Chance me for these schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Friends, Romans, and patrons of CC:

I am submitting applications to 9 schools in mid-December. Based on your sphere of knowledge, observation, and experience, will you chance me for the following schools?

Yale
Penn
Princeton
UChicago

Boston College
Boston University
Northeastern
Reed College

St. John’s College (Annapolis)

I go to a “rural fringe” public high school in Kansas. There ~175 in my graduating class. My school does not offer AP or IB. As far as cost, I am largely dependent on financial aid (Family income ~$75000)

Unweighted GPA: 3.9/4.0
ACT: 34

Transcript:
Honors English 1
Honors English 2
English 3
Honors Composition 1 (College credit)
Honors Composition 2 (College class, but I didn’t take it for credit)

Algebra 1
Honors Geometry
Algebra 2
College Algebra (college class, but I didn’t take it for credit)
Calculus (college credit, but I didn’t take it for credit)

World History
American History
Sociology
American Government

Biology
Chemistry I
Physics
Anatomy & Physiology

Programming Fundamentals (college credit)

Music Theory I
Acting I
Acting II
Band
Jazz Band
Madrigals

PE

Activities:
Band (4 years)- Drum Major (3yrs). I play clarinet, euphonium, saxophone, trumpet, and mallet percussion.
Jazz Band (3 years)- Lead Alto (2yrs). Piano (1yr).
Student Council (4 yrs)- Freshman Class President, Sophomore Class President, Executive Board Reporter, Senior Class President
National Thespian Society- (3yrs). Vice President (1yr)
Theatre- Major role in 3 musicals, 4 plays. Front of House manager for one production, stage hand in another.
Madrigals (2yrs)- Auditioned choir, highest at my school.
NHS (2yrs)
Peer Assisted Leadership (2yrs)
Scholar’s Bowl (4yrs)- Varsity (3yrs)
Tri-M Music Honors Society- started a chapter, president (1yr)
American Legion Auxiliary- volunteering and member of local chapter

Work Experience:
2 yrs Hostess/To Go at Outback Steakhouse (25 hrs/wk)
3 summers as an administrative assistant for Denver’s #1 moving company (Seven Brothers Moving)
I also lead a jazz combo group outside of school that performs locally. I get volunteer hours from playing the piano accompaniment for middle school performances.

Background: (pardon if I'm being excessive; just aiming to be thorough) I am a white female born in Las Vegas to an ex-Mormon family. I'm the ninth of ten kids (eight boys and two girls). Both my parents are incredibly intelligent and loving. My mom, a writer and vocalist, stayed home full time and battled long term depression. My dad was a successful and renowned piano teacher, but was an addicted gambler. We were broke and on welfare. My mom left the church and divorced my dad. She met my step dad online and moved the youngest five kids with her to Kansas. I have taken after my mom in her love for writing and after my dad for his love of music. I am self-taught on eight instruments. However, neither my family culture or small town culture is at all competitive. My ambitions to pursue the best education I can reach are essentially unheard of. For this, I feel like it's impossible to imagine achieving my dreams.

Paired with glowing recommendations and a great essay, what chance (if any) do I have getting into any of my reach schools (Yale, Penn, Chicago, Princeton) and match schools (BC, BU, Northeastern, Reed)? Thank you!

P.S. I would also appreciate any and all good hearted advice for my applications.

2

Your reach schools are reaches for everyone but you are in the range. BU, BC and Northeastern: showing interest will help.

3

University of Chicago Yale and Princeton 4% Penn 5% BC 30% BU 39% Northeastern 37% Reed 40% St. John’s College 91% These will be altered if your parents are (active) alumni or if you have connected with music dept. as music major. All based on our algorithm. Good luck!

4

I can’t speak much on your chances, but look into scholarships and merit aid. I don’t think you’ll be getting much (if any) financial aid.

5

^^ The top schools on your list are largely need-based and you would qualify for pretty generous financial aid, I believe. Run the EFC calculators on each school’s website to get an idea of what kind of aid you would receive.

Not sure how @hoorent’s algorithm factored in your unique life story since it apparently can be altered by if your parents are active alumni or you’ve contacted the music dept. I’d ignore the apparent precision of their forecasts.

What is your class rank? What kind of recs will you be getting and from whom? Are you first generation to go to college?

Personally, I would see if you qualify for fee waivers and apply to a few more reach schools. You have a compelling story if told the right way and I think you would demographically be of interest but admission to any single one of the top schools is unpredictable so it’s best to have at least a few more apps out there. Research if you think you would be happy at schools like Stanford, Harvard, Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown, Duke, Cornell etc. They’re all very different schools so don’t assume they are all fits for you but most are very generous with financial aid and they all have fantastic educational resources to offer you. Dartmouth, for instance, has phenomenal teaching and if you’re from rural Kansas you might like their rather rural setting.

I don’t know but something tells me you have a shot at some of the top schools if your rank is at or very near the top of your class, and your essays and recs are stellar. Best of luck!l