Chance a nervous junior from a tiny Bay Area city for some crazy reaches + tell me how to improve!

Chance Me / Match Me!
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My parents attended college and grad school on full academic-based scholarships in the 80s and 90s and spent years telling me that I could just get good grades and go wherever I wanted because that’s what they did, and I learned way too late that things are extremely different than what they said…

Stats:

  • Female
  • US Citizen
  • CA
  • Public HS, only HS in my city, around 250 students in my grade, not very competitive- probably around 15-20 students in each grade who go to UCLA/UCB. One or two people go to a T10/T20 each year. School diversity breakdown: Around 30% white, 30% Asian, 20% Latino, 5-10% Black (it’s published in the yearbook every year for some reason)
  • Mixed race (Ashkenazi Jewish/Indian)
  • Other special factors: Princeton Undergrad Legacy + Yale Law legacy (does this count?) through dad but he’s not very involved with alumni activities or donations, Tufts grad school legacy through mom (again, unsure if grad school counts for undergrad admissions)

*Intended Major(s): International Relations, or Political Sci/Gov with an IR concentration/minor if it’s not available as a major
My dream is to become an international human rights lawyer, focusing on children’s and women’s rights in South Asia and the Middle East, so my ECs and academics hopefully reflect that social justice/human rights/education passion.

Academics:

  • Unweighted HS GPA: On track to be 3.99, got one B and one A- in 10th
  • Weighted HS GPA: On track to have around 4.45 by the end of HS
  • Class Rank: School does not rank
  • ACT/SAT Scores:
    PSAT no prep: 1350
    Current SAT Prep: 1530 but taking it in December

Coursework
My school offers 15 APs but the majority are STEM (no history APs at all), also we are only allowed to take APs starting in 11th and even then, it’s strongly recommended that we take no more than 3 APs per year

I’m going to take 8 APs (technically 9) at school, will be taking 5 cc/college classes for AP credit. Currently- AP Spanish (skipped a level), APES, AP Comp Gov, English Honors (would be AP English Lang but my school hates tracking students, will take the test though). Senior year- AP Gov/Econ, AP English Lit, AP Comp Sci Principles, AP Art History, AP Stats.

CC classes: Got 4 credits for Spanish Lit at Tulane through studying abroad, will take 1 dual enrollment each semester for Calc AB this year (taking test) and then will take 3 courses on world history, world economics, and international trade + diplomacy over the summer before dual enrolling again for BC calc.

Awards:

  • Hopefully AP Scholar of some sort
  • Honorable Delegate- DMUN, WHO committee
  • JV Semifinalist (3rd/30 pairs): [insert tournament name] Invitational (small national/CA debate tournament)
  • CIEE Merit Scholarship winner + Global Program Ambassador
  • First girl ever from high school to attend Girls State

This is definitely my weakest section, but I don’t think I’ve done anything impressive enough to garner a better award…

Extracurriculars
(note: [will be] is because I’m the only junior in leadership or one of two juniors in a co-led club):

  • Leadership member for 3 years (only sophomore selected for leadership when I first joined the lead team) in an anti-racism student group working on education. Co-wrote a presentation on how beauty standards are based in Eurocentric ideals shown to 7th grade health classes annually, planned weekly meetings on social issues, organized student forums + forums with the Black Student Union and Asian Student Union, coordinated with teachers and organized students to give our annual two presentations on anti-racist history in fifth grade classrooms, represented student group to speak at a few meetings for a local council on diversity in schools, also spoke to Asian parents group (will do for all 4 years)

    • also worked with students w/ disabilities at my school and a student group at Cal focused on accessible learning to create an online training for teachers about how to make classrooms more accommodating

    • organizing a school and city-wide walkathon to help fund a local NGO’s app that protects Iranian women from government phone hacking

  • [will be] Co-president of Speech and Debate club, first elected as debate captain as a freshman. School could not afford a debate class/coach, so I taught lessons, applied for PTA grants, handled administrative jobs, organized tournament sign-ups and scheduling, created study sheets on all debate areas, organized club participation at club fairs and fundraisers. Usually debated novice to work with freshmen who didn’t have partners. (will do for all 4 years)

  • [will be] Co-president of Model United Nations, once again the club had no coach but an advisor and not-great funding, organized meetings, created weekly slideshows, taught speaking skills and assisted with position papers, organized conference roles and room assignments, organized club participation at club fairs and fundraisers, applied for PTA grants, organized fundraisers/club fairs (will have done 10-12th)

