Chances at UNC, Brown, Cornell, and others

Academics:

Current Junior, Planning on majoring in Philosophy
3.7 Unweighted GPA, 4.2 Weighted
My school doesn’t rank
College Prep Private school
ACT: 28 Composite: 31M 28SR 25E Retaking in June
SAT: taken this month so I haven’t gotten scores back yet but I feel much more confident about my scores than I did with ACT. If I had to guess I would say I scored at around a 1400 maybe higher
Live in NC so UNC would be in state
No AP classes until next year but all honors except english. Next year I will be taking AP Calc AB, APES, AP Phys C
And I am taking two community college courses this summer: Psychology and Statistics

Extra Curriculars :

Head Prefect Committee (only 4 members in entire high school)
3 Years as NBA team’s assistant equipment manager
Started my own business working as a real estate photographer for many professional realtors and home builders
Internship with non profit’s creative development team
Volunteer biweekly at non profit’s creative production team working to produce biweekly events that bring 20,000 people
National Honor Society
Member of Spikeball club that meets 3 times a week on average and select weekends for tournaments
Church Basketball player for two years
Attend a weekly youth group

Letters of Recommendation:

All three teachers love me and one says I’m his best student he’s ever had, and the other two absolutely love me. I am fully confident the letters will be great.

Schools I would be interested in:
UNC
Brown
Cornell
UPenn
Wake Forest University
Davidson College
Georgetown
Boston College
Notre Dame
Wheaton College (IL)

I would consider applying ED to any of the Ivies, also, so you can take that into consideration as well.

Feel free to comment on some or all of the colleges that I mentioned. I feel like my test scores are somewhat holding me back, also. What kind of score should I aim for to get into some of these schools that are out of my range??

Thank you so much for anyone who takes the time to help me!!!

I agree that your test scores are holding you back - for Ivies I would say you’d need a minimum of a 33 to improve your chances of admission. Your lack of APs may also hurt your chances. At this point I would say really work hard to get the best grades you can and retake the ACT. Ensure that you have a few safeties, and other than that, just hold your breath because a lot of admissions are just a crapshoot. Best of luck!

That’s what I will aim for. Also does the fact that I’m taking community college courses this summer make up for the lack of AP’s?

The test scores were already addressed so I won’t beat a dead horse. As for college courses, I’m not sure. It might? Two classes doesn’t seem like enough to make up for a class load of below-average rigor, but then again what do I know…

@beepybeetle Does the fact that I’ve taken all honors since freshman year help at all?

@FrontElevation Depends. How rigorous would you say your class load is? If people at your school take AP/Dual enrollment for 3 or 4 years while you just started doing so now, you’re going to be in trouble

@beepybeetle There are no AP’s freshman year and only two Sophomore year. This year there are many that I haven’t taken and next year I will take 3 or 4. But like I said I’ve taken entirely honors courses where available except english. I also chose college courses that are equivalent to AP courses at my school (Psych and Statistics) so I can plea that I am trying to take as many college level courses as possible but my schedule wouldn’t allow me to take as many as I wanted. And I mean the college courses are core classes, it’s not like I’m taking photography and interpretive dance theory.

I hate to be the bearer of such news, but I don’t think your test scores are holding you back. I think a 28 does correlate to a 3.7 UW.
At Brown and Cornell, you will be in the bottom 25%, making admission highly unlikely.

Well if your schedule is as rigorous as the most intense at your school, then you should be fine. Just get that ACT up, since you’ll need it to be as high as possible to make up for your poor GPA

@AimingTop50 What about the other schools I mentioned?

With a 28 ACT, the only school here I’d consider a match is Wheaton. Also, Physics C stands for Physics with Calculus. You haven’t taken Calc yet. I’d definitely reconsider taking that class.

Maybe Wake Forest is a good school for you if you find yourself lacking in the testing area compared to the rest of your stats. They are test optional.

Considering your GPA and test scores are pretty low, and that you haven’t taken any AP’s yet, I’d say it’s unrealistic for you to get into most of the schools on your list unless you have a really good hook. You should consider applying elsewhere. Taking all honors courses will be guaranteed among pretty much every applicant to the schools on your list, so that probably won’t help you either. You definitely need to raise your ACT and get at least 32 to even be considered for the Ivies. At this point, the only school on your list that you could realistically get into is Wheaton and maybe UNC, (if you raise your ACT to a 30+) since you are in-state. Sorry if this sounds mean but it is kind of a waste of time for you to apply to most of those schools.

do you have any hooks - URM, first gen to attend college etc… you can’t really chance people unless you have this kind of context. The CC chances template recommends you share this info, ethnicity, gender etc… to give you a better analysis.

Being in state for UNC will help a lot, and I think you’ll (most likely) get in! I’d apply early action, since there are no restrictions and you are not bound to go. Please work on raising your ACT score.

@thelonliestmonk I am unfortunately (for colleges at least) a white male. Mom went to college, dad didn’t. My biggest hook is that I’ve been an assistant equipment manager for an NBA team for the past 3 years. What is URM also?

@AimingTop50 The AP Physics C at my school is taught with the fact that many students will be just starting calculus in mind so there won’t be much issue there. I’ve talked to the people in it and they say it’s difficult but manageable, but I actually have a jump on them because I’ve taken honors physics (which uses algebra 2 and trig) which should give me a solid foundation. Also I wouldn’t say I’m a bad test taker at all. I actually think I did very well on the SAT in May. I am much more confident about my scores so I don’t think I will have any issues getting a 30 or 31 equiv, maybe even higher!

@crazyasianbae Thank you for the feedback, I don’t take it as mean at all.

@thelonliestmonk Actually so I thought more about hooks and honestly the NBA one is good but I also have been running a business for the past two years doing real estate photography for many realtors and homebuilders and I’ve made good money doing that. Also I’m going to be on the Head Prefect committee at my high school next year so I guess that would help. But as far as a single simple characteristic I don’t really have one, I’m not a syrian refugee or anything of that sort. However, I have done things in my free time that are very productive and above the likes of what most high schoolers do with their time. That’s why most of my LOR’s will be good, because my teachers know the kind of things I do and they love the initiative I take.

@FrontElevation Keep in mind there are differences between hooks and extracurriculars.
Hooks are (innate) qualities that fulfill an institutional want, for example being a URM, first-gen, single parent, lower income, etc etc
Many colleges like to show off that they support x amount of minorities or poor students, it’s a way of bragging for them.

That being said, your ECs are pretty darn cool! I think the fact that you run your own business and photography > working for a sports team, but that’s just me. If I were you, I’d highlight your personal successes not the fact that you work for someone else.

Ok, that’s great that you are aiming higher on the test scores. I was merely analyzing the situation that includes a 28 ACT. If you can up it some more, then that will help a lot.

That’s also great news that you will be able to take Physics C. Rigorous/impressive class.