Chance Me: Rising High School Junior

What are my chances of getting into Barnard, Smith, UMich, Wisconsin, Pomona, URochester?

Demographics

  • Permanent Resident
  • New England
  • Public High School
  • Asian woman

Intended Major(s)

  • Mathematics/Statistics
  • Sociology
  • Public Policy

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.11 (school does it out of 4.3)
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): school doesn’t weight but online calculator says 4.6
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1500 SAT (taken once)

Coursework

  • APs taken: Microeconomics and Macroeconomics
  • APs I’m planning on taking: Calc BC, Chem, Lang, Stats, Gov, CSA, maybe Bio or Lit
  • All Honors Classes with A or A+ (1 A- in Spanish but that is considered a high grade for the class)

Awards

  • Recognized as a Student Voice National Ambassador for advocacy work
  • Published articles in BrownGirlMagazine, an online magazine receiving over 150k views
  • Principal’s List/Honor Roll each semester
  • Member of NHS

Extracurriculars

  • Led initiative in my state to end menstrual inequity (lobbied to school board resulting in local policy change, assisted school administration to implement period products in school bathrooms by allocating grant money, worked with 10 state representatives to pass a bill, testified in front of the state congress, presented at MIT to high school students and current MIT students on this issue, led drives in my town and surrounding towns to collect period products)
  • Director of an organization with 200+ members committed to advancing gender equality (started 10 chapters, assisted chapters in enacting local policy change, trained 50 members of the organization in legislative advocacy, lobbied state representatives 30+ times)
  • Legislative Director for state High School Democrats chapter (sourced team of 7 members, published legislative priorities, worked with politicians to pass legislation relating to progressive issues)
  • Educational policy advisor to the state department of secondary education and will be a member of school board my senior year
  • Internship on a local campaign
  • Vice President of my class
  • Co-president of Science Olympiad
  • Peer tutor
  • Job at local restaurant

Essays/LORs/Other

  • Very strong, have good relationships with teachers I have had for multiple years

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • Can pay up to 60k a semester

You will be likely to see acceptances at four or five of these schools, with Pomona and Barnard representing your most challenging prospects.

I would apply to Barnard ED. Considering this, do you think its likely I get in?

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You are a rising junior. Work hard. Start to visit schools. Learn what you like. This list is disparate.

Find what you look from rural to urban, size, and otherwise.

Lots of great schools will be out there for you but I suspect you have pulled from a list and not from knowledge of being there.

Barnard will be entirely realistic for you. With a well-crafted ED application, your chances there may be quite good.

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I agree that Barnard ED would be realistic.

Also, if you like the idea of a women’s college that’s affiliated with a larger coed university or consortium (i.e. Barnard and Smith), and you like Pomona, then it would make sense for Scripps to be on your list. Scripps students can do the Pomona majors in Sociology and Public Policy Analysis as off-campus majors. (Plus, Scripps has its own Poli Sci major, and of course Math… plus there’s a Data Science minor that could be worth a look - would pair very well with Soci or Public Policy.) My daughter did a Pomona major as a Scripps student and it was seamless, both to enroll in the off-campus major and to register for as many Pomona/Pitzer/CMC/Mudd classes as she wanted. You would have a decent chance of some merit money from Scripps, whereas Barnard and Pomona don’t give merit aid.

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It always surprises me when students who have obviously put some thought into the process come here looking for input on particular schools, only to be told they are doing it wrong.

Given the OP’s EC’s/interests, I don’t consider their preliminary list particularly “disparate,” nor does it seem to be gleaned from “a list” (which list?).

While perhaps a bit light on “likely” schools, it seems a much more balanced and thoughtful list than what most come up at the early stages of the process. And while factors such as size, urban/rural are key for some students, they may not be as important for others. Seeing schools can be helpful at some point in the process, it isn’t really a viable option for everyone early on.

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Why do people find the need to attack others?

My opinion is as a rising Junior it’s too early to know about chances - there’s a whole year of schooling to be added in - and when I see a Wisconsin and Pomona together, I assume they weren’t selected for similarity.

My opinion is to keep working hard, visit schools and learn more about them in general and then assess.

Op is a rising junior. It’s early in my opinion

If you disagree, that’s fine. State your guidance to OP. .No reason to attack another persons.

Funny, I was wondering the same thing with regard to your post ignoring the OPs question while criticizing just about every aspect of their approach.


