Chance Me: CA resident, 3.71 UW, 4.18W, 4.21 UCGPA, 1540, first gen, for History

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics

  • US domestic (US permanent resident)
  • State/Location of residency: Southern California
  • Type of high school: Public(Ranked 9th best public high school in California)
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Male/Asian/Chinese
  • Other special factors: First-generation College student

Intended Major(s): History

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.71
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.18
  • Class Rank: None
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1540 SAT superscore

Coursework
9th grade: English 1B: A-, Math 2B: A+, PE Course 1B: A+, NextGen Bio B: A, Global Persp B: A, Art Studio B: A+ ----4.0GPA
10th grade(1st semester): H English 2A: A, French 1A: A, Enh Math IIIA: A-, H NextGenChem A: A, AP US History A: A-, AP ComSciPrin A: A-, Adv Vid Prod A: A ----4.5714GPA
10th grade(2nd semester): H English 2B: B+, French 1B: A, Enh Math IIIB: B-, H NextGenChem B: B+, AP US History B: B, AP ComSciPrin B: B, Adv Vid Prod B: A ----3.8571GPA (I know what you are thinking, I suddenly slacked off and also partly because my grandma broke her back and I had anxiety over her situation)
11th grade(1st semester): AP Eng Lang A: A, French 2A: A-. AP Calc BC A: B-, TS Football Q1: A, TS Football Q2: A+, AP Chemistry A: B-, AP Psychology A: A, Adv Vid Prod A: B+ ----4.1667GPA
11th grade(2nd semester): AP Eng Lang B: A, French 2B: A, AP Calc BC B: B-, TS Football Q3: A+, TS Football Q4: B+, AP Chemistry B: B, AP Psychology B: A-, Adv Vid Prod B: A- ----4.24GPA
12th grade: Taking AP Government, AP Economics, AP World History, AP English Literature, Business Math, French 3, Physics CP, and possibly Teacher Assistant for a history teacher

Awards:

  • National Merit Commended Scholar (11th grade)
  • AP Scholar with Distinction (11th grade)
  • PVSA Gold Award (12th grade)
  • 11th grade French Language Excellence Award
  • 9th, 10th & 11th grade Magna Cum Laude Award
  • Scholar Athlete Award from Football (11th grade)

Extracurriculars
1: Internship: Nixon Presidential Library Docent Intern

2: Smithsonian Digital Volunteer: Help transcribe documents from the civil war era

3: IMPACT Team Leader: sophomore year Mentor, Junior and senior year Team leader

4: UPenn Wharton Global Youth Program Team Leader(this coming fall)

5: National French Honor Society: President and founder(this coming fall)

6: SAT Tutoring Club: President and founder(this coming fall)

7: National English Honor Society: Member Junior year and Senior year

8: Professional Photographer: Have a 500px website and has over 25k impressions

9: School Production Network: 2 years from sophomore year to junior year: Junior year I was the events manager(leadership role)

10: California Scholarship Federation: Senior year

11: Senior Fitness Center Attendant: 11th grade summer to present

12: Peer tutoring Club: 11th grade and 12th grade, tutor history, math, and english

13: Students Against Homelessness Organization: 11th grade and 12th grade, go to Skid Row to distribute food packages once a month

14: Student Life Coordinator: 9th grade first semester before I left China

Essays/LORs/Other

*Essays:

  • UC Essay 1: 8/10
  • UC Essay 2: 9.5/10
  • UC Essay 3: 9/10
  • UC Essay 4: 8.5/10
  • CommonApp Personal Statement: 9/10

*LORs:

  • LOR from English Teacher(8/10, had a really great connection with my English teacher and she knows what I do outside of school as a docent intern and she really likes my writing style. She said if I don’t get a 5 on the lang exam the whole college board will be rigged.)

  • LOR from French Teacher(9.5/10, had a lot of conversations with her individually, about my great french skills. She said she had never seen such a talented student like me since she taught French. She regularly present me as a role model to my class. Gave me the World Language Excellence Award in the end.)

