Chances at Brown, Reed, UW-Madison, etc.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I took AP World History this year. Plan on taking AP Calc BC, AP US History, AP Macro/Micro Economics, AP English Language/Literature, & AP Enviro Science next year. Senior year plan on AP US Gov, AP Physics B, & AP Psychology along with Calc 3/Differential Equations at community college and volunteering as a mentor at elementary school.</p>

<p>I feel like I have some unique qualities that could stand out including being a vegan for over 2 years now and being a vegetarian since kindergarten. I feel like my weakest areas are my ACT Score, only a 26 (want to get it up to 33-36) and not too much community service. I've done a wide assortment of community service, but nothing like 100 hours of blah blah blah blah.</p>

<p>Below is some more detailed information about me. Please let me know how I stack up. Thank you very much!!!</p>

<p>User Name: bbarty
Gender: M
College Class Year: 2016
High School: Public
High School Type: sends some grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.96
GPA - Weighted: 0.00
Class Rank: top 10%</p>

<p>Scores: ACT 26, AP Human Geography 5</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: *Involved in 4 high school theater productions (2 musicals and 2 plays)
*Highly involved in Band (Marching Band, Pep Band, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band)- have competed at State Solo Ensemble and played at State Basketball Tournaments, also created Polka Band which also advanced to state
*Highly involved in Choir (Premier show choir, Vocal Jazz)- competed at State Solo Ensemble along with numerous gigs in the community and singing at nursing homes
*Math Team- 2 years- County Champions
Summer Fitness- 5 day a week fitness program throughout the summer
*Chess Club</p>

<p>Leadership Positions: Order of the Arrow, Student Council, NHS, Band Treasurer</p>

<p>Athletic Status: *Cross Country- Varsity- 2 years
*Wrestling- Varsity- 2 years (advanced to team state)
*Track and Field- Varsity- 2 years
*Soccer- (don't currently play, however plan on playing in college, in Middle School attended Olympic Development Camp)
*Road Cycling- 1 year- compete throughout state
*Ultimate Frisbee- (plan on playing in college)</p>

<p>Colleges of Interest:</p>

<p>College: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Choice #: 1, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: Yes, Status: Will Apply
College: Brown University, Choice #: 2, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Reed College, Choice #: 3, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: St. Olaf College, Choice #: 4, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Princeton University, Choice #: 5, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: University of Chicago, Choice #: 6, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: University of California-Berkeley, Choice #: 7, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Columbia University, Choice #: 8, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Choice #: 9, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Dartmouth College, Choice #: 10, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: University of Virginia, Choice #: 11, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: University of Notre Dame, Choice #: 12, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Williams College, Choice #: 13, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Harvard University, Choice #: 14, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: University of Miami, Choice #: 15, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Washington University in St. Louis, Choice #: 16, ED/EA: No, Athlete: Yes, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply</p>

<p>Desired College Characteristics:</p>

<p>Location type: Urban, Small City
Size: Small (Under 2,500), Medium Small (2,500 - 5,000), Medium (5,000 - 10,000), Large (10,000 - 18,000), Very Large (Over 18,000)</p>

<p>Area: Other, East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, Southeast
Importance of cost: Very important</p>

2

<p>The only desirable statistic I see in you is your 3.96 GPA. Sadly, colleges look for more things than just this. You 26 is not strong enough to be your backbone. You also cannot expect to jump 7-10 points. That is an extreme jump of points, but if you can actual do it, congratulations. But I think you are aiming to high. You do not truly stand out as a student at almost all of these schools. You should consider rearranging your list, because I can already tell you that you are a high reach for 90% of them. But here’s my list</p>

<p>Wisconsin-Reach (High-Match if In-State)
Brown-High reach
Reed-High reach
St. Olaf-No idea
Princeton-High reach
UChicago-High reach
UCBerkeley-High reach
Columbia-High reach
UMich-High reach
Dartmouth-High Reach
Virginia-High Reach
Notre Dame-High reach
Williams-I dont know
Harvard-High reach
UMiami-low reach
WUSTL-High reach</p>

<p>I’m not trying to be rude by any means, but I believe you are overestimating yourself. a 3.96 is great, but with nothing to back it up (lots of volunteer work, 30+ ACT, involvement in the community) you have virtually no chance at these schools.</p>

<p>I know a person who was declined from University of Illinois (not NEARLY as prestigious as some of these schools) with a 4.96 GPA, 29 ACT, and basically no extra curricular activities or volunteer work. </p>

<p>Ultimately, recreate a list of schools. Personally, I believe you should look into:
Boston University
NYU
Iowa
Indiana
Minnesota
Mizzou
and other schools with similar statistics.</p>

3

<p>UW-Madison is in-state and both of my parents went there. I’m fairly confident I could get in there if I applied now and I still have 2 more years of HS. i agree with you that it won’t be easy; however, I have the most challenging schedule out of anyone in the history of my school. my school only offers 2 AP classes (biology and calculus). i took AP Bio this year and am taking AP Calc BC next year. I’m busy from 6am-10pm. Then do homework from 10pm-1am everyday. I really don’t know what I could more of. I’ve personally written my own books since pre-school.</p>

<p>Also, I volunteer every summer for the local library’s Summer Reading Program, am a Salvation Army Bell Ringer, part of a Haiti Mission Group (likely going to Haiti for 1-2 weeks in October), and help out with the younger kids at my church.</p>

