Chances at top schools? rising senior

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Academics:

  • ACT: (no studying) 29 Composite (35 E, 31 R, 23 M, 26 S), 9 on writing
  • SAT: (no studying) 1320 Composite (730 Reading & Writing, 590 Math)
  • SAT Subject Tests: I plan to take US History, Spanish, and Lit subject tests
  • I know my scores are not great. I’m registered to take the September ACT and have actually been studying for it, with a goal score of 32+. I know I’m able to score the same in English and I can easily increase my Reading by a few points, but I have mostly been focusing on the Math and Science sections to score in the 30s on those.
  • GPA Unweighted: 4.0
  • GPA Weighted: 4.32
  • All honors courses, AP Lang (5)
  • I transferred schools mid-junior year. My school freshmen to junior year offered <5 AP courses total, which is a huge disadvantage but beyond my control. However, my senior year course load includes AP Lit, AP Spanish, AP Micro/Macro Economics, AP Psychology, and AP Statistics
  • Class rank: N/A (we do rank, but I haven’t received it yet)

Awards/Distinctions:

  • Honor roll all 4 years
  • Honors Genres of Literature, Highest GPA Award
  • Honors World History, Highest GPA Award
  • Honors Spanish 3, Highest GPA Award
  • Multiple awards at Model United Nations conferences

Activities I plan to put on Common App (In Order):

  1. Model United Nations, Secretary General - aka president - of club my junior year
  2. Student Government, secretary freshmen and sophomore year
  3. Cappies Theater Critic Team of Baltimore, one of my reviews was selected for publication to The Gateway
  4. International Thespian Society, held office as historian. we also received 3rd place/20 schools for a one act we performed at the Maryland Thespian Festival.
  5. Spanish Honors Society
  6. Math Honors Society
  7. Religious Education classroom assistant at my church
  8. volunteer for English Second Language classes (founder and translator)
  9. Theater
  10. Tutor in Math and English for elementary school kids

Additional Info:

  • I transferred high schools February of my junior year because my previous school was forced to close due to low enrollment. I transferred from a small Catholic school where my class was <70 students (<300 total in the school) to a public school with >600 students in my class alone. Obviously a huge change for me and I hope admissions officers will be understanding that I don’t have as many APs as other applicants - or even as many as I’d personally like - because they simply weren’t offered to me until my senior year.
  • Gender: female
  • Race: Native American, enrolled in a tribe
  • I plan to double major in Romance Languages and International Relations, and go for a Masters in International Relations or law school

My top colleges (in order) are Harvard, Bowdoin, and NYU. I think NYU could be considered a match, and I do have 3 safeties I am definitely applying to. I would also like input on if it would be worth it to apply to more ivies (Yale and Princeton) or if it’d just be a waste of time and money.

Any input and comments would be great. I’m also open to suggestions for match schools because I’m really not sure what my match schools would be.

Thanks!

2

You have a huge hook in being NA, so lucky you. Your grades are great. The lack of AP courses should be explained by your school GC. Keep up the grades, as I think they will be very important in your case. You have an ambitious schedule given your lack of APs before, and I am thinking admissions officers wil scrutinize your first semester of senior year to see if you can handle the work. Especially at Harvard and Bowdoin. However, you won’t be penalized for not being able to do APs before.

Your test score needs to go up to give you a more realistic chance.

Your choices are interesting. Why those three? They are really different. NYU is really bad with FA, so run the NPC and see if you can afford it. If you like Bowdoin, how about Amherst, Carleton or Swarthmore? If you like Harvard, why not Yale? If you like the idea of a top school in a more rural setting, you might consider Cornell, Dartmouth or Wesleyan.

You should have a couple more match schools. If the idea of a city is also appealing, consider Northeastern or BU as matches. For some LACs as matches/low reaches, consider Kenyon, Bates, Hamilton or Oberlin. You probably don’t need three safeties, unless you like them of course.

3

Taking both SAT and ACT without practice first is a mistake x2. Now you need to spend money and time to take the test again and do not have a final score for chancing. Your current scores are below 25% for top schools.

4

Thank you

5

Why would you even bother taking the ACT without studying? Well the past is the past, just study hard to bring it up. You being Indian helps a lot, who knows, maybe a 29 is good enough for affirmative