqinf on this one: You can't list any pre-high school awards on your app, because it will only distract admission officers from the main scope of your essay: What did you do during your high school career? </p>
<p>Overall, you seem to be a very very competitive and smart candidate for college. </p>
<p>Chances:
HYP: Reach (It's a reach for anyone because they're Top Ivies, and you seem like the typical "smart" and "4.0" student without any legacies or connections.)</p>
<p>Good luck, and remember to chance me! Thanks!
-ab2013</p>
<p>Sorry for the double post, but one more question. How are my chances at the University of Virginia? My mother's an alumna. Would it be safe to use UVA as a safety, or do I have a less-than-certain chance of getting in?</p>
<p>Oh, and I forgot to mention: I go to a moderately competitive high school. I'll be in six AP's in school next year and am taking Calculus BC through an online program (CTY) and should probably get an A+.</p>
<p>UVA public school, which pretty much means legacy doesnt mean anything. I can't chance you on it because I don't know UVA well enough.</p>
<p>middle school ECs should not be added, even if it is 8th grade. You can put it on there if you want to fill up space, but they aren't going to count it AT ALL.</p>
<p>ur ECs are a little bit weaker than ur Academic stats. maybe its just because its a small list, but you should get some more ECs if you want to get in HYPS. as im sure you know, HYPS are a reach for EVERYONE, great academic stats or not. so i suggest adding some safeties as well as mid range schools. Cornell would be ideal if u looking for Ivies for mid range. safeties u can just choose. but DO NOT ONLY apply for HYPS.</p>
<p>HYP are reaches for everyone. But I can suggest some safeties and matches. I would suggest UT-Austin, USC, UCLA, UNC, NYU. Look into those. Chance me as well. </p>
<p>Well, I can't go anywhere that would be more than driving distance from the New York area... </p>
<p>But anyway, I think as small as my chances of getting into Yale may be, my chances of paying for a school like NYU are zero. I'm looking into the schools my guidance counselor thinks will give me a lot of money if not a full ride, like Brandeis, Barnard, and the College of New Jersey.</p>
<p>I realized I might have sounded overconfident just asking about HYP, but that's because I have a pretty long list of safeties that I feel good about. Although I'd still really like to go to Yale lol.</p>
<p>Take a hard look at finances as you create your list. The Ivies will not give you any merit aid--they don't give it to anybody. They will give very good need-based financial aid. So look at some aid calculators to see whether you will be able to swing the part of the cost that you and your family will be expected to pay.
Your credentials, in my opinion, make it likely that you would be accepted at some very selective schools. But because there is no one thing that stands out (other than really excellent grades and scores), you will likely be rejected by some very selective schools too. This means a couple of things: first, it is important to apply to a range of schools, including reaches, matches, and safeties that you would be willing to attend (and could afford to attend). Second, don't apply to too few reaches. Your guidance counselor might advise you something like 2 reach, 2 match, 2 safety. For you, I don't think 6 or even more reaches would be unreasonable. You are the kind of student who might get into one or two Ivies, and rejected by the others--but it's impossible to say which ones.</p>
<p>Eh. I'm having a pretty hard time figuring out what my financial aid would be at most schools, since my family recently went from "middle class" to "upwards of $100k in medical bills." But it looks like a "reach" that isn't offering HYP-level financial aid is probably out of reach for me... and I didn't like most of them anyway. In any case I'd be perfectly happy at somewhere like the College of New Jersey, which will pay my tuition, so I'm not too concerned.</p>