Chances at top schools for less than perfect student

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>ok im a junior as ive said before. these are the schools that as of now i plan on applying to: columbia ED, brown, georgetown SFS, johns hopkins, uchicago, tufts, (and princeton for the hell of it, maybe ED but doubt its worth it). im a male from NJ. I know i need safeties but im not worrying about safeties yet, just the schools i really want to go to. </p>

<p>here are my stats to date:
GPA: 3.7ish uw, 3.987 weighted at the moment, by the end of the year i expect it to be about a 4.02 (probably bottom of top 10%, did poorly freshman year)
SAT I: 2110 - 720m, 700cr, 690w...will prolly retake in may or sept.
SATII: USHist 740, will be taking world history and either spanish or physics after this year</p>

<p>APs: soph year - UShist, junior year - Euro, Physics B, senior(scheduled) - english, art history, chem, calc AB, stat...at my school you really cant take more than 1-2 soph year and 2-3 junior year depending on your schedule.</p>

<p>ECs: Teachers assistant at synogouge, will get teacher cert. at end of year
Post-confirmation religious school (its most forum/debate oriented now and i dedicate time to it)
League bowling
school bowling 9, 10
school volleyball 10, 11, (12)
Volunteer at library and historical society
Intl. Affairs Club
My schools version of NHS
philosophy club
peer tutoring</p>

<p>Hooks: nothing really super, maybe teacher cert? i also applied for congressional page program so i hope i get accepted, if not ill just be doing an internship. and then these arent hooks but might be interesting essay topics: strugge with disease miller fischer syndrome (guilliam barre) in 5th grade and travels to eastern europe and israel for nonvacation purposes.</p>

<p>well thats about it...i can only apply and hope but im just curious how any of this is looking now. I really wish i didnt mess around my freshman year but i wasnt very college conscious then :-( Thanks!</p>

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<p>You kidding? You have great stats. There are very few perfect students, but even fewer well-rounded individuals such as yourself.</p>

<p>Those schools range from slight reaches (Georgetown) to full blown "in your dreams" (Princeton). Oh...and Tufts is a pretty solid level.</p>

<p>Add in a couple more levels such as Brandeis and Colgate.</p>

<p>By the way, there aren't many Jews at Georgetown. It's nothing like Notre Dame, but 5% is pretty small.</p>

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<p>well thanks =) i figure im in state and i love princeton (it would be my top school) so i might as well apply for the hell of it. but realistically columbia and gtown are my tops. </p>

<p>if i apply to all of those schools, do i have a fair chance of getting in at least one save tufts?</p>

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<p>Columbia is a major reach...especially RD</p>

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<p>I think you have a chance at the colleges listed. They are all slight reaches to in my opinion. Don't waste the ED on Princeton. I think it would be better to use it on another of the colleges listed to improve your chances. (Unless you want to go to Princeton super bad and not for its prestige).</p>

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<p>columbia - Big Reach
brown - Reach
georgetown - Match
johns hopkins - High Match/Reach
uchicago - Reach
tufts - Match
princeton - Big Reach</p>

<p>Sorry Andrassy, but your current SAT scores, GPA, and class rank are at best only average for the Brown and UChicago applicant pools and below average for Columbia and Princeton. The stats for kids accepted at these schools are much higher. Just to give you an idea of how tough it is to get into an Ivy, at UPenn, if your GPA is in the second half of the top 10% (top 6 to 10%), you have, at best, about a 9% chance of being accepted. </p>

<p>Heavenwood is correct. You need to look schools on the Brandeis and Colgate level. You might want to consider schools like Vanderbilt, Emory, William and Mary, Colby, and Davidson. You might also want to consider Northwestern. Good school. Prestigious. Still a reach, but not a killer reach like Princeton, Brown, Columbia, or UChic.</p>

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<p>i know i need to looka t lower schools. i said these are my reaches that i might apply to...</p>

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<p>Hey, there are a lot of colleges out there that you'd have from a good to great shot of getting into. Your chance estimation is pretty accurate, higher SATs would help you a whole lot, and ranking does hurt you for the really prestigious schools (like Brown, where 87% of the student body was in the top 5% at one point). Nevertheless, you have great stats and I think there are some great matches you could easily get into, you might want to find some and look into them.</p>

