Chance me for Ivies and T20s

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

What do you think my chances are at these schools. especially HYPSM and UChicago? I’m also wondering about my chances for merit from UChicago, CMC, Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice. More specific estimates are preferred! (I have safeties too, so don’t worry about that haha.)

UChicago, Tulane, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Claremont McKenna, Smith, Columbia, UC Berkeley, Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice, Occidental, Boston University, USC

Gender: Female
State: Decently competitive
Major: Economics & Math
School Type: Large semi-competitive public, ~800 in grade
Race/ethnicity: White
Income bracket: upper middle class

SAT I (breakdown): 1530 (might retake)
SAT II: biology e: 770 math II: 760 (might not send)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.72
Rank: No official rank, tied for top GPA though
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s: APUSH, Lang, Macroecon, Microecon, Calc BC, 4: French
Senior Year Course Load: AP Comp Sci, AP Lit, AP Euro, AP Bio, AP Gov, Modern Middle Eastern History A, History of Film, Philosophy A
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Rensselaer Medal Award: Awarded by RPI to recognize the country’s best STEM students, only one student from each participating high school receives it (which is cool cause there’s 800 other kids in my grade)

Semi-finalist in national student essay contest, won some $$

2nd place in local essay contest, essay published in literary journal

Some school-wide awards

National French Honor Society

Will qualify for National Merit

Extracurriculars:

Substantial organizing role within the student branch of the Biden campaign, can’t name specifics for privacy reasons but I organized events and grew chapters across my entire city. (15 hrs a week for 5 months)

Local chapter of Students for Joe Biden (Founder): Event planning, recruitment, growing the chapter, etc. 11-12 (5 hrs a week for 7 months)

Joe Biden Campaign (Fellow): Basically an unpaid internship, I organized events, recruited support, and coordinated with other organizers at the national level. 11-12 (10 hrs a week for 6 months)

Community Initiative (Co-Founder): I helped found a program which connects high school students as pen pals to local senior citizens who are currently isolated in retirement homes. 65 (and counting) students are currently participating in the program (11-12 4 hrs a week for 6 months)

-Junior States of America (Co-president): Political discussion club with regional conventions. 11-12 (1 hr weekly)

-Math Team (Competitor): I have medalled at the local and regional level, and have qualified for the state competition twice. 9-12 (1 hr weekly)

-Science Olympiad (Treasurer): I compete at the varsity level. I have received twelve medals, qualified for state, and was voted MVP of the team. 9-12 (2 hr weekly)

-Scholastic Bowl (Head of Social Media): I compete at the varsity level. 11-12 (2 hrs weekly)

-Junior Economic Club of “My City” (Member): This is a selective regional organization which gives students access to lectures and discussions with leading entrepreneurs and economic scholars. (11-12, averages 4 hrs monthly)

-Local University (Visiting Student): On top of my high school course load, I am currently taking a 200-level in Geopolitics and a 300-level in Finance. (11)

TV Show Roleplay Game (Volunteer and Marketing Officer): I assist in supervising and publicizing a roleplay game based on a reality TV show. Drawing applicants from across the Chicago area, this event is an all-day affair with a cash prize for the winner. Two events have been successfully carried out, with another planned for this summer. 11-12

Yearbook (Writer): I was the school yearbook’s Clubs and Activities Writer. (10)

Elizabeth Warren Campaign (Volunteer) : I phonebanked and canvassed to drum up support for Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign. (11)

Summer Activities:
-Great Jewish Books Program: Highly selective academic program studying Jewish literature at Hampshire College. 11
-Appalachian backpacking + leadership trip 10
-Study abroad in France 10

2

A prospective math/econ major at HYPSM or UChicago is expected to have pretty good math chops, with strong math EC’s. Not sending a Math II score (or even a 760) would put you at a disadvantage compared to other applicants applying as “math/econ” kids.

Your EC’s really align better with liberal arts/pol sci/philosophy than they do with math/econ.

If, as it seems likely, lots of kids gap/year at HYPSM this year , spots are likely to be very tight for HS class of '21 kids with more competitive than usual admissions at those schools…

Think you’d have a good shot at Barnard, particularly with an early application.

3

I’m hoping to retake Math II, since I’ve gotten 800 on multiple practice tests. Also my SAT breakdown is R+W: 730 and M: 800. Also considering only applying as an Econ major, and eventually adding math once on campus.

4

@tdy123 It may be the case that SAT subject tests are becoming more obsolete and less considered at top universities, as MIT recently decided to stop considering them. At least, I hope that others will follow suit.

5

If I remember correctly from last year, you were looking for merit funding. Has your family’s financial situation changed since then?

In any case, you have a very strong profile, and are competitive for any college out there, though your SAT II scores are a bit low.

In any case, regarding chances:

UChicago, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice, and Claremont McKenna are high reaches (essentially lottery tickets)

All have acceptance rates of under 10% (Harvard, Yale, and Stanford are under 5%). With your profile, they may be closer to 10%-15%, but not higher.

Tulane, USC, and UC Berkeley are reaches for anybody, but you have a more reasonable chance of being accepted to these.

Smith, Occidental, and Boston University are high matches or low reaches, depending on what you high school’s Naviance tells you.

If you applied to all of these, there is a high likelihood that you’d be rejected from all of your high reaches, and there are even chances that you’d be rejected from all of your reaches. You could also possibly be rejected from all of the last three, especially if you didn’t demonstrate interest.

Remember that a 15% acceptance rate means that there is an 85% chance of rejection.

Good luck!

6

You have a very strong profile. I was admitted to Vandy & Rice '24. With strong essays that back up your profile, you will have a good chance at these schools.

7

Your ECP’s are interesting and different the TV show RolePlay Game particularly to stand out to these top colleges push these things
When writing the “why this college section of your app” perhaps consider the political organizations at that desired school and how you feel you could make a difference in those organizations. It was your political activities and the community service which stood out to me the most. Science Olympiad and math team may blend in with the other applicants. So whilst excellent to include I would push the others.
Honestly a very impressive list. It was my impression that top schools value subject tests scoring above 750 so you probs have nothing to lose by submitting them.