  • LOR from Counselor(5/10, use a model for the essays, not special.)

  • LOR from Nixon Presidential Library(8/10, convincing since I am one of the “star” interns there and a lot of docents know me. The current guild president and I have a very great relationship.)

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • No financial restraints, income level is very high so will not be eligible for financial aid. Would consider all schools regardless of price.

Schools
*EDI: Possibly Vanderbilt or Dartmouth, EDII: Possibly Wake Forest

*EA: UVA, Villanova, Santa Clara University, UMich, UNC Chapel Hill,

  • Safety: Santa Clara University, UC Davis, UW Seattle, Villanova, W&M (Need more safety recommendations though.)

  • Match: Wake Forest, UVA, Vassar, UMich, Boston College, Bates, UNC Chapel Hill, UCI, UCSB, UCSD

  • Reach: Vanderbilt, NYU, Northwestern, Emory, University of Notre Dame, Amherst, Dartmouth, Columbia Dual BA, Bowdoin, UCLA, UC Berkeley

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For additional ideas, look into Williams, Hamilton, Colgate, Haverford and Georgetown. For a somewhat less selective complement to this group, look into Kenyon. For a potentially very likely admit, consider Trinity (CT).

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Should Trinity be considered as one of my safeties?
Also I don’t really want to apply to georgetown now since the additional application takes a lot of time.
For the LACs, I don’t necessarily want to go except Amherst and Vassar. Are there any 4 year universities that you would recommend?
Thanks!

4

How do you define 9th best high school ?

So first gen is good.

It’s hard to tell your grades from how you wrote them. But I think I understand.

So let me first say this - you’ve way way way way over stated your odds - at least in my opinion.

It looks like you have a great profile but you’ve loaded up with only stellar schools.

I don’t know your UC GPA so I’ll leave that alone - but I don’t see Davis as a safety given some of your grades.

I’ll give you that you are likely for Santa Clara but not a safety. I’d say likely for UW too. Note I said likely - not safety. Villanova - you’re a match. They admit 25% - but your SAT would help as most go test optional. That said, in the CDS, they downplay the SAT - it’s simply considered which is of little impact.

William & Mary - OOS with these grades - it’s a reach, not a safety.

Every single match you list - not counting the UCs - is a reach. Vassar: As you’re male, you have better odds - the admit rate is higher - but it’s still a reach - or at least hard target. The others are reaches - except Bates if you went ED and only if you went ED - you’d be a target.

Your reach are reach.

You needn’t ED but if you want to ED, I’d say Bates is your best shot and Wake is need aware so since money is no object, that might be a good 1-2 punch - but only if they are top schools.

So you want more safeties - and wow, your list is eclectic. You should look at each school to see who has the time periods or areas of history you want to study.

Since you have UNC, UVA, and U MIchigan - how about Pitt which is a safety, UMN which is a likely and Syracuse which is a likely.

Since you have the mid size schools, you might try Brandeis (a target), U Miamii (target), American (likely if you demonstrate interest), or SMU likely. Elon and U Denver would be safeties. College of Charleston would be a safety as well.

For LACs - why just Amherst or Vassar. There are so many GREAT ones. Macalester and Kenyon as hard targets - a little above targets or low reaches. Trinity (San Antonio), Connecticut, and Rhodes targets and schools like Gettysburg, Dickinson, Wooster, Kalamazoo, Furman, Sewanee, Clark, St. Olaf and more would be safeties.

You run the risk of getting shut down with your current list. I’m sure you’d land SCU and UW - but not everyone with your stats gets in.

So you missed the most important part of your list - the safety - because you don’t have a single one - just likelies.

Good luck.

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Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Brown and Tulane are examples of those that offer notably strong history programs. Depending on the selectivity level you seek, you might find one or two additional choices from within this group.

