Please chance me for:
Wesleyan (legacy), Brandeis, (2x legacy?), Colgate, Binghamton, Tulane, Rochester, Emory, GWU, Georgetown, UF, Northeastern, and Duke
I’m a white, Jewish male from NY. I go to a nationally ranked public high school, if it matters.
GPA: 92.5-93. (3.75-3.8) My school doesn’t weight very hard (3.3% for Honors, 6.6% for AP/IB), so for a normal weighted scale my average would probably be a 94-96 (3.9-4.1) I had an 87.5 (3.25) average freshman year, a 93.2 (3.82) average sophomore year, and I expect to get a 95-97 (>4.0) this year. I don’t really have any extenuating circumstances for freshman year. I simply didn’t put in enough effort - the high school workload took me a very long time to adjust to. We don’t rank, but I’d figure I’m in about the top 12-18% of my class of about 350.
Course load - I will have taken at least 3 AP courses - AP World History, AP US History, and AP Spanish. I got a 5 on the AP World Exam, and I fully believe I can get a 5 on my exams this year. I may also sit for a few AP Exams for honors classes that I take, simply out of curiosity and to possibly alleviate my college course load. We offer a lot of AP’s at my school, but nobody I know has ever taken more than 4 in a year.
ECs - Academic Team, and will most likely be the captain senior year. I also plan to run the Young Democrats Club next year or senior year. I will most likely be in the English, Social Studies, and World Language Honor Societies for my school by the beginning of senior year, and National Honor Society not far after that. I am beginning to volunteer for our freshman mentoring program next year, and I am seeking various opportunities in my community. I will work as a peer tutor run by the school starting very soon.
I expect to get at least a 31 on the ACT if I take it (shooting for 33), and with some prep by the end of the month, I am trying to get the National Merit Semifinalist award. I’m shooting for above a 1450 on the SAT, although I am not taking it for a while. I am beginning to volunteer for our freshman mentoring program next year, and I am seeking various opportunities in my community.
I also have autism, so I would like to hear opinions on how that affects my chances. Where I am from, people know me as an exceptionally intelligent individual for whatever reason, so I expect to have blazing letters of recommendation from whoever I choose to write them. I am from New York, so there are certain SUNY schools that I like. Even though my family makes way over the amount that will get me significant financial aid (>240k - RIP to my parents’ finances) , I would still like schools that aren’t absurdly expensive. I will need a ton of merit aid, so I might apply to UA for their scholarship.
Most are reaches because of the GPA and low amount of AP courses. You aren’t in the top 10 percent either. Go for it, but I wouldn’t count on admission to the bigger named schools on your list.
You bring a lot to the table and have a lot to be proud of, so don,t sell yourself short just because your stats are on the low end for many of the schools you list. I would do a two prong strategy of: (1) focusing on your legacies, and (2j demonstrating intense interest at one or two (no more) of your reaches ~|e.g., Emory, Tulane, Colgate. By all means apply to SUNY Binghamton, GWU and UF. Best of luck to you!
Our school doesn’t rank. I’m just estimating based on observations I’ve made.