Chance at Top School. Will Try to Chance Back

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys! So I’ve been browsing College Confidential over the past few years and it’s an odd feeling to actually be putting my stats here but here it goes.

ACADEMICS

GPA: 3.82 (might go up because of first quarter senior year grades. Also I got a C- and C+ in Calc and Chem respectively just for you knowledge)
Class Rank: 15% (Honors Rank)
ACT: 35 (33 E, 36 M, 36 R, 36 S)
Subject Tests: 760 Math II, 740 US History

EXTRACURRICULARS

Debate (President) - Won JV State as a Sophomore, 2nd at Varsity State Debate as Junior, First Alternative to Nationals, Novice and JV and Varsity Debater of the Year

DECA (probably Captain next year) - Top 10 at International in HTDM, 2nd at State in HTDM, 2x Section Champion in HTDM, Qualified for Internationals as a Sophomore, 3rd Place at Entrepreneurship Growing Your Business

Unicef High School Club (President and Cofounder) - Raised enough money for 7000 tetanus vaccines and a $500 water pump in developing nation

National Honors Society (President)

Tennis (Captain) - Varsity since 9th Grade, 2nd at Team Sections as a Sophomore

School Newspaper (Probably Editor-in-Chief coming year)

Political Blog (Founder) - 1500 page hits

Volunteering at Assisted Living - Holding Technology Classes to Help Seniors, Holding Mental Enrichment Classes where we play mentally stimulating games

Speech - First Alternative to nationals as a Junior, National Qualifier as a Sophomore, Rookie-of-the-Year Award

OTHER AWARDS:

Ex Award (given to 1/32 students in State)

Schools I’m Applying To:

Ivies (including Stanford)
Carnegie Mellon
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
Wash U
Rice
Tufts
Johns Hopkins
Emory
UChicago

Boston University
George Washington University
Case Western University

It would be great if you guys could chance me! Be realistic and not too wishy washy :). Make sure to check below in case I forget anything

2

Oh by the way, I’m an Indian Male

3

Colleges mostly look at how through junior year for deciding to accept you or not. Act is great though. I will list what I know from the schools you provided.

Carnegie Mellon - match/low reach
Washington - match if your not in state
Hopkins- reach (because of gpa)

4

You honestly have a chance at all of them, obviously the first list of schools are all reaches–as they are for everyone–but I think BU is a high match. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1786115-help-me-create-a-balanced-college-list-please.html#latest

5

What AP’s have you taken and what are your scores? Also, what is your weighted gpa?

6

EC’s are great, but GPA/Class Rank aren’t the best, but ACT of 35 is also impressive.
Ivies, Stanford, JHU, CMU, Vanderbilt, Rice, WUSTL, all reaches due to your GPA (and especially because of the C’s)
Indian male doesn’t help much.

I’d still say you have a great shot due to the depth of many EC’s that you have. It’s really a toss-up to see if the adcoms will overlook your GPA for your other leadership qualities.

7

Thanks guys! I’ve taken seven APs and I know the score of three of them so far. I have by far taken one of the hardest course loads offered at my high school. Also, do you think that I have a decent shot at UPenn ED?

8

Our school also doesn’t do weighted GPA unfortunately so my class rank is always going to be lower because of that.

9

As you’ve probably heard, your GPA is slightly below average for an ivy league admit, but I think your great ACT score and stellar/diverse ECs will make up for it.

Brown/Dartmouth/Cornell- Low Reach-Mid Reach (I think you can get into at least one of these)

Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Columbia- High Reach (same for everyone unfortunately)

Penn- Low Reach if applying to SEAS or Nursing, but High Reach if applying to Engineering or Wharton

I think Carnegie Mellon and Tufts would be low reach-high match with your ECs and ACT score. I don’t know much else about other colleges.

A word of advice: Be very strategic with your early decision. Don’t waste it on HYPS. Apply to a college that is competitive, yet it should be a college where you have a good shot of getting into (Dartmouth, Tufts, Cornell). I think you have the potential to get into a very good college, but you also have the potential to strike out and miss on the competitive colleges bc of your GPA.

tldr; don’t be “aggressive” with your ED. Be conservative and choose a Mid/lower-tier 1 school (Ex: Dartmouth, Cornell, Vandy, Rice, Brown, Emory) where you have a good chance of getting into, and hopefully the bump from ED will allow the admission counselors to overlook your GPA and accept you.

10

@texas1418 thanks so much for you advice! I’m thinking of applying to UPenn early but I’m not 100% sure about whether or not that’s what you would say is strategically sound. If I do apply it would be to The College, not Wharton or Engineering. Would this be a good move? I’m also attending a UPenn summer program this year (LBW) if that boosts my chances at all.

11

I think that would actually be a great move! My college counselor was telling me that applying ED to The College provided a pretty significant bump, and UPenn is one of the most outspoken colleges when it comes to providing a boost to ED applicants.

12

The ivies are all reaches same with Northwestern Chicago and Vanderbilt. Wash U and Tufts are target reaches (meaning that you should get in but you never know). I think you will be ok with Carnegie Mellon and the others. I think UPenn early decision is your best option for ivies but affirmative action makes it more tough.

13

I won’t waste time explaining that your GPA and the C’s are a setback because you already know that, and you obviously know that the Ivies are reaches for everyone. So here’s feedback on the other aspects of your post:

You seriously need to bring up your SAT2s tbh. Everyone and their mother takes USH and Math, and most of the applicants you’re competing with get better scores on those two. So if those are the ones you’re sending in, try to bring them up. DEFINITELY need to bring up Math2, especially because you can’t afford a sub par standardized test score because of your grades. Most kids get 800 on Math2. Awesome ACT though, congrats!

Great ECs. Admissions love debate and speech, so that’s definitely working in your favor. Also applies to your blog (which is super cool btw)

In your case, essays can make or break your application. Try to write essays that show who you are as an individual, not what you’ve accomplished.

Do you have any great hooks besides your awards? What makes you unique, valuable, or a source of diversity?

Based on the info you provided, Ivies are high reaches (HYP are probably out of reach, but you have a fair chance at the others), UChicago is a reach but if you nail the quirky essays you have an absolute chance, CMU Tufts and Washington are low reaches and even matches.

I would really appreciate if you chanced me back! http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1790266-chance-me-will-chance-back.html?new=1

14

Thanks for the feedback! I’m thinking about essay topics and the like right now. I got both a 36 on my ACT Math and a 800 on my SAT I Math in case that provides any benefit. I got a 2270 on my SAT I superscored but probably won’t report that. I’ll probably take some of the SAT Subject Tests once again and see how those go. Anyone else want to chance or knows about whether applying ED to The College would be a match or a reach?

15

Bump

16

You have to report all of your scores to UPenn.

17

bump…does anyone know my chance to USC as an OOS applicant?