  • Co-president and helped start the school’s chapter of a local nonprofit dedicated to combating homelessness in the Bay Area, organize canned food drives bimonthly, leads the monthly baking of 150 baked goods to go in food packages, organize student participation in out-of-school volunteer activities (bread bagging, cooking soup, cleaning the kitchen, packing delivery vans), currently fundraising/collecting hygiene products to be given out at free shower programs, signed up adult volunteers by working booths at street fairs (10th-12th)

    • Organizing a charity concert with local bands to raise money as well, looking at 150-200 attendees which isn’t half bad for a concert in a city of only 20k people

  • Creating a short film on student poetry featuring 10 student poets from my school, and made a “poetry handbook” for fourth-grade students, both the video and the handbook will be implemented in all fourth-grade classrooms in the district (11th)

  • Working with middle-school students and the local middle school librarian to create lists of book recommendations with mini-reviews for elementary students from other countries who are struggling with reading, hopefully we’ll have some students give presentations to kids discussing how reading has shaped their life, turned it into an official District Literacy Project (11th)

  • Interviewed and worked with first-gen students + counseling department, and wrote an “ultimate guide” to course selection, tests, available activities and other resources at my school for first-gen families. Earned a PTSA grant for it. Working with Interpreters Club to translate it into several languages. Soon to be available in high school and middle school counseling dept. (10th-12th)

  • Managing Editor on the school newspaper, applying for Editor in Chief next year (11th-12th)

  • Remote interning with an official UN observer at a legal nonprofit (11th)

  • Babysitting and dogwalking, every week for 3-5 hours, have been doing it since 9th grade

Essays/LORs/Other

  • LORs will be from my AP Spanish teacher and AP Comp Gov teacher, both of whom have asked if they could write them for me, and know me very well. They also both have meetings with students to discuss ECs and what we want from a LOR so I’m hopeful they’ll be good
  • Counselor LOR- should be good due to my brochure project which she said is unlike anything students have done before, plus we speak a lot and she really helped me with finding out how to attend Girls State
  • I’m a strong writer, and also have a family friend who runs a college essay editing business who is willing to look over my essays a couple times

Cost Constraints / Budget
Family income is around 225k per year, but we live in a high cost of living area so I’m not sure if that will affect anything

Want to apply:
All UCs, Barnard, Tufts, Middlebury, Georgetown SFS, Boston University, Williams, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Princeton (SCEA)

I know this isn’t amazing compared to most applicants, but most students at my school don’t do this kind of stuff or even discuss college things, so I only found out about what it really takes to attend these kinds of schools at the end of sophomore year.

We’ve had two people in the past go to MIT for specific research they did at a university + founding ‘nonprofits’ that died without warning after they left for college (okay, I was a member so I’m still a bit bitter about that). The only other guy I know from our school who got into an Ivy went to Brown and he was a URM, a student board member, was on the board of a statewide nonprofit that helped pass legislation, and toured internationally with a children’s opera company. I feel pretty hopeless, but if my stats can be salvaged, any advice on how to improve would be greatly appreciated!

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So first off - congrats on your record. You’re fantastic.

Secondly - don’t worry about awards. Most don’t have real / strong awards. In other words, you earn AP Scholar of ____ for doing x classes at a 3 or more. The award really means nothing in the sense of - you got the scores, etc. Editing the school newspaper, writing a guide on course selection - those things are impactful - award or not, etc. So don’t worry about that.

Sorry to hear of the pressure you are under. You are a very strong student and you will likely get into some UCs - but do you mean all?? Just a reminder they are test blind so your test won’t be seen.

Any of the others can happen - note some schools don’t look at legacy outside of ED. I can’t tell on Tufts - it’s not on their website but an article I read says they are “closer” to getting rid of legacy as the Faculty Senate voted to eliminate it. Some feel like legacy favors the wealthy.

Princeton does count legacy it appears and 10% of students were I read.

If you want to attend a wonderful IR school and take a shot at what your parents say they had (not sure), apply to Washington & Lee and the Johnson Scholar. Get on their info list now and they’ll send you an app waiver. It’s a top tier LAC and the Johnson is a full ride. If you’re Jewish (can’t tell), and you don’t get Johnson, you’d be considered for the full tuition Weinstein. The Johnson is awarded to 10% of the entering class. Just a note - I have nothing to prove it but when we self toured, we ran into a professor of poli sci/IR and he told us that on a per capita basis, W&L is #2 (after Sewanee) at placing students in DC - maybe it was government agencies - I forget - but they are strong.

