Chance w/updated ACT score

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>White Male
Small public high school in upstate New York.
Colleges: RPI, UChicago, Skidmore, Vassar, Case Western Reserve, Vanderbilt, Hamilton
I have already been accepted to Roberts Wesleyan and UVM Honors.
GPA-95.07/100. My counselor says that any grade above 95 translates to a 4.0, but do the colleges see that the same way? School does not weigh grades.
Rank-7/106; top 10%. Not really competitive compared to some other schools.
SAT Verbal- 620
SAT Math- 700
SAT Writing- 660
Total- 1320/1980 (This is superscored. Highest in one sitting is 1280/1940)
ACT- 32 English, 30 Math, 33 Reading, 32 Science, and 8 essay for a 32 composite
NOTE: I got my ACT score back after I had sent my SAT scores to all of my colleges except Vanderbilt. Yikes. Anyways, I sent the ACT results to all of the schools. </p>

<p>School doesn't offer any APs, just classes affiliated with local community colleges. I have taken one of the most rigorous schedules available at my school, and have accumulated 20-25 college credits.</p>

<p>Awards- 8 Varsity Letters, Rensselaer Medal (probably only a help at RPI), "Trivia Team" League MVP and 2nd team All-City, All-League selection in outdoor track</p>

<p>ECs- Trivia Team (9, 10 JV) (11, 12 V) Aforementioned awards junior year
Soccer- (9, 10 JV) (11, 12 V) Moved up at end of 10th grade, can I put a check for varsity down on my app?
Indoor and Outdoor Track- (9, 10, 11, 12 V). All-League for outdoor junior year
National Honor Society- (11,12)
Church Worship Band- I have played drums in this band for four years. Probably 120+ Hours
Varsity Club- 12 (should have joined earlier haha)
American Legion Boys' State Rep- 11
Jazz Band/Concert Band- (9, 10, 11, 12)
Johns Hopkins CTY in middle school (probably doesn't mean anything)
Club Soccer (9, 10, 11)- About 4 hours/week, 16 weeks/year. That's a rough guess though</p>

<p>Work experience- Worked as soccer referee during the summer between my sophomore and junior year</p>

<p>Essay- Chicago's main supplement essay is probably better than the Common App essay, but the teachers who reviewed the essays loved both.
Recs- Should be decent. Nothing spectacular</p>

<p>I am being recruited for track at U of Chicago. The coach said that he'll write a letter supporting my app to admissions. I know this helps my chances; but enough to get in? I spend most of my time in sports, so I don't have a ton of time for a laundry list of ECs. Any responses would be very appreciated. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>thank god for the ACTs.</p>

3

<p>Definitely haha</p>

4

<p>well normally, i would say no for UChicago, but the coach putting a letter in for you almost guarantees your admission so >80% there
hamilton and Vandy are high matches, not because of you, because of their acceptance rates. RPI and CWRU youre pretty much in, but im not familiar enough on vassar or skidmore to chance you for those, hope this helped</p>

<p>thanks for the chance</p>

5

<p>Being recruited for a school should shoot up your chances like crazy, so UChicago is looking good for you. Vandy and Hamilton are high matches/low reaches, RPI, Skidmore and Case are low matches/probably in, and Vassar is a plain ol’ match.</p>

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<p>okay great, thanks.</p>

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<p>I think you’re probably in at all the schools except UChicago and Vanderbilt. UChicago is a match/low reach since you have the athletic advantage. Just make sure you write good essays and include your passion for track in it as well. </p>

<p>This year, Vanderbilt had a 30% increase in applicants, meaning its acceptance rate basically declined about 10%. You’d normally have a great chance at Vandy, but their average class rank this year was a top 3.5% I think. SAT scores are also much higher (around 1400-1500). I do think you’re competent, although I don’t know where you’d stand exactly by the time you apply since they’re apparently experiencing a huge wave. It would be like a reach for you under this year’s conditions.</p>

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<p>okay, thanks. anyone else?</p>

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<p>bump (10char)</p>

10

<p>bumppppppp</p>

11

<p>bump again</p>

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<p>normally, i would say you have a better shot at Vandy than at UChicago, but the track recruitment changes all that. i think you’re probably in at UChicago, although your SAT scores are low for that school, and since sports aren’t a huge deal at Chicago, they might be less forgiving. Vandy is very competitive nowadays, but a 32 ACT may very well put you over the edge.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>thanks!!!</p>

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<p>I’m going to revive this thread. And one more question…I go to a very non-competitive high school. I think that it has sent <5 students (probably 2 or 3) to ivies in the past 10 years. Nobody has gone to Chicago, Vassar, Vandy, and probably some other schools on the list. How does this affect my chances?</p>

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<p>bump 10char</p>

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<p>Vandy LOVES high schools where noone has ever applied before…fwiw…they will make it their business to find out about your HS if they like your app.</p>

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<p>Ok, so going to a crappy high school might work in my favor? Thanks for the reply</p>

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<p>depends how you/they define crappy…check out your school profile…what % go to 4 yr schools? etc?</p>

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<p>I found a site that said 44.4% of graduating students attended a 4 year school, and all were instate. That was 2006 though, idk what it is now</p>

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<p>Here are my actual results</p>

<p>Accepted: Chicago, RPI, Case, Vassar, Skidmore, UVM, SUNY Binghamton, Clarkson, and some schools that you haven’t heard of that my parents made me apply to
Waitlisted: Vanderbilt
Rejected: Hamilton</p>

<p>I’m going to post this on the sticky at the top of the page later, but here are my thoughts…</p>

<p>I should have shot higher. Chicago, Hamilton, Vandy and Vassar were my only reaches. I wouldn’t have applied to some of the schools on my list because they aren’t great fits for me. My parents influenced my application process too much.</p>

<p>Reasons for rejection/waitlist: Hamilton requires a sample of expository prose. I had written a TON of good stuff last year. Unfortunately, I don’t have any teacher-graded papers left. I had to send in a garbage, last-minute paper that I wrote in my extremely easy english class, and I thought it was bad. I think the admissions committee thought so too, because with the Vassar and Chicago acceptances, it seemed like Hamilton would be a waitlist at the very least.</p>

<p>Vandy was just extremely selective this year.</p>

<p>I now know what my ideal school would have been; a selective LAC located in the south (so I could be in a more conservative atmosphere). Hmm. DAVIDSON. And it has D1 athletics to boot. It’s too bad I didn’t do my research very well. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t have applied to many of the schools on my list. UVM was a free app. Clarkson was also free. Hamilton, Vassar and Skidmore were too liberal. I wouldn’t have wasted the time of those forced safeties.</p>

<p>Regardless, I have a final three that most people in my geographic area couldn’t even sniff. Chicago’s a fantastic school, and I hope it works out financially. The other two of my final three are RPI and SUNY Bing (it’s so cheap!)</p>

<p>Well, there’s my mini-essay. Now I have to go write a real one for school. Good luck to anyone reading this!!</p>