Chances at Stanford / NYU / Duke / Swarthmore / UC / Top Schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I posted specifically in the University of Pennsylvania thread, but I wanted to put it here too. Penn is my first choice, but I was wondering about NYU, Duke, Stanford, Chicago, and the other top schools.</p>

<p>I just finished my junior year of high school, and now is the time where I'm seriously considering colleges. University of Pennsylvania is my top choice, but I'm still unsure if I even have a chance in the admissions office or not.</p>

<p>I attend a charter high school that allows me to take a full courseload of college courses. This is different than dual enrolled students because I haven't taken a normal high school class since freshman year. When I graduate next year, I'll have an Associate's Degree and a high school diploma. Because I go to such a weird school, it's hard for me to determine how I stand amongst traditional high school students.</p>

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<p>High School: Collegiate High School at Northwest Florida State College
Majors: Economics and Political Science (may exchange PoliSci for public policy, but I'm not sure yet)</p>

<p>GPA (4.0 scale): 3.7
ACT: 28
SAT: Need to take</p>

<p>I'm also heavily involved in extra-curricular activities that relate to my program of study. Being at the charter high school that is actually part of the college, I am allowed to join/lead college groups, and I have actually founded a "Think Tank" club that gets together to discuss politics, economics, and social issues:</p>

<p>Member - Collegiate High School Academic Team - August 2013 - May 2014 (not continuing because I'm too busy)
Captain - Northwest Florida State College Forensics (Speech & Debate) Team - January 2014 - Current
President - Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society, Sigma Mu Chapter - January 2014 - Current
Founder/President - Northwest Florida State College Think Tank - March 2014 - Current</p>

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<p>Junior Year Semester 1:
Microcomputer Applications - A
Chemical Science - A
Writing and Grammar - A
College Algebra - A
Music Special Topics - A
Piano 1 - A
World Civilizations 2 - A</p>

<p>Junior Year Semester 2:
College Chemistry 1 - Audit
Intro to Programming / Logic - A
Economics 1 - A
English Comp 1 - A
Pre-Calculus Algebra - C</p>

<p>Senior Year Semester 1 (classes I will take this upcoming fall):
Business Calculus
American Government
Economics 2
History and Ideas of Political Science
Philosophy</p>

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<p>What do you think? Do you think I have a chance at any top schools?</p>

2

<p>your ECs are very impressive, but your GPA + ACT combination is far too weak for schools at the caliber of ivies/duke/stanford/swarthmore/other top LACs. You should be OK for the UCs and NYU though. </p>

3

<p>I still have one more semester that I can use to pull my GPA up into the 3.8 range. Also, I’m shooting for at least a 30 ACT and will take it until I get a 30. With a 3.8 GPA and a 30 on the ACT, would they still be a reach for me?</p>

4

<p>Yep. I’d say unless you have a 3.8 or 3.85 ++++++ coupled with at least a 32 ACT (a 33 or 34 would be preferable(, they’d be a huge reach. At a 3.85 and 33, they’d still be a low reach.
I myself had a 4.0 and a 34 ACT. My EC’s were very comparable (if not actually more solid than yours), and I still didn’t get into many of the top LAC’s or Stanford.
I hope you have some safety schools.</p>

<p>Is your 3.7 unweighted?</p>

5

<p>Lower your expectations</p>

6

<p>Yes, 3.7 GPA is unweighted.</p>

<p>I do have some safety schools. My safeties are University of Florida and New College of Florida.</p>