Type of high school (Public, considered pretty good):
Gender/Race/Ethnicity (Male, white):
**Intended Major(s)**interested in Philosophy, ethics/policy of science, economics.
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 4.14 out of 4.3
Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): school doesn’t weigh GPA
Class Rank: School doesn’t rank, top 10%.
ACT/SAT Scores: 1560 on SAT was taken once during 10th grade. PSAT composite 223, which will qualify for national merit.
Coursework
8/8 honors classes offered in district, one A-, rest A and A+.
Will have 8 APs (not possible to take more than 8-9 in the district). Awards
debates in national circuits, reached quarter finalists in prestigious tournaments. Ranked top 10 in NYS.
NSDA Academic All American
NYSSMA Area All State Extracurriculars Debate Club Co-President
Debates almost every weekend Sep-Feb in National circuits.
Volunteer - Mentors younger student debaters
Volunteer - teaching Asst in an after school program during 9 and 10 grade
Regional Youth Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra, a few concerts per year
Writes for school newspaper /newspaper staff, running for editor position in the fall
Elected by school admin for several literacy and leadership workshops
Internship - in policy (local NY politician) (full year)
Internship/research - philosophy journal (spring and summer)
Paid work: babysitting, tutoring, considering summer job in a local store or camp counselor
Essays/LORs/Other
*Anticipate great letter from a humanities teacher and guidance counselor, good letter from STEM subjects (Don’t know him well). Essays will be strong.
Cost Constraints / Budget
Schools (Still building lists and trying to visit)
So far liked Amherst, Northwestern, Brown and Duke. Very different schools, each had different elements that were appealing. Not sure which one to apply ED and trying to identify targets and safeties.
A U of Rochester may be a good target. A Grinnell for an LAC - maybe a low reach. They both have open curriculums like Brown.
A Pitt would be a very good school for your interests, a safety, and because it’s rolling admission, you can get an early acceptance and then go for all your reaches.
btw - before you ED, make sure you are able to commit - and willing to pay. ED is not for everyone - and is not a requirement.
This might be a term you’re already familiar with, but there’s an interesting academic area that covers the intersection of some of your interests, called Science and Technology Studies (STS). It might be a bit more sociology-focused than you’re looking for, but could help you as you look around for more schools. It deals with questions like “what are the impacts of different algorithms on behavior, and what responsibility do companies have when developing/releasing them?”, “what pros and cons are there in the allowing (or disallowing) of machine learning / LLM technologies in eduction?”, etc. It’s flexible enough that it covers philosophy, ethics, policy, and economics, but does so within the fairly practical domain of technology and science, which sounds like it could be interesting to you. (If that’s appealing, great! If not, no worries!)
I’m not able to actually evaluate chances, so can’t help you with your question, but your background and interests look fascinating, and I look forward to seeing how this journey unfolds for you.
My son liked the schools you like (except Duke). You should choose one and apply ED as it helps in all of these especially from a competitive area like yours. He got into Northwestern ED but His targets or slightly lower reaches were CU Boulder, UWash Seattle, Wesleyan, Vassar. UPitt and Uof Rochester are other ideas.
Other reach schools similar to those you list are Georgetown and Tufts. Slightly easier are Boston College and Boston University and George Washington. Hamilton and Colgate also but were too remote and preppy for my son
For the in-depth study of philosophy, look into Hamilton. As an indication of the strength and innovative qualities of its department, note that it appears to be one of only two colleges in the nation to offer a general summer program in philosophy: Undergraduate Workshops in Philosophy - The American Philosophical Association.
Nonetheless, it seems that you may want to keep the Hamilton program in mind wherever you attend college, in that it is open to students from other institutions.