Chances for top schools/scholarships?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey, I'm a junior at a private christian school in California. I'm Filipina and immigrated to the USA when I was 9 (I'm a citizen now, though). </p>

<p>My reach schools are UCLA, USC, Stanford, Duke, Harvard, CalTech, and MIT. My ranges are UCSD, UC Davis & SMU, while my backup is Westmont. </p>

<p>SAT: 2190 (CR:750, M:670, W:770)
ACT: 33 highest sitting, 34 combined subscore
GPA: 4.53 weighted, 4.00 unweighted
Class rank: Our school does not calculate it, but i'm pretty much guaranteed to be either valedictorian or salutatorian.
AP: Only taken one so far (but 4 to take this may!), WH: 4</p>

<p>I've taken every AP/Honors class possible, and will have completed 9 APs when i graduate. </p>

<p>As for extracurriculars:
-Academic Team Freshman, JV (2 years), and Varsity (next year)
-Volunteer at my church as a children's leader 1.5-2 hours a week
-One of the founders of an Acting troupe called "Acting For Others", that puts on plays to raise money for charity. I've been a part of it since 6th grade and last year was the production manager.
-Started the school newspaper this year. I go to a very small school, and there were no journalism/newspaper classes available, so a friend and I worked with the school and now we are the editors.
-In several plays
-Over 200 hours of community service (includes church, AFO, and volunteering at the library and etc)
-Spanish Club (3 years next year)
-Varsity Track for a season
-NHS
-Part time employment</p>

<p>Right now I'm not entirely sure what I want to major in, but I'm leaning towards either Pre-Med or Math. I know I didn't get a great score on the SAT math, but I got a 33 on the ACT math section, and I've gotten awards for being the top student in every single math class I've taken. (I don't know what's up with my SAT math. I think I just don't do well on that type of math test).</p>

<p>Anyways, what are my chances for either the top schools or scholarships to lesser schools? Financial Aid is a big factor is my decision. </p>

<p>Chances?</p>

2

<p>That SAT Math score is gonna hurt you (Not chance at CalTech or MIT w/ < 750).
You’re EC’s appear to be scattered and unfocused.</p>

<p>If you’re talking about merit based scholarships at these schools, I don’t see you receiving much at the top 10 universities.</p>

3

<p>Do you qualify for need based aid? Most of the privates here don’t offer merit aid, and the ones that fo like Duke will take off the charts stats. With your stats you would get significant merit aid at lots of schools, but that won’t rank with the ones on your list. There’s a great thread with nerit aid info at the top of the parent’s board.</p>

4

<p>so my 33 on the ACT math doesn’t make up for the 670? ah, that is so frustrating. i’ve been trying to raise my SAT score but nothing I do seems to help…well, i still have next October to try again. </p>

<p>okay, so no merit based aid…is there still a chance I can at least make admission? I think I qualify for some need-based aid, so if I could get into Stanford/Harvard the financial aid program would be enough.</p>

<p>hmom5: Thanks, I’ll be sure to check that thread out =]</p>

<p>BTW: I forgot to mention that the Acting troupe I helped found is a 501(c)3 organization and it’s raised over $10,000 for various charities. Would that help at all with admissions?</p>

5

<p>Chances of getting into Harvard or Stanford for an unhooked student are so remote you can’t begin to count on them. When you figure in that 40% of every class has a hook, the real admit rate is under 5%. You are from an over represented state making your chances even lower.</p>

<p>First, figure out if you qualify for need based aid, and how much. The calculator on the Princeton web site is the best I’ve found for looking at what you may get from generous private colleges. Then figure out if your family can pay what it estimates. Most are shocked by how high their EFC’s are, so get this out of the way now.</p>

<p>then sit down with your parent’s and find out if they are willing to pay that amount. You don’t want to be like many posting on the FA board now that can’t go to the schools they got into because they can’t afford them. What you can afford must guide the college list.</p>

<p>then you’ll know whether you need a full slate of merit aid schools and state schools or if you can apply widely.</p>