Chances of getting into these schools?

Applying to College
1

<p>hi,
I'm an incoming junior, and I'm starting to think about Colleges now. The colleges i've been looking at are JHU(it's a big reach, i know), Northwestern, U of Rochester, UW madison, Washu, Vanderbilt, USC, and others. </p>

<p>Just for background, I'm singaporean(asian) and I live in Wisconsin. Please give me a realistic answer :)</p>

<p>Sports(cycling):
2007- 5th in Iowa State criterium championships
2008-ranked #10 for juniors in state of iowa
2009- 2nd in a Lance Armstrong criterium(iowa)
2009- 1st in state time trial championship(iowa)
2009- 2nd in road race state championship(iowa)
2009- 1st state criterium championship(iowa)
2009- named the iowa state junior rider of the year
2009- 3rd overall roller race state championship (iowa)
2010- interviewed by a live radio station to talk about cycling
----moving to wisconsin stopped my cycling for a bit-----
2011- 8th state time trial championship (wisconsin)
volunteer at a nonprofit org called "dreambikes" for 2 years</p>

<p>Music(violin)
received a 9.1/10 for a ASTA competition
Utah all state orchestra
Iowa all state orch (2007,08)
I posed in a violin book, and the pictures went into a beginner's violin book
utah chamber orchestra (05,06)
volunteered to help different elementary school orchestras
Iowa state university Honors orchestra(09)
middleton community orchestra(10-11)
"crazy for you" musical pit orchestra
Wisconsin youth symphony orchestra(we are going to vienna, etc next year)
WI state solo ensemble rating 1
WI regional solo ensemble rating 1
IA regional solo ensemble rating 1
WI orchestra in UW Madison summer music clinic</p>

<p>---not sure if i should add this, but i received an honorable mention for a piano competition-</p>

<p>Academics:
honor rolls in Utah, IA, and WI,
science olympiad state, with 6 golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze
science olympiad nationals(went twice), with a highest rank of 20th
many different regional SO placings
Highest score in the region for the National Science League(in iowa)
I am an honor guard and tutor students during free periods in school(10-11)
I am in HOSA the health occupations students of america, and spoke in a HIV/AIDS workshop</p>

<p>ACT score:26 yes, i'm retaking it. it's really low
grades: I take honors classes when they are available, but my school doesn't really offer AP classes. freshmen year(3.33) sophomore year(4.0)</p>

<p>MISC:
volunteered for a chinese exchange program in 08, 09,10
volunteered for a art show
volunteered for a food drive, held by churches</p>

<p>thanks so much for all your help! input would be really helpful!</p>

2

<p>I think your more than qualified for those colleges. But APs are a must have when getting into larger universities…</p>

3

<p>thanks! I think I’ll have 3 AP tests by the time I finish high school, so I’ll work toward those tests. What do you think I should aim for, for my act score? i know it’s below standard…</p>

4

<p>Your ECs are great but it’s going to be hard to get into all of these colleges with your test scores and GPA. Try to get an ACT score of 33+ and you will have a better chance.</p>

5

<p>The trouble is that my score was a 26, and hard as i work, i don’t think i can improve 7 points. my goal was at least a 30. what do you think?</p>

6

<p>I’d have to disagree with Hawk; AP’s certainly are not required to be accepted into “larger” universities. In fact, many admissions offices evaluate students based on their individual high schools, meaning that if you took the most rigorous courseload at your school, even if it DOESN’T offer AP’s, then you’re good to go. It’s all relative.</p>

<p>Your EC’s are among the best I’ve seen on CC. Extreme commitment to two clear passions (cycling and music) is huge. Just make sure you show it on your application; I might even recommend hiring a college adviser to help you along the way and make sure you paint the full picture as to how much you’ve dedicated yourself to these activities.</p>

<p>Again, the GPA and test scores are lacking. To be honest…that’s going to hurt you. A lot. Especially if you don’t take the ACT again. Without a 30+, I’d say WUSTL is impossible. Northwestern and Hopkins would be extremely, EXTREMELY difficult as well. I can’t speak for USC, but Vanderbilt is also up there in terms of selectivity. It’s one thing to say you’re retaking the ACT and will get an exceptionally higher score; it’s another thing to actually do it. I wouldn’t be considering any of those schools, save Madison and Rochester, until you get the ACT up. Which is extremely likely to happen, since you’re only a junior; just don’t underestimate that process.</p>

<p>You have an upward trend in your GPA right now, which is fantastic. Keep at it, and you’ll be good to go as far as that’s concerned.</p>

<p>Considering that your resume of ECs will only continue to grow, your GPA will continue to rise, and your test scores will continue to improve, I’d say that, in a year, you’ll be a prime candidate at ANY of the schools you listed. Maybe even overqualified, dare I say it. It’s good that you’re concerning yourself with the college application process this early; it’s not absurdly premature (i.e. incoming freshman) or too late (i.e. incoming senior). I’m sure you’ll be fine when your time comes.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

7

<p>thanks so much for the thorough answer!
I’ll make sure to keep up my gpa and to work my ACT score up.
So my EC’s are good, but how about my academics? I feel like I don’t have a lot, after reading everyone’s “chances” on CC. Would that affect my Merit Aid?
Sorry if these are no brainer quesions; I’ve just begun to really start thinking about colleges, and I still have a lot to learn, including the basics.</p>

8

<p>We are fans of cycling in our house. My 17 year old daughter is in mourning over the breakup of HTC. If it were up to us you’d get in everywhere! Good Luck, I’m sure you will find a great school…</p>

9

<p>The cycling, of course is stand-out. Should impress everyone.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, the 26 is very low for most or all of the schools you have mentioned. You will probably have to bring this up significantly. Your Freshman GPA was also low, so make sure you maintain your sophomore level.</p>

<p>At the present, it’s impossible to ‘chance’ you for the schools you list. The ACT may be a deal breaker. If you improve it, it may be easier to make a guess. </p>

<p>(BTW, keep in mind that all chance me comments (including mine) are uneducated guesses from people not affiliated with admissions. Treat the accordingly)</p>

10

<p>Bump. Update: I just got my act scores from the september and i got a 29 :slight_smile: what do you guys think now?</p>

11

<p>I think you have a decent chance given your talents. How bout me? </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1225233-chances-georgetown-fll.html#post13321847[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1225233-chances-georgetown-fll.html#post13321847&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

12

<p>bump! i would really appreciate opinion! thanks :)</p>

13

<p>Your ACT is now in the mid range for Wisconsin Madison. It’s at the 25th percentile for Rochester, USC and JHU, below that for the others. Everything is a reach except Madison. Maybe the ECs will turn some heads, but you really don’t want to be at the 25th percentile, that’s “need a hook” territory.</p>

<p>Also, you asked about merit dollars. For that, you want to be solidly in the upper quartile. That means some applications out to schools where you’re far above the average student.</p>

<p>Best advice: Study and get that ACT up as far as you can. Or try the SAT (some folks do better on that).</p>

14

<p>hey guys, I’m done with my junior year! I got my act to a 30, my gpa is now a 3.76(I earned all a’s and 2 b’s first semester, and a 4.0 the next), ive only taken 1 ap(music theory and i got a 4! ill have ap calc ab and ap environmental science[my mom says ishouldtake ap stats instead?] but im still reallly worried colleges will look down on the low numer of ap’s i have),and I’m thinking about college! I still haven’t chosen where to apply. Madison, and USC for sure. I think im taking out jhu because I probably can’t get in and I hear they’re mainly based on academics, which I’m really not strong at, so Ive probably decided to do wustl instead. what do you guys think? and where else to apply? thanks!</p>