@bookluvr28, as I mentioned in my previous post, I think it is great that you are starting early and that you’ve already come up what seems to be a thoughtful list. I don’t find it to be too “disparate.” Not every school on your list has to look the same, and having some flexibility regarding location and school size/type might provide you the space to consider other factors that may be more important to you. I know plenty of kids who were interested in schools as diverse as Wisconsin and Pomona, and they likely would have been happy at either.

As for your “chance me” request, you are well-qualified for every school on your list, and it would surprise me if didn’t get into any. Unfortunately, some of the schools (Pomona and Barnard for example) are reaches for even well qualified kids like yourself, and admissions at some of the rest has become unpredictable. It may make sense for you to focus on what you like about these schools and try to find a few likely admits which offer something similar.

You mentioned possibly applying ED to Barnard. That might be a good idea. Pomona also accepts a large portion of their class ED and I get the impression that it may help chances there, so that might be worth considering as an alternative.

Good luck!

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You can’t possibly chance a rising junior. You are giving false hope. I’ve tried to add realism. It’s an unanswerable question at this time. That’s why I provided other guidance. Anything else is just doing a disservice in my opinion.

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I’ve lived in a few places, so I know what living in a suburban area is like vs an urban area. That’s why I’m not too picky about where the college is located, as long as it’s not completely rural. I know some of the schools on my list are larger, but they also have great programs for what I’m interested in. I know some of the schools on my list are smaller, but they are part of consortiums, so it would be easy for me to expand my circle if necessary. That’s just the way I was going about it.

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That’s fair. I would say have a great junior year. Continue to work hard. Keep up the grades and rigor as you listed. We don’t know what the landscape will look like this upcoming year. Many a kid were emotionally destroyed this year at schools they thought were a gimme.

Keep doing great things. Further investigate your desires. Many kids make a list but then continue to mix it up.

In a year the answer to your question may be different than today.

It’s good you’re ahead of the curve. But realize a Wisconsin or Michigan will be vastly different environment wise than a Pomona, even with the consortium.

So take time this year to spend time on campuses, large, medium and small so you can experience abs validate your beliefs.

If this list holds true then great. If not, it’s ok too.

Also, you said you can pay up to $60k per semester. Is that correct or you mean per year ? If year, you’d want your folks to run the NPCs on a few because you would need some aid to afford. If you can spend $120k a year like listed, you are good from that POV.

If you aren’t comfortable chancing a rising junior, then why post in a thread called: " Chance Me: Rising High School Junior ?

The OP seems sophisticated enough to understand that any advice given is dependent on a continuation of their impressive performance thus far.

And next year Pomona and Barnard will still be reaches, the rest on the list will still be unpredictable, and it will still make sense for the OP to consider some similar schools which are more in the likely category. If that is giving “false hope” then guilty as charged.

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I’ll also say I prefer smaller schools over a larger school. But I would prefer a big state school with a great program over a mediocre smaller school.

That said, any suggestions for me?

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Based on your academic interests, these sites may help you expand your list:

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Also, you may want to take a look at some of the other schools within the consortiums. For example, looking at your ECs and interests, Pitzer might be a good fit, and as a Pitzer student you could take classes at Pomona, Mudd, etc.

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$60,000 per semester? $120,000 a year? Is this what you really mean?

As a rising junior, you don’t have an end of year junior GPA. Keep up your good work and you have a good chance at the schools you tagged, in my opinion.

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Might I remind members of the forum rules: “Our forum is expected to be a friendly and welcoming place, and one in which members can post without their motives, intelligence, or other personal characteristics being questioned by others."

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/guidelines

Might I further “suggest” that the two users holding a sidebar conversation focus their energy on the OP.

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I forgot to add I’ve been dancing since I was 6 and play 3 sports.

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So I go back to the original thought - keep up the great work and we’ll see in a year. But you’d certainly be in a strong position.

Now - you still need to answer the money question. Did you intend to say you can afford $60K a semester - which is $120K a year. Typically people give a yearly figure, hence it’s being questioned.

Or did you mean $60K a year?

Budget is THE most important issue. You need to know - not just what your parents can afford to spend - but what they are willing to spend.

If your answer is as you wrote - $60K a semester - you have no issues. If your answer is $60K a year, then you need to have your folks run the net price calculator of a few schools - because many of these are now $85K - and if you can’t afford it, you don’t even need to consider it. You would find out from the NPC if the schools would give you the $$ to make up the difference.

