Chance Me for Yale, Brown, etc.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys! I’m currently a junior and my dream schools are Yale and Brown, especially Yale. What are my chances so far?
I go to an extremely competitive, top high school, where half of the grade gets into a top 20 or 30 college.

GPA: 92.99 (Trying to raise it up)

AP: I’m only allowed to take two this year (not allowed to take any before this year), and I’m taking AP Bio and AP French.

ACT: 34 (Retaking it because my parents are making me)

SAT II: Planning to take Biology and Math 2. (I actually did something really stupid. I had an extra testing date because I moved the Math 2 date to the end of this year, so I decided to use it up and do Literature. I wasn’t doing well on the Barron’s tests, though, so literally 30 seconds before time started on the subject tests I decided to take French without knowing ANYTHING about it at all. Zero. I got a 670.)

Extracurriculars:
-Co-captain of my school’s speech team-- tripled it in size
-Writer for the school newspaper (going to try and get an actual position senior year)
-Also writing for four literary clubs at my school; published in their magazines, on the layout team for one
-Did a selective program called Girls Who Code over the summer: learned Python, JavaScript, etc.
-Started a coding club with my friend at school-- taught/mentored younger kids in my school about/how to code
-Had a part-time job tutoring/grading kids’ assignments
-Ran varsity cross country last year (not sure if I should include this?)
-Part of two cultural clubs at school, going to participate in their shows this year and help out, etc.
-Passionate about sanitation problems in the country of my ethnicity (India); planning to help my aunt start an NGO
-Tutored kids in various subjects at an underfunded government school in said country as well
-Volunteered at soup kitchen
-Was in junior chorus and now in senior chorus
-I probably have other stuff but I don’t remember what it is

Awards:
-Scholastic silver key in writing, submitted more this year as well
-Silver medalist in the Grand Concours French competition
-Planning to submit writing to as many poetry competitions as I can in upcoming months

Recommendations
-Going to ask my AP French teacher for one soon, as she really likes me and I’ve heard she writes good ones
-I talk to my guidance counselor often, so hopefully she’ll write me a good one when the time comes
-Not sure about the others yet

Essay:
-Already wrote a draft of my Common App essay on my perfectionist passion for baking and how I dealt with failing at making macarons and what I learned from it. My mom really liked it so hopefully it’ll develop into something

I’m also considering Cornell, which I have a decent shot at (something like 26/69 people from my school got in last year?). What colleges do you think I would get into/ do you have any more recommendations?

2

You have a pretty good profile. ECs aren’t fantastic, but not the worst I’ve seen either. I would add more safety schools, but you also have a decent chance at other top 20s. Mid reaches for all.

3

do something BIG this junior year summer

you’ll start developing the spike necessary to compete at HYP level schools

try to get published? maybe a national olympiad? perhaps a NYT articles about sanitation in india?

something that is the capstone of your hs experience

4

Hey. There are some other factors that affect your chances such as class rank, race, intended major and state of residence but from what I can tell you have a strong application to Brown and Yale. Cornell is worth looking into but I visited both Brown and Cornell and found that they have very different atmospheres. Also, don’t worry about that subject test, I did something similar with Spanish (took it last minute in place of US History) and I got a 620. Never ended up being a problem.
Some other colleges to look into are:
Wash U (Reach) - I found Wash U to be pretty similar to Brown. I’m a Wash U student so DM me if you have any questions about it.
Georgetown (Reach) - IMO, you can’t beat Georgetown’s location. It’s in one of the most gorgeous parts of DC and has great international relations, political science and business programs.
Northwestern (Reach) - Gorgeous lakeside campus near Chicago. Communications/journalism programs are amazing if that’s something you’re interested in.
Rice (Reach) - Like Yale, Rice has a big residential college system. Great STEM programs. Gorgeous campus in Houston.
Tufts (Reach) - Outside Boston. I visited and thought it was a lot like Brown, especially with regards to the students. Great international relations program.
Duke (Reach) - Great campus. Lots of school spirit that accompanies good academics and research.
Swarthmore (Reach) - LAC outside Philly.
Amherst (Reach) - LAC in Massachusetts. Open curriculum like Brown
Vassar (Reach for a girl/match for a boy) - LAC in New York. A couple hours from NYC
Wesleyan (Low reach) - LAC in Connecticut. Very liberal/artsy
Emory (Low Reach) - I actually don’t know too much about Emory but it’s a similar size and is a very good school
William and Mary (High match for girl, match for boy) - Small Virginia public school.
American (Match) - Also in DC. Great international relations and communications programs.
Macalester (Match)- LAC in St. Paul Minnesota. Liberal student body with an international focus.
Fordham (Low match) - In the Bronx. Nice campus but I don’t know much about it.
University of Vermont (Safety) - Medium sized public school in Burlington which is gorgeous
Clark (Safety) - Small college in Worcester MA

Hope this helps.

5

That puts you at a 3.6 GPA, far below average. Your ACT score is about average. For Yale or any ivy league school, that’s a certain decline. Even a flagship school like UT Austin, you would be borderline. You could try SMU. It’s right in the middle of Dallas and it’s well known for internship opportunities.

6

It depends what your GPA is relative to others in your grade. Your standardized test score is great. I would not recommend retaking it. You should focus on getting 700s+ in two subject tests.

Your ECs are decent. Get more leadership positions, narrow them down, choose what you are interested in. If you want to be an English major and intend on applying as one for colleges, I think you should try getting more of your writing published. Write for your local newspaper, an online newspaper, edit for an online literary magazine, etc. You want ECs that show your passion and skill in a specific academic field.

7

Hmmm Yale might be a reach. I got rejected with a 4.5 GPA, a 1590 SAT, and a 35 ACT. I was NHS president, Mu alpha theta president, Science Olympiad and science honor society president, and I took 16 AP classes. I had a job and internship. I worked at a lab in Stanford University over the summer, and I went to the Yale Young Global Scholars program. I got into Yale, Harvard, Brown, and Cornell (and some other not as good ones, like Duke and Dartmouth). I also had work published in Scientific American magazine. Good luck getting in, but again it’s a reach.

8

What are my chances?

SAT: 1580
ACT: 35
SAT II: physics (800), math II (800), chem (800)
Rank: 9/648

GPA: 113.435
APs: Computer Science (5), Chem (5), Physics 1 (5), Calculus BC( 5), Latin (5)

ECs: head programmer on the robotics team, Computer science club president, Internship at local cybersecurity and AI start up, USACO platinum, many CS UIL awards, AIME (score: 6), track 400m hurdle regional 1st

Any feedback would be helpful thank you!