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Trinity represents a highly likely admission prospect for you. Nonetheless, it offers a stronger history program than many of the schools on your current list.

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Congratulations on being a competitive applicant. What are your 3 UC GPA’s? Unweighted, Capped Weighted and Fully Weighted.

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

UC Davis is not a Safety but a Target. UCSD and UCSB should be in the High Target/ Low Match category. Plenty of UC GPA 4.0+ applicants were either waitlisted or denied at these schools and UC’s tend to be GPA focused.

Just so you are aware, the UC’s do not participate in the National Merit program, are test blind and you can the list the NM award in the Award/Activities section but do not give much consideration. Several NM scholars were denied at the UC’s this year.

The History major is usually housed in the College of Letters and Sciences for the UC”s which does not admit by major. The overall admit rates for the College of L&S if available are listed below.
UC Davis: 39.9% C&S admit rate with a UC Capped weighted GPA range of 4.06-4.30 for the campus.

UCSB: 27% C&S admit rate with an average fully weighted UC GPA of 4.40 for the college.

UCSD: Admits into the University first and then into the major but no specifics for other than a 23.7% campus admit rate and a 4.12-4.30 UC Capped weighted GPA admit range.

UCLA: 10% C&S admit rate with a 4.21-4.33 UC Capped weighted GPA range for the campus.

UCB: 12% C&S admit rate with a 4.17-4.31 UC Capped weighted GPA range for the campus.

Overall UC Campus admit rates and not major specific:
2022 Admit rates based on the Capped weighted UC GPA.

Campus 4.00+ 3.70-3.99 3.30-3.69 3.00-3.29
Berkeley 17% 3% 1% 0%
Davis 58% 20% 5% 2%
Irvine 35% 10% 3% 0%
Los Angeles 13% 2% 1% 0%
Merced 97% 97% 95% 85%
Riverside 95% 83% 42% 17%
San Diego 37% 8% 1% 0%
Santa Barbara 41% 8% 3% 0%
Santa Cruz 69% 45% 16% 4%

Best of luck and apply widely. If you are ELC (top 9% at your HS or Statewide) you will be guaranteed admission to the default campus of UC Merced if room is available which would be a Safety (if interested). This year, some ELC eligible students were also offered admission to UC Riverside but may not be a default campus each year.

8

Odd to me you seem concerned with Trinity - a fine school - after you write this. And it’s not on your initial list.

Trinity in San Antonio, also a fine school for you.

I’ll add - you actually have a better than normal - but not great - shot at Vassar - because you’re male. I made the comment above but accidentally left off the school I was speaking about.

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I’m not sure Santa Clara is a safety unless you are apply ED.

(And for reference, my D was accepted at UC Berkeley, but waitlisted at Santa Clara to which she applied RD…I think that’s one of the schools where ED vs RD has very different acceptance rates.)

I also would not consider Davis a safety - probably more a target/match?

10

A few questions:

  • What have your AP scores been like?
  • As someone who was so interested in history, why was no history class taken in your junior year of high school? For someone applying as a history major, the last history grades they will have to look at are an A- and a B in AP US history from 10th grade.
  • Even if you don’t have an exact rank, take a guess as to where you are. Top 5%? 10%? 25%? 50%? At some high schools your grades might put you in the top 50%, whereas at other schools with less grade inflation, it might be top 10%. That will end up making a difference to your chances at whichever universities you apply to, as they want to see how you compare to your peer cohort.
  • Do you have any interest in playing football in college? As a walk-on or have any coaches expressed any interest?

Even without having the answers to those questions, I agree with @tsbna44 that I don’t think you have any safeties. William & Mary and Villanova in particular seem the most miscategorized…I’d guess your shot at acceptance is less than 30% at either one of them.

What is it that you’re hoping for out of your college experience? I am having difficulty getting a good sense from your list of colleges. There are huge state schools and small liberal arts colleges, very urban schools and very rural schools, schools with heavy Greek life and schools with no Greek life, schools where intercollegiate athletics are really important and schools where it’s pretty much a non-issue. Would you really feel comfortable and happy at all of these schools? What would be your personal preference?

