Chance me for UNC, UVA, UMich and others

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys my top 3 choices are UNC, UVA, and UMich. My other options are, Florida, Duke, Penn St, Cornell. I’m currently a junior and will be applying to all of these schools EA (as long as they offer them). I’m an OOS for most of these schools; I’m from NY. Hopefully I will be a recruited athlete to one of my top 3 schools (Lacrosse), but I want to talk only academics regardless if I get recruited or not. My freshman year I did not start out too strong, i didn’t take schools so seriously. But there has been a very strong upward grade trend from then. (Freshman year: 3.6’s Sophmore: 3.8/3.9’s and now as a junior: 4.0’s)

GPA: 3.75 (this only consists of my freshman and sophomore year when my junior grades are added it should be much higher)

I took one AP my sophomore year (AP World History) and got a score of 4. Junior year I am taking 3 ( APCapstone, AP US History and AP Psych. All of which I have A’s in). And I am scheduled to take another 3 AP’s next year (AP Economics, AP Gov, AP Capstone Research). I have also been taking many dual credit classes including Spanish and business electives.

SAT: Got a 1200 first try, very disappointing even though I did not study at all. Aiming to get around a 1400 on my next try (I’m actually studying for this one lol)

Extra Curriculars:

Varsity Lacrosse- will be a 3 year varsity player by the end of HS, NYS Scholar Athlete, Won an award for being the most hard-working athelte on the team (Unsung Hero award).

Varsity Wrestling- All League Honors, White Letter Award winner (Highest grades on the team and resprents the program the best). NYS Scholar Athlete

Vice President of politics club in my school

Member of Social Studies Honor Society (nationally recognized)

Member of student council

Member of selective Leadership program in school

Will be apart of National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society next year.

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I was selected to a Leadership program in my school (it’s a class), 99% of the people in the program are seniors but I was accepted as a junior along with 7 other juniors. I know schools find leadership an important aspect of a prospective student so I will plan to talk about this in one of my essays.

I plan on getting a job this summer as well.

Also anyone have any ideas on how to shape my “hook” based on me, I feel like I’m too basic and don’t have anything special to share. I intend to go into law because of my interest in politics.
Thanks for taking the time to read this far

2

The biggest hook would be if you are a recruited athlete.

Work hard on preparing for your next SAT. That score needs to come way up to be competitive.

As a NY resident, be sure to apply to some SUNY schools too.

You need safeties on your list. OOS flagships are much more competitive than the general admission stats show.

3

I know being a recruited athlete is a hook but I’m saying aside from that Incase I’m not recruited.
Which schools would you reccomend as safeties? I was considering Florida and penn st as safeties.

4

Florida and Penn would be matches, not safeties, unless you get the SAT score up.

I would look within the SUNY system for your safety.

5

Is the 3.75 weighted or unweighted? What is your intended major? Accepted students to Penn State typically have a 3.55 to 3.98 GPA (25th to 75th percentile) with a much higher SAT score. Accepted students to the business school will be in the far higher end of that scale. I would consider Penn State a match as well as Florida. Penn State also isn’t terribly generous with financial aid and scholarships, especially for OOS. All other schools would be a reach. Definitely put some NY state schools on your list.

I would encourage you to Google the Common Data Sets for each of these schools to see the stats of kids who actually enroll at the school. UNC Chapel Hill may appear within reach, but NC state schools limit OOS students so those who do get in typically have super high stats.

6

You’ve done some great work, congratulations and keep that up! However, strictly from an academic perspective, most of these schools are reach / far reach (maybe with FL and Penn St being the exceptions - match/low reach). You need to understand that UVA, UNC, UMich, Duke, Cornell are ridiculously competitive. There will be many with perfect scores and grades that don’t get in. That said, you don’t need perfect scores but you do need to be exceptional. Without the sports hook, you need to have pure matches and safeties on your list.

Are you 100% decided that you want to play lacrosse in college (or wrestle)? That certainly would make admissions far easier, however it’s a huge commitment, greater than most HS kids can contemplate. Creates a very different (not bad, just different) college experience.

7

Congratulations on your achievements! I agree that being a recruited athlete is a hook.

Academically, most of these schools are significant reaches for you. I think Penn State and Florida are actually low reaches/matches. Do you have any schools that are affordable and where an acceptance is likely? Will your parents pay for these schools?

Best of luck!