Academics:
Currently a junior
Super modern public school in Texas, over 1400 graduating class
Rank 250 ish (yeah it’s not great that’s a big problem)
Weighted GPA: 4.1 ish on a 5.0 scale
SAT: Only took it once, 1500 with 790 math, 710 reading/writing - taking it again in August with lots more prep, hoping to get 1550 plus
ACT: haven’t taken in yet, will take in June, hopeful to get 35+
Perfect score (24) essay
PSAT: 1490 (National Merit hopefully superscore 223)
Honors and Awards:
NHS all 4 years
Speech and Debate All-American Academic
Numerous random school/teacher academic awards for spanish, math, biology, and debate
Extracurriculars:
Speech and Debate for 4 years, Team Captain in soph, junior, and probably senior years
Captain of the best debate school in the country (for extemp per the Extemp TOC)
Semifinalist at the Glenbrooks (top 60 in the nation0
Qualified for the national speech and debate tournament in soph and junior year
Harvard Quarterfinalist
Lots of local tournament victories
Internships at local law firms (will expand later on)
Students for Peer Success (nonprofit tutoring) officer
Meeting with UNDP and Ambassador in the summer
Colleges I want to get into (Definitely a Business/International Relations major):
Reach:
Georgetown
UPenn
Harvard
Reality:
1st choice!!! - USC (Merit Scholarships and hopefully Trustee)
UT Austin
UCLA
Berkeley
UMichigan
Safety:
UTD
SMU
(idk anymore)
UCLA, Berkeley, and Michigan should be on the reach list since you are out of state. Safeties are schools with auto admit that you can financially afford.
Can you afford to be full pay at the UC’s? No need based aid and virtually no merit aid for out of state students.
Harvard does not offer undergraduate business BTW.
Do you know your unweighted GPA on a 4 point scale? Does your school have Naviance and if so, can you check your stats against kids from your school who applied to UTD and SMU? Your test scores are great but with a lower GPA you want to make sure you have definite safeties.
unweighted GPA is around a 3.55, but probably can get it up to around a 3.65 ish, and I can pay for UC’s without aid, but that’s why I like USC so much - because it gives good merit-based aid - do y’all think I have a shot right now with my current stats for USC and the National Merit Scholarship and/or UT
@baller101 3.55 and even “3.65 ish” UW puts you in the bottom 5% at schools like Harvard and UPenn, making your chances at either extremely remote.
The PSAT doesn’t do much for you except for consideration for scholarships.
At 3.6 uw and current 1500, all of your reality schools are reaches (not sure about UT instate rules but the others are reaches). You’ll definitely need to go 1550 and higher to compensate.
USC gives out about 1200 full scholarships, and there were around 30,000 who applied. Something like that. My kid was 3.7 uw, 1540 SAT and not only did he not get a scholarship, he didn’t even get accepted (CS major). UCLA was a no-go as well. But did get into Berkeley. His best friend 3.9 uw 1520 SAT did get into USC for Economics but no scholarship, ok merit aid, but net cost was still higher than instate UCs.
Unfortunatley, USC is essentially a “reach” for everyone. I personally know two extremely high stats kids who were rejected this past cycle.
You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are great. You should consider applying to more reaches, perhaps more Ivies, if you can afford to do so. Write good essays and you could get accepted to any of these schools
I agree with @ProfessorPlum168 on the USC issues.
Our son was NM winner with higher GPA and SAT scores.
He received the USC merit scholarship but it only covered ½ tuition. Room and Board costs (California housing) plus the ½ tuition made it the same costs as some of the OOS schools, so he turned it down.
Agree with @momofsenior1 and @tdy123: your “reality” listed schools are reaches since you are an OOS applicant with decreased rank and GPA.
Your GPA is too low to place your hopes on tippy-top schools. Unfortunately in the US at most schools, it seems like GPA matters more than test score. Spend more time finding some next-tier options to love.
Personally, I feel your debate EC could carry you into a reach school. Idk if debate works the same way as sports but I have friends who emailed UCLA/CSULB/Princeton their junior year for volleyball and got recruited by the end of the first semester of their junior year with low asf GPA’s. If you establish communication with some of these schools and mention your accolades in debate you have a higher chance get in. Seeing you’re a 3.55 U/W and a 4.1 W you probably took a ton of weighted classes so that looks good. I’m in a similar boat as you although my EC’s aren’t as spicy and I have slightly lower stats. If anyone has time please take a look at my thread as well ;_______;
The max amount of student debt you can take out for a 4 year degree is $27k. Your parents pay the rest. With private universities, even after financial aid, there’s almost always a large amount left over for parents to pay. On average, it’s about the same cost as an out of state school. Also, the cost of living in California is atrocious and that alone could easily balloon your costs to toxic levels.
There are ways to go out of state, but it takes a little money wisdom. USC does sound decent, but make sure you get the scholarship and calculate full costs before you consider it. Check out Alabama, Auburn, and Miss State. Your stats would earn you a near full tuition scholarship, and the cost of living is very cheap. That’s a better deal than in-state UT-Austin and UTD.
Here’s a sample revised list:
UT-Austin - low reach
USC - reach, but paired with scholarship
SMU - match, paired with a scholarship
TCU - match, paired with scholarship
Texas A&M - match
UTD - safety
Alabama - safety, paired with scholarship
Auburn - safety, paired with scholarship
Mississippi State - safety, paired with scholarship