Chance me and suggest some schools for High Stats Avg ECs applicant

Chance Me / Match Me!
, ,
1

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student: Domestic
  • State/Location of residency: MI (state is important if you apply to any state universities)
  • Type of high school (current college for transfers): Large competitive public high school
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): Asian male rip
  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): Asian male in non-STEM? Nothing really.

Intended Major(s): International relations/affairs/studies (varies by school) with possible minor in finance/business etc.

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.99
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): School does not weight
  • College GPA (for transfers): N/A
  • Class Rank: School does not rank, but will graduate summa cum laude
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1550 with a 1580 superscore. Got 22 (Essay) on School Day SAT w/ Essay, but that does not matter.

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s)):
Freshman Year- Honors Geometry (A), AP US History (A and 5), Speech (A), Business and Criminal Law (A), Business and Personal Law (A), Contemporary Global Issues (A+), Honors English 9 (A), Biology (A), Spanish 2 (A). Self-studied AP World History and AP US Government and Politics. Received 5 and 4 respectively.

Sophomore Year- Honors English 10 (A), Honors Chemistry (A), AP Biology (A and 4), AP Statistics (A and 5), AP Psychology (A and 5), Honors Precalculus (A- first semester, A+ second semester), Spanish 3 (A). Self-studied AP European History and AP Environmental Science. Received a 5 and 4 respectively.

Junior Year- AP Economics (A first semester, most likely A+ second semester has not ended yet), Honors Physics (A), IB Spanish HL Year 1 (A first semester, A+ second semester), Mythology (A), Health (A), AP English Language (A), AP Calculus AB (A), AP Chemistry (A). AP score predictions: 5 Macro, 4 Micro, 4 Calc, 5 Lang, Chem (hahahahaha).

Senior Year- AP English Literature and Composition, Dual Enrollment An Introduction to Philosophy, Dual Enrollment Introduction to Homeland Security, Dual Enrollment Business Mathematics, Dual Enrollment World Regional Geography, Dual Enrollment Survey of American Government, Dual Enrollment Introduction to Anthropology, AP Spanish Language, Honors Calculus 2, AP Physics. Will take the AP Lit, AP Spanish Lang, AP Calc BC, AP Physics C: Mechanics, and AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism exams.

Awards

  1. Almost certain NMSF, likely NMF.
  2. National AP Scholar (8 4s or 5s on first AP exams, earned as sophomore, IK probably does not matter).
  3. Overall bronze medal at global geography championship. Could have done better at 2020 championships but cancelled because of COVID.
  4. 2nd in Forensics Extemporaneous category for Detroit chapter of NCFL, ranked about 50th percentile at Nationals. Failed to make Nationals freshman year; might have made sophomore year but COVID happened.
  5. 2 silver medals at US championships for global geography competition, hopefully will get gold this summer but have to prepare for the worst.
  6. Diplomacy Award (2nd place right after Best Delegate) at prestigious international Model UN conference.
  7. Key team member in Varsity QuizBowl team that placed 2nd in the Tri-County League (1st in conference and division) in my freshman year. Decided to skip nationals. Was named unanimous MVP by teammates that year. Many seniors left the next year, so team only tied for 6th in Tri-County League (3rd in conference, 2nd in division) in my sophomore year. Planned to go to nationals but COVID happened.
  8. Won first globally in a casual/informal summer geography league.
  9. Successfully completed IB Personal Project and the Middle Years required courses. Earned IB MYP certificate.
  10. Got 9th at a international geography competition out of more than 550 global contestants.

