Stats
GPA: 3.83 (UW) 4.67 (W)
Rank: ~100/700 (top 15%)
ACT: 35 (35 E 36 M 33 R 35 S)
SAT: not taken yet, aiming for 1500+
AP Classes: Environmental Science (4) US History (4) Language and Composition (3)
Calc AB and BC (next year) Literature and Composition (next year) Statistics (next year)
ECs (what I’m worried about)
4 years school basketball (2 JV, 2 Varsity)
8 years travel AAU basketball
Worked as counselor at basketball camp the past two summers
4 years neighborhood dog sitting/walking
1 year Catamounts LEAD club (available only to junior athletes to prepare them for leadership positions on their teams as seniors)
Some volunteering through church (~50 hours)
Worked as a soccer referee
I know my lack of extracurriculars hurts me a lot, but does anyone think my test scores could bring me up to the level of possibly an Ivy league acceptance? Thanks! And I can chance back.
AMAZING TEST SCORES!!! I think you can get into all of those schools and even get scholarships. Just make sure you have some leadership positions under your belt.
You have a good chance at USC but it’s so competitive it should be a reach. Your a match for UNC instate and Miami so you’ll probably get into both but again random stuff happens. You’re into NC state
NC State won’t be a problem, and I’d say UNC, Miami, and maybe even USC are matches. But you never know with some schools, especially with how competitive USC is. Your ACT is fantastic and the fact you have work, volunteer, and other ECs is good, but like carolinagrl said make sure to get a leadership position. But even without that I still think you have good chances at all of them. Good luck!
If you wouldn’t mind chancing back on my 'Fordham… NYU… BU…" thread, that’d be amazing! For the Ivies, your ACT is perfect. I’d try bringing up your GPA though, as it’s a little low for the bulk of the Ivies. ECs are, frankly, too standard. Try to diversify your activities. When you apply, you want to show the admissions teams that you’re a truly unique individual who is capable of contributing something great to that institution. If your GPA / ACT stays the same, and you have better ECs, I’d say you’re a match for the four schools listed which aren’t Ivies! Good luck, and please chance back if you can!
@Testingearly I’m also taking the SAT because I want to make my academic record really strong to try to make up for the lack of unique extracurriculars I have. I think that if I have two very strong test scores then it would hold more weight than just one.
I think you are wasting your time taking the SAT. All the schools you are applying to have no preference between the ACT and SAT. You have a great score! Celebrate it and move on. Spend the time working on essays or main ting your grades. If you already paid the registration, then switch it to SAT subject tests.
Stats
GPA: 3.83 (UW) 4.67 (W)
Rank: ~100/700 (top 15%)
ACT: 35 (35 E 36 M 33 R 35 S)
SAT: not taken yet, aiming for 1500+
AP Classes: Environmental Science (4) US History (4) Language and Composition (3)
Calc AB and BC (next year) Literature and Composition (next year) Statistics (next year)
ECs (what I’m worried about)
4 years school basketball (2 JV, 2 Varsity)
8 years travel AAU basketball
Worked as counselor at basketball camp the past two summers
4 years neighborhood dog sitting/walking
1 year Catamounts LEAD club (available only to junior athletes to prepare them for leadership positions on their teams as seniors)
Some volunteering through church (~50 hours)
Worked as a soccer referee
I know my lack of extracurriculars hurts me a lot, but does anyone think my test scores could bring me up to the level of possibly an Ivy league acceptance? Thanks! And I can chance back.
Definitely forget about the SAT and put 100% of your focus on your EC’s. Even though you may feel like you’re throwing away the hours you’ve already spent, you’re better utilizing your future hours in a different way which will immensely help your application. Even if you achieved a 1600 on your SAT, I’m sure you’ve heard before, that competitive schools will reject hundreds of kids with perfect scores and academic records in order to take those kids that have interesting EC’s. With larger schools like Miami, NC State, and UNC and even possibly USC a stellar academic record will be enough, but with the Ivy League it’s the interesting EC’s that help you stand out from the tens of thousands of applicants and get accepted.
For example, I’ve had numerous family friends that applied with stellar academic records but no outstanding EC’s and had unfortunate admissions results. One of the girls came from the top school in the province (I’m from Canada,) took 15 AP courses, received 5’s on all of them, had an unweighted GPA of 4.0 (it was around 97 on the 100 points system), a 2390 SAT, and was rejected from every single american university she applied to. University admissions are a gamble in any case, but I feel like it’s pretty obvious her lack of EC’s hurt her application tremendously. Of course being an international lowered her chances, but that school sends around 4 out of the 20 us applicants from the senior class to the ivy league every year.
Your EC’s do show consistency of your love of basketball and athletics but they show no drive or initiative (which is something all universities but especially the ivy league love). Start up a community service organization related to basketball, or coach basketball in underprivileged areas of your town. Or start up a new hobby and passion altogether! If it’s not too late, try to get some leadership positions in your school this year that are unrelated to basketball or athletics. I’m assuming you’re a junior, so definitely also try to do something interesting next summer and get more leadership experiences under your belt.
Sorry that this post has been mostly bad news, but you still have around a year, and can definitely accomplish great things within that time! Good luck in the coming year and I hope to see a post from you next year with an acceptance to your top school!