Brown, USC, NYU???

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Intended Major: Chemistry/ Biochemistry
Ethnicity: African-American

ACT: 33 (E: 35 M: 31 R:34 S: 30)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.83 UW (I had a 4.06 first term)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5 out of 101 in a small catholic school
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (4), AP English Lang (4), AP Physics (1, didn’t report)

Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP Euro, AP Calc AB, French IV, Community Service

Extracurriculars: World Language Club, Book Club, Soccer (10 years), Track and Field (Captain)

Job/Work Experience:
Sales associate at small store

Volunteer/Community service:
Cat shelter every other Sunday

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

8-9, It was about my identity crisis as I grew up in an all white town and was adopted by white parents while I’m a different ethnicity than everyone

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: AP English Lang, She liked me a lot and helped/saw me become a better writer (9-10/10)
Teacher Rec #2:French, I’ve had her for all three years and she saw me grow as a student and really enjoyed having me in class (9-10/10)

Counselor Rec: New counselor, but we have been getting along very well and she appreciates my drive towards school (probably 8/10)

I’m just wondering my chances for USC, NYU, and Brown. I know that any ivy is a crapshoot, but I wanted to see if I at least had a slim chance. Thanks so much for any feedback!

2

Brown, along with the rest of the ivys are, for the most part, a crap shoot for everyone. However, I think you have a shot at brown, but you’re probably the average applicant. So, probably in the midst of 10%. However, brown admits 22% of early applicants. Hopefully you applied EA or ED. NYU and USC are borderline safeties for you. Goodluck.

3

USC is NOT a safety. You have a shot, I think it’d be a little easier to get into NYU, but have some real safeties as well

4

Thanks for the replies! I do have real safeties along with those schools. These are just the schools that I knew I would have the most trouble getting in to.

5

I think your identity crisis essay, if well written, can really hit home with a lot of these colleges. You look like, academically, an about average applicant for brown, but your circumstances will bump you up to a little above average, I’ll give you around a 20% chance here.

I’d say you’re around 50% for USC, and maybe around 40% for NYU. Again, you can really make a strong case for yourself with that essay. Good luck