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

  1. President of Forensics Club at high school. Manage communications, logistics, and fundraising. Helped recruit many new members to the club.
  2. President and Founder of History and Geography Club. This club did not really take off.
  3. Varsity QuizBowl freshman and sophomore year, shut down junior year due to COVID. Helped as a player while also teaching teammates facts and incorporating strategy. Might revive the club and serve as president; my club advisor said OK to my proposal.
  4. Member of National Honor Society and Spanish Honors Society. Tutor high school students in Spanish for the SHS.
  5. Volunteer Coach for North South Foundation. Train kids across America for geography bees. The money they pay as fees is sent to underprivileged students in India. Going by those numbers, I have directly or indirectly contributed $4000 through my instruction.
  6. Member of Model UN club at my high school. Have attended many prestigious conferences in-person and virtually.
  7. Volunteer Coach and Assistant Coach for my middle school’s science olympiad team. Teach kids in Dynamic Planet (geology, oceanography etc.) and Road Scholar (topography, cartography etc.). My students have placed at several invitationals, at the regional level, and even at the state level (7th in Dynamic Planet).
  8. Volunteered in India at an extremely underprivileged school.
  9. Student at my local Tamil (Indian language) school from 1st to 9th grade. Assistant taught from 10th grade onward.
  10. Competed in national level and international level geography competitions, along with one national level history competition. Met great kids there. We maintain online learning communities for learning and quizzing about geography.
  11. Part of my state’s Tamil organization’s Youth Committee. Helped plan and organize many events. I wrote the questions, planned, conducted, judged, and scored an online geography bee competition which was live streamed on YouTube. I may become President (or maybe a lower position) on the Youth Committee this year.
  12. Wrote a 33-page book on Sino-American relations for my IB Personal Project. I am planning to edit this and publish it as an e-book. I may even send it to college professors for feedback (everyone I know is getting some internship or doing some college program, so this is my only chance).
  13. I am the advisor for a middle-school public speaking club.
  14. I am an umpire for my city’s local baseball association. I will also get a job at Kroger soon.
  15. I am the cofounder and CEO of a nonprofit which tries to impart college and career mentoring to underprivileged and marginalized populations at no cost. This is a work in progress and is growing.
  16. I am part of a local Hindu Sunday School where we discuss religion and teach younger kids about it.
    I would say the main theme in my extracurriculars was my interest in global affairs. I have several hundred volunteering hours, but I think many people have this too.

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
Wrote the common app prompt on my geography experiences (mostly). AP Lang teacher specifically told us to write them and gave feedback at the end of junior year. My AP Lang teacher said it was solid, but I will finetune it even more. I will consult the judgment of other English teachers for this prompt, the Why (College) essays, and the supplementals. I am a decent writer and expect to have strong essays across the board.

Counselor- 6/10. I always have come off as a tryhard to her, I think. I was a little… immature in freshman year (typical dramas), so she might not write a glowing letter.

IB Spanish/AP Spanish Teacher- 9.5/10. We vibe really well together. He is super nerdy like me and loves discussing random trivia. I also did really well in his class and tried to improve my Spanish skills. I got very close to an A+ in first semester and an A+ second semester. He knows about my extracurricular achievements and has congratulated me extensively for them.

Honors English 10 Teacher- 9.5/10. She is also the QuizBowl team advisor. She has known me from freshman year and has seen my growth as a student, quizzing player, and human being. She is very appreciative of what I bring to the table in QuizBowl. I received an A in both semesters of her class, which is pretty hard to get in her class. I went into for extra help every week just to improve my essays and writing skills in her class (completely optional) when grading was generally a joke in the second semester of 2019-20 (keep old grade, pass-fail, etc.). She is very emotional and passionate about mental health, and I share her views. We literally cried in class together once.

Contemporaneous Global Issues- 8.5/10. She was my advisor for my IB Personal Project. That was the first time she even advised someone for the Personal Project. I received an A+ in her class, participated a lot, and helped out struggling students. She advised me a lot about career paths and majors in the social studies field. She once even talked me up to a visiting admissions representative from Rice. The only issue is that she may not have the best writing skills.

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.) My EFC is around 35k. My parents can pay slightly more if my AP and dual enrollment credits allow me to graduate in 3 years.

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability) Michigan State University, Florida State University (NMF)
  • Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable)
  • Match Umich Ann Arbor (our school sends a solid amount of kids there every year), USC (NMF)
  • Reach Northwestern ED, Johns Hopkins EDII. I might do ED to Johns Hopkins and not apply to Northwestern at all. I don’t know.
    Please add schools that give decent need-based aid and/or merit based aid, are reaches/matches, have a good business program, and have a good international studies/relations/affairs program. My eventual goal is law school, but I will work for a few years before applying.
2

Tulane in general would be a match, I think, but the Altman program has its own application process in addition. Seems like it could fit what you’re looking for, though: https://altman.tulane.edu/

4 Likes
3

The Altman program seems very cool! The only issue is that Tulane has a ridiculously low RD rate. Its EA rate is not much higher. I do not want to commit it to it ED.

4

Yes, an ED app wouldn’t make sense, especially given that you’d be committing to the university without any guarantee of admission to the Altman program. But IIRC Tulane’s application isn’t onerous - could be worth floating an EA app and then doing the Altman application if you get in and don’t already have a binding offer somewhere else. Might not be bad to have in the pipeline.

1 Like
5

Ok, I will add it to my list!