American has the Frederick Douglass full ride and SMU the Presidential. Other schools have full rides as well.

Obviously, you are shooting for the creme de la creme.

While you’re wonderful and I can see you getting multiple admissions outside of the UCs, I can also see you getting blanked. I would suggest a school or two underneath - to be safe.

If you wanted to go for the money and go dirt cheap - and it’s completely outside of the list you presented, an Alabama (big Jewish population) - you’d have tuition reduced to $4K from $32K, etc. with $28.5K off. They have the most NM Scholars in the country - so smart kids are a plenty. I’m not suggesting it (or like schools) given what you’re seeking but throwing that out because of what you said about your folks and back in the 80s. Yes, the pedigree isn’t there but they have Honors and Randall Research - so they have rigor - but obviously not the name. Btw - there’s other very generous schools - just throwing them out as an example - I know it’s not where you’re going but because you mentioned your parents went for free.

In regards to other schools, I might add American as mentioned, Occidental since you’re open to staying out West - you’re a likely here), or a school like Kenyon, Macalester, or Connecticut College or a bit larger Brandeis. Mainly - it appears you like the LACs - and these are just a rung below your list - and have merit possibilities - but the main reason I recommend one is I just want to ensure you aren’t blanked - if that makes sense. I don’t expect it - but it is a reach heavy list. The schools I mentioned are strong in IR - and if you wanted a strong public in IR - U of GA - where you’d likely get merit.

The best news is you can meet your career goals no matter where you attend.

Best of luck to you.

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Ask your parents to run the NPC (Net Price Calculator) for your top schools to determine if they can afford the result. While you have a chance to get admitted ( applying ED will increase your chances) I would not expect additional merit scholarships at a Top school in addition to the NPC result.

There are schools that will give you merit scholarships with your resume but you will likely have to expand your list and drop a couple of prestige tiers.

You are a great student and applicant and should be proud of your accomplishments but there are many like you all competing for those same schools.

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Law school is going to be very expensive and you will absolutely get into a “good” UC for undergrad. Makes sense to take the affordable in-state public option and work hard to get into a top tier law school. Sure, throw some apps in and try for some big scholarships at some private schools, but remember the UC’s are among the top ( if not the top) public universities in the country. You get to attend for a bargain rate. UCLA now has a 4 year housing guarantee and would be ideal for your interests. And if you really want to achieve your “dream” career, figure out who employs a lawyer in that field (likely NGO’s). See what skills are in demand. Maybe Hindi or Persian language? You could apply to NSLI-Y for a full scholarship to spend next summer overseas in an immersive, intensive language program (but hurry to make deadlines). Where do you need to be geographically for internships in International Human Rights? New York? DC? Be strategic about achieving your goal. A “crazy reach” school isn’t enough. So many people go to law school with idealistic plans for a career in the public interest, but unfortunately that’s not where most of the jobs are. (And then you may end up in a soul-sucking big firm working on the opposite side of your values because you have big debt from both law school and undergrad.)

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Congrats on all of your great accomplishments. I agree with most of the things the other posters have said, and the great advice you’ve already been given.

I just wanted to add that I think you have that spark, that excitement in you. Your personality and your passion really come through in just this simple online forum description of yourself that you have provided.

I want you to remember this compliment when you are toiling over all of the Princeton, Brown and Cornell essays next year … I think you can do it. You come across as motivated, genuine and engaging. Work hard to communicate who you are in your essays and I think you will have a bunch of great options next year. Good luck!

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I would try to stop worrying. You are fine. You have done so much that I wonder if you get any sleep! Just make sure to avoid debt if you can.

ps undergrad counts for legacy, but as far as I know, grad does not

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With respect to college selection, this site may help you refine your list:

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Congratulations on all you have accomplished! Your academic achievements will ensure that you get further consideration at all of the schools you are looking at. Your essays and LORs will be very important as you attempt to present a cohesive and compelling narrative throughout your application. Your ECs seem consistent with your interests and impactful for your community. Use your writing skills to incorporate them into a “show” Vs “tell”.

My only concern is the apparent relative lack of familiarity some of the schools you are applying to may have with your HS given your description. This will best be addressed by your GC who can speak to rigor and your being a standout student and member of the community.

