I’m a junior beginning to look at universities, and Brandeis really appeals to me, but I want a very realistic view of my chances before I become too invested.
GPA: 3.51 UW 3.91 W (probably be a 3.56, 4.01 after this trimester)
Class Rank: 44/317
ACT: 33 (31 E 32 R 34 S 36 M) retaking in june, hoping for a 34
Honors/college courses: Honors Spanish III, Honors Precalc, AP Euro, AP Lang, AP Calc BC (all sophomore year), Linear Algebra/DE course over summer, and taking AP Chem, AP Physics C (M), AP Lit, Calculus III, Partial Differential Equations, Intro to Higher Mathematics this year.
Activities/EC’s: Marching Band (10th grade-present), Pep Band (10th grade - present), Fencing (8th grade - present), Math Team (joined this year)
Academic team (joined this year)
Projected AP/college courses for senior year: APUSH (all year), Fall Semester: Linear Algebra, Geometry, Real Variables I Spring Semester: Real Variables II, Elementary Theory of Numbers and Complex Variables(this may not be offered, in which case I’d probably take an introductory calc bases prob and stats)
I would say your chances look very good. Your GPA is in the range, but it looks like you’ve taken some very rigorous courses, so they may treat it as higher than it looks. You seem to be a math/science person. Is it safe to assume that you have mostly As in those courses and the Bs are elsewhere?
@Awesomekidsmom yes, I’ve gotten A’s in every math and science course I’ve taken other than biology
Then I would say that your chances are probably very good. I’d call it a solid match, but you need to keep in mind that strange, quirky, things can happen in the admissions process. You will always see stories of high stat kids getting waitlisted or rejected at schools that admitted a lower stats kid. My advice at this point is to try to put together a list of 6-8 schools that look like matches and that include at least one safety that you’d be willing to attend. Note that Brandeis gives out some pretty good merit aid that they don’t discuss on their website. I can’t tell you what their exact criteria are, but I know several kids who’ve had awards of 15-17.5K/year.
That makes me feel better, thanks. I’ve already got at least one or two safeties in mind just in case, though
I think you’re right about there. ED would really help.
I would seriously consider ED, but I’m hesitant because of cost. My family wouldn’t be able to afford it without a substantial amount of need based aid, which I won’t know about unless I’m admitted.
If you’re accepted ED, you can use an “inadequate amount of financial aid” as an excuse to break the ED agreement.
Ah, I see. I haven’t been looking at colleges for too long, so I was unaware of this.
My only other question about applying ED is if it would be more beneficial to apply early, rather than wait for first semester senior grades, which will likely raise my GPA and class rank, even if just little
Unless it’s going to make a big difference, it’s better to apply ED. There are more “open” spots available, etc. and for a school like Brandeis which “values interest” it can really help.