Chance me at some upper-tier schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Thanks for taking your time to read this!
My top-choice schools are University of Rochester, University of Richmond, Santa Clara University and Michigan State’s Honors Program.

I go to a top public high school in Upstate NY.
Weighted GPA: 4.45
Unweighted GPA: 3.98
Weighted Junior Year: 4.79
Unweighted Junior Year: 4.0
My school does not rank but I’m almost certainly in the top 10%

So far I’ve taken 5 AP classes and 1 dual-enrollment. Next year I’m taking 4 more APs and two more dual-enrollments.
Have taken:
AP Bio
AP Lang
AP US History
AP Calculus BC
AP World History
SUPA (Dual-enrollment) Sociology

Will Take:
AP Physics C
AP Spanish
AP Environmental Science
AP US Government and Politics
Calc 3 dual-enrollment with community college
SUPA (Dual enrollment) Academic Writing

I’ve also taken college-level anatomy and physiology but it was not a dual-enrollment course.

SAT- I took the old SAT twice in my sophomore year. Best scores: CR: 760 M:770 W:690
SAT Subject Tests: Still waiting on the results but I expect that I will get a very good score on Bio ecology and mediocre scores on Math 2 and Spanish.

Leadership:
My sophomore year I was the secretary of my school’s chemistry club.
Junior Year I was vice-president of Mock Trial and vice-president of Chemistry Club. I was also the secretary of chess club.
Expected Senior year (based on teacher recommendations) I will be the president of Mock Trial and the president of Chemistry Club. Chess club is pretty low-key so I could also have a leadership position there again.

Volunteering: 150 ish hours. I’ve volunteered at the local library and at two local hospitals. I also have local events I’ve volunteered at here and there through girl scouts.

ECs:
4 years of Mock Trial as lawyer and witness.
4 years of Chemistry Club, 3 as an officer.
3 years of Book Club
2 years of Chess Club
2 years of Select Choir
7 years of Private Voice lessons
9 years of playing Harp
Inducted into NHS junior year
3 years on JV then Varsity Tennis
3 years of Masterminds
4 years of Math League and went to county all-stars league.

My negatives:
I got an 85 in Algebra 1. I took it in 7th grade bc I’m double accl for math but it still shows up on my transcript. I’ve gotten an A or A+ in every single class I took at the high school.

My essay will be on how I survived domestic violence and how it shaped my view of the world.

If you need any additional information feel free to ask! I can put my AP Scores up tomorrow (July 5) if needed.
Thank you so much :slight_smile:
P.S. If you’d like me to chance you back, just ask! :slight_smile:

2

You are pretty likely to get into anywhere you want. The only negative I can see is SAT, your writing score is somewhat low. You may want to take the ACT/ new SAT this year with the essay to help your writing scores. A high score in AP Lang will also help.

3

Given your grades, your schools are all matches/safeties (surprised you’re not aiming higher). You might need to take the new SAT since most schools are switching over and the old 3-part SAT scores may not be valid anymore.



I wouldn’t worry about the Algebra grade from 7th grade either. It’s on your transcript to show you fulfilled your math requirements and won’t affect the GPA. Besides you are 2 years ahead of your peers already in math.



If you take the new SAT and get 1500+, Ivies are in target. I would take out Santa Clara from your list and substitute a more prestigious school. Boston College is within target with your grades.



Any reason why Santa Clara is on your list? I’m a Santa Clara alum and find it surprising that someone from upstate New York has heard of it. Nothing against my alma mater, but you can do way better.

4

I know there are reasons why you’ve chosen the schools on your list…BUT when I read upper tier schools and then through your profile I thought you were talking about Ivies/similar!

I think you could definitely go for at least 1 Ivy (given you up your SAT) with 2-3 other top 15-20 schools in addition to your matches (University of Rochester, University of Richmond, maybe UVA or George Washington?). You might also look at Pepperdine.

I also think you could add to or substitute Michigan State’s Honors with University of Michigan (Top 30 school)?

5

You need to take the New SAT, to make sure schools accept your scores.

6

You should try and improve your SAT scores. Other than that, your stats are very high and definitely at, if not above, the caliber for the schools you want. You have a wide-range of ECs, which is great for diversity, but on your application, and especially on your essays, I would work on developing a “spike” where you hone in on a few ECs and describe how they’ve impacted you. Your essay seems like it will be very strong, and it’s awesome you’ve been able to get past that occurrence. I would add that for your essay, make sure you bring out how you changed (since it altered your world view) and potentially how some of what you are doing or pursuing (whether that be an EC or a major) reflects that. Overall, you have a really good chance, and I wish the best of luck!

7

@Hamurtle
The reason I’m not aiming higher is that I need a lot of merit scholarships to be able to afford college. My mom’s family lives in San Jose and I’d love to be able to go to school around there, but Stanford is too much of a reach and Berkeley is far too expensive OOS.

8

@VANDEMORY1342

Actually I’ve called every school on that list and they all take the old SAT.

9

@wakid0002
Do I really need to improve my SAT scores? Most schools I’ve looked at don’t care about the writing part of the old SAT because it wasn’t at all critical analysis, and my reading and math were both high 700s. If I took the new SAT it’s unlikely I’d do as well as my skill level for math because I haven’t taken the kind of math that’s on the SAT since 8th and 9th grade.

10

Hey, I’m in Upstate NY, too! which school do you go to?

11

There is absolutely no reason you would be rejected from University of Richmond. In fact, you NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU APPLY by the scholars deadline. I’d be surprised if you didn’t get selected as one. That will give you lots of merit aid and depending on which one you receive, you might even get a full ride from UR.

Richmond also claims to be need-blind and will cover all financial aid demonstrated! I’d really consider Richmond if merit aid is what you are after, I really think you’d get it.