Highly competitive magnet school (ranked top 10 in the country)
Female/Latino
Father never went to college; legacy (?) at Penn State
Majors: Legal Studies, Criminal Justice, Public Policy, International Relations, Political Science and Government
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.8
Weighted HS GPA (out of 5.0): 4.35
Cumulative GPA: 95
Class Rank: DNR
ACT/SAT Scores: 1340, retaking in June
Coursework
15 APs by the time I graduated HS, 10-11 honors classes (unsure, haven’t checked)
Awards
National Hispanic Recognition Program (11th)
Presidential Service Award: Gold (10th and 11th)
District and regional awards in academic competitions (UIL)
Awards (I’m assuming national) from National Hispanic Insitute Summer programs
State award from MUN (regional awards as well)
AP Scholar with Honor
Summer Programs: Next Generation Latino Leadership Program with CHCI, Youth Leadership Institute with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, federal judge internship, working at a camp teaching elementary school students english; I’ll also be working on my organization
Extracurriculars
President of MUN Club
President of Volunteering Club (over 400 volunteering hours)
Chair of my city’s youth council
Captain of the Mock Trial Team
Appointed Representative on a national council (to specific to name)
Director of Extemp for my region’s NHI chapter
Captain of the UIL team
Spanish Honor Society Secretary
Student council president and class representative
Member of the National Honor Society
Essays/LORs/Other
Strong essays; my writing skills are above average
LOR from my mock trial teacher and statistics teacher (one shows my growth in STEM and the other my ample public speaking abilities); might also have a supplemental one from my council’s coordinator (over 2 years of leadership experience)
Cost Constraints / Budget
Middle-class, single mother. The budget does not exceed 15k-20k
Schools (I am taking recommendations)
Safety: Texas State, Sam Houston University, University of Texas in San Antonio, Willamette University
Match: American University, George Washington University, Florida State, Rutgers, University of Texas at Austin
Reach: Northeastern, University of Southern California, Northwestern, Georgetown, Cornell, Barnard College, Boston University/College, Tufts, UPenn
The schools that will fit for “NPC says family contribution of $20,000 and that’s what we can afford” are different than the schools that fit for “NPC says $40,000 but we can only afford $20,000.”
Having that info will help people suggest schools that will be an academic and financial fit.
Some of the colleges on your list require both parents’ financial information for financial aid. Check college web sites. If a college does require both, include both when using its net price calculator.
Class rank is highly important for admission to Texas public universities. Do you know if you are in the top 6%, 10%, 25%?
Your recommendation writers will likely not work for all of your reach schools.
The schools on your reach list will need one or two recommendations from core subject teachers. Mock trial and student council advisors will not suffice. The specifications will vary some by schools, but they will generally require what Penn does:
“These would be teachers you had during your junior or senior year in major academic subjects (such as math, science, history, English, or foreign language).”
Is Mock Trial a class or an extracurricular? Either way, it’s not a core and only the statistics teacher would count as a core for these schools.
I would like to know more about your federal judicial clerkship.
If you could be admitted to any college or university in the country, which would be your top 3 choices ? (And, if you want to share a bit more, why is each school a top pick ?)
Any interest in completing your undergraduate degree in 3 years instead of 4 ?
If yes, then seek universities that will give you college credit for your AP scores/courses.