Chances at Some Schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Background
Name: Joe Shmoe
College Grad Year: 2012
Gender: M
Race: White
High School Type: Sends very few grads to top schools
High School Rank: Top 4% (23/640)</p>

<p>GPA Stuff
Unweighted GPA: 3.91
Weighted GPA: 4.52
Grades: All As, other than one semester B in 9th, one semester B+ in 11th</p>

<p>Honors/AP Courseload
9th: Honors English, Honors Science
10th: Honors English
11th: Honors American Lit, AP Biology, AP Calculus, AP US History
12th: AP Physics, AP English Lit, AP German 7/8, AP Statistics</p>

<p>SAT/AP Scores
SAT I: 730CR, 690M, 660W = 2080 Total
SAT II: 750 Bio, 770 Math IIC 730 History
AP: Biology: 4, Calculus AB: 3, US History: 5</p>

<p>Extra-Curriculars
*Debate Team (10,11,12) Captain, National Qualifier, Two-Time State Qualifier. Fankhauser Department Scholar, NFL Academic All-American
*Varsity Track (9,10,11,12) Lettered 3 out of 4 years
*Apprenticeship for SEM Lab, Inc. - Training as Mechanical Engineer
*National Honor Society (11,12)
*FLES Foreign Language at the Elementary Schools (11,12) Over 50 hours of volunteer work in this... teaching German to kids.
*Panther Pals (10,11,12) Pair up with an elementary student and be a mentor
*German Club (10,11,12) Running for officer position
*Self-Studying 3rd year German over the summer
*300+ Hours of Community Service</p>

<p>Possible Hook?
*I administer a website for the debate team, <a href="http://www.shsdebate.net%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.shsdebate.net&lt;/a> . I created the website, and I pay for the server costs and I maintain it. I'm not sure if this is a hook or not, but I thought I'd throw that out there.</p>

<p>Target Schools
University of Washington (In-State + Double Legacy)
Northwestern University
Cornell University
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (OOS)
University of California, Berkeley (OOS)</p>

2

<p>What are you considering in terms of major? If it's math/science, then your SAT may be too low. There are still three more chances before RD. If you are considering something else, they are fine. Your ECs seem a little random, but you show dedication and you have some leadership. GPA, course rigor, and rank are all great.</p>

<p>University of Washington (In-State + Double Legacy) - Safety
Northwestern University - Low reach
Cornell University - Reach
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (OOS) - High Match/Low Reach
University of California, Berkeley (OOS) - Low Reach</p>

<p>I think you should throw in a match or two. Depending on what you want to do and what environment you want, I'd consider USC, NYU, UNC - Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, or Tufts as solid matches.</p>

3

<p>poozislove is exactly right. You can apply to all of these schools if you want, but also considering dropping your sights down just a little bit--at least to get a few schools to choose from. I like the list poozislove gives for quality, but not for cost. I'd throw in some schools like Rice, Ohio State, and even Emory that are known for giving great financial packages (or are cheap) in case the financial aid isn't so great at NYU and Wake Forest. </p>

<p>P.S. The other schools on poozislove's list (Tufts and USC) give pretty good aid packages or are cheap (UNC-Chapel Hill).</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the advice you two. Would going ED for Northwestern boost my chance to around a match?</p>

5

<p>With your SAT score, GPA, and ECs, I'd say Berkeley OOS is a reach.</p>

6

<p>I wasn't sure where you stood on cost, if it was a huge factor or just something you're mildly worried about. But Calcruzer's suggestions are great.</p>

<p>As for making NU a match, applying ED would certainly help, but I don't know if it would do it. Some schools (not sure if NU is included) really like it when you show an interest: visit the school for a tour, request mail, go for an interview, talk with someone at a college fair, anything as long as you fill out that little card. Rice, for example, which is very good for money, keeps a nice big list of all those cards and it can help you out a lot. If a school thinks that they are your #1 choice, they are flattered.</p>

<p>If you really want NU try to do all those things. Then it would be a match.</p>

7

<p>Already done, all but the interview... I believe Northwestern doesn't do them for Undergrads?? But yeah. Northwestern is definitely my top and I've emailed, toured, and generally made my intentions very clear hehe.</p>