I am going to be a senior at a public high school in Indiana. Our school is ranked very high and our academics are incredible.
I am very interested in schools on the East coast specifically: Cornell, Boston College, Brown, Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, George Washington University, etc. My top two are Harvard and Cornell, though I do understand I probably won’t get in I would like to try !
State: Indiana
Race: White
Gender: female
Unweighted GPA: 3.8
Weighted GPA: 4.0
AP classes in school: 20+
AP classes I’ve taken: 3, will have taken 8 by end of senior year
AP scores: unavailable still
SATI: 1380 (waiting on another score)
Math: 680
Reading: 700
Essay: waiting for score
SATII: US History: 670 Math1: 580 (going to retake and take Bio as well)
ACT: 32 (perfect on reading section!)
Class rank: top 25%, but our school doesn’t send rank
Extracurriculars:
Cross country: 11 and 12th grade, our team won state
Created my own online business
Clubs: NHS, Business Professionals of America, Science Club, Equality Club, Best Buddies
Wrestling team manager
Volunteered over summer on Navajo Reservation as well as Indianapolis Hospital
Worked part time all years in high school; local pizza place (1y), Marshalls (6m), Target (1y)
Student Government Officer (elected by student body)
Other than GWU and , maybe, Boston College, I think that your list of targeted universities is somewhat unrealistic due to your numbers (SAT & GPA) and class rank.
Step 1, find a school you love, can afford, and will most likely get into (as Publisher said, I think you need to look off this list to find it, thought GWU might work if the rest of your application is good)
Step 2 Find out if that school has a EA or ED benefit (find that by reading everything you can on discussion boards, Google, etc.). If they do not, then apply SCEA to Harvard or ED to Cornell, but the one you like the best. If you get in, then you get in. If you don’t, you go to a school you love.
Don’t be like so many people who “settle” for their University if you think that might bother you.
With respect to a school comparable in size to the others on your list, consider the University of Rochester.
Looking more broadly, you would probably really like the course offerings at colleges such as Colby, Mt. Holyoke and Hamilton, particularly if your interests might lead you to genomic bioinformatics. You’ll note that these could be reaches as well, but I think all could be potentially accessible for you. You might also appreciate the undergraduate focus inherent to schools of this type.
It is fine to apply early to whatever school you most want to attend, but you do need to seriously re-think your application list.
Realistically if your standardized tests are at/below the 25% percentile (you can google the class profile and/or common data set for each college to get this information) and you have no hook (ex. recruited athlete, child of a huge donor, famous movie star etc.) then your chance for admission at a hyper-selective school which have admission rates under 10% generally – some hovering around 5% and where they routinely turn down applicants with perfect GPAs and standardized tests is extremely slim. If your HS has Naviance use it to see the outcomes of people with your academic profile. It is perfectly fine to put in an application at one or two of these uber-reach schools but you also need to be realistic and not make long-shots the primary focus of your college application efforts.
On the list you presented:
–I see a ton of super-high reaches including Harvard, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn all of which are unlikely given your standardized test scores and those schools very low acceptance rates.
–I see two possible match/high match schools in BC and GW.
–I see zero safety schools.
You need more match/low match schools and a few safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be excited to attend. Don’t be one of those people who gets infatuated with the high “prestige” reach schools to the exclusion of finding great match and safety schools. IMO finding those amazing safety/low match schools is one of the most important parts of the process. As my kid’s guidance counselor says, you want set your self up to be in a position to have choices you are happy with at the end of the process.
You have done very well in HS and many colleges would love to have you join their class. Recognize that there are tons of amazing colleges and universities out there where you can have a fabulous 4 year experience and get where you want to go in life.
Cornell or Dartmouth ED is your best shot at a selective school, Harvard EA would be a waste of time/effort. Try ED 2 at some other selective schools and add some safeties.
Thank thank you for your input! I forgot to put a bunch of the schools i’m applying to around 15. My safety schools are IU, Purdue, and Butler. I am not very excited about these schools or want to go there however. The campus as a whole is very important to me, especially major wise, but I really want a college that is in an urban setting but gated off with its own community. I was very interested in boston university, but i wasn’t fond of the campus when i visited, it seemed like a strip of city. Harvard, the campus at least, seemed like a perfect fit for me with access to the subway as well. I’m really into the gothic architecture as well so that’s why I put those schools! i also want to be on the East coast because I like the history of each place and the weather patterns. I have family around Cornell and in Boston so those are my top places
If you want to apply ED, then Davidson College might be an interesting option. Beautiful campus on a lake in North Carolina. Davidson offers two rounds of ED.
I i also believed 32 ACT was the average or 50% range for Dartmouth, Brown, and UPenn? and that having created my own online business was a hook of some sorts. Let me know, thanks!
– I didn’t see the ACT score but it seems to be at best around the 50% mark at some schools and below the 50% mark at others. All of these top tier schools must all be considered reaches because they routinely turn down people with incredibly high grades/standardized test scores, great ECs etc. There is simply not enough room for them to accept all of the extremely well qualified candidates.
–Also with taking 8 out of 20+ APs, will your guidance counselor check the box saying you have taken the most rigorous schedule available at your HS? That is something the highly competitive colleges look for.
– If Cornell is a top choice then Cornell ED may be your best chance. However if you get in ED and it is affordable (run net price calculator before applying ED) you will lose the opportunity to compare financial offers between colleges.
–Having an online business is a very nice activity but it is not a hook. A hook is when a person has an attribute that fulfills a specific institutional need of a particular school. It is a reason why a school would choose an applicant over other similarly qualified applicants. Some typical examples include: a person being recruited to play quarterback for the college football team, a child of a huge donor (who they hope to get more donations from), a person who might bring positive press to a college (ex. Malala). There will undoubtedly be applications from numerous other students who have small businesses as well as from students who have done other meaningful things outside of the classroom so it is not an attribute that you and only you can bring to the school. I am not disparaging what you are doing at all (it is great you are running a business), but I’m trying to be sure you understand what a hook is and why you do not have one. Keep in mind that very very few people have hooks.
–Again, I do think your application list very aggressive. If you would not be happy/excited to attend IU, Butler and/or Purdue then they are not ideal safety schools. Look for less competitive schools that offer sufficient aid that you would be excited to attend.
I think an ED to Cornell couldn’t hurt, but as long as you would be fine with the financials of it. Someone touched on it earlier, but most of the schools you mentioned would be considered uber-reach, just by observing acceptance rates and SAT/ACT 25/75 splits, along with ECs. Owning a business is a great thing, but the problem is, many people own/operate businesses nowadays, and it is becoming increasingly listed on college applications. Now, if your business was wildly successful and you recieved some sort of high honor/recognition for it, that would be a different story, but unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Your ECs seem to be the usual stuff (Student Government, etc.), so I wouldn’t be confident applying to many top universities. Out of the ones you listed, BC and GW seem possible. I would strongly suggest doing what the other posters have recommended and finding an affordable safety school which you would enjoy going to, so you don’t have the lack of fallbacks should GW and BC fall through and when most probably the reach schools do. I apologize if this came off as blunt, I just wouldn’t want you to waste your time (and money) applying to these schools when it doesn’t seem like a possibility. GL!