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<p>Yeah. Understand we're not knocking your stats which are pretty darn good. Lots of really good schools would be happy to get a kid like you. The problem is, you listed some of the most selective colleges in the country. Competition to get into schools like Princeton, Columbia, and Brown is brutal. Even kids with absolutely top grades, SATs, and ECs (we're talking vals, 2350+ SATs, etc), have, at best, around a 45% chance of being accepted. Kid's with merely superlative stats have a 30% chance or less.</p>

<p>Getting your SATs up above 2250 would help, of course. Ditto getting your GPA up. But doing both would be no guarentee. By the way, if you get your SATs above 2200, you might want to consider Washington University in St. Louis. Great school. #11 on the US News list. Like Northwestern, still a reach, but not a killer reach like Princeton, Brown, Columbia, or UChic.</p>

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<p>my gpa may go up but it will be barely noticable...however, i do think i can pull a 2250 on SATs. 2110 was my first time with no real practice and i was rushed for time becasue of the way i took it. so hopeffully my SAT will go up.</p>

<p>i know these schools are big reaches but you never know in college admissiosn and I want to apply to some of them, in addition to other easier schools, because these are the shcools i want to go to. I understand it will be hard, im just curious and will be applying to some, but probably not all, anyway</p>

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<p>columbia ED-60%
brown-50%
georgetown SFS-60%
johns hopkins-60%
uchicago-60%
tufts-60%
Princeton-30%</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure that if you write a great essay, you will get in all of those colleges.</p>

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<p>essays are my specialty ;-)</p>

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<p>
[quote]
i know these schools are big reaches but you never know in college admissiosn and I want to apply to some of them, in addition to other easier schools, because these are the shcools i want to go to. I understand it will be hard, im just curious and will be applying to some, but probably not all, anyway.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Sounds like a good plan. A couple of reaches, three or four matches, and a couple of safeties. And you're right, you do never know with college admissions. You might make it into one of your dream schools...Just don't count on it.</p>

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<p>I have stats pretty similar to yours...3.89 GPA UW, 2190 SAT (710 M, 740 V, 740 W,) 780s on Math IIC and USH SAT IIs. I was deferred Columbia ED. Two other girls with similar/slightly lower stats were deferred. BUT there were about 7-8 other kids in my grade who were accepted. Some had higher stats, some had similar stats, some had lower stats. A couple had connections, which helped. But the kids that were accepted were radically different. Two were guys who excel at everything academically but don't have many ECs to speak of. Three were well-rounded kids who do everything well. One girl was a little weaker academically, but she's passionate with her ECs (and she was a URM.) Columbia wants a bunch of different kids. You certainly have a chance.</p>

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<p>Yeah, remember that people may say "Your GPA is below such and such, or your SAT is too low", but this only means so much. It doesn't mean your chances are 0. A guy with a 1290, the first reaction would be "There's no way you'll get in to MIT with a 660 Math and a 630 Verbal". This person was accepted to Stanford and MIT with those SAT scores. Don't get me wrong, many schools are still obvious reaches, don't set your hopes on it, but don't discount it either. You seem to have a good application plan, though.</p>

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<p>any other chances ideas...and what the hell, any match schools to consider for an international business major?</p>

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<p>As the desdline gets closer, posters are fsre more gernerous in their assessments. f yout stats are below average , you have no REAL hook and no unusual ECs, chances are just not good.</p>

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<p>despite not understanding half of what you said, i understand my chances arent good. thats what im asking about, please be a little more in depth :)</p>

<p>and any matches?</p>

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<p>bump any match schools?</p>

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<p>Here Andrassy. A list of match schools. High matches/low reaches at the top, matches in the middle, low matches at the bottom.</p>

<p>Wesleyan
Johns Hopkins
Cornell
Carleton
Vassar
Carnegie Mellon
Tufts
Washington and Lee
Emory
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Georgetown
Bowdoin
Haverford
Macalester
Davidson
Colby
Univer. Of Southern CA
Colgate
Brandeis
William and Mary
Oberlin
Bates
Tulane
Hamilton
Grinnell
Bard
Wake Forest
Kenyon
Connecticut College</p>