Chance this mess of a junior

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi all,

I’m currently a junior and I’ve been doing more research into colleges and I’m getting extremely nervous as my stats and ECs are just not to standard with some of the schools that I (rather my parents) want to go to. I’m wondering if there’s any hope at all for me or if I should just keep my expectations low.

Asian male btw

Stats:
GPA: 4.1W (school does not do UW and if it means anything I have an upwards trend)
Rank: N/A (school in NJ and is known for being competitive but we haven’t been doing so hot lately)
SAT: 1540 (790W 750M), Math IIC 800 (planning on taking more)
All but two of my classes in the past 3 years have been AP or Honors classes. I have taken AP Bio, AP Language and Composition, APUSH, and will be taking AP Chem, AP Lit, AP French, AP Calc BC, and AP Stats

ECs:

  • Philharmonic Orchestra at school (basically a more advanced orchestra at our school, principal chair but not sure if this counts as a leadership position)
  • Viola teacher (I have 3 students and make money off of it)
  • All state chamber and regional violist
  • Founder and leader of a tutoring club for children who are hospitalized long term
  • National ranked fencer (I quit a couple years ago, also didn’t really win anything so lol)
  • Model UN, Science Olympiad, school newspaper (only participated)
  • EMT (going to be working at a corps soon)

Volunteering:

  • Presidential award for volunteer service
  • Participated in several volunteer missions to Peru, Paterson NJ, and NY (probably going to write about this in my essay)
  • Volunteer at a place for underprivileged musicians
  • Volunteer at church weekly taking care of toddlers and such

Essay:
I know I’m not even at that stage yet but one of my student’s mother is an English teacher and she loves me so I’m sure she’ll write a great essay if I ask her to write me a recommendation.

I’m struggling to find match schools only because my stats don’t line up neatly with anywhere in particular. I have a rough idea of where I stand (mostly inferred from statistics and Naviance) but any help with these is really appreciated. Please also give me names of colleges I could apply to. I’ll be applying for a humanities or business field.

Dream/high reach: Northwestern, Washington St. Louis, Carnegie Mellon, Notre Dame
Match (?): UMich, Tufts, Boston College, NYU (please chance for Stern as well)
Safeties (again, ?): Rutgers (in state), Villanova, Baroque College (legacy lmao)

I just have some general questions too if it’s ok to ask:
Does my math subject test in any way lessen the actual math composite from my sat score? If not, should I retake?
I have many, MANY Bs but somehow my GPA is above a 4.0. Is it still competitive or not really?
What specifically can I do to increase my chances before summer ends because my stats are virtually locked in at this point?

Sorry for the wall of text. Just writing this makes me feel a little calmer but if anyone can give me their advice/harsh words I would very much appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

2

GPA and standardized test scores seem to be in range for your schools. The ECs except for the teaching of viola students and fencing seem typical of Asian students. The fencing ranking could have been a hook had you continued with it.

I would also not write about mission trips. Too many of those essays have been read by admissions officers and don’t necessarily give them an insight into what makes you unique. Combining music with fencing would have been an interesting alternative.

Primary recommendation letters are from your teachers/guidance counselor, not from the parent of one of your students, unless she is an alumna of a particular school you are interested in.

Do not add any more ECs as that could be construed as padding. If I was in your situation I would pick up the fencing again.

Don’t bother retaking a 1540 SAT. It’s not going to be the reason for a rejection.

Move Tufts and Michigan as reaches. Otherwise what you have put down as reach/match/safety seems correct.

Add Georgetown as well. You have the 3 SAT subject tests that they like. And if it’s financially viable, use ED on a school you absolutely would be willing to go to.

3

Thanks for the reply. I’m not in the situation where I can pick up fencing again, simply because I don’t have the time nor do I think I can results out of it come November. I’m also not sure if Umich is a reach or not, only because my counselor (at school) told me it was a school I’m closest to in terms of stats.

4

I agree with all of @Hamurtle’s response.

Unless you are in state for UMich, it should be in the reach category, especially for business.

I will also echo not bothering to retake the SAT. That’s a great score and balanced.

I agree with using your ED wisely for your top choice if finances aren’t an issue.

Lehigh might be a good school to add as a match…

I think you are a strong applicant.

