Chances at UT, USC, NU, UCLA, etc

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi guys!!

I am planning on applying to the following schools:
Safeties:
Southern Methodist University
Texas A&M University (already accepted)

Matches:
University of Texas–Austin
Northeastern University (may be a high match/low reach)

Reaches: (I realize I probably have no chance at these schools, but I’m applying anyway)
University of Southern California
University of California-- Los Angeles

Intended major: International Relations or Economics

Stats:
Rank- top 9% (76/809)
GPA- 3.5 UW, 4.7 W (upward trend, had a bad freshman year)
ACT- 32 (33 E, 29 M, 33 R, 33 S)
APs- World History (4), US History (4), English Lang (4), Environmental Science (4), Latin (5), Psychology, Statistics, Physics 1, Biology, Macroeconomics, US Gov, English Lit

ECs- Latin Club (Secretary), Rotary Club (Historian), Film Club (VP), NHS, Science NHS, Key Club, school-specific organization in which we make crafts for child cancer patients in our area

Awards- Various area and state Latin awards, Student of the Year (Latin 1), AP Scholar w/ Distinction

Essays- I feel pretty good about them
Recommendations- 9.5/10. Chose my favorite teachers who I had for multiple classes

Thanks for chancing me!

2

I think USC is a match
You will definitely get into northeastern

3

I think that good news for you is that UC schools ignore freshman year gpa’s so that could make your GPA even stronger and give you a higher chance. That said both UCLA and USC are extraordinarily hard to get into so I think it may be a low reach for both of those. In terms of northeastern I think that is a pretty good match if not a little more towards reach, but I still think you would get into your safeties. As for UT, that’s unfortunate that you are just out of the top 8% that they would accept automatically but I actually think this one may be harder than you think just because they fill up so much of their incoming class with top 8% that they want to fill the rest primarily will out of state applicants. It gets much harder in state if you are lower than top 8. Now I am assuming you’re from Texas. Actually, if you are out of state your chances may be better. That said, I would prepare yourself to be waitlisted by UT until they know how many of their 8 percent-ers are going to come.

4

Besides being extremely tough to gain admission, UC and USC are notoriously expensive. Can your parents afford those costs?
USC will run over $60k, UCLA $55k per year.

5

I also believe that USC and UCLA are (low) reaches for you. (You may actually have a little better chance with UCLA if you got most of your low grades in the freshmen year!)