Can I get into at least ONE of these schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m in the throes of a major panic attack at the moment. I was denied from UVa and deferred from Yale, and now I am very worried I won’t get into ANY school that I’ve applied to, even though my counsellor at school assured me I would.

GPA: 4.5 out of 4 (my school doesn’t do class rank but I’d guess I’m the top five, definitely top 10)
ACT: 35
English: 36
Reading: 36
Math: 33
Science: 33
Writing: 9
My school doesn’t offer many AP options compared to public schools in the area, although it’s a very rigorous school. I’ve taken AP European History, AP US History, and AP Calculus AB, and gotten 5’s on the exams for each. This year I’m taking AP Biology, as well as 4 honors classes. The lowest grade I’ve ever gotten in a class was a 93 in honors Algebra 2/Trig freshman year, and in each subsequent year my lowest grades were 96. Most of my grades are 99-100.

EC: Volleyball, editor for school newspaper, leader of school creative writing club and literary magazine, leader of school Spanish club, member of NHS, member of National Spanish Honors Society, peer tutor in biology, AP Calc, and Spanish, member of Shakespeare drama troupe at school, member of political club.

I’m a state scholar for my state, an AP scholar, and a commended NMSQT scholar.

Additionally, I’ve won 4 national gold medals in the Scholastic Art and Writing contest for creative writing, 8 regional gold awards, 12 regional silver awards, 13 regional honorable mentions from 2015-2018. I’ve placed third and received an honorable mention for the past two years in my state’s poetry contest. I was also one of 85 commended poets internationally in the Foyle Young Poets Contest UK. I write for Scholastic’s Teen Voices blog as well.

The schools I’ve applied to (besides Yale and UVa) are:
Georgetown
Boston College
Boston University
Rice University
Vanderbilt University
Johns Hopkins University
WashU St. Louis (my top, I also applied for the Nemerov writer scholarship)
William and Mary (I also applied to the JDP with St. Andrews)
Villanova University

I’m also thinking of applying to more places, since I’m so paranoid now, so I’d apply to Indiana University, Clemson University, St. Louis University, and Loyola University Chicago. I don’t particularly want to go to any of these, but I’ll take what I can get.

So my question after all that is, do you think I have a good shot at getting into at least ONE of those schools I listed? What are my chances for all of them?

2

None of the schools that you have already applied to is a safety. You may get into a few, or maybe not. Apply to the others just in case.

3

There is no way to know if you’ll get into one of the colleges from your list or all of them because that will rest on things we can’t see - how your essays demonstrate the attributes the college is looking for (that’s different than being a well written essay), what your LORs say about you (not whether the writer likes you or that you’re a good student - your GPA shows that - what qualities you demonstrated and whether they have examples), how you list and describe your ECs, whether you’re a “fit”, how much you’ve demonstrated interest to the schools who want it (like WashU.)

Panic won’t help, but a good back up plan is never a bad thing. Do you have some safety schools? Your list looks reach heavy, but hopefully you have a few safeties you haven’t listed here.

4

You have great stats! I’m surprised that your counselor assured you you would get in somewhere, with you list mostly make up of highly selective schools. Boston U is probably your safety, right? Villanova also looks pretty likely. It’s too bad you didn’t EA to a few more so you would have a little more assurance at this point.

How late can you apply to the other schools? I know LUC is rolling. I’m not sure about applying somewhere that you don’t want to go, if their apps stay open maybe you should just wait until March when you start getting some answers. Unless that stresses you out too much.

5

Boston University is not a safety for anyone anymore, neither is Villanova.

6

Apply to a real safety now. You have a great stats but your list is super reach heavy.

7

Are you okay being full pay at all of the schools on your list? I agree with others that you are lacking a safety. However, for the large majority of students finances also matter, and a safety needs to be affordable.

8

Thank you for your replies everyone! To those asking: yes, Boston U and Villanova were supposed to be my safeties, according to my counselor, and I trusted her on that (now I see that was my mistake, but I can’t change the past unfortunately) because I just assumed she knew what she was doing. All of the schools I listed below I can still apply to. If I applied to Clemson, Indiana, University of Wisconsin, SLU, and Loyola, do you think that would be adequate on safeties? Obviously I know their acceptance rates and of course my counselor would say yes, but I’m not sure how much I trust her advice anymore.