PS You can easily figure out your own UW GPA A = 4, B = 3…

5

Definitely don’t write about the service trip. This is quite overdone, and the admissions people will undoubtedly roll their eyes. Unless you focus on a different angle, and then only briefly mention it.

Agree with others. Find some way to make your self appear less Asian. The list that you provide above is very typical for most asian students. And you will be competing against all of them. Your ED/EA pick will be quite critical. Do you need financial aid?

The most critical piece is your UNweighted GPA. Calculate it, and post it here. What do you estimate your class rank to be?

6

Thanks for the replies. My GPA is a 3.45 UW and if I had to estimate my rank is probably around the top 15% out of I wanna say 300 kids. The reason I’m so interested in UMich is because my school sends a lot of kids there (12 kids got accepted last year) and I liked the campus.

About the trips, I was planning on mentioning them like once in a sentence about how opening my eyes to places not in my bubble of a town widened my perspective. Not going to go in depth with them at all.

Just a general question, are “matches” schools that I have a good chance of getting into, and “reaches” quite unlikely? I was always under the impression that “matches” meant that the stats line up with the average applicant, and reaches are similar but they are simply more selective, if that makes any sense.

7

Just a quick note, I am aware that my UW is extremely low for the colleges I’m looking into, and is one of the reasons I’m here for help in the first place. In no sense am I trying to imply that my test scores and ECs are good enough to make up for it.

8

Your unweighted is low for the schools at the top of your list. Admissions is deemed holistic, and they will take into account upward trend. But face it, there will be lots of students who look similar to you (Asian, high stats, strings, etc) with higher GPA.

Your plan with the essay sounds fine to me…but be careful. The service trip can be a two edged sword.

Match means a school that you fit squarely at the 50th percentile for stats. Reach is a school where your stats are in the bottom 25th percentile. Safety means where your stats are above the 75th percentile.

If financial aid is not an issue, pick a reasonable reach school (where your stats are at the 50th percentile for both GPA and SAT/ACT) and apply early. Then have a second choice school where you can apply ED2 in case you are deferred.

If you need financial aid and want to compare offers, then you will need to lower your expectations and apply broadly to as many RD schools as possible. You’ll probably need more ‘matches’ and less 'reaches. Best of luck

9

There is more to finding match/safety/reaches than just where you fall into percentiles with stats, especially for high stat applicants. You absolutely need to take into account the acceptance rate, and not just overall acceptance rate but also that for your major and if you’re OOS.

Just because your stats align with the 50th percentile for Harvard doesn’t mean that it is a match.

When my dd was applying we felt that safeties were schools with a higher than 50% acceptance rate AND where she was above the 75th percentile for stats. Matches were school that had between 25-50% acceptance rates and any school with under a 25% acceptance rate was a reach (her stats were 50th percentile for reach schools as well).

IMO, it’s better to be conservative with your classifications so you aren’t disappointed come Spring.

I would also suggest that you use the weakest part of your application when trying to determine which schools are match/safeties. In your case, that would be GPA.

10

Dear Not Complex, I was troubled to sense how hard you are on yourself and your mention of where your parents want you to go. You obviously have many talents, be proud and happy! I am a Lehigh grad and loved it there (several decades ago). I second the suggestion upstream about checking it out. I also want to caution you about your language surrounding the essay. I’m sure you didn’t mean that you would have your student’s mother write it for you! The essay is a great opp to differentiate who you really are from other applicants. Maybe take a class this summer in college essay writing? Good luck!

11

I agree with the comments above, I just wanted to add two:

  • you specifically asked about Stern, which I don’t think was answered. It had an 8% admit rate last year and that’s likely to fall this year, so it’s pretty much in the “reach for everyone” category
  • I too am troubled by the comment about where your parents want you to go. Which of the colleges on that list do you want to go to?
12

Thanks for all the responses and I’m sorry for not responding. I know I really should be applying to colleges I want to go to, but when its my parents who force me to visit Columbia and UChicago there isn’t much I can do there. To be quite honest I don’t have that beaming image of a dream school, but Northwestern and UMich are schools that I really liked and would love to attend. I’m just at that point where my grades are slipping like they do every year for me, and I can’t seem to get a good grasp on the grades that I want and need. For now, it’s more damage control and I have to find a way to bolster my app with ECs or more test scores. I saw that no one has really chanced me for NE so if someone can give me a reality check I’d really appreciate it. Thanks for all the support and advice you guys gave me so far.