<p>I'm a junior at a high school in California.</p>
<p>Northeastern, BU and U of Rochester are some of my top choices.</p>
<p>My UW GPA so far is 3.58, and my W is ~3.9/4
My SAT is 1950</p>
<p>For EC's:
Been in advanced drama and theatre all through high school,
E-Waste/Recycling Program for 25+ hours
Tutor for Reading Development School..over 60 hours
Volunteer at Down Syndrome events for main holidays
Mentored incoming freshmen for junior year (plan on doing in senior year too)
Some volunteer work at Soup Kitchen</p>
<p>Northeastern - High match
BU - Match
University of Rochester - High Match / Low Reach</p>
<p>(I’ve done dramatically more research on Northeastern and BU than Rochester)</p>
<p>Your composite SAT score is good, but out of 1600 isn’t great. Boosting your math score by 50-100 points could increase your chances dramatically.</p>
<p>Also knowing the scale of your weighted GPA would help, it isn’t ~3.9/4. Is it /5 or /4.3 (or a similar scale where AP and Honors are given just a few tenths more weight)?</p>
<p>I suggest taking either AP Chem or Bio or even both, that would make you more prepared and look good on an application if your intended major is Biology etcetera.</p>
<p>Also, I have a teacher who really likes me, and is willing to write a solid reccomendation…she went to Northeastern. Does that increase my chances?</p>
<p>Alumni recommendations are highly regarded at some schools. My favorite teacher offered to write me an alumni recommendation letter to her alma mater (Bates), she told me with that I was basically in since all students who received a letter from her got in (I ended up not applying there since NU was higher on my list and I got in EA).</p>
<p>I’m not sure about Northeastern as 15-20 years ago it was a completely different institution, a letter from her could only boost your chances though.</p>
<p>You said you were a junior, take the SAT again in June after finishing your junior year math course. Scoring 50 points higher on the math and reading composite will boost your chances, 100 points higher would make Northeastern a match school for you. </p>
<p>Also getting a 5 or even a 4 on that AP Bio exam wouldn’t hurt :).</p>
<p>Okay, thank you! And you said that at this point, Boston University seems like a match? And if I try a little harder and improve a little bit more, I can raise my chances for Northeastern? How are my EC’s?</p>
<p>You EC’s are good, having a leadership position senior year in your drama club or any of your other EC’s would make them look better. </p>
<p>Boston University is a match for you with your GPA and SAT scores (looking at the University as a whole; I’m not sure if the college of arts & sciences is extra difficult to get into, I would assume it isn’t). </p>
<p>You have a good chance at Northeastern, but its far from 100%, unless you boost your scores I would suggest you have other colleges as back ups (like BU and Drexel or any others you like). </p>
<p>If co-op is what’s attracting you to NU I would suggest applying to Drexel as a back up since they have the same program, Drexel is also located in downtown Philadelphia as Northeastern is in downtown Boston. </p>
<p>Your junior year math course could seriously change your math score. The beginning of junior year I scored 62 on the PSAT, at the end of junior year when I took the SAT I scored 740. Also take practice tests of the math SAT, it tests your math skills just as much as your critical reasoning skills.</p>