I currently a Junior at a private school in California and am trying to get into an Ivy Callibur school.
Academics:
GPA: 4.6
Test Scores: Probably won’t submit but if I do it’ll be 33+
Honor Roll
ECs:
Student Body President of 500+ students
served on student council for all 4 years of high school
Debate
4 years
captain
Placed 2nd at the National Speech and Debate Association’s national (I guess technically international) public forum tournament, an event with 5,000+ competitors
2nd at 2019 California State
Ranked 3rd nationally throughout Junior Year
SoCal Outreach Director for Civic Engagement Nonprofit
lead team of 20+
Speech and Debate Tutoring
created company and tutored 10+ students for 300+ hours
multiple students began placing 1st
Venezuela Non-Profit
started non-profit after debating about Venezuela Criss
may or may not submit depending on how successful, it just got IRS non-profit status and I don’t want to commodity it for college
Claremont McKenna Debate Instructor
planned and taught dozens of lectures to 100+ middle school students
Haiti Club President
manage school club that is tied to non-profit that has raised $100k+ for Haitian schools
LA City Council Internship
interned under councilmember and liaison of homelessness - kept track of LA homeless encampments and did policy research to decrease homelessness in LA
Congressional Fellowship program
phone banking for National Congress Campaign
Political TikTok
may or may not submit
-30k followers and 1.5 million likes making educational political content
Maybe. That list of EC’s is quite impressive. If you are an under-represented minority, I think you could definitely get into an Ivy.
What percentile of your class are you in?
You need to have every word of every part of your application proof-read, by a human being with excellent command of written English. Spell-checking program will NOT be enough. I don’t know how schools will view test optional applications next year, since it has been very possible to take an SAT or ACT, throughout the country, on the usual spring of junior year/fall of senior year schedule, for next year’s applicant pool. So it might be a good idea to put the work into prepping for the SAT or ACT and trying for a high score.
Ivy League and equivalent schools (Stanford, MIT, …) are reaches or high reaches.
You should definitely find a couple of solid safeties that you know you will get into, you know you can afford, that have good programs in your likely major(s), and that you would be happy to attend. You also need to in general pay attention to your budget.
If you are going to apply to Ivy-level universities, then take some time to figure out which ones are a better fit for you. They are not all the same.
I felt confused by all the non-profits and company created etc. I would be careful of the appearance of padding your resume, not that you are. It seems that you make a lot of contributions to school and community. Apply, for sure, without any certainty of getting in- just like everyone else. Also look at the “little Ivies” (google this) and Colleges that Change Lives website. UC’s are a great option too. Finances are important to consider.
I think you have a great shot, although all the Ivies are reaches. If you can afford the cost of attendance, apply early decision/REA for your most fave Ivy.
Your activities are great but make sure they show up in a way that showcases your strengths, who you are, and why you’re a fit for the college and vice versa.
To be candid, your weighted is great, but unweighted may put you in the borderline basket. I only say that because I’ve seen students and CVs that are just as impressive if not more impressive than yours with higher stats but still get WL or rejected. 3.8 flat may be low but if you have a strong ACT, it could put the AO mind at ease. My son’s ECs were well rounded and strong but def not at national recognition level as some of your activities. I think his essays and LORs, as well as his 36 ACT helped him to get over the AO objections. His W GPA was excellent but his UW was almost 3.9, but not quite. I always thought that was his Achilles heel. When I looked at Ivies and schools like UCLA and the stat the kids post. It always seems like a 3.9 UW is the magic cut off. Kids who have a 3.85-3.89 seem to have to work much harder to convince AOs—in forms of test scores, rigor, ECs, LORs, as well as applying ED, which shows them that they’d help the yield curve.
With places opening soon for testing, see if you can get a couple rounds of ACT tests in to lock in a solid score. Don’t leave anything on the table if you get a chance to take the exam. Don’t give the AOs reasons to question your unweighted GPA. Good luck!
Beware of submitting a huge list of activities with incredible accomplishments. At some point schools see it as unrealistic. Focus on a few. Leave off the fluff if any are. You have done so many great things but how can it be possible is what I’m saying ? Not denying your accomplishments but they could be looked at in the it can’t be real context.
Any Ivy or similar school is a reach for anyone so you need back ups and that doesn’t mean the Tufts of the world but Rochester, Brandeis, William and Mary, Case Western (targets)…schools at that level. And safeties such as Occidental, a UCR or UCSC, ASU Honors, Florida etc
