<p>Hey, I'm a high school junior looking for some chances. I don't know what I want to major in - business, history, poli-sci, econ?? All I know is that I'll be pre-law. Specific feedback would be awesome, thanks!</p>
<p>Info
-white male located in rural Missouri town of less than 15k
-average public school
-4.0 unweighted gpa, school doesn't weight
-class rank: #1/300ish</p>
<p>ACT: 32
-r:36
-e:32
-s:34
-m:....25(i guess i'll be taking the ACT again haha)</p>
<p>Courseload
-my high school doesn't offer much as far as tough courses, but I'm taking the toughest I can.
-AP Chem, AP Calc, DC College Bio, DC College Eng...</p>
<p>EC's and Awards
-#1 on Varsity Tennis team, 3 years Varsity
-2 years Varsity Soccer
-Missouri Scholars Academy, top 300 juniors in the state selected
-Missouri Boys State this summer
-National Merit Commended..doubt I'll be semi
-NHS
-Beta Chi Pi
-NFL, debated since soph year
-Missouri Youth In Government 3 years
-Tutored 50ish hrs so far
...there might be more but I can't really think of them..</p>
<p>Work
-have worked 20hrs/wk at Walgreens since soph year</p>
<p>I should be able to write some pretty killer essays. Recs should be decent, nothing amazing though. I realllllyyy want UVa!</p>
<p>I don’t mean to sound rude but your resume just seems very bland…I don’t see a whole lot of depth in your activities and that will hurt you (although this could just be the way your presented it here…) GPA will help you out a bit but ACT, being out of state, and your work experience will not boost you. UVa always stresses the importance of essays so if you “realllllyyy want UVa” I would focus on writing intriguing, unique, and natural essays that avoid any hint of desperation. Oh and don’t look for recs that will “be decent”, ask teachers, regardless of the subject, who will write how amazing you are. Given a math teacher who will write you a decent rec versus your foreign language teacher who can write about your personality and skills, the choice is pretty obvious. Of course, this is just an opinion, but it seems logical.</p>
<p>You definitely need to work up the depth of your activities, try to get a 34 or higher (though admittedly, at a certain point, it doesn’t matter) on the ACT, and perhaps do something this summer that might intrigue admissions.</p>
<p>I swear when I come to this website everyone makes it seem like I won’t get into anything but community college unless I’m an URM who’s written 4 novels and lived in a war torn country…This is depressing.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on how to “add depth” to my activities? And 34 is obtainable with my horrid math score. I can write some damn good essays, always been my strong point. Am I really that big of a reach to UVa…??</p>
<p>UVa is really competitive for everyone but being OOS makes it tougher. The essays are an important part of the application process- UVa posts specific advice about good essay writing: </p>
<p>Dean J also posts an admissions blog, [Notes</a> from Peabody: The UVA Application Process](<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com%5DNotes”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com), which is very, very helpful. You might want to take a look at that and review some of her tips and some of the questions others have had about the application process. </p>
<p>Of all the activities you participate in, I would think about the ones you enjoy the most and think of further ways to distinguish yourself in those areas. Find a contest/competition where you can use your debate skills to further your interest in government/law. Any chance you could lose the Walgreen’s job and intern for a local attorney? Check with a prosecutor’s office- they may allow a high schooler to volunteer in the office. You’ve got plenty to work with - just think of what you enjoy and allow that to shine through rather than focusing on resume padding. </p>
<p>I think you have a pretty good chance. However you should seriously re-think about majoring in economics if you are not comfortable with math. After introductory economics, it’s not just drawing lines.</p>
<p>Econ was actually my last choice as it is, so I doubt I’d end up majoring in it. I’m definitely leaning poli-sci. Maaaaybe business but thats another one where I feel like my math won’t cut it. Can anyone give me an idea of the level of math needed for business? I’ve never had any problems with math in school, I’ve just had horrrrrible math teachers since about 7th grade and feel like I’m behind.</p>
<p>Branch out and extend your search to other national universities. Your scores and GPA are good, but UVA is very difficult for OOS students. Being from Missouri will help you, but try looking at some some non-state schools like Washington U, Rice, Emory, etc. There are many to chose from!</p>
<p>I beg to disagree with musicman that the work experience would not be a plus - I’ve heard that colleges actually look favorably on real-life job experience, and 20 hours a week is a pretty significant commitment.</p>
<p>It depends on what kind of business you want to do. In general CalcII (AP Calc BC) will be sufficient.
However if you want to concentrate in financial economics in the econ dept you need to take econometrics and empirical finance. Both of them require working knowledge of linear algebra. I took it and didn’t do so well, so I decided not to do that.</p>
<p>I think you have a good chance but if you can become captain of a sports team or take on another leadership postion, I think that would help… Or even if you can show that you have received promotions at Walmart.</p>
<p>I think adcoms recognize that a 20-hour week work commitment is significant and will limit other ECs and that they would look favorably on someone working to help with their own expenses. </p>