Hi everyone,
I am a rising senior from ny, and these are the colleges that I am considering:
-bates
-bowdoin
-bu
-colgate
-cornell
-emory
-gwu
-lehigh
-nyu
-oberlin
-skidmore
-suny binghamton
-tulane
-u rochester
-union
-ucb
-ucla
-usc
-u mich
-u wisconsin madison
-unweighted GPA is 3.56, weighted is around 4.06
- 6 APs and 7 honors courses
-no class ranking in my school but size is around 400
-SAT scores: 710 math 700 reading (1410 composite)
-SAT II scores not released yet but taken Biology and US history
-AP scores not released yet, expecting 3 on Physics 1 and 4/5 on Language/ Composition
-president of the Stand Up 2 Cancer club
-co president of the red cross club
-officer of the LARFTY temple youth group
-judge for local science fairs
-heavy involvement with the performing arts (around 15 shows, including original choreography and song composition)
-lighting director for several shows
-member of a school literary magazine staff
-dance classes regularly at studio
-internship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine
employment:
-temple sunday school teacher (3 years)
volunteer work:
-murray avenue science fair judge
-alzheimers association volunteer
-temple sunday school teacher (2 years)
-larfty events (food sorting at temple)
-shows with 2nd graders
-original science research project won 2 awards in local and regional fairs
-recs and essays should be exemplary
additional information:
- I have an autoimmune disease so it was extremely difficult to focus, study, and get my assignments done on time which resulted in poor grades freshman and sophomore year
I think you’ve put together an excellent starting list. You are in an interesting spot in that you have a chance at all of those colleges, but none of them are a slam dunk. Thus, you have to narrow the list and really focus and show interest on a small subset of them, also focusing in on any geographic or other advantages you might have as an applicant. Do you have an intended major? A preferred size? A geographic preference? Answer those questions and the picture will become clearer.
Chance me back please. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2002119-chance-moi-si-vous-plait.html#latest
Ur gpa is kind of low but if theres an upward trend you should be fine. Your ecs are pretty good but you should consider getting your sat score higher. Other than that, solid app.
UCs are going to be expensive for OOS (~60,000) and virtually no financial aid. You will need to calculate your weighted GPA from 10-11 and only AP/IB/DE courses will get the weighting for OOS students. Those 2 are reaches due to GPA/test scores.
You will need to pare down the list as you have schools from all over the country including publics, LAC’s, and private schools.
As others have said, you need to pare down the list. This should not be an exercise in listing good schools, it should be an exercise in finding a good fit for you. Bowdoin and UCLA are both very good schools, but they are also very different from each other.
I see a lot of reaches. Which ones are your safeties? I would be very surprised if an unweighted 3.56 would get you into Bowdoin, UCLA, USC, UCB, Skidmore, or Cornell.
Have you run the NPC on these schools, and have you verified that your parents are okay with paying whatever the NPC predicts that you might be expected to pay? Can you afford these without taking on debt?
If I were OP, I would take out the UCs and UM Ann Arbor. Also get rid of some of the LACs. Cornell is out as well.
Here’s a more realistic list
BU
Colgate
Any top tier SUNY
University of Rochester
RPI
RIT
Tulane
UIUC
UMass-Amherst
George Washington
I didn’t see a major listed but from the ECs I’m assuming some sort of science/engineering.
Remember that you need to find a school that is a fit for you academically and culturally. I assume you are Jewish because of the ECs that involve being a temple Sunday School teacher. A lot of LACs and the UCs are pretty liberal but have a reputation for anti-Semitism/anti-Israel activities. Emory and Tulane are in the Deep South and there is a strong evangelical Christian presence in that part of the country. USC has the stereotype of being for rich kids into Greek life/partying although its academic standing has improved over the last few years. So you do need to take cultural differences into account and not just pluck a list from US News or Forbes.
@Hamurtle You don’t know what you are talking about. Emory is 16% Jewish. Emory being in the south doesn’t mean much as it’s in the second most Liberal city in the south ( behind Miami). But Im certain OP knows this that’s why it’s on his/her list.
@collegebound73
Emory is a reach for you but if you are Jewish, it will give you an advantage.
-bu- High Match
-cornell- Reach
-emory- Reach
-gwu- High Match
-lehigh- High Match
-nyu- Reach
-tulane- High Match
-u rochester- Match
-ucb- Reach
-ucla- Reach
-usc- Reach
-u mich- Reach/ High Match
@VANDEMORY1342 well sorry that I didn’t know what the demographics of Emory are like-don’t have to be so snarky/rude about it. Well bless your heart as the Southerners like to say.
Seriously though a lot of colleges do have incidents of anti-Semitism, even with schools that have a large Jewish presence (i.e. WashU and the vandalism of the Jewish cemetery in the St. Louis suburbs).
Fit is important and the OP has a bunch of schools that don’t really match.
@Hamurtle
That’s why it’s good to Google things first. It only takes a few minutes buddy. Who on Earth considers Atlanta conservative and Christian lol? Now you know.
Thank you to all who responded! I can afford the majority of the schools, so thankfully that is not an issue, but I definitely need to narrow down the list. I have since eliminated UCLA and UCB, so that should help at least. I have legacy at Cornell so I’ll ED1 there, and love emory and bowdoin so one of those will be my ED2. I was unaware of any kind of anti semitic presence at emory, but i’ll be sure to look into it. I also intend to major in biology and psychology.