Chance a Pacific Islander with low GPA (competitive high school) /good SAT/extremely strong extracurriculars for T30s and Cornell ED

Except for the Florida schools, all the schools you have on your list would be high reaches for you and it is unlikely you would be admitted. Your SAT is competitive, but your gpa is lower than what these schools are looking for. You’ll be better off looking for some more realistic options where you have a good chance of admission.

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A lot of students don’t realize how many colleges there are with strong name recognition.

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Your senior choices (outside of AP) are a bit strange. Are they graduation requirements (weighlifting, Humanities --guessibg Anatomy is an easier science class?)
The problem isnt going from 8 to 3, but rather that you took 8 junior year, which was insane and indicates hubris/inability to listen to advice (assuming your school told you taking more than 5 was not a good idea!), then course correcting too strongly with only 3 senior year.
Bad grades when your dad got cancer is certainly something that can be mentioned by your GC so make sure to include it in the “brag sheet” you’re preparing for them.
What else could you be taking -any AP that is available and not a problem?
Any chance you could take AP Music Theory (a very hard class, but shouldn’t be for you) and/or AP Art History?

Since your school is a feeder for UF, apply to business there (major doesn’t matter for admissions there but switching into business is not easy).
Find 2 affordable safeties since UF isn’t a safety due to selectivity.

Sounds like your school has a good track record with highly selective universities. However, your rank is likely to make things difficult for, say, Cornell. Apply ED but have lots of EA and rolling admission apps ready to go from August on.

I think someone recommended Pitt. I would add your pick from Penn State, Maryland, UVermont, SUNY Albany, VTech, Ohio University, Miami-Ohio, UCincinnati, UWisconsin Milwaukee, UWisconsin Eau Claire, Michigan State, Grand Valley State. Apply to the honors college.

Due to your musical involvement, apply to St Olaf and Lawrence. ST Olaf in particular has a “one college” policy so you could switch from Music to Management, or double major with no trouble.
Another University with “one college” policy is Case Western.

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I like weightlifting
There isn’t much classes to choose from my school, so I chose humanities
Anatomy for the science elective requirement

Look into the catalog to see if there’s anything like Art History or music history or theory. Would your school accept dual enrollment at a local CC in these subjects instead of Humanities?

What you have going for you: being Pacific Islander, amazing music achievements, applying for music, school that’s a known quantity.
Your gpa and class ranks are problems.
Your curriculum rigor and good reason for a dip in grades (especially if explained by GC) might mitigate the problems somewhat but not negate them.

Look into the universities I listed above and make sure to apply to a few+ their honors college.

Safeties
Definitely apply to Honors. Perhaps apply to 2 Safeties +Honors outside of Florida (Miami Ohio, UCincinnati…)

I would add St Olaf - look at the music auditions and prepare. That will demonstrate interest. It’s a better choice for someone who wants cold, prestige (at least for music it’s nationally known, as well as for math-- add the economics or management major for practical purpose), no problem double majoring or switching majors, than FSU.

Have a frank talk with your parents about college costs.

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ummmm…Music at Cornell is in the School of Arts & Sciences, which does not admit by major and does not give preference for a “rare major”. Too clever by half- that ‘strategy’ is not going to help you get into Cornell.

You place around #50 in a class of 150, at a school which last year sent 9 students to “prestigious” schools. Leaving some wiggle room, I’m guessing that all of the students who went to “prestigious” schools were in the the top 10% of their class.

IF you get your projected 5s, some of the UK unis look like a good bet for you in terms of admissions, but:

  1. you will have to choose very specific subjects, which are the only thing you study in the UK- a risky proposition for somebody who isn’t sure what they want to study. Read the course descriptions carefully.

  2. Imperial is strictly a STEM university, and nothing in your post indicates that that is what you are looking for.

  3. Oxford doesn’t offer an UG business degree, and offers Econ only as a joint degree (Politics, Philosophy and Economics, aka PPE; Econ + Mgmt; and Econ + History). Your APs will help you most in Econ + History, but you won’t have Calc BC which will count against you. For all three you have to take the Thinking Skills Assessment test (TSA); for Econ + History you have to also take the History Aptitude Test (HAT). PPE and E+M are two of the most common courses for Americans to apply to, and both have very low success rates. There is also History + Politics, but it is very small course (fewer than 50 places a year), and also requires the HAT.