As far as interest, I’ve done campus visits to all I’ve applied to. I’ve shadowed current students at Vanderbilt, Rice, and I’m going to do so at WashU as well in two weeks. I’ve interviewed with Georgetown, Yale, and Rice, and I contacted my admissions counselor at Wash U yesterday to say that I was coming for a shadow visit and to ask if there was a possibility of an on-campus interview.

And yeah I wish I had done more EA schools but up until the deadline really I was intending on doing ED to either Rice, Vanderbilt, or WashU. I couldn’t decide so I ended up doing none.

9

Your GC has led you down a risky path. Agree you must add at least one match and one safety now (do not wait until March!)—the safety must also be a financial safety (what is your annual budget, and have you run the NPC on all the schools you applied to?).

-What is your unweighted GPA? (4 point scale, core courses only)

-Indiana, Clemson, Loyola Chicago and SLU would be highly likelies for you, but you should only apply to schools you would be happy to attend. Have you visited any of these?

-what is your state flagship?

-Have you sent a LOCI to Yale?

10

My family has been saving for my college all of my life, and we are reasonably well off. My parents have assured me they can pay for any school on my list, and I am beyond lucky to be in that sort of position.

My unweighted core GPA is 4.0.

I’ve visited Loyola, but none of the rest, although it would definitely be feasible to go to the rest.

What is a LOCI?

11

LOCI is a letter of continuing interest that one sends to their regional admission officer when deferred. It should be a simple expression of interest along with any new info, e.g. S1 grades and any new awards/honors. Send that to Yale in the next day or two. Make sure your GC formally sends S1 grades to Yale and all the RD schools as well.

What is your state flagship? Any interest there (if they are still accepting apps)?

12

Would it be too late if I waited until February 1 (Friday)? Regional results for the Scholastic Writing contest come out then, and Id like to be able to include awards from there if I receive any.

My state flagship is no longer accepting apps and I did not like the school.

13

If you’d like, you still might be able to add a college or two based on your indicated academic interests:

http://contently.net/2014/11/06/resources/10-best-colleges-creative-writers/

http://flavorwire.com/409437/the-25-most-literary-colleges-in-america

As an opinion on your current list, I agree with your counselor. I think it will fly as is, at least with respect to your gaining admission to one or more schools.

14

Ok, but at the latest. Many of your Yale competitors sent LOCI the day after the deferral notice.

Keep us updated, and although one (or more) of the schools on your list may accept you, they are all reaches, even Villanova is going to have an RD acceptance rate in the low to mid 20%s. That’s why most posters here have suggested applying to a match and/or safety, again schools that you would like to attend.

15

Wash U and Vanderbilt fill a large part of their class with ED admits. Both have ED1 and ED2. Rice had a huge uptick in RD applications this year. Apply to Sewanee asap. Deadline is Feb.1. Good school for creative writers. Listed on the links in post #12 above. It should be a safety for you. http://www.sewanee.edu/admission/apply/application-options–deadlines/ http://www.sewanee.edu/academics/english/programs/certificate-in-creative-writing.php

16

Do you have any good Naviance info from your school? Can you see how kids did with your stats to these schools in the RD round? At our school Villanova or BU would be safe for certain stats just from history.

17

Of the schools in your list, BU and Villanova would be the most likelies. Indiana would be a true safety, their admissions has become very non competitive. What about UMass Amherst?

18

Thanks again for your replies, both new and old! As far as Naviance: on Scattergrams I am plotted in the green checks/above with students from my school for all of the schools I listed, except for Yale (of course), Georgetown and WashU. For the latter two I am in a mix of green checks and waitlists. For Indiana and Clemson and those potential safeties, I am above all of the green checks for applicants. Thank you to everyone who has given me lists of other safeties to apply to… that’s really a great help!

19

What major are you applying for?

20

I think you are panicking for no reason. Your stats are amazing, and I’m sure you’ll get into BU, Villanova, BC and most likely a few more.