Are my choices so far realistic? Columbia, UChicago, USC, others

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a junior in high school beginning the process of picking some colleges to apply for later this year. Obviously I don't have all of my grades/scores in yet, but I just wanted to get a general idea of whether or not my choices so far are realistic.</p>

<p>General
-Female, half eastern Indian/half white, middle class
-Most likely applying to engineering programs (with the exception of NYU)
-I go to a rigorous prep school on a scholarship, it's considered among the top 3 in the state
-Our GPA scale maxes out at 4.33, no rankings are disclosed
-Our transcript only has our weighted GPA, but I could find out unweighted if it's important</p>

<p>Classes and Grades
Freshman year: English, World History, Spanish I, Geometry Honors, Bio Honors (I took the only honors classes available to freshmen). GPA: 3.93</p>

<p>Sophomore year: English honors, AP Euro (5 on test), Spanish II honors, Alegbra II honors, CP Chem. GPA: 3.8</p>

<p>Junior year: English honors (will take AP Lang), APUSH, CP Spanish III, Precalc honors, AP Bio, Creative writing. GPA: First semester was 4.2</p>

<p>Senior year: I've signed up for a semester each of Programming and Global Issues, Political Theory Honors, AP Lit, AP Physics, AP Calc, and Environmental science. Hopefully I'll get into all of of those.</p>

<p>Overall GPA looks like it'll be about 4.0 weighted, currently I think it's 3.94</p>

<p>ECs
-100ish hours volunteering with horseback riding program for kids with special needs
-12ish hours volunteering with river stewardship program, involves monitoring stream quality
-Will probably volunteer with animal shelter, not sure how many hours that will be
-Volunteer as a counselor in training at summer camp for the past few summers, I help kids in horse camp learn how to ride horses and whatnot
-Model UN, four years, will probably be president next year. I have various awards from conferences.
-Junior Statesmen of America, three years, will be president next year. I also have a fairly major leadership role in the organization itself-- I'm in charge of setting the schedule for conventions
-Science Olympiad, three years, will possibly have leadership position next year. Our team did well this year and is going to state.
-Unified for UNIFAT (local charity), three years. I was on the executive board all three years, and this year was vice president. Our school will probably be discontinuing the chapter next year, though.
-Elected student senator sophomore year
-Roundtable, political discussion group, three years
-Science fair: I did a project on a method of removing toxic blue green algae from lakes. I won quite a few awards at the regional and state levels, and was invited to join the Ohio Academy of Science. I recently presented at the University of Findlay and will probably continue research with one of the professors there. My abstract has been published in an Ohio journal, and I'm submitting the rest of my paper for national publication. Hopefully I'll eventually present to the National Academy of Science.
-Horseback riding: 7 years so far. I ride once or twice a week during the school year, more during the summer. I compete once a month during show season and sometimes volunteer to help manage things at shows.
-I helped an architect at the University of Cincinnati design/construct a solar panel model thing he uses for demonstrations with younger kids. I used it to collect data on optimal solar panel positions.
-I went to a week-long women in engineering camp at University of Dayton
-I've sort of been playing piano since the age of 5 but my crippling musical stage fright means that I haven't performed publicly since I was like 8
-I was in the school play freshman year... I don't know if this even counts because my role was literally Tree #3
-Applying to various summer programs at George Washington, WashU, and Stanford. I'm also looking for an internship of some sort.</p>

<p>Scores
-5 on AP Euro, hoping for 4s and 5s on the three APs I'll take this year
-2250 on first SAT: 800 CR, 720 Math, 730 Writing. I'll probably take it again in the fall and try to get my math up a bit.
-Took the ACT, haven't gotten scores back yet
-SAT II: will take US History, Bio, the English/writing one, and Math II
-212 on PSAT. I probably missed out on national merit, but I've got my fingers crossed</p>

<p>Other
-I have potentially the best college counselor to ever walk the earth, she should write me a stellar rec. I'm counting on ones of similar quality from my English and Precalc teachers
-My essay writing skills are pretty solid, so those shouldn't be a problem</p>

<p>I don't plan on applying to all of the following schools, these are just the ones I'm considering. I also don't expect a chance for every one of them, just whatever you feel lke doing :)</p>

<p>Top choices:
Columbia (this is the one that is sort of my crazy dream school... I have no idea if it's even a remote possibility)
WashU
Tufts
Northwestern
UChicago
USC</p>

<p>Others:
Princeton? Yale?
Carnegie Mellon
Johns Hopkins
Vanderbilt
Tulane
Harvey Mudd
George Washington
NYU
Virginia Tech
Purdue
UC Berkeley
Notre Dame</p>

<p>Thanks so much if you made it to the end of this, I'd greatly appreciate any input!</p>

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<p>Hi, Dear,</p>

<p>Firstly, i suggest you should have a definite choice regarding Engineering Subject, Electronioc Eng, Biologh Eng or Mechanical Eng?</p>

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<p>Sounds pretty solid so far. Everything seems all well and in order to qualify for the schools of your choice.</p>

