Hey guys, please chance me on applying RD to UChicago, Columbia, and Cooper Union. Will chance back!
GPA (Unweighted, no weighted for my school): 90.6 (VERY competitive school, the school is ranked 4th in NY)
SAT: 2110 (750 Math, 700 Writing, 660 Critical Reading)
SAT Subject Test: 750 Math IC, 700 Physics
RACE: Bangladeshi
EXTRACURRICULARS:
President/Founder of Future Investing Group
President/Founder of Wall St. History Club
President/Founder of NYC Entrepreneur Group
YouTube Partner (I track income from ads, etc.)
Paid Work at Dunkin’ Donuts (I do clerical work, and work with sales and customer service)
Speech and Debate for 4 years
Model U.N. for 1 year (didn’t like it)
Apprenticeship with dad in engineering
Intel Science Talent Search competitor
Junior Science and Humanities Symposium Competitor
New York City Science and Engineering Fair Competitor
I would say Columbia and UChicago are solid reaches - your scores aren’t quite ivy/ivy equivalent material, and while it appears you have quite a few leadership roles, they seem very narrow. Perhaps you could expand for me a bit more on what each club did for the community, and your role in it? I’m a bit unclear of what they represent.
Also, are you applying to Fu?
Can’t comment on Cooper Union, since I’m not too familiar with that school.
Your EC’s are very solid, but your SAT is not quite there. I’d maybe recommend a retake to bring the CR up to 700, or the total score up to 2200. I can’t comment w.r.t. the GPA unless you say whereabout in your class you are (Top 10%, 20%, etc.). What does Bangladeshi go ‘under’ as far as race for uni?
I think they’re medium to high reaches, but I wouldn’t abandon all hope.
The University of Chicago really loves high SAT scores. My school’s admissions counselor believes a senior at my school has a solid chance to get in, and his SAT is an even 2300. A 2110 will be a liability.
That SAT II score is also a bit low. A combined 1450 out of 1600? That may not cut it.
Your extracurriculars are very lopsided. You’ve got one clear focus, but very little outside that. Speech and debate will help you some, but what would really be good is to have something to show for it-awards, or a leadership role in the club.
In the same way, saying you were a “competitor” won’t help much. It depends on the competition, of course, but for some awards the only requirement to become a competitor is to send in an envelope containing a registration sheet and a ____ pic (I’m exaggerating, but only a little). Colleges want to see that you achieved something within the context of an activity. They want applicants who won awards during their time at Model UN. They want applicants who were finalists (or semi-finalists, or commended) when they entered a competition. You seem to lack that.
The other issue you may face is that you’ve got an obvious interest in finance. An absurd percentage of economics majors go straight from the Ivy League (or equivalent schools, like UChicago) to Wall Street. These schools don’t really need more. If you were interested in, say, the seafaring peoples of (landlocked) Mongolia, that SAT score and your extracurriculars might fly. Finance? You’re going to have a bad time.
With that said, you’ll be a viable candidate at a lot of second-tier schools. You may want to look into some good state colleges, for instance, or schools like Duke
Is english your first language? If so you need t improve critical reading? If not, you’re fine. Have you taken SAT subject tests? and finally, in what percentile do you rank in your high school? I advice students and help them get into their dream colleges, I can help you estimate your chances if you want.
Bangladeshi is in Asia so unfortunately OP is Asian. His scores are lacking and I’m sure he will be rejected from all these schools unless he writes an amazing essay (UChicago puts heavy weight on essays) The ECs show focus but don’t show any depth. Competitor in competitions won’t help you either.
@NotVerySmart Duke a second tier and state school? I’m pretty sure OP will be rejected by Duke too if he applies.
Also, I forgot to mention guys, my grades have been on a steep upward trend. Freshman year my average was an 87 but my most recent report for the last semester was a 96. My 90.6 may seem low but there’s more to it than consistent 90s and 91s. I’ve been moving up and up and each semester’s average is higher than the last one.
My wife went to UofC as undergrad. They sometimes do overlook low SAT scores if you have some special skill or bring diversity to the campus. Your weakness is the SAT CR score. Just work on bringing it up a little (50 points is all you need). UC focuses more on how well you write, so be sure to spend time on the essays.
I don’t know too much about Cooper Union; however, Columbia seems like a very high reach just because of your EC’s. I would suggest varying them more, maybe add a sport and add depth to the finance side by finding an internship or something of that sort. For UChicago, I think you definitely need to try and get your SAT up.
@parentmike If I wasn’t clear earlier, I would very much appreciate it if you could help estimate my chances. Please let me know if there is other information you may need. Thanks!