Chances for Reach Schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi.

I’m looking to apply to a couple of reach schools and I’d like an objective point of view regarding my chances at said reach schools. (I realize these are incredibly selective schools so I do have a few safeties and matches that I am applying to, but I won’t be listing them here.)

Harvard EA
(Or Stanford EA. I have not decided yet. Lucky me.)
MIT
Yale
Brown
Princeton
UChicago
UC Berkeley
UCLA
CalTech
Barnard

Okay. Here’s a brief rundown of my stats:
(sorry I don’t really want to go into detail for privacy reasons, but I’d be open to private messaging anyone if they desire)
34 ACT
5s and 4s on 7 AP tests, taking 6 tests this year
SAT IIs: 750 lit, 760 bio, 720 math 2
4.0 UW GPA, top 10%
Competitive public high school
Typical ECs, nothing special; involved in a social activism club, stem club, lit mag, and a sport (not being recruited)
I participated in TAS.P this past summer
Teacher #1 rec will be stellar (we’re very close, they wrote my rec for TA.SP), Teacher #2 doesn’t know me that well but I did well in their classes. I anticipate the counselor rec will be decent/good, we talk a lot.
Not sure how to “rank” my essays objectively, and quite frankly I feel weird even attempting to do so.

2

bump

3

You seem smart. Read the Common Data Sets of each school you’re applying to.

4

The schools you’ve listed routinely reject applicants with perfect stats and typical ECs.

5

Are you a CA resident? If not there is no financial aid for OOS students.

In addition to safeties you should have a few matches. None of the schools you list are matches.

6

@TomSrOfBoston I would be OOS. I do have safeties and matches (5 in total), and have not listed them for privacy reasons. Thanks for your response!

7

@Muad_dib I have, thanks!

8

bump

9

I was accepted to several of these schools last year (attending Princeton).

Definitely apply to Stanford early if you can. I would say little to no chance at CalTech/MIT/Princeton/Cornell given your subject test scores.

10

@hodge812 thanks. why stanford early rather than harvard?

11

I predict you’ll get accepted by Barnard and denied by MIT and Caltech. I can’t predict the rest as I can’t tell from your post what majors you are applying for. Can you list what three majors you plan to put on your Yale application?

12

@hamilton_ebooks It will be harder to get into Harvard early. If I recall correctly, their accepted class this year was around 30% alumni, whereas Stanford’s percentage was much lower. I think you have a good shot at Stanford (over Harvard) given that you don’t have legacy at Harvard.

13

As a non-resident of California, you won’t get priority and you won’t get a dime at the publics. So if the UCs are a goal, plan on paying $60K per year.
I agree with @hodge812 and @Testingearly that Caltech and MIT won’t happen. They reject perfect scores. Your EC’s don’t stand out, so the HYPS are out.

14

@hodge812 thanks!!

15

I just told my D2, who has similar stat as OP, not to apply to UCB yesterday. They offer $0 aid to OOS and the CoA is $65k+.

16

None of the UC’s offer financial aid to OOS students.

17

@billcsho thanks.
@TomSrOfBoston noted, and adjusted my reach list accordingly! (no more UCs, oh well.)

18

Include some of your own state schools as safety’s if you haven’t already.