1 Like
6

Why do you have the transfer tag on your post?

Definitely condense your EC’s. Common App only allows space for 10, so pick the ones that mean the most for you.

If you are going to law school I think you should go to the college that gives you the most merit aid (probably FSU with their NMF scholarship). Also check out UCF they give the same scholarship, not sure how good their international studies program is though.

2 Likes
7

I accidentally did that and now cannot delete the tag. I think prestige matters a little bit in securing a well-paying job right after my bachelor’s degree. It also gives me the most flexibility if my plans go awry, the legal market fails, or I want to change careers. FSU is fine, but Northwestern just seems more appealing for so many reasons (location is a key one-close to home). If the posters could also chance me on the schools I have on my list, that would be good.

1 Like
8

Do you have a particular part of the world that you’re interested in, vis-a-vis IR - any specific goals as far as language study and/or study abroad destinations?

As far as USC, are you considering their World Bachelor in Business program? (Pretty much the diametric opposite of “close to home” so perhaps not - it’s definitely not for everybody - but an interesting program.)

9

Asia, I guess? I would like to continue with Spanish, so I guess there is a clash there. Studying abroad in Asia would be fun. I would prefer more IR than a business bachelors- no matter what, for law school admissions, I need a good undergraduate GPA. I am not as interested in business and it could also be more demanding/GPA-killing.

10

Well, in the high-reach category, Yale NUS would be an amazing place to study Global Affairs, in English, and they do offer Spanish there. Also the antithesis of close to home and a 3-7% admit rate but, it’s an interesting thought, and you’re certainly a qualified applicant even the odds are steep.

Considering the Claremont Colleges at all? Pomona and Claremont McKenna are both great for IR (with most of the course offerings available to students at both schools, but different degree requirements, etc.). CMC has a more business-y bent than Pomona. Foreign languages in general, and Spanish in specific, are top-notch. The PPE program (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) is suberb as well. You don’t seem so interested in small LAC’s generally, but the 5C’s are so blended, with 7000 undergrads altogether, that it feels like a mid-sized university in many ways.

William & Mary, maybe? Very strong IR program, beautiful campus, nice mid-sized U… and there are a bunch of minors available through the business school. Not a lot cheaper than private, but a little cheaper, and merit $ wouldn’t be out of the question. Not a slam-dunk from out of state but I think your chances of acceptance would be very good, and your stats are in line with those who receive the competitive merit awards.

1 Like
11

I am not considering out-of-country options. I am also not considering LACs. William and Mary is a great pick! I will consider it for sure.

2 Likes
12

Even though you are not considering out-of-country options, you might want to take a look at the joint William & Mary/St. Andrews program. St. Andrews is renowned for its IR program. It seems like a very cool program, although participants need to switch back and forth from the US to Scotland each year, which might be unattractive to students who want to have a stable community over their four years. I believe participants end up with degrees from both schools.

1 Like
13

OOCs out of the discussion, but I will take note.

14

Note that USC doesn’t admit all NMF’s who apply and acceptance rate makes it a reach regardless of stats.

2 Likes
15

I have heard on this very forum that they accept 50% of NMFs that apply by many sources. I think its extremely low acceptance rate is because it only has an RD option, artificially deflating the numbers. It is a great school and hard to make, but Umich is certainly a match for me and I do not think my state residency matters so much to put USC in that reach category (both the schools have similar rankings and stats).

16

University of Mississippi Croft Institute of Global Affairs is worth looking at. Very highly regarded. You would get a lot of automatic merit money from them with your grades and scores. Oxford is a great college town, but the school is obviously pretty southern, but with increasing numbers of OOS students.

If leaning towards business, University of South Carolina International Business major is also very highly regarded. You would be competitive for merit there too.

Just some different suggestions!

17

Will keep them in mind!

18

UMN would be a safety, and it’s also worth looking into because they are likely to offer a decent merit aid, in general and for NMFs. Fordham would be another possible likely/safety which provides good merit for some NMFs (up to full tuition).

Both Northeastern and Boston University have good scholarships available for NMFs, so you may want to check them as low reaches.

1 Like
19

Ok!

20

@geolawyer1903 Question about your listed EFC of 35K: is this what your parents can afford to pay or is this the EFC calculated from the net price calculators (NPC)? Those two items are not necessarily the same. A family with a modest income can have an EFC spit out by the NPC that is not realistic for the family’s finances.

I think that term “expected family contribution” is very confusing, even to adults. I wonder in they’re changing that term in the new FAFSA.

1 Like