Chances at Different Universities (UChicago, Georgetown, etc.)

Hi! I was just wondering what my chances will be at being accepted into some of the nation’s top universities.
I’m mainly concerned with University of Chicago, Yale, and Georgetown, but I plan on applying to most Ivies and the above listed, plus American and GWU.
Okay, about me:

  • from a small town (6,000 pop.) in central Illinois, rural community
  • valedictorian of my class (1/120)
  • 32 ACT
  • 1430 SAT
  • Taken every AP class my school offers except Music
  • 4 on AP World Exam.
  • 5 years of Spanish (one of which is AP)
  • 2 years of German
  • 4.0 unweighted gpa
  • Involved in a variety of clubs and organizations, notably 4H, Key Club, FBLA, etc. Numerous officer positions
  • State VP for FBLA
  • National Honor Society
  • Will attend 2017 Yale Young Global Scholars program for International Afgairs and Security
  • actively involved in my community and church
    The main reason I’m not sure is that living in a rural area impacts (positively?) my admissions chances. Where I live, literally no one has even applied to these universities. Also, keep in mind I would be applying to the International Studies/Global Affairs major or foreign service school at said university.
    Thanks for your input!

It seems like you’re going to have a lot of great choices available to you. Like me i would spend this summer trying to pull up those standardized test scores. As standing the test scores will inhibit you from those schools likely, however being from an area that doesn’t usually send someone to a top school will benefit you. In terms of a state school you have a pretty good one that you could definitely get into, so no worries about that. I would consider starting a club or really focusing on one rather than a lot. To summarize as of right now i don’t think those schools seem like a great chance without a better test score.

The one blemish I see is your test scores. For ivy leagues, they need to be at least 33+ and 1520+. Otherwise, your chances are low, but still alive. But you have to raise your test scores or else you are dead in the water, because sometimes colleges don’t see being the valedictorian of a small high school to be a big achievement, which is why test scores matter so much for someone like you.

I think in your case your only weaknesses are your test scores and your ECs (but the Yale Young Global Scholars program sounds very prestigious). If you can bring your ACT up to at least 34 and your SAT up to at least 1500, I would say you have decent chances at theses schools (based on just academic qualifications). As much as living in a rural area will help, you will still want to have stronger ECs, so you may want to work on that. If there are not many opportunities to do so where you live, I would either try to make new opportunities (start a club or nonprofit; volunteer for a campaign, basically anything related to int’l studies). Good luck! I would appreciate it if you could chance me back here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1995754-chance-me-low-gpa-rank-cornell-rice-wash-u-ucla-etc-p1.html

I’ve job shadowed my representative and have quite a bit more EC’s than I listed. (Such as the Illini Summer Academies planning committee, YES delegate, CWF delegate, I taught a cooking and nutrition class to underprivileged youth)

Does that help?

You made the best of your opportunities and your application will be taken into context based on what your school offers. You didn’t list the number of APs offered but I assume your school doesn’t offer that many. That’s fine since your took the most rigorous classload offered.



Your demographics may work in your favor in this particular case. The schools you are applying to are used to seeing multiple high achieving Asian students with the same cookie-cutter ECs or variations thereof. A kid from rural Illinois (I am assuming southern Illinois) doing his/her best with the resources available is compelling for an adcom to spend the extra few minutes giving your application a second look. Write good application essays and that would tip the proverbial balance in your favor. As another poster mentioned, another SAT (or ACT if you prefer) score will help.



YGS is pretty hard to get into so that looks good on the application and the seminars are led by the

leading experts in their field. You have done well so far and your interests have aligned with your future major. Good luck!