Brown, Williams, Amherst, & More...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Current senior in high school applying to: Brown, Yale, Williams, Princeton, Amherst, Swathmore, Tufts, Boston College, Northeastern, and UMass Amherst (hoping to get into the honors college (?))

ACT Superscore: 33 (35 E, 33 M, 34 R, 30 S, 10/12 essay)
SAT Subject Tests: 740 Math II — taking Math II again with Literature in November
GPA: 4.633/4 weighted — Rank: # 5/243
AP Scores : US History (3), Literature (3), Physics 1 (3), taking AP Calc AB, AP Psych, and possibly retaking AP Lit exam in spring 2019

Junior Year: AP Physics 1 (A), AP US History (A), AP Literature 1 (A), AP Spanish 4 (A+), Honors Precalculus/Trig. (A), and Honors Orchestra (A+)
Senior Year: AP Computer Science (A), AP Psychology (A+), AP Literature 2 (A-), AP Calculus AB (A), Honors Civics (A+), Honors Orchestra (A+)

Extracurriculars:

  1. Varsity Swimming & Diving 9-12 (Captain)
  2. Global Citizenship Certificate Program 9-12 (Co-President & Executive Board Member)
  3. Regional Young Democrats Chapter 10-12 (Event Coordinator)
  4. Local Community Chamber Orchestra 8-12 (Principal Cellist)
  5. Local Community Youth Orchestra 8-10 (Principal Cellist)
  6. Tri-M Music Honor Society 10-12 (Member & Volunteer)
  7. Celtic Strings Ensemble 9-12 (Principal & Music Arranger)
  8. Regional/District Junior and Senior Symphony Orchestra 7-12 (Principal for a few years)
  9. All-State Symphonic Orchestra 11-12
  10. Possibly All-Eastern Honor Orchestra (for the east-coast)

Other Things:

  • National Honor Society 11-12 (typical member & stuff)
  • I’m in a cello duet with my friend. We play around town, at concerts, we book gigs and stuff, and we won a few gold medals at state competitions.
  • AP Scholar (everyone pretty much gets that lol)
  • Junior Class College Book Award (for being in the top 15 of my class)
  • Participated in…summer global citizenship program thing, local hospital summer volunteer/“intern”, clinical psych summer class, a couple bioengineering summer programs, a gastrointestinal & endoscopic surgery week “program” thing, and a few summer chamber music festivals.
  • School award for having highest grade in biology and Spanish…
  • Letters of recommendation, common app essay, and supplements are all expected to be pretty decent…

Other Other Things that may or may not be necessary to add: I’m a white, male, typical middle class, first generation college student

2

Don’t underestimate the value of being “a first generation college student” as an admissions factor (or “hook”).

As far as “chances”, even Northeastern is not assured. I do, however, believe that you will be admitted to UMass-Amherst. You will be competitive at the others, but the competition is quite intense.

3

@Publisher thank you

4

Some of the schools on your list do not superscore the ACT. I don’t think Brown or Princeton does. I don’t know about the rest but you should check.

5

@suzy100 my highest composite is a 32 (33 E, 33 M, 34 R, 29 S)

6

I think your list is very reach heavy. Be sure to have sure bet safeties and matches on your list.

Suzy100 is correct that some of the schools on your list do not super score and that 32 will be the low end of the range for the high reaches.

7

Do you all have any recommendations as to where I should set the bar? I know my list is really reach heavy… and it would be nice to figure out how I should go about finding more realistic options.

8

My daughter had two reach schools, which had acceptance rates less than 20%, two safety schools with acceptance rates over 60% where her stats put her well above the 75th percentile for test scores and grades, and then four school in the middle with acceptance rates between 25-50%. Her stats were solidly in the 50th percentile for her two reach schools.

You can find the stats information by googling “common data set” and the name of the college.

9

@momofsenior1 I’ve been looking into Holy Cross, Vassar, Haverford, Providence College, and a few other schools. I’m probably taking Princeton off of my list

10

Haverford I would still consider a reach, but Holy Cross and Vassar would be better matches (although Vassar still is very competitive but being both first generation and male should give you a boost), and Providence a safety.