One school that I think would be a safety that you might want to consider is Gettysburg (about 2400 undergrads). ETA: Thinking about your note about not preferring liberal arts colleges (despite having several on your list), American University (about 8500 undergrads) in D.C. could be a safety if you show them lots of demonstrated interest.

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What do you want to do with your degree after you graduate? Are you thinking pre-law?

Outside of academics, what are you looking for in a college? Big vs small school, urban vs suburban, coastal vs inland, etc. Does school spirit or Greek life matter?

Which CSU is considered to be in your local service area?

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I think if you like Vanderbilt, and would be happy going there, that seems like a good option for ED1. In my children’s school, which is also highly considered in a big state, your resume to me sounds like it would have a decent chance for Vanderbilt ED1. If you want a safer selection and would be happy with Wake Forest, I believe they now accept ED1 submissions really early and let students know before Nov.1st - so if doesn’t work out, they can apply ED1 elsewhere - that happened to students in my kids’ school. I agree that you need some additional safety schools, as I know some very high-stat kids who didn’t get in some of the schools you listed as safety.

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What can you do to make Essay 1 and 4 stronger? I’ve linked to several videos below. Watch them. They have lots of valuable pointers.

Also work on your Activities & Awards section. Make sure you maximize the characters to tell the reader more about what you did, why you did it and what you got out of the activity.

UCSB Counselor You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5uROw3oZoY&list=PL-yx76EbPhMcKzOwBgiiL5EoZwYjzDOeS&index=12

UCSD You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qnlz5fBr9U

Berkeley: https://youtu.be/IIdJCaBSNhk?t=415
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP7UuCC6Dxk

UC Davis: https://youtu.be/16C4tyZQAyQ?t=93
UC Davis Personal Insight Question Workshop
Mistakes to Avoid on UC Application

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I only took the APUSH test in 10th grade and I got a 5, currently waiting on psych, calc bc, lang, and chem. I didn’t take junior year history class since my schedule won’t fit. My rank is approximately top 11-12% at our school, which is ranked the 9th most competitive public school in California. I also do not have interest playing football in college. I just had a concussion playing last year and my physician warned me to stop playing.

For college experience, I honestly do not care that much, whether it is school culture or location. I care mostly about the school’s reputation and academics, since this will be a huge part of my consideration.

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I will do business grad school.
I am also not thinking much about things outside of academics. The only thing I am looking for is reputation. Also I won’t consider any schools in texas.
I will not apply to csu, sorry. Those are below me and my family’s standard.

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Hi! Can you elaborte more on Wake Forest’s ED1 early submission you said? I would really be thrilled to attend wake and I would like to know more about that.

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Not sure where you are finding the ranking and whether it is “best” or “most competitive.” Regardless, the rank of your HS is not going to get you into any college.

You will find more business at the CSUs than the UCs. You don’t need to apply to a CSU, but you need a safety. The only UCs with business schools are Berkeley, Irvine and Riverside. Riverside might be a good safety for you.

18

How are you defining 9th best high school ? Everyone goes to a top high school. I did - in San Diego County .

So they said.

It’s very overstated. And I’m more concerned with you……

If they are that top, the GCs should be able to see where like students have gotten into.

19

I would read Wake Forest’s website for more information, but my understanding, having visited the school, and listened to their presentation is that ED1 is on a rolling basis, and you can apply as early as August and receive a reply by the end of September, and so on. My understanding is that applying early doesn’t give you an edge in admissions (the standards aren’t different) but it does give you the chance to know by the end of September or October, and if you aren’t admitted, ED1 somewhere else. Of course, like all ED-1, you have to consider the commitment of ED1 and if you are prepared to make it. In my kids’ school, students ED1 there early actually didn’t get in, but ED1’d by Nov 1st elsewhere and were accepted to those schools.