Currently a Jr. White Male, highly competitive public high school in upscale suburb.
GPA: UW 3.8/ W 4.2
ACT - 33
Will take SAT Math 2 and Physics in June and expecting 750+ on both
Only taking 1 AP this year(AP Stat) due to high involvement in Varsity Sports(play 3)
Will take 4 next year - AP Micro/Macro, Ap Calc, AP Physics 2, AP Comp Sci
Have taken all Honors that I can. My school only offers 1 honors course to Freshman and 1 AP to Sophomores to give you an idea of where I stand.
I am in the top 10% of my class. 400 in class and only 40 or so graduate with above a 4.0(see? - highly competitive- no grade inflation)
EC’s:
Peer Support - will be a leader next year
Varsity Sports(3) - high dedication since Freshman year and pretty successful at all 3. Make all county each season. Named Captain for 2 teams next year already
Expect to be in NHS this spring
Chinese National Honor Society
Volunteer in kids sports programs
Work at sports camp in summer
Volunteer in summer delivering meals to the homebound
These are the main ones…
Dear @2muchtime,
Your ACT score is within the range of these schools, and I would not worry about that further; however, your extracurriculars seem to be all over the place. I’d say that, for how general you were, most kids have done many of the same things. Such as NHS, well, all high school kids in an honors track receive this. Volunteering is great, but again, many of the kids do the same, if not 90+% of them. How good are you at these unnamed sports, and are you willing to play for the colleges? What is your “hook” exactly? Are you super into sports, linguistics, or just volunteering? You need to figure that out and really bring it out in your application. My sister got into JHU with a 29 and lots of volunteer hours. They accepted her, basically, only because of her hours and how much enthusiasm she showed about it. You just need to figure out what is special about you. Of course, I’m just a high schooler myself; however, I’m not sure about the other schools but your chances getting into Vandy is “decent” for the regular “scholar” type. Nothing really jumps out at them.
I guess I should have been more specific. So here it goes:
XC
Indoor Track
Outdoor Track
Coach for local kids running club
Camp Counselor for above summer camp
Volunteer at all local road races for above said company that puts on the races
So, yes, I do go WAY deep in that particular area. I don’t think you can get much deeper.
And, yes, my times are good enough(better) to run at all 3 of those schools but I’m just not sure if I want to continue to do that in college. I really just want to be a student and enjoy a social life.
Your scores are pretty good. Your gpa is average. However, your lacking ap’s Your track-focused ecs are above average. Your chances for acceptance are pretty good for Vandy and Wake. But your chances for Washington U are average.
First, my GPA is not average for my school. I am in the top 10%! AP’s are restricted at my VERY competitive public high school. My school ranks highly in all national rankings. I practice 7 days per week. There is no time for taking 3+ AP classes. The people I know that do take 3 do NOTHING after school but go home and study. They do not play sports. So, I guess I set myself apart from them in a good way. There is more to me than school.
Oh. Sorry for the AP thing and GPA thing. I forgot that college admissions are holistic. However, while your sport ec’s are pretty good, you do not have any major STEM ec’s, since your are aiming for a STEM major. That’s gonna hurt.
And my application is in the final stages of being reviewed for Governors School for Engineering and Technology. Only 2 from my school were picked to move on…
While the physics varsity team should help, I still think that your lacking STEM oriented ec’s . However, your track oriented sports should make up for your lack of other ec’s.
I don’t think your high school is that competitive, I will also be graduating with a class of 400 and around 100 will have a GPA above a 4.0. Your school would also lose out to a ton of California high schools too. Nothing really stands out to me. I think you’ll get into Wake university, and rejected at both WashU and Vandy.
I think your stats are there. The love you (and your recommendation writers…) put into the rest of your app will tell the schools if you are a fit for their admit class.
Vandy and Washington U are both probably reaches or low reaches for you, as they are for every other top applicant who isn’t hooked, and Wake Forest is probably a high match.
I think if you haven’t already, you should consider adding some matches and a safety.
@Mahindra was only trying to offer advice. Your grades may not be “average” at your school, but when you are applying to a school like WashU, they will be viewed as average, if not below-average. Also, while you do have good reason to not be taking as many AP’s, you will still be expected to have taken the hardest courses possible (that are offered) when applying to top schools.
All of that said, your ACT is strong, your GPA and class rank are good, and you have some excellent EC’s, especially with your athletics. I don’t know what your chances are, but I’d recommend adding some matches and safeties to your list.
Just keep in mind that you won’t always hear what you want to when asking for advice. No reason to attack people when they don’t agree with you.
@2muchtime I really apologize 2muchtime. I should have been more careful with my wording. But anyway, I feel that you have a strong chance to get into Wake Forest and Vanderbilt, but your chances for WashU might be lower since there are so many strong candidates like you applying there.
Thanks peeps. I know Wash U and Vandy are reaches. Also on my list are W&M, Univ of Rich, Colgate, BC, Tufts, GWU, Nova, and UMiami. I am taking 4 AP’s next year so that will help my application. I have only taken one because of my commitment to running. I practice 7 days/week, so in order to take higher level classes across the board, I can’t be so heavy on AP’s or I will get no sleep. @Mahindra - the only reason I was giving you a hard time is because I noticed you were a freshman in HS, so, yeah.
@2muchtime Ya that’s kind of weird. I’m a freshman and I’m judging your admissions chances. It’s just that I was comparing you to other CC applicants. Btw, your chances for most of these schools are strong.
@Mahindra Thanks. Good luck with your search. You have time, but it is smart that you are thinking ahead. Don’t get too caught up in the process and stress out. You need to enjoy some of your HS career.