<p>As a current senior, I'm beginning to get the ball rolling on the application process, and I'm curious as to what people think my chances are for several schools. My stats: </p>
<p>White male from a middle class background from southern California
4.0 un-weighted GPA
4.61 GPA (10-12)
35 ACT (with 8 on the essay)
2230 SAT 710 CR 800 M 720 W (May not submit in favor of just submitting the ACT)
Sat IIs Math I 780 Math II 710 Physics 730 (may want to retake)
So-So Extracurricular (Clubs, volunteering, internship)</p>
<p>Colleges:
UCLA
UCB
UCSD
USC
University of Virginia
University of Michigan
Carnegie Mellon
University of Penn(Wharton)
Cornell
Yale
Stanford</p>
<p>Edit: Also legacies at yale, usc and stanford</p>
<p>Since your ECs are a little on the weak side:</p>
<p>UCLA: Match
UCB: Match
UCSD: Low match
USC: Low match (legacy)
UVA: Match
UMI: Low match
CMU: Match
UPenn: Reach
Cornell: Reach
Yale: High match (legacy)
Stanford: High match (legacy)</p>
<p>This is a list of schools, with the probable exception of UCSD, that aren’t safeties to anyone. Any safety, just in case?</p>
<p>I’d say you have a great chance at all of the UCs – most likely a Regents for UCLA, SD, and Berkeley. As for the Ivies and Stanford, it really depends the depth of your ECs and your essay. The essay is especially important for Stanford. With all that said, you definitely have a killer GPA/ACT score, so the odds are in your favor. However, I would think about retaking the physics and math II tests to higher than a 750 if you think it’s worth your time.</p>
<p>A side note about legacies: they matter more at Yale & USC than at Stanford.</p>
<p>Yup. ECs and Essays + interviews (!) will decide where you’ll be a year later. And do put an emphasis on the ESSAYs and INTERVIEWs! Especially at Yale, interview really does matter.</p>
<p>And don’t believe in your legacies, unless you have multiple legacies at one school. If it is just a family member having went there before, you must note that there are likely tens of thousands of others with that kind of legacy, and about thousands more with a whole family history of legacy -I’ve seen a guy who has like 7 legacy ties.</p>