PSAT: 1480
SAT: 1530 (730 W/EBR) (790 M)
GPA: 4.0 UW (Number one in my class entering senior year)
APs: World History, US History, US Government and Politics, Chemistry, Spanish Language, Psychology, Calculus BC, English Language and Composition, Statistics, English Literature, Spanish Literature, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Physics II
US - 5; English Lang- 5; Spanish - 5; Gov&Pol - 5; World - 4; Psych - 4; Micro - 3; Calc BC - 3; Chem - 2
ECs:
- Founder, President; Model UN club (9 - 12)–President all 4 years
- Member, then President; National Spanish Honors Society (10 - 12) President for one year
- Member; National Honors Society (11-12)
- Varsity baseball player (9 - 12), 1st team all region; captain for junior and senior year
- Pianist, Arizona State Univerisity jazz performance ensemble; auditioned, (9 - 12)
- Understudy with professor of jazz performance at ASU (7 - 12)
- Member; Ruhi Institute Study Circle
- Instructor; Ruhi Institute Children’s Class
- 150+ hour internship; Arizona State University professor of African American Studies
- 200+ hour internship; Baha’i Office of Public Affairs, Washington DC
- Founder, Director Jazz4People nonprofit; Merged my interests of urban economic development and jazz to form nonprofit Jazz4People; a program designed to bring jazz study and performance to inner-city youth; designed my own curriculum and is available for purchase on various educator platforms (10 - 12); 350+ hours
-100+ hour volunteer Tempe Community Action Agency
-Using Jazz4People and ASU internship, published research in undergraduate journal regarding correlation between musical expression and economic urban development.
Race/Ethnicity: Mexican
Sex: M
Religion: Baha’i
Intended major: Economics
Applying:
Harvard
Yale
Columbia
Brown
UPenn
Stanford
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Northwestern
UMich
Duke
Boston University
George Washington
Arizona State University
Forgot to mention colleges applying to:
UC Berkeley
Stanford
UCLA
U Mich
UNC Chapel
Harvard
Yale
Columbia
Brown
UC Berkeley - Possibly
Stanford - High reach
UCLA - Legitimate Target
U Mich - Pretty realistic, even though OOS
Harvard - Hi Reach
Yale - Hi Reach
Columbia - Moderate to Hi Reach
Brown - Mid to Hi Reach
Princeton - Hi Reach
U Chicago - Hi Reach
For:
Hi Reach: Your NPO looks great and that’s a viable hook I think as well as your pub so that’s awesome. These schools are obv very competitive but you have, imo, as good a chance as it gets without being a massive hook applicant (recruited athlete, etc)
Based on your URM status and your great ECs and stats, I would consider you a very competitive applicant to any of the schools you listed. Be cautiously confident though, as Ivies and top universities that preach holistic admissions approaches can have unpredictable admission decisions. However, I feel like you are very well qualified to make it into any of the schools you mentioned. Harvard, Stanford, Yale and Princeton are the ones I would have to say that you should expect to get declined from, since they reject around 90-95% of their applicants. I wouldn’t be surprised if you got into any of those universities either, though. GL!
would you guys recommend retaking the sat? aiming for high 1500s? or is 1530 sufficient?
Great stats but as I hope you know, all of those top schools are very low odds for everyone and you need some matches and safeties that you’d be happy to go to in case the odds don’t go your way. Do you have some good backups? Also, it might not matter to you but UCLA and UCB don’t give much financial aid to OOS applicants, so if you are looking for need-based aid, don’t bother with those 2.
Accomplished in athletics, music, academics & leadership. Your profile suggests that you are a competitive candidate for all of your listed universities, but all of your targeted schools are highly competitive for admission.
Are you a resident of California ? Are you in need of significant financial aid ?
i am in need of significant financial aid. suggestions for other comparably prestigious, equally generous institutions that would be matches for me?
how is boston university financial aid? or usc? other private universities
If you are not a resident of California, then you may not be eligible for grant money at Berkeley & UCLA.
Northwestern University is worth looking into since it has a School of Music as well as a very strong economics major. But Northwestern only admitted 8.8% of all applicants last admissions cycle.
You need to add a few safety schools to your list because college admissions has become unpredictable at the most selective schools.
In my estimation, you are an exceptional candidate for admission to all of your targeted schools–but that guarantees nothing. So add a few schools to your list with easier admissions.
If you are bilingual or trilingual, then that should be noted in your applications.
P.S. As an aside, my wife is good friends with the son of the founder of the Baha’i faith.
@medbsmd - your predictions are a little off. You think Columbia and Brown are easier to get into than UChicago? In what world? UChicago has 2 ED rounds and an EA round and still has a higher acceptance rate than those other schools.
i am bilingual - fluent in english and spanish
@jjhysterio : Among the top 10 best university Jazz programs are (relevant to your interest in majoring in economics):
Columbia, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, & Illinois.
other schools, perhaps safer options, i have in mind include tufts, unc chap hill, and maybe claremont mckenna since I am planning to pursue economics and political science
CMC is an outstanding option to consider for your intended major. UNC & Tufts are great schools. You may be considered for UNC’s major scholarship as well.
I wouldn’t consider UNC-Chapel Hill a safety school per say, more along the lines of a match. Find a less selective school that has programs you like that you would be happy attending should the reaches you have fall through, which they shouldn’t based on your resume, but better to be safe than sorry.
sounds good. do you recommend retaking the sat in august? and shoot for upper 1500s?
It wouldn’t hurt, worst case scenario you just don’t send it in, since most schools ask for either highest single sitting score or superscore.
None of the “safer” options are safeties, or really even matches. The only match on your list is UMich. It looks like you are from Arizona, in which case you should apply to ASU and/or U of A, which will be safeties from a financial as well as an admissions standpoint. And while I think you have a great application, so do thousands of other applicants. What are your criteria for schools? (Size, location, cost, greek life, party scene, type of curriculum, city/suburban/rural, etc)