Chance Me For these Competitive Schools

Current Junior applying to these colleges next year

Safe Schools Applying To:
-Chapel Hill
-Wake Forest

  • NYU

Reach (Not sure if dream schools, counselor said they are reach):
-Duke
-John Hopkins
-UVA

Dream Schools:
-MIT
-Stanford
-Columbia (might apply ED)
-UChicago
-Cornell

Test Scores:
ACT: 35
SAT: 1490 (Probably won’t send unless can raise to 1550)

GPA: UW:4.0 W: 4.8

Extracurriculars:
Academic
-Science Olympiad: President
-DECA
-Model UN
-Battle of the Books
-Governor’s School

Would’ve done more,but my school has very few clubs!

Volunteering:
-500+ hours of volunteering
-Volunteered at local hospital over summer
-Mission Trip to Mexico end of 10th grade and again this year
-Been volunteering at library every week for 3 years
-Volunteered at local children museum over summer
-Part of service club at school

Hooks: First time college student, Hispanic interested in STEM

Working at Harris Teeter since last summer

Any feedback on what I could do better to get into my dream schools would be greatly appreciated!

Chapel Hill isn’t a safety unless in state

EC’s are kind of bland for reach + dream schools. Do something important this summer like research, etc. However, URM status will help a lot for the these schools. If you show clear demonstrated interest in what makes each school special to you and how you’d be an asset to the community in your essays you’ll get into one (I’d bet on this).

I agree with what Jsteez said in that you should probably do some summer research if financially feasible this summer. I was accepted into some of the schools on your list (Stanford and MIT) as well as Harvard, (and some random KY schools) and I absolutely demolished the application essays; you’ve got to pour your heart and soul into them, especially at UChicago, which loves creative essays from what I understand.

If you have any other characteristics or abilities that makes it harder for you to attend college/exist (such as being LGBTQ, low-income, etc.), it’d be good to somehow highlight these on your applications.

Best of luck on your college applications!

(If you’re wondering about how I got into Stanford, here are my stats:
36 ACT, 1600 SAT, valedictorian of class (4.0UW) 5’s on AP Bio, Chem, Physics 1, Human Geography, Government, Language, Literature, Music Theory, World History, European History, Spanish and French (I am multilingual), Stats, Calc BC.
Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program alumnus
Vice president of class, secretary of Community Service Club, hugely involved in band and choir, chamber choir, fellowship of christian athletes, SADD, volunteer every Christmas at a music thing, All-State Band,

Here’s the kicker: I’m just a white straight guy interested in the arts!)

And I took some SAT 2’s as well: Literature (800), Mathematics 2 (800 I think), Biology (E, 800), and Spanish and French with listening (800 on Spanish and 780? on French)