Chance Me, Please! (Georgetown, Notre Dame, University of Michigan...)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone, I hope you all are having a great day! I am applying to a wide variety of schools, and I was wondering what my chances were. Feel free to be as blunt and realistic as possible, or recommend realistic alternatives to these colleges).

Schools: Notre Dame, Georgetown, University of Michigan- Ann Arbor, Rice, University of Texas, Boston College, Northwestern

Demographics: Hispanic Female. I go to a competitive public school in suburbs (school is ranked #410 nationally and 63rd in the state- not sure how good that is but thought I’d put it our there.)

Income: 200k+

Major: Political Science or Communications (Hoping to enter the field of social responsibility)

SAT: 1510

I have not taken subject tests yet, but am planning to in November.

UW GPA: 4.0 (My school only gives weighted GPA on a 100 point scale, in which I have a 98.9)

Rank: 61/643

AP (Previous and Current): AP Lang (5), APUSH (4), AP Physics I, Calc AB, AP Microeconomics, AP Government, AP Environmental Science

Awards:
Academic Excellence (9-12th grade)
National Merit Commended,
National Hispanic Recognition Scholar

EC:
Student Council Junior Class Vice President
President of club focused on helping students with disabilities
National Art Honor Society
National English Honor Society
Junior State of America
Junior Achievement
300+ hours of volunteer hours

Feel free to leave your opinions and let me know if there’s any colleges you feel might be a good fit for me. Thank you so much in advance!

2

Here’s my advice. It’s not about where you go, it’s about what you study. You’re there to gain marketable job skills. If you’re marketable, the school won’t matter. If you’re not marketable…then, well, the school won’t matter either.

Second, the list is kind of all over the place and they’re ALL high reach schools. I’m going to assume you’re out of state. UT-Austin, for instance reserves 90% of their admissions for Texas residents. Michigan is very similar. Both of the schools would be out of state tuition, which is triple the cost of in-state. The rest are all private schools, which are even more expensive and just as hard to get into. The big question is, can you afford these schools without a loan bill the size of Mount Ranier? Make sure you have some affordable match and safety schools as well.

Third, I see you want to study liberal arts/humanities. I’m thinking you’re planning to go to graduate school for something like law or counseling. You’re not going to get very far with a bachelors degree in liberal arts. My advice for that, once you settle on a path of study, keep a marketable career goal ahead of you. I speak from experience. I made that mistake with a bachelors in communications and almost starved half to death :slight_smile: I ended up going back to graduate school to get a degree in IT.

3

Forgive me, sometimes, I miss things, but in what state do you reside? Texas? Michigan? Other?

A uwGPA 4.0/1,510 makes you competitive for UMich LSA though your course rigor appears to be a bit on the lighter side (no AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Lit, etc.). Course rigor is considered “most important” (per CDS) along with uwGPA to UMich.

The OOS acceptance rate is 19%. The In-state acceptance rate is 41%.

4

Top 10% class rank, outstanding SAT score of 1510, Hispanic equals URM status at most of your schools, class officer, and substantial volunteering makes you a strong candidate for admission to all of your listed schools, although for Northwestern it would help to apply ED.

5

Thanks so much for your insight! I completely agree that the vast majority of these schools are high reach schools. I do, however, live in Texas, which I feel may up my chances a bit for UT. The career path I have in mind currently is corporate social responsibility. I hope to eventually get a masters in Public Administration, for which Political Science and Communications seem to be the most common ways to go in terms of majors for a bachelors degree. As for the fact that these are all very selective schools, are there any less expensive or “safer” schools you would suggest?

6

If you’re in Texas, then you have a terrific shot at UT. With your stats, Texas A&M would actually be a safety. A few other “safer” schools would be University of Houston, Texas Tech, and Texas State. Texas State would probably award you the Presidential Scholarship. You also qualify for a full tuition scholarship at Baylor and TCU.

7

You will have a good chance getting into UT. Good luck!