Chance Me (Brown, Barnard, UVA, UCB), and How Can I Improve?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi! I’m a junior and I’m really anxious about college.

I have had straight A and A+'s throughout high school, except for Honors Biology (A-) and Honors Geometry (B-), both of which were freshman year. I’ve also been in regular math classes since sophomore/junior year, but I am a “year ahead” of the math track at my school.

I would be so happy if you could chance me for the following schools: Brown, Barnard, UVA, UCB, UMass Amherst, Emerson, and (maybe) Columbia

GPA: 4.5 W, 4.05 (UW-my school does it on 4.3 scale) (went from 4.19 freshman year, to 4.4 sophomore year, to 4.5 currently, but it could still change)
SAT: 1490 750 R, 740 M
SAT Subject: 770 (World History), 710 (Lit)–am going to take Physics and Math II later on
Rank: 22/402 (Top 6%)
AP’s: Bio, Lang, APUSH (my school only lets you take AP’s junior year, and you can do 4 at most)
(Projected) Senior Course Load: Honors French 4, Honors Calc, AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Psych, AP Lit, AP Studio Art
College Courses: Eng101, Eng102, Biological Principles 101, Art History 103, Film&Literature

Awards: Anthony Quinn for Literary Arts, regional Scholastic Art and Writing, Foyle Young Poets Commended, Honor Roll, local art awards, published in local newspaper a couple of times/anthology for teens
EC’s: Young Writers Workshop at UVA, New England Young Writer’s Conference, Polyphony H.S. First Reader (had to end recently because of school work), EmersonWrites (10-11), MassArt Saturday Studios (10-11) Creative Writing Club (9-11, President/Founder), Art Club (9-11), Environmental Club (9-10), Newspaper (9-10), E.V.E. (10-11)–basically social activism
Volunteering: local girl’s softball league, arts education, tutoring

Also did Track, XC, and Softball as an underclassmen, but I really hated the spirit on those teams and don’t think I’ll put it on my app

Background:
White (Euro/Middle Eastern)
Female
250,000k
Massachusetts
Suburban public school
Parents have doctoral degrees

Major: English, Physics

Don’t think I have any hooks unless being LGBT counts??? My mom is from Turkey??

Thank you so so so much.

2

Good gpa! Recommend taking the SAT again to get 1530+. Same for SAT 2 Lit. Try playing up your writing angle for schools like Brown—submit to YoungArts in your senior year, get pieces published in lit mags, etc. At this point, I think the most important things are keeping up your grades, building strong relationships w/ your teachers/counselor for recs, and writing spectacular essays. gl!

3

Thank you so much!! ill keep all of that in mind :slight_smile:

4

Also forgot to add that I’ve exhibited my art at state/arts university galleries–but idk if that changes anything.

5

You seem to be an aspiring young writer. Keep building your ECs and awards related to writing and reading. Do some creative writing and prepare a portfolio to send in when you apply. Having a theme throughout your application is good I think. Your stats and ECs are great so you are on the right track to being a very competitive applicant

6

Brown, UCB, and Columbia are reaches for anyone, but it sounds like you would be a great fit at Brown or UCB particularly (out of those 3). Your interest in writing and art should definitely be emphasized (and your experiences with those through extracurriculars/other activities would make for some great essay topics), as others have already mentioned. I agree that it’d be helpful to retake the SAT and take some more SAT II’s, but your GPA is looking good.
I know a girl with similar stats and less EC’s who got into Barnard recently, so I would say that you definitely have a good chance there.
Best of luck; keep up the good work!

7

@doorrealthe I’ve been looking into that, but it seems like a lot of schools only have visual arts/theater portfolios? Is that just because creative writing portfolios are rare? Anyway, thank you for the advice and I’ll definitely try and expand on my writing skills. :slight_smile:

@socalgal I love love love Brown, so it’s actually so great that you think I’d be a good fit. I like Columbia, but it’s a little too cutthroat for me. I’ll definitely keep your advice in mind. Thank you so much!

8

I think visual arts/theater/music portfolios are more common but you can always upload a separate portfolio of writing in the Common Application. I would send an email to every admissions office asking whether they will accept and look at a creative writing portfolio, if they don’t state that information on their website. Of course, don’t send in the writing unless you think it will significantly improve your application.