I have a 3.79 unweighted and a 4.58 weighted GPA, ranked 10 in my class of about 670. I’ve gotten 6 Bs and 2 Cs in high school, but those Cs and 2 of the Bs were in math, and 3 of the other Bs were all freshman year. I got a 1510 on the SAT I and 32 on the ACT, although my SAT II scores were bad and I’m only sending my 680 on M Bio (still really bad). I go to an average public school, although I have some good ECs like Speech and Debate President/Coach, Mock Trial, Hospital volunteer service, working with a nonprofit, founding a couple clubs/activities, etc. I plan on majoring either in comm studies or psychology depending on the school. I don’t expect to get into an extremely top-tier ivy league at all, but can someone please give me an idea of if schools like University of Notre Dame, Emory, USC, Tulane, and Umich are even worth applying to and if I have a legitimate chance? I honestly don’t know where I fall in terms of applicants and I’m getting last minute jitters on what schools would even consider me.
Also Im an Asian male so…yeah.
Unless you are instate for Michigan, you should consider all of these as reaches. Your chances at each depends on how well you match what they’re looking for. Have your parents confirmed that each of these schools would be affordable for all four years if you get in? Do you know your application budget? If you already have at least one school that you are sure to be accepted to, your parents have confirmed is affordable, and you are happy to attend if nothing else comes through, then you are in good shape to focus on some reach apps. Applying to any school you can’t afford (beyond taking Federal loans, i.e. up to $5,500 for year one) is a complete waste of time and money.
You can look up the common data set for each school to get some objective information about where you fall in terms of applicants. Just do an internet search, “common data set school name” Look at section C. In this you can see where your stats fall with respect to the 25-75 %ile scores (sat, gpa), and also what application factors are most important/not so important to them (i.e. rigor, gpa, class rank, essay, recs, ECs, etc.) There’s plenty of other information as well. I also suggest that you spend more time on each affordable school’s website to see what they state they value, how they portray accepted student data/profiles, etc.
Your SAT is stronger than your ACT, so I’d recommend reporting the SAT only. You don’t need to submit your SAT II scores to any of the schools you listed. Why are you sending the Bio score? It doesn’t serve to enhance your application so there’s no need to send it unless you decide to apply to schools that do require/recommend SAT II scores. FYI: 680 is Not a “really bad” score. I realize you are probably just really nervous and doubting yourself, but that comment comes off as insulting to people with similar or lower scores.
Have you consulted with your guidance counselor about your applications? Does your school use Naviance? If you haven’t already, talk to your GC. Deadlines are fast approaching… Good luck!
+1 to this ^^.