Weighted HS GPA: 5.02 (Extra .5 boost per class difficulty level)
Class Rank: 3/500
ACT/SAT Scores: 1550
Coursework
AP World History
AP Environmental Science
AP US History
AP Computer Science Principles
AP English Language
AP Biology
Duel Enrollment Pre Calculus
AP US Politics
AP English Literature
AP Physics
AP Psychology
AP Calculus AB
Latin and Spanish both for three years
Awards
2020 All District Band and All County Band
2021 All District Band and All County Band
2022 All District Band and All County Band
2023 All District Band and All County Band
High School Band’s Best player award
High School Band’s Best “rookie” award (2020)
AP Bio Student of the year (school award)
Rise Up Award (School wide)
English Excellence Award
History Excellence Award
Junior Marshall Selection
Academic excellence award (All A’s throughout High School)
Cum Magna Laude National Latin Exam
Extracurriculars
Class President
Section Leader for Marching Band
Drum Major of Marching Band
Showband Captain
40 Hours per summer volunteering at Camp Invention
Part Time over school year/summer at DQ (all four years)
Sidekicks (help freshman first few weeks of school)
Helped to start video announcement club at school
National Honors Society
Tri-M Music Honors Society
Latin Honors Society
Mu Alpha Theta Math Honors society
Rho Kappa History Honors Society
English Honors Society
Science Honors Society
JV Baseball
In rec roller hockey league
Mountain Biking
Did some piano recitals throughout HS
Am in a rock band, have done some gigs
Essays/LORs/Other
Recs from Precalc and Bio teachers (should both be very strong)
Schools
I will apply to more schools, these are just the top picks in each category. UVA is obviously not normally a match school, I only have it there as it is much more of a match school than colleges, such as Stanford, that I really would like to attend. Would really like opinions on the harder reach schools such as Stanford.
Congrats on an excellent academic profile. No one here can accurately chance you for Stanford, but you have a shot. Stanford does not have ED, but you can apply REA there.
Your high school GC will have better info on whether or not UVA is truly a match for you. VT is probably not a likely. My opinion, you need a few more likely/match schools, unless you will be happy to attend JMU.
Congratulations on building a strong profile while in high school!
Have you already completed high school, or have the all-district and all-county honors already been named for this upcoming school year?
Most colleges request one recommendation from a STEM teacher and one from a humanities/social science teacher. Did you have both of those teachers in 11th grade? Colleges prefer recommendations from teachers who have taught you in 11th and/or 12th grade, rather than from those who haven’t taught you since 9th or 10th grade.
You also have a lot of AP coursework taken. What have your AP scores looked like?
With respect to your schools (Virginia publics + Stanford) I think you’ve probably categorized them correctly. Make sure your family runs the NPC for Stanford to ensure that it’s affordable, and that you’d be happy attending JMU for four years, in case that’s your only acceptance.
Definitely will apply to more likely and match schools. Family members have had experience with being denied from all but safety schools despite meeting GPA/SAT req. so I am definitely going to be cautious in regards to that. As far as budget, definitely trying to keep it in state for the in state tuition paired with possible scholarships. I know some schools, such as VT, give minimal aid so I am a little wary of them. Only schools I’d really be willing to go out of state for are schools known to give large amounts of aid.
Thanks for the reply! I guess I should have specified more, but the selections are spring of 2020 when I was in 8th grade up to spring of 2023 for Junior year. Hoping to get selected for 2024 as well. As far as recs go, I was not aware of having to get one from humanities/social studies but I’m sure I can get a good one from there. Will just need to do some research on it. AP Scores have all been 4/5s. The AP section does include ones I’m taking this year so some of them have not been tested yet.
I’m sorry for your family members, but I’m glad that you understand the importance of making sure you’d happily attend any college on your list.
What is the budget? Virginia publics can run up to about $38k for in-state students (William & Mary, not on your list), though most seem to be in the $25-30k price. If you’re needing additional scholarships/financial aid to may the Virginia publics happen, then there may be other schools we could recommend where you’d get significant aid (need-based and/or merit-based). Does your family qualify for any need-based aid? Run the Net Price Calculator (NPC) at Stanford and see if the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is affordable for your family. If the EFC isn’t affordable there, then any schools that don’t offer merit aid should be eliminated, as Stanford is amongst the more generous schools in defining need.
My kid didn’t apply to Cornell and Georgetown because of it. We are full pay.
Every family is different.
It’s why I asked the question.
As a parent, my kid wouldn’t be applying to Stanford in this case. But - I’m not OP’s parents and OP might have need.
But he made the statement so full pay Stanford would be out - “I know some schools, such as VT, give minimal aid so I am a little wary of them. Only schools I’d really be willing to go out of state for are schools known to give large amounts of aid.”
It’s why I asked as I did. Now we all know some say - my budget is $40K but my parents say for the right school (i.e. Ivy/Stanford), they’ll find a way - usually through Chapter whatever bankruptcy!!
Interested to hear response from OP on the financial situation.
