Chance a rising Senior

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Background:Middle class,black,immigrant parents
State:Texas

Class rank:37/541

Percentile:6.2%

Weighted GPA:99.08

ACT:33

APs:AP Human(5),AP World,(4),AP Art history(4),AP Physics,AP English 3,AP US History(haven’t taken)

EC:

Captain of Mock Trial

Captain of Debate

Orchestra

Founder/President of Model UN

President of Pre Med Club

Officer in Art History Club

Intended Major:History

Would I have a chance at any T30’s?

2

Oof, you’re just missing the UT direct-admit cutoff now that they changed it from 7% to 6%, eh?

You are qualified for tons of great schools, some of which are “T30’s”… and especially if you consider the top 30 liberal arts colleges as well as national universities.

One helpful approach is to look at the list of undergraduate programs which produce the largest number of graduates who go on to get history PhD’s.

  1. Swarthmore (low reach)
  2. Reed (match)
  3. Carleton (low reach)
  4. Grinnell (low reach)
  5. Amherst (reach)
  6. Oberlin (match)
  7. Kenyon (match)
  8. Vassar (high match)
  9. Pomona (reach)
  10. Haverford (low reach)
  11. Bowdoin (reach)
  12. Wellesley (reach if you’re female)
  13. Wesleyan (high match)
  14. Macalester (match)
  15. Barnard (high match if you’re female)
  16. Williams (reach)
  17. Princeton (reach)
  18. Brown (reach)
  19. Bryn Mawr (match if you’re female)
  20. St. John’s College (safety)

A different top 10 list (different methodology or time-frame perhaps?) included UChicago and Yale, which are of course in the reachy category as well.

So, out of those 22, many are “T30” if you consider the LAC rankings as well as universities, and even those that aren’t top 30 are extremely well regarded, both in history and in general.

None of that tries to account for your “hooks” - being a POC will give you more of a boost at some schools that others, and it’s worth pondering whether you want the maximum URM advantage (which comes at the price of having a disproportionate amount of the weight of “representation” on your shoulders when you get there), or the maximum diversity (where schools have already achieved a certain critical mass and don’t have to work quite as hard to recruit POC). I believe Amherst, Pomona, and Yale are the only schools on this list that have achieved majority-nonwhite demographics (and Yale only crossed that line last year). Geographic diversity will also help more at some schools that others; but at least they’re all outside of Texas!

I think you have a chance at all of these schools, but with a weighted GPA slightly under 4.0 and a 33 ACT which is good in its own right but not necessarily extra-good to compensate for the GPA, the higher reaches get pretty iffy. However, there are plenty of matches here too, so select a list that covers the range of competitiveness, with safeties you’re sure you could be happy with, and you will be in good shape!

Financial considerations are another question, as “middle class” can often mean an expected financial contribution that is greater than what your family can actually pay. If that’s the case, then you’ll need a different list that is skewed toward schools with merit aid and/or a lower sticker price. (Macalester has some good merit opportunities though, including some scholarships specifically for students of color.)

Hope that helps!

3

It did,thanks