Chance Me for these colleges...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi guys,
I wondering if you could provide any input or feedback on my chances of getting into the following colleges based on my information. I plan on pursuing business or law.

Colleges
New York University
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Penn State
Indiana University
University of California at Los Angeles
University of Southern California
University of California at Berkeley
Boston College
University of Virginia
University of North Carolina
Cornell
Yale
Columbia
University of Pennsylvania
(I know those last few are a long shot)

My information:
Weighted GPA: 4.78
Unweighted GPA: 3.93
ACT: 34
SAT: 2200
Rank: Top 5%

AP Classes:
AP Human Geography
AP Art History
AP Statistics
AP Calculus AB
AP Calculus BC
AP Environmental Science
AP Government and Politics
AP Psychology
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microeconomics
AP English 3
AP English 4
(mostly 5s, some 4s)

Activities
8 years of cultural dance (graduated)
4 year of orchestra
4 years of JV tennis
4 years of JV badminton
4 years of BPA (business)
4 years of Youth and Government (law)
4 years of JSA (debate)
3 years of Science Olympiad
3 years of Model UN
3 years of UNICEF
3 years of Gold Level State Science Fair
160 hours of community service
Fluent in 4 languages

If any other information would help, ask, and I would be happy to provide it. Thank you all so much.

2

I think you have a fairly good chance of making it into UCLA, USC, Boston, and Berkeley. Those last few colleges are very unlikely, however. Improving that SAT score would definitely help, as well as including information about your individual awards/achievements, just the amount of time spend in a club is not very significant unless you have won awards or have been an officer. Good luck!! Everything else looks good.

3

Your ECs and grades are very good, especially considering your course load. I wouldn’t worry about test scores too much, but they could be higher. I dunno much about NYU, but I feel you have a great to pretty good shot at all except the last four schools. You have a decent shot at Cornell, but Yale Penn (especially Wharton) and Columbia are very very hard for anyone to get in.
Good luck!

4

I think you have a high chance, but the last four are reaches for anyone.

5

For umich, you have a great chance, especially if you are IS. Whether or not you will get prefer admitted into Ross is hard to say, but that decision is separate from whether you get admitted into LSA, engineering, etc. for your freshman year. If you do not get prefer admitted into Ross, you will be able to try again after freshman year of college.

For the others, I think you are mostly fine. However, for your last 4, admissions is very unpredictable and arbitrary.You have great stats and great ECs, but pretty much everybody that applies also do, and plenty of them get rejected. Those would be reach schools for anybody, even excellent students like you.

6

Hi ! You have not mentioned SAT sub test scores.
Have you taken all the APs you have mentioned or only the two mentioned last?
Summer jobs/interships?
U mich, UCs etc good match.
Have you received interview calls from colleges which offer interviews?
How your essays weave in your subject of study will determine a lot !
Best of luck !

7

Your test scores are pretty great for the UC’s and first few schools and as everyone has already said for IVY leagues it is foolish to predict something. Also, please elaborate on your EC they look pretty bland . I mean they are great but what makes you stand out for the IVY leagues? Any awards or special achievements?

8

New York University: Match
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor: If in state, match, If OOS, reach
Penn State: Match?
Indiana University:match
University of California at Los Angeles: high match
University of Southern California: low reach-high match
University of California at Berkeley: high match.
Boston College: match
Ivy leagues: Reach. The reason is obvious; they are reaches for almost all applicants. Not only that, your EC involvements are not consistent. What do you like? Are you trying to be good at everything??\

Also, do you need FA? NYU is known for lousy aid, and the state schools at which you will be OOS will give little to no aid.

9

Youre an average applicant for ivy leagues so most likely it will boil down to your essays, letters of rec, etc.
For ucla and ucb, you have a gokd chance, and it also depends on your state, income, and if you wrote about something they like. Most of those schools are unpredictable and misleading, but your stats are almost maxed out. Good luck!!

10

What’s in-state for you? Are you expecting merit aid because you have a high EFC, or good financial aid because you have a low EFC?

11

None of these colleges are in state for me. I will probably need some financial aid.

12

Then, cross out Penn State, Indiana, and the UCs, since they don’t offer financial aid - if they admit you from OOS, they expect your parents to pay full costs.
Indiana may have some scholarships as you’d likely be a Kelley Direct Admit, and if you applied to Schreyer and did a great job with your essays you may get $4,500 if you get in, but that’s it. The UCs will be 58K, no financial aid whatsoever.
Umichigan offers financial aid to lower-income students - do your parents make less than about 75K a year? Otherwise, no financial aid to be expected.
Do you know your budget - have you run NPCs and discussed results with your parents? If not, do so on several colleges of interest (I’d suggest NYU, USC, UCLA, PSU, and BC), show them the results, see what they say, adjust your list. Once you know, you may need to apply ASAP to a few more colleges (Pitt and Temple would have some merit aid for you, if the deadlines haven’t passed. You’d certainly be eligible for UMN-Twin City’s National award and Carlson, their school of business, is no joke.)

Do you have external certification (SAT test, Alliance Française, CEF results…) for your languages? This would matter.

New York University => you have a good shot. However, they’re very stingy with financial aid, so it depends how much you’d need.
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor => reach for everyone but you have a fair shot
University of Southern California => Low reach due to selectivity but you have a fair shot.
Boston College => good match.
University of Virginia => fair shot. no merit aid. Possible financial aid.
University of North Carolina => are you a legacy? if not, you have a shot, but due to the OOS cap you’ll be considered after the athltes and the legacies, so your odds are pretty low. Among the last group remaining in the OOS group, your odds are high, but… that’s not saying much.

Cornell
Yale
Columbia
University of Pennsylvania
==> those are obviously reach for everyone. You have a shot but at this level of sleectivity, it’s unpredictable.

Where else have you applied that you know you’ll get in for sure and your parents will pay for?

13

When you say financial aid, do you also mean student loans? @MYOS1634

14

Federal loans are available to all students, so you’d be eligible for Stafford federal loans ($5,500 for your freshman year). So, strictly speaking, with a price tag at 46K for Penn State up to 58K for UCs, it’s just a dent. For Penn State, Stafford + Schreyer = $10,000… you still have to come up with 36K out of pocket. And it’s even worse for the UCs.

15

I guess I don’t need financial aid then. Some people refer to loans as financial aid.

16

Did you already apply to these schools?

$5500 max in individual loans to you. That’s not much.

That amount will be in the financial aid package you will receive, if you receive anything based on your EFC.
Many of those listed schools run from $50K to $60K minimum per year. USC and NYU are about $72K per year. USC may give you some private scholarships, but your stats may not be the highest for the best amounts. NYU won’t give much if anything.

The UCs are $55k per year. $5500 won’t put a dent in that amount.

17

What’s your parents’ budget then? It’s important for many universities on your list (ie., some are need-aware and will favor a full pay applicant).
(Note that Loans are limited to $5,500 for your first year. You CANNOT borrow tuition let alone the full cost of attendance.)

18

i haven’t applied and am just doing research at this time. My parents’ budget is around 50-60k per year. I’m not in dire need of loans, but they’d be helpful, obviously.

19

Ok then things are good for you. With that, you can apply to most universities in the US. You’re very lucky that your parents’ income allows you to pretty much choose :). You shouldn’t need loans.
So you’re a junior? You should make that clear in your chance post.

20

Your scores are very good, so I would also consider applying for merit scholarships.

What do you plan on studying?