I am an international student with a relatively low SAT score (1300). I will retake the SAT in August. My grades are not the best, as I started freshman year with a 3.5; however, every semester my GPA has improved. My cumulative is 3.8, and my last semester was 4.33. I have pretty strong and unique EC and have demonstrated longterm involvement/ commitment/leadership. I have taken honors courses & AP courses (scored well). I am trying to decide on 1 or 2 reach schools to apply to.
Please chance me:
UVA
Duke
Rice
WashU
Wake Forest
Hey, I think you should definitely apply to UVA, Wake, and Wash U. It sounds like your scores are a lot like mine and I was told by multiple counselors that I should apply to those schools. What is your Course Rigor for your school? ask to see your school report form, which tells you how rigorous your course load is. I was told that I am in the most rigorous category which is probably the top 7 kids in my class. Our GPAs are on a 4.5 scale where I had a 4.42 last semester. My cumulative is 3.84/4.5 and I was told that I should apply to those three and if I ED to any of them there is a solid chance I would get in. Rice and Duke are different ball games, in my opinion. I think Rice is still doable however, Duke is probably not realistic unless you can get like 1500 on the SAT which will showcase your academic credibility. Colleges don’t just admit people on academic merit alone, they want to make sure that you can handle the course load at their specific school. I would also implore you to look at some Nescac schools like Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby. Good Luck!
P.S I had a 3.32 freshman year so we are pretty similar.
@Bilraz02 Thank you so much! You gave me a little glimmer of hope haha. I don’t have a college counselor atm, as the one I had during junior year is moving. I see that you are interested in UVA, Wake, WashU, and Emory. What are you planning to study? Also, do you know how large the introductory courses are at each? I am worried about struggling in a 100+ person lecture hall.