Chance me for Harvard, Amherst, Bowdoin, Brown

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys I know this is a stretch, but I’m curious to see if there’s a point in applying to Harvard and Brown! Also, if you could, chance me for Amherst and Bowdoin as well!
Race- white
Dual citizenship with Italy, US citizen/resident
GPA- currently 4.3 Weighted, not weighted 3.8
ACT- 35
Class rank- probably top 10%
Italian Subject SAT- 770
APs- probably 9

Course load (just honors/AP): I’m taking almost the most rigorous courses possible

AP: World History, Psych, Lang. & Comp, Bio, US Hist, Euro, Environmental, Lit, and French
Honors: Chem, French (4 yrs), US History, Calc

Honors/Awards:
National French Exam- Silver Award: won Sophomore year 2015, one of 2 people to win it
High Honor role- all of HS
AP Scholar
National Merit Commended student, possibly Semifinalist as well
Maybe more but im just a Junior!

Sports: JV Tennis 2 years, Varsity Tennis 2 years (Captain next year), JV Golf 1 year

Leadership: started the Animal Rights club (president of it too for 2 years), got a grant of $4,000 am leading a project on Healthy Eating for it in my school district

Volunteer: my grant project also gives me hours (at least 40, Junior year), Pony Power Therapies (Soph year 25 hrs), I help kids with disabilities (Soph-Senior, 20 hrs)

Recommendation Letters: one 10/10, the others im guessing 8-9/10

Additional Info:
I’m bilingual (Italian and English) and will do a gap year to be a foreign exchange student in Italy as a 5th year of HS.
I am interested in majoring in Psych, Italian Studies, or History

THANKS SO MUCH GUYS!!

2

First impressions: 85 hrs over two years? thats really nothing…, UW=3.8? not quite good enough
It will be quite a reach to get into those schools, your GPA isn’t perfect and your ECs will not stand out.

3

UW=3.8? not quite good enough

With regard to the 3,8 - it all depends on the overall reputation/rigor of your hs as perceived by the colleges.
If you attend a highly regarded, top hs, the 3.8 is certainly impressive and in range for those schools

4

Yes I forgot to mention I attend one of the top high schools in the country, so it is harder to get all As I think. Plus, I am taking a ton of APs and Honors which bring down my unweighted GPA. Why are u guys so focused on my UW? Isn’t the W the GPA that counts?

5

Also can u please specify which schools you are chancing me for in your comments? I know each school has different admissions so it’s important for me to understand what your Opinion is on. Thanks!

6

@ricka8 People focus more on UW b/c it is more of a standard to compare to as high schools all weight diffrently. For instance some schools will bump an AP up .5, while other may bump it up a full point.
But colleges have their own way of calculating gpa and assessing gpa and part of that is how your gpa compares to peers at you own school vs hpw it compares to someone at another school. A 3.8 st one high school can be a very different thing vs a 3.8 at another high school. Comes down to rigor of you classes and reputation of your school

7

You have a chance everywhere, but the sheer number of incredible applicants just as good as you from around the world applying to these same few schools for the same few spots means that it still will take luck.

Of the four schools you mentioned, Harvard will be the lowest chance, Amherst and Brown will be slightly easier but still daunting, and Bowdoin will be the easiest, but also still daunting. Go for it, but broaden your choices to other schools where the crush of fantastic applicants is a little less deep.

8

One change: my UW is 3.87, not 3.8

9

Your stats don’t exactly stand out. Not saying they’re bad but there are many others with scores just like yours; some even better. Your chances are slim but not impossible. Be sure to have a stellar essay.