chance me (11th grade)

i just wanna know if i’m on the right track to getting some admissions into the more prestigious colleges.

my stats:

  • low income, black female
  • single parent household (don’t know if that counts)
  • 31 ACT, retaking it to get a better score
  • 1400 PSAT
  • i have some leadership roles in some organizations
  • i do community service and tutoring, summer camps at colleges, stuff like that
  • took 3 APs freshman and sophomore year, taking 3 now, and i plan on taking 4 next year (10 total)
  • 3.86 out of 4 unweighted GPA (cumulative, from 8th grade until now)
  • 4.4 out of 5 weighted GPA
  • top 15% class rank
  • i plan on taking 6 subject tests (chemistry, world history, u.s. history, physics, math level 2, and literature)
  • i almost forgot to say i go to a super competitive school. people are sabotaging each other over class rank and it’s pretty messy. that’s why my class rank looks so bad. my school district is also super segregated so only one middle school in the county allowed students to take Algebra 1 in 7th grade, so now it looks like i’m behind since most of the smart kids went to that middle school.

i’m planning on putting these on my questbridge list (in order):

  1. emory
  2. wash u
  3. vanderbilt (legacy)
  4. uchicago
  5. northwestern
  6. rice
  7. columbia
  8. duke
  9. upenn
  10. princeton
  11. brown
  12. yale

other colleges:
university of memphis (safety), university of tennessee knoxville (safety), rhodes college (safety), and george washington university (match?)

Why take six subject tests? Most colleges only want two.

@awesomepolyglot they’re free for me so why not lmao
collegeboard gave me 6 free ones as part of my fee waiver

I would spend your time trying to raise your ACT score. 6 SAT subject tests is over kill. Take 3 at most.

@momofsenior1 so which 3 do you think would be the most important? just chemistry, physics, and math?

Depends on your intended major.

I agree with @momofsenior1. Don’t waste your time taking 6 subject tests. If you’re doing engineering, take Math II and Physics. If not, choose any three subject tests that you’re confident you can score 800 on.

@momofsenior1 @yinuos the problem is, i have no idea what my intended major is anymore since the only thing i like now is something my mom doesn’t approve of. school pretty much made me lose my passion for everything except business and social sciences but my mom wants me to do something in the STEM field.

I agree with others. I would only take subject tests in your strongest subjects. Personally I took 3, and my daughters took at most 2.

Other than that, I think that you will do well. You have the good sense to have some very good safeties, and I think that you have good chances to get into at least some other schools on your list.

Have you run the NPCs are are you fine with the results?

@DadTwoGirls what are NPCs? (other than non-playable characters in video games lol) do you think emory would accept me? it’s my dream school wash u is a close second but i know i’m probably not gonna get in

I did not know about non-playable characters.

The NPCs that I was talking about are Net Price Calculators. If you google "Net Price Calculator " then you will find them. You will need a lot of information about your parent’s income and assets. This means that your parents will need to help you do this. They are generally less accurate if your parents are divorced or separated, or own a small business, farm, or rental property.

I participated in a seminar once at Washington University in St Louis and liked the school a lot. The students were engaged, asked good questions, the professor was excellent, and the campus is beautiful. I think that it is worth an application from you as long as the NPC is not too discouraging. I don’t know much about Emory.

@DadTwoGirls oh my EFC is 0 i think. or close to it besides if i’m a questbridge finalist and i match with a college, it’s a full tuition scholarship

Don’t apply to schools that are beneath you where you would waste your talents (I’m talking U of Memphis here). I’ve taught there… the students are very lackluster, to put it nicely. Their 4-year graduation rate is around 13%. UTK as a safe school and Rhodes are fine choices. Have you considered women’s colleges or HBCUs? I have a friend who went to Spelman and loooved it. Howard, also, is a great school.

If you’re going for Engineering, then Math 2, Chemistry, and Physics are the Subject tests to take. Some people might suggest a social science test like US History to balance things.

You probably have a fairly decent chance at most of the reach schools. URM with a pretty good ACT score on your first try plus the socioeconomic factor. Work on the ACT but if you get a score above 32 on your next try, you will be in pretty good shape.

You should check to see if you can get into a fly-in visit program that will pay for all expenses-you will definitely be eligible.

I think you have a pretty fair chance of being accepted to WashU, as the school is into trying to diversify.

Definitely visit to get an idea of what it’s like and gauge your comfort level. Although it has a large number of full pay, upper middle students, I haven’t seen that many kids flout their status/wealth, but that’s my opinion.

I would definitely run net price calculators if you haven’t, just in case you don’t match with a school for questbridge ( sorry I’m not sure if that’s how it works so apologies if that sounds stupid). Even with an efc of zero not all schools will give you a lot of money. I think it’s smart to apply to some safety schools even if they seem “beneath you” as some have said. Definitely work on getting your ACT score up (I recommend getting a practice book or two) and make sure your junior and senior year grades are trending up. Schools won’t think a 3.86 is bad, but they tend to favor students who do better in junior and senior year vs ones who do worse in junior and senior year. Good luck and try not to stress too much.
p.s. social sciences are awesome and can offer you a very fulfilling career. If that’s what you want, then go for it!