Chances at Harvard, Princeton, Duke...

Applying to College
1

<p>What are my chances at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Duke, UVA, Georgetown, Emory, Michigan, Wake Forest, and Dartmouth? You don't have to answer for all these schools, mainly Duke, Princeton, and Harvard.</p>

<p>5.42 GPA
3.8 unweighted</p>

<p>12 AP/IB's throughout high school</p>

<p>Classrank: 9/491</p>

<p>NC Resident</p>

<p>Predicted 2275 SAT based on PSAT, historical trends, tests I've taken</p>

<p>Multiple essay contest winner (Awards, and this means I'll have good essays)</p>

<p>5 Red Cross certifications</p>

<p>Track and Field for school</p>

<p>Academic programs during summer</p>

<p>Lifeguard during weekends</p>

<p>Now here is the main thing:</p>

<p>My extracurriculars are my highest point.</p>

<ol>
<li>Vice President of Russian club </li>
<li>Founder and president of Non-partisan politics club</li>
<li>Intern at statewide political party</li>
<li>Treasurer of local young political party</li>
<li>Executive board member of statewide young political party board</li>
<li>Writer for political organization</li>
<li>President of Moot Court Team</li>
<li>Member of Speech and Debate Team</li>
<li>I've written multiple Op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, and two other major newspapers</li>
<li>Black Belt</li>
</ol>

<p>Obviously, I've got major political extracurriculars, and Moot Court and Speech/Debate are also political. My Op-eds (Not letters to the editors, but actual op-eds) are also political, those will be included with my applications when I apply next year.</p>

<p>Also, how are my extracurriculars? Will they make up for my GPA?</p>

2

<p>I’m guessing you’re planning to major in something politics related. Your ECs have a clear focus to them. Even so, though, your GPA is very strong - I wouldn’t say your ECs make up for it, because there’s not much to make up for IMO.</p>

<p>As long as your test scores and essays are strong, I think you’ve got a good shot at any of those schools.</p>

3

<p>Yes, probably double major in Public Policy and Business administration, with a minor in Economics or Poly Sci. I had 2 B’s my freshman year, but after that, all A’s. </p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback!</p>

4

<p>You can use the College Board or many other college sites ( [College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/]College”>College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics) ) to look up and compare the admissions info on any schools.
You probably already know that even exceptional candidates have poor odds of getting into the **most **selective schools just because there are so many excellent applicants from around the world. The Ivies you listed are all less than 10% acceptance rates, so they are a reach for everyone. But it is good to see that you have schools on your list where you odds are much better such as Wake Forest etc…
You are doing great so far by excelling in rigorous courses and participating in ECs. You will know more about your odds when you have test scores to work with.</p>

5

<p>If what you are asking is whether you are a reasonable candidate for all of these schools, the answer is yes. Does that mean you’ll get in to all of them? Probably not. Will you get into at least one? Probably. But since you can only attend one of them anyway, that’s not a problem, right?</p>

<p>Can you afford any of them? Better check.</p>

6

<p>I believe I will be able to pay for these schools, pending that I get some sort of financial aid (I don’t need a lot of financial aid, but a little). My brother attended one of these schools and got considerable financial aid, so I’m not worried that I won’t. </p>

<p>What do you think are my chances at these schools?</p>

7

<p>Also, are there any other schools you all would recommend for me that I haven’t mentioned above? I’m starting to look into Penn, but I’m not positive if the environment of the people there are necessarily for me…</p>

8

<p>Your stats are great. I think you’re a match for Emory, Michigan, and Wake Forest, and UVA. Harvard and Princeton are reaches for anyone, but you’ve got a pretty good shot. Good luck!</p>

9

<p>I think you have a good chance at all three but then again all three are toss ups. But good luck!</p>

10

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</p>

<p>Nobody is going to point this out? PSAT’s are out of 240, and scores are in integers (i.e. a score of 2275 is impossible in the SAT and a 227.5 is impossible on the PSAT)</p>

<p>Anyway, you have a solid shot at H/P/D, but your rank/GPA may hurt you depending on the context of your HS. Is it highly regarded? Do more than 10 go to ivies+ per year? Regardless, you have the best shot at Duke: your state residency and participation in NC politics will definitely appeal to them. Assuming you do well (750+) on your SAT2’s, I’d say your a borderline candidate at H/P.</p>