In terms of fit you seem to be skewed toward the northeast and UCs is this by design? Are you looking for more schools or is your list set?

In terms of fit you seem to have a great deal of self awareness and have identified what you are looking for. Make sure to discuss finances with your parents and be realistic with your safeties. You will get into a bunch of schools don’t worry!

Not sure that a Jewish presence on campus matters to you or played into your lists construction but for your awareness schools like Brown, Boston University and Tufts report about 20% (or more) vs Alabama at about 2% vs Georgetown (a Jesuit school) with 6%. Given it was introduced wanted to make sure you had proper context.

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I’m going to ditto almost all of the previous comments. You’ve done some really cool, unique things that have an impact on your community. I think you have a very bright future and that the world will be a better place because of you.

That being said, I just wanted to comment on this section of your post.

If you got a B and an A- in 10th, and you’ve just started your junior year, it appears as though your “on track” unweighted GPA assumes that you’ll get all As for the remainder of your high school career. Many students find that 11th grade is among their hardest years, and their grades have a dip from what they had in 9th and 10th grade. That may or may not happen to you, but it could. Regardless of any potential dip, I am confident that you will get into a good college with the potential to achieve all of your goals.

If you’re interested in the college process (which it sounds like you are; I certainly was), then I would focus less on reach schools (which are a reach for even the most qualified of candidates). Many people feel that a college list is developed from the bottom up, meaning finding the schools where you are extremely likely to be accepted, that would be affordable for your family, and that you would be happy to attend. For some people, identifying those schools is the hardest part of the college search.

The UCs are a fabulous option for California residents; I don’t know how competitive admission is for international relations, though and whether any of the UCs could count as a safety. Perhaps @Gumbymom or @ucbalumnus might chime in, as they are our resident California public residents. But if you’re not interested in a big school, then perhaps someplace like U. of the Pacific or U. of San Francisco where you are likely to receive significant merit aid (or many, many others…will depend on budget, etc).

If you’re not interested in going too far down the college search process, that’s totally normal and okay. Just focus on your classes, your interests, and having fun, and you can pick this stuff back up later in junior year (or over the summer after junior year).

Wishing you the best of luck!

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Congrats on your record so far! Your unprepared PSAT of 1350 (I presume 10th grade)indicates 1500+ will be a stretch for you , but keep practicing and prepping and hopefully it will work out well in December. You need to talk to your counselor and gather what your estimated rank is (most will tell you decile at least), or ask for a copy of the school profile that they send to colleges, which often has a breakdown of GPA ranges within the class which will give you a ballpark.

Can you take AP Calc AB and BC at your school? If they are available at your school that is preferable than taking as DE, for the highly competitive schools. Are APChem, APBIo, AP physics C offered? IF they are offered, most likely the top kids take at least one if not 2 of them. At some schools, the top kids take all 3. APES is known as the easiest science AP. If you really want to maximize your chances at the top schools you listed, you need to challenge yourself in all areas, even if you do not plan on STEM. Admissions sessions at the tippy-top schools all reiterate this explicitly: you need to take the most challenging courses offered at your school and across all subjects, even areas of knowledge you do not love. Too many schools say almost the same wording: I think they mean it.

Do not worry about awards: technically on Common APP the awards section is for Academic awards, not extracurricular awards, though you can find a way to highlight some of your accomplishments in the activities section. Most students do not have many significant academic awards, and course rigor and grades matter more unless the awards are the truly rare academic ones.

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Recalculate your HS GPA with GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub . Use the weighted capped version for the table below.

Fall 2021 admission rates by campus and HS GPA range from Freshman fall admissions summary | University of California :

Campus 4.20+ 3.80-4.19 3.40-3.79 3.00-3.39
Berkeley 30% 11% 2% 1%
Davis 85% 55% 23% 10%
Irvine 60% 31% 14% 1%
Los Angeles 29% 6% 1% 0%
Merced 97% 98% 96% 89%
Riverside 97% 92% 62% 23%
San Diego 75% 35% 5% 1%
Santa Barbara 73% 28% 4% 1%
Santa Cruz 91% 81% 46% 9%

These are for the whole campus. Different divisions or majors may have different levels selectivity (usually, engineering and computer science majors are more selective).

