AP Classes (thus far, for I am a junior): 4 (will have 9 completed by end of senior year)
*scores for the ones this year come in July
ECs (oh god they are weak):
-Football(3 years so far on varsity; will end up with 4)
-Lacrosse(2 years)
-JSA(1 year, will be two)
-DECA(1 year)
-Latin Club(2 years)
Statistics:
Home State: Delaware
School: midsize public (1800)
Ethnicity: white
-great great grandfather went to UPenn if that counts as legacy haha
-Family of 4 with no income whatsoever (assets are more than typical though)
Your grades and testing are 100% competitive for all those schools; however, as you noted, your extra-curriculars are lacking. This will affect you greatly for Stanford, UPenn, and MIT because they look for leadership positions as well as demonstrated commitments and perhaps even community service. While not completely impossible, it is improbable - that being said, you might still want to apply just so you do not regret it later down the line. Who knows, you might actually get in. For Carnegie Mellon and Harvey Mudd, I think you are a very competitive applicant, and although it is not guaranteed, you have a good realistic chance.
1.Computer Science
2. Very good essay writer
3. The recommendation from my social studies teacher will be glowing 9.5/10. Math teacher recommendation will be 8/10.
You most definitely get accepted to at least 2-3 of those colleges you have listed. It is never too late to improve your transcript. Your EC’s seem like you actually wanted to do them and it is not a laundry list; universities prefer that than for you going on about 52402 clubs you’re in that are irrelevant to one another.
On top of that I think you’ll have a problem getting in, not because of your EC’s or stats but the fact you don’t show you have a passion in something? ( I am not trying to assume) But if you do write a compelling essay about your dreams/passions that leaves a poignant note that resonates throughout the admission reader you most definitely will get in. Also every year schools look for something different; maybe this year you have what they are looking for.
And don’t forget if you don’t get into any of those schools; it is their loss you’ll excel in any school you’ll go to…with those stats your work ethic seems wonderful
CMU chances are NOT 45% the acceptance rate for SCS was 4.7% and even less for CS in SCS. Harvey Mudd has an extremely self selective pool in which you might struggle to be their first choice due to your lack of leadership. Upenn loves leaders and Cornell will come down to the essay if you can visit then find nuances of why you want to go there.
CMU-10%
Harvey Mudd-15%
Upenn-12%
Cornell-20%(with good essay)
Mit-9%
Stanford-7%
It’s clear you are very smart. But obviously, you have to work on extracurriculars. Win some awards, and try and get leadership positions. Its also not good if you have clubs that you’ve only been part of for 1-2 years. The sports are great. Its something I, quite frankly, don’t see many people on CC having. You did 2 of them, both almost for 4 years.
Cornell-Reach
Stanford-Huge Reach
UPenn-Reach
MIT-Reach
Harvey Mudd-Match
Carnegie Mellon-Huge reach if CS, if not, high match
My number for CMU was computed before I noticed you were going for CompSci - as a couple of people have pointed out here, chances are MUCH lower for that major at CMU. I think you are < 10% there, most likely.
Not impoverished; parents just can’t find employment. And quick question: is it the pack of ECs that makes these schools a reach? Are my test scores too low as well?
Not sure why people keep saying Harvey Mudd is a match, as poster #7 stated have a self selecting pool of applicants on top of a <20% acceptance rate. That said, you are competitive there, though it is at least a low reach.
^^^ The fact that all those are very selective schools. No matter how qualified you are, there are thousands of other highly qualified applicants as well. The schools can’t take them all. When a school has an acceptance rate of <20%, that means that over 80% of applicants are rejected. And that 80% is not made up solely of people with 2.5 GPAs and 1500 SATs. You are a competitive applicant for the schools you’ve listed. You’ve got a chance, but it simply isn’t high because so many competitive applicants are out there.
