Chance this gal?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey friends!

Relatively new here and I’d like to hear from some real people who are not afraid of offending me what my chances are at these schools. From most to least selective, they are:
{ Penn
Bowdoin
Tufts
Wellesley (nonbinding early eval) (legacy, they actually care here)
Bates
Brandeis
American
McGill }

Plans: Major in Psychology w/ Linguistics minor, get master’s, become a counselor.

Stats are as follows:
Rural public school in NH, middle/working-class area.
-White Female
-Dual Enroll, AP, Honors, all that
-Documented autoimmune condition
-I’ve been told my essay is good, describes my leadership position and challenges faced organizing New Hampshire’s first March For Our Lives.
-Over 100hrs community service.

GPA UW: 3.92
(we don’t do weighted at my school.)

Class rank: all I know is I am within the top 10% of a class of 200.

Honors Classes:
all english, history and science, precalculus, economics, college-level french class (B2 proficiency)

AP’s: I am taking every AP I can reasonably fit however I go to a rural school so there are not many offered!
AP Lang: 5
APUSH: 4
In progress: AP Bio, AP Lit & Comp
Also taking 2 dual enrollment classes with an in-state private university, General Bio and PubSpeak.

SAT’s: (only took them once but I’m okay with my score)
Total: 1470
English: 770
Math: 700
Essay (many don’t review this): 19 (reading 6 analysis 6 writing 7)

SAT Subjects:
US History: 700
Literature: 770

Honors:
National Merit Semifinalist (won’t know finalist status until spring but 90% of sf’s become f’s)
Top Foreign Language Student in Class, 2 years in a row.

School Clubs:
International Thespian Society
National Honor Society
National Art Honor Society(Treasurer)
National French Honor Society(VP)
Tri-M Music Honor Society
Jazz Choir
Theatre Troupe
Writing Tutor with school Writing Center & assists freshman English teachers
Gay-Straight Alliance

OUTSIDE of school EC’s:
Youth fellow of a youth-specific branch of an environmental nonprofit.
Organized and spoke at NH’s first March For Our Lives.
{other political advocacy work but it’s bits and bobs}
Ran an open mic night for 2 years with sales benefitting True Colors United, a nonprofit ending LGBT youth homelessness.
Volunteers at local Unitarian church.
Active volunteer for Elizabeth Warren campaign.
Summer intern at youth band and art camps at local nonprofit community arts center.

Alright, hope this is enough.
Don’t be a stranger!

S

2

Oh, also:

Job Exp:
Worked 16 hrs/wk at nursing home as dietary aide my sophomore yr.

Other notes: a few b’s my sophomore & junior yrs, claimed extenuating circumstances due to documented chronic illness.
Also grade deflation at my school is a thing.

3

The list is actually pretty good, but you have a huge list of private schools. Do you have the money to pay the exorbitant tuition costs? For the exception of some ivy-league schools, private schools aren’t all that generous with financial aid. The last thing you need is a long list of acceptances to schools you can’t afford.

If I were you, before I even start applications, I would talk to your parents about money. Financial aid is not something you can depend on with a private university unless they’re offering you a guaranteed scholarship in writing. You’ve got grades and stats for scholarships, and the south and southwest United States are a gold mine. Check out University of Alabama and Univ of AZ for starters.

4

I agree with @coolguy40 that you need to find out if you have any financial restrictions. There is something worse than being turned down at universities – that is being accepted and discovering that you cannot afford to attend.

Your stats are very good.

McGill is very strong at psychology, and will be academically very demanding. It has a well deserved strong reputation. If you want to work very hard for a full four years then I think that it would be a great choice. However, it is relatively large (particularly compared to the population of the country that it is in), and admissions is largely based on stats. As such I think that your chances at McGill are very good.

I think that you are competitive at every university on your list, although I find it hard to evaluate your chances at the first four other than to say that they are definitely not safeties, and probably range from high reach to moderate reach. The other three I do not know well.

I wonder about your also applying to UNH as a safety.

5

Your list looks good as it is, but given the context of your medical condition/going to a rural school with few AP offerings, you look even better to schools. You just have to make sure to not understate the difficulties you’ve faced throughout high school.

6

to @DadTwoGirls -
Yup! I did apply to UNH as my safety- it, for its scholarships, and McGill, I think, for its lower tuition even compared to my in-state schools should be my best financial bets. I just didn’t bother adding UNH to the list as I’ve already been corresponding with them. I live in a working class area but we are middle/upper middle so I’m not too worried about money, thankfully. Thank you for taking the time to write your post!

7

YOU might not be too worried…but have your parents actually said that they can & will pay $250-300k? If your parents can do that without you taking on more than very minimal debt, great.

Otherwise you have a disconnect between your plan and practicality. Once you have your undergraduate degree you need to add another $30K + living expenses for the Masters. Once you have your Masters you get your first job as a counselor - most likely in the $30-50K salary range. If you have ANY debt those first years are going to be very very painful.