Hi, I’m a rising senior struggling to see where id fit in. i feel im just sooo middle of the road. I am going to apply to one of the top tier schools ED most likely to raise my chances (probs upenn) ill be applying to most colleges as an econ or management major. im a white male from florida at a public high school. i also fall into the top 1% for income. please let me know what you guys think…
Class Rank: 7/560
GPA: weighted: 5.2
unweighted: 3.95
ACT: composite 33 breakdown (35 english+reading, 30 math & science) but i took it before in february and got a 32 on math & science and ik some schools superscore so my SS is a 34
APs: human geo (4)
capstone seminar (3)
world history (4)
bio (3)
calc AB (N/A)
lang (N/A)
apush (N/A)
enviro (N/A)
capstone research (N/A)
senior year: macro, micro, gov/econ, lit, stats, calc BC,
***Ive also taken 2 classes online at the university of florida but they were just some electives
ECs/Leadership/Awards: math team 4 years, NHS 4 years, best buddies (special needs club) all 4 years, Debate all 4 years (co president junior & senior year!!) , DECA all 4 years (international qualifier 3 years, top 20 international finalist last year!!!), DECA VP of activites, volunteer at local organization that teaches kids with disabilites how to play sports (6 years), volunteer at a sleepaway camp that sends inner city atlanta kids for memorial day weekend (Head Sports Instructor - managed team of 6 other instructors), Paid internship with a Credit Union this summer (150 hours), spent over a year (2016-2018) employed at tutoring franchise Mathnasium, Coached Rec League Basketball team of middle schoolers to a championship season for the city, started organization that teaches financial literacy to kids aging out of foster care homes.
Essays: just started them but my idea was pretty unique. its centered around a knock-knock joke and thats all i wish to reveal aside from the fact that it also portrays who i am at different stages in my life (personal growth)
So…the schools im looking at are as follows (in no order):
Northwestern (#1 or 2 choice- touring in august)
Carnegie Mellon
Upenn (my dads #1 choice for me lol)
Duke
Harvard (for kicks and giggles)
Cornell (i think this is my #1 bc of their AgriBusiness program)
Emory (safety)
UT austin
Northeastern
UF
Maybeeee stanford but i doubt i wanna apply
THANKS GUYS!
If Cornell is your top, why apply ED to Penn? If you’re purely focused on the admissions boost in ED, Cornell’s ED acceptance rate is 24.3% and Penn’s is 18.5%. Make sure the school you apply to ED is your (not necessarily your dad’s) #1 choice! Other than that, your ECs seem pretty solid and you have the stats to be competitive!! Congrats!!
Northwestern’s ED acceptance rate was slightly above 26% last cycle. RD acceptance rate was slightly above 6% for an overall acceptance rate equal to Penn at 8.39%.
P.S. When you visit Northwestern’s Evanston campus (upscale suburban setting), it is worthwhile to also visit the Chicago campus (law & medical school in a spectacular setting).
After reviewing your profile, I think that you have a solid shot, but not a certainty, at Northwestern if you apply ED. But, in my opinion, you cannot make a bad choice applying ED to Penn, Cornell or Northwestern in light of your intended major.
If interested, I can offer a suggestion via PM regarding a possible approach to NU on your application that may help if you apply RD. Otherwise, ED is your best shot for gaining admission to NU.
If you intend to apply to Cornell for agribusiness, have relevant work experience, then get an MBA, you could have a great career in consulting.
Your community service efforts & experience are outstanding & should make you a great catch for any school as well as any employer.
how well did you do in debate? IK florida is rlly competitive.
Northwestern, Penn, and Cornell are probably near reaches. ED is a good option in those cases, but don’t do ED at UPenn if that’s your Dad’s #1 choice and not yours! Make sure that the school is absolutely YOUR #1 choice before ED
yeah so i was not a great debater to say the least…especially coming from floridas best county: broward. however i am a top tier DECA competitor in the state. 6th place my freshman year, 1st place in the state sophomore year, 4th place in the state this past year (all 3 years qualifying for internationals) and placing top 20 in the world this past year at internationals
i think your volunteering, DECA, and internship are most unique you should focus on them the most.
As for chancing
Harvard UPenn Duke Northwestern and Cornell and reaches tho if you ED any of those you will have a solid shot (except harvard)
UT Northeastern Match
yeah thats what i figured to be the likely circumstances and i think i kinda match with emory too (ik a lot ofnpeople who have gotten in with significantly less going for them) and so thats why i want to ED somewhere (most likely Cornell because i really love green energy & sustainable farming but not the engineering side so the agribusiness program would be perfect) but i also hate not having options so im torn because worst comes to worst all those reach schools reject me & i go to emory or UT when i know im capable of doing better. do you think its worth my time to retake the ACT and aim for a 34 ?
I don’t think it’d make that big of a difference with just one or two points, and I also don’t think it’d be smart since you’d have to take it early around like September if you wanna get ur results before the early decision deadline, and instead of studying for the ACT maybe you should focus on college apps and finishing your essays. If you have literally everything done and really want to take it, then sure, but I don’t think I would. Probably just focus on your apps.