  4. LSE typically wants 5 APs with scores of 5, and for all Econ / Econ adjacent courses expects Calc BC.

  5. KCL is a likely admit (if you get your projected scores), UCL could be- depending on the course(s) you apply to and how well you write the PS.

  6. Consider switching out Oxford, LSE & Imperial with St Andrews, Durham, and/or Exeter.

Also:

Was this a peer-reviewed journal, and was it published with you as a lead or 2nd/3rd author?

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  1. Why do you think Cornell is unlikely but Northwestern and WashU aren’t unlikely? These are peer schools.
  2. I like New York City, I’m fine not switching to Stern
  3. I don’t want to go to an out of state college if it isn’t T30
  4. I come from a well-off family, so we do not care about costs
  1. I heard from my friends, who have college consultants, that they are advised to apply for a rare major related to their extracurricular. Officially, they don’t admit by major but they actually do.
  2. Around 65/150 kids went to UF and FSU, because of the very generous Florida Bright Futures Program. I think they could of went to a more prestigious school, but stayed in Florida for the money
  3. I would like to study PPE in UK
  4. I like London because it’s a big city, so I am applying for strictly London universities
  5. I am currently studying for the Oxford PPE, I think I can get a 70
  6. This was not a peer-reviewed journal, I was the sole author

No, they actually don’t. I pity the fool paying money to these “consultants,” unless your friends misheard what was said

Reread what she said. She said you should narrow down those reach schools, but that they are all not likely. Her exact words, “Pick 3-4 from them. They’re not likely but you never know.”

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What do you think my chances are getting in at least a T30 on that list?

I don’t do chances as I personally feel that’s pointless when we don’t see the entire application packet and we don’t know what a particular college is looking for in a given year.

What is helpful on these threads is when users can guide applicants to consider colleges, outside of reaches, that an applicant may not have considered. @collegemom3717 knows more about UK schools than anyone I know. And @MYOS1634 is a treasure trove of info on US schools, and is the reason I initially joined this site.

Despite your user name, I urge you not to be a prestige white. There are plenty of great schools outside of T30. And if you focuses your reaches and write some killer essays, you may luck out with one or 2 of them. Good luck.

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…you know that Oxford is not in London, yes? :sunglasses:

what @skieurope said…

Assume you know that both KCL & UCL offer it, yes?

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I apologize ahead of time if this comes across as harsh but I think you are missing a key element in regards to applying to T30 schools. They all get many, many more applications than they have available spots. Your application is going to be reviewed alongside that of other students. The successful applicants will most likely have thoughtful applications where they show how they can contribute to the college community and demonstrate that they understand how they will fit there. It is fairly obvious that you are purely chasing prestige and not doing the deep dive into showing how you are a fit for the college, along with not understanding how admissions work at different schools (or listening to the advice of those whom you have asked for advice). Unless you can find a way to adjust what comes across as a sense of entitlement, I feel you will be disappointed in your results.

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  1. Yes, when I was talking about london universities I forgot I was applying to Oxford
  2. Don’t consultants work? I looked at plenty of website’s acceptance rates and they were much higher than the normal acceptance rates

Hi, I’m not trying to come off as arrogant or entitled to something. I don’t feel there’s anything wrong with being a prestige whore, I just want a higher paying job.

I know that I’m a prestige whore in real life, but I know that colleges are looking for students interested in learning who will contribute to the community on the applications

Where did your parents go to college?

They are not a legacy of any college I want to go to

You are a sucker for marketing. Have you verified their claims? Have you talked to their clients?

UF is #30. That’s your only hope and I personally don’t see it as likely. Just know they have large classes.

Their b school intro classes are web based.

You need to slow down. You are trying to game and that’s not smart.

I don’t see you getting into a top 30 using US News.

So what’s the difference between #30 Florida and #97 Arizona or #200+ WVU. You think that when you apply for a job anyone cares that you went to UF instead of Miami or Syracuse or Elon? In the real world, they don’t except in certain majors. For example, if you were to study supply chain, you’d want to go to Arizona State or U of TN. For info systems, Arizona.

Your name is insulting and your desire is misguided. Let’s say you get into Cornell and you hate it. Maybe you go to Alabama and meet your spouse. You never know.

Do your best to find the right fit. Find where you feel most comfortable. You’ll appreciate your choice much more.

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So they went to other colleges and still ended up making decent money?

You are coming off arrogant and entitled. School name does not equal success.

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I am potentially interested in majors like business, which shows a salary advantage for students from elite colleges.