<p>Current junior (incoming senior) at a competitive public school</p>
<p>GPA: 3.75
Class rank: top 10%
PSAT: 170
SAT: 2020
ACT: 33</p>
<p>Subjects:
Math II-750
Bio-730</p>
<p>AP:
Stats: 5
Bio: 5
APUSH: 3</p>
<p>extracurriculars:
spanish club and math club since freshman year
founded and lead an original science club since sophomore year
NHS since junior year
Science olympiad since sophomore year
consistent volunteering at local nursing home center (twice a mo.)
clocked 200 volunteer hours</p>
<p>anything i should improve on idealistically?
thanks! :)</p>
<p>You look strong. You’re basically in the “well it’s really a crapshoot at this point” pool that 80% of us are in, that is, those who are not obvious accepts or denials.</p>
<p>I disagree with above poster and say your chances are pretty low.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say low relative to other candidates, but I wouldn’t say strong either. I mean everyone is low, since the acceptance rate is about 20% and many people that have very high stats get turned down, as has been discussed to death. But your ACT is good, SAT a bit low. You should break down your SAT for us. Also, I assume the 3.75 is unweighted but you should be specific. Not many AP’s so far, I assume you are taking at least 3 more senior year? Unless your school doesn’t offer many, then not much you can do. So I think the correct answer, assuming good recs and all, is that you are a bit at the lower end of candidates that Wash U like to accept, but certainly in range. If I had to give odds, and this is rather meanless but what the hell, I would say you have a 3 in 10 chance of getting in.</p>
<p>630 CR
710 M
680 W
10 essay</p>
<p>3.75 unweighted
4.5 weighted</p>
<p>took 3 APs sophomore year (AP bio, AP stats, APUSH), 4 APs junior year (Ap composition, AP euro, AP spanish, AP physics),
will be taking 6 APs senior year (AP gov, AP chem, AP lit, AP calc BC, AP macroecon, AP pysch)</p>
<p>Should have mentioned all the AP’s earlier, assumed you had only taken 3.</p>
<p>Yeah, I thought the same. Still no scores from the latest AP tests? Anyway, that absolutely helps that it makes your schedules in high school much more challenging looking. Improves your chances a lot at all schools you posted with. If you can get that CR score up 50 points, would be another big jump in chances. But now I think you have a decent shot at one of the schools you posted, besides Case. Case I think you are in, as much as one can say that. Which of the other schools? No one can say, it is a bit random almost, or at least appears that way sometimes. Certainly Michigan looks better, are you instate or OOS? JHU maybe 20%. It is still your SAT that is your weakest point. Good score of course, just not great. Crazy, I know. Maybe you can somehow tack on 80 points in another test. Most schools superscore.</p>
<p>Also, is money an issue? You don’t mention it so I guess not, but if you have to borrow to go to any of these schools, there are other excellent schools that have large merit awards which I feel sure you would get.</p>
<p>Can’t he just send his ACT instead of the SAT? Do they require both or something?</p>
<p>You are right, he can go with the ACT, and he should. But can you just send SAT II scores, which he will have to do, without them sending the scores of all tests you took from ETS? It used to be you couldn’t pick and choose, they just sent everything. Maybe it has changed.</p>
<p>fallenchemist- do you mean satII scores?</p>
<p>After my senior year, collegeboard changed and made it so you could choose what scores to send.</p>
<p>So to the op- just send you ACT and your SATII’s. You’ll be fine. You’re just in the crapshoot pile that most people are in.</p>
<p>Looks like i’ll work on my SATs. And i’m hoping to get some 4s and 5s on my APs this year. </p>
<p>thanks for the insight!</p>
<p>May i ask what exactly is “crapshoot”? thanks.</p>
<p>*thanks for your input!</p>
<p>show interest! that is very important- apply for scholarships (extra apps), visit campus…</p>
<p>crap·shoot /ˈkræpˌʃut/ Show Spelled [krap-shoot] Show IPA noun, verb, -shot, -shoot·ing.<br>
noun
- Informal . anything unpredictable, risky, or problematical; gamble.</p>
<p>To further expand on crapshoot, at the schools that have the most competitive admissions, they get far more students with “stats” and EC’s that meet their admissions criteria than they can possibly accept, even taking into account that many of those students will go elsewhere anyway. So even though on paper you might seem (and are!) qualified, they still may not offer you admission. Other factors are balancing the class geographically, by intended major, by interests (voice, instrument, sports, public speaking, whatever) and other various factors. So there is, at least as far as we can see from the outside, a certain “randomness” to the admissions. Of course it mostly isn’t random, we just can’t see these subtle factors. Hence to the applicants it is a bit of a crapshoot. But hiltzation is right, if you have a few favorites show a lot of interest by visiting, attending a local function in your area, apply EA or ED if appropriate, etc. Let them know you think they are special.</p>
<p>I know your scores have been discussed, but I look at your ECs and think, “nothing truly stands out”. I mean, you’ve got a lot of clubs (science, math, spanish), but what stands out about them? What did you do in your clubs? Awards? Competitions? Community outreach? See, clubs are always a big question in my mind. You could meet once a week, once a month, or once a semester. </p>
<p>And what do you accomplish? How do you leave your mark? What makes you special? It’s best to fully explain what impact you made, because as you may know, WashU looks beyond the test scores and wants to accept kids that fit in, not just kids who can complete a college course. </p>
<p>Hence, the crapshoot prediction.</p>
<p>To his credit, he did start a club and certainly has community outreach.</p>
<p>Make sure to visit and INTERVIEW. WashU is really big on that.</p>
<p>your SAT scores are rather consistent, so it’s fine. But if you wanna play it safe, don’t send those and just send your ACTs 'cause a 33 is amazing. Also don’t send them that 3 on APUSH. Other than that you have a high chance, despite what anyone else may say. Now just write an amzaing common app essay and submit everything before december (this is absolutely necessary, trust me) and you’re good to go</p>