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You will have some pull as a legacy at Princeton. Most UG colleges do not consider parents’ grad school, so you will have little or no advantage at Yale. Princeton EA is your best bet. Legacy status is worth less each year, and may only make a meaningful difference when combined with EA/ED. You will still need a good SAT or ACT - 1500 or preferably higher. Make the most of ED 2. Some very good places like WashU where you might sneak in. You are a reach for top 20 schools RD. But there are many wonderful schools where you might be even happier. Best of Luck,

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It will potentially make you close to full pay at most colleges. So unless your parents have a lot of college savings, you may find that much of your list is unaffordable, because they won’t be able to pay $80K per year. Clarify this ASAP before you get too attached to super reaches. Many CA families in this income range limit themselves to UCs plus merit hunting rather than wasting time applying to schools they can’t afford.

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Our income is less than that (in a high COL area, not that it matters), even with 3 in college at the same time ($100,000), I think my kids just got subsidized and unsubsidized loans.

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Congratulations on your competitive profile. I will only address the UC’s so I have some major specific data for 2021 admits to help gauge your chances. Also this link will show average admitted GPA and the # of students from your HS that have been admitted to each UC campus:

UCLA does not admit by major into the College of Letters and Sciences so I would use their overall L&S admit rate of 13%

UCB does not admit by major into the College of Letters and Sciences so the admit rate for the College was 16%.

UCSD does not have major specific data but the average Capped weighted UC GPA for admitted students was 4.13 and International relations was a top 10 most applied major with around 1464 enrolled Freshman. UCSD admits into the University first and then into the major.

UCSB does not have major specific data, does not admit by major into the College of L&S but overall had an average Fully weighted UC GPA of 4.36 for Freshman admits.

UCI’s admit rate for Political science was 39.1%.

UCD does not have major specific data but had twice as many Political Science admits vs. IR. Based on the historical admission data, UCD has around a 38-44% admit rate for PS and around a 28-38% admit rate for IR.

UCSC’s admit rate for Politics was 61%

UCR’s admit rate for Political Science related majors was 81%

UCM’s admit rate for Political Science was 74%.

Best of luck.

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I agree that most colleges do not consider parents’ grad school for legacy purposes, but policies do vary somewhat - for example, UVa considers the child of any UVa degree holder to be a legacy applicant (though this status is only given meaningful weight for OOS applicants). So it’s worth checking on each specific school where legacy might apply, just to make sure.

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First of all, you sound like someone whose future achievements could make a college proud to claim you as their alum. I bet that admissions officers will see you that way, too.

I think you’ve realized that you’re not going to get “merit” aid at any of those top private schools you’ve mentioned, despite the fact that a household income of 225K/yr in the Bay area doesn’t go that far. Still, those private colleges are probably not going to deem you in need of financial aid.

I think that your best bet is to focus your applications on the many excellent UCs. I think that you might get into all of them, certainly would get into one or two. What would you do if you got into Princeton, without any fin aid? Is your family ready and able to pay over 360K for college for you, and then possibly another 250K for law school? Even if they could, would it be a wise decision when you can get an excellent education in-state for a third of that price?

You need to have a very frank discussion with your parents about college and law school money. From what you’ve said, they seem to expect that you’re going to go to an Ivy on a merit scholarship, and it’s just extremely unlikely that will happen, even if you do get accepted.

If you were my child, I’d be encouraging you to do your best to get into the UCs, and plan to apply for privately funded special interest scholarships for which I think you may be well-qualified.

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It’s not unlikely they’ll go Ivy on a merit scholarship. It’s not possible. Ivy and so many more including Tufts, Midd, Gtown, Williams, give only need based aid. Even lower tier (vs the elite) schools like F&M do as well. Why I mentioned W&L and the Johnson which 10% of the class get.

No idea how merit was back when the parents went to school. But most families making $225k aren’t near getting aid. Princeton may be a hope but in general, if an OP wants a full ride they’d have to apply or go to a school like Troy or Southern Miss whose largesse includes room and / or board for top students.

Obviously not the direction OP is going but I think mom and dad, if they haven’t, should learn about aid in the current environment.

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OP, keep up your great work; you are a competitive candidate to these schools. On a related note, Princeton has recently expanded the scope of its financial aid; for its students entering in the fall of 2023, the EFC for families with a yearly income of up to $100,000; 150,000; 200,000; 250,000; 300,000 are: $0; 12,500; 25,000; 37,500; 50,000, respectively.

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As long as there are not also significant assets - and a Bay area home can be worth millions.

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