<p>Get the blue book and work on that math and writing. Luckily, it’s CR which is the hardest to study for, and your score is already solid. TCU, UDubs, and Creighton should be acceptances. Get the score up, and Northeastern should be a match. Duke and Penn are reaches for everybody, but being from Hawaii might be an advantage. I live in HI too, and I know a total of 0 people who applied to Duke this year (then again, I don’t know many Punahou/Iolani kids), so I presume their pool isn’t nearly as competitive as it would be if you were from MA or something.</p>
<p>Do you go to a public school? If you do, you might be interested in taking an extra AP class or two from HVLN to make your courseload seem harder and to show that you’re going above and beyond. I took four my junior year (don’t take four) and I got to learn subjects that my HS doesn’t offer.</p>
<p>Looking at your other thread, I see that you’re in a similar position as I am (but a year younger): parent contribution won’t cover the expected family contribution my schools (CURSE THE HIGH COST OF LIVING HERE). Because a lot of Hawaii kids apply to UW, I don’t think you’ll get the best financial support from them. Northeastern and UCLA are just bad at financial aid. (IDK about Creighton and TCU, but I know Creighton is popular here for whatever reason.) Try to find less popular but still good schools across the US that offer merit aid. Get a safety that’ll give you enough $. (Alabama gives full tuition for your stats, guaranteed.) Find some other schools that’ll likely give you $.</p>