Now you noted you’d rather go to a “big state school with a great program over a mediocre smaller school.”

So here’s the problem with that statement - in my opinion - and as you noted, you picked the schools based on reputation of your programs.

In my opinion, while that’s a filter, that’s the wrong reason to choose a school.

There are many kids who attend their dream school and transfer after a year.

You want to find “the right” school - maybe it’s a mid size. Maybe it’s large - but has an Honors college to make it smaller. Maybe it’s a smaller school.

Also - how do you define a mediocre smaller school? That’s opinion, perception, etc. but it’s not necessarily true.

My daughter goes to one of those, but to her it’s the best place. She’s loves the “urban feel” and she’s in a special program for top students (that she wouldn’t be in at a higher rated school). She just got back on her school paid Maymester as an International Scholar (a program she was awarded). She started a club to assist Afghan refugees and has multiple faculty involved and has 50 students signed up. She’s met diplomats - the Canadian Ambassador to the US and is in contact with someone from the Bush administration. Of the 17 schools she got into, she goes to the 16th rated. How will she do in life? I’m guessing great because she’s a leader - but she’s not at a top school. Had she gone to a large, higher rated school (she got into UF/UGA - which is strong in her major) or had she gone to W&L which is elite in the poli sci/IR arena - would she have these same opportunities? I don’t know - but I do know that - if you stand out above the student body and you have a go get em attitude, you might have the chance to stand out in ways that you wouldn’t otherwise where everyone is a top student. You may save a few bucks too - if that was helpful to your family.

Just throwing that out there. At some large schools, you have classes with hundreds of students. My daughter’s classes have been smal and she’s raved about many (not all) of her profs. She knows them and they take an interest in her. My son, at a large public, not so much. Again, she’s at a fine but not stand out school - but she’s standing out. If she were at UF, UGA or Washington & Lee, my guess is she wouldn’t have these same opportunities - in part, because she wouldn’t stand out in their student bodies (although her extra curricular effort still might).

When you are talking about the majors you’ve chosen, you will likely end up in grad school - and I think that the fit matters most. You don’t want to go to the dream and hate it. My son doesn’t like his school much - but he chose a school where he could get his own dorm room vs. finding the “right” school…so there’s a lot of variables that can change what you think is the right place - to maybe not the right place. Of course, one doesn’t truly know until they go.

I really think you spend this year visiting schools - your large - you noted Michigan and Wisconsin but if they are hard to get to, given where you are - go see a UCONN, UMASS, Rutgers, etc. For private, BU and NEU.

For mid-large, you are close to SUNY Albany, Binghamton, UVM. Pitt

For mid size, how about a UVM and UNH (maybe not urban enough). Rochester could e a private to look at as well.

You might want a smaller student body at a large school - go check out U of South Carolina - and the top rated Honors program and you’d be in the state capital. And if you’re down that far, check out College of Charleston. It’s a bit North and probably not suburban enough, but take a look at William & Mary.

For small, if you get out to Wisconsin and Michigan, check out Minnesota - and then go see Macalester - which is a small liberal arts school in Minneapolis - with a fabulous reputation.

Or stick close to home to save money - and go see a few suburban liberal arts colleges in your neck of the woods - Holy Cross, Union, Trinity. Or some that are “suburban” like a Skidmore, Connecticut College.

Obviously you can’t go see 100 schools - but I would go out and validate your thoughts because as I suspected, you hadn’t done that.

If a “large” school is too much for you, I would disagree in going to one over a “mediocre” small/mid. They are only mediocre if you make them such. There are huge successes from most every school and check the grad school rosters of the Ivies - they are riddled with kids from most every level of school.

So you want to spend the year, learning what you really like - and then finding those schools - in my opinion.

If you keep up the great work, with your record, you might even find some schools where you score some scholarships and thus help your family save, if that’s a desire of theirs. Have you had that discussion?

Again, I think it’s great you have these thoughts - but I do think you would benefit by visiting a few school as you are able during off days from school during the fall and spring - if possible when campus are populated. It’s not as good to go in the summer but if that’s the only time, that’s great too.

Sorry to veer off your original topic but I just think your “chance me” is premature. I’s not premature that you are thinking - and that’s great - but let’s see how you feel after visiting some campuses and let’s see how you do academically this year - hopefully you do just as well but you’re taking tough classes and you just never know.

Hope that helps.

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