<p>what would you recommend me doing to improve where I’m at right now?</p>

4

<p>If you’re just completing your sophomore year, relax a bit. Then re-take the ACT next winter. Try the SAT next winter also; some folks score materially better with the SAT format, and some do better with the ACT. Good luck!</p>

5

<p>Most Sophomore don’t take the ACT, due to the fact you haven’t actually learned all the info sometimes(i.e. Trig). Definitely retake next year.</p>

<p>Also, I personally wouldn’t do the trip to Haiti. You need to show leadership and service work within the community. Yes, it’s great that you are sacrificing time and money to better the lives of other people a world away, yet it looks more promising to see a student who wants to create a better community for himself, his family, and his peers. In the eyes of an Adcom, that looks more desirable than traveling to Haiti.</p>

<p>But since you are instate for UWMad, I’d say you have a good chance. Their ACT average isn’t very high, and you GPA is clearly above their 3.6-3.7 Avg. So that’s definitely your best bet.</p>

<p>But unfortunately, many of your schools on that list: Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, Princeton, Notre Dame, and Harvard, have MUCH MUCH MUCH higher ACT/SAT expectations that a 26. Get that 26 to a 30 or better and you’ll have a much better chance.</p>

6

<p>If Wisconsin is your number one choice, relax and forget all of the other schools which are much, much harder to get into.</p>

7

<p>Is this list in order of preference?
You would really rather go to Wis than Brown?
You would take St. Olaf over Princeton?
You would take Miami over WUSTL?
You would take thirteen other schools over Harvard?</p>

8

<p>Yes, you have taken challenging coursework. I wouldn’t bother with Harvard, Williams, Princeton, Columbia or Dartmouth. They aren’t that high on your list and you probably won’t get in, (no offense). Save yourself the time and money. I think you have a good chance at Reed and St. Olaf’s, although needing financial aid will hurt you, at least at Reed.</p>

9

<p>I think we’ll need your SAT score to give a better idea, since your ACT is so low (not so surprising for 10th grade).</p>

10

<p>he has 2 years to prepare guys.
so hey , get the act up by 7 points.
get an sat score of 2150+ and u are good to go.</p>

11

<p>thanks for your comments. </p>

<p>I rank UW-Madison number 1 because it is less expensive, in-state, is a really good school, and has many organizations that I am interested in. however, if I were to get accepted at Brown, Princeton, or Columbia it would be tough to pass up. yes i would rather go to miami than washington university and yes harvard is #14. it is tough to choose between st. olaf and princeton. it will be a lot easier for me to rank these after I’ve visited some of them.</p>

<p>hopefully i can take the ACT in December and get a good score (33+). for my 26 I just studied for about an hour the night before, so I will definitely studier more for the next one.</p>

<p>if i end up taking about 12 AP classes, do you think that would some what make up for a lower ACT score, if I’d only get a 29-31 on the ACT in december?</p>

12

<p>Unless you are in to Div I sports or really like hot weather, I honestly can’t see how you could possibly think Miami is preferable to WashU. Actually, I don’t think Miami is in the same league as any of the other schools on your list.</p>

<p>I’m sure Wis has lots of nice organizations, but can you point one out that Harvard does not also have? </p>

<p>And purely hypothetically if you were to get into St. Olaf and Princeton and chose St. Olaf, I don’t think you would meet a single other student there that turned down Princeton.</p>

13

<p>Hey bbarty, where are you from? I wrestled 140 this year up in the northern part of the state (I was terrible, 8-20, just joined as a senior).</p>

<p>You’ll probably get a much better idea of where you truly stand for the Wisconsin schools from people who are from Wisconsin. The bottom line is that if you score in the 30’s for the ACT and really do end up taking 12 APs, you’re a lock for Wisconsin in-state. If I were you, I’d be shooting for the UW Honors program (and maybe even check out UM Twin Cities, I ended up choosing that as my safety over UW and we get in-state tuition there).</p>

<p>Truthfully, in order to have a shot at any of the Ivies, you’re going to have to get a 33+. You’ll also have to take the SAT. Let’s just say you get a 30 on your ACT, and you take 6 APs. This is how I’d see your list.</p>

<p>Wisconsin-Lock
Brown-Impossible
Reed-Couldn’t tell you
St. Olaf-Almost for sure
Princeton-Impossible
UChicago-A high reach but reasonable chance. Write good essays, if you’re interested.
UCBerkeley-High reach
Columbia-Impossible
UMich-Close Reach
Dartmouth-Impossible
Virginia-Reach
Notre Dame-Reach
Williams-Impossible
Harvard-Impossible
UMiami-Near lock
WUSTL-High reach</p>

<p>If you applied to all of them, you’d probably get into one of the reach schools I listed above. I know some kids from my neck of the woods that weren’t especially fantastic that got into UChicago.</p>

14

<p>If you get a 33+ on your upcoming ACT, you will have a MUCH MUCH MUCH greater chance at all of these schools. (excluding Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown, and Columbia, which are somewhat of crapshoots.).</p>

15

<p>Hey MSauce, I’m from Sheboygan County. My team made it to Team State for the first time in school history. I was out almost the entire year with a broken wrist. The year before that, I joined about 2 weeks in and was about 17-19 at 103 (terrible), however I nearly made it to state because i got so many forfeits.</p>

<p>btotheg, what do you think I could do to improve my chances at the Ivy League schools?</p>

16

<p>Maybe it’s just me, but I’m failing to see how being vegetarian/vegan could help your chances in college apps (as a vegetarian myself.) Do you do political activism relating to vegetarianism?</p>