<p>I would, however, warn you against only applying to “reaches.” Overall, you look like a very good candidate, but schools like UChicago and Northwestern, and Princeton and the like have almost nothing but “very good candidates.” You’re very well qualified, but I would suggest applying to a school with higher acceptance rates, just in case. It doesn’t have to be a state school that accepts anyone with a pulse, but just try to find a nice “safer” school that you genuinely like and wouldn’t be disappointed in going to if it came down to that. WashU is something along those lines, though it’s still a very good school, you see? You don’t want to be one of those people who got in nowhere because they only applied to reaches or are having to go to a school they only applied to as a safety and don’t even like.</p>

<p>And, this is just me, but I’d try to keep the list trimmed. I applied to seven colleges and almost died with all the stuff I had to do for all of them.</p>

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<p>@yumomo I’m thinking biomedical engineering.</p>

<p>@briannanlc Thanks!</p>

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<p>How would he have a definite choice for engineering? Has the OP even had any exposure to any of the engineering disciplines?</p>

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<p>I went to a summer camp where I got to take mini-classes in different branches of engineering. Through that experience and my own research, biomedical sounds the most appealing to me, but obviously I’m not 100% what I want to do with the rest of my life as of right now :P</p>

<p>Any other opinions?</p>

7

<p>Bumping this up :)</p>

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<p>Your primary list of schools looks fine. You have several reach schools and several match schools. You may want to add a couple safety to it. Personally, I think applying to 10+ schools is not a good idea. Not only it is a waste of money, it also indicates you don’t really know what you want and did not think thoroughly which schools would fit you most. On the list of schools, I would suggest to keep reach schools at around 25% or less, or you may be depressed later on. I would also pick around 25% low match and safety schools (you are at or above the 75% admission stat) that you feel fine if you end up going. The rest should be match schools (between 50% and 75% of admission stat).
I am not sure how you calculate your GPA. Most schools just do a 4.0 max scale. Try to recalculate without subgrades. I assume your calculations are based on a 4.33 Max with subgrades. If you can provide UW GPA in 4.0 scale, it would be easier for comparison.</p>

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<p>My school only lists our weighted GPA on our transcripts, and yes, that’s on a 4.33 max scale. As of now, I only have access to my weighted GPA.</p>

<p>And yeah, I definitely plan on trimming the list of those colleges before I apply. There’s still a few places I want to visit before I make up my mind.</p>

<p>It would be helpful to know which schools you would consider matches/reaches :)</p>

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<p>You look like a very solid candidate. I should have mentioned that in my last post. My cousin is doing biomedical engineering as well!</p>

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<p>Thanks billcsho and muaythaiguy18!</p>

<p>Any more opinions? It would be helpful to know which schools would be considered matches/reaches.</p>

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<p>It’s impossible to give “chances,” as we can’t see your recommendations, essays, and your academic/extracurricular involvement compared with your classmates. With that said, you will be a competitive applicant at any school you decide to apply to. Also, try to find out your weighted GPA – I believe that’s more important than weighted in the college admissions process.</p>

<p>Here’s just some tips:</p>

<p>1) You are doing a great job in choosing a large breadth of schools (in terms of selectivity) to apply to. I might search out one more complete safety if I were you, just to be absolutely positive, but don’t feel like you have to. Personally, I’m a proponent of applying to a lot of school – I applied to 17 this last year. Though the application fees can add up, the cost of applying is miniscule compared to the actual cost of college itself. Additionally, it’s nice to have many options to choose from after you receive your acceptance letters, and I’ve found that my opinions on what I want in a college have changed since I first started applying to them. It’s better to apply to too many places and end up at one you’re happy with than apply to too few and always regretting not giving yourself enough to choose from, in my opinion.</p>

<p>2) If you feel like it, take the SAT again, but I’d advise not to take it a third time even if your scores don’t increase. Your scores are already good enough for just about any school in the country, and a small increase in your scores won’t (in my opinion) appreciably improve your chances of admittance.</p>

<p>3) Make sure you get the leadership positions that you write that you’ll probably get. This is close to a must. A strong applicant not only has strong objective stats, but also has good leadership and involvement in his/her extra curricular activities. </p>

<p>4) Have fun! Senior year is busy, but make sure to enjoy it, and don’t stress out too much about the college application process. Continue your commitment to the activities you love and get good grades, but also don’t forget to hang out with friends and to have a good time. </p>

<p>All of your choices may not be likely, but they are realistic. You will be a competitive applicant at just about any school. Good luck!</p>

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<p>of your colleges that you are interested in, you have a good shot at all, but your GPA is very low for columbia. if your unweighted gpa was 3.94, thats another thing. but if you’re taking weighted classes like ap euro and ap bio and still getting only a 3.94, that’s a bit of an issue</p>

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<p>Thanks adodie and afroninja!</p>

<p>Yeah, my GPA could definitely be better, there’s a handful of B+s on my transcript. </p>

<p>My school does have a bit of a reputation for grade deflation, though, and that tends to be reflected in our admissions statistics. For example, the average GPA of kids who have gotten into Columbia from my school in the past few years is 3.93 weighted, which is probably lower than you’d see elsewhere.</p>