Chance a farm kid from Wisconsin!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys if you could chance me for UW - Madison, Northwestern, and UMich it would be greatly appreciated. I will be majoring in either engineering or economics. All comments and suggestions welcomed.</p>

<p>GPA:
-Unweighted: 4.0</p>

<p>ACT:
-29 (30 superscored; ugh)</p>

<p>Class Rank-
-Top 3 out of 95</p>

<p>Classes-
-2 AP Junior year: Calc AB and US History. Hoping for 5's. Also some honors thrown in.
-2 AP Senior year: European history and Lit.<br>
-I will also be taking a number of college classes at a local state university: Calc II, Physics, etc. I am the first student from my school to take AP Calc as a junior. This will be the hardest offered curriculum plus some.</p>

<p>EC's:
-NHS
-FFA
-SOS (Students Offering Support)
-TATU (Teens Against Tobacco Use)
-Cisco Certified in Computer Maintenance; build/repair computers.</p>

<p>Sports:
-Football (3 year letter winner, varsity starter)
-Wrestling/Basketball (Have gone back and forth)
-Track (3 year letter winner, also starter)</p>

<p>Work:
-Family Farm (hours and hours and hours of work; huge part of my life)
-Golf Course (Manager position, some extra $$$ during the summer)</p>

<p>Community Service:
-Tutoring
-Coaching little kids football
-Volunteering at numerous other town events.</p>

<p>Awards:
-All Conference track twice, looking to make it 3 times this year.
-State Qualifier for track
-Multiple highest GPA awards; academic letter winner. Usual stuff...</p>

<p>Hooks: First Generation!!</p>

<p>I am hoping that the combination of growing up on a farm and being a first generation will help my application stand out. It seems that I am one of the few farm kids still around and will revolve my essays around life on the farm. I know that my ACT is by far my weakest spot, I just couldn't get the timing down well enough.</p>

2

<p>You seem like a good kid. I really do hope you get into these schools. I think you’ve got UW and Madison in the bag. I think you’ve got a great shot at Umich. I think Northwestern is going to be a reach, but you should still apply.</p>

<p>Try and raise that ACT up, you’ve still got time.</p>

3

<p>Haha thank you! I got my second ACT score back last night and was pretty frustrated with another 29… was really hoping for a 30+.</p>

<p>I can’t bring myself to take another ACT in June… perhaps wait it out and see how I am feeling during the summer. 3 attempts may be a bad thing though?</p>

4

<p>Not sure how it works with the ACT, but with the SAT it doesn’t look bad taking it three times. Have you considered giving the SAT a shot if you aren’t making progress with the ACT? Boy if you can get a nice SAT/ACT I think you’re set!</p>

5

<p>Perhaps try the SAT? It might be your thing. Taking the ACT a third time is fine too. 33, even a 32, and you’re golden. </p>

<p>Michigan isn’t going to give you much money, so unless you can comfortably pay 50k every year, don’t count on it or get your hopes up. </p>

<p>You should also add Minnesota at Twin Cities. It’s a great school and is cheap for OOS. </p>

<p>If Northwestern is your favorite, apply ED! But first, run your family’s income through their financial calculator to ensure that you would be able to afford it.</p>

6

<p>Taking the SAT would be an interesting idea… I would be the only one from my school to try it in quite a few years. I will do some research on it.</p>

<p>Financially my family is well enough off to send me to the college of my choice. We have the mentality that education is an investment, thus are willing to spend more if the college is “the one”.</p>

7

<p>Go give the SAT a try and see where that goes. I’d spend a large portion of the summer working on either the SAT or ACT. I think you’re good to go. GL Ron!</p>

8

<p>Your family has 200k in college savings?</p>

<p>It’s not worth it to go into more than, say, 30k in debt for a school. Especially if you plan on grad school.</p>

9

<p>The corn grows good up here ;)</p>

<p>Grad school is almost certain as of right now, but there is a long ways to go.</p>

10

<p>Okay good :slight_smile: I just hate seeing second semester seniors screwed, then throwing themselves into a bunch of debt. </p>

<p>Anyway, you are competitive at all these schools.</p>

11

<p>A fairly realistic chance at Northwestern? It seems like admissions have gotten very tough there, but I need a good little reach school. Mom wants me to throw Stanford in the mix too just for fun… that might be stretching it though.</p>

12

<p>The farm work makes you somewhat unique, but the ACT score really pulls you down. I think you would have a good shot ED, less of one regular admissions. </p>

<p>Stanford is obvs a reach for everyone. But hey, as long as you have safeties and matches, why not?</p>

13

<p>You have a very good chance (>90%) at UW-Madison.</p>

<p>You have a so-so chance (~40%) at Northwestern.</p>

<p>You have a good chance (~70%) at University of Michigan - LS&A (Economics).
You have a so-so chance (~50%) at University of Michigan - CoE (Engineering).</p>

<p>You have a very slim chance (<10%) at Stanford (though there is no harm in applying).</p>

14

<p>I agree, little chance at Stanford. But, if you can afford it, go for it.</p>

15

<p>Thanks for the replies everyone! I’m surprised my chances for Stanford are that high…</p>

<p>I will have a hard time passing on Madison though, no matter where I get into. I have grown up LOVING the badgers. </p>

<p>I’ll go tour Northwestern sometime and see how things go down there. If I do like it that much I could do ED. How big of a difference does ED make in admissions?</p>

16

<p>No chance at Stanford. Almost a shoe in at UWM. Average to below average chance at Michigan considering you are out of state but it is still worth applying. Northwestern if you like you should definitely apply ED. Otherwise your chances are very slim.</p>

17

<p>Yeah prettymidget I feel about the same about my chances. If I were to get my ACT up to a 31 would it make a dramatic difference in admission chances?</p>

<p>Another thing that I am considering is whether or not I would benefit enough going to Northwestern/Michigan vs. Madison. I have always imagined myself going to Madison and love everything about it, but the “prestige” of Northwestern is kind of pulling me away. I suppose I should visit the schools first before I even worrying about getting into them.</p>

<p>For the prestige factor